In Eight Dates by Lori L Lake, Skylar Cassidy has been on her own for less than a
year after a disastrous breakup. She’s found that meeting women is difficult –
kind of daunting, actually. She feels like she’s been run through the mill, and
she doesn’t want to go through it again. But when her best pal and business
partner Mitchell signs her up at the GirlsGaylore.com dating website and
characterizes her as a happy-go-lucky, amorous, risk-taking single, all hell
breaks loose. Suddenly women are coming out of the woodwork and Sky hardly knows
what to make of it.
.
EIGHT DATES is a comical story of a woman’s search for Ms. Right – and how she
finds quite a few Ms. Wrongs along the way
Eight Dates
Launch Point Press (July 1, 2014)
- ISBN-10: 1633040003
- ISBN-13: 978-1633040007
Excerpt:
Chapter One
I WAS
KNEELING ON a hideously ugly orange shag carpet, unpacking one of three boxes
that contained most of my important worldly possessions, when I heard a quiet
tapping on the door of my apartment. Since it was October 31st, I wasn’t
inclined to answer. It’s not like I had a big sack of M&Ms or fun-sized
Snickers to hand out to a bunch of trick-or-treaters. I didn’t have any food at
all, not even a single item in the crappy little fridge that sat on the corner
counter in the world’s dinkiest kitchen. I’ve never seen a stove with only two
burners, and I’ve seen larger sinks in Barbie dollhouses, but the price was
right. Funds were tight, so I would put up with my miniature kitchen until
finances improved.
The knock
came again, a soft tock-tock-tock. With a sigh I got to my feet and pulled on
the rickety knob.
On the
walkway outside, Xena Warrior Princess peered up at me. Miniature Xena, that
is. A dark-haired little girl with a pale face shivered in the doorway. She
wore tan Ugg boots, a black and brown striped skirt, and a tiny leather
bustier. For the Xena breastplate, she’d spray-painted a couple of dessert-sized
paper plates with gold and connected them with paper clips. More paper clips
were hooked together over each of her tiny shoulders. She wore what looked like
a pair of black socks on her forearms to simulate Xena’s vambraces. A sword
handle poked up over her right shoulder, and the outfit was made complete by a
gold circular chakram hanging from her hip. The razor-edged weapon that the
real Xena carried could slice through metal, but the girl’s version was
raggedly fashioned.
“Is that a
Frisbee?” I asked, pointing at her chakram.
“Yeah, I
cut it out with a knife. It didn’t come out so great.”
“You did a
great job painting it gold.”
“I guess.”
She held up a hand, which was stained gold across her palm. “The paint isn’t
sticking too good. Wish I had a real chakram.”
Once upon
a time I did have some Xena
paraphernalia, including a heavy-duty glittery gold chakram. I wondered where
it all went—probably lost in the breakup.
I said,
“The sword is very realistic.”
She reached
over her right shoulder, pulled it out, and brandished it for me. “Got it at
Target.”
“What the
heck are you using for a scabbard?” I leaned forward and looked closely at the
long gray tube she had duct taped to her shoulder. “Is that a vacuum cleaner
attachment?”
“Yeah. I
didn’t have anything else. I tried to make one of cloth but it wouldn’t hold.”
“I see.
You’ve been very resourceful. Seems to me that you’ve put together a pretty decent
costume.”
She
squinted up at me. “If you let your hair grow long, you could get a Gabrielle
costume and some red boots and be her.”
I ran my
hand through my short light-brown hair. I look nothing like the actress who
played Gabrielle—except that I do have blue eyes. I ignored the kid’s comment
and said, “Are you trick-or-treating?”
“Kind of,”
she said, her voice now soft and shy. She’d been glancing past me into my place
during the brief conversation, so she probably already knew that no candy was
forthcoming.
“But you
don’t have a bag or pumpkin head or whatever to put candy in.”
“I guessed most people here wouldn’t have any
treats.”
“Sorry, I
don’t have anything to hand out. I’m just moving in, and I pretty much forgot
all about Halloween.”
She opened
her other hand and showed me an open pack of Lifesavers. “Mr. Allen gave me
these. He said they were good.”
“Butter
rum, huh?”
“Whatever
that is.” She sighed. “Nobody else has been opening their door. Not a very
lucky day.”
“So you
live here?”
