Chaotic (Imperfect Perfection)

by Williams, C. A.

  I took one last bite of rice and then tossed my plate into the trash, standing up to grab my suitcase that I had ditched in the living room. “I really need to get some laundry done and get unpacked before I head back into work tonight.”

  Callie groaned and tossed me a fortune cookie. “Bleh, I forgot you had to work tonight. I was hoping for a repeat of girl’s night. Maybe we’ll come in for a visit.”

  “Sounds good, I’m going to run down to the laundry room. I’ll see you guys in a bit.”

  **********

  “That was way too fucking long,” Justin growled, pushing my body against the wall as his hands landed on my bare sides. “Can you at least let me clock in,” I said against his lips as he pulled at my bottom one with his teeth. I pushed against his chest with a smile and ducked under his arm. “I missed you too, by the way,” I yelled over my shoulder as I waved at Kassie and Brian.

  “So good to have you back, Della,” Brian called out from behind the bar where he was standing next to RJ who chose to ignore me like usual. That guy had a worse attitude than I had ever had.

  “Thanks, Brian.” I clocked in and headed towards Kassie so we could figure out what tables we were going to handle for the night. The two of us got along well enough. I had secretly disliked her for a bit when I first started working because she had let it slip that she had hooked up with Justin once. The jealousy was overwhelming, but after awhile when I figured out she had no feelings what so ever about Justin, I decided to ignore it.

  I quickly fell back into the routine and was glad that I was raking in the tips once again. “That table over there requested you,” Kassie nudged me with her elbow, tilting her head to a table that was situated in the corner. I smiled when I saw Zoey’s unmistakable auburn hair and headed over there.

  “Hey guys.” I was surprised when I found Drew and Nash also sitting at the table with them. Apparently, Drew and Nash had become friends from a few of the times we had all hung out together. Nash stood up quickly, wrapping me in a tight hug. “There’s my Della. I missed you. Didn’t you stay at your grandparent’s house during break?”

  “Um, no,” I replied vaguely, causing Zoey to raise her eyebrows at me. It wasn’t like it was a secret that I had stayed with Justin, he was my boyfriend after all, but it just felt a little weird telling Nash that. Obviously he would know what we had been doing. Practically the whole time.

  “Well, we’ll have to hang out soon. Maybe you can come over to the house so I can kick your ass again in pool.”

  “Yeah, maybe.” I smiled, pulling out my pad of paper to take their orders and headed back towards the kitchen to grab food for one of my other tables.

  “Did I just see that douche bag hugging you?” Justin asked, ducking his head through the pass through window.

  “Well, he is a friend Justin. Please don’t tell me you’re getting to be one of those overly jealous types all of a sudden.”

  “Of course not.” He gave me a twisted smirk, handing me a plate. “Why would you go for the sirloin when you can have the filet?” He pointed at himself, insinuating that he was in fact the filet, whatever the hell that meant. His food references were the jokes I just did not get.

  “Whatever,” I replied, laughing as I turned away.

  The rest of the night passed quickly, and by the time the restaurant was closing up, Cassie and I both had made record amounts in tips. “See you, Della,” Kassie called out and I yelled, “ Bye,” as I headed towards the front of the restaurant to lock the door behind her.

  “Ah, finally alone,” Justin’s warm breath tickled my ear as he wrapped his arms around me from behind and buried his face in my hair. “Are you sure you don’t want to stay the night?” His question came out muffled, but I had heard him loud and clear. He had only been asking me that question all night.

  “No,” I shook my head, tilting it to the side when I felt his lips begin to trail down it. “I told you, I’ll stay a couple of times a week, but I want to spend a little of time with Callie and Zoey tonight. I promise I’ll be there tomorrow.”

  “Fine, but you aren’t leaving yet.” He pulled away quickly and yelled over his shoulder, “but I need to finish my cleanup first, so get ready, I’m about to have my way with you.”

