Scarred for Life

  Dane wasn't sure what to say. "Weird. I've heard of that before, but I don't have it, so I didn't know if it was real or not. I usually just suspect everyone."

  "That would be my second line of defense. You know, if I listened to the first one, anyway," Nicole remarked dryly.

  "I can't see you suspecting everyone. You're a nice person. You give people chances. I'm willing to bet it blows up in your face a lot, but it's cool that you give people chances."

  "You think it's cool, even though you wouldn't do it?"

  "What I'd do might not fit what someone else would do. Besides, who's to say I wouldn't be the same way if I had led my life similar to yours? I'm sure there's something in life that made you this way. I respect whatever that was. I mean, at some point in your life you either got to see a great act of kindness or just decided there isn't enough kindness in the world and you wanted to fix that. You shouldn't be ashamed of that. The world needs good people to make it livable and make life worth it. Never be ashamed of being kind, even if there are assholes out there that take advantage. You're a better person than they are because you have a good heart, so please, don't be ashamed of that," Dane proclaimed in a dead serious tone.

  From the look in her eyes, it was clear Nicole was confounded. "Thank you for that, Danny. Sometimes… I do feel like an idiot for being like this, especially after falling for Tyler. But, other times it is just like you said. I have seen great acts of kindness in my life and would like to live up to those. I also do believe that there isn't enough kindness in the world. It makes me feel good to help others, even though it can be stressful, too."

  "You're a good person, Nick. I hope you stay this way forever. I hope no asshole ever takes that away from you."

  The conversation ended on that note, neither knowing what else to say. Despite the seriousness of the discussion, the silence was peaceful and they enjoyed their meal wrapped in it. Once they were done eating, Nicole was the one to break the silence.

  "I think I'll have a glass of wine. Would you like one?" the redhead offered.

  "No thanks. I try not to drink," Dane answered.

  "No? Well, I don't want to drink by myself, so how about we share some ice cream instead? Ice cream and chocolate syrup," Nicole proposed, smacking her lips a little.

  Her proposition was received with that bright, toothy grin. "Now that's an idea I can get behind."

  "I'm surprised you have room for ice cream after dinner and the cups of noodles you had before I got here. You're just a bottomless pit when it comes to food, huh?"

  A chuckle and a smile came as Dane held up her hand as if she was taking a pledge. "Guilty as charged, your honor."

  Nicole fished out a container of chocolate and vanilla ice cream from the freezer. Dane got up and grabbed two bowls and two spoons. They met back at the table in the corner and proceeded to feast on ice cream while getting to know one another a little more, talking about trivia shows and making plans for rematches tomorrow at the same time. As soon as her bowl was empty, Nicole somewhat suppressed a yawn, but couldn't resist rubbing her eyes. Dane tilted her head as she took in the sight, thinking that Nicole looked adorable rubbing her eyes like a sleepy little kid.

  "I'll get the dishes." Dane hopped up before the lawyer could move. Nicole watched the younger woman limp over to the sink.

  "Danny, you didn't have to. I would've done the dishes," Nicole argued.

  "I have no doubt about that, but I got 'em. You just go relax or something."

  Nicole tried to fight off a yawn again, but she lost the battle. "Danny, I think I have to call it a night. I have some work to get out of the way before I can actually go to bed. If you need anything, I'm right upstairs, basically the same place you could be if you take one of the guestrooms," she said, obviously no longer caring about subtlety to get her guest into a proper room.

  "I don't need the guestroom. I'm fine in the den." Dane finished the last of their dessert dishes. She couldn't stop smiling, even while doing such a boring chore. She wasn't sure what came over her, but she didn't fight it.

  "Are you sure? I mean, the den doesn't even have a TV or a radio. It's the furthest room from the bathroom down here," Nicole pointed out.

  Dane chuckled. "I'll live, Nick," she replied, clicking the nickname at the end as a taunt in an attempt to get her hostess to leave her be.

  "I want you to live comfortably, Danny," Nicole countered, rolling the name off her tongue as if it were a counter for this new moniker with which her guest had stuck her.

