"You don't believe me? Here's my ID." The young woman dug into her wallet and playfully flung a card at Nicole.
The redhead yelped as she caught the card by accident. She just put her hands up to block the object cruising toward her. Looking down, she found herself holding a driver's license. Upon closer inspection, it was her guest's license. Not remembering that she didn't know the girl's name, she went right for the birthday and saw that the ‘kid’ was actually twenty-four.
"This could be a fake ID," Nicole argued. She saw more than her fair share of those.
"Gimme that!" The guest snatched back her ID. "Fake indeed. Like I would waste a perfectly good fake ID on you. I'm twenty-four."
"Sure you are, kid," Nicole remarked, rolling her eyes. She wasn't sure if she believed her guest, but she had to admit that the girl had a point.
"Whatever. I don't have to prove shit to you. How old are you anyway? Twenty?"
"I wish. I'm twenty-seven. Hell, I'll be twenty-eight sooner than I like."
A half smirk pulled at full lips. "Now who's the liar?"
"I am twenty-seven," Nicole insisted.
"Sure you are." With that, the tall, young woman disappeared back into the den. She reemerged moments later with her decrepit backpack on her shoulder and battered guitar case in hand. "Well, thanks for everything." She tipped an imaginary hat.
Briefly, Nicole eyed the guitar case. She pondered where the younger woman was going with a guitar case. Remembering the matter at hand, she decided against asking about the case.
"Are you sure you don't want me to call your parents?" Nicole asked, concern peppering her tone. Despite the height and ID, she still thought the girl was a nomadic teen.
"I promise you, I'm old enough to not only take care of myself, but also vote and legally obtain a drink if the urge overcomes me. So, no, you don't need to call my parents."
"Are you sure I can't drive you anywhere?"
"You already guessed that I really don't have any place to be, so there's no place for you to drive me."
Nicole put a finger to her chin. "So, what will you do? Where are you going to go?"
There was a lighthearted shrug. "Don't really know right now. I'll just walk around until I get smelly enough to where I have to beg or buy a place to stay so I can get a shower. That's pretty much what I do."
"That's some way to live there." She really wanted to say, "That's no way to live," but assumed it'd be discourteous.
There was another shrug. "Could be worse. Well, let me let you get back to your Sunday."
Nicole silently watched her guest grip the strap of her book bag tighter and limp toward the door. She wanted to do something for this creature of circumstances that had been such a help to her, but she wasn't sure what she should or could do. As a tanned hand reached for the doorknob, something finally leaped off her tongue.
"You never told me your name," Nicole blurted.
"I didn't? To be fair, you never told me yours, either," the younger woman countered with a captivating, lopsided smile.
"What're you, six? This is like a sick version of 'you show me yours and I'll show you mine'? Come on, what's your name?"
"Most people call me Dane," she answered.
"Dane Wolfe?" Nicole laughed, intrinsically knowing that wasn't her guest's real name. She doubted that even someone in Tyler's family was so impaired to name a child with the surname Wolfe after a canine breed. "Be serious, what's your name?"
"I told you, most people call me Dane. The Great Dane."
Nicole laughed again, harder than before. Oh, what a horrible nickname, "Tell me your real name. What's the name on your birth certificate?"
Dane ran her hand through her short hair and glanced away. "Well, the name on my birth certificate is Danielle Wolf…"
"Ah, now that is the name I would expect from someone in your family. I mean, I knew that no one from Tyler's family would be called 'Dane.' Great Dane no less," Nicole commented with a laugh.
Dane put down her guitar case in order to fold her hands across her chest and frowned. Nicole quickly stopped giggling. Dane leaned on her strong leg and scratched the bridge of her nose.
"I'm sorry, Danielle."
Dane winced as if that was the most derogatory thing she had ever heard in her life. "So, what's your name?"
"Oh. I'm Nicole Cardell. It's a pleasure to meet you, and never call me Nikki," she remarked, putting out her hand.
