by Lexi Aurora
They walked right out of the shop and around the corner, not stopping until they were in the back alley, well away from prying eyes. Finally, she stopped, and turned to him with red eyes.
“I’m so sorry. Terribly sorry. I’m not normally like this.”
“I know that much, and you don’t have to apologize. You don’t even have to tell me what’s going on if you don’t want to. I just hate seeing you like this.”
“I hate being like this.” She took several deep breaths and seemed to calm herself of her own accord. “I’m just so angry! I feel like I’m boiling on the inside and all of it has nowhere to go, and I’m just so, so, frustrated.”
He didn’t even have to think about it, his arms opening wide for a hug. It was his natural instinct when he saw someone he cared about crying in front of him. But before he could retract the action and go back to playing it cool -not like some completely infatuated school boy- she was hugging him back.
He stood there a moment, shocked, before allowing his arms to wrap around her frame. She was just as soft as he had imagined, and incredibly warm. She felt so right pressed against him and for a moment he allowed himself to close his eyes. He had envisioned this simple gesture many times, but he wished it was happening under better circumstances. He didn’t want to see Kathleen upset, even if it did provide an opportunity for physical affection.
They stood there for several long moments before she pulled away, wiping her face once more. “God, I’m such a mess.”
“Hey, everyone cracks at some point. It’s alright to be angry, or upset. You don’t have to be perfect all the time.” He fished in the pocket of his apron and pulled out a handkerchief that he promptly handed to her.
“Yes, I do.” she countered before blowing her nose. “I’ve fought all my life to get to the point where I’m financially comfortable. It’s taken me years, but I’m finally there and now it’s just a matter of growth.”
“Which is amazing, by the way. I’m still working on that part.”
“Well now I’m in the same boat with you because we just found out that one of the board members was committing fraud. The Feds came in today and took him right out of a meeting. All of the company’s funds were seized and are being released upon investigation but who knows when that will be!”
James eyes went wide. “I’m so sorry, that’s awful. But aren’t you contracted in and have other clients?”
“Yeah, and normally I would be able to recover, but I’ve been working on this contract exclusively for the past six months! I have enough income to last another few weeks or so, but after that I’m completely screwed.”
“My God, I didn’t realize. Is there anything I can do to help?”
“Not unless you know any high-paying clients who are in need of a graphic designer. Or a social media marketer.”
James opened his mouth to say more condolences before his mind caught on an idea. “Actually, I might.”
“Wait, really?”
“I know the owner is thinking of revamping the brand with new signage and maybe even a special event. Do you have a business card? I can talk to him.”
“Yes! Oh, thank you, yes! In the meantime, I can do a sale on my fonts and other images online.” She let out an aggravated sound. “That’s going to take me like two days on its own, if I don’t eat or take any breaks.”
“Well, you have to eat. That’s an important part of being human, or so I’m told.”
“Please, I could do with a few skipped meals.”
Suddenly he saw his chance and he went for it. “I don’t think so at all, so why don’t I come over and cook something for you? I can do any other errands you need as well so you can focus on your work.”
“Oh no! I couldn’t ask that of you. That’s so unprofessional!”
“It’s fine. I want to.” His cheeks started to color but he decided to be bold like Solstice was always telling him to. “I would like to think of us as friends outside of just being a hair stylist and client. And really, it’s no trouble. The girls have sleep overs and events all this weekend, so I could swing by Friday and Saturday night with no problem.”
“This is amazing! You are an absolute life saver, Jimmy. I owe you so much.”
“Nah, it’s just what friends do, right?”
“Right.” she answered, her face clearing and her eyes fading from the irritated red they had been. “Well, I suppose we should get this started with a wash, trim and blowout, shall we?”
“Are you sure?”
“Absolutely. I’m not about to pull off a Hail Mary without the proper oomph to fuel me through the month.”
He laughed, and gestured for her to walk ahead of him. “Then by all means, after you.”
She clapped her hands and strode right back into the shop. It was good to see her back to her normal, effervescent self, but inside he was panicking once more.
He was going to make dinner.
For Kathleen.
In her house.
How had he gone from being too nervous to even give her a post-cut hug to offering himself as a personal manservant for the weekend?
He didn’t know, but he had a whole lot of prep work to do.
Chapter Four: Kathleen
Kathleen whirled through her apartment, trying to make things look tidy. Not for the first time, she cursed her bachelorette ways. Bras and panties hung everywhere, along with umpteen coffee cups with varying levels of brown liquid in them.
When Jimmy had offered to come over, her heart had just about stopped. Her first instinct had been to adamantly refuse. Her crush couldn’t come over to her wreck of a place and see how she lived! But she had quickly realized that his presence would be a huge help for her to get ahead of the sudden mountain in front of her, so she had caved. Of course, she couldn’t help but think this meant he had to think of her as someone special, not just his run-of-the-mill patron. Unless he was often going to clients’ houses and offering to butler for them.
