Matt chuckled and then explained that he’s very anal retentive and has to have everything in its place, neat and tidy. Cali is almost the exact opposite of that. For their friendship to survive, they both agreed they were better off not living together. Having grown up with two older brothers, I was okay with some mess and I agreed to give it a go.
Cali and I became close almost instantaneously. Or, as close as I am willing to get to anyone right now. One night a few months after we started living together, we were sitting on the roof of our apartment building talking. The conversation became serious once Cali asked about my past. I became silent while I desperately thought of something I could say.
Cali took this to mean I didn’t trust her. I frantically explained as much as I could how I had been through a lot, especially in the last few years (without fully elaborating), and had a hard time genuinely trusting anyone.
I told her I trusted her enough to live with her and feel safe with her, and that that was the best I could do right then. Cali being the understanding and loyal friend she is, accepted that and ended the conversation by saying she hoped one day I could trust her, thankfully in an optimistic tone, not a hurt one.
“Well, are you going tonight?” Matt asks again.
“Oh, yeah, I guess so. I’m sure Cali and Mickey will have made up by then.”
Matt smiles at me. “Do you want to go together right from work? We can meet them there.”
I can feel my heart start to pound in my chest. Go together? Like, as in a date-together? No, no it can’t be a date. If we went as just us it would be a date, right? Or does it technically count as a double date because Cali and Mickey are toget—
“Alexa?”
Oh right, that’s me.
“Right, sorry. Um sure, that sounds great.” I smile and nod at Matt, desperately hoping my internal uncertainty and chaos doesn’t come through.
“Great,” Matt replies. “Then it’s a date.”
● 4 ●
Cali
After Alexa closes the door and leaves for work, Cali absent-mindedly scratches the top of Milo’s head and goes back to watching TV. Once the morning show segment with the soccer players is over, she flips through the channels landing on the sitcom Friends.
“Oh, jackpot.” She snuggles into the dog’s fur, holding him a little tighter. Minutes later, Milo is snoring right next to her. “Hmm, that seems like a good idea, Milo.”
She turns the TV off and closes her eyes. Between the warmth and comfort of having the dog so close, Cali falls asleep quickly.
Cali dreams of her girlfriend. Of them working out together. Of them dancing. Of her body pressed against Mickey’s. Of Mickey’s soft lips trailing down her throat, her chest, her abs, her—
Cali is awoken by her phone buzzing right next to her head.
She opens her eyes and sighs. “Damn, right at the good part.”
She checks her phone and sees she has a text from Alexa. “Ooh, Milo look! A text from your mommy!” Milo is startled awake from his own sleep and whips around head-butting Cali right in the nose.
“Ow! Fuck!” Cali yelps. “Jesus, Milo.”
Cali rubs her nose and checks to make sure she’s not bleeding. Milo jumps off of the couch and sits down facing Cali. He puts his head down on the couch and looks up at her, the globally recognized dog apology. Cali sees his sad puppy eyes and chuckles.
“It’s cool, Dog Man. No blood, no foul.” Cali holds out her fist and Milo bumps it with his nose.
Cali unlocks her phone and opens the message from Alexa.
LEX: hiii. did you maybe forget to tell me something?
Cali purses her lips and thinks for a second. She gets another text from her roommate with the taco emoji and a question mark.
“Oh my god! Shit, I forgot to tell her!” Cali yells out loud and smacks herself on the forehead. Seeing Cali’s antics, Milo stands up and wags his tail but keeps his head on the couch looking right at her.
CAL: oh right that. whoops! well we’re going to some taco place tonight. you and the 3 m’s - me mickey and moose
LEX: yeah that lol matt said that he and i should just meet you and mick there
CAL: oooooo you and moose going together!? like a date?!?
LEX: relax kid. idk about a date
LEX: wait. did he tell you it was a date?
CAL: no he hasn’t said anything to me! do you want me to ask him??
LEX: no!! absolutely not.
Cali rolls her eyes at her phone. “I don’t know why they don’t just do it already. They so obviously like each other.”
She sends the eye roll emoji back to Alexa.
Cali looks at Milo who is still wagging his tail at her. Cali tilts her head and says, “Milo? Do you think mommy and Moose should go on a date together?” Milo barks once and starts to pant, his tail wags even faster.
CAL: look, i asked milo about it and he said that you and moose should go on a date.
LEX: oh really?
CAL: yes. he also thinks it should be tonight
Cali stares at her phone waiting for a response. She looks at the dog then back to her phone again. She sees the bubbles signaling Alexa typing a response pop up and then disappear.
“Ooh Milo, she’s taking a long time to answer! This is so good. I can’t wait to tell Mickey.”
LEX: it’s not a date. it’s dinner with friends
CAL: ok lex, whatever you say
CAL: listen i’m going to go stop by mickey’s studio in a little bit. i’m gonna take milo with me is that ok?
