by Amy Sparling
After a couple of hours of drinking, eating and discussing the high and low points of the book, my full bladder needs relief. I’m trying to have fun and come out of my shell, but in the back of my mind, I’m unable to stop remembering that I am utterly and totally homeless now.
I walk around, trying to find a bathroom but out of the two on the main floor, both are occupied. I find Alexa and shift my weight uncomfortably. “Is there another bathroom I can use?” I laugh with embarrassment. “I really really have to pee,” I giggle.
“The wine will do that to you,” Alexa jokes and then points up the staircase overlooking the downstairs with a balcony. “Go upstairs, to the right. Then three doors down you’ll find another bathroom that you can use.”
“Thank you!” I chime with gratitude and jog upstairs.
When I come out of the bathroom a couple of minutes later, I am staring down at the plush, perfectly white carpet underneath my socks. I move my foot back and forth, wondering what it’d feel like to be barefoot on carpet this soft. I’m not even remotely paying attention to my surroundings in the moment and barrel directly into a six pack.
Not a traditional six pack, like a case of beer or anything. This is a shirtless six pack, exposed little mountains on a beautiful, hairless chest.
When I follow the muscular torso and gorgeous biceps up to the head, I’m met with the most gorgeous face of any man I’ve ever seen. He looks a little startled to see me, but I think any expression probably looks good on him.
Embarrassment makes me turn beet red, and heat flushes my face. “I’m so sorry,” I mumble, shaking my head. “I didn’t know anybody else was up here, I didn’t mean to run into you. I just had to pee.” I cringe at that last part. Why did I say that?
“Sometimes, life offers up happy accidents.” The guy flashes a perfect white smile in my direction. He’s clean shaven and has short brown hair that’s a little unruly and thicker at the top. He’s wearing jeans but nothing else, and I need to enlist all the willpower I have not to ogle at his bare chest.
“Well, I better get back to the book club.” I giggle like a swooning idiot and point downstairs. Oh my God, why did I giggle? I am not the giggling sort. It must be the wine.
The handsome hunk stares at me, drinking me in. “You seem a little young for book club,” he says. “Well, this book club.”
“Well I uh…you see I…they are nice and all but...” Great, now I’m stuttering, stammering and working up to an excuse that I’ll never be able to reasonably form into a decent sentence. He’s so cute that I’m forgetting how to converse with another human being. It’s like one look at his piercing eyes has somehow knocked all sense out of my brain.
He continues to grin at me with a flare of mischievousness. Something tells me he knows he’s driving me crazy and he thinks it’s funny. He props his arm up on the edge of the hallway and laughs, running his free hand through his gorgeously wavy hair.
“You look like you could use an intermission from the party.”
“Okay…” I laugh and dart my eyes to the floor because I’m afraid that if I look directly at him, those blue eyes might pierce my soul.
“I have an idea,” he says and claps his hands together.
“What is it?” I somehow manage to sound halfway cool in my reply.
“How good are you at air hockey?” He furrows his brow and feigns seriousness. “You know, like on a scale of one to ten?”
“Um…I’d say maybe a three…?”
“Hmm.” He contemplates my answer and places his index finger on his chin. “In that case, you could use some practice.”
I stand a little straighter. “What are you getting at?”
“Care to follow me?” He asks and gestures down the hall. At least he’s still gentlemanly enough to ask my permission first.
“Oh, what the hell,” I say and throw my arms up at my sides. “Sure, why not.”
I reluctantly glance back down as the party below continues on without me and follow him down the hallway where lo and behold, an air hockey table sits in the corner of a large game room.
He holds out his hand to shake mine. How terribly gentlemanlike. “I’m Mason Sharp by the way.”
His hand feels strong, rugged and masculine. It makes my knees weak. “I’m Olivia, but everyone calls me Livi,” I whisper, totally entranced by him, despite how I shouldn’t be.
“Well Livi, are you prepared to have your butt kicked?” He laughs and hits the side of the air hockey table.