She looked to the clock and let out a string of curses. He was going to be here any minute. The plus side to this whole arrangement was that he had given her his number to make arranging things easier. In the two days since her hair appointment, she had often stared at that contact in her phone, barely resisting texting him something inane.
Thankfully, she had never caved, instead contenting herself with answering the various questions he’d sent her about her address, allergies and what she would like to eat.
Her phone buzzed and she whipped it out so fast she almost threw it across the room. Quickly punching in her security code, she saw she had a message.
He’s here!
She ran to the door, hands still full of laundry, before thinking better of it and tossing them into her room. Closing that off, she rushed back to the front and stepped out onto the landing.
Sure enough, James was walking up, arms loaded with several grocery bags. She knew money wasn’t exactly overflowing in his household, so she had made sure to tip him double what she normally did to make up for all the extra gas he was consuming by helping her. It was more than worth it if she were going to get a homecooked meal plus clean up. Goodness knows she hated washing dishes almost as much as she hated wasting time that could be spent on her business.
“Jimmy! Did you find the place alright?” She was so nervous! Which was silly, considering that Jimmy had been the one to offer this, and she knew that he was the sort of standup guy who would never judge her for her messiness. However, that logic still didn’t stop her heart from pounding or face from flushing, as hard as she tried to suppress it.
“GPS got it just right.” he said with a charming smile that made her unfairly weak in the knees. “So, I figured we could try fajitas tonight?”
“Honestly, anything is fine with me. I can’t thank you enough. Really.”
“I think you have. Any more then I might start blushing, and I think we both know red is not my color.”
“It’s hard to imagine anything not b
eing your color,” she blurted before she could think better of it. Fortunately, he responded positively to the statement rather than rolling his eyes at the terrible flirt.
“My sisters would all disagree with you, but I’ll inform them that you think so.”
“Oooh, maybe not. Wouldn’t want to end up on the wrong side of the terrific trio.” She stood to the side and gestured him in. “Kitchen is straight ahead if you want to set those bags down.”
“That’d be great. I’ve got to get the peppers and onions to sautéing, they take forever.”
“Goodness, you can cut hair and cook.” She had a golden opportunity here so she decided to grab life by the horns and find out a little info. “Your girl or boyfriend must be one happy partner!”
“Yeah, I guess so,” he said with a quiet laugh. “Especially considering she hasn’t met me yet.”
It was hard to contain her elation, but she managed to keep it down to a broad smile. “What? How’s a guy like you single?”
“Believe it or not, single hairdresser with three kids isn’t the most desirable package on the dating scene.”
She clicked her tongue, shaking her head. “Those are your sisters! It shows that you’re both reliable and responsible!”
“Ah yes, the sexiest of all adjectives.”
“Fair enough,” she said with a laugh. “Well I suppose I should get back to work then. Just call me if you need anything!”
“I should be good for a bit. Lucky for me, most stoves follow the same rules.”
“Yeah, I don’t have one of those fancy, NASA-level cooking ranges. I’ll be out in a bit. I usually give myself a five-minute break every hour.”
“Sounds good!” He was already setting things out and finding a knife to cut the vegetables up. With a little wave, she headed back to her workspace.
She barely made it down the hall before she heard a near-deafening clatter from the room she had just vacated. Running back, she saw Jimmy kneeling on the floor, trying to pick up all the pans that had clattered from one of her cabinets.
“Ah! I’m sorry about that! I have too much stuff and not enough space.” She knelt down as well and hurriedly tried to pick up the multiple skillets and pots that had tumbled out. “What were you looking for?”
“A large skillet for the veggies, then a slightly smaller one for the meat. Although that could work on a flat-pan or griddle.”
“Gotcha. Well, here’s my biggest skillet, and as for a flat-pan…” She turned to another cabinet and half opened it, fishing out the cookware she knew was in there. When her fingers closed around the handle, she pulled it out before standing up and turning.
Only to end up less than a breath away from Jimmy.
“Oh,” she murmured, breath momentarily caught in her throat. “Sorry.”
He didn’t say anything for a moment, his green eyes staring into her own. Electricity seemed to crackle through the air, making the hair at the back of her neck stand on end.
“Here’s the flat-pan,” she said, offering it awkwardly between them.
That ended whatever was happening between the two of them, and he took a step back. Had she imagined that? That was something… right?
“Well, if you have all you need, I’ll be in my office. Like I said I would be.”
“You do that. I’ll just be in here. Cooking.”
Laughing nervously, she quickly retreated down the hall. Closing the office door behind her, she let out a long breath.
This night was certainly going to be something.
Chapter Five: James
James checked the meat for the twentieth time, using the food as an excuse to hide his anxiety. He had only been in Kathleen’s apartment for forty minutes, and he had already managed to cause a mini-avalanche with her cooking supplies, then moved awkwardly close to her when she handed him what he needed, resulting in a weirdly intense stare.