She
pointed to her right. “We’re next door to you.”
I felt
sorry for her. This ancient motel-turned-into-apartments didn’t seem to be a
good place for kids. I’d seen only older residents and some ratty-looking
middle-aged guys, most of whom looked like they were no strangers to alcohol.
“Can’t
your mom or dad take you somewhere else—to a neighborhood?”
“Mom’s
working.”
“And your
dad?”
She looked
down. “He’s not around.”
“I see.
Well, I wish I had some candy for you, but today I don’t.”
“The guy
who lived in here before had a iguana.”
“An iguana?”
“Big and gray
and green, kinda like a mini-dinosaur. He wore it on his shoulder a lot of the
time. He also smoked some weird cigarettes. My mom said he was a
dee…dee…degen…”
“A
degenerate?”
“I think
that’s it.”
That
explained the funky odor. Iguana plus marijuana equals apartment stench. I’d
already cleaned extensively, and I’d vacuumed so much that the canister filled
up twice, and I was well on the way to packing it full a third time. The two
rooms weren’t filthy anymore, but in some ways it was good that I had so few
possessions to get in the way. In the next few days I planned to look for a
cheapo special at some carpet cleaning company so they could come in and do a
thorough once-over.
“What’s
your name, kid?”
She peered
up at me, her dark eyes serious. “Maya. What’s yours?”
“Skylar.
Or you can call me Sky.”
“Is that
your real name?”
“Yup.”
“It would
be cool if you had a sister named Moon.”
“I once
had a cousin nicknamed Sunny.”
“Once had?
What happened to him?”
Astute
kid. My cousin was ten years older than me and got his nickname because of the
movie, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance
Kid. Our family name is Cassidy, and my uncle’s nickname is Butch, so
naturally his namesake, Matthew, Jr., ended up being called the Sundance Kid,
which got shortened up along the way. Sunny wasn’t a bank robber like Butch and
Sundance, but he did like drugs a little too much. He died of an overdose when
I was still in high school, and my uncle never got over it.
I ignored
her question. She didn’t need to know that Sunny offed himself. “How old are
you, Maya?”
“Eight.”
“Does your
mom know you’re out and about?”
She looked
away, her expression conflicted. Before she could answer, I heard footsteps on
the cement stairs that led up from the courtyard below. A dark head bobbed
above the rail, and the rest of the person’s physique was gradually revealed as
well. A woman in loafers, jeans, and a vest over a dark purple blouse reached
the head of the stairs and hastened toward us along the outdoor walkway.
“Maya,
you’re not supposed to be—what in the world are you wearing?”
The kid
let out a sigh. Frowning, she turned to face her mother.
And the
woman was clearly her mother. With their brunette hair and dark eyes, her kid
was the spitting image of her, with “spitting” being the operative term here.
The mother looked mad enough to spit nails. Despite the restrained anger, she
was attractive. Very pretty, in fact. In contrast to her daughter’s short,
near-black hair, hers was shoulder length.
“You are not
supposed to be out of the apartment, young lady.” The woman came to a stop
near the rail across from my apartment door and folded her arms over her chest.
“You just got off restriction for your last foray out without permission. Do
you want that again?”
“But,
Mom—”
“Don’t you
‘But, Mom,’ me. I told you I would take you out trick or treating, and now I’m
not so sure we ought to go after all.” She glanced at me. “Has she been causing
any trouble?”
“No, not
at all,” I told her. “She’s a very nice kid.” What I wanted to ask was why an
eight-year-old was being left to her own devices. Instead I said, “You work
nearby?”
“In the
office downstairs.”
“Here, you
mean? For the complex?”
“Right.”
She reached out a hand. “I’m Rebecca Talarico, and you’ve obviously met my naughty
daughter, Maya.”
“Skylar
Cassidy.” I shook her hand briefly, not knowing what to say to about her
naughty daughter, especially since Little Miss Xena was looking so incredibly
miserable. I felt sorry for the kid. “When do you get off work?”
“Obviously
not soon enough for Maya.” She glanced at her watch. “Sorry if she bothered
you.”
“Oh, no.
Not a problem at all.”
Rebecca
put her hand on the small of Maya’s back and guided her away. “You need to get
inside right now. I’ll return by six, and we can go out then. What’s wrong with
the costume I got for you?”
