"Shhhhh!" I said to Barakah as we drunkidly made our way down the hall to the bathrooms. We had been to the The Hole time and time again, but just knowing where the bathrooms were wasn't enough. "Don't 'Shhhhh' me Molly! I'm not being loud!" She said. "Are too." "Not!" She shouted. "Even if I was, WHO CARES! We're in a bar! You can't hear anything over the band anyway!" "I know! But you said that guy was really cute back there! He looked at us!" I told her. "And? Now he is flattered. Maybe he'll buy us a drink now." She said, and we both laughed. We finaly made it to the bathroom and pushed our way in. At first I counldn't make out what I was seeing. Barakah gasped, and froze. I squinted and realized what I was looking at. There was a girl sitting on the counter with her skirt hiked up, and her legs wrapped around a guy. "Either join in, or get out." The guy said. "FUCK YOU!" The girl shouted, and smacked him. He just laughed and continued going about his business. I started giggling, and Barakah pushed me out the door. "OH MY GOD!" She shouted when we got back into the hallway. "They were...doing it!" The last part was barely audible. "You don't have to whisper. And it's called sex." I told her, and she pushed me playfully. "I KNOW!" She said, and started laughing. "I REALLY have to pee!" I whined. "Me too!" She said. "What about the mens-" "NO WAY!" She shouted, shaking her head and flailing her long black hair. She was from Saudi Arabia and looked so exotic. I was always jealous of her. Which was ironic because she was always jealous if my blonde hair and fair skin. "YES WAY!" I shouted, grabbing her arm. I pulled her into the mens bathroom with me. "HEY!" I guy shouted. He was at the sink washing his hands. "SORRY! EMERGENCY!" I told him, and pulled Barakah into the stall with me, and locked the door. "You have your own bathroom for that." He said. "Well, people are having sex in there!" I shouted back at him. "What! SIMON!" The guy shouted, and stormed out of the bathroom. Barakah and I were laughing so hard we almost forgot we had to pee. "Turn around! I have to go!" I told her. She did, still giggling. I went real fast, and then waited for her to go. After we washed our hands, we stumbled back down the hallway and back to the bar. "TWO BEERS!" Barakah slurred. "Sorry my Arabian Princess, but you two are cut off!" The bartender said. "Come on Jack!" I whined. "No! You've both had enough." He said, laughing. He served a beer to the guy next to us. Barakah and I both made our best pouty faces. "No. But I'll tell you what. If you two come back to my place after closing time, I'll give you more drinks there." He said. "Forget it!" Barakah said, and we both laughed. "Hey! Come on, I'm a cool guy!" Jack said. "Besides a few people are coming over. A small party I guess." "Oh! We'll go!" I said, and Barakah hit me. She had a crush on Jack for months. "Good. Just stick around until closing, I'll give you a ride." He said. "Deal!" I shouted, and he laughed. "Now what?" Barakah asked me. "Closing isn't for another hour." "We smoke!" I said, and pulled her out the back door. I hated standing out front with all the other smokers. I pulled out my crumpled pack of Camel's from my purse and handed them to Barakah. She fished out two, while I searched for a lighter. "Motherfucker." I said. "You lost it again?" Barakah whined. "Maybe!" I said. "Here." A guy said, and tapped me on the shoulder with a lighter. I took it from him. "Thanks." I said, and lit mine, then handed it to Barakah. "Hey! Wait! That is my lighter!" I said, when Barakah handed it back. "I know. You dropped it when you ran out of the bathroom." The guy said. He stepped more into the light, and it was the guy from the bathroom. I started laughing so hard! Barakah had a horrible disgusted look on her face. "Don't look so horrified! Just having fun tonight." He said. "Ewwww." Barakah told him. He held out his hand, but she just glared at it. "I'm not dirty! Shit." He said. I shook his hand, still laughing. "Simon." He said. "Molly. This is Barakah." I told him. "Well, I've got some friends waiting for me inside." He said, and walked in. "EWWWWWWWWWWW! You touched him!" Barakah shouted. "Relax! I didn't sleep with him." I told her, still lauguing. "Gross." She muttered, and took another drag from her cigarette. "He's a good fucker." A woman said behind us. Barakah and I both jumped and looked. The girl that he was with was sitting in the dark on a green crate. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you." She said. "Thats okay." I said, kind of weirded out. She was pretty. Well, would have been with less of the dark make-up. "Jessica." She said, and stood up. "Molly." I told her. "So, do you and your boyfriend always fuck in the bathroom?" Barakah asked. "Barakah!" I gasped. Jessica laughed. "He's not my boyfriend. I don't know him actually." She said, and pushed past us and back inside. "What a weird night." Barakah said. "No shit." I told her, and we both laughed. We went inside a little later to hang out and wait for Jack.
Barakah walked off and I sat down at the end of the bar. I was getting a little tired. "None of that." Jack said when he noticed me yawn. I giggled. "You girls are welcome to crash at my place later." He offered. I smiled. "Thanks." He winked at me and walked away. I noticed Barakah flirting with a group of guys. I just laughed and rolled my eyes. "So. . ." Jack sighed. The bar was starting to die down and it was tiem to cut everyone off. "What's her story? I can never tell." I shrugged. "Come on. You two are attached at the hip." He said. "I really don't know. You'll have to ask her yourself." I said. He handed me a water. I took a sip and made my way to the bathroom.
I suddenly didn't feel so well, and sat down on the floor. Normaly I would have been too repulsed to do that, but I started feeling faint. I made myself drink most of the water, and then made myself thow up. "Hey, are you okay?" Someone asked, and tapped the stall door. "Yes." I said, and stood up. I flushed the toilet and then opened the stall door to leave. There was a guy standing there! "Whoa. Didn't mean to scare you. You're in the mens room." He said. "WHAT?" I gasped, and covered my mouth. "You know, this is the second time I've caught you in the mens room." He said, and laughed. I looked at him confused. "You were in here with your friend before." he said. "OH! That was you!" I said, and started laughing. "Yeah." He said, and smiled. He was cute, and I felt hideous! I knew my make-up was probably smeared, and my hair was probably a mess. I walked to the sink and washed my hands. He started to say something, but I hurried out of there. I saw Barakah at a booth and ran over to her. "Oh my god!" I shouted, and sat next to her.
"What?" She asked. "I keep fucking running into that player guy and his friend that we saw in the bathroom." I told her. She laughed. "I don't think I can hang out much longer." I said. "I'll set a bed up for you at Jack's." She said. "He offered his room to us for the night." I shook my head. I just felt like going home and crashing. "Please?" She asked. "Yeah, okay." I said.
The place cleared out pretty fast, and Jack was ready. He walked over to us at the booth and sat down next to Barakah. "Ready?" He shouted, and I winced, and rubbed my forhead. "Yeah." Barakah said. "Are you okay?" He asked me. "I'll be fine." I said, and smiled. "Okay, lets go then!" He shouted, and hit the table. I groaned, then got up and followed him and Barakah out to his truck. We all climbed into the cab of the truck. When he started it, the stereo blasted some Funk band. Barakah laughed, and Jack turned it down. He only lived a few minutes away, but it felt like forever! He parked in his apartment complex, and we followed him upstairs. He was on the fifth floor! "Are you kidding me?" I asked, as he passed the fourth flight of stairs. He just laughed. By the time we got to his apartment, I felt a lot better. "Home sweet home." He said, and walked in. "Wow, it's big." Barakah said, looking around. "Three bedrooms." He said. "My room is the second one on the right, across from the bathroom." "Okay. Let's get you to bed." Barakah said to me. "I'm fine now." I told her. She gave me a look like she knew better. "Okay, okay." I said. She laughed, and we walked back to Jack's room. There were pictures and magazine articles all over the walls! All he had in there was a bed, and a lap top on the floor next to it. "Wow." Barakah said. I just yawned and climbed into his bed. I was more tired then I thought. "Jack said everyone should be here soon, so it might get loud." She told me. "I'm not worried about it." I told her, already dozing off. She hugged me and then left. I dozed off soon after.
"People are fucking in here." I heard a guy say. I turned over to look at the time. I had only been sleeping for two hours. "NO! People are sleeping in here!" I shouted. "Whoa, chill out little woman." He said. "Dude." I heard Jack say. He pulled the guy out of the room and shut the door. I sighed. I pulled the covers over my head. A few minuets later, the door opened. "Hey." Someone whispered. "Yeah?" I asked poking my head up. "It's me." Barakah said. "Lander's here." "So." I said rolling over onto my stomach. "Are you crazy?" She whispered loudly. "I don't care about him anymore." I mumbled. "It's fate." She said walking into the room. I giggled. "Seriously." She said. She sat down at the end of the bed and put her hand on my leg. "I haven't seen him for two years." I said. "Exactly. Then he shows up out of nowhere to the same party that you're at." She said. "Did you tell him I was here?" I asked. "Well yeah. Of course." She said. "So tell him where I am then." I said annoyed. She jumped up and let out a squeel. She went running out of the room. I rolled my eyes. I pulled the covers back over my head. Within seconds, I heard the door open again. "Molly?" My stomach tickled when he said my name. "Yeah." I said. "How long has it been? Like three years?" He asked. "Two years and four months." I said. He laughed. There was an awkward silence. I sat up deciding to break the silence. "You never called." I said. "That's where I'm the jackass." He said pointing to me with his index finger. "We were inseperable, Lan." I said. "I know." He said. "What happen?" I asked. "I married a schizo." He said. "She tried to sleep with my best friend. We divorced. I moved back here."
"Wow. So you've been busy." I told him. "Yeah, I guess so." He said. "What about you. "Well, I stopped going to school. I havn't really been up to much." I told him. "You stopped going to school? Why?" He asked. I shrugged. "I don't know what I want to do." I told him. He sat down next to me on the bed, and i reached over and hit the light swtich. He laughed when I flinched. "Shut up, it's bright." I told him. "You were asleep, weren't you?" He asked. "Yeah." I told him. "Barakah said you just layed down." He said. "That liar! It's okay though." I told him. "Wow. Two and a half years." He said. "I know! I can't believe it. I'll be 24 in two months." I groaned, and put my head in my hands. "Oh please! I just turned 25, I don't want to hear it!" He said, and I giggled. "So, a schizo?" I asked. "Yeah. Long story." He sighed. "Well, we need to catch up." I told him. "Do you care to join me for the party?" He asked. "Sure. Let me freshin up first." I told him. "Okay. You need it." He said. "HEY!" I shouted, and pushed him. "I'm kidding! You look great." He said, and stood up. I rolled my eyes, and waited for him to leave before I opened my purse and pulled out my compact. I wasn't as bad as I thought I would be. I just touched everything up real quick, then brushed my hair. I walked out and the place was full of people. I was surprised! I spotted Lander in the kitchen and snuck up behind him. "BOO!" I shouted in his ear, and he jumped.
I laughed. He grabbed two beers and handed me one. "Thanks." I said. We made our way through the front room and he sat down on the big recliner. I sat down on the arm of the chair and he put his hand on my leg. "So, what you been up to?" He asked. "Really nothing. Just working." I said. "How's the fam?" He asked. "Good." I smiled. "I miss Grandpa Fisher." He said. "How is he?" "Still always crackin' jokes. He still asks me to pull his finger." I giggled. He laughed.
"How is your mom?" I asked. "Oh, you didn't hear." He said. "What?" I asked, concerned. "She passed away two months ago." he said, looking down. "What?" I asked. "I'm so sorry!" "It's okay." He said. "What happened?" I asked. "She played too much bingo at the Rec center, and just-" "You ass! Your mom didn't die!" I shouted, and he laughed. "No, she is good. She moved to Vegas about a year ago." He said. "You are going to hell!" I told him. "Yeah, probably." He said. "Deffinatly." I told him, and he smiled. I missed his smile. "Why didn't you call me? You just left." I asked. "I don't know. I didn't tell anyone." He said. "I got tired of life here." "Tired of me? Of your other friends?" I asked. "No. In fact I missed everyone a lot. That's why I came back." He said. "Well, I'm still mad at you." I told him, and he laughed. "Good. I'm still mad at me for leaving you behind." He told me, and squeezed my leg. "Barakah thinks it's fate that you are here." I told him, and he laughed. "She still believes in all that nonsense?" He asked. "Yeah." I said, and sighed. "What is it?" He asked me. "You left before I could tell you how I really felt about you." I told him. "I know. I was afraid." He said. "Of what?" I asked. "Hurting you." "Oh, and leaving town with out telling me didn't hurt me?" I asked, trying to keep my eyes from tearing up. "I'm so sorry." He said. "It's okay. It's over now." I told him. "It's not okay. I'm sorry." He said. I just smilled, and placed my hand over his. "Can we start over?" He asked. "I don't think so." I told him. "It was worth a shot." He said. I felt my heart sink when I said that, but it took me a long time to get over Lander, and I didn't want to go back down that road. We weren't even technicaly a couple when he left. "Look at Barakah and Jack." He said. I looked over at them. The were sitting on the floor laughing at something. "They both like each other, but neither one of them ever makes a move." I said. "Sometimes they completely ignore each other. I don't get it!" "Maybe they are afraid." He said. "Well thats dumb. If they feel that way, they should go for it." I said. "Sometimes it isn't that easy." He said. "Are we talking about them or us?" I asked, looking at him. "Sorry." He said. "So, how is your brother?" "Don't ask." I said. "That bad?" He asked. "Yeah. He just got out of jail on parol. He stole a bunch of stuff from my parents. My mom wouldn't even press charges! My dad wouldn't let him get away with it this time though. I don't know what happened to him." I said. "Well, I hope everything else is good with you." He told me. "Thanks." I said.
"Nine questions." He said. I giggled. "Come on." He said. "Are we twelve?" I asked. "Nine questions." He said. I just giggled. "Favorite color." He said. "Brown." "Name?" "Christian." I said. "Still?" "Yes and that counts as question three." I giggled. "Jerk." I just smiled. "Hey, it was a question." "Question four. Last person you had sex with?" He asked. I rolled my eyes. "Well?" "Ted." "Where?" He asked. "Well, aren't you just getting personal on me?" I asked laughing. He just looked at me with a serious look on his face. He smirked shyly. "His bed." I said. "Damn." He said. "Why do you have to be so normal?" "I just am and that counted as question six." He laughed. "Where did you meet this Ted?" "Dina's flower shop. He was buying flowers for his Mom for Mother's Day." I said. "Now isn't that sweet?" He asked. "Yes." I said. "Question eight." He laughed. "You are ruining all the fun." "You're the one asking the questions." I said. "Funny." He said. "Do you still read Parenting Magazine?" "Eh. No." I said. "I'm not as much of a dreamer these days." "If you could be any age right now, how old would you be?" He asked. "Five." I sighed smiling. "You don't have to worry about anything." "Interresting." He said. "My turn." I giggled. "Uh oh." He said.
"Question One. Who is your oddest crush?" I asked. "Ellen Degeneres." He said, and I laughed. "When was the last time you had sex?" "A month ago. Now who is getting personal?" He asked. "Hey! I'm asking the questions." I said. "Sorry." He said. "Was she good?" I asked. "Not as good as you." He said. I blushed. He caught me off guard. "Was I your best?" I asked. "Oh yeah." He said. "Really?" I asked. "Yup. And that is five." He said. "Damn it!" I said, and he laughed. "Okay, okay. What is your weirdest fantasy?" I asked. "Not fair!" He said. "Just answer it!" I told him. "Fine. I always wanted to do it in a sauna." He said. "What?" I asked. "A sauna. You know a steam room. It's weird I know. "No weird guy fantasies like cheerleaders, or bondage?" I asked, and he laughed. "Nope. Just a girl in a sauna." He said. "And that leaves you with one more question. "Aw man! Let's see...I can't think of anything." I said. "Oh come on! One more." He said. "Um....if you could eat anything right now, what would you eat?" I asked. "And don't you dare say me!" I added, and he laughed. "Take all the fun out of it." He said. "Just answer it." "Pizza." He said. "That sounds good right now!" I told him. "Tell you what...Tomorrow I'll take you out for pizza." He said. "Yes!" I said, and he laughed. We hung out for a while before I got tired and went back to Jack's room. Lander wanted to come with me, and I really wanted him to, but I was smart and didn't let him. Barakah came back a few minutes later and we both went to sleep.
I yawned as I sat up. I could never sleep in when the sun was shining right in my face. I started laughing when I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. My hair looked ridiculous. It was all over the place. "Shut up, Knadler." Barakah mumbled. "Knadler?" I asked. "No sex. It's too early." She said. I leaned over to look at her. Her eyes were still closed. "Barakah?" I laughed. "You kept me up all last night." She said. I pushed her laughing. "Barakah?" She jumped and turned over facing me. "What the hell were you dreaming about?" I asked. "I don't know." She grunted. "Mr. Knadler maybe?" I asked. She gave me a strange look. "Oh yeah. I think he was in it." She said, then her eyes got big. "Oh my god. I just had a sex dream about him." "He's your Dad's partner." I said. "I know! He's forty-five years old too!" She said. "And married." I said. She laughed. "It's not like it means anything." "Suuuure." I teased. "It doesn't." She said getting defensive. "Oh my god. You totally have a thing for Mr. Knadler." I said. "Shut up." She said. She smiled and stood up. "So, I find him attractive. Who cares." "I knew it!" I said. "Wait. How did you know I was dreaming about him?" She asked. "You were talking in your sleep." I said. Her cheeks turned red, so I could tell she was embarassed. She picked up her purse giggling and left the room. "Barakah loved Knadler!" I said out loud. "SHHH!" She said peaking into the room. "Seriously." "BARAKAH WANTS TO HAVE KNADLERS BABIES!" I shouted laughing.
