by Jenna Reed
“What’d you say your name was again?” I ask before taking another swig of my beer.
“His name’s Sam,” Nina answers for him, her features tight. I know I’ve most definitely upset her, but I want this douche nugget to leave before I have to escort him out. “What’s gotten into you, Travis?”
“Nothing, I live here with you. Can’t we hang out like we normally do?”
“This is not normal,” Nina snaps, getting visibly annoyed with me.
“Uhh, I think I should leave,” Sam announces, placing his wine glass on the table. He looks really uncomfortable, and I hope my little outburst is going to work in my favor.
Nina glares at me as she speaks to douche pants, “No, you don’t have to. He’s just being ridiculous—”
“Well, Seth,” I interrupt Nina. “I think you’re right, it’s been nice meeting you, but it’s time for you to go now.”
“His name is Sam!” Nina growls, looking as if she’s ready to strangle me.
He nods and pushes away from the table, and honestly, I’m a little shocked. I half expected him to put more effort into staying.
“It was nice helping you put furniture together.” He gives Nina a boyish smile, “I’ll see you at work on Monday.” Then he’s gone, walking out the door.
Of course, I’m left to face the wrath of Nina, the second he’s gone. She looks far more pissed than I’ve ever seen before.
Staring straight at me, her eyes burning into mine. “Do something like that again, and you can move out. I didn’t say or do anything when you had Sydney here. Maybe next time, I will.”
I shrug, “Won’t matter. Sydney’s not coming back.” With that, I tip the rest of my beer into my mouth and drink it down, letting the liquid fill my belly. I know I’ll regret what I just did tomorrow, but right now, I’m happier than a pig in shit.
10
Nina
I’ve never been so glad for it to be Monday morning, so I could go back to work. Avoiding Travis for the rest of the weekend was tiring, but I just couldn’t deal with him.
The way he acted, all jealous when he saw Sam and me together. I could’ve punched him in the face for acting the way he did, poor Sam didn’t deserve that, but part of me is simply confused about the whole thing.
I try to picture what it looked like when Travis walked in on us. We were entangled on the floor, and it probably looked like we were enjoying it, despite the kiss being a little lackluster, not that he needed to know that. It was hard to rationalize how he acted toward Sam when he had Sydney, the hot little number, pawing at him. After hours of analyzing the situation, I came to the conclusion that Travis was simply drunk and acting silly.
Ugh. I shouldn’t be thinking about this right now. Not at work when I’m here with Sam, who I have had to apologize to for Travis’s shit manners. All day, I’ve had the desire to pull Sam into an empty office and kiss him just to confirm that there wasn’t any passion there. So far, since that kiss, we haven’t seemed to have any chemistry. I think it’s because Travis is still very much on my mind. Maybe if I don’t focus on my hot roommate and just focus on my hot co-worker, it will make it a lot better.
I wrap up any contracts I’m working on and pin the names to the bulletin board in case I call in sick, and they need to know where I am. Looking at the six dirty coffee cups on my desk, I decide I better do some dishes.
Going into the kitchen, balancing all six cups, I run into Sam. The large mug of coffee in his hand, and the pot he’s brewing, mean he’s staying late in the office.
“Another late one,” I say as more of a statement than a question.
“Yes, they’re having a meeting tonight, they’ll want an errand boy for. Food, coffee, the whole thing.” He shrugs. “I’m here for whatever they need.”
“Such a good little errand boy,” I say and wish I hadn’t.
“Yeah, it helps me pay off my loans faster, extra hours equals extra money.”
I nod understandingly. My attempt to casually lean on the counter fails as I’m too close to the edge, and I spill onto the floor. I bump my elbow on the handle of the cabinet, and my funny bone erupts in pain. “Ow,” I say, but don’t show how much that sucks.
He helps me up with a laugh, and I blush. “I’m so clumsy,” I say, and then hate myself as I giggle like a dumb schoolgirl.