Dane wasted no time shaking the proffered hand. The handshake lasted five seconds before Dane let the hand go. Dane then turned her attention back to the door, ready to get a move on. Nicole felt a nervousness flutter to life in her stomach and she discerned what it was. It troubled her to not be able to requite the kindness she believed Dane bestowed upon her by assisting her in collecting Tyler's belongings, even though Dane had no obligation to help. She needed to be able to reciprocate the courtesy.
"Hey, wait," Nicole said.
"Yes?"
"Look, names aside, I know I don't know you and you don't know me and for all either of us know the other could be an axe murderer, but I just don't feel right about letting you walk out with no destination in mind and no place to stay." She paused momentarily, needing to consider what she was about to suggest. She fiddled with her fingers and took a deep breath before continuing. "You could stay here for a little while…until you figure out what you're going to do, anyway."
***
Dane was set to decline; she knew exactly what she was going to do. Her words halted and died in her throat because she saw in Nicole's green eyes that the proposal wasn't just for her, but also for Nicole. She finally took the time to realize that she was in the presence of a gentle soul, someone that actually cared about another person's wellbeing. She thought about the actions and words of Nicole throughout the day. How Nicole was careful with Tyler's things, even though she was upset with him. How she was tactful about Dane's rather robust odor, even though Dane knew the smell was enough to suffocate a pig. How she offered Dane anything she thought the younger woman needed, even though she didn't know much about Dane outside of the fact that Dane was Tyler's cousin. It registered with Dane that Nicole was genuine, and the fact hit Dane hard because she wasn't used to such a thing.
She had a feeling that if she left, it would haunt Nicole, plague her as she wondered whatever became of Tyler's homeless cousin. I guess I can let her do a good deed for a day, Dane figured. The last thing she wanted to do was screw up one of the few good people in existence. Besides, it'd give her a chance to plot her next move and maybe get another hot meal. It'd definitely allot her a chance to grab another hot shower and wash her malodorous clothing.
"I'll stick around on one condition."
"Which is?" Nicole inquired.
"You never call me Danielle again," Dane stated seriously. She wasn't sure why she told Nicole her real name; it was like her mouth had moved without her permission. Something about Nicole drew the name out of her.
"Well, I'm not calling you Dane. That's just silly and I bet you made it up yourself when you were, like, four years old and your family had a Great Dane for a pet," Nicole quipped with a taunting smile.
Dane arched an eyebrow. "I was five and our neighbors had the dog, who was very cool, but that's beside the point, Nick. I'm Dane and that's that."
Nicole folded her arms across her chest and cocked out her hip. "I'm not calling you that. I'm sure your family doesn't call you that."
"Yeah, they do, Nick." Dane hoped she was being irksome with the name that she was imposing on her hostess. She thought it'd help convey her feelings with being called something she hated.
"Well, that they might, but I'm not calling you that," Nicole stated.
Dane sighed, once again reading Nicole's mind through her eyes. Apparently, the matter wasn't going to be dropped. Well, Dane had no desire to be called Danielle, no matter how short her stay was.
"Fine, my friends call me Danny," Dane said, throwing her hands up in def
eat.
"Nice to meet you, Danny. So, why don't you go put your stuff down? I'll fix us some lunch."
Dane didn't argue, noticing that she hadn't won the last debate and wasn't interested in racking up any more losses. Besides, she could go for some lunch. So, while Nicole went to the kitchen, Dane went back into the den and put her things down. As the pair became better acquainted over lunch. Dane wasn't totally sure what to make of Nicole, but she was certain she had come across someone without any serious secrets, someone without a mask on this stage, someone real.
CHAPTER 3
"So, I noticed you have a lot of photos around here and I'm not talking about the people," Dane commented. She and Nicole were seated in the kitchen, having tuna sandwiches on toasted bread with lettuce and tomato and fries for lunch. No complaints came from the guest, which Nicole cherished.
"Oh, they're photos by my cousin. She specializes in taking pictures of landscapes and wildlife. I think she captures them really well. So, every now and then, she sends me a picture that she assumes I'd like," Nicole explained before taking a small bite of her sandwich. A smile worked its way onto her face as she thought about her cousin and her photos.