Even with
her back to me, as Maya scuffled away, I heard her whine, “No way. I’m too old
to be a bumblebee.”
“But it’s
cute. You look darling.” She unlocked their door and pushed the kid inside.
Last thing I heard was Maya saying, “I’m not wearing…” and then the door shut
sharply. I was left standing in my doorway alone.
I gazed
toward the units on the other side of this crazy little motel and met the eyes
of an elderly woman sitting in a window. If I had a tightrope, I could have
strung it from my railing to hers and crossed it in ten steps. Maybe that would
have caught her attention. The woman didn’t blink or look away. I blinked,
though. She looked pretty intense. I gave a half-hearted wave, but she didn’t
respond, so I ducked back into my place and shut the door.
I WAS
THANKFUL THAT the apartment manager let me in a day before the first of the
month, even if it did mean that I was dragging things up the stairs from the
parking lot on Halloween. Someone—I assume the management or perhaps Maya’s
mom—had scattered a bunch of pumpkins and a bale of hay near the bottom of the
stairs that led up to the second floor. The damn pumpkins were inconveniently
placed, and I still had a couple of mattresses to bring up. I wasn’t sure why
they’d bothered with the autumn theme. No amount of gourds or decorative items
would ever cover up the fact that The Miracle Motel was seedy. A beat-up relic
from days past.
When the
place was built—back in the Forties, I’d guess—it would have been called a
motor court or maybe a motor inn. Travelers who needed to stay in Portland for
business or pleasure would have had space to stay for a few days and make meals
right in their room. Back then—seems like a century ago—people’s needs were
simpler, and I suppose they were less likely to eat in restaurants or go out on
the town, and TV wasn’t all the rage. Instead, they might sit on the back balcony
and watch the sun set. They might have taken a walk around the tree-lined
avenues. Back in the early days, the scarred cement courtyard below might have
been a pretty garden. It was long and narrow, too small to have had room for
cars. All of the parking spaces were around the outside perimeter of the
building, and there weren’t too many. I had parked on the street today.
Out front,
an old-fashioned metal sign rose up out of a big lump of concrete. A faded
yellow arrow along the top pointed toward the motel. Once upon a time, the
arrow had sported a line of lights along the edge, but there were no bulbs in
there now, and the holes left behind looked like they had wept rusted tears.
The oblong sign below proclaimed the place “The Miracle Motel.” Each letter of
Miracle was once painted bright, flashy colors, but now the background was brownish,
and all the blue and green and gold and red lettering was washed out.
Underneath
the big, bold lettering I could just barely make out some other white letters.
After a bit of study, I realized the words were “It’s Magical!”
The
Miracle Motel’s two-story layout was a narrow U-shape. The manager’s office and
reception area were located downstairs at the bottom of the U, with a laundry
room on the second floor above. The sides of the two “arms” of the U formed
outside corridors. The upper apartments faced each other and overlooked the
courtyard. Stairwells at each end and near the bottom of the U allowed access
to the upper story.
The arms
of the U had eight doors upstairs and eight doors downstairs on both sides. I’m
such a math wizard that I counted 32 units, but no. Somewhere along the way,
somebody decided to turn the motel into apartments. One of the two adjoining
doors inside pairs of apartments was removed which explained why my
600-square-foot unit had two balconies on the back side of the apartments, two
bathrooms, two exterior doors, and two kitchenettes. Lucky me, if I got hungry
in the middle of the night, I could whip up a snack from the side of my bed.
In the
past, putting a bathroom in the back corner of a motel room might have seemed
like a good idea, but what idiotic designer thought it was a good idea to put
the door next to the kitchenette? The right-side room, which was where the
entrance was, had a breakfast bar—a floating island with two creaky stools—on
the living room side. In order to access the bathroom door, you had to go
around the bar, walk through the galley kitchen, and enter the restroom.
Nowadays there were rules about how close a bathroom could be to the kitchen
where you cooked, but back in the Forties, maybe not.
The left-side
room didn’t have a breakfast bar at all, and the fridge in there was about
seven hundred years old. To keep the electric bill down, I figured I’d never
turn it on, and I planned to use the cupboards in that area for overflow
kitchen stuff.