“Listen, I wanted to ask you,” he says. Here it is, he’s going to ask me out again or tell me he doesn’t ever want to go out again. I need to stop going into my head so much.
“Yes?”
“Would you want to go to the Renaissance Fair with me? There is one a little over an hour from here, and we really go all out. It’s my secret nerd identity, we dress the part and everything. It’s my friends from law school. A good way to blow off steam.”
“Really? I haven’t been to one since grade school,” I say. I really didn’t think that was what he would ask, but it might be fun.
“Yeah, that’s when I first went too.” He pulls out his phone and shows me a picture. It’s him and a group all dressed in old-timey looking clothing. The girls have their hair braided elaborately and their assets on display. He wasn’t kidding, they went all out. He looks hot in his tight clothing, holding a sword.
“All right, sounds fun,” I say and walk away before I can ruin my cool response.
When I get to the apartment, I start to freak out. I don’t even have anything to wear for something like that.
I need to get ready to go out to dinner with a girlfriend, but that’s still hours away. Since I have a bit before she picks me up, I start to look at Renaissance dresses and hairdos online. The dresses really cinch in and push up. I start to think my boobs would look really good in one of those.
There’s a costume shop close to the apartment called Molly’s Costumes. I figure it won’t hurt to just see what they have there. I might find something perfect and on sale. I pull on sweats and put my hair in a ponytail.
Walking down to my car, I decide it’s a nice enough afternoon to walk and step out onto the sidewalk. I look longingly at the coffee shop as I walk by, but I don’t have time to get coffee and spend the time needed to pick out the perfect costume to impress Sam.
The minute I step inside and see how full the store is, I realize the theme is disorganization. Nothing seems to be in any kind of category, and there are props all over the floor. A large witch hat hangs over the front door, and a table of props has a large brown whip and several badges.
“Hi there, what can I get for you?” a voice, to my left, says. I can’t actually see the woman, but I move through some racks in the direction of her voice. When I see her, I’m shocked to see she’s dressed like a cat. Yes, I’m in a costume store, but the woman has gone all out.
Her face is painted, she wears a skintight black bodysuit, ears, and a tail. Her red hair is a huge mass of volume, and she sports dark makeup with long lashes.
“Welcome, I haven’t had anyone in here today.”
“Are you the owner?” I ask. Moving toward her, I trip over a giant crocodile and almost eat it. Catching myself on a rack, I take a minute to steady myself. This place has to be a fire hazard, like four times over.
“No, I just work here. I really enjoy being a different character every day. I work for minimum wage, might as well make it fun.”
“Okay, I’m looking to dress up for the Renaissance Fair. Do you have anything that might pass for that?”
“I have the perfect costumes for that,” she says excitedly. She moves past me and so deep into the racks of clothes, all I can see is her tail. I laugh to myself as it twitches back and forth as she wrestles whatever she’s getting for me out of the back.
When she comes back up for air, she’s holding two large dresses. One is green and embroidered with yellow and purple flowers. The corset looks too small for me. The other one is red with a simple vine pattern. Despite the blue one looking small, it’s really pretty, so I want to try it on.
“I’ll try this
one, thank you!” I take the blue dress from her, and she leads me through a different thick stack of costumes to a little room with a bench and a mirror.
“Call me if you need help tying it up.”
“Okay,” I say, waiting for her to leave before I strip. Something about a sexy cat lady seeing my less than toned body makes me sweat.
She smiles and walks out of the dressing room.
“If you need me say, here kitty-kitty,” she tells me with a straight face, and I’m not really sure if she’s joking or not.
Either way, there is no way I’m doing that. I put on the dress, and while it isn’t perfect, I’m pleased with the fit. It makes my boobs look fantastic; I don’t even need her help with the bodice because I cinched right into it.
“Wow, spanks aren’t even necessary,” I tell my reflection, checking myself out. Feeling myself, I take a look at the price tag. It is not cheap. Surely, I can rent this.