  "Been there, done that, and I will again, in the den. I'll be fine, Nick."

  Nicole didn't argue. "Don't think this is over, Danny. I'll continue with this until you're in one of those rooms. Unfortunately, tonight will not be that night, because I need to get to work before I pass out. I'm going to bed. Goodnight."

  "Goodnight."

  ***

  Nicole disappeared from the kitchen and made her way upstairs. She cracked open her briefcase to get to work on items that she didn't get to at the office. Sighing, she shook her head at the common occurrence of never getting a chance to finish up at the office; something always came up. Tension tore at her face as she thought about her life at the firm, but dwelling on the frustration wouldn't do her any good.

  A few hours later, Nicole crawled out from under her work after figuring out that she had nodded off. She carefully put everything away in her briefcase, checking to make sure it was in order as she did so. She then took a long, hot shower and changed into her favorite pajamas: cotton light blue pants with a matching tank top that had a baby duck on the front. She was about to flop into bed when she heard an odd groaning sound, like someone in pain. At first, she thought someone was in the house, but then she remembered that she had a guest. Could Danny be making that noise?

  "I'll just go check on her and see how she is," Nicole murmured, needing to do so for her own peace of mind.

  The redhead stepped downstairs as quickly as possible, finding the lower level of the house blanketed in darkness. She waited for her eyes to adjust before trying to find the den; she didn't go there enough to feel confident enough to make it to the room in the dark without the aid of her eyes. Once her eyes adjusted, she went to the doorway and saw Danny laid out on the undoubtedly uncomfortable and too short sofa.

  "Oh, that's it. Tomorrow I'm going to get her to take a guestroom," Nicole soundly whispered. She would not have a guest sleeping on a decrepit couch that was too compact for her tall frame.

  Dane wasn't covered with anything except the tattered clothes on her body and a thin layer of sweat, and the night was cool. From the way her lanky body was twisted, it was clear that she kicked her blanket off; it was pooled on the floor at the edge of the sofa.

  Nicole bent down to pick up the cover and found out that Dane was the one making the noise that she heard. The younger woman whined in her sleep, sharply turning to rest on her side while throwing her arm out at the same time. Nicole paused, taking in the tight grimace on Dane's face that was clouded by darkness.

  "Nightmares?" Nicole wondered, and the pained wince and howling moan that Dane released confirmed that thought. "I hope she isn't dreaming about something that really happened," the attorney muttered because of the agonized expression on her guest's face.

  Dane flipped and shifted again, thrashing at the air as she did so. Without thinking, Nicole reached out, caressing Dane's forehead. The younger woman gasped at the touch, but Nicole didn't let up. Her warm palm softly glided over the tense, wrinkled brow, brushing against the edges of Dane's headphones, which she was wearing.

  For a few seconds, Dane panted heavily, but started calming down when the gentle pressure on her forehead didn't desist. The redhead stroked Dane's forehead until the ebony-haired female was composed and having a soothing sleep. When she felt it was safe to cease, Nicole leaned down to pick up Dane's blanket. She covered the long, horizontal form with the thin quilt. Eyeing her handiwork, she looked Dane up and down. Leaning down
to make certain that every inch of Danny was properly covered, Nicole turned her attention to the large earphones on Danny's head with music blaring through them.

  "She's going to make herself deaf." Nicole slid the headphones off. She couldn't believe that Danny actually wore them to bed. She plucked Dane's MP3 player off the floor and turned the device off. Danny didn't move at all during this time. Nicole exited the room, returning to her own bedroom. She didn't hear any more sounds of distress that night.

  ***

  The sun invaded the small room with a vengeance, shining directly into Dane's copper face. A grumble escaped her and she turned her back, hoping to escape her tormentor. The sun wasn't alone in its assault. Birds began singing, taking Dane from her rest.

  "Fine, I'm up," she huffed, sitting up and flinging the blanket off her. She yawned loudly. Blinking a few times, she realized she truly was awake. She felt well rested and refreshed. "Wow, I've never had a sleep that good before." Knowing her great slumber had to do with her environment, Dane felt compelled to do something in return for the person that made it possible.