"KNADLER BABIES!" I shouted again. "What the hell are Knadler Babies?" Jack asked, walking in the room. He want to his closet and pulled out a shirt. "Ask Barakah." I told him, and laughed. He pulled off the shirt he was wearing, and put on the clean one. "Hello! I'm still in here." I said. "I know. It's just a shirt." He said. I rolled my eyes and got out of bed. When I walked out Barakah was on the couch talking to Lander. "Hey, do you mind if Lander gives you a ride home?" She asked. "No, that's fine." I told her. "Cool. Jack is giving me a ride to my car." She said. "Ready?" Lander asked. "Yeah." I said, and we left.
"I can't believe you still live in the same apartment." He said. "I like it." I told him. "Mind if I come in?" He asked. "Uh, I'd rather not." I told him, recognizing the car that was parked in my space. "Awww." He said. "It's a mess. How about another time?" I asked. "Sure thing. Hey, don't forget to call me later." He said. I just smiled and got out of the car. I waved good bye, then walked to my apartment. I opened the door, and sure enough Ted was on the couch. "I told you to be out of here by last night." I said. shutting the door. "Aww, come on! That is now way to talk to your husband." He said. "You're a jerk. And we're divorced, remember?" I asked. "Not until I sign the papers." He said, and opened the beer he was holding. "You are such an asshole! Why did I ever think you were sweet?" I asked. "Hey, you married me." He said, and took a drink. "Unfortunatly! That was a huge mistake! And a whim! We were both drunk." I said. "And so in love." He said, teasing me. "Shut up! And GET OUT!" I yelled. "I'm just picking on you. I came by to get my TV." He said. "It's MY TV!" I yelled. "Not according to the settlement." He said. "Just take it!" I told him. "Oh, and I did sign the papers." He said. "Good." I said, and folded my arms. He walked over to the TV and unplugged it. He picked it up, carried it over to the door and set it down again. "Well, I guess this is goodbye." He said. "I hope so." I told him. He put his arm around me, and I turned away. "Aw, come on! One last kiss." He said. "Fuck you." I told him. "You are such a bitch." He said. "Just go! Or I'll call the cops." I told him. "I'm going." He said, and picked up the TV agian. He left, and I locked the door behind him. Ted and I got married about three months before when we took a trip to Vegas. He turned out to be a complete asshole, and it took two months to finaly get rid of him. I hadn't even told Barakah about it. All she knew was he was staying with me for a while. I sighed and walked through my apartment real quick to make sure he had all of his stuff out. It looked like he did. "Good riddance!" I said, and smiled. It felt good to have him out of there. I went into the bathroom and started a bath.
As soon as I climbed in, there was a knock at the door. "GO AWAY, TED!" I screamed. "I thought you would want the extra key!" He said. "Guess I'm still welcome any time! Sounds good to me!" I threw on a towel and rushed to the front door and opened it. I held my hand out. "For what it's worth, I did love you when we got married." He said. He put the key in my hand. "Maybe you did." I said. "I did." He said. I shrugged my shoulders. "Guess you never felt the same way as I did." He said. He started to walk away. "Ted?" I said. He turned around. "Take care of yourself, okay?" He nodded. I smiled and felt like crying. He just nodded again and walked away. I went back inside and closed the door. I locked it and set the key down on my end table. I layed back onto my couch and stared at the empty space where the TV was on the entertainment center. "Damnit." I said.
I got up and drained the tub. I didn't feel like a bath anymore. I went to my room and climbed in bed. It was kind of weird being by myself. I giggled out loud. "Knadler Babies." I said. I got up and called Barakah after I put on some pajamas. "Hello?" She answered. "Knadler Babies." I said, and she started laughing. "SHUT UP!" She said. "Sorry. I'm lonely. Ted finaly moved out." I told her. "Awwww." She said. "No, it's good." I told her. "I know you liked him at one point." She said. "I did." I told her. "Why didn't you ever date him?" She asked. "I don't know. New subject." I said. "Okay, okay. I'm going out with Jack tonight!" She said. "Really?" I asked, getting excited. "YEAH! He finaly asked me out on a date!" She said, almost squeeling. "That is so cool!" I said. "I know! I can't wait." She said. "What are you wearing?" I asked. "I don't know. I'm at the mall right now." She said. "I wish my dad was rich." I said, and she laughed. "Hey! He may be rich, but this is my money I'm using!" She said. "Money your dad gave you." I said. "Uh, I worked for it!" She told me. "Because your dad hired you at the firm. All you do is get coffee and file your nails." I said, and she laughed.
"Hey! At least I have a full time job, Ms. Pick-And-Choose." She said. "Shut up." I said. She laughed. "I'm sorry." "I really need to find a perminant job now." I said. "My parents are looking for a new maide." She said. "No." I said. "Maybe you can be my assistant." She said. "That would be hell." I said. "Hey!" "Barakah. . ." "Yeah, I know." She said, then laughed. "But hey. You'd make good money. Oh hey! Maybe you can be his other assistant. I'll let you take care of phone calls and coffee." "And what responsibilities would that leave you with?" I asked. "Umm. Pretty much nothing." She said. I just laughed. "No, but seriously. Let me talk to him. There really are days when he could use two helpers." She said. "And if you're decent with math, there is other stuff you could be doing to help him out." "Eh." "Okay then." She said. "Wait." She laughed. "Find out." I said. "I knew you'd come around." She said. "Thanks." I said. "You're welcome." She said. "Talk to you later." "Bye." I hung up the phone. Barakah's father was demanding and very set in his ways. I could only imagine what a day would be like as his assistant. It was good money though, so I figured I could work there at least long enough to get a nice TV.
"WHAT?" I shouted, walking to my front door. I had just fallen asleep when someone started knocking. "I said I'm COMING!" I opened the door and Lander was standing there. "Sorry." He said. "It's okay." I said, and laughed. "I thought you were someone else." I told him. "What are you doing here?" I asked. "I realized I didn't have your phone number." He said. "I wanted to see if you want to hang out." "I look like hell." I told him. "Oh, come on. It'll be fun." He said. "Let me get ready at least." I told him. "Okay, okay." He said. I let him in, and he sat on the couch. "You don't have a TV?" He asked. "Uh, not anymore." I told him. "What happened?" He asked. "Long story. There is soda in the fridge. I'll be right back!" I told him, and walked back to my room.
I got dressed and fixed my hair. I felt a little nervous when I stepped back out to the living room. "Ready?" He asked. "Yup." "Where are we going?" I asked as I picked up my purse. "I don't know." He said. "We can drive down to Sheer Creek if you want. It's a nice view still I hear." "It is." I said. I looked down at my outfit. "But, let me go change." "No." He said. "Don't." I laughed. "We'll grab something to eat and go back to my place and watch a movie." He said.
"Okay." I said. "Why are you so nervous all of a sudden?" He asked. "I don't know. I guess I never thought I'd see you again." I said. "Well, I guess you were wrong." He said. "I guess so." I said, and smiled. We decided on Ruby's Pizza House. It was a nicer place, and the food was great. It took a little while for me to loosen up around him, but after two beers it was like old times with him. "So, what have you been up to Molly Claire?" He asked. "Don't call me that!" I said. "It's your middle name." He said. "Fine Lander Stanley." I said, and he laughed. "Okay, okay. I'll drop your middle name." He said. "Not much. Just working odd jobs here and there." I told him. "I thought you wanted to teach?" He asked. I just shrugged. "Okay, enough with the lame questions." He said. "So where were you all this time?" I asked him. "I was in Maine." He said. "Maine?" I asked. "Yeah, I'm not sure how I ended up there either." He said. "Come on, you are Jersey boy." I said, and he laughed. "Yeah, yeah." He said. We hung out for a while before we drove to blockbuster to rent a movie. "My ex got pretty much everything, including the movies." He said when we got there.
"Sorry." I said. "I'll survive." He said. We looked through every section of movies. We each decided on When Harry Met Sally and Carry. He payed for the movies and we went back to his place. Had had a small condo. The complex was really nice. He unlocked the door and let me in. A big dog came running up to me and jumped on me practically knocking me over. "Kujo! Down!" He shouted. The dog jumped down. He fed him and we got comfy on the couch. He turned on Carry.
"This movie used to freak me out when I was little." I said. "Me too." He said. "Really?" I asked. "Yeah, but don't tell anyone. I have a manly reputation to protect." He said. "This from the man who sings Cher for karaoke?" I asked. "HEY! That was once, and I made five bucks that night." He said, and I luaghed. "Shhhh. It's starting." I said. "Poor Carrie." He said, and I hit him. "SHHHHH!" "Sorry." He whispered. I just reached over him and grabbed the remete. I turned up the volume and he was finaly quiet. Towards the end of the movie, we were both really into it! The music picked up, and suddenly Kujo started barking! We both jumped, and Lander let out a "FUCK!". I started laughing so hard. "You were so scared!" I said. "Was not." He said. "You screamed." I told him. "That was a very manly scream." He said, and I laughed more. "Right. A 'manly' scream." I said, and rolled my eyes.
"Do you have time to stay and watch the other movie?" He asked. "Mind saving it for tomorrow night?" I asked. "You mean we get to hang out alone two nights in a row?" He asked. I laughed. "Is that not okay?" "No. It'll be fun." He smiled. "Good." "Let me get you home." He said standing up. "Okay."
"Do I have to take you home?" He asked. "I guess I can take a cab." I told him. He laughed. "I meant, do you have to go home tonight." He asked. I looked at his blue eyes, and wanted to stay. "Yeah, I do." I told him. He sighed. "Okay. I guess I can take you home then." "Good." I said, and picked up my purse. He dropped me off, and I walked into my now empty apartment. "I need a roomate." I said, and dropped my purse onto the entertainment stand where my TV used to be. "And a new TV." My phone rang. It was Barakah. "Hey Baraka-kah." I answered. "Shut up!" She laughed. "Whats up?" I asked her. "My dad doesn't need another assistant, but Mr. Knadler does." She said. I giggled. "What?" She asked. "Knadler Babies." I said. "SHUT UP!" She shouted. "I'm kidding. When can I start?" I asked. "Monday." She said. "8:00. I'll pick you up at 7:30." "Okay, awesome!" I said. "So, what are you doing tomorrow night?" She asked. "Hanging out with Lander. Again." I told her. "Oooooo!" She said. "Hush! How was your date with Jack?" I asked.
"It was okay. . ." She said. "Just okay?" I asked. "He has weird manners." She giggled. "Like what?" "Like his elbows are ALWAYS on the table and he burps and doesn't even say excuse me. It's like he doesn't even think about it not being polite. It's embarassing." She said. I laughed. "I'd let the elbows thing slide, cause lot's of people do that. But the burping. . . I'd say something." "Is he worth it?" She asked. "Yes. He is." I said. "Okay. I'll say something." "Good." "We're not too different?" "Barakah." "I'll shut up." She said. "Good." I said. "Goodnight." "Night." I said. I hung up the phone. I felt so lonely. I was so desperate, I couldn't beleive what I was about to do. I picked up my phone and scrolled to Ted's cell. I felt a nervous tickle in my stomch as it dialed. "Hello?" He asked after a few rings. "Hey. It's me." "Hey. It's late." He said. I heard him yawn. "Did I leave something at the apartment?" "No." He laughed. "Okay." "I'm lonely." "Sorry." "I guess I could just use someone to talk to." I said. "You kick me out. You force me to divorce you without counceling. Now you're calling me, because you're lonely." He said. "I'm pretty pathetic, aren't I?" I said. "No. You're just confused." He said. "Counceling wouldn't have made us fall for eachother again." I said. "Alright. I'm not in the mood to be talking about this. It's over. The papers are sent. We no longer need to keep in touch." He said. "Oh okay." I said. I hung up the phone and felt like crying. He called back a few minutes later, but I just let it ring.
When the phone rang again, I answered it. "What?" I asked. "I'm sorry. That was mean. I know we made a mistake, but I think it would have worked out if we had waited a little longer before getting married. I guess I'm just hurt you wouldn't even give it a shot." He said. "I tried Ted. But we are too different poeple. Besides, you thought that stupid boob girl from that party was better then me." I said. "Okay, stupid boob girl was a mistake. And nothing happened." He said. "Because I caught you in the bedroom before anyhing did!" I said, getting worked up. "Did you call to argue about this?" He asked. "No." I said. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have called." I told him. "You never even told ANYONE we were married." He said. "Because it was a mistake." I told him. "Was it? You seemed pretty happy until the next day." He said. "I should go." I said. He let out a sigh. "You made me sleep in the other room for crying out loud." He said. "I'm sorry. I don't know what I was afraid of." I told him. "Uh, commitment for one." He said. "I'm not afraid of commitment. I just didn't love you!" I shouted, and instantly regretted it. "You know what, fine. Forget it. Bye." He said, and hung up. I threw my phone on the floor and started crying. I was mad at him, but I was even more mad at myself. He was right, I had been a jerk too. But it was over, and I still like that was the right think. I was still lonely though. I started thinking back to when Ted and I first started hanging out, and felt even more sad. I went to bed early that night, and got up the next morning to go running. I felt a lot better, but still not great. When I got home I started going through my clothes looking for something to wear to my new job the next morning.
I picked out my favorite black fitted skirt and tried on a few different tops with it. I decided to go with my green button up blouse. I layed it out on my comfy chair that was in the corner of my room. I took a long shower, then relaxed on the couch while I ate some chips. I got bored after a while, so I grabbed my laptop to check my emails. When I was done with that, I searched through a few of my favorite websites. I went to hotornot.com and it entertained me for hours. I couldn't stop laughing at some of the weird people on there. I started to feel bad for them though eventually and gave the uglies high votes.
My phone rang at about 5:00. "Ello!" I answered. "Hey, who wants to hang out?" Lander asked. "Oh! ME! PICK ME!" I shouted. He just laughed. "Ummmm....I pick...." "ME ME!!!" "Ummmmmm....." "OH! OH! ME ME ME!" "Molly!" He shouted. "YES! SWEET!" I answered, and he laughed. "Come and get me. I'm so BORED!" I said. "I'm already here Chica." He said. I giggled. "Okay, I'm on my way out then." I said, and hung up my phone. I grabbed my puse and practicaly ran out to his car. I hopped in, and turned the radio down. "Loud enough?" I asked, and he laughed. "I'll blast Offspring if I want." He said, and I rolled my eyes. "So, Movie?" He asked. "How about ANYTHING but sitting around. It's all I've been doing today!" I told him. "Okay, sex it is." He said, and I smacked his leg. "OUCH! Okay, okay!" He said, rubbing his leg. "Lets go shoot some pool, or go bowling. ANYTHING." I said. "Let's go stripping." He said, and I hit him again. "Okay! Lazer tag?" He asked. "OH! YES!" I shouted. "Now that is more like it!" He said, and I slugged him in the shoulder. He just laughed and backed out of the space.
He drove us to LaserQuest, which was a huge place. We stood in line for about a half hour before we got inside. We were assigned teams and we were put on opposite teams. "You're goin' down, red." He said. "You're going down, blue." I laughed. "Okay, red team." The coorinater said. "Go in." "Look at that." I laughed. I ran in with the other people on the red team. I found a good place to hide while I waited for the blue team to come running in. A very loud buzzer went off and weird lights were flashing everywhere. I peaked up and saw the big group of people running in. I spotted Lander and couldn't stop laughing. He found me right away and grabbed me. He just held me there while he continously shot me. "Holy shit! I got you 50 times!" He said laughing really hard. I pushed him into the wall and went running.
I waited until he was in a corner, and jumped behind him. I was shooting him so much, he never had a chance to shoot me back. "CHEATER!" He shouted. "Sore LOSER!" I shouted, and took off running. I hid behind a giant boulder to catch my breath. I watched him run by, then shot him in the back, and took off running. I jumped in a little shelter and hid. "GOT YOU!" He shouted, and jumped in with me. He held me down and kept shooting me. "STOP!" I shouted, laughing. He had me pinned on the ground by half sitting on me. "I GIVE! You win!" I said, and got off of me. "You suck." "No, I RULE!" He shouted, and I shot him in the chest. He just laughed at me. "What?" I asked. "Nothing." He said. "WHAT?" I shouted. "NOTHING." He said again. "LANDER!" I demanded. He leaned over and kissed me. He stopped, and looked into my eyes. "I just wanted a kiss." He sai. My heart was racing. Then he shot me in the chest, and took off running. "LANDER!!!!!!" I shouted, and ran after him. I looked around, but couldn't find him.
The louder buzzer went off again and an announcer told everyone to clear out. I made my way out the door and Lander was sitting on a chair waiting for me. I turned in my equipment and sat down next to him. "Now that was fun." He said. "Just what I needed." I said smiling. He laughed. "I start my new job tomorrow." I said. "Oh cool." "Yeah. I'm a little nervous." I said. "You'll do fine." He said puting his arm around me. "Want to grab some smoothies on the way home?" "Sure." "Alright." He said. He stood up. "Should we save the other movie for Saturday?" "Probably a good idea." I said. "I don't want to keep you up late if you work tomorrow." He said smiling. I just nodded. We left and he stopped at TCBY to get smoothies. We sat inside while we drank them, then he took me home. There was an awkward silence once he parked. I laughed. "Would you like to come up?" I asked. "Uh." He said scratching his head. "You don't have to." I said. "It's not that I don't want to, but I can tell you're trying to avoid us getting close." He said. I nodded. "I'm sorry I kissed you." He said. I got out of the car, then leaned down to look at him. "That was the best part of the night." I said smiling. He smiled back. I closed the door and went back up to my apartment.