I go out and find Miss Kitty. Twenty minutes later, I purchase a dress for far too much on my credit card that I’ll only wear one time. At least I’ll look good for Sam, maybe it will ignite some passion between us. When I get to the apartment, there’s still at least two hours before Sloan picks me up for our late lunch.
I decide to put the dress on again and fix my hair to see what it will look like up and braided. There are so many ways to do it, and I want to find the best one. Then just for fun, I put on some medieval music and move around my room.
I hear Travis come in and scramble to get changed. I don’t want him to see me dressed like this, I’m pretty sure he would make fun of me for weeks.
When I’m in regular sweats again, I go out to see him. “Hi,” I say, “how’s it going?”
“It’s going, what’s up with the braids?” He cocks his head like a cute little puppy.
I realize I forgot to take the braids all the way out when I took them down. My hair is braided in tiny braids all around my head.
“I was trying something,” I say.
“It’s cute.”
I blush, and this feels awkward, why is this awkward?
“I’m going to the Renaissance Fair with Sam this weekend,” I blurt out. Not sure why I felt the need to tell him. “You’re probably hanging out with Sydney, aren’t you?”
I don’t mean for that to sound accusatory, but it does. Truthfully, I just want to know if I should expect fishnets to come around more.
“I told you, she won’t be back,” he says, his mood clearly sour now, and I’m not sure if it’s because I mentioned Sydney or because I’m going out with Sam.
He grabs a soda from the fridge and slams the door shut, making the contents rattle inside. “Look, I’ve got some stuff to look up for the greenhouse. I’ll see you later.”
With that, he stomps into his bedroom, slamming that door as well. What an ass.
Left even more confused than before, I go to my own room to get ready to go out with Sloan. It’s going to be good to see her. Losing the sweats, I find some skinny jeans, boots, and a sweater. Rushing around, I put some light makeup on my face before heading out.
Sloan rolls up in a bright yellow Toyota hatchback. She’d told me she got a new car, but I didn’t know it was basically a submarine. Rushing toward her, I get into the car and hug her fiercely. When she releases me, she looks into my face and frowns.
“What’s on your mind,” she says, “you look troubled.”
“You just got here, let’s catch up before I unload my problems on you.” I thought I looked elated to see her and excited for the evening. I’m going to have to work on my poker face.
“Fair enough, let’s get this party started, hot stuff. I’m thinking of sushi and dancing.”
My best friend since our first year of college is sporting some purple hair and large false lashes. She’s always been fashion-forward. Today she is wearing a bright blue dress that somehow doesn’t clash with her hair. One sleeve is long, and the other side is sleeveless. She’s paired it with black tights and studded black boots. She looks fantastic, and I feel frumpy in my blue sweater and jeans.
After catching up in the car on the ride over, I wait until we’re settled with sake at our favorite sushi spot before I start talking.
“Okay, so first, you have to know my new roommate is Travis,” I say.
“Travis as in, I gave him my cherry, and he skipped town, Travis?” she says, not very quietly.
“Yes, and hush, you’re scaring our waiter.” I look over at him, cowering behind the register, not wanting to come and take our order.
“Aw,” she says, “cute little guy. I can’t believe it; did you tell him what an asshole he is? Wait, you let him live with you? Why?”
I tell Sloan the entire story from the beginning. Starting with my roommate and my brother. Ending with Sam and Travis. By the end of it all, she wants to fight both Vicki and Grady.
“It’s okay,” I calm her. “We are actually getting along now.”
“You are?”
“Yes, I even thought maybe we were heading in a certain direction. Then this crazy sex-crazed woman he’d been seeing showed up.” Remembering Sydney makes me angry and jealous. If only I could be as forward about what I wanted as she was. Maybe that’s what Travis is missing from me.
“Wait, you thought it was going...” She makes the universal sign for doing it with her fingers.
“I mean, yeah,” I say. “Now I’m seeing someone. He’s taking me out this weekend.”
“Good, you let Travis see what he’s missing,” Sloan says, nodding. “Where is that waiter?”
