Chapter Three

 

 

 

 

Megan

 

 

 

 

 

“Let me stretch you,” Kelly said Sunday night as I sat on the couch with a laundry basket. I shook my head with a frown.

“I don’t need to be stretched, Kel.”

While I had been going to school to get my bachelor degree in nursing, Kelly had obtained hers in nutrition with a minor in sports medicine. She worked in a rehabilitation center as a physical therapist assistant and she wasn’t happy unless she was manipulating someone’s body in some way. When she wasn’t dating anyone whose body she could manipulate, either sexually or not, I was subjected to her freakishly strong hands. My poor limbs had been twisted, stretched, and forced to do things I never wanted them to. She definitely came in handy when I kinked my neck or had an achy shoulder, but I wasn’t sure the pros outweighed the cons.

“Your posture is really stiff,” she replied as moved into the kitchen to refill her water bottle. “Just let me do your back.”

I shook my head and folded a pair of my scrub pants. “Leave my back alone.”

My sister groaned as she grabbed the remote from where it was next to me. “You suck.”

“So mature,” I muttered as I used my foot to kick her. That resulted in her shoving my shoulder, me throwing the pillow at her, and Kelly ultimately messing up the clothes I’d folded.

Living with my sister was fun.

When her phone chimed fifteen minutes later, she was on the floor in front of the TV doing yoga but she was up quicker than I’d seen her move in weeks to grab it.

“It’s from Cupid’s Circle. I have six requests including Pickle Guy, gross,” Kelly said with a huge smile as she winkled her nose.

I looked up from the laundry I was folding again and rolled my eyes. “That’s a match made in heaven. Kelly Pickle. It has a nice ring to it.”

“Shut up,” she laughed as she put her phone down. “Brian and Ashton are on here, though. Did you get the email, too?”

I shook my head as I rolled another pair of socks. “I don’t really care to be honest, Kel.”

Kelly sighed and moved to walk towards the kitchen, grabbing my phone as she did. “Fine. I’ll look.”

I shrugged as she scrolled through my phone and I cringed when she let out an ear piercing squeal. Simba sat up and whined softly before laying his head back down.

“Four requests, which has to be a lot considering you looked bitchy the entire time we were there.”

I nodded my head in agreement. “I felt bitchy the entire time we were there.”

“Andy, Eddie, Colt, and Alex.”

I put the last bit of folded clothes in the basket and I picked it up. “Andy and Alex were nice. Eddie was a bit strange and I’m really surprised Colt put me down. He and I had a lot of awkward silence.”

“So, which one are you going to call first?” She bounced on her heels and I shook my head.

“None of them.” I dropped the laundry basket in my room and when I returned, she was giving me a dirty look.

“Are you kidding me?”

I grabbed Simba’s leash and shook my head. “Nope. I’m really okay, Kelly.”

I hooked the leash to his collar and slipped into my flip flops. I gave her a smile before I took the dog out for a walk around the apartment complex. When Simba and I finally went back home, Kelly had an extremely guilty look on her face and I narrowed my eyes at her.

“What?”

“Nothing at all.” She skipped into her room and I followed behind her slowly.

“What did you do?”

She shook her head and grabbed her laptop. “Nothing.”

“Kelly.” I raised my eyebrows and she grinned at me.

“I was going to borrow your opal earrings,” she said quietly, that look still on her face. “But you came back in before I could get them.”

I rolled my eyes and reached out to pinch her shoulder. “No way. First of all, borrowing implies permission, thief. Second, you lose everything. And third, I hid them so you can’t find them.”

She huffed behind me as I walked back to my room and made sure my earrings were still where I’d stashed them. All of my jewelry was on the top of my dresser in a small pile and I told myself for the hundredth time that I needed to get a box to keep them all in. My room was very clean and so organized with the exception of my damn jewelry.

I was glad for our lazy Sunday because the following work week was busy thanks to an aggressive strain of the flu that was going around. We went through more boxes of the flu mist in five days than we had all winter long. I’d also cleaned up more vomit than I ever had in my life. Before I left the office early Friday afternoon, I sanitized everything with our normal cleaner and then went over it again with a bleach solution.

Both doctors in the practice had warned us all to watch for our own flu-like symptoms but we had iron immune systems from being around it all of the time. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d actually caught something, even a cold, but with my luck it would be the nasty flu that finally took me out.

My sister wasn’t home when I got there but she had told me she’d be working late. I spent the afternoon doing absolutely nothing around the house and when Kelly still wasn’t home by five, I called her.

“Hey,” she answered breathlessly.

“Are we still going to dinner tonight?” I asked as I pulled a pair of jeans on.

“Yeah, but I’ll have to meet you there.” She mumbled something to someone on the other end of the line. “I’m not going to have time to come home first.”

I sat back on my bed and sighed. “We can cancel if you’re too busy.”

“No!” She said it so quickly that it took me by surprise. She cleared her throat before speaking again. “Sorry. It’s been a day. No canceling. Wear a dress, okay? Let’s make a date out of it.”

I groaned and fell back on the bed so I could look up at the ceiling. “I hate you.”

“I love you, though.” Kelly let out a small laugh and sighed. “Six-thirty. Don’t be late.”

She hung up the phone and I grumbled as I pulled the jeans off that I’d just put on. I went back into my closet and found the short-sleeved black dress that I knew was comfortable. I pinned half of my hair on top of my head, did my make-up, and slipped into the dress. Once I had the matching heels on my feet, I walked out to my car and text Kelly that I was on my way.