The two
rooms weren’t huge, but they seemed a lot more spacious than modern day hotel
rooms. With only one bay window at the front, and a porthole of a window in the
back balcony door, it was dim inside. I didn’t
plan to spend any significant amount of time on either of my rickety balconies.
They were surrounded by rusted wrought iron railing and looked shabby as hell.
Then again, it was bigger than the footprint of my bathroom and kitchenette
combined, so maybe I’d figure out how to use it as extra space for storage.
I went to
the front window, opened the mud-colored curtains, and looked out. Not much
light leaked into my quarters, but what did I care? I could buy a lot of lamps
and keep my crap acquisition low.
The
courtyard below featured chipped and cracked cement punctuated by weeds
shooting up here and there. Someone had obviously weed-whacked in the recent
past, and dead stalks lay here and there, drying in the afternoon sun. Four
circular concrete flower beds, placed in a row and knotted with thistles and
dandelions, were a real eyesore. The Oregon summer sun had done a number on the
plants, and weeds choked out whatever flowers might have once been there.
I backed
away from the window. I was focusing too much on my surroundings, but since I
would be living here for God knows how long, I couldn’t help it. A twinge of
pain tightened in my chest. Once upon a time, I co-owned a house, a car, a
truck, and an entire household of “stuff.” How far had I fallen? I had next to
nothing now and no immediate plan for restoring all that I’d lost.
All I could
tell myself was that things mean nothing and money wasn’t everything.
I was not
comforted by the thought.
BY SIX
P.M. I had everything up from the car except for my mattresses. I was puzzling
about who to call to help me when a knock came to the door. More Halloween
visitors?
“Yoo hoo,
baby doll. Open up.”
Oh,
brother. My friend and business partner, Mitchell Hightower, posed in the
doorway, one hand on his hip and the other holding a paper-clad bottle in the
air as if he thought he was the Statue of Liberty. He wasn’t wearing a long
green dress, but his shirt was bright emerald green and tucked into tight black
pants. As usual he also wore shiny black boots.
“Baby
doll?” I asked. “Do you have to call me that in such a loud voice that now my
neighbors think I’m some sort of weirdo?”
“Would
honey-pie work better?”
I rolled
my eyes and stood aside so he could enter.
“Love what
you’ve done to the place.”
“Don’t be
critical.”
“Sweetheart,
if I wanted to be critical, I’d be using words like dive, hole, and hovel.”
“You
exaggerate.”
“When you
said number 204, I should have known you were up a flight of fifty stairs. ”
“It’s not
that bad.”
“If you
say so.” He held up the bag. “I’ve brought us a nice pinot.”
“I’ll have
to find something to put it in.”
“Maybe you
could also turn up something for us to put our asses on.”
“Very
funny.” I had a flash of brilliance. “Hey, I bet you could help me with
something.”
He
grumbled the whole time, but he helped me cart my twin bed mattresses up and
assemble the bed. Now I had one item of furniture in the bedroom and none in
the living room.
As I dug
around in a box, Mitchell said, “If I’d known you were going to make me labor
like this, I wouldn’t have worn my best shirt.”
“You off
to a party tonight?” I pulled a couple of coffee mugs out of a box and set them
on the little counter in the galley kitchen.
“Of course
there’s a party, and you’re coming with me.”
“Oh, no.
I’ve got a lot to do here.”
“Yes, I
can see that. For one thing, you need to look harder for your wineglasses.”
“Sorry,
pal. I don’t believe I got them in the breakup.”
“That’s
unacceptable!”
“Don’t get
me started on all the unacceptable losses.” I pointed at the mugs. “Best I can
do on short notice.”
Mitchell
gave a dramatic sigh, but his blue eyes were merry. He was the prettiest man
I’d seen in ages. His blond hair was artfully styled. And I should know. For
the first eight months after the breakup, I lived with him in his two-bedroom
bungalow that only had one bathroom, and he certainly had spent a lot of time
on his hair. Now that I had two bathrooms, he could spend as many hours as he
wanted and I wouldn’t be stuck waiting.
He poured
me a glass—correction, mug—of wine, and handed it to me. “Try this.”
“Aren’t
you supposed to let it air or something like that?”
“Why
bother. I got it for five bucks at Trader Joe’s.”
“I feel so
important.”
“You are.”