  I giggled as I ducked into the bathroom while he was finishing up, checking my makeup in the mirror. I was actually a little tired, but I wasn’t going to crush Justin’s feelings by telling him that.

  I leaned against the bar counter once I stepped back into the restaurant and took a sip of water while I waited for what was to come next. “Are you just heading home after this,” I called into the kitchen where he was wiping down the stove.

  “Nope, since I couldn’t convince you to come home with me I’m going to go hang out Nate’s for a bit.” I tried to resist it but I couldn’t help the loud groan that escaped my lips. Nate was one of Justin’s best friends and absolutely hated me. I think it was because he saw me as the girl who had stolen Justin away from him, ruining their bro-mance or something.

  I told Justin to hang out with him whenever he wanted. I didn’t want to be one of those girlfriends that thought their boyfriend needed to give them one hundred percent of their attention all the time. It wasn’t my fault that Justin chose to do that on his own.

  The main reason why I wasn’t too happy about it was because Nate had been Justin’s partner in crime for awhile. They partied and picked up girls together. I figured Nate would try to tempt Justin back to his old ways, I just hoped Justin wouldn’t be swayed. But I had to remember, I trusted him. Yeah, just keep on repeating that to yourself, Della.

  “Sounds like fun,” I replied in a tight voice and tried to push the image of Justin surrounded my girls out of my head. Focusing on school was what I needed to do.

  Tomorrow would be the start of a new semester, and I was actually looking forward to it. Now that I had officially chosen Early Childhood Education as my major, I felt like I had something to look forward to and wanted to succeed in getting my degree.

  My body sensed Justin before he even made a sound. His hands landed on the counter, surrounding my body to cage me in. He wasn’t even touching me but my body was shivering anyway. “I think I’ll take you just like this,” he whispered into my ear, tugging my lobe into his mouth.

  “Oh, really, demanding much tonight are we?” I smiled into the darkness as his hand slid down my leg slowly, touching every nerve as he went and turning them to mush.

  “I’m pretty tired actually so I think I’ll head home,” I lied, trying to twist my body around but I was quickly stopped.

  “Nope,” he said with an audible pop. “If I don’t get to take you home, I at least get to have fun.” His hand slid further up, past the edge of my skirt, and he groaned into my ear when he discovered nothing was underneath. My trip to the bathroom had certainly paid off. “Are you trying to drive me insane, princess?” I felt his fingers twirl between my legs and his other hand push down on the small of my back. I knew I was in some serious trouble and I had a feeling I would be getting home very late. But I really didn’t mind.

  Chapter 22

  My schedule quickly became filled again once school started back up with studying, homework, work, friends, and Justin. Didn’t sound like much, right? But I guess it was what most college students dealt with, so if the average person could handle it, I surely could.

  I had kept my promise to my roommates and also Justin. While it was tempting to stay at his house more often than a few nights a week, I still liked to spend time with my friends at our dorm. Callie and Drew were still going strong while Zoey seemed to be a serial dater. I never wanted her to feel left out because she didn’t have a serious boyfriend, so we often ended up spending a lot of our free time together.

  I was beginning to become nervous about Justin’s upcoming graduation that would take place in a few months. I had never expected for things to get this serious when we started out, but now I was worried about how his career would a
ffect our relationship.

  His mom, Leann, had assured me, time and time again when we got together at least once a week for a family dinner, that being in a relationship with a cop was tough, but manageable. I knew Justin still had the summer, but he had all ready been accepted into the police academy which would take up most of his time. And then all he would have left to do was find a job, which I’m sure wouldn’t be very hard since his dad was a lieutenant and all.

  “Hey Della, do you want to run over to the library with me?”Zoey yelled from the hallway, pulling me out of my worrying thoughts. I really needed to stop doing that. One day at a time was what really worked best for me or things would just eat away at me until I was over-thinking everything.

  “Sure,” I dropped my pen into my bag where I was attempting to study in the living room and stood up to slide on a pair of shoes. Apparently, I wasn’t getting anything done here, so hopefully a different atmosphere would help.