  Although she wasn't very much accustomed to feeling nowadays, she was also no longer in the habit of thinking too much on anything. Much of her life was action and reaction… or action and no action. So, she just accepted the desire to do something for Nicole as a reaction to her phenomenal sleep.

  Standing, she stretched out her long frame. Several joints and bones popped and snapped. She didn't wince or flinch as she heard the sounds. Force of habit caused her to reach onto her head to remove her headphones, only to end up touching her hair. She patted her head, trying to locate her headphones, when her eyes spied them right next to where her head rested before. She scratched her head, wondering how they got there.

  "I probably knocked them off in my sleep," she figured.

  She exited the room, making her first stop in the bathroom. She happened to glance at a clock on her way to find that she was up way too early in the morning; it was seven. Not feeling the urge to climb back under her blanket, she shrugged and set her mind to what she felt were more important matters.

  "I wonder when Nick wakes up," Dane muttered as she washed her face, getting a good glop of sleep out of her eyes.

  Her face was irradiant as she had an epiphany that made her forgo a shower and she rushed into the kitchen. Something inside of Dane that she had been sure died and was deeply buried, sprang from the coldness in her heart and ached for new life. She smiled proudly as she rummaged through cabinets and the refrigerator.

  ***

  Nicole awoke with a yawn and sat up. She glanced over at the clock radio on her nightstand. She was surprised to discover she was up twenty minutes too soon. She groaned and dropped down onto her pillow.

  "Why am I up?" she wondered, wishing she could throw a tantrum to get back to sleep. Instead, a scent caught her attention and went right to her stomach.

  She followed her nose, out of the bed, and then downstairs. Danny was in the kitchen, setting up plates on the table in the corner. Nicole thought her insides might fall out of her body and she might swoon from the astonishment that she was feeling.

  "Hey, Nick," Dane greeted the dumbfounded woman when she saw her hostess standing in the middle of the kitchen.

  "Morning…" Nicole murmured as a bewildered expression twisted her normally soft features.

  "Not a morning person, huh? I'm not usually one for it, either… but then again, I'm just not good with waking up point blank." Dane's refulgent grin followed like clockwork. "Today's different, though. I woke up feeling really refreshed."

  "You made breakfast…." Nicole said in a shaky tone, trying to lift her hand in order to point at said meal. Her brain wasn't functioning properly enough for her to point, though. She felt like she was in some strange dream where someone other than her parents actually did something nice for her.

  "Yeah, I figured I'd get breakfast since you handled everything yesterday. Plus, I was wide-awake and needed something to do. I didn't know if you'd want something light or heavy for breakfast. I made French toast, eggs, and sausage. You're going to have to make your own plate. I just set everything up on the table, like a buffet, because I didn't know how much you usually eat."

  Nicole could only nod. They both made their plates from the piles of food that were laid out on the table. They existed in pleasant silence for a while.

  "What do you usually drink with breakfast? Coffee? Tea? Orange juice?" Dane inquired.

  "Danny, you don't have to do all of this," Nicole asserted.

  "I don't mind. Let me do something for you, Nick," Dane said in an almost seductive whisper.

  Nicole gulped. "Wha… what?" She suddenly felt warm and hoped that she wasn't blushing. Unfortunately, she knew the warmth meant that her body betrayed her.

  "I have a feeling you're the kind that just does for everybody else. Let me do something for you. You don't have to take care of me," Dane insisted. "Sit back and relax. Now, what do you take with breakfast?"

  "Orange or apple juice is fine."

  Dane nodded and gave Nicole a stern look, which caused the lawyer to sit back as instructed. Nicole's mind was spinning. No one had ever in her adult life had made breakfast for her, served her, and insisted on doing so. She always did that for someone else. She allowed Dane to serve her to see what it was like. She quickly learned it was quite splendid and it made the day ahead of her seem tractable.

  "Thank you for this, Danny," Nicole said on her way out of the door.

