Chapter 3: Lucy

 

 

I had just polished off my second piece of deep dish when a medley of giggles came tumbling up the hall. The sound was closely followed by Fiona, who was looking a hot mess in an oversized Shirley Manson shirt, and a blond haired, blue eyed guy in scrubs.

“Oh Lucy, you’re home,” she said, obviously drunk on sex.

I lifted my hands from the arms of the comfy chair. “Nowhere else to go I’m afraid.”

“Lucy, this is Peter,” Fiona said, gesturing to her partner in crime. “Peter, this is my roommate, Lucy.”

I stood up to shake Peter’s hand. Blond guys didn’t normally do it for me, but even I could see that he was adorable. “Nice to meet you,” I said. “Would you like some pizza? Maybe something to drink?”

“That’s nice of you to offer,” he said, “but I have to be going.”

Fiona pushed some disheveled hair out of her face. “Peter works the night shift at the Children’s hospital.”

“Well, maybe another time,” I said.

He nodded. “Sounds good.”

Fiona followed him to the door, and I didn’t have to look in their direction to know they were groping each other. When I heard the door close, I turned to look at her as she fell back against it and sighed.

“So he’s new,” I said.

Fiona jumped away from the door, squatted down, and stomped in hysterical circle.

“Is it safe to assume you got laid?”

She walked over to the couch and collapsed on it, pulling her shirt down. “Isn’t he dreamy?”

“He’s your type anyway.”

“All day long.”

I laughed. “Is he the Tinder guy you showed me before?”

“One and the same.”

“I thought he looked familiar. He works at the Children’s hospital?”

She crossed her arms over her chest. “Yeah.”

“Is he a doctor?”

“A nurse, but who cares? Scrubs are hot.”

“Can’t argue with you there.” I leaned forward and pushed my plate farther back on the table so I could put my feet up. “Did you know he was going to stop by or-”

“No, he asked if I wanted to get a quick dinner, and I said I’d already picked up a pizza but that he could stop by.”

“So he stopped by for a ride, huh?”

“Yeah, and we got off at all the stops.”

I rolled my eyes. “Got it.”

“Yes he does.”

“How long have you been seeing him?”

“That was the third time. We had lunch once and went for a drink the other night.”

“Do you genuinely like him or are you just happy you got fucked?”

She shrugged. “Both, I hope.”

“He seems normal enough.”

“I know, right? What a relief?! I swear if I met one more eccentric hipster I was going to scream.”

“You think you might be able to carry on seeing this guy seriously?”

“I don’t see why not. He’s nice and funny, and he loves kids, obviously.”

“So he can’t be a total monster.”

Fiona folded her arms behind her head and looked up at the ceiling.

I didn’t even want to know what was going through her mind. “Thanks for picking up the pizza by the way.”

She dropped her eyes and looked at me. “No worries. I’m going to have some in a minute. I forgot what an appetite a good round of sheet wrestling can work up.”

I shook my head. “I put the garlic sauce in the fridge.”

“Cool.”

She walked over to the kitchen and I sat back, happy that at least one of us was getting some that meant something.

“So how was closing up with Chuck?” she asked.

“Honestly, you’re in such a good mood right now I don’t think I should tell you.”

“Why? What happened?”

“It was a fucking disaster.”

“Jesus. Hold on a sec.” She opened the pizza box and dragged a slice onto her plate. “Do you need another drink while I’m up?”

“I’d take a shandy if there are any left.”

“Sure.”

A moment later, she handed me an open bottle and plopped down on the couch. “So what happened? I feel so guilty that I left.”

“It’s okay, but it was really scary. He got kind of aggressive.”

“How aggressive?”

“I don’t think he would’ve raped me or anything but he went as far as telling me I wasn’t going to call for help.”

“What?! How did it even come to that?”

“He came up behind me and pressed his-” I swallowed. “Pressed himself against me.”

“Eww. What a creep!”