"You obviously like them. She has a good eye. Don't know much about photography, but I've spoken to some folks that do and from what I've learned, she looks like she knows what she's doing. She do it for a living?"
"Yes, she's a professional photographer."
"Does she send them for free?"
Nicole blinked, believing that was a peculiar question before remembering Dane's family. "Yes, she sends them to me for free. We're pretty close. She knows I love her work."
"I can see why. She uses interesting angles on her photos."
Nicole nodded and smiled. "That's one of the things I like best about her work. Tyler never understood it. He used to always ask me why the hell I had photos of a rose bush from a gopher's perspective."
"Well, this is one thing he has an excuse on. He comes from a very art challenged family. Well, more like a mentally challenged family," Dane quipped with an amused half smile.
"Well, you sound like you know a thing or two about art. I can't speak on your mental health yet," Nicole commented with a smile.
"Look who's talking. You're the one taking in stray dogs," Dane playfully countered. "As far as art goes, I respect all types, even if I don't understand them. To me, photography isn't that hard to get. Your cousin's work is nice. I feel like just by looking at the photos I can understand her love for nature. From the couple of pieces I saw, it seems like she's trying to give you the animal's views of the world around them, which I think she does a good job of."
The vagabond Wolfe having such a profound view on her cousin’s work dumbfounded Nicole. Often, Tyler dismissed her cousin's work as simple pictures and didn't even recognize photography as a true vocation or a craft. Occasionally, it seemed that he regarded her with contempt for enjoying the work. She had lost count of the number of times he berated her for wasting time going through "inane pictures." To him, there was no real future in photography because he didn't think there was much money or status in it. She disagreed with him, but didn't bother arguing with him after a while because he was set in his ways.
Seconds ticked by before Nicole found her voice again. "You're rather perceptive. Tyler's seen dozens of the photos and he couldn't understand any of them. Hell, he didn't even try to understand them."
Dane chuckled, shaking her head. "I ain't that little dipshit. There's plenty he doesn't understand. Figures they're just pointless and he shouldn't waste his time bothering to figuring them out. Can't enjoy simple pleasures in life because of that."
Nicole nodded. "Amen to that." Her eyes drifted down to her plate, settling on her half eaten lunch. "You know, I could never sit here like this with him, eating a tuna sandwich with fries. He doesn't even like going to places that sell fries. It didn't aggravate me much. But, I'm just not like that. I can enjoy something this simple and I never noticed that he can't. It's like he thinks the more expensive the food, the better it tastes."
"He might think that, but he's a fucking idiot to not appreciate good food like this. Even the breakfast you made was good and I ate it cold." An inkling of a scowl appeared on Dane's face as if it was an affront to her that her cousin wasn't thankful for a woman that made delicious meals for him.
A modest blush stained Nicole's cheeks; she wasn't used to hearing compliments on her cooking. "It's no big deal. I'm starting to see that he doesn't appreciate much. I feel like a fool for dating him, especially since I excused a lot of his behavior."
"I'm sure he wasn't behaving like a complete ass when you met him, even though I can't see him acting as anything other than the dipshit he is. But, you said he was romantic and stuff. You probably just couldn't see through the act at first."
Nicole sighed, glancing away. "I fell right for it. He was witty and charming at first and such a gentleman. We had some fun in the beginning. It seemed like he truly believed I was special at first, but now I know that was all a fallacy. I called him on it and we had this huge fight before I threw him out. But, I don't want to discuss him anymore. He's out of my life for the most part, so it's time to move on and enjoy my newfound freedom from that harrowing, suffocating prison."
"I figured you ended things with Dipshit. I didn't hear any fight or anything since I sleep with my headphones on and I was pretty much dead to the world. Bet that burned him up. He found out he wasn't God's gift to women." An amused half smile graced Dane's features.