Mitchell was
like a brother to me. We met at work six years ago and learned quickly that we made
a great team. He was good with software and programming, and I could assemble
hardware and repair and refurbish computers like nobody’s business. Working
with someone and living with him, too, got old after a while. Once he started
dating a guy seriously I knew it was time to find my own place.
Mitchell
held up a mug. “Cheers to you for bravely going where no man has gone before.”
He looked around the room. “No gay man anyway. Just what will you make in that
appalling little oven? Cornish game hens? One at a time?”
I laughed.
The oven below the two-burner stove was indeed miniscule. I wasn’t sure if even
the smallest pan I owned would fit in there.
The wine
was crisp, and I sipped it with appreciation. “Not bad for a five buck bottle,
Mitch.”
“I should
have brought a bottle of spray cleaner instead.”
“Ouch. I’m
going to get a complex if you keep bitching about my bachelor pad.”
“You have
a lot of work to do, sweetie, to get this place up to bachelor pad status. It’s
so small. And what’s with the twin bed? I’ve been telling you for weeks now
that you’ve got to get back on the market. Find a new squeeze. Have a few
one-night stands to build your confidence. You’ll need a bigger bed for that.”
“Pulllease.
You know I don’t operate that way.”
“You
haven’t been operating in any way since Britney dumped you.”
“Yeah,
yeah, I know. I haven’t got any desire to get involved with anyone. I’m
perfectly fine on my own.”
“Oh,
really? You need some companionship, little miss, at the very least. It’s not
like you can have a dog here.”
I wouldn’t
be able to have a dog at all, even if I wanted one. I’ve committed the Lesbian
Cardinal Sin of being deathly allergic to pets.
“Sky,
honey, you’ve got needs. Get out and find some women to fill them.”
I finished
the last of the wine and felt it warm its way down to my stomach. I hadn’t
eaten for far too long. “You want to order a pizza?”
“Hell, no.
Andrew and Brian are having a gourmet potluck tonight for Halloween.”
“Not a
costume party?”
“Of course
it is. I have my outfit all laid out and ready to go. That’s why I’m here so
early—to get you. You simply must come along.”
“I’ve got
too much to do here. I want to get settled and be ready tomorrow morning when
Eddie brings over the first load for me to work on.”
Mitchell
did that little tsk-tsk thing with his teeth that I hated. “You can’t hide away
forever, Sky. You’re missing out on a whole lot of fun and excitement. You’ve
got to go out and find someone. And I’m going to help you.”
“No, no, trust
me, that’s not necessary.”
“You’d do
the same for me.”
“Actually,
no, I don’t think so.”
“Don’t
disappoint me with timidity.”
Oh, God. I
had no idea what he had in mind, but I was pretty sure I wouldn’t like it.
Smiling
widely he said, “You leave it all to me. I’ll get you a woman post haste.”
“I don’t
want one, not post haste, not pre haste, not any kind of haste.”
“That’s
what you say now. You’ll thank me later.” He set down his mug and came over to
put his arms around me. “It’ll get better, doll. It will, trust me.”
“Thanks,
Mitchell. Go have fun and report in later.”
He stepped
back and gave me his version of a salute. “Sure you don’t want to go to the
party?”
I shook my
head. An evening of conversation with three or four dozen guys dressed like
Liza Minnelli and Barbara Streisand and Katy Perry didn’t appeal to me at all.
“What’s your costume this year?”
“Don’t you
remember? I told you weeks ago.” He batted his baby blue eyes at me. “Marilyn
Monroe, remember?”
“Oh, sure.
Yeah. Marilyn.”
“I’ve even
got a fan to blow my dress up.”
“Of course
you do.”
Chapter Two
AFTER
MITCHELL’S APPEARANCE THE night before, I should have known I was in for it. I
didn’t realize how bad it could be until I opened my email. But that didn’t
happen right away because I had to get up early and prepare for my work
delivery.
In
addition to going out in the field to help people set up their computer
systems, I diagnose and repair computers. Mitchell and I opened our own
business a year ago, but the downturn in the economy has taken a toll. Our
premium office space in the Lloyd Center mall is small and costly, so we do our
repair work offsite. While I lived at Mitchell’s apartment, I worked out of his
garage. Now I’d work out of my living room.