“Yes I am.” I laugh and join him on the other side.
We play for a few minutes, flirting and having fun before I realize I should go back downstairs before Alexa wonders where I am. He’s extremely hot and everything he does is sexy, from the way he leans over the table to smack the puck toward me, to that crinkle in his eyes when I score a point against him. I could stay here forever, but I know I shouldn’t. He’s the sort of guy who knows he’s good looking. He probably crushes girls for the fun of it. Makes them fall in love and then dumps them for the next woman he meets. That’s not the type of guy for me.
I set my air hockey paddle down and swallow down my feelings. “I should get back.”
He leans over and turns off the table. “It was nice to meet you, Livi.”
“Nice to meet you too,” I grin and turn around. As I make my way back to the hallway and toward the stairs, I’m hoping he’ll call me back, ask for my number, anything. But he doesn’t, and I know that’s probably for the best anyway.
Chapter 9
Livi
My hand is on the doorknob, twisting it to leave the mansion on the lake when Alexa’s voice rings out. About half of the book club members have gone home, and it feels like a good time for me to leave, too.
“Livi, wait up!”
I turn around and adjusting my purse on my shoulder. I’m not trying to look freaked out, but my thoughts are on what happens after this night, when I no longer have a place to live. “Did I forget something?” I ask.
“No,” Alexa jogs up to me, out of breath. “I just want to walk you out.”
“Oh,” I say brightly. “That’s sweet of you.”
Alexa places a smooth hand on my shoulder. “Just seems like you need a friend.”
We step out into the fresh spring night where a faint breeze skirts across my skin, prickling it with chill bumps. Summer is right around the corner, but for now you still need a sweater when you go outside.
“My car is all the way at the end of the driveway,” I say, pointing toward my piece of crap car. “You don’t have to walk me that far down if you want to.”
“It’s okay with me,” Alexa says as she gazes up at the moon and clutches her shoulder wrap around her arms.
It’s right about now that the emotional turmoil I’ve been living in for the past few days bubbles to the surface and envelops me in unstoppable grief. The tears hit me before I can seal them into the tomb of my mind, and I choke back sobs.
Alexa notices immediately. She walks in front of me and stops me in my tracks, holding onto my arms.
“Livi?” She searches my facial features. “I knew something was wrong. What is it?”
I shake my head and wipe the sogginess from my eyes, sniffing in embarrassment. “I’m sorry…” I croak and trail off. There’s no way I’m going to tell her everything. I don’t need any more sympathy from my new friend.
“What’s wrong?” She whispers, her voice compassionate.
As much as I want to shake my head and say nothing at all is wrong, I decide to bite the bullet and just tell the truth, however pathetic it is. I’m already a total sobbing wreck as it is. I’ve already plunged over the deep end.
“Everything. Pretty much everything is wrong,” I cry and pull a tissue from my purse, dabbing it at my eyes.
“Start at the beginning,” Alexa says in a hushed voice, her hands still holding onto my arms.
I meet her gaze and the pain burns me to the core, igniting a fire inside of me t
hat I have to release.
“I’m going to be homeless tomorrow,” I say. It’s the first time I’ve said the word out loud and it hurts like hell.
Alexa furrows her brow. “I thought you lived at your grandma’s place?”
I shake my head and scoff bitterly. “My uncle is kicking me out. He inherited the place and wants to rent it for more money than I can afford. Can you believe it?”
“No!” Alexa cries with horror. “The audacity! Why would he treat his niece that way?”
I laugh with contempt. “He’s a complete jerk who only cares about himself.”
We continue to stroll down to my car, walking at a snail’s pace as we discuss my crumbling situation.
“I’m so sorry to hear that Livi,” Alexa says, and glances at the ground.
“It’s okay,” I chuckle through my tears. “It’s not your fault. I’m sorry for ruining the night. I really did have fun and I’m glad you invited me.”
Alexa stops me again and gives me a fierce look. “Don’t say that! You didn’t ruin anything.”