The older woman snorted. "Far from it. I discovered that not only did we have very little in common, but he also wasn't the man that he presented himself to be. Rarely did he want to go out on dates to places that I wanted to go. I now realize he only feigned interest in the few places he went with me early on." Shaking her head again, Nicole glanced away in disgrace.
A copper-toned hand went through ebony locks. "Hey, don't worry about it. You cut him loose and you get to move on. Plus, you know the signs to look out for in the next asshole that comes along."
"The thing is, this isn't the first time I've fallen for a person that proves to be an asshole later on. My entire dating history involves people who seem satisfactory and then turn out to be insufferable. I just cannot get my personal life together. I'd sworn off dating because of it for a whole year before I gave Tyler a chance and all he did was reaffirm that I attract loathsome people. It seems as if I'm attracted to assholes, which is quite disturbing."
Dane scratched the end of her nose. "You know what? Don't even bother to think about it. Relax today and be happy that you got rid of Dipshit."
Nicole nodded. "Good plan. Hmm…would you mind watching a movie with me? It's been a while since I've seen a movie that I actually wanted to see and I wouldn't mind your company." Really, she wouldn't mind any company. She wasn't in the mood to be alone, mostly because she'd dwell on the fact that her relationship with Tyler failed. Part of her was very relieved it was over, but another part of her had doubts, wondering if her actions were prudent. Things had ended so abruptly that she was already considering it was possible she acted too hastily. Those thoughts would get worse if she were solitary.
Dane agreed, but insisted on doing the dishes first. While Nicole grabbed some snacks for their movie event, Danny attended to the dishes. After washing one plate, she paused and flexed her left hand. The action was repeated after she washed the other plate. Nicole dismissed it.
***
"Do you like ginger snaps or chocolate chip cookies?" Nicole asked, scanning her cabinets for either box.
"Doesn't matter to me. Grab the ones you like. I'm almost done over here." Dane glanced over at Nicole as the older woman was reaching into one of the top cabinets. She almost whistled.
Suddenly, a bizarre emotion raced through Dane and she was vaguely aware it was guilt. She felt a twinge of shame for eyeing a woman that was being so considerate to her for no reason that she could see. Her reaction
to her beautiful host was somewhat astounding. Up until now, she thought that all of her emotions and senses were deceased and buried.
Nicole whooped in victory, locating the cookies that she sought. Dane and Nicole retreated into the immense living room. It was painted a soothing powder blue that implored its inhabitants to relax. There was a healthy potted plant close to the entrance where sunlight would easily reach it. A framed poster-sized black and white photo of cranes in a marsh hung on the back wall over the couch. Dane flopped down onto the large, black leather couch, taking in the other framed pictures around the room, especially the ones on the obsidian coffee table in front of her. Family members, probably.
There had been a couple of candid pictures of Tyler in which Dane could almost understand what Nicole saw in him. There was a shot of him reading a book. He appeared calm and at peace. Nicole had smiled when she saw that picture and said he wasn't aware she took the picture until he saw it in a frame on her nightstand. She explained that he disliked it, even though she doubted Dane had wanted to hear; Dane had listened regardless. She thought he appeared languid and exposed, which was what she liked about it. She said she wished Tyler had revealed that side of himself more often, shown that he trusted her to take care of all of him—including his vulnerable side. That side of him was extremely cute and desirable; Dane had silently disagreed with that, but didn't stop Nicole from talking. Dane calmly pointed out that he was probably just acting how he really was, but Nicole hadn't agreed because she didn't believe someone could fake vulnerability that well and then suddenly lose it all in a matter of months.
Having seen her cousin in action a couple of times, Dane knew he could put on a suave act to swiftly gain favor with ladies and she could see why he'd do that with Nicole. She was divine, with a figure that made Dane gawk more than once. A couple of times when Nicole bent over to grab something that morning, grey eyes clocked her shapely rear as if it would run away. Nicole being attractive was probably only half of what Tyler liked in a woman. If the house spoke of anything, Nicole was wealthy, which undoubtedly drew Tyler to her like blood in water drew in a shark.
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