  “Let’s go girlie. Cal is out with Drew for awhile so it’s just you and me. Maybe we can grab something to eat on the way back.”

  “Sound good.”

  We ended up finding a quiet table at the library, and I was able to get much needed studying done and even start on a paper that was due in the next couple of weeks. Who knew Della McGregor would ever be considered an overachiever?

  “Do you care if we stop at Shorty’s for dinner?” Zoey asked as she looped her arms through her bag and grabbed a tall of stack of books that wouldn’t fit. “I know you’re probably sick of that place, but their wings sound really good right about now.”

  “That’s fine with me,” I answered quickly and she gave me a knowing smile. “Let me guess, Justin’s working, right?”

  The parking lot wasn’t too full when we pulled in, and Kassie was able to find us a table right away. “I’ll tell J you’re here. I think he’s almost up for a break pretty soon.”

  “Thanks,” I replied, setting down the menu that she had handed to me. I could probably recite that thing in my sleep. Zoey nudged me sharply in the side with her elbow. “Ow, what was that for?” She tilted her head towards the table that was next to us and I saw a girl staring back at us. She didn’t look familiar so I wasn’t really sure what the deal was. “Do you know her or something?”

  “Well, I don’t know her know her, but Callie does. They had a class together last semester and she’s pointed her out before.”

  “O-kay,” I dragged out, shrugging my shoulders. “Why is she staring at us like that?”

  “Pretty sure you’re the one she’s staring at. Remember when you and Justin first started dating and we told you about the girl who claimed she had hooked up with Justin when we knew you were with him?”

  “How could I forget? It’s not something I really liked to hear, but Justin told me nothing happened.”

  “Okay, well that’s her. Maybe she’s stalking Justin or something. Speaking of,” she added in a whisper and I turned to see Justin walking towards our table, a wide smile on his face. He lifted me out of my seat and twirled me around before his lips landed on mine. His hands cradled my face while devouring every inch inside my mouth before sucking my bottom lip in between his teeth and letting it go with a grin. “Ew,” I heard Zoey mutter behind me, but I didn’t really care.

  “What was that for?” I asked as he sat me back down and pulled up a chair to sit next to me.

  “Do I really need a reason?” His brows shot up, and I shook my head no. I guess if he wanted to greet me like that every time we saw each other, I really didn’t have a problem with it. I settled back into my seat and realized that the girl at the next table was still looking at me, but now she was glaring.

  “Do you know her?” I whispered into Justin’s ear, tilting my head in that direction. He flicked his eyes over that way quickly and turned back, shaking his head sharply. “Nope, never seen her before. So you guys decide what you want yet?”He changed the subject quickly, and I tried to not let it bother me.

  Maybe they had hooked up before we got together. I knew that had obviously happened, there was a string of girls before me, but for some reason this one was bothering me.

  Justin stayed with us for a few minutes longer, but insisted he needed to get back to the kitchen even though I knew he normally got thirty minute breaks. He muttered something about being short handed before kissing my forehead and disappearing into the back.

  By the time Zoey and I finished up our dinner, the other girl was gone, and I pushed her out of my head. No reason on dwelling on something that Justin was denying. I trusted him and had no reason not to believe what he was telling me was the truth. I think I was just being a little paranoid for some reason.

  *********

  “Hi Grams. Yes, I promise that I’ll be over for dinner on Sunday…Justin too of course…yes, I know…Okay, I have to go. Love you.” I hit the end button, throwing my phone back into my bag and turning to see Callie grinning while she merged onto the highway. “I take it Grams is in love with Justin too?”

  “How could you tell?” I asked sarcastically. “I think she might even have a teensy crush on him.”

  “Well, it’s pretty hard not to. At least she likes him that much. My parents still haven’t warmed up to Drew for some reason. He tried his hardest over winter break when he came to visit for a few days, but they just didn’t take a liking to him for whatever reason.”

  “How is that even possible? Drew is the sweetest, and you can tell he worships you. Maybe they just don’t want to see their little girl growing up.”