“I hate to hash out my problems to you,” I say sheepishly as we approach my car. “I don’t have a job and my dad won’t let me move into his house. He claims he is traveling the country with little miss ‘new boobs.’”
I detail my hatred of the new wife with the use of air quotes. Alexa begins to look at me with something I fear more than homelessness…pity.
“We will think of something…just try to stay positive.” I know Alexa is just trying to help, but I’m becoming increasingly frustrated by the moment.
“I don’t even know what to do,” I whisper with defeat and prop myself up against the side of my car, leaning with despair. “The tides have turned so quickly it’s making my head spin in circles.”
Alexa rubs my arm again and does her best to soothe me, but I laugh at the irony of my situation. “I have money for a few hotel nights, but I guess I’ll have to be sleeping in my car after that.” I point to the backseat. “Thank goodness winter is over, so at least there’s a silver lining.”
Alexa’s eyes swim with empathy for me, and I feel grateful to have a friend like her to vent to in a time of need.
“My uncle is such an ass,” I say with a flare of reflective anger. “I can’t go home, and I can’t stay here. I don’t know who else to blame but him.”
Alexa’s eyes well with sympathy tears of her own. “I’m so sorry Livi. It’s so unfair.” She rubs my back and sniffs. “I hate the fact that I have a friend who’s hurting like this. It’s a really shitty situation.”
“Thank you for being so understanding,” I say and give her my most feeble attempt at a smile.
“It’s so unfair, and you deserve so much better,” she affirms. “I have a couch you can crash on, but my place is really small and—”
“No,” I say, holding up my hand. “I’m not going to impose. That’s not why I told you. I just needed a friend. With Grandma gone, I’m completely useless.”
“Well, my couch is still available if you ever need it,” she says.
“I’m scared for the future,” I admit for the first time out loud.
A spark of brilliance shines in Alexa’s eyes and glows under the light of the moonlight. “You know what, Livi?”
“What?” I ask and wipe my nose again on my tissue, staring up at her.
“It’s fate that brought you here tonight,” she says confidently.
I laugh. “Do you really think so?”
“Absolutely!” Alexa nods. “It’s special because I had a gut feeling last night. Call it intuition or a pull from the universe…hell…I don’t know. I just knew I needed to invite you but I didn’t know why.”
Now Alexa is waving her arms around and pacing the length of my car. “Think about it,” she jabs my arm with playful lightheartedness. “I followed my instincts and it’s paid off.”
“I don’t see how,” I ask and shake my head, not clearly following the direction she’s leading me in.
“A little voice inside my head told me to seek you out on Facebook after you came into the bakery on Friday. I felt compelled to invite you to book club and you know what? I’m really freaking glad I did.”
Alexa folds her arms across her chest with friendly yet smug satisfaction, as if she’s proud of herself and is full of knowledge that I don’t understand yet.
“I appreciate the invite…” I respond and trail off again.
“I have a way of reading people,” Alexa confesses. “Not only that, but my subconscious always knows the way to insight.”
“That’s nice,” I say.
“It’s great!” she says and gives me an empathetic smile. “The fact that you are here tonight in spite of your difficulties proves just how strong you are underneath it all.”
“Do you really think so?” I ask, unconvinced of my own superhero capabilities.
“Yes,” she nods firmly. “Not only that, but your open honesty of your situation doesn’t have to end with grief or homelessness. I think I can help you.”
My shoulders sigh with relief, instantly feeling the weight of the world release. “Oh, Alexa…thank you. Anything at all you could do to help me would be wonderful.” I wipe my eyes.
Alexa becomes all business, chatting vibrantly. “I can probably get you a job at Sweets.”
I stare at her as gratitude seeps into my pores. “Really?” Perhaps there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
“Yes,” Alexa nods and then adds, “I can only pay you about ten dollars an hour though.”
I sigh with relief. “You don’t know how much that means to me. Ten dollars an hour is better than no job at zero dollars an hour.” I chuckle at my own diminutive joke.