It was still early, but I went to bed anyway. I kept thinking about Lander. I got up and picked out a book to read from my bookshelf. I layed back down, and fell asleep soon after I started reading. The next morning my alarm went off. I yawned, and forced myself to get out of bed. I hated getting up early! I took a shower, and got ready. Then I went to the kitchen to eat something for breakfast. I was lacking food though. All I had were chips and some yogurt. I laughed and called Barakah. "Morning." She answered. "Do we have time to stop at the gas station? I'm hungry and I could use some coffee." I told her. "EWWW NO!" She shouted. "We'll hit Starbucks on our way. I'll leave early so we have time. See you in a few!" She said, and hung up. I just laughed, and walked to the living room. I was going to watch TV, but then I remembered it was gone. "Idiot." I said to myself, and giggled.
After a while, I heard honking. Then my cell phone rang. I saw that it was Barakah, so I rushed out the door and into her car. "So I get to assist the fox." I said. "Shut up!" She laughed. "I'm teasing." "If he ever put a move on you, what would you do?" I asked her. She smiled. "Flirt back." "Barakah!" She giggled. "You asked."
We pulled into Starbucks and ran in. "We are going to make it right on time!" She said. "Go ahead and order. I need to call my dad to see what he wants." "Oh, uh, okay." I said. "I'll have a Venti Mocha with soy, no whip." I told the guy behind the counter. "OH! And a Muffin!" "Is that all?" He asked. "No. Two Grande cappuchinos with a double shot of espresso, and a Venti Chai Latte." She said. "Okay, that it?" He asked. "No..Uh...Two plaine bagels with cream cheese, and a vanilla cookie." She said. "Thats it." He rung everything up, and Barakah paid for it. "You didn't have to do that!" I told her. "Expense account!" She said, holding up a card. I just laughed. When everything was ready, we gathered it all up and drove to her Dad's office. It was in a real nice business complex. "Made it on time!" Barakah said. I helped her get everything inside. We walked through the door that said Fahdr, Knadler & Associates. There was a small lobby and a receptionist in the front. "Morning Barakah." the receptionist greated. "Morning Mary." She said. We walked down a short hallway, past fancy doors with peoples names on them. She walked through the one that said Siaed Fadhr. There was a desk inside with her name on it. She set down her coffee and cookie, then took the her dad's coffee and bagel to a small door that led to a small office with her fathers desk. "Papa!" She said, and handed him is coffee and bagel. "Barakah, what did I say about you calling me Papa at work?" He asked. He still had his middle eastern accent. "Sorry." She said. "Ah, Molly." He said, and stood up. He hugged me. "Mr. Knadler is in his office. We welcome you to our company." He said. "Thank you Sir." I told him. He smiled. Barakah walked out and I followed her. The next office was Mr. Knadler's. My desk was set up outside his office, just like Barakah's. I set my coffee down, then followed Barakah into his office. She looked nervous. I had to try really hard not to laugh! "Ahem. Mr. Knadler?" She asked. He was on the phone, and looking out his window. He held up his index finger. We waited until he finished his call. "Hello Barakah. And Molly. I havn't seen you since you used to come in with Barakah when she was younger." He said. "Good morning Mr. Knadler." I said. "Jim. Call me jim. I'll show you around your desk." He said. He took his coffee and bagel from me, and set it down on his desk. Barakah, said good bye, and left. Jim placed his hand on my lower back and lead me out of the office. I was a little uncomfortable, but let it go.
"Here you are." He said pointing to my desk. I sat down. He leaned over me and his arm brushed against my breast. I leaned back in my chair. He turned on the computer. "So, how have you been?" He asked. "Good." I said. I tried not to laugh when I thought of Barakah's little crush on him. He opened a few programs when the computer was done loading. "How well do you type?" He asked. "Pretty good." I said. "Every so often I'll need you to listen to tapes of me interviewing claimants and type it up as you listen." He said. "Okay." "I'll have Athena take care of those today. We'll start you on a fresh one tomorrow. Athena is one of our temps." He explained. His cologne smelled so good. For a second, the smell of his cologne was all I could focus on. "Let me show you our filing system." He said.
When he bent over to pick up a paper clip on the floor, I couldn't help but look at his butt. I blushed when he looked up and caught me. I smiled, and continued explaining the filing system. When he was done he went into hif office. I just giggled and sat down at my desk. I went through and set everything up how I wanted it, then got to work. About two hours later I was done with everything. I got up and knocked on the side of Jim's door, since it was open. "Ah, yes Molly?" He asked. "Is there anything else I can do?" I asked. "You're done already?" He asked. "Yes." I said. "Wow. I guess I'll have Mary start transferring my calls to you." He said. I'll have her show you the phone and intercom system." He said. "There are only a few guidlines. Basicaly, just take messages and foward any important calls." He said. "What is an important call?" I asked. "My wife, my mother, and any claiments that call crying." He said. "Okay." I told him. "Any appointment changes, you can change in my callender in the computer. Some of my stuff is marked private. If you need to schedule something during those times, ask me first." He said. "Okay." I told him. "I'll go get Mary." He said, and walked by me, brushing agianst me as he passed. "Whoa." I whispered when he walked by. "HEY!" Barakah said, and walked in the office. "Hey." I said. "How's it going?" She asked. "Good. I'm out of work." I told her. "What? How?" She asked. "I did it all." I told her. "No way! I'm like three days behind!" She said. I laughed. "Well, if you worked a little more and filed your nails a little less..." I said. "Shut up! So, what is it like working with Mr. Knadler?" She asked. "He's a little handsy." I told her. "What?" She gasped. "No way!" "Yes way." I told her. "I'm jealous." She said. "Don't be. It's a little wierd." I told her. Just then Jim came back with Mary, the receptionist.
"Hi." Barakah said to Jim giggling. "Good Afternoon." He said to her. She curtsied, then left the room really fast. I tried so hard not to laugh. Mary had the strangest look of confusion on her face. I bursted into laughter. I couldn't hold it in. "I'm sorry." I said clearing my throat. Mary showed me how to handle all types of phone calls. It took about an hour. I took a break after that. I walked to Barakah's desk and started laughing so hard! "I curtsied, Molly." She said. She looked so embarassed. "I'm an idiot." I couldn't stop laughing. After a few seconds, she started laughing really hard too.
"Want to go to lunch?" She asked. "Yeah, sure." I told her. "Let me grab my purse, I'll meet you outside." "Okay." She said, still laughing. I walked to my desk and got my purse. "Oh, Molly?" I heard Jim say. "Yes?" I asked, and leaned into his office. "Can you come here for a second?" He asked. He was looking out his window. "Yeah." I said, and walked over to him. "Do you see that?" He asked, and pointed at something out the window. "What?" I asked, squinting. "This." He said, and kissed the corner of my mouth. "Excuse me?" I asked. "I've wanted to taste your lips all day." He said. "Uh, Mr. Knadler-" "Shhh." He said, and kissed my lips full on. He bit my bottom lip, and put his hand on my lower back, scooting me closer. I couldn't stop him at first. It's like his hands were in all the right places. I started to kiss him back, then quickly pushed him away. "Mr. Knadler you're my boss." I said, standing up straight, and fixing my skirt. "Jim." He said. "Jim, you're my MARRIED boss!" I told him. "My wife and I have an open marriage." He said. "A what?" I asked. "An open marriage." He said. "I gotta go." I told him, and started to leave. "Whoa! I'm sorry. I guess I miss read your signals." He said. "Yeah, you did!" I said. "Just, come back after lunch. It'll be like nothing ever happened, I promise." he said. "I don't know-" "Please? You're a good worker. I'm an idiot. Sorry." He said. "Okay." I said. "Thanks." He said. I ran out of the office, and died laughing when I got out the front door. "What?" Barakah asked when I climbed in the car. "Uh...I'm not sure." I said. "Okay, weirdo. Where to for lunch?" She asked.
"Afair Avenue perhaps?" I said. "What?" She asked giving me a weird look. "I heard it was awesome, scary, spontanious and beneficial." I said. "What in gods name are you talking about?" She asked. I started laughing. "Molly, what the fuck. Fill me in." She said. "I can't." "You're weird." She said. "Jack In The Box." I said. "Gross. Do you even know me but at all?" She asked. "Sizzler?" "Yeah." She said excited.
When we got back from lunch, Jim wasn't even there. He had meetings the rest of the afternoon. He didn't have very many phone calls, and all the other work was done, so I spent the rest of my day playing solitare and talking to Barakah. When it was 5:00, I was glad to go home! Barakah had some dinner thing with her family, so she just dropped me off at my apartment. I just got inside when my phone rang. "Hello?" I answered. "Hey, how was your first day?" It was Lander. "Uh...interesting." I said, and giggled. "But good?" He asked. "Yeah." I said. "Awesome. How about we celebrate?" He asked.
"Sure." I said. I kept giggling when I thought of Jim. "Okay." He said. "I'll bring over When Harry Met Sally." He said. "Sounds good." I said. I changed into comfortable clothes and lit a few candles. I picked up a few things. "Damnit!" I said laughing at myself. "He can bring the movie all he wants, but I don't have a tv." I picked up my phone and called him back. "I'm almost there." He said. "Yeah. Problem." I said lauging. "What's that?" "I don't have a TV." "Oh shit." He said. "I forgot. Let me go pick one up for you." "What? No. That's silly." I said. "It's okay." He said. "I'll go to the pawn shop on Milburne." "You don't have to." "I want to." He said. I sighed. "Be there in a few." He said. He hung up.
There was a knock on my door a little while later. I got up to answer it. "About TIME!" I shouted giggling. When I opened the door, Ted was standing there. "What are you doing here?" I asked. "Expecting someone?" He asked. "Uh, yeah, actualy." I said. "I wont be long. I felt bad about taking so much of the stuff. Some of it is really yours. Like the TV. I was just mad when I took it." He said. "It's okay." I told him, hoping Lander didn't show up right then. "No, it's not. I'll set it back up for you." He said. He leaned down and picked up the TV, then came in. "I can set it up!" I said. "You suck with electronics." He said. "I just have to plug it in!" I said. "And hook up the cable, vcr, and DVD player." He said. "I can do it!" I said. "Don't be silly. I'm arlready here." He said. "TED!" I shouted. He looked up. Just then Lander came in the open door holding a TV. I sighed and shook my head. "Lander, Ted. Ted, Lander." I said. "Hi." They both said, looking really confused.
"Guess I have two TV's now." I laughed. Neither of them laughed. They both set down the TV's. "Nice to meet you." Lander said holding out his hand. Ted took a few steps forward and shook his hand. Ted just nodded. "Ted's my husband." I said. "I mean my ex husband." "Your what?" Lander asked laughing. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you." I said to him. "It's okay." He said. "Which one do you want on your entertainment center?" Ted asked. "That one." I said pointing to my old one. He nodded. He picked it up and set it down where it belongs. "We can set the other one up in your bedroom." Ted said. Lander helped him hook everything up while I got them each a cup of water. Lander moved the other TV into my bedroom and they hooked that one up. I was so embarassed. "Done." Lander said. They both walked back into the living room. We all got quiet. I sighed and sat down on the couch. "I forgot the movie." Lander said. "Wanna watch it tomorrow night instead?" "Are you sure?" I asked. "Yeah. See you tomorrow. Nice to meet you." He said to Ted. He walked out of the apartment. "Sorry about this." I said. He sat down next to me and shrugged. "You dating him?" He asked. "No. Just friends." I said. "I see. Well I should head out." He said standing up. "Stay." I said. "Huh?"
"It's lonely as hell with no one here. Lander was kind of my remedy for that." I told him. "Sorry." He said. "Wait, no I'm not." He added, and I smiled. "Well, I guess we can watch TV now." I said. "I'll get the pizza rolls!" He shouted. I laughed. "I don't have any!" I said. "What? No P-rolls?" he asked. "I need to go shoppinb!" I giggled. "Fine. How about we order Pizza?" He asked. "Sure." I said, and grabbed a flier off the fridge.
"I'll call." He said. I smiled and handed him the flier. I turned on the TV and there was a knock at the door. I got up and heard Ted ordering the pizza. I smiled and walked over to the door. I looked out the peephole. It was Barakah. I laughed and opened the door. She came running in. "You kissed Knadler!" She said laughing. "Why didn't you tell me?" "What?" I asked gesturing her to look into the kitchen. She looked over and saw Ted. Her eyes got big. "What the hell is he doing here?" She whispered. "Who told you I kissed Knadler?" I whispered back. "You. You just did." She said. She looked hurt suddenly. "Barakah, he kissed me." I told her. She got in my face. "He's mine, Molly. Mine." She said and stormed out of the apartment. "Fuck." I said. "What was that all about?" Ted asked walking back into the living room. "My boss tried to kiss me." I told him. "She likes him and it made her jelous aparently. Which I don't get it. He's clearly a pig. He's married even!" "She'll get over it." He said. I sighed. "Yeah."
"What a weird couple of days this has been." I said. "Sorry babe." He said. "It's okay." I said, and sat down on the couch. My phone rang. It was Barakah. "I better get this." I said. I went to my room to answer the phone. "Hello." I said. "I can't believe you did that." She said, sounding hurt. "I can't believe you are acting this way. He's a jerk. He came onto me with any provocation." I told her. "Why didn't you tell you me?" She asked. "Because I knew you'd act like this. Besides, I don't think it'll happen again. If it does, I'll report him." I told her. "How could you? That is my dad's PARTNER!" She shouted. "Barakah? What is with you?" I asked. She just hung up the phone. "Oh, you stupid woman!" I said out loud, and dropped my phone on the bed. I walked back out and sat next to Ted. "Everything okay?" He asked. "I don't know. She's being weird about it." I told her. "She'll get over it." He said. "She better." I told him. "Anyway, no more talking about some other guy trying to kiss you." He said. "What, Jealous?" I asked. "Uh, yeah. I used to be able to kiss those lips." He said. I rolled my eyes and he laughed. "Is that one ghost show on Sci-Fi?" I asked him. "Let's find out." He said, and changed the channel.
I got up to get us some water. "I felt the presence of the little boy." I heard an older women say on the tv. "This stuff creeps me out." I said. Ted laughed. I came back and set our drinks down on the coffee table. "The reenactments are so stupid." I said. "Yet they still scare you." He laughed. "Shut up." We got quiet as a new show started about five people who were about to spend a night in a haunted castle. "Creepy. I would never stay there!" I said.
"What the hell was that?" I shouted, pointing at the screen. "What?" He asked. "That shadow! It just went across the camera. LOOK! They are showing it again!" I told him. "Holy shit!" He said. "That is so freaky." I told him. A few minutes later the pizza came. "Alright, wings, and a mushroom pizza!" He said. "EWWW! I hate musrhooms!" I told him. He laughed. "I know, I'm kidding. Pinapple and peperoni." He said. "Sweet! You remember." I told him. "Of course." He said, and put two slices on a plate for himself. When we were done getting our food, we went back to the living room to watch more of the show.
I only took a few bites of my pizza, because the show was creeping me out. It made me forget I was even hungry. After a while, I got a comforter out of the linen closet and put it over me. Ted scooted closer to me and pulled it over him too. I started to fall asleep, so he turned off the tv and we layed down. It was weird, but I was comfortable in his arms again.
I woke up the next morning in my bed. I was confused because the last thing I remembered was laying on the couch with Ted. I got up, and walked out to the living room. Ted was curled up on the couch asleep under the comforter. I turned around to go back to bed, and ran into the wall. "Ow!" I said, and rubbed my elbow. "Are you okay?" Ted asked, yawning. "Yeah. Sorry." I told him. "No problem. I should get going anyway." He said. "I have work in an hour. I have just enough time to go home and change." He said. "Oh shit! I have work today too!" I shouted. Ted just laughed. "Well, I'll see you later." He said, and hugged me. He left, and I rushed back to my room to get ready. It hit 7:30, and there was no sign of Barakah. "Damn it." I said. I called her cell phone. "Hello." She answered. "Are you still mad at me?" I asked. "Yes." She said. "Barakah! I didn't do anything!" I told her. "Well, you can get your own ride to work." She said. "What? Are you kidding me?" I asked. "Nope." She said. "You are being rediculous." I told her. "I am not." She said, and hung up. "Shit." I said. I knew I was going to have to take the bus. I HATED taking the bus. I sighed. I couldn't figure out what was bugging Barakah. I found my purse and ran out to the bus stop before I missed it and had to wait for the next one. I got to the bus stop just in time, and got on. I showed the driver my bus pass, and found an empty seat in the back.
It took forever to get to work! I rushed to my desk. I ignored Barakah as I passed her desk. I sat down and threw my things under my desk. I logged into the computer and Jim walked in. He looked at his watch, then looked at me. "Wow." He said. "Right on time." "Thank god." I said. "I had to take the bus." He gave me a strange look. "We need you to file today." He said. "We had a lot of cases dismissed and we're ready to file them away." "Okay." "I'll have Barakah show you where they go." He said. I just smiled. He left the office and came back with Barakah. She looked mad. She didn't even say anything to me. I just followed her to where the isles of files were. Jim brought in a stack of files and set them down on a small table. Barakah showed me a few things and left. It was hot in the file room and it put me in a really bad mood. "What a shitty morning." I said.