I’d stayed
up late in the night to set up tables and assemble a heavy-duty four-shelf
unit, which I put along the wall near the front door. I also configured an
air-card so I’d get Internet service. Now I plugged in surge protectors and
strung extension cords. I was going to have to get a computer desk of some
sort. For now, I put my laptop on a fold-up table, fired it up, and opened
email.
I didn’t
get much email ordinarily, so the one from GirlsGaylore caught my eye right
away. Heart sinking, I opened it.
Welcome to
GirlsGaylore.com
where sexy, creative, and
fun-loving women are
found
With
increasing alarm, I scanned the message. When I came to a line that urged me to
click on the link to see my profile, I wanted to scream. Damn Mitchell anyway.
He knew my passwords, so I didn’t even have the opportunity to reject the
registration he’d done for me. I was going to kill him. No doubt about it.
I let my
finger hover over the mouse, reluctant to click on it but also curious. As I
agonized, I heard a pinging sound and the symbol popped up indicating I had a
new email. Instead of clicking the profile link, I went to my email inbox.
Three
emails from GirlsGaylore? What the hell? I opened one.
Dear
GeekGrrl,
OMG—u sound like u r the kind of person i m looking for. Am a
26-year-old femme who’s sensitive and caring and likes cuddling. Would u like
to get together 2 see if any sparks fly?
FemmeFatale249
There were
249 femme fatales? The lesbian dating world should be very afraid.
Even
scarier, Mitchell gave me a screen name of GeekGrrl? What was he thinking? It
brought to mind dweeby emotionless dorks with giant, black plastic,
pop-bottle-thick eyeglasses. If I saw a screen name like that, I’d run
screaming.
I was
already prepared to run screaming from Ms. FemmeFatale. Even if she was Number
1 instead of 249, why would I be interested?
But OMG was right. All of this was so alarming that
I felt speechless. If Mitchell walked in the room right now, I wouldn’t know
what to say. I’d just have to kill him.
What other
lies and misinformation had he put in the profile?
I went
back to the original email, clicked the link, and read, soon glad that I’d not
yet eaten or I’m sure I would have puked.
He’d
filled in the general details to say I was five-seven, 150 pounds, medium
build, light brown hair, blue eyes, and a nonsmoker. Accuracy went right out
the window after that. I don’t have a “master’s degree in the sciences.” I
haven’t gotten my undergraduate degree completed. I’m 32, not in my
“tantalizing twenties,” and my profession would never be described as “software
magnate.” I’m not a social drinker, don’t own a Ferrari, and would never say I
was “sophisticated.”
He’d also
written that I was buff and physically fit, that I liked risks (but wasn’t
overly risky), enjoyed adventures, and loved kayaking, whitewater rafting, and
competitive swimming.
I’m a terrible swimmer. I wouldn’t even swim
in Vancouver Lake—and it’s only six or eight feet deep. My ex
and I used to canoe every once in a while with me in a massive life jacket, but
that was it. The rest of the description was pure and utter crap, but the part
that infuriated me the most was this:
I’m
told I’m generous, reliable, and a good conversationalist. My friends describe
me as a sexy butch with great legs. I love affectionate women who like to
cuddle. I’m sensitive, caring, and looking for a hot lover who will also be my
best friend. I’m interested in a committed relationship with a sensitive,
thoughtful woman who’s a great cook and even better with her hands.
I'm completely ready for a life-long romance of intimacy and
friendship. Are you?
Where did
he crib this bullshit from? No doubt, I was going to have to kill him.
Someone
beat on the door with a heavy thunk-thunk-thunk, and I knew it’d be Eddie, the
driver we paid to bring the morning load of computers and return at the end of
the day and take the repaired ones back. To save money, Mitchell and I had
talked about doing the delivery and pickup ourselves, but I didn’t want to waste
ninety minutes a day in traffic.
Still
feeling sick to my stomach, I got up to open the door and let Eddie in. He’s a
foot taller than me and resembles an NFL football player. He wheeled in a stack
of boxes and parked them near the shelving.
“Great
idea to rent an apartment for this, Sky.” He looked around with admiration on
his face. “And it even comes with a kitchenette so you can make your lunch.
Cool.”
Such a
different response than what I’d heard from Mitchell last night. Of course
Eddie probably had no clue that I lived here, and he didn’t need to be
enlightened.
“This it?”
I asked.
“Oh, no.