“Exactly!” Alexa gestures with enthusiasm, giving me a playful little toss of her hand. “I need someone to run the front of the store for me. I’ve been meaning to hire someone for months. You have such a fun-loving personality, and I know you’ll be perfect for the job.”
I blush in the darkness, relishing in my new friend’s showering of compliments. “I’d love to help you hold down the fort in the front of the store. I’ll do whatever you need.”
Alexa makes a tiny hop in the air and claps her hands together. “Excellent! I think it will be a blast getting to work with you.”
My tears dry up almost instantly. It’s not a home, but it’s a job, and a job is one step closer to getting a home. Maybe I can find a super cheap motel to get me through until pay day. Plus, working with Alexa will be a dream because her bakery is so cute and fun and she’s the nicest person ever.
“When can I get started?” I ask.
“As soon as you want,” she beams.
I reach in to hug Alexa and she has the familiar, cozy smell of sugar and sweet, the perfect blend to comfort me in this time of hardship. Fresh tears sting my eyes again but this time they are tinged with happiness.
“Thank you,” I whisper into her shoulder, and she squeezes me a little tighter.
When I pull away, I clear my throat and take a deep breath as Alexa gives me a warm smile. “I’m happy to help you get back on your feet,” she says.
“Now all I need is a cheap apartment or a room to rent and I’ll be good,” I say, turning my gaze up to the stars as if my answer is up there. “Then maybe one day I can figure out what I’m supposed to do with my life.
“Oh my God.” Alexa’s face lights up like a Christmas tree, as if an actual lightbulb is getting switched on in her mind. “I have an idea,” she blurts out, covering her mouth with her hands.
“What is it?” I ask. “Are you friends with a landlord?”
Alexa beams at me. “Sort of. But he doesn’t know he’s a landlord yet. It’s the perfect place for you to stay. Meet me at the bakery at eight o’clock tomorrow morning and I’ll give you all the details. I just need to work it out myself first.”
I lift an eyebrow. “Okay…”
“Trust me,” she says, her eyes flashing with enthusiasm. It’
s the same look she gets when she’s icing a cupcake. “Eight o’clock tomorrow. I’ll have a place for you to rent.”
“Okay then,” I say, reaching for my car keys. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”
I smile on the drive back to Grandma’s house, where I’ll spend my last night in my old bedroom. Things are shitty and falling apart, but maybe, just maybe, they’ll get put back together again soon.
Chapter 10
After the cute girl scampers off downstairs in a hurry, I trudge back to my master bedroom, turning back into a recluse. Plopping down on my bed with a sigh, I grab the remote off my night stand and turn on the fifty-inch flat screen that hangs on the opposite wall of my bed, directly above the master bedroom fireplace.
I absentmindedly shuffle through the channels, going from one thing to the next, but my mind is adrift, wandering without paying attention to what’s on screen. The cute girl with the blonde bob cut is front and center in my brain. She reminds me of a younger version of Kelly Ripa or something, maybe just by looks. But she’s cuter. She’s got this innocence about her that really turns me on.
I reflect on the fun we had playing air hockey, and I know she’s probably fun to hang out with, but something in her eyes made her seem a little sad. Usually, I have a knack for reading people’s emotions by the way they talk, or simply by looking into the window to their soul…the eyes.
She spoke in a reserved tone. Sure, that might be springing from a deep-rooted shyness or something, or perhaps there is something more. Something bothering her. Maybe I reminded her of an ex, and that’s why she was a little reserved and more than willing to get away from me after only a quick game.
I shrug and flip the channels until I land on ESPN. Oh well, I’m not sure what’s wrong with the poor girl, but either way it’s not my problem, nor is it any of my business.
I glance over to the alarm clock on my bedside table. Over the dull hum of the TV, I can still hear a few people chatting downstairs. I hope this book club won’t run into tomorrow morning. I can’t go to sleep until I’ve locked up the doors and made sure the house is secure for the night.