The more I thought about it, the angrier I got. After about an hour and a half I had enough, and got up and marched to Barakah's desk. She gave me a dirty look, and I slammed my hands on her desk. "Look. You have NO right to be mad at me. You aren't treating me like a friend. If you really want to end our friendship over this, that is sad and pathetic. I didn't do anything wrong, and if you can't accept that, then the least you can do is be civil a work!" I shouted and stormed off back to filing. I let out a sigh. It felt good to say that. A few minutes went by and Barakah walked into the room. "Sorry." She said.
"I'd feel better about it if you told me what was going on." I said. "It's stupid." She said. "You wouldn't understand." "Try me." "I like him." She said. "A lot. As much as I shouldn't, I can't help it." "He's married." "I know. It's stupid." She said. She sat down on a step stool. "I know I can't have him and I don't plan on having him. It's just a stupid crush." "Has he ever put moves on you?" I asked. "No." "Oh." She stood up. "Which is why I was jelous. Not to sound rude or concieted, but I'm use to being the girl the guys go for." She said. "Barakah, any guy that doesn't like you is just plain stupid." I said. "Maybe it's because my Dad is his partner." She said. "That's gotta be it." I got very annoyed at that moment. "Barakah, not every guy is going to find you attractive." I said. "Excuse me?" She said looking at me. "It's true." "No, it's not true. You're just jelous that I get more action." She said, then stormed out of the room. I felt like yelling a million things to her, but I bit my lip. I was so upset. I went to Jim and asked if I could leave early. I told him I didn't feel well. He told me to go ahead and go home and that Barakah could cover for me. I grabbed my things and went right home.
I layed down on the couch on my stomach and burried my head in my hands. Barakah was my only real friend, and I couldn't understand why she was being so dumb! I called Lander, and was glad he answered. "Hey." I said. "Hey, what's up?" He asked. "BARAKAH!" I shouted. "Whoa. What happened?" He asked. I explained everything to him. "I don't get it! She is attractive, but a lot of guys like her because she is foreign." I told him. "True. But I bet she feels bad for reacting like she did to you. You know she has always had a firey temper. And she is a bit spoiled." He said. "I know. I'm tired of always being the big person with this stuff though." I told him. "I think she'll come around." He said. "I hope so." I told him. "So, I have a question." He said. "Why didn't I tell you I was married, and divorced?" I asked. "Yeah. That one." He said. "Well, it was a mistake. We cared about each other, but we only dated for two months. And I don't think we really loved each other. I don't know. I never even told Barakah." I told him. "What? Did anyone know?" He asked. "No. Not even my family." I said. "What?" He asked. "I can't tell my dad because he would want to beat Ted up. And I can't tell my mom because she would say all men are dogs." I told him, and he laughed. "So, do you guys still like...see each other?" He asked. "We don't have sex if that is what you are asking. Last night was the first time we really hung out since the divorce." I told him. "How long have you been divorced?" He asked. "Two days." I told him, and he laughed again. "Wow." He said. "I know. I guess I'm kind of crazy." I told him. "Nah, you aren't." He said.
"I feel so bad that I didn't tell you right away." I said. "It's okay." He said. "It's not like I'm your boyfriend. I'm just the guy that use to be around and suddenly appeared back in your life." "Yeah." I giggled. "So you and Ted are just friends right?" He asked. "Yes. And from what I heard last, you are too." I said. "About that." "Yes?" "Lately I've been feeling that way. At first I thought it would be cool if we tried dating, but now I'm not sure." He said. "Oh." "Things are complicated right now." He said. "I know." "I think we should wait it out and just see what happens." He said. "Sounds good to me." I said. "You sure?" "Yeah. I'm sure." "Cool. What do you say we go play a round of golf?" He asked. I laughed. "Me? Golf?" "Yeah." "Uh no. . ." I said laughing.
"Come on, it's a lot easier then it looks." He said. "That's okay, really." I said. "I'll show you. Please? Just one time, if you hate it you never have to go again." He said. "Fine." I sighed. "Okay. I'm on my way." He said. "What, now?" I asked. "Yeah." He said. "NO!" I laughed. "Too late." He said, and hung up. "Shit!" I said, and ran to change. I had no idea what to even wear! I put on a pair of kaki shorts and a pink polo-shirt, hoping that was okay.
He got was knocking on my door within five minutes. "Geez." I said opening the door. "What?" I looked up and started laughing. It was the owner of the apartment building, Dick Schroder. "Oh I'm sorry. I thought you were someone else." I said. "I have bad news." He said. "Well, good for some. Bad for others." "Okay. . ." "Every building on this block will be history by the end of August." He said. "The city is puting in a new L-Train and the tracks will be right here where we're standing." "What? Oh my god." I said.
"That only gives me a little over a month to find a place." I said. "I know, I'm sorry." He said. "How can they do it so soon?" I asked. "I don't know. But the city will pay for your rent at a new place, for the remainder of the Lease you had here." He said. "That doesn't help me find a place." I told him. "I know. I'm sorry. I have a bunch of listings, and can help you find a good deal. I'm already working with a few other tenants." he said. "I'll be fine." I told him. He said goodbye, and I shut the door. "No what." I sighed. I couldn't stay with Barakah. She was mad at me. I knew we'd work it out, but if she got mad over such a dumb thing, living with her would be impossible. Ted was out of the question. Lander didn't seem like a good option either. "Damn it!" I said to myself, and fell back on the couch. I really didn't want to live by myself anymore either. I decided to start calling people and asking if they knew anyone looking for a roomate. I took a deep breath and decided to call Barakah first. "What?" She answered. "Grow up!" I said. She started to say something, but I cut her off. "I'm getting kicked out of my apartment the end of August." I told her. "What?" She asked, sounding like she completly forgot about or argument. I explained what was going on. "You can live with me." She said. "Is that really a good idea?" I asked her, and she laughed. "No, probably not. But if you can't find something by the end of August you can stay with me until you do find a place." She said. "Thanks. I'm sorry about earlier-" I started to say. "Shoosh. I was being a bitch." She told me, and I giggled.
"Yeah you were." I said. "I asked him out to dinner." She said. "And he accepted." "Barakah!" "Don't give me shit for it." She said. "He's married." "I don't care." She said. "It might not evolve to more than friends anyway." "He's a pig. Of course he will take it further." I said. "He's not a pig." "Okay, Barakah." "Ho's over Bro's." She said. "It sure doesn't seem like you're living up to that." I said. "I am. Promise." She said. "Scouts honor." "God, you're a dork." I said. She laughed. "And so are you." "Well, I'm going to get online and see if I can find someone looking for a roommate." I said. "Good luck." She said. "Bye."
I went to go online, when Lander knocked on the door. I forgot he wanted to go golfing! I sighed and answered the door. "Hey, what's shakin' chica?" He said. "Ugh. I'll tell you what's shakin." I said, and told him what was going on, after we sat down on the couch. "No, I don't know anyone looking for a roomate. You can stay with me. My sister is moving out of our place in two weeks." He said. "No." I told him. "Why not?" He asked. "That would be too weird." I told him. "No, it wouldn't. You are moving in with me." He said. I started to argue, but he stopped me. "If it doesn't work out, i'll help you find a new place." He said. "Promise?" I asked. "Yes." He said. "Fine." I sighed, and he laughed. "Good. I'll help you move-in in two weeks!" He said, sounding excited. I just laughed. "So. Golf time." He said, and stood up. "Is this nice enough to wear?" I asked. I looked at him. He was in plaid shorts, and a light blue polo shirt. He looked kind of silly. He looked good, I just wasn't used to seeing him that way. "Yes, you look cute." He said. We got in his car and drove to the place. When we were almost there, he made me close my eyes. "Why am I closing my eyes?" I asked him. "Because, I don't want you to know where we are going." He said. "What are you talking about?" I asked. "It's my secret course." He said. "Okay, whatever." I told him. A few minutes later, he parked. "Okay, here we are." He said. I opened my eyes. We were at a mini-golf place! "You DORK!" I said, and started laughing. "What? You didn't think I meant real golf did you? I'm too goofy for that." He said. "No shit!" I told him, and hit his arm. He just laughed at me.
"I can't beleive what a dork you are." I said. He laughed and put his arm around me. We walked into the place and got all day passes, so we could go on any of the rides as well. We decided to go on the bumper cars before we golfed. "I get the red one!" He shouted with excitement as he went running for it. A little boy hopped in before him. He gave me a sad look and it made me laugh. He sighed. "I guess blue works. . ." He said. He walked over to the blue one and sat down. I climbed into the purple one and we all waited for the bell letting us know we could go.
It rang and I took off! Lander tried to come after me, but the kid in the red car hit him, and spun him into another car. "HEY!" I heard him shout, and I laughed. The kid drove by me, and high fived me. I teamed up with him, and we went around getting people together. It was so funny! Lander snuck up behind me, and hit me, knocking me into the kid, and getting us both stuck in a cluster of cars. "Oh, I'm getting you for that one!" I shouted, and Lander took off. It took a second for the cluster of cars to break up, and allow me to go after Lander.
I went around a few cars and was able to run into Lander. He just laughed. "You're so cute when you get angry!" He shouted to me. I blushed. "Shut up." I said. We both started laughing. "Dumb head, dumb head!" A boy said to Lander sticking his tongue out. Lander laughed and went after him. My arms were hurting, so I drove to the side until it was time to get out. "You gave up." He said as he helped me climb out. "I creamed you." I said. "You should move in sooner." He said. "What?" I laughed. "I'm serious." He said. "You still owe me a game of Uno." I laughed. "I can't beleive you even remember that." "How could I forget?" He asked. "Dork." I said rolling my eyes. "Weirdo." He said laughing.
"Is your sister still obsessed with Prince?" I asked. "Sadly, yes." He said, and laughed. "Yeah. I'll wait until she's gone." I told him, and he laughed. "I can't believe she is older then me. She is almost thirty, and still acts like she is in highschool. She dresses like she is stuck in the early 90's still too." He said, and I laughed. "I'm serious!" He said. "I believe you." I told him. We paid for a round of mini-golf, then bought some lunch before we played. We each got a corndog, fries and a soda. "I LOVE corndogs!" I said, sitting down at a table with him. "Would you still prefer a good corndog over sex?" He asked, and I laughed. "Of course!" I told him, and he laughed even harder. I took a huge bite, and savored it. "Enjoying that a bit too much." He told me, and I just ignored him. When we were done we went out to the mini-golf coufse to play.
I was horrible at it and he was kicking my butt. Eventually, I just started acting goofy and kicking the ball. "This is not soccer." He said laughing. "I know. It's Molly Golf." I said. "You are so funny." He said. It took us about an hour to go through the whole course. He dropped me back off at home afterwards. I was so tired! I turned on my TV and my cable had stopped working. "What the hell!" I said. "Damnit!" I called Lander. He said he would turn around and come back to see if he could fix it. I felt bad, but he insisted.
"Well, it looks like something the cabel company is going to have to fix." He said, after looking at everything. "Damn it." I said. "Just call tomorrow, and they'll send a Tech out." He said. "Yeah. I'm bored now though." I told him. "It's okay, I have you covered." He said. "You do?" I asked. "Yes. Be right back." He said, and left. He was back in a few minutes holding his favorite season of Monty Python. "Nice." I said, and took them from him. I put them in the DVD player, and we sat down to watch them.
After a while, I started to feel tired. Lander pulled me closer to him. "I want to kiss you." He whispered. I giggled and looked up at him. "Can I?" He asked as he tucked my hair behind my ears. "Umm." I hesitated. I was really scared of getting close to him again.
"Well?" He asked. "No." I told him, and sighed. "Aww. Okay." He said. "Maybe we shouldn't make things weird right before we move in together." I told him. "Damn." He said. "What?" I asked. "That's a good point." He said, and hugged me. "And, in that case, I had better get going." "Awww, okay." I told him, and yawned. "I'll call you tomorrow or something." He said. "Okay." I told him, and we both stood up. I walked him to the door, and hugged him good bye. I kissed his cheek, and he smiled. "Bye." He said. "Bye." I told him, and he left. I shut the door, and sighed. I had wanted him to kiss me so bad. "Dork." I said to myself and giggled.
I got ready for bed and tried to read for a little while. I ended up falling asleep though after about twenty minutes. I woke up late the next morning and had to rush to the bus stop. I wasn't sure why Barakah hadn't called or come by, but I was pretty sure she was already at work. It took forever to get there! I was not in a good mood! I ran down the street after I got off the bus. I almost tripped and fell as I ran into the office, but I caught myself. "Two hours late." Barakah said pointing to the clock. "I know." I said frustrated. I went to my desk and sat down. I was out of breath. "Molly. You made it." Jim said. "I'm so sorry." I said. "It's not a problem." He said. "We're slow today anyway." I just smiled. "I was wondering if you would like to join me for lunch today." He said. "I was. . ." I said. "I was thinking skipping lunch." "Nonsence." He said. "We don't let our employees skip lunch."
"Is it okay if I just eat at my desk?" I asked. "Yes, of course." He said. "Thank you." I told him. He just walked back to his office. "Why are you so late?" Barakah asked, walking in. "Because I had to take the bus!" I said. "Sorry." She said. She wasn't sorry. I knew she was just trying to annoy me. "What is wrong?" I asked her. "Oh nothing." She said, and left. I rolled my eyes, and started working. I didn't feel like dealing with her that day. When lunch time came Jim asked me again what I was doing for lunch. I declined his invitation, and walked to the Circle K down the street. I bought a pack of cigarettes. I hadn't smoked in a year, but I needed one right then! I got outside, and put one in my mouth. I couldn't bring myself to light it though. "Fuck." I said, and threw the pack in the trash. I walked back to work, and sat down at my desk. I just wanted to go home!
"Guess what?" Barakah whispered as she walked up to me. "What?" I asked annoyed. "I think I'm going to kiss Jim today." She giggled. "Could you possibly be any stupider?" I asked. "Hello, ladies." Jim said. He smiled at me. Barakah leaned over my desk and stuck her butt out. Jim didn't even notice her. He smiled at me and kept walking. "What the hell was that?" Barakah asked me. "What?" "That flirty smile you gave him." She said. "He didn't even notice me!"
"I didn't smile at him." I told her. "Yes you did." She said, and started to walk away. "You know what. Screw this. I'm sick of you, and your petty little fights. You are NOT the center of the universe, Brakah!" I shouted. She looked shocked. "YOu are acting worse then you did in highschool. I thought you left those self-centered, spoiled little brat days way behind you. I guess I was wrong." I said. I stood up and walked into Jim's office. "Can I help you?" He asked. "Mr. Knadler, this job isn't working out for me. I'm sorry, but I quit." I told him. "You don't have to do that." He said. "Yes, I do. I quit." I said, and walked back out. I grabbed my purse, and walked past Barakah. She looked completly in shock still. I didn't have to wait more then a minute for the bus. When I got off at the stop near my house I stopped by a little cafe and applied for a job there. I figured it had to be better then working in an office. When I got home I put on some pajamas and curled up on the couch under my comforter to read. I read for a while before I fell asleep.
"Molly!" I heard. I opened my eyes. "Ted?" I said. I got up and peaked out the door. It was Ted. "Hey, sorry to bother you." He said. "Are you okay? You look pale." "I'm fine. Come in." I said letting out a big yawn. "I have a huge favor to ask you." He said. "Uh oh." I laughed. He smiled. "I know." "What's up?" I asked. "My apartments are being totally torn down." He said. "They're building an L-Train and it's going to be built right where my apartment is." I sighed. "Geez." "I know. I was wondering if I could stay here with you for a couple of weeks." He said. "They're tearing mine down for the same reason." I said. "What?" He said with big eyes. "Yup." "Shit." He said. "Would you want to get a place together?" I laughed. "Eh, worth a shot." He said laughing.
"Where are you staying?" He asked. "Lander's." I said, and yawned. "Oh." He said. "What?" I asked. "Nothing." He said. "Jealous?" I asked. "NO!" He said. "Uh-huh." I said. "Fine. Maybe." He said. "Definatly." I told him, and he laughed. "I thought you had a new job?" He asked, looking at me dressed in my pajamas. "I did until this morning." I told him. "What happened?" He asked. "I can't work with Barakah. That was a very bad idea." I told him. "I'm sorry." He said. "It's okay. I'll find something else. I didn't like being in an office much anyway." I told him. "Are you hungry?" he asked me. "Yeah, actualy." I told him. "I'll be right back." He said, and left. "Weirdo." I said, and layed back down on the couch. I felt lazy, and didn't want to do anything. About twenty minutes later there was a knock on my door again. I sighed and got up to answer it. Ted was there with two bags of groceries. "What is this?" I asked. "I'm making you my famous Chicken Parmesian." He told me. "Are you kidding?" I asked. "Nope. I even got fresh French Bread." He said. "You are the best. I wish I could cook!" I told him.
"Just relax." He said smiling. "You're sweeter when we're not married." I laughed. "No, I'm sweeter when we're not living together." He said. I giggled. I turned around and watched him start to cook. I saw all the reasons I married him. "What?" He asked when he noticed I was watching him. I smiled. "Just watching you cook." "Do you really think moving in with Lander is a good idea?" He asked. "I don't know." I said. "Hmm." He said. "Cause all you did was complain about what a coward he was for leaving like he did." "I know. . ." I sighed.