  “Probably. It sucks being the only child sometimes. But anyway, enough about our love lives, today is all about shopping.”

  Zoey couldn’t come along today because of a last minute dinner with her parents but insisted we go without her. I think she was actually a little relieved because Callie and I were serious shoppers, and I had some money to spend.

  “Okay, let’s start over on the side with all of the little boutiques and then work our way back towards the front. Then we can stop for a pedi and grab lunch.” I nodded in agreement. Callie’s game plan sounded perfect.

  By the time we were finished, I was carrying two bags filled with clothes, one filled with only sexy lingerie that Callie had helped me pick out, and one filled with shoes. Our toes were pretty and our bellies were full, so we headed back out to the car and somehow managed to fit everything into the trunk.

  “Do you mind dropping me off at Justin’s place on our way back?”

  “Ah, need to surprise him with some of that new lingerie? Maybe I should go surprise Drew too,” she said, wiggling her eyebrows at me as she pulled off the exit closest to Justin’s house.

  “Good luck,” she called out while I waved at her and headed towards the back porch where I knew there was a hidden key under one of the garden gnomes. You would think with a family full of cops that they would be worried about security or something, but this time, it would work in my favor.

  I kept all of the lights off until I reached Justin’s bedroom, turning on the small lamp that was on his nightstand. My overflowing bags ruined the tidy room, but he always told me how much he loved seeing my mess around, so I guess he didn’t really mind.

  I laid out all of my selections and finally settled on a deep red corset that flared slightly at the bottom, a matching thong and a pair of garters attached to a pair of knee highs. By the time I finally had it on, I had some major boobage going on, and I felt like a dominatrix or something. I so should have gotten the whip that Callie suggested.

  I pulled out a book to read while I waited for Justin to get home, but obviously it wasn’t too good because I ended up falling asleep. When I woke up, I heard voices coming from the living room. The first one I recognized instantly as Justin’s, but the second one I just couldn’t put my finger on. “J, where in the hell are your cigs around this place? Did that girlfriend of yours make you quit that too?” I panicked when I realized it was Nate and I was dressed like this. What in the hell
was I going to do?

  “Actually, I quit on my own dude, but I better not hear you talk shit about Della again or you can get your ass out now.”

  I did a silent fist pump for my boyfriend as I searched through the dark room for some actual clothes, there was no way this was going to be wasted on Nate, but paused when I heard Justin sigh loudly from the living room.

  “Okay, fine. I promise I’ll behave myself,” Nate replied. “So what’s the deal? You’ve been acting like your dog got ran over. Do we need to have some girl talk?” I rolled my eyes, but stood at the door, my arms crossed over my chest. I really didn’t like to be the spying girlfriend, but Justin was never in a bad mood, so I wanted to hear what the problem was.

  I only heard a muffled response, so I cracked the door open slightly and tiptoed into the hallway.

  “Dude, you can tell me whatever the hell it is. Just get it off your chest. It’ll probably help,” Nate replied in a serious tone. I was actually sort of surprised; maybe that was why Justin was still friends with him. He seemed to actually have a decent side to him.

  “This girl came into Shorty’s the other night when Della was there,” he started and my stomach instantly clenched, a cold chill running throughout my entire body. I really didn’t want to hear the rest, I could only guess what it was, but I couldn’t pull myself away. “She kept staring at us the whole time, but I swear I don’t know who the fuck she was. Maybe a one night stand I had in the past, but never while I was with Della.”

  I felt relief wash throughout my body, and I really wanted to hunt that girl down and bitch slap her for letting me ever doubt my boyfriend. He was perfect.

  “O-kay,” Nate dragged out. “I really don’t see what the issue is then.”

  “The issue is that seeing that girl brought out some major guilt that I’ve been feeling. I really fucked up, man, and I don’t know what to do.” Hold up, rewind that thought. What in the hell was going on? My heart started to race, all of the different possibilities running through my head, and none of them seemed pretty.