Which, of course, he couldn’t get out of his head. Did that lingering eye contact mean something? Was there something possibly between them? Was he imagining it? It was hard to believe that he had made that moment up, but if he hadn’t… did that mean he had a chance with Kathleen?
Too many questions! That thought alone had his anxiety going to eleven, so he checked the meat one more time just to be safe. It was almost done, which meant time to stop overthinking and plate everything.
“It smells delicious in here!” He looked over his shoulder to see Kathleen had exited her office. She was still wearing the same yoga pants and tank she had answered the door in, and he was certain she had no idea how amazing she looked in the casual outfit. He’d never seen her out of a business suit, and the change was more than welcome.
“Thanks,” he said, grinning nervously. “Hopefully it tastes just as good. Where do you usually like to eat?”
“We can just grab some plates and sit on the couch? If that’s okay with you.”
“That sounds fine.” He took a step back from the counter, giving her a bit of space. The last thing he needed was to weird her out by infringing on her personal bubble. “So, we’ve got tortillas, veggies, beans, meat, cheese, sour cream and guac.”
“This is like a full-on smorgasbord! You made all this in an hour?”
“About fifty minutes, actually. But who’s counting? Let’s dig in, shall we? I know you’ve got a lot of work still on your plate.”
“Hah, plate. Was that a pun?”
“Sure, let’s pretend that was on purpose.”
She laughed again -tonight had been full of that wonderful sound- and loaded up a generous set of fajitas for herself. It gave him no small amount of satisfaction to see how excited she was to eat his food. He may have never attended college, but at least he was good for something.
Once she was done, he fixed himself a plate then followed after her. They sat down on the couch and dug in, the only sounds being their chewing and periodic utterances of ‘yum’ now and again. It was a wonderful bit of quiet. James had almost forgotten what it was like to sit still and not have a million things to do with three small whirling dervishes pulling him in different directions.
“This. Is. Amazing,” Kathleen said, breaking the silence with an appreciative groan. “You should come around here more often.”
“Maybe I could?” That’s right! He was going to be courageous! Put himself out there!
“What was that?”
Or maybe not. “Uh, thank you. I appreciate the compliment.”
“No problem. These are seriously great. You should teach me sometime.”
“Sure. In that mythical month when you actually have free time.”
“Good point.” She stretched, causing her shirt to pull up and revealing a tiny sliver of pale, soft belly. “Alright, back to work then.”
“I’ll clean up and put the leftovers in containers for your lunches over the next couple of days. Is there anything else you need done? Laundry? Dishes?”
“No, no. It’s fine, really. You’ve been a godsend tonight.”
“Again, it’s nothing.” He stood and she rose with him, all smiles and determination.
“Same time tomorrow night?” he offered, holding out his hand for a shake.
She tilted her head, giving him a sort of look that he didn’t know how to interpret, before pulling him into another hug. He stiffened at first, before relaxing into the gesture.
“I’ll come back out before you leave. Let me know, okay?”
“I can do that,” he croaked, just remembering to let her go a hair before it turned awkward.
“Great. See you in a bit.”
She walked around him and the couch, disappearing into her office. James let out a long breath and returned to the kitchen. His mind was full as he washed the dishes and began putting things away.
It didn’t take him long to tidy up, but he found himself wanting to linger. There was a certain sort of calmness in this place. One where nothing seemed to be expected of him, and he could be his awkward, quiet self without feeling
pressured for conversation.
When he finished, he walked to what he guessed was her office door and gave a gentle knock. He heard a yelp, then a swear, then stumbling steps before she finally opened the entrance.
“You got up and forgot your headphones were still on, didn’t you?”
She turned a deep scarlet. “Yeah…”
“Well, I’m headed out. I’m thinking meatloaf tomorrow?”
“Sounds perfect.”
She went for another hug and this time he was ready. He wrapped his arms around her, pressing her womanly form to his own before letting her go at the appropriate time.
“Goodnight then.”
“Let me walk you to the door. It’s the least I can do as your host.”
He moved to let her past him then followed her down the hall. “How fancy. I’ll make sure to give this place five out of five stars on Yelp.”
“Your patronage is appreciated.”
He stepped out and gave a little wave before walking to his car. She waited until he was inside his mini-van before closing the door and heading in.
His drive home was short and relatively uneventful, but the moment he stepped in the door, his sisters all accosted him.
“How did it go? How did it go!?”
A chorus of squeals drowned out any answer he might have given, so he held up his hands for some peace.
“It was fine. I dropped some pans but that’s it.”
“That can’t be it!” the oldest, Anna, said with her arms crossed in that classic teenage stance. “And why are you home so early? Come on, I thought we talked about this. If anyone is going to be our stepmother, we want someone with a good head on their shoulders.”
“And don’t forget the potential to send us to college.” Solstice added, twirling her brown braid around her hand.
“Actually, we’d probably get more financial aid from having a single guardian, but I just want someone to take care of you when we all go on to have our own lives.”