“And when he put his hands on my hips, I told him to take his fucking hands off me or I was going to call the police, and that’s when he said I wasn’t going to call anyone and forced me to hang up the phone.”

Fiona’s eyes were wide and her pizza slice was frozen half way between the plate and her mouth. “What did you do?”

“Aiden showed up.”

She dropped the pizza and let out a sigh of relief. “Thank god.”

“I know. I was freaking out, Fiona. I basically ran to him when he walked in.”

“What did Chuck do?”

“He just listened while I told him that Aiden was my MMA fighting boyfriend and that he broke people’s ribs all the time.”

She laughed. “And did Aiden play along?”

“Brilliantly,” I said, lifting my hands up. “He was all like remember when I broke that guys jaw just for hurting your feelings and stuff like that. I think Chuck was genuinely nervous.”

“Good.”

“I know.” I crossed one ankle over the other. “But we need to do something.”

“What can we do though? It’s just our word against his and he’s our employer. Like if it was just a matter of one of us losing our job, maybe we could swing it but-”

“I get what you’re saying, and we need to be careful.”

“Do you have any ideas?”

“Besides letting Aiden kill him?”

She nodded. “Yeah, besides murder of any kind.”

“Well, I was thinking that even if we get out, he’ll just start harassing the other girls, ya know? It won’t change anything or stop him.”

“So what do you suggest?”

I shrugged. “I haven’t figured that out yet, but in the meantime, we need to make sure no one is left alone to close up with him anymore.”

“Right.”

“Cause if he did something to you or one of the other girls… I just can’t risk having that on my conscious.”

“Totally.”

“Though I’m hoping Aiden scared him enough to make a difference today.”

Fiona shook her head. “I am so sorry, Lucy. I feel terrible.”

“Don’t, it’s my fault. I’m the one that insisted you go cause I put deep dish ahead of my personal safety.”

“I’m so glad Aiden showed up. He’s the best, huh?”

I sighed. “He just might be, yeah.”

“So did he just give you a ride home or-”

“After I gave him a haircut.”

“Nice one.”

“He certainly thought so anyway. I’ve never seen anyone more excited about getting shampooed in my life.”

She laughed. “Really?”

“Yeah, he said he was having a hard time not moaning and that it was better than Christmas.”

She rolled her eyes. “That is too funny. I suppose if you’ve never gotten your hair washed by someone, it is kind of relaxing.”

I pursed my lips.

“Why are you blushing?”

“No reason.”

“Lucyyy.”

“This is going to sound so stupid.”

“What?”

“I demand you forget I said it as soon as I tell you.”

Fiona lifted three fingers. “Scout’s honor.”

“I thought you never made it past Brownie level?”

“What do you want then? A pinky swear?”

“That would be sufficient.”

“Okay, I pinky swear,” she said, lifting a pinky in the air. “Now tell me the stupid thing.”

I took a deep breath. “When I was washing Aiden’s hair- how do I say this-”

“With words. C’mon already.”

“It was kind of intense.”

“Go on.”

“Like normally it’s just part of the job, but washing his hair…”

“What?”

“I think I was kind of turned on by it.”

“I’m not surprised.”

“Really?”

“Of course not,” Fiona said. “Aiden is super hot. I think any woman would wet their panties if they were massaging either of his heads.”

I rolled my eyes.

“I know you like to pretend he’s nothing special,” she said. “I know you think you’re above that because you knew him back when he used to pick his nose and eat it.”

“He never did that.”

She laughed. “It was just an example. You know what I mean.” She took a small bite of her pizza and then covered her mouth while she kept talking. “The point is, you may have brain washed your mind into thinking he’s not delicious, but your body speaks a different language.”

I bit my bottom lip.

She swallowed. “Shit, just thinking about his lone dimple is enough to get me wet, and he’s not even my type.”

“Jesus.”

“Just saying. I wouldn’t worry about it.”

“No?”

“So what if you got a little turned on? You’re only human. It’s not like you tried to jump his bones.”

“No,” I said. But the thought crossed my mind.