"Just think about it." He said. "I will." I told him. "You got wine?" I asked, seeing it on the table. "Yes. Your favorite." He said. "No way! You know I get really drunk from wine." I said, and he laughed. "Is that why you got it?" I asked. "Maybe." He said, and I laughed. "You red on you." I told him. He laughed and looked down. "Damn it." He said, and took his shirt off. "Whoa." I said. "What?" He asked. "Someone has been working out." I said. "Everyday." he said, and handed me his shirt. I laughed, and put it in the washer for him.
"Well, thank you." He said. "You're very much welcome." I said smiling. I watched TV while he cooked. "This is one thing I miss." I said. "Me cooking?" He asked laughing. "Yes." I said. When he finished cooking, I turned off the TV. We sat down at the dinner table and he poured us each a glass of wine. "This is nice. Thanks." I said smiling. "Of course." He said. "It's not a problem."
"Well?" He asked, as I took my first bite. "SO GOOD!" I said. "Thanks." he said. "Seriously. I have never met anyone that cooks this good." I told him. "Well, I am a chef." He said. "Yeah, that might have something to do with it." I said, and we both laughed. When we were done eating, and drank the whole bottle of wine, we sat down to watch a movie. We couldn't decide what to watch though, and ended up just talking instead. The dryer buzzed. "Aww. Your shirt is done." I sighed. "Is that bad?" He asked. "No. I just like you walking around shirtless." I said, and he laughed.
"Well, then I'll stay that way." He said. I kept giggling. "Come here." He wrapped his arm around me and pulling me close to him. "Am I lucky enough to get a kiss tonight?" He asked. "Eh. What the hell." I laughed. I started kissing him and he pulled me on top of him. After a few minutes, I started laughing. "Geez." He said laughing. "I'm not going to suddenly not have ticklish legs." I said. He just laughed. "Okay legs are still off limits." He said.
"But the rest of me isn't." I said, and smiled. "You are so drunk." He said, and I laughed. "So are you." I told him. "Maybe." He said, and kissed me again. Before I knew it, Ted was no longer the only one not wearing a shirt! I giggled when I saw I was wearing my tweety bird bra. It was old, and comfy. I only wore it with my pajamas. "What?" Ted asked. "This stupid bra." I told him. "It's fine." He said. "It's dumb." I told him. "Well, let's fix that then." He said, and took it off of me.
"See. No more tweety. I'm digging the non-tweety boobies." He said. "You dork." I laughed. "And this is something I miss." He said kissing my neck. "I miss it too. I think it was one of our strong points." I giggled. "It sure was." He said. "And apparently still is." I said smiling. He pulled me back down on top of him and kissed me again. Before we knew it, we were having sex. I couldn't even beleive how great was! It was probably because it seemed like forever since either of us actually had sex. We just layed there for a while not saying anything. It was nice. "Should I go?" He asked. "No. Stay." I said.
"Are you sure?" He asked. "Stay." I said. He kissed my forehead and we fell asleep like that. I woke up a few hours later. "Let's go back to bed." I whispered. "Huh?" Ted asked, confused. "Bed." I said. "Oh, okay." He said, and started walking back to his old room. He was half asleep still. "NO! My bed!" I shouted, and he jumped. "Oh! oops." He said, when he realized where he was going. We climbed in bed and slept there until morning.
I sighed as I climbed out of bed. Ted had already left and I was feeling lonely. I decided to pamper myself. I really felt I deserved a nice relaxing day. I took a long bath and put my night gown on. I made myself some pancakes and cut up some fresh fruit. I sat in front of the TV on the floor and turned on The Breakfast Club.
My phone rang, and I jumped up to answer it. "Hello?" I answered. "Hello, this is Clair Jonas with the Good Times Cafe." A woman said. It was the Cafe calling me to offer me the Job. "Don't I need an interview?" I asked. "We do things a little different here. We like to see how people work, so we actualy have you come in for a few hours, and jump right in. See how you do." She said. "Oh, okay. When can I come in?" I asked. "Anytime." She said. I spoke with her a few more minutes, then ran and got ready.
I wanted to look nice, so I put on my black halter dress. It was cotton, so it was casual and comfy. I was so excited! I rushed out the door as I slipped on my right clog.
I slipped on my other shoe, then walked down to the Cafe. I walked in and saw the most gorgeous guy I had ever seen in my life standing at the counter. "Can I help you?" He asked. I gulped. "Uh...um. Yes! I'm Molly. Is Claire here?" I stumbled. "Yeah." He said, and smiled. He had gorgeous green eyes, and long black lashes. His left ear was peirced twice, and his hair was short, but messy. He kept staring at me, and I blushed. He was making me nervous. "I'll go get her. I'm Rory." He said, and walked away. I took a deep breath and tried to control myself. "Hi, Molly?" I woman asked, walking up to me. She was thin and tall, and looked like she was probably in her early thirties. She was fit, and energetic. "Yes. Claire?" I asked. "You got it. I see you've met Rory. He's requested to train you today." She said. "Really?" I asked, and she laughed. "Cute, huh? He's a sweetheart. I'm sure you'll do fine. Follow me to the back." She said. We walked through the kithcen, and into a small office. She gave me a small white green and white striped apron to tie around my waist, along with a small notepad, pen, and a button with the Cafe's logo on it. "You can leave your purse in here, I'll lock in the drawer." She said. I put my purse in, and then followered her back out front.
She showed me how to use all of the machines. I couldn't beleive how many were there. After a while, there weren't many people in there, so we were just sitting around. "What the hell." I heard. The voice sounded so familiar. "Barakah." I said softly. "Damnit." "Your first real customer." Rory said. "Why don't you find out what she wants and I'll show you how to make it." I was so frustrated.
"Are you working here?" She asked rudely. "Yes, yes I am." I told her. "How can I help you?" I asked. "I want a larte Cafe Mochiato with no whip cream. Low fat milk, a double shot and don't gip me on my coffee. I don't want it to be all milk." She said. "Okay." I said. Rory helped me ring it up. "And a nonfat muffin. You should try eating more nonfat things." She said, looking at my stomach. I was so mad! I wanted to scream at her, but I didn't. "You should try not being a bitch." Rory whispered. "WHAT?" She shouted. "I said, are you sure no whip?" He asked, and I smiled. "Ugh. Nevermind." She said, and stormed out. "Sorry." I mumbled. "It's okay." Rory said, and patted my shoulder. My heart spead up. Just then two old ladies came in and sat down at one of the tables. "Ahh. These ladies are so sweet. Come on." He said, and pulled my arm. I smiled and followed him. "Hello Edith. June." He said. "Oh hello Rory!" One of the women said. "Do you have eggsalad today?" She asked. "We sure do." He said. "And for you Edith?" He asked the other woman. "The same. And two-" "And two passion fruit iced teas, no sugar." He finished for her. "You are so good." June said, and they both laughed. "Ladies, this is my friend Molly. She is training today." He said. "Hello. You are pretty young girl." June said. "Thank you." I said. "Now, don't take anything from Rory. He gets a little handsy." Edith whispered. I cracked up! I couldn't help myself. These women were hilarious. I followed Rory back behind the counter and he showed me where they kept the sandwiches, and how to make the iced tea.
"So where did you work before this?" He asked. "With my first rude customer that walked in here." I said. "Ah." He said. "It's hard to work with friends I guess. Especially rich snobs." I said. He smiled and nodded. I could tell he was not a very negative person. "She gets whatever she wants, so she can be a brat sometimes." I said. "I could see that." He said. I brought June and Edith their orders and went to the back. "Time to fill the machine with ice." He said.
As I was filling scooping ice into the bucket from the ice maker machine, a big chunk fell and my hand! "Ouch!" I said, quickly withdrawing my hand. "Oh my god! I'm sorry! I didn't warn you." He said, looking at my hand. He seemed so concerned. "It looks like it might bruise." He said. "Did I seriously just get a bruise from ice?" I asked. He smiled. "Yeah. It comes down in big sheets. I'm so sorry." He said. "I'll be okay." I told him. He insisted in scooping thre rest of the ice, and filling up the machine. It was so cute. It was a slow afternoon, so most of it was spent cleaning and learning the machines. "You are doing good for your first day." He told me. "Thanks." I said, and smiled. "So, what do you do for fun?" He asked. "Um, I used to hang out with Barakah all the time. The girl that was in here earlier. I usualy just hang out with friends, or at The Hole." I told him. "The Hole. I havn't been there in ages." He said. "You like that place?" I asked. "I love it. I used to play there." He said. "Play?" I asked. "Yeah. A long time ago I was in a wanabe rock band." He said, and laughed. "Wanabe? Come on, I bet you were good!" I told him. "Nah. We sucked. Well, we thought we did anyway." He said. We talked for a while until it was time to close down. It was only 7:00, but Rory said they never had business after about 6:30, so they closed down bye 8:00. We closed, and then he offered to walk me home. At first I said no, but he insisted. "Come on. You shouldn't walk around here by yourself. This is Jersey!" He said. "Okay, okay. You can walk me home." I told him. "Good." He said. "Hey CLAIRE!" He shouted. "Hey WHAT?" She shouted, walking out of the office. "We're all closed up." He said. "How'd she do?" She asked him. "Great. Better then the last two to come through." He said. "Great. Molly, welcome aboard." She said, and shook my hand.
"I'll see you tomorrow." Rory said to her. She waved and we walked out. Neither of us said anything for a while as we walked down Forman St. "Do you shop in any of these places?" He asked as we passed by some expensive clothing store. I giggled. "Can't exactly afford to." "Ah." He said. "So, you're not high maintenance." "Far from it." I laughed. "I'm use to meeting girls that are very high maintenance." He said. I just giggled. "My Dad thinks he's a king." He said. "What does he do?" I asked. "He's a laywer." He said. "He defends guilty people though, so he makes a lot of money. He lets it all get to his head." "Wow." "Yup." He said. "Just out of curiosity, what is your Dads name?" I asked. "Jim Knadler." He said. I swallowed hard and coughed. I started choking on my suliva and couldn't stop coughing. My eyes teared up and it looked like I was crying. I felt so stupid!
"Are you okay?" He asked. "Yeah. Sorry." I said, after a while. "I didn't mean to choke you up." He said, whiping the moisture from under my eyes. "What was wrong?" He asked. "Oh nothing. I just um...my last job was working for your dad." I told him. "Oh, weird. Small world, huh?" He asked. "Very." I muttered. "Oh my God. My dad hit on you, didn't he?" He asked. "Yeah." I said. "Fuck. He always does that." He said, looking angry. "It's okay, I don't work there now." I told him. "Is that why you quit?" He asked. "No. Well kind of. I quit because my friend Barakah was jealous." I said. "What? Why?" He asked. "Don't ask me." I said. "Can I buy you a drink?" He asked. "What?" I asked. "Let me take you out. It's early, I'll buy you a drink to make up for my dad being an asshole." He said. "Okay, sure." I told him. Instead of walking home we walked to a bar that was across the street from my house.
We sat down and he ordered a few drinks. "You see why I said my Dad thinks he's King." He laughed. "Yeah I think I do." I said smiling. "So, do you live alone?" He asked. "Yup." "Any close friends?" He asked. I shrugged and sighed. "Not really." I said. "Why is that?" He asked. "I choose the wrong ones apparently." I said. "That sucks." He said. "It's okay. It's taught me to be really independent." I said. "Wow. Independent." He said. "Cool." "Been in any serious relationships?" He asked. "Oh yeah." I giggled. "I can't say I've been in very many." He said. "I was married." I said. "Really?" He asked. "Interresting." "We get along better now that we're divorced." I laughed. "Funny how it works out that way hu?" He said. "Yeah."
"How long were you married?" He asked. "Couple months. It was kind of a mistake." I told him. "Well, I'll stop asking about it." He said. "It's okay." I told him. We hung out for a while then he walked me home. "Well, I'll see you at work tomorrow." He said. "Yeah. Thanks for the drink." I told him. "Anytime." He said. We waived goodbye, and I went inside. I took my phone out of my purse and put it on the charge. It had died, and I wanted to check if I had any messages. I had three missed calls from Barakah, and three messages. "Great." I said. I checked the first one. "Hey, it's Barakah. Jim took me out to lunch today and told me you kissed HIM! You liar." She said. "What?" I shouted to the message. I deleted it before it finished. I checked the next too, but there wasn't any message, it was just dead air. "Whatever." I said, and set the phone back down on the counter. I walked back to my room and got ready for bed. I curled up and felt so alone. Barakah really was my only friend. I guess Ted kind of counted, and maybe Lander. I sighed. It took me a while, but I finaly fell asleep.
I took my time getting ready the next morning. I wanted to look cute. When I was about to head out the door, my phone rang. I answered it as I walked out of my apartment. "Good Morning." I giggled. It was Ted. "Hello." I said. "Hey, I was wondering if you'd like to go to a block party with me tonight." He said. "Really?!" I asked with a little too much excitement. I laughed at myself. "Yes." He said. "I thought you'd be excited." "Those damn block parties cause me to get pretty wasted." I laughed. "Oh I know." He said. "I'll call you after work and let you know if I'm feeling up to it. I will most likely be up for it though. I could use a fun night out." I said. "Okay." He said. "Have a nice day." "You too." I said, then hung up the phone. I sighed smiling as I walked out of the building and took a big breath of fresh air.
When I got to work, Claire had me in the back helping her prep the morning food. It was just muffins, pastries, and bagels that had been made early that morning, so all we were really doing was moving them from the big fridge in the back to the smaller one in the front behind the counter. “Looks good. I’ve added you too the schedule.” She when we were done. “Oh, wonderful!” I said. “It’s on the wall in the office. Go ahead and take a look and if there are any changes that need to be made, just write a note next to your name.” She said. “Alright. Thanks.” I told her. “Any time.” She said, and walked out front. I looked and I was off for the next two days. I scanned the schedule, and most of my shifts were with Rory. I laughed because I knew it was ridiculous to even think about anything happening to us. After all, he was Knadler’s son. The apple doesn’t far from the tree, right? “What’s so funny?” I heard. I turned around and it was Rory. “Oh, nothing. Just giggly today, I guess.” I told him. He looked at me funny, and I walked out front. The rest of the day was so busy! Rory was working a double shift, so when I got off at 4:00 I walked myself home. When I got there I started rummaging through all my clothes looking for something to wear. “I have seriously got to do some laundry!” I said to myself.
I tried on a bunch of different outfits and didn't like any of them! "Damnit!" I shouted. I looked through the big pile of clothes on the floor and decided to just wear my dark jeans and my pink and white striped tube top. I took a shower, blow dried my hair straight, did my makeup and then got dressed. I put on some perfume and I was ready to go.
I sat on the couch and anxiously waited for Ted to call. I got hungry, so I got up and ate some left over pizza. I looked at my clock and I had been waiting for about half an hour for him to call me. I sighed, and called him. “Hey, I’m pulling into your parking lot right now.” He said. “Okay, cool. I’m ready.” I told him. “Come meet me in the parking lot.” He said. “I’ll be right down!” I said, and hung up. I found my bag, and then ran down to the parking lot. He saw me running and was laughing. “Shut up!” I said, climbing in. “You just seem so excited.” He said, still laughing. “I am!” I said, and punched him in the arm. “Ouch! Geeze.” He said. “Oh can it!” I yelled, and turned up the radio. He just started laughing.
We drove into the neighborhood where the party was and parked. He took my hand and we walked down to the street. I thought it was funny that he was holding my hand like as if we were still together. I felt loved though! As soon as we walked up to the party, I poured myself some spiked punch.
“Whoa, take it easy there.” Ted said, as I chugged my first cup. “I’m thirsty.” I said, and he laughed. “I can see that. Slow down. I want to get some good dancin’ out of you tonight.” He said, and I laughed. “I thought you liked it when I was drunk?” I asked, and raised an eyebrow. He just grinned and got himself some beer. When he wasn’t looking, I refilled my cup with punch.
I turned around and chugged it. I saw a dorky guy about to do a keg stand and I started laughing really hard. A bunch of people looked at me. "Problem?" I asked. They all looked away. It made me laugh more. "I need some more punch." I said as Ted walked back over to me. "Take it easy." He said laughing.
“I haven’t gotten to drink in a long time.” I said, making a pouty face. He just laughed even more. “Fine, but you better not be puking later.” He said. “I’ll be careful, I promise.” I told him. I noticed some girl checking him out, so I linked arms with him real quick. “What are you doing?” He asked. “Nothing.’ I said, and kissed his cheek. “Uh, okay.” He said, laughing. “Oh hey, let me introduce you to some people from my complex!” He said, and walked me over to a group of people.