  "Don't mention it, Nick. You deserve it and more."

  CHAPTER 6

  Dane yawned and stretched in the living room of Nick's home. She didn't know what to do with herself, but something in her body urged her to keep moving. She walked in a circle for the sixth time, looking like a dog trying to figure out where to mark her territory. Although as large as the living room was, if anyone walked in on her wandering in the circle, she'd assure them that she was doing that just to make sure she didn't get lost and she figured they would believe her.

  "And I don't have any bread crumbs to drop." Dane wished she had an audience; a laugh or two would have been nice.

  She didn't want to do anything, but she itched to do something. Sometimes she was restive, and sometimes she was…well, she could make a boulder look active. She preferred the latter to the former, being able to completely shut down when she could, but she couldn't control when she'd get fidgety. Sometimes, she could go weeks without restlessness overtaking her and other times it could hit her for days at a time. Right now, it was bludgeoning her. It might have been jump started by her activities yesterday and that morning.

  She felt anxious and trapped by life at these times, like everything around her could come to an end if she didn't do something. Her muscles ached for movement and her nerves twitched, like everything inside of her was ready to flee her skin. If I find something to do, everything'll be fine.

  "I just…I just…" She gnawed on her lip and ran a shaky hand through her hair. Panicked grey eyes scanned for something to do before she ended up running from the room screaming.

  Thankfully, something caught her eye; there were some magazines scattered atop the coffee table. She and Nick had made the mess yesterday when Nicole realized that they hadn't removed Tyler's magazines when they packed his belongings. Tyler had a huge heap of various magazines, some rather old. They didn't bother to stop and straighten up anything while ripping his stuff apart. Nicole said that she'd take care of it when she came in from work.

  "Like hell she will."

  Dane was moving before she even realized what she was doing, neatly stacking magazines and the couple of photography books that were out. She took in the titles to see what kind of things Nicole read. She wasn't surprised to see there were law and business journals. A couple of nature magazines were in the pile, which went with the photography collection that Nicole got from her cousin. Dane could guess that Nicole liked nature and animals. Smiling, she paused briefly
when she came across a few women's periodicals. One that really caught her eye was a ladies' undergarments catalog.

  Flipping it open, Dane scanned the pages. Nodding with approval without even realizing it, she went through the book. She noticed some of the pages had been dog-eared. The first page she looked at that had been marked had a couple of items on it, so she wondered which one Nicole was interested in. Continuing on, she came to another page that was marked and there was no wondering which one Nicole wanted because there was only one thing on the page. Dane's imagination conjured up a picture of Nicole in the lingerie. Exhaling sharply as soon as the image settled, Dane quickly shook it away.

  "No, I won't think of Nick like that. She's not some bunny to chase," Dane reproached herself, growling in anger for her inner predatory daring to come out and direct itself toward Nicole. She wouldn't cheapen the budding friendship she had with Nicole.

  Closing the underwear catalog, Dane went back to her task as she got a feel for what type of magazines Nicole read, which all fit the lawyer. Well, no, not all of them. There were a few scientific journals mixed in with others and that puzzled Dane. After sorting the magazines, she turned her attention to the rest of the coffee table. She adjusted a vase with its single, lavender rose. It added a dash of feminine color to the black and light blues around the room.

  "Well, that killed a couple of minutes. Now what?" Dane pondered, looking around the room and scratching her head. She glanced at the clock on the wall and realized Nicole would probably be home in about an hour. "I'll make her dinner. It'll be one less thing for her to worry about when she comes in and then we can watch TV together again." A grin overtook her face as she thought about how elated Nicole would be when she came home to dinner.

  The kitchen was packed with everything she'd need. Despite the fact that she wasn't as practiced in cooking as she pretended to be, she got to work. The meal was spaghetti and meatballs. She planned to toast some buttered bread right before they sat down to eat. In her head the whole thing was perfect, so she went to sit down on the couch as the meatballs cooked. Unfortunately, she hadn't counted on falling asleep minutes later. The smell of smoke and the beeping of the smoke detector woke her up.