After making the twenty minute drive, I walked through the doors of our favorite Italian restaurant and looked around for my sister. When I didn’t see her, I walked to the podium and gave her name.

“Oh, of course. The other party has already arrived. Let me see you to your table.” The hostess smiled and I followed her across the restaurant. She led me to a table and a man stood as I approached.

I glanced back to the hostess and shook my head. “I’m meeting my sister.”

“Megan, hi,” said the man and I jerked my gaze back to him.

I stared at him for a moment before I realized he was Alex from Speed Dating. His dark blonde hair had been cut and was styled perfectly on his head and his blue eyes were friendly as he looked me over once. He looked nice and was wearing a light blue button-up shirt, black slacks, and a red tie.

“Oh, I’m going to kill Kelly,” I muttered under my breath and the hostess frowned. I looked at her and shook my head. “Thanks.”

I offered Alex a small smile and took the chair across from him. “Alex. Nice to see you again.”

“You, too,” he replied with a grin as he sat back down. “How are you?”

“Well…” I chuckled slightly and gestured around us. “My sister set this up.”

He frowned and shook his head slightly. “What?”

“Did I call you and arrange this?”

He nodded. “Last Sunday… Oh. That wasn’t you?”

Kelly hadn’t been trying to steal my earrings. She’d stolen my phone and called him while I had been walking the dog. I was going to physically harm her.

I offered him an apologetic smile and shook my head. “My sister is determined to make me date, apparently.”

“That explains why the phone call was so rushed,” Alex replied with a small laugh. “Do you want to go?”

“Oh, no. I’ll maim her later.” I offered him a real smile. “We’re here and I’m starving.”

Alex returned my smile with one of his own and nodded his head. “I’m sorry you were duped into this, but I’m not sorry you’re here.”

“Me too,” I replied truthfully as I picked up the menu.

I was actually enjoying myself by the end of the meal. I was still going to kill Kelly, but it had gone from a torturous murder to a swift and merciful one. Alex was a fun guy- very interesting and very easy to talk to. He told me a little bit more about his life and how he and his wife had divorced a little more than a year before after almost seven years of marriage. When I asked why, he just shrugged his shoulders and said that they just grew apart. It was an aloof answer but we didn’t know each other well enough to get into the nitty gritty.

He also told me that he had never really wanted to go into the medical profession and had worked in construction right out of high school. After his daughter had been born, though, he’d decided to do something less back breaking and had started training to be an EMT. Now that he was in the field, he loved it and wanted to do more so he was pursuing a paramedic certification.

When I asked him more about his children, Alex lit up. He told me his eight-year old, Hudson, was very much his clone in every way. He loved sports, he loved video games, and he had a dry sense of humor. His six-year-old daughter, Kendra, was his ex-wife’s clone. Apparently she was energetic, dramatic, and it was impossible to not love her. Watching him talk about his children was fascinating and I couldn’t help but smile.

I told him a little about me and my job. I also told him more about my obnoxious sister and he confessed that he had considered asking her out. When I asked why he didn’t, he gave me an embarrassed grin and shrugged.

“I feel like I’d need a continual caffeine drip to keep up with her.”

I laughed and nodded my head. “She’s amazing but she can be exhausting. She either needs someone calm to balance her excitement or someone just as crazy to complete her.”

We were at the restaurant for almost two hours and when he walked me to my car, he turned to me with a smile.

“Can I see you again? Intentionally?” He swept his dark blonde hair off of his forehead and I paused for a moment before nodding.

“Yeah, I’d like that.”

“Tomorrow?” His eyes shined with humor and I smiled back at him. Going out with him the next night meant canceling my bar night with Kelly but she’d brought it upon herself.

“I don’t know. I might be too busy harming my sister. I suppose I can pencil you in, though. What do you want to do?” I stopped at the door of my SUV and turned to look at him.

He leaned against the side of the car and didn’t answer for a moment. “What about a movie? There’s a new sappy romance we could go see.”

I laughed and shook my head. “How about a comedy?”

“Deal. Let me know if you need help hiding the body in advance, though.” He gave me a lopsided grin before holding out his hand to shake on it. I couldn’t help laughing as I reached mine out to grasp his and he tugged me close before bringing his lips to mine. The kiss was quick and sweet and when he pulled back, I gave him a small smile.

“I’ll figure out a movie and a time and text you the details later.” He backed away as I nodded, and I gave him a wave before I got in my car. I started it and sat there for a moment as I pulled my phone out of my purse. She answered almost immediately.

“You can’t be too mad if you were in there for two hours.”

I shook my head and put my phone down as my Bluetooth kicked in. “I’m going to kill you. I haven’t decided how but it’s going to happen.”

Kelly’s laughter echoed through my car and I couldn’t help but smile. After she stopped laughing, she sighed.

“You liked him, though.”

I nodded and pulled out of the parking lot. “I had a good time. We’re going out again tomorrow night so I guess you’ll just have to find someone else to take to the bar.”

“Wait, what? No way.”

“You have no one to blame but yourself, Kel,” I remarked with a smug tone and Kelly let out a long sigh.

“Whatever. It was worth it.” She was quiet for a moment. “I’m glad you had fun, Gan. I love you.”

“I love you even though I really don’t like you right now.”

Kelly laughed again and I could almost hear her shrug. “You’ll get over it.”