By the time we leave the sushi restaurant, we’ve had plenty of sake and some beers. The place she decides to go dancing is a country bar because she’s feeling like taking home a cowgirl or cowboy tonight.
Sloan has always been very open with her sexuality and expresses she goes with who feels good. It’s not about labels. I respect her for that even though sometimes her antics are too much for me to handle, and I check out. Part of me thinks maybe she’s a little afraid to get serious because of the crazy way her parent’s relationship went down. There’s a lot of scary stories that came from the Bendel residence, and they’re totally loaded. I could write a book about the insane things her parents put her and her sisters through.
After a good amount of line dancing, we go to the bar for more beer and a break. I’m realizing I should probably go to the gym more. The sweat coating my body, and speed at which my heart is racing is showing me I’m not in the best shape.
“Where are you staying?”
“Some hotel in town.”
“Why didn’t you ask to stay with me?” I ask, feeling bad she’s paying for a hotel.
“I didn’t like Vicki. I didn’t know about Travis, but now that I do and you’re going to go home lubricated and ride that dick, I’m glad I booked the hotel.”
“Sloan,” I hiss, looking around. Once again, she’s not quiet, and people are looking at her. “Besides, I’m going out with Sam this weekend. He could be the one, you know?”
“Okay, darling,” Sloan says, “if that’s what you want. I can just tell you’re still carrying a torch. Sometimes, you have to just get it out of your system. Once you’ve done Travis again, you can move on and date Sam or whoever.”
Those words stay with me for the rest of the night. Sloan finds a guy who fits her, he’ll do for tonight, attitude, and agrees to meet him later. By the time we get home at almost midnight, all I want to do is lay down and go to sleep. Somehow, I fight myself into the shower and then go collapse on my bed.
At about two in the morning, I sit straight up, my stomach growling. Somehow, in my sleep, I’ve become hungry. I make my way to the kitchen and pull out some cheese and crackers. I try not to make a lot of noise as I open the packages, but it’s nearly impossible in a quiet house.
Shoving a cracker in my mouth, followed by cheese, I chew. Shit, even my chewing sounds loud. I jump about a foot in the air and end up banging my elbow on the count
er when a door creaks open. Whirling around, I find a sleepy Travis standing just outside the kitchen. The pain in my elbow is forgotten when I see that he’s in nothing but a pair of low hanging sweats, his perfectly sculpted chest is on display to the world.
Remember what he did. How he treated Sam. How he left with sex on legs.
“Whoa, what are you doing up so late?” he asks, rubbing at his eyes, his voice deep with sleep.
I point to my mouth, which is still packed with crackers. He nods and heads to the fridge. Opening the bottom drawer, he grabs a bottle of water and then closes the door, coming to rest casually against the counter.
“I burned way too many calories tonight line dancing that my belly growling woke me up from a dead sleep. The thing sounded like a t-rex coming to life.”
Travis smirks, “You went line dancing? That’d be a sight to see.”
“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?” I pin him with what I think is a menacing look, “I’m a good dancer.”
“I’ll take your word for it.” His eyes move over my skin, and I feel like I’m under a microscope being inspected. I do everything I can not to lick my lips, or worst of all, his perfect chest. Heat swirls deep in my belly, and I can’t be thinking like this right now. Pushing the thoughts away, I grab a couple more crackers and start putting the stuff away. I need to get away from him and remind myself of how he made me feel that night. How embarrassed I was. He doesn’t deserve my ogling. He deserves nothing from me.
“Well, I’m going to bed…” I mumble.
“Look, Nina,” he pauses, and I look up at him, taking in his guilt-ridden features, “I just wanted to say I’m sorry for what happened the other night. I don’t… I don’t know what I was thinking.”
“You weren’t thinking, but that’s fine. Sam and I have a date, so you didn’t quite scare him away.” I swear I see his face fall, but that can’t be right, why would he care if I have a date with Sam?