"Everyone, this is Molly." He said. A few of them said hi and one or two shook my hand. I was trying my hardest to not appear drunk. I smiled and Ted put his arm around me. "Is this your wife?" A guy asked. "EX Wife." I corrected. Ted just looked at me. "Sorry." I said. He just nodded. He took my hand and we walked over to the keg. "Did you tell these people that I was your wife?" I asked. "Yeah. When you WERE my wife." He said. I giggled. "Let's pretend we're still married." "What?" He asked. "Teddy, you havn't introduced me to your lady yet." A girl said walking up to us. She was clearly drunk. "Josie, this is my wife Molly." He said. I smiled at him. "Nice to meet you." I said. She shook my hand. "So, why don't you two live together?" She asked. "She's away on business a lot." He said. "Oh what do you do?" She asked. "She writes screen plays." Ted told her. "Wow. Cool." She said. "Yeah." I said going along with it. "It's such an amazing experience. I hope that one day one of them turn into a box office hit." "I bet that day will come." She said smiling. "I bet it will too." Ted said. He gave me a kiss. "Aww." She said. "You two are so cute." She looked at my hand. "Where is your ring?" "At the jewelers." I said. "They're puting a bigger diamond in it." "Wow." She said giggling. "Where's yours?" asked Ted. "He won't wear his unless I'm wearing mine." I said. "How sweet is that?" She said smiling.
“He’s a sweet heart.” I said, and Ted squeezed my hand. “Well, I hope I see you two around. Ted, if you see Chris, will you tell him I’m over with Adrian?” She asked. “Of course. See you later.” He said. She smiled and left. I giggled. “You are so drunk.” He said. “I know.” I laughed. He turned me around and started kissing me. He stopped and looked into my eyes. “I forgot you were such a good kisser.” I told him. “Me too.” He said, and I laughed. “What?” He asked. “You forgot you were a good kisser?” I asked. “Yeah-wait, no! I mean I forgot how good it feels to kiss you.” He said. “You are a little drunk too.” I told him, and giggled. “Maybe.” He said. “Why were we such jerks to each other while we were married?” I asked. “I guess we just weren’t ready.” He said. “Have you seen anyone since we split up?” I asked. “No. You?” “Nope.” “Not even that guy I met at your apartment?” He asked. “NO! Not Lander. I mean, Yes Lander before. But no now.” I told him. He looked really confused. “Yeah, so that didn’t make any sense to me either.” I said, and we both laughed. “Hey TED!” some girl shouted. We both turned around. “Ah shit.” He muttered. She ran over, and hugged him. Ted looked revolted, and I laughed. “Hi, I’m Tina.” The girl said. I could tell she was from New York, and not Jersey. “Hi. Molly.” I said. She looked me up and down like she was sizing me up. Ted kind of pushed her off of him, and stood closer to me. “Are you like Irish or something?” She asked. “Are you like a skank or something?” I asked her. He face immediately turned red. “I’m Italian!” she said, stepping toward me. “Good for you.” I said. “Hey, whoa.” Ted said, stepping between us. “Hey TINA! You causin’ trouble over here?” Some big Italian guy said, walking over to us. “Sorry Ted. You know how my little sis gets.” He said. “It’s okay.” Ted said, putting his arm around me. “This is Molly. My, ex.” He said. I looked at him. “He already knows about us.” “Oh.” I said. “Nice to meet you-“ “Ronnie.” “Ronnie.” I repeated. “Anyway, sorry bout my sis.” He said. She hit him really hard in the side. “HEY!” She shouted. He pushed her, and the walked away arguing. “Interesting.” I said, and Ted started laughing.
"You are looking might fine tonight, you know that?" He said smiling as he put his arms around me. I smiled. "And so are you." "This is so weird." He said. "It is." I giggled. "Maybe we shouldn't have gotten a divorce." He said. I didn't know what to say and I didn't really know how I felt. All I knew was that I was happy at that moment. He made me feel special. I giggled and started kissing him.
“Want to see my place?” He asked. “Um, I don’t know.” I said. My heart was racing, and I kept remembering what it was like being with Ted. He traced his finger down my stomach and it gave me chills. “Come on.” He whispered. “I know exactly where to touch.” I giggled. “Is that a yes?” He asked, and kissed my neck. “Yes.” I said. “Really?” he asked, grinning. “Really. Now hurry, before I change my mind.” I said. He took my hand and practically ran to the apartment building that was at the front of the block.
"Holy. . . wow." I said when we walked into his apartment. It looked really nice. "Yes. Ted is growing up." He said. I laughed. He took off his coat and walked over to me. He kissed me and guided me over to the couch.
“This isn’t something you are going to regret tomorrow, is it?” He asked me. “No.” I said, and smiled. “Are you sure?” He asked. “Ted, right now it feels like it did when we first met, before we fucked it all up. Just kiss me.” I said. He grinned, and kissed me again. After a few minutes he got up and led me back to his room. I smiled when I saw he had sheets and a comforter of mine on it. We were back there for hours. And I could honestly say, I had never had a better time before. When we were done, Ted fell asleep next to me, and I just lay next to him with my head on his chest tracing my finger down his arm. “What went wrong?” I asked out loud. He just snorted and I giggled.
I snuck out of bed and went out to the kitchen. I sat down at the table and dialed Barakah's number. "Finally calling to apologize?" She asked. "Why do I hate Ted so much?" I asked. She sighed. "I have no idea. He never did anything to you. You were just a total bitch to him." She said. "All I needed to know." I said and hung up. I smiled and set my phone down. I went back to the bedroom and climbed back into bed with him.
I couldn’t sleep. “Psst. Ted.” I said, shaking him. He just muttered something, and rolled back over. “TED!” I shouted, and he jumped. “What?” He asked, looking around. “I’m sorry.” I said. “Huh?” “I’m sorry I was such a jerk.” I told him. “What are you talking about?” He asked, and yawned. “I was a bitch before. I’m sorry.” I told him. “Hey, it’s okay. I wasn’t the nicest guy ever.” He said, and rubbed my arm. I felt like crying. “What is it?” He asked. “I don’t know.” I said, and started crying. He hugged me. “Shhhhhhhhhh. It’s okay.” He said. “I’m just so lonely. I have no friends, and I thought I hated you until you left.” I said. “What are you saying?” He asked. “I don’t know.” I said. “Just get some sleep, okay? We can talk more tomorrow.” He said, holding me. “Okay.” I said. He kissed my forehead, and I fell asleep in his arms.
The next morning I felt really stupid. "Why would he ever want me back?" I thought to myself. I rushed home. As soon as I walked in the door, my phone was ringing. It was Ted. "Hey, why'd you rush out the door?" He asked. "I'm sorry for all the crazy things I said last night." I said. "What?" "I must have sounded ridiculous." I said. "Not to me." He said. "Really?" "Yeah. . ." He said. "You deserve better than me." I said. "No man in the world deserves better than a wonderful woman like you." He said. I giggled. "Shush." He laughed. "Seriously, you were right though. Neither of us tried very hard and we really should have." He said. "And something else, we're not divorced. I had a message on my phone this morning. Neither of us signed the last page. . ."
“What?” I asked. “We are still married.” He told me. “You had to sign on the last page?” I asked. “Apparently.” He said. “So technically we are still married. If you wanted to give it another shot, we could.” He said. I didn’t know what to say. “Hello?” He asked. “I’m still here. Sorry.” I told him. “Well?” He asked. “I don’t know.” I said. “What do you mean you don’t know?” He asked. “After everything you said last night, I thought this was something you wanted.” “It is. But I meant starting over, not just jumping back into marriage.” I told him. “Molly, you are killing me here.” He said. It sounded like he was crying. “Okay.” I said. “Okay, what?” He asked. “Okay, let’s give it another shot.” I told him.
"You mean it?" He asked. "Yeah, but we're starting slow. Really slow." I said. "We'll just keep going on dates and continue the way we have been." "Okay." He said. I giggled. "What?" He asked. "It's crazy." I said. "Yeah, it is." He said. "But worth it." "I love you." I said. "I love you." He said back. "Do you want me to come over?" "I think I'm going to spend the day by myself." I said. "You should come over later though." "Sounds like a plan." He said.
I felt so happy! Like we really had a shot together. I picked up my phone and called Barakah before I even realized it. “What?” She asked. “Oh, sorry. I guess you are the only one I have to share good news with.” I said. “That is sad.” She told me. “Fine, I wont tell you Ted and I are trying things out again.” I told her. “WHAT?” She asked, sounding excited despite herself. “Yeah!” I said. “Wow, don’t be a bitch this time around.” She said. “I’ll try. There is something else I have to tell you too.” I told her. “What?” She asked. “I never told you before, but Ted and I are actually married.” I told her.
She laughed. "That's real smart." "Barakah, I'm trying here." I said. "Yeah I know. I'm sorry." She said. "I wish you would come back and work for Jim." "I don't think so. . ." I said. "His new assistant is this spoiled two faced brat know-it-all." She said. "Sounds familiar." I said. "Shut up." She laughed. "Oh, another thing. . ." "What?" "I slept with Jim." She said. "Barakah!" "You have no reason to be jelous." She said. "I am far from jelous." I said.
“He is so amazing!” She said. “How could you do that? He is married, with kids! Remember that cute guy I work with? That is his SON!” I said. “So.” She answered. “I can’t believe you. Was it a one time thing?” I asked her. “I don’t know. He asked if he could take me to New York for the weekend.” She said. “You are unbelievable!” I told her. “I thought you weren’t jealous.” She said. “I’m not, trust me. I’m disgusted!” I told her. “Oh please. You have always been jealous of me.” She said. “Barakah, that isn’t funny.” I told her. “It wasn’t a joke.” She said. “What happened to you? You used to have morals.” I told her.
"You just don't understand how amazing he is." She said. "Or maybe you DO understand and you wish it was you with him instead of me." "Oh please!" I said. "His wife is ugly." She said. "Barakah, I saw the pictures on his desk. He has beautiful kids and a gorgeous wife." I said. "She's ugly." She said again. "No, she's gorgeous." I said. "Jelous." She said. "Not even." I said. "Call me when you've grown up." I hung up the phone. She tried to call me back several times and I just ignored it.
When my phone rang again, I almost answered it just to yell at her. I saw that it was Lander. “Hello.” I said. “Hey, what’s up?” He asked. “Not much.” I told him. “Hey, want to go to a movie or something tonight?” He asked. “Actually, Ted is coming over tonight.” I told him. “Oh, really?” He asked. “Yeah. We are going to try things again. Slowly.” I told him. “Oh.” He said. “Is everything okay?” I asked. “Yeah. I’ll, uh call ya later.” He said, and hung up. “Okay…?” I said, and hung up. I sighed, and got up and started a bath. It was defiantly a day for pampering.
I layed in the bath for an hour. I laughed when I saw how pruney I was when I got out. I wrapped a towel around me and layed down on the couch. I couldn't beleive Barakah! I was trying so hard not to think about her. She was crazy! It made me mad that she actually thought I was jealous too. I sighed and got up. I brushed my hair and put on my black long nightgown. I poured myself some hawaiian punch and took out everything I needed to do my nails.
I spent over an hour on my nails, then decided to do my make-up and hair really nice. When I was done it was almost five, so I called Ted. “Hey sunshine.” He answered. I giggled. “Hey. What do you want to do tonight?” I asked. “Um…rollerblading?” he asked. “I always fall on my ass.” I told him. “Oh. Uh…how about…” he started to say something else, but there was a knock at my door. “Hold on.” I said, and got up to answer it.
I opened the door and Lander was standing there. "Hey." I said. I told Ted I would call him back later. "Hi." Lander said. "Are you okay? What's going on with you? You keep avoiding me." "I'm sorry." I said. "I didn't mean to." "Is everything okay?" He asked. "Yeah. I'm fine. . ." I said. "Why are you trying to save a marriage you were never happy in?" He asked.
“Whoa, excuse me?” I asked. “Oh come on! You told me all about it.” He said. “I don’t see how this is your business.” I said defensively. “You are my friend. It is entirely my business.” He said, surprisingly calm. “I was never happy, because I never gave it a chance.” I told him. “Maybe there was nothing worth giving a chance too. What do you have in common?” He asked. “You don’t need everything in common for a relationship to work.” I told him. “Can I come in?” He asked. “Fine.” I said, and opened the door. He walked in and we both sat down on the couch. “He knew you were unhappy, right?” Lander asked. “Yes.” I answered. “Was he unhappy?” He asked. “I don’t know.” I told him. “Did he ever do anything to even try to make your marriage work? Or to make you happy?” He asked. “He’s a good guy!” I told him. “I didn’t say he wasn’t. But maybe there is nothing but attraction here. Obviously neither one of you wanted to give it a chance. Why are you bothering to work it out now that you aren’t married?” He asked. “Technically we still are married.” I told him. “What?” He asked. “We both forgot to sign the last form.” I said. “Wait, hold on. The last form is the most important part. The last form is the one that officially states you are no longer married.” He said. “Well, we must have missed it.” I said. “Molly, you don’t just miss that page. That is THE page to sign. It’s the only page that is only a half a page length with two spots to sign, with a date under each name.” He said. “Well apparently we did.” I told him. “No you didn’t. I think he took it out.” He said. “Why would he do that?” I asked. He just sighed. “I don’t know.” He said. “Maybe you should go.” I told him. “Maybe you should listen to me!” He shouted. “I’m sorry.” “Why do you care?” I asked. “Because I still-“ he stopped. “Because you still what?” I asked. “Nothing. I just care about you.” He said. “That is not what you were going to say!” I shouted. It took everything I had not to cry. He didn’t say anything, he just looked at me. “What?” I pleaded. In one move, he leaned forward, put his hand behind my head, pushed me forward and kissed me. He kissed me like he thought it was his only chance to ever kiss me. He stopped and looked at me. I started crying. “I thought you said friends was how we should stay this time.” I said. “I was wrong.” He said. “So this is why you don’t want me to be with Ted?” I asked. “No. Whether we have something or not, I’d still say Ted is a bad idea.” He said. “I think you should go.” I told him. “Molly, please.” “Just go.” He sighed and stood up, then left. I ran back to my room and pulled out an old shoebox. It was full of pictures and things that I had kept from when Lander and I were almost an item. I sat on my bed and opened it. It hurt so bad to think back to that. I still couldn’t figure out exactly why he had left. He was the only person I had ever felt close to, and we never even dated. We were friends who should have been more. We had just started becoming more when he up and left. I threw the box across the room, and it struck my wall sending pictures and little objects flying everywhere. I thought of the first time we slept together. And the few times after that. It just made me cry even more.
I climbed into bed and threw the covers over my head. I started to take deep breaths as I tried to calm myself down. "No. This is ridiculous. He had so many chances with me and he didn't take ANY of them." I said to myself. I hopped out of bed and went to the kitchen to make myself something to eat. I called Ted back and told him EVERYTHING that had just happened. I also explained to him that I was not interested in Lander's games. He was a little upset, because I kissed Lander back. At the same time though, he understood how I was feeling when I did it. I asked him to come over and spend the night with me.
I was glad when he agreed to come over. We spent the night watching movies and talking. When it got late, we both went back to my room to go to bed. “I’ll be right back. I forgot to charge my phone.” I told him. “Okay.” He said, and sat down on the bed. I went out to the living room and plugged my phone in, then headed back to my room. When I opened the door Ted was crouched in the corner looking at something. I remembered I had thrown my memory box of Lander across the room, and didn’t clean it up. “Hey.” I said. I didn’t want him to be looking at those. “What are all these?” He asked going through them. “It’s a memory box I hadn’t gotten rid of yet.” I said. “Of Lander?” He asked. “Yeah.” I said. “Do you have any pictures of me?” He asked. “No.” I said. “Any saved ticket stubs, or anything?” He asked again. “No.” I said. “But you have this whole shoebox full of stuff from this Lander guy who you never even dated?” He asked. “Yes.” I said, and felt myself tear up. Ted finaly turned and looked at me. He took a deep breath. “I’m going to not get upset about this, since we are starting over. But it still hurts.” He said. “I’m sorry.” I told him. I felt horrible. I had never thought about saving anything from Ted. Then I remembered something. “Wait!” I said, and went to my dresser. I had a junk drawer and dug through it. I found the little card I was looking for. “Here.” I said, and gave it to Ted to read. It was from the first bouquet of flowers he bought me a week before we got married.
He smiled. "It's not like I didn't WANT to keep anything from you. I just didn't think about it." I said. "I know." He said. "Oh!" I said giggling. I pulled out my plastic diamond ring he had given me when he asked me to marry him. I slid it on my finger. He started laughing. "Yeah, I'm gonna have to replace that." He said. I smiled. "It works for now. Where's yours?" I asked. "At home." He said. "You didn't throw it away?" I asked. "Hell no. I wear it all the time!" He said. "You dork." I said. "It's Donatello!" He laughed. "We are nerds." I said. "Eh. We didn't have any money. They made us happy enough right?" He said. "Yup." I said. "Thank god for those gumball machines." He just laughed. "I want this to work." I said. "I'm really glad you're being honest with me." He said placing his hands on my sides. I smiled. "And I want this to work too." He said.
“So, everything is cool?” I asked. “Yeah. I kind of want to kick that Lander guy’s ass though.” He said. “Please don’t. We all have our momentary lapses in judgement.” I told him. “I won’t. Come on, let’s put some music on and fall asleep.” He said. “What music?” I asked. “Blues?” “BB King?” “Please.” He said, and I laughed. I got up and put the CD in my stereo and then climbed into bed with him.
“So, everything is cool?” I asked. “Yeah. I kind of want to kick that Lander guy’s ass though.” He said. “Please don’t. We all have our momentary lapses in judgement.” I told him. “I won’t. Come on, let’s put some music on and fall asleep.” He said. “What music?” I asked. “Blues?” “BB King?” “Please.” He said, and I laughed. I got up and put the CD in my stereo and then climbed into bed with him.