I’ve got another stack.”
“Sorry
there’s no elevator.”
“No
biggie. Be right back.” He picked up the dolly with one giant mitt and carried
it out.
I stood in
the cool morning breeze. The temperature was surprisingly comfortable for the
first of November, and the sky was clear.
The door
to 204 smacked open. Mini Xena, minus the Xena costume, stepped out onto the
walkway, and I could tell she was in a huff. Her little face was all scrunched
up and red, like she was about to cry but was holding back.
She said,
“I don’t see why I can’t.”
Her mother
stepped out of the apartment, pulled the door shut, and stuck in the key to
lock it. “You don’t need Halloween candy as part of your lunch.”
“But I
want it. I worked for it.”
I laughed.
What kid called trick or treating work?
Surprised,
Rebecca Talarico looked toward me. “Oh, good morning.”
Her dark
eyes met mine and my stomach did a tiny flip-flop. She was very attractive. Too
bad she was also straight. “And to you as well,” I said. “Sounds like
somebody’s not yet enjoying the day.”
Maya
looked up at me, eyes slitted and face closed. Whoa, she was monumentally
pissed.
Rebecca
said, “She didn’t get enough sleep. Excess chocolate and sugar do not agree
with young people.” She looked pointedly at her daughter.
Maya stomped
down the walkway. Eddie was at the far end wheeling a stack of boxes my way. As
Maya got closer, Eddie cracked a smile. “You having a bad day, little lady?”
“What do
you care?” I heard Maya say.
Eddie
said, “See if I ever give you a dolly ride.” He passed the child, and I stepped
aside to let him into my apartment.
Rebecca
said, “She’s a very strong-willed little girl. Thanks for being kind to her
yesterday.”
“She was
perfectly polite. She’s a smart kid for only eight.”
“Eight
going on twenty. Looks like you’re getting all settled in.”
She had no
way of knowing that I was as settled in as I could be for now, so I just
nodded.
She said,
“I better get to the car or she’ll decide to walk to school.”
Behind me,
Eddie called out, “Sky?”
I gave a
wave to Rebecca and said, “Have a great day at work.”
“You,
too.”
I went
back into the apartment and signed for the delivery.
“Same
timeline?” Eddie asked. “Back at four?”
“That’d be
great.”
I fussed
and fumed all day while taking apart computers and diagnosing why they weren’t
functioning properly. Four out of eight were all jammed up with malware and
viruses. They didn’t take long to cleanse. The others were more challenging,
but I was able to repair all of them by noon. Time to go to the office and have a little
chat with my sneaky business partner.
I CHARGED
INTO THE office of Sky High Computer Experts so fast that Mitchell didn’t see
me coming until I was halfway around the counter with my blood boiling.
He rose from the desk, hands up and palms
facing me. “Now wait a minute, Sky—”
“I will
not. What the hell were you thinking?”
“Come on,
you need—”
“You can’t
tell me what I need.” I wanted to stick my finger in his face, but I restrained
myself.
“Please. I
just want to help. You know that.”
“I told
you last night I don’t need help.”
“A little
female attention wouldn’t be a—”
“Shut up.”
I was mad, but I wanted him to understand my point, so I spoke slowly with the
hope that his pea-brain would hear me. “I know you’re trying to look out for
me, but I need some space now. I don’t need a bunch of people emailing me and
trying to hook up with me. When I’m ready I’ll let you know.”
“Okay,
okay.”
“You’re
going to lay off all this pressure now.” I glared at him until he let out a
breath and seemed to deflate.
“Yeah,
whatever. Sheesh, I thought you were going to hit me.”
“Don’t
make me,” I said in a mock serious voice.
He looked
at his watch. “Shop closes up in ten. You want to grab some tacos?” This was
always Mitchell’s offer. He’s gluten intolerant but he can eat beans and rice
and corn tortillas, so when he wanted comfort food with me—or for me—that’s
what he offered.
“Just make
me one promise,” he said. “When you do decide to go out on a date, will you
please let me cut and style that mop you’re wearing? God forbid that you should
be seen in public with some woman when your hair looks like that.”
“Has
anyone ever told you that you really know how to hurt a girl?”
“Just
looking out for your best interests, baby doll.”
I resisted
rolling my eyes, but I still wanted to smack him.
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