LEX: sure. his harness is hanging by the door
LEX: oh and remember to leave me my 5 bucks
CAL: yeah yeah yeah
CAL: alright i’ll see you later
LEX: later
Cali looks up from her phone and sees that Milo has walked away from her. She listens for a second and hears his tags clinking against his water bowl as he drinks.
“Hey, Milo?”
The dog comes bounding around the side of the couch within seconds. He puts his front two paws up on the couch.
“No Dog Man, no more cuddles. Do you want to go see Mickey with me?”
Cali hasn’t even gotten the “with me” out before Milo pushes off the couch and bolts to the door of the apartment.
“Hold on there, pup. I have to get dressed first.”
Cali walks down the hallway and goes into the bedroom opposite Alexa’s. Milo follows her in and jumps up on the bed. Cali goes to her closet and starts talking to herself out loud.
“Do I want to wear work out clothes or regular clothes? Well, whatever it is, it has gotta be skin tight. That’ll get Mickey back for calling me childish. Make her drool right in the middle of one of her classes.”
She stands still with her chin in her right hand while she thinks. “Let me take a shower first and then I’ll decide.”
Milo watches as Cali grabs a towel and heads out of the room. He stands up and turns in a circle a few times, finding just the right spot to curl up for a little snooze.
Cali goes into the bathroom and turns the shower on. She checks her face in the mirror, gives herself a wink and a quick finger pistol before hopping into the hot water.
She rinses off and pours some shampoo into her palm. While soaping up her hair she breaks out into her go-to shower song, Wild Cherry’s Play That Funky Music. She turns around to face the spray of the shower and sings the song’s famous hook.
Unfortunately, that’s the only part Cali knows, so she keeps repeating it as she finishes showering. She turns off the water and steps out still humming. She wipes the steam from the mirror, dries herself off, then wraps herself in her towel and goes back to her room.
Milo is still on the bed, curled up like before, and is snoring again.
Cali goes back to standing in her closet, looking through her clothes. She pauses for a moment, then says, “Definitely workout clothes.”
Cali takes a couple of tanks down looking for just the right
top to make Mickey salivate. She scrunches her nose and tosses the shirts onto the bed. Both land on top of Milo, waking him up. As he moves to a sitting position, one of the shirts shifts, settling around his neck. Cali sees this and perks an eyebrow. A mischievous grin spreads across her face.
**********
Almost thirty minutes later Cali and Milo, after stopping at Roast for a coffee and another pup-cup, walk into the aptly named Mickey’s Kick Boxing and Training Studio. Mickey is right in the middle of a class which is exactly what Cali was hoping for. She chose to wear her tightest black compression leggings with a light blue oversized tank top that shows off both her sports bra and her obliques. She has a bright white hoodie tied around her waist.
Mickey glances toward the door from the head of her class and visibly gulps and stumbles over her words at the sight of Cali. She recovers quickly enough and returns to her instruction, calling out encouragement and the next moves.
Cali looks down at Milo and says, “Mission accomplished Dog Man.”
Cali and Milo wait until Mickey’s class is done. Mickey talks to a few of the attendees for a couple minutes before coming over to where Cali is standing. She goes to give her girlfriend a kiss. Cali moves her head at the last second so Mickey catches her cheek not her lips.
“Really? You’re still upset about the “childish” comment?”
Cali shrugs and says, “Maybe.”
“I didn’t mean it in a bad way, babe. I find it endearing actually.”
Mickey stops and looks Cali up and down. A wolfish grin slowly spreads across her face. She wraps her arms around her girlfriend and presses into the shorter woman a little bit.
“I’m sorry, I really didn’t mean it as a bad thing. Why don’t you let me show you how sorry I am.”
Cali tries to keep her breathing in check wanting to hold the upper hand, but with Mickey so close and pressing up to her like this it’s getting difficult. She looks the brunette up and down. Sees her strong arms and legs glistening with sweat, her t-shirt clinging to her stomach. In the mirrored wall behind them, her shorts show off her toned glutes.
Cali looks up again and stares Mickey straight in the eyes. She’s aiming for firm but stutters out “I uh, I—”
Mickey’s grin grows bigger. She kisses her girlfriend’s neck in just the right spot and Cali’s knees literally go weak. She stammers again, “I-I uh, I’ve got Milo here.”
“So?” Mickey smirks at Cali. She knows she’s beating her girlfriend at her own game right now.
“Well, uh, what if someone comes in and takes him? How could you explain to Lex that someone stole her dog because you couldn’t keep your hands off of me?”
Mickey stops and lifts her head to look Cali right in the eyes. “Who said anything about using my hands?” Cali audibly groans at Mickey’s tantalizing response.
Cali gathers her resolve and shoots Mickey down. “No, no. Not now. But oh my god, later.” With that statement, she finally kisses Mickey on the lips. Both a hello and a promise of what’s to come.