We just layed there for a while listening to the music. I fell asleep a while later and didn't wake up until the morning. When I woke up, Ted wasn't in the room, but I could smell pancakes. I giggled and climbed out of bed. I went out to the kitchen and sure enough, he was cooking breakfast.
“I hate pancakes.” I said when I walked into the kitchen. “Liar. You like them with chocolate chips and walnuts.” He said as he scooped more batter onto the griddle. “You got me there.” I said. I walked up behind him and put my arms around him. He turned his head and kissed my forehead. “I didn’t know you were so sweet.” I told him. “I wasn’t for a while.” He said, and flipped one of the pancakes. I let go of him and went to make us some coffee. He already had a pot made. “I’m really impressed now.” I said.
"It's Hazelnut. You're favorite." He said turning his head and smiling at me. I giggled and poured myself a cup of coffee. I sat down on the couch and turned on the TV.
The news was on, and I was about to change it when something caught my eye. “OH MY GOD!” I shouted. “What?” He asked. “Barakah is on the news!” I yelled. “What?” He shouted and ran out. “Apparently Mr. Knadler’s wife caught her in bed with Mr. Knadler! Look! She’s all beat up! They are showing her picture! HOLY SHIT!” I said. “I can see it!” He said, and looked at me. “Sorry. I can’t believe this!” I said. I turned up the volume. “We’ll have more on this scandal in just a moment.” The news anchor said. “Damn. I bet her father is FURIOUS! This will cause a lot of clients to leave. Assuming Barakah’s dad still wants to be partners with Knadler.” I said. “Is she okay?” He asked. “I don’t know. Should I call the hospital?” I asked. “No. Call her parents. If you call the hospital they probably wont give you the number to her room. I bet the media is eating this up.” He said.
I picked up the phone and dialed Barakah's parents home number. Her Mother answered right away. "Jamilah, I just saw Barakah on the news. Is she okay?" I asked. "You are not a good friend no longer." She said and hung up. "Hey!" I said. I dialed the number again. Again, her Mother answered the phone. "Jamilah, I am worried about her." I said. "Did you know she was seeing this man?" She asked. I didn't know what to say. "Yes and I told her it was wrong." I said. "You should have done something!" She shouted, then hung up again. "Damnit!" I said.
“What?” Ted asked. “Apparently I’m a bad friend.” I said. “No you aren’t.” He told me. “Try calling later. Maybe her dad will answer.” “I guess. I’m worried.” I said, trying not to cry. “Hey, it’s okay. Let’s eat some breakfast, then we’ll see if we can’t see her at the hospital. Maybe if one of the nurses tells her your name she’ll let you in.” He said. “I hope so.” I said.
137 comments:
"Shhhhh!" I said to Barakah as we drunkidly made our way down the hall to the bathrooms. We had been to the The Hole time and time again, but just knowing where the bathrooms were wasn't enough.
"Don't 'Shhhhh' me Molly! I'm not being loud!" She said.
"Are too."
"Not!" She shouted. "Even if I was, WHO CARES! We're in a bar! You can't hear anything over the band anyway!"
"I know! But you said that guy was really cute back there! He looked at us!" I told her.
"And? Now he is flattered. Maybe he'll buy us a drink now." She said, and we both laughed. We finaly made it to the bathroom and pushed our way in. At first I counldn't make out what I was seeing. Barakah gasped, and froze.
I squinted and realized what I was looking at. There was a girl sitting on the counter with her skirt hiked up, and her legs wrapped around a guy.
"Either join in, or get out." The guy said.
"FUCK YOU!" The girl shouted, and smacked him. He just laughed and continued going about his business. I started giggling, and Barakah pushed me out the door.
"OH MY GOD!" She shouted when we got back into the hallway. "They were...doing it!" The last part was barely audible.
"You don't have to whisper. And it's called sex." I told her, and she pushed me playfully.
"I KNOW!" She said, and started laughing.
"I REALLY have to pee!" I whined.
"Me too!" She said.
"What about the mens-"
"NO WAY!" She shouted, shaking her head and flailing her long black hair. She was from Saudi Arabia and looked so exotic. I was always jealous of her. Which was ironic because she was always jealous if my blonde hair and fair skin.
"YES WAY!" I shouted, grabbing her arm. I pulled her into the mens bathroom with me.
"HEY!" I guy shouted. He was at the sink washing his hands.
"SORRY! EMERGENCY!" I told him, and pulled Barakah into the stall with me, and locked the door.
"You have your own bathroom for that." He said.
"Well, people are having sex in there!" I shouted back at him.
"What! SIMON!" The guy shouted, and stormed out of the bathroom. Barakah and I were laughing so hard we almost forgot we had to pee.
"Turn around! I have to go!" I told her. She did, still giggling. I went real fast, and then waited for her to go. After we washed our hands, we stumbled back down the hallway and back to the bar.
"TWO BEERS!" Barakah slurred.
"Sorry my Arabian Princess, but you two are cut off!" The bartender said.
"Come on Jack!" I whined.
"No! You've both had enough." He said, laughing. He served a beer to the guy next to us. Barakah and I both made our best pouty faces.
"No. But I'll tell you what. If you two come back to my place after closing time, I'll give you more drinks there." He said.
"Forget it!" Barakah said, and we both laughed.
"Hey! Come on, I'm a cool guy!" Jack said. "Besides a few people are coming over. A small party I guess."
"Oh! We'll go!" I said, and Barakah hit me. She had a crush on Jack for months.
"Good. Just stick around until closing, I'll give you a ride." He said.
"Deal!" I shouted, and he laughed.
"Now what?" Barakah asked me. "Closing isn't for another hour."
"We smoke!" I said, and pulled her out the back door. I hated standing out front with all the other smokers. I pulled out my crumpled pack of Camel's from my purse and handed them to Barakah. She fished out two, while I searched for a lighter.
"Motherfucker." I said.
"You lost it again?" Barakah whined.
"Maybe!" I said.
"Here." A guy said, and tapped me on the shoulder with a lighter. I took it from him.
"Thanks." I said, and lit mine, then handed it to Barakah.
"Hey! Wait! That is my lighter!" I said, when Barakah handed it back.
"I know. You dropped it when you ran out of the bathroom." The guy said. He stepped more into the light, and it was the guy from the bathroom. I started laughing so hard! Barakah had a horrible disgusted look on her face.
"Don't look so horrified! Just having fun tonight." He said.
"Ewwww." Barakah told him. He held out his hand, but she just glared at it.
"I'm not dirty! Shit." He said. I shook his hand, still laughing.
"Simon." He said.
"Molly. This is Barakah." I told him.
"Well, I've got some friends waiting for me inside." He said, and walked in.
"EWWWWWWWWWWW! You touched him!" Barakah shouted.
"Relax! I didn't sleep with him." I told her, still lauguing.
"Gross." She muttered, and took another drag from her cigarette.
"He's a good fucker." A woman said behind us. Barakah and I both jumped and looked. The girl that he was with was sitting in the dark on a green crate.
"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you." She said.
"Thats okay." I said, kind of weirded out. She was pretty. Well, would have been with less of the dark make-up.
"Jessica." She said, and stood up.
"Molly." I told her.
"So, do you and your boyfriend always fuck in the bathroom?" Barakah asked.
"Barakah!" I gasped. Jessica laughed.
"He's not my boyfriend. I don't know him actually." She said, and pushed past us and back inside.
"What a weird night." Barakah said.
"No shit." I told her, and we both laughed. We went inside a little later to hang out and wait for Jack.
Barakah walked off and I sat down at the end of the bar. I was getting a little tired.
"None of that." Jack said when he noticed me yawn.
I giggled.
"You girls are welcome to crash at my place later." He offered.
I smiled. "Thanks."
He winked at me and walked away. I noticed Barakah flirting with a group of guys. I just laughed and rolled my eyes.
"So. . ." Jack sighed. The bar was starting to die down and it was tiem to cut everyone off. "What's her story? I can never tell."
I shrugged.
"Come on. You two are attached at the hip." He said.
"I really don't know. You'll have to ask her yourself." I said. He handed me a water. I took a sip and made my way to the bathroom.
I suddenly didn't feel so well, and sat down on the floor. Normaly I would have been too repulsed to do that, but I started feeling faint. I made myself drink most of the water, and then made myself thow up.
"Hey, are you okay?" Someone asked, and tapped the stall door.
"Yes." I said, and stood up. I flushed the toilet and then opened the stall door to leave. There was a guy standing there!
"Whoa. Didn't mean to scare you. You're in the mens room." He said.
"WHAT?" I gasped, and covered my mouth.
"You know, this is the second time I've caught you in the mens room." He said, and laughed. I looked at him confused.
"You were in here with your friend before." he said.
"OH! That was you!" I said, and started laughing.
"Yeah." He said, and smiled. He was cute, and I felt hideous! I knew my make-up was probably smeared, and my hair was probably a mess. I walked to the sink and washed my hands. He started to say something, but I hurried out of there. I saw Barakah at a booth and ran over to her.
"Oh my god!" I shouted, and sat next to her.
"What?" She asked.
"I keep fucking running into that player guy and his friend that we saw in the bathroom." I told her.
She laughed.
"I don't think I can hang out much longer." I said.
"I'll set a bed up for you at Jack's." She said. "He offered his room to us for the night."
I shook my head. I just felt like going home and crashing.
"Please?" She asked.
"Yeah, okay." I said.
The place cleared out pretty fast, and Jack was ready. He walked over to us at the booth and sat down next to Barakah.
"Ready?" He shouted, and I winced, and rubbed my forhead.
"Yeah." Barakah said.
"Are you okay?" He asked me.
"I'll be fine." I said, and smiled.
"Okay, lets go then!" He shouted, and hit the table. I groaned, then got up and followed him and Barakah out to his truck. We all climbed into the cab of the truck. When he started it, the stereo blasted some Funk band. Barakah laughed, and Jack turned it down. He only lived a few minutes away, but it felt like forever! He parked in his apartment complex, and we followed him upstairs. He was on the fifth floor!
"Are you kidding me?" I asked, as he passed the fourth flight of stairs. He just laughed. By the time we got to his apartment, I felt a lot better.
"Home sweet home." He said, and walked in.
"Wow, it's big." Barakah said, looking around.
"Three bedrooms." He said. "My room is the second one on the right, across from the bathroom."
"Okay. Let's get you to bed." Barakah said to me.
"I'm fine now." I told her. She gave me a look like she knew better.
"Okay, okay." I said. She laughed, and we walked back to Jack's room. There were pictures and magazine articles all over the walls! All he had in there was a bed, and a lap top on the floor next to it.
"Wow." Barakah said. I just yawned and climbed into his bed. I was more tired then I thought.
"Jack said everyone should be here soon, so it might get loud." She told me.
"I'm not worried about it." I told her, already dozing off. She hugged me and then left. I dozed off soon after.
"People are fucking in here." I heard a guy say.
I turned over to look at the time. I had only been sleeping for two hours.
"NO! People are sleeping in here!" I shouted.
"Whoa, chill out little woman." He said.
"Dude." I heard Jack say. He pulled the guy out of the room and shut the door. I sighed. I pulled the covers over my head. A few minuets later, the door opened.
"Hey." Someone whispered.
"Yeah?" I asked poking my head up.
"It's me." Barakah said. "Lander's here."
"So." I said rolling over onto my stomach.
"Are you crazy?" She whispered loudly.
"I don't care about him anymore." I mumbled.
"It's fate." She said walking into the room.
I giggled.
"Seriously." She said. She sat down at the end of the bed and put her hand on my leg.
"I haven't seen him for two years." I said.
"Exactly. Then he shows up out of nowhere to the same party that you're at." She said.
"Did you tell him I was here?" I asked.
"Well yeah. Of course." She said.
"So tell him where I am then." I said annoyed.
She jumped up and let out a squeel. She went running out of the room. I rolled my eyes. I pulled the covers back over my head. Within seconds, I heard the door open again.
"Molly?"
My stomach tickled when he said my name. "Yeah." I said.
"How long has it been? Like three years?" He asked.
"Two years and four months." I said.
He laughed.
There was an awkward silence. I sat up deciding to break the silence. "You never called." I said.
"That's where I'm the jackass." He said pointing to me with his index finger.
"We were inseperable, Lan." I said.
"I know." He said.
"What happen?" I asked.
"I married a schizo." He said. "She tried to sleep with my best friend. We divorced. I moved back here."
"Wow. So you've been busy." I told him.
"Yeah, I guess so." He said. "What about you.
"Well, I stopped going to school. I havn't really been up to much." I told him.
"You stopped going to school? Why?" He asked. I shrugged.
"I don't know what I want to do." I told him. He sat down next to me on the bed, and i reached over and hit the light swtich. He laughed when I flinched.
"Shut up, it's bright." I told him.
"You were asleep, weren't you?" He asked.
"Yeah." I told him.
"Barakah said you just layed down." He said.
"That liar! It's okay though." I told him.
"Wow. Two and a half years." He said.
"I know! I can't believe it. I'll be 24 in two months." I groaned, and put my head in my hands.
"Oh please! I just turned 25, I don't want to hear it!" He said, and I giggled.
"So, a schizo?" I asked.
"Yeah. Long story." He sighed.
"Well, we need to catch up." I told him.
"Do you care to join me for the party?" He asked.
"Sure. Let me freshin up first." I told him.
"Okay. You need it." He said.
"HEY!" I shouted, and pushed him.
"I'm kidding! You look great." He said, and stood up. I rolled my eyes, and waited for him to leave before I opened my purse and pulled out my compact. I wasn't as bad as I thought I would be. I just touched everything up real quick, then brushed my hair. I walked out and the place was full of people. I was surprised! I spotted Lander in the kitchen and snuck up behind him.
"BOO!" I shouted in his ear, and he jumped.
I laughed. He grabbed two beers and handed me one.
"Thanks." I said.
We made our way through the front room and he sat down on the big recliner. I sat down on the arm of the chair and he put his hand on my leg.
"So, what you been up to?" He asked.
"Really nothing. Just working." I said.
"How's the fam?" He asked.
"Good." I smiled.
"I miss Grandpa Fisher." He said. "How is he?"
"Still always crackin' jokes. He still asks me to pull his finger." I giggled.
He laughed.
"How is your mom?" I asked.
"Oh, you didn't hear." He said.
"What?" I asked, concerned.
"She passed away two months ago." he said, looking down.
"What?" I asked. "I'm so sorry!"
"It's okay." He said.
"What happened?" I asked.
"She played too much bingo at the Rec center, and just-"
"You ass! Your mom didn't die!" I shouted, and he laughed.
"No, she is good. She moved to Vegas about a year ago." He said.
"You are going to hell!" I told him.
"Yeah, probably." He said.
"Deffinatly." I told him, and he smiled. I missed his smile.
"Why didn't you call me? You just left." I asked.
"I don't know. I didn't tell anyone." He said. "I got tired of life here."
"Tired of me? Of your other friends?" I asked.
"No. In fact I missed everyone a lot. That's why I came back." He said.
"Well, I'm still mad at you." I told him, and he laughed.
"Good. I'm still mad at me for leaving you behind." He told me, and squeezed my leg.
"Barakah thinks it's fate that you are here." I told him, and he laughed.
"She still believes in all that nonsense?" He asked.
"Yeah." I said, and sighed.
"What is it?" He asked me.
"You left before I could tell you how I really felt about you." I told him.
"I know. I was afraid." He said.
"Of what?" I asked.
"Hurting you."
"Oh, and leaving town with out telling me didn't hurt me?" I asked, trying to keep my eyes from tearing up.
"I'm so sorry." He said.
"It's okay. It's over now." I told him.
"It's not okay. I'm sorry." He said. I just smilled, and placed my hand over his.
"Can we start over?" He asked.
"I don't think so." I told him.
"It was worth a shot." He said. I felt my heart sink when I said that, but it took me a long time to get over Lander, and I didn't want to go back down that road. We weren't even technicaly a couple when he left.
"Look at Barakah and Jack." He said. I looked over at them. The were sitting on the floor laughing at something.
"They both like each other, but neither one of them ever makes a move." I said. "Sometimes they completely ignore each other. I don't get it!"
"Maybe they are afraid." He said.
"Well thats dumb. If they feel that way, they should go for it." I said.
"Sometimes it isn't that easy." He said.
"Are we talking about them or us?" I asked, looking at him.
"Sorry." He said. "So, how is your brother?"
"Don't ask." I said.
"That bad?" He asked.
"Yeah. He just got out of jail on parol. He stole a bunch of stuff from my parents. My mom wouldn't even press charges! My dad wouldn't let him get away with it this time though. I don't know what happened to him." I said.
"Well, I hope everything else is good with you." He told me.
"Thanks." I said.
"Nine questions." He said.
I giggled.
"Come on." He said.
"Are we twelve?" I asked.
"Nine questions." He said.
I just giggled.
"Favorite color." He said.
"Brown."
"Name?"
"Christian." I said.
"Still?"
"Yes and that counts as question three." I giggled.
"Jerk."
I just smiled. "Hey, it was a question."
"Question four. Last person you had sex with?" He asked.
I rolled my eyes.
"Well?"
"Ted."
"Where?" He asked.
"Well, aren't you just getting personal on me?" I asked laughing.
He just looked at me with a serious look on his face. He smirked shyly.
"His bed." I said.
"Damn." He said. "Why do you have to be so normal?"
"I just am and that counted as question six."
