You win, hair. Lucy thought as she gave up trying to knot it on her head. She dropped her hands and her curly black hair sprang all down her back. She could never get it to do that fancy twist thing that actresses did for the red carpet. Not for a lack of trying. She wanted to look nice for the art show, and, she guessed, for Dale. But mostly for the art show.
He was gonna be here any minute and she knew he’d be pissed if she was late again. No, not pissed, she corrected herself. Disappointed. Dale didn’t’t get angry. He just got quiet. And then the next time they got together he’d have another self help book for her to read. Gifts, he called them. So far she’d cracked the spines on exactly zero of them. But all stacked up they made a great footrest for watching TV.
“Lucy!”
She heard Dale’s voice holler up to her apartment from the street and she winced. He was gonna give her shit about getting her doorbell fixed again. He was always on her about calling her Superintendent for all the fixes her shabby apartment needed. But her Super, Kristof, was like 99 years old and she'd always felt bad asking him to come all the way out to Brooklyn.
Giving her dress one last pull in the mirror, Lucy knew she looked good. Royal blue always made her light eyes look even brighter. And the dress hugged her generous curves.
“Lucy!” he called up through her window again.
His annoyed voice made her jump as she wiggled into her heels and locked the door behind her. She refused to run in heels, no matter how irritated Dale was with her. She caught sight of him through her gated front door and his wavy blonde hair and classically handsome face sort of soothed her frustration with him. No denying the man was a perfect ten. Looks-wise at least.
He distractedly grabbed at her hand as she came down the stairs. “Did you call the super about your doorbell? You know I hate yelling up to you like that. It makes me feel like a teenager.”
“Not yet.”
Dale rolled his eyes and tugged her down the block toward a waiting cab. “Then maybe it's time you just made me a key. So I wouldn't have to go through that whole embarrassing ordeal every time I come over.” He tossed his hand back toward her brownstone as if her home wasn’t even worth wasting words on.
“I can't afford that,” Lucy said, without shame.
“To get your keys copied? Jesus, Lucy, it costs like 5 dollars.”
“No, I mean I can't afford to take a cab.” Lucy pointed toward the street. She made good enough money as a physical therapist, but NYC living was expensive and she had her school loans. She usually just took the train.
“Well, I guess I’ll just cover it, Lucy. As usual.”
She sighed at his clipped tone and planted her feet. She'd hoped they could have lasted a little longer, he was super hot. But recently Dale had gone from mildly, and persistently, annoying to being an out and out dick.
“I don't let people talk to me like that, Dale.” She crossed her arms over her chest.
“We’ll talk about this in the cab, Lucy. The meter is running.”
The cab driver peeked his head out the window, a curious expression on his face.
“Nah,” she said, shaking her head. “We don't have to talk about it at all. I'm not getting in the cab.” She let her arms drop and rearranged her purse on her hip. Dale’s eyes widened. Obviously he’d never been dumped before. “We’re done here, Dale. I deserve to be with someone who’s nice to me.”
“Lucy!” he admonishingly exclaimed.
“I’m real tired of you saying my name that way, Dale.” She turned and headed toward the train station. “I’ll bring your stuff by your house in a few days.”
She didn't have to turn around to imagine the irate expression on his face.
“What are you looking at?” she heard him screech at the cabbie as he slammed the door.
Lucy felt a dull twinge as she heard the cab pull away, but she had to admit that she wasn’t very bummed to have Dale out of her life. He wasn’t ever anything more than a warm body to her. And recently, he hadn’t been worth the trouble. She sighed and waited for the crosswalk light to change. Same old story, new day. All the dudes she’d dated in the last few years had all seemed so special at the beginning, and had all ended up either boring, or just plain assholes. She needed a change. A big one.