When they finally break away from each other, both a little out of breath, Mickey offers Milo a palm to sniff hello. When she actually finally looks at him she turns to her girlfriend in disbelief.
“Is this dog wearing a neon green tank top and sweatbands on his paws?”
“Yes, they match his collar.” Cali notes Mickey’s exasperated expression and responds with a look of her own. “Well this is a workout studio, isn’t it?”
● 5 ●
Darius
Darius is standing at the back corner of a dingy bar in a rundown building in whichever decrepit little town he’s currently staying in. After a few hundred years everywhere starts to look the same. He doesn’t exactly know where he is, couldn’t point himself out on a map, and frankly, he doesn’t care.
He’s been standing so long at this bar that he doesn’t know what day or even month it is. All he knows is that he has been stuck on this world waiting an eternity for his chance to kill the girl, to take her powers and open the doorway to his home to release his demon brothers and sisters.
Then on the day he finally gets his chance, the day his suspicions were ultimately proven correct, those damn witches and sorcerers and the rest of those good cretins were there waiting for him and thwarted his entire plan.
He had made the mistake of thinking the girl would know nothing of the magical world, that they would have kept her in the dark to protect her and she’d be vulnerable and ripe for the taking. Now he’s being punished for his blunder, and it’s back to the constant, insufferable waiting. Waiting for her to slip up. Waiting for her to let her guard down. Waiting for her to use her powers so he can track her and end her.
Waiting, waiting, waiting.
Darius looks down at the empty glass in his hand and feels a surge of rage overtake him. He snarls out, “Fucking waiting!” and heaves the glass against the wall.
The barroom promptly falls silent. Darius scowls and looks around at each person, throws his hands up and yells, “What?!”
No one dares to answer him. They just go back to whatever it is they were doing before. Darius smooths the front of his pristine white button-down shirt and brushes off the arms of his midnight black, tailored suit jacket.
The middle-aged bartender, conditioned and used to these kinds of outbursts from the odd, black-haired man with tattooed hands, just puts another glass on the wooden bar top and refills it with three fingers of whiskey, neat. He never looks directly at the man sitting in the corner of his bar.
Darius sits down on a stool and has just lifted the glass to his lips when the door to the bar swings open. The blinding white light not only informs Darius that it’s daytime but obscures the man who walks in. When the door closes behind him, a giant, bear of a man is revealed. The man is pushing seven feet tall, with large muscles and jet black hair, Greek features and beady eyes.
He sweeps his gaze across the room until they land on Darius. As the man walks toward Darius, he makes eye contact with the bartender. The bartender looks down quickly.
The man sits on the barstool to Darius’s right. The wood creaks as it takes his considerable weight.
“Well?” Darius growls.
“Nothing. Not a trace. It’s as if they never existed in the first place.” The man, Viribus, is Darius’s strongest and most loyal Victus soldier.
“What do you mean nothing?!” Darius realizes he’s shouting by the sudden quiet again filling the bar. He drops his voice and repeats, “What do you mean nothing?”
“I mean nothing, boss,” Viribus says. “I’ve called in every favor I had left, but there’s only so much pull a parole officer has to begin with. Ever since that day five years ago, no one has heard from the girl or any member of her family. It’s like they’ve completely vanished.”
Viribus downs the pint the bartender had put in front of him in one gulp. As he puts the empty glass mug down, the bartender swaps it out for a full one.
“It’s been five fucking years. I’ve been roaming this decaying rock putting up with its feeble human race for over a thousand years, and you know what’s been the longest part of that? Waiting for you to give me some goddamn results! Now, I don’t care who you have to talk to, pay off, threaten, kill, whatever. Get me something to go on. She’s stayed dark this whole time, so I’ve got no way of tracking her. That’s what I have you for.”
He thrusts a finger into Viribus’s chest.
“Whatever the old man said to her that day when he pulled her away, she’s doing it down to the letter.” Darius continues. “He obviously told her what to do to cloak the family. She’s not using any of her powers, I would know — I’d sense it — and then I wouldn’t need your sorry ass to find her for me.
“You want any chance of surviving, I have to get to her before she gets to me.” He downs the whiskey in front of him in a single gulp.
“So, you call every officer you can think of, you find any magical creature you can catch and to
rture something out of them if you have to. Someone has to know something about where she was going.”
Darius looks around the bar quickly. No one is paying any attention to him or Viribus anymore. The demon specifically chooses places like this because he knows cash in this kind of Podunk town buys a lot of anonymity, helps people forget he’s even there.
Darius leans into Viribus to make absolutely sure no one else can hear him. “Make Julius reach out to his contacts too. Find me anything to go on. I would hate for either one of you to come back to me empty-handed again.”
My Name Is Not Alexa Pearce Page 3