She turned his head to face her, but he kept his eyes down. “They were jealous of the beautiful magical hours of long lovemaking I had with you.”
He raised his eyes and looked at her. “You are going to insist on sugar coating it, aren’t you?”
She huffed loudly. “You know, you’re driving me crazy.” She dropped her hand. “And another thing, what did you mean by ‘heard Steve’, you weren’t in the diner?”
He cleared his throat. “Yes, I was, you just didn’t see me.” His eyebrows creased, he bit the inside of his lower lip, glanced to his right and then stared back at Lee.
“No, you weren’t. My line of vision was only blocked when Steve jumped me, and thirty seconds later you appeared.” Lee watched him carefully, she was sure that was a telltale sign of him lying.
“How about we agree to disagree, just for tonight? We can continue this arg
“Ouch!” The pinch in her shoulder woke her. She had rolled on it, again. Her comfy human pillow had left, and was replaced by the feather filled sacks. This was becoming a habit. The growl in her stomach was a perfect motivation to leave her room. The bed squawked, rocking slightly as her moved to the edge. She smiled—the bed should be a landmark. Ash’s hypnotic grin from last night popped in her head. She was sure the bed would get at least two votes.Immediately feeling the weight of the pendant, she took it off and put it in the shoe box for safe keeping then she headed to the kitchen to get something to eat, she was really hungry. Maria was on the table, her head hiding behind a gigantic anatomy textbook. She wanted to be a pediatrician. She wasn’t so sure though, she is so soft and sensitive; Lee didn’t think she could stomach it, but that never stopped her from supporting Maria. She was her sister, that’s what they did.&
“Of course you do.” His expression changed immediately Maria flashed him her mean face. “But uh, we can’t take them back. They’re all already paid for.” Lee was shocked, what was she going to do with ten beds?“But I was only going to pick one! What was to happen to the other nine?” she said taking the catalogue back from him.He shrugged, “Your sisters were to pick one each if they wanted, and then you were to decide what was to happen to the rest.”It was getting more unbelievable by the second. Maria snatched the catalogue from Lee’s hand, she was excited, and she really wanted a new bed.Just then Ann appeared at the door with her signature attitude. “Get out of my way!” She yelled at the delivery guy and pushed him out of the way.“Hey!” he called back at her as he tried to get back his balance.“What!” she turned and shouted back
“Billy, what did you do?” Joe walked in to the AA room, his phone close to his ear and his face scrunched up. Billy was on the couch with Ash, drinking beer, eating chips and watching football, the usual.“What?” his eyes still on the screen.Ash turned and looked at Joe. Joe held the phone out in their direction. Billy turned down the volume on the TV, and then turned his ear to the phone’s direction. Ash started laughing. Joe covered the mouthpiece. Maria was on the line, she was giving Joe an ear full for what Billy had done to Ann. Billy looked distressed now, he didn’t say a word.“You’ll pay for this,” Joe said with venom as he walked out the room, replacing the phone on his ear.Ash turned to Billy after Joe left. “Billy how could you! You rented a stranger’s apartment for one night,” the humor was gone from his voice.“I wasn’t going to bring her here!
“No, it’s okay, it was time for a break any way.” She moved closer to him, turning so that he could have her injured arm.“Yeah, a break.” Ann rested her head on the open book and closed her eyes; Maria leaned back in her seat, one hand supporting her head, the other covering her eyes. “I can’t wait for summer.”Lee turned to look at him as he gently secured her arm in the sling. He looked glum, like something was wrong, “We have finals in two weeks,” she offered, searching his face, for another clue.“That’s good.” His face was still down, his expression unchanged.When he was done, she pushed him a few feet back. She wanted to find out what had changed his mood so suddenly. “Ash, what’s wrong?”“Where is your new bed?”“I didn’t take one.” She found it strange that the bed had gotten him into the foul mood he was in
Billy was waiting for Ash at the door. When he arrived, Billy grabbed him in a bear hug. “Thanks Ash, what did you say to her!”“She called? That’s good. I told her it was inconvenient for us to bring them here, and that we would be getting an apartment close to them.” Ash walked into the AA room and sat next to Joe on the leather seat.“I already found one. I started looking the minute you left. I’m going to check it out tomorrow!” Billy sat down next to him and picked up his beer. He felt more relaxed now that his fight with Ann was defused.“How’s Lee?” Joe asked before he filled his mouth with a hand full of popcorn, his eyes glued to the game on TV.Ash smiled, warmth spread through him at the mention of her name. He loved everything about her and how happy she made him feel. He saw her as a gift; a blessing the spirits had given him to fill the empty space in his heart. In such a shor
Lee’s new sleeping habit had disrupted her whole day’s schedule, and to make things worse, she still spent her mornings with her head over the toilet. For some reason, she still slept half the day away, and with only a week left, she had to spend every waking minute studying, leaving no time for a social life or work. Ann thought the meds were still in her system; Maria however wanted her to go to the hospital for a checkup, which she took every opportunity to avoid. Ash tried to make her go but she always stopped him with questions about the diner.“Lee, please go to the hospital and get checked out.”“I’ll go if you tell me about the diner.”“I can’t do that.”“Then I won’t go.”That always made him guilty, he felt responsible for Lee’s stubbornness and therefore her sickness. As much as she hated hurting him she was determined on riding his guilty conscious until
They were on the couch, the pain in her shoulder had died down after a few hours, but the other was still there. She was regretting that she had thrown the meds away. They would have numbed more than just her arm. Her eyes were swollen and red. She had been crying for a while, regretting her decision, she wanted him back, whether or not he wanted to trust her, she didn’t care anymore, he loved her and she loved him, the rest could all go to hell. She opened her eyes and looked at Maria.“I gave him an ultimatum.” The word felt like hot coal on her tongue.“What do you mean?” Maria stroked her hair back and wiped the fresh flow of tears from her cheek.“I’ve been sharing a bed with a stranger, and I couldn’t do it anymore. Though right now, I couldn’t care less what or who he is. I just want him back.” Lee could feel a sob creep up her throat.“Is that why he threw the chair into our T
Dave was on the rooftop opposite Lee’s building. He could see into her house. He had been at that spot since she moved into the building. Ash’s fight with Lee had him on night duty again. He sat there, contemplating Ash’s decision. He wasn’t ready to tell her, he was worried about her reaction. He was scared she would hate him for staying away, for letting her suffer foster care when he could have looked after her. How was he going to explain himself? There was no good excuse for abandoning her. But he wanted to hold her again, talk to her, comfort her when she was sad, and laugh with her when she was happy. He wanted to be with her, he wanted to stop hiding. All he had to do was build up the courage to do it. **** It had been a week since Ash left, since Lee’s visit from the mysterious woman. She felt embarrassed, angry. Ash had a girlfriend, that’s why he was never fully hers. The thought broke her heart all over again. She should have known. If Steve had a girl on the side why sh