He laughed. "Where did you meet this Ted?"
"Dina's flower shop. He was buying flowers for his Mom for Mother's Day." I said.
"Now isn't that sweet?" He asked.
"Yes." I said. "Question eight."
He laughed. "You are ruining all the fun."
"You're the one asking the questions." I said.
"Funny." He said. "Do you still read Parenting Magazine?"
"Eh. No." I said. "I'm not as much of a dreamer these days."
"If you could be any age right now, how old would you be?" He asked.
"Five." I sighed smiling. "You don't have to worry about anything."
"Interresting." He said.
"My turn." I giggled.
"Uh oh." He said.
"Question One. Who is your oddest crush?" I asked.
"Ellen Degeneres." He said, and I laughed.
"When was the last time you had sex?"
"A month ago. Now who is getting personal?" He asked.
"Hey! I'm asking the questions." I said.
"Sorry." He said.
"Was she good?" I asked.
"Not as good as you." He said. I blushed. He caught me off guard.
"Was I your best?" I asked.
"Oh yeah." He said.
"Really?" I asked.
"Yup. And that is five." He said.
"Damn it!" I said, and he laughed.
"Okay, okay. What is your weirdest fantasy?" I asked.
"Not fair!" He said.
"Just answer it!" I told him.
"Fine. I always wanted to do it in a sauna." He said.
"What?" I asked.
"A sauna. You know a steam room. It's weird I know.
"No weird guy fantasies like cheerleaders, or bondage?" I asked, and he laughed.
"Nope. Just a girl in a sauna." He said. "And that leaves you with one more question.
"Aw man! Let's see...I can't think of anything." I said.
"Oh come on! One more." He said.
"Um....if you could eat anything right now, what would you eat?" I asked. "And don't you dare say me!" I added, and he laughed.
"Take all the fun out of it." He said.
"Just answer it."
"Pizza." He said.
"That sounds good right now!" I told him.
"Tell you what...Tomorrow I'll take you out for pizza." He said.
"Yes!" I said, and he laughed.
We hung out for a while before I got tired and went back to Jack's room. Lander wanted to come with me, and I really wanted him to, but I was smart and didn't let him. Barakah came back a few minutes later and we both went to sleep.
I yawned as I sat up. I could never sleep in when the sun was shining right in my face. I started laughing when I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. My hair looked ridiculous. It was all over the place.
"Shut up, Knadler." Barakah mumbled.
"Knadler?" I asked.
"No sex. It's too early." She said.
I leaned over to look at her. Her eyes were still closed.
"Barakah?" I laughed.
"You kept me up all last night." She said.
I pushed her laughing. "Barakah?"
She jumped and turned over facing me. "What the hell were you dreaming about?" I asked.
"I don't know." She grunted.
"Mr. Knadler maybe?" I asked.
She gave me a strange look. "Oh yeah. I think he was in it." She said, then her eyes got big. "Oh my god. I just had a sex dream about him."
"He's your Dad's partner." I said.
"I know! He's forty-five years old too!" She said.
"And married." I said.
She laughed. "It's not like it means anything."
"Suuuure." I teased.
"It doesn't." She said getting defensive.
"Oh my god. You totally have a thing for Mr. Knadler." I said.
"Shut up." She said. She smiled and stood up. "So, I find him attractive. Who cares."
"I knew it!" I said.
"Wait. How did you know I was dreaming about him?" She asked.
"You were talking in your sleep." I said.
Her cheeks turned red, so I could tell she was embarassed. She picked up her purse giggling and left the room.
"Barakah loved Knadler!" I said out loud.
"SHHH!" She said peaking into the room. "Seriously."
"BARAKAH WANTS TO HAVE KNADLERS BABIES!" I shouted laughing.
"KNADLER BABIES!" I shouted again.
"What the hell are Knadler Babies?" Jack asked, walking in the room. He want to his closet and pulled out a shirt.
"Ask Barakah." I told him, and laughed. He pulled off the shirt he was wearing, and put on the clean one.
"Hello! I'm still in here." I said.
"I know. It's just a shirt." He said. I rolled my eyes and got out of bed. When I walked out Barakah was on the couch talking to Lander.
"Hey, do you mind if Lander gives you a ride home?" She asked.
"No, that's fine." I told her.
"Cool. Jack is giving me a ride to my car." She said.
"Ready?" Lander asked.
"Yeah." I said, and we left.
"I can't believe you still live in the same apartment." He said.
"I like it." I told him.
"Mind if I come in?" He asked.
"Uh, I'd rather not." I told him, recognizing the car that was parked in my space.
"Awww." He said.
"It's a mess. How about another time?" I asked.
"Sure thing. Hey, don't forget to call me later." He said. I just smiled and got out of the car. I waved good bye, then walked to my apartment. I opened the door, and sure enough Ted was on the couch.
"I told you to be out of here by last night." I said. shutting the door.
"Aww, come on! That is now way to talk to your husband." He said.
"You're a jerk. And we're divorced, remember?" I asked.
"Not until I sign the papers." He said, and opened the beer he was holding.
"You are such an asshole! Why did I ever think you were sweet?" I asked.
"Hey, you married me." He said, and took a drink.
"Unfortunatly! That was a huge mistake! And a whim! We were both drunk." I said.
"And so in love." He said, teasing me.
"Shut up! And GET OUT!" I yelled.
"I'm just picking on you. I came by to get my TV." He said.
"It's MY TV!" I yelled.
"Not according to the settlement." He said.
"Just take it!" I told him.
"Oh, and I did sign the papers." He said.
"Good." I said, and folded my arms. He walked over to the TV and unplugged it. He picked it up, carried it over to the door and set it down again.
"Well, I guess this is goodbye." He said.
"I hope so." I told him. He put his arm around me, and I turned away.
"Aw, come on! One last kiss." He said.
"Fuck you." I told him.
"You are such a bitch." He said.
"Just go! Or I'll call the cops." I told him.
"I'm going." He said, and picked up the TV agian. He left, and I locked the door behind him. Ted and I got married about three months before when we took a trip to Vegas. He turned out to be a complete asshole, and it took two months to finaly get rid of him. I hadn't even told Barakah about it. All she knew was he was staying with me for a while. I sighed and walked through my apartment real quick to make sure he had all of his stuff out. It looked like he did.
"Good riddance!" I said, and smiled. It felt good to have him out of there. I went into the bathroom and started a bath.
As soon as I climbed in, there was a knock at the door.
"GO AWAY, TED!" I screamed.
"I thought you would want the extra key!" He said. "Guess I'm still welcome any time! Sounds good to me!"
I threw on a towel and rushed to the front door and opened it. I held my hand out. "For what it's worth, I did love you when we got married." He said.
He put the key in my hand. "Maybe you did." I said.
"I did." He said.
I shrugged my shoulders.
"Guess you never felt the same way as I did." He said. He started to walk away.
"Ted?" I said. He turned around. "Take care of yourself, okay?"
He nodded. I smiled and felt like crying. He just nodded again and walked away. I went back inside and closed the door. I locked it and set the key down on my end table. I layed back onto my couch and stared at the empty space where the TV was on the entertainment center. "Damnit." I said.
I got up and drained the tub. I didn't feel like a bath anymore. I went to my room and climbed in bed. It was kind of weird being by myself. I giggled out loud.
"Knadler Babies." I said. I got up and called Barakah after I put on some pajamas.
"Hello?" She answered.
"Knadler Babies." I said, and she started laughing.
"SHUT UP!" She said.
"Sorry. I'm lonely. Ted finaly moved out." I told her.
"Awwww." She said.
"No, it's good." I told her.
"I know you liked him at one point." She said.
"I did." I told her.
"Why didn't you ever date him?" She asked.
"I don't know. New subject." I said.
"Okay, okay. I'm going out with Jack tonight!" She said.
"Really?" I asked, getting excited.
"YEAH! He finaly asked me out on a date!" She said, almost squeeling.
"That is so cool!" I said.
"I know! I can't wait." She said.
"What are you wearing?" I asked.
"I don't know. I'm at the mall right now." She said.
"I wish my dad was rich." I said, and she laughed.
"Hey! He may be rich, but this is my money I'm using!" She said.
"Money your dad gave you." I said.
"Uh, I worked for it!" She told me.
"Because your dad hired you at the firm. All you do is get coffee and file your nails." I said, and she laughed.
"Hey! At least I have a full time job, Ms. Pick-And-Choose." She said.
"Shut up." I said.
She laughed. "I'm sorry."
"I really need to find a perminant job now." I said.
"My parents are looking for a new maide." She said.
"No." I said.
"Maybe you can be my assistant." She said.
"That would be hell." I said.
"Hey!"
"Barakah. . ."
"Yeah, I know." She said, then laughed. "But hey. You'd make good money. Oh hey! Maybe you can be his other assistant. I'll let you take care of phone calls and coffee."
"And what responsibilities would that leave you with?" I asked.
"Umm. Pretty much nothing." She said.
I just laughed.
"No, but seriously. Let me talk to him. There really are days when he could use two helpers." She said. "And if you're decent with math, there is other stuff you could be doing to help him out."
"Eh."
"Okay then." She said.
"Wait."
She laughed.
"Find out." I said.
"I knew you'd come around." She said.
"Thanks." I said.
"You're welcome." She said.
"Talk to you later."
"Bye."
I hung up the phone.
Barakah's father was demanding and very set in his ways. I could only imagine what a day would be like as his assistant. It was good money though, so I figured I could work there at least long enough to get a nice TV.
"WHAT?" I shouted, walking to my front door. I had just fallen asleep when someone started knocking. "I said I'm COMING!" I opened the door and Lander was standing there.
"Sorry." He said.
"It's okay." I said, and laughed.
"I thought you were someone else." I told him.
"What are you doing here?" I asked.
"I realized I didn't have your phone number." He said. "I wanted to see if you want to hang out."
"I look like hell." I told him.
"Oh, come on. It'll be fun." He said.
"Let me get ready at least." I told him.
"Okay, okay." He said. I let him in, and he sat on the couch.
"You don't have a TV?" He asked.
"Uh, not anymore." I told him.
"What happened?" He asked.
"Long story. There is soda in the fridge. I'll be right back!" I told him, and walked back to my room.
I got dressed and fixed my hair. I felt a little nervous when I stepped back out to the living room.
"Ready?" He asked.
"Yup."
"Where are we going?" I asked as I picked up my purse.
"I don't know." He said. "We can drive down to Sheer Creek if you want. It's a nice view still I hear."
"It is." I said. I looked down at my outfit. "But, let me go change."
"No." He said. "Don't."
I laughed.
"We'll grab something to eat and go back to my place and watch a movie." He said.
"Okay." I said.
"Why are you so nervous all of a sudden?" He asked.
"I don't know. I guess I never thought I'd see you again." I said.
"Well, I guess you were wrong." He said.
"I guess so." I said, and smiled. We decided on Ruby's Pizza House. It was a nicer place, and the food was great. It took a little while for me to loosen up around him, but after two beers it was like old times with him.
"So, what have you been up to Molly Claire?" He asked.
"Don't call me that!" I said.
"It's your middle name." He said.
"Fine Lander Stanley." I said, and he laughed.
"Okay, okay. I'll drop your middle name." He said.
"Not much. Just working odd jobs here and there." I told him.
"I thought you wanted to teach?" He asked. I just shrugged.
"Okay, enough with the lame questions." He said.
"So where were you all this time?" I asked him.
"I was in Maine." He said.
"Maine?" I asked.
"Yeah, I'm not sure how I ended up there either." He said.
"Come on, you are Jersey boy." I said, and he laughed.
"Yeah, yeah." He said. We hung out for a while before we drove to blockbuster to rent a movie.
"My ex got pretty much everything, including the movies." He said when we got there.
"Sorry." I said.
"I'll survive." He said. We looked through every section of movies. We each decided on When Harry Met Sally and Carry.
He payed for the movies and we went back to his place. Had had a small condo. The complex was really nice. He unlocked the door and let me in. A big dog came running up to me and jumped on me practically knocking me over.
"Kujo! Down!" He shouted.
The dog jumped down. He fed him and we got comfy on the couch. He turned on Carry.
"This movie used to freak me out when I was little." I said.
"Me too." He said.
"Really?" I asked.
"Yeah, but don't tell anyone. I have a manly reputation to protect." He said.
"This from the man who sings Cher for karaoke?" I asked.
"HEY! That was once, and I made five bucks that night." He said, and I luaghed.
"Shhhh. It's starting." I said.
"Poor Carrie." He said, and I hit him.
"SHHHHH!"
"Sorry." He whispered. I just reached over him and grabbed the remete. I turned up the volume and he was finaly quiet.
Towards the end of the movie, we were both really into it! The music picked up, and suddenly Kujo started barking! We both jumped, and Lander let out a "FUCK!".
I started laughing so hard.
"You were so scared!" I said.
"Was not." He said.
"You screamed." I told him.
"That was a very manly scream." He said, and I laughed more.
"Right. A 'manly' scream." I said, and rolled my eyes.
"Do you have time to stay and watch the other movie?" He asked.
"Mind saving it for tomorrow night?" I asked.
"You mean we get to hang out alone two nights in a row?" He asked.
I laughed. "Is that not okay?"
"No. It'll be fun." He smiled.
"Good."
"Let me get you home." He said standing up.
"Okay."
"Do I have to take you home?" He asked.
"I guess I can take a cab." I told him. He laughed.
"I meant, do you have to go home tonight." He asked. I looked at his blue eyes, and wanted to stay.
"Yeah, I do." I told him. He sighed.
"Okay. I guess I can take you home then."
"Good." I said, and picked up my purse.
He dropped me off, and I walked into my now empty apartment.
"I need a roomate." I said, and dropped my purse onto the entertainment stand where my TV used to be. "And a new TV."
My phone rang. It was Barakah.
"Hey Baraka-kah." I answered.
"Shut up!" She laughed.
"Whats up?" I asked her. "My dad doesn't need another assistant, but Mr. Knadler does." She said. I giggled.
"What?" She asked.
"Knadler Babies." I said.
"SHUT UP!" She shouted.
"I'm kidding. When can I start?" I asked.
"Monday." She said. "8:00. I'll pick you up at 7:30."
"Okay, awesome!" I said.
"So, what are you doing tomorrow night?" She asked.
"Hanging out with Lander. Again." I told her.
"Oooooo!" She said.
"Hush! How was your date with Jack?" I asked.
"It was okay. . ." She said.
"Just okay?" I asked.
"He has weird manners." She giggled.
"Like what?"
"Like his elbows are ALWAYS on the table and he burps and doesn't even say excuse me. It's like he doesn't even think about it not being polite. It's embarassing." She said.
I laughed. "I'd let the elbows thing slide, cause lot's of people do that. But the burping. . . I'd say something."
"Is he worth it?" She asked.
"Yes. He is." I said.
"Okay. I'll say something."
"Good."
"We're not too different?"
"Barakah."
"I'll shut up." She said.
"Good." I said.
"Goodnight."
"Night." I said. I hung up the phone. I felt so lonely. I was so desperate, I couldn't beleive what I was about to do. I picked up my phone and scrolled to Ted's cell. I felt a nervous tickle in my stomch as it dialed.
"Hello?" He asked after a few rings.
"Hey. It's me."
"Hey. It's late." He said. I heard him yawn. "Did I leave something at the apartment?"
"No."
He laughed. "Okay."
"I'm lonely."
"Sorry."
"I guess I could just use someone to talk to." I said.
"You kick me out. You force me to divorce you without counceling. Now you're calling me, because you're lonely." He said.
"I'm pretty pathetic, aren't I?" I said.
"No. You're just confused." He said.
"Counceling wouldn't have made us fall for eachother again." I said.
"Alright. I'm not in the mood to be talking about this. It's over. The papers are sent. We no longer need to keep in touch." He said.
"Oh okay." I said. I hung up the phone and felt like crying. He called back a few minutes later, but I just let it ring.
When the phone rang again, I answered it.
"What?" I asked.
"I'm sorry. That was mean. I know we made a mistake, but I think it would have worked out if we had waited a little longer before getting married. I guess I'm just hurt you wouldn't even give it a shot." He said.
"I tried Ted. But we are too different poeple. Besides, you thought that stupid boob girl from that party was better then me." I said.
"Okay, stupid boob girl was a mistake. And nothing happened." He said.
"Because I caught you in the bedroom before anyhing did!" I said, getting worked up.
"Did you call to argue about this?" He asked.
"No." I said. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have called." I told him.
"You never even told ANYONE we were married." He said.
"Because it was a mistake." I told him.
"Was it? You seemed pretty happy until the next day." He said.
"I should go." I said. He let out a sigh.
"You made me sleep in the other room for crying out loud." He said.
"I'm sorry. I don't know what I was afraid of." I told him.
"Uh, commitment for one." He said.
"I'm not afraid of commitment. I just didn't love you!" I shouted, and instantly regretted it.
"You know what, fine. Forget it. Bye." He said, and hung up. I threw my phone on the floor and started crying. I was mad at him, but I was even more mad at myself. He was right, I had been a jerk too. But it was over, and I still like that was the right think. I was still lonely though. I started thinking back to when Ted and I first started hanging out, and felt even more sad.
I went to bed early that night, and got up the next morning to go running. I felt a lot better, but still not great. When I got home I started going through my clothes looking for something to wear to my new job the next morning.
I picked out my favorite black fitted skirt and tried on a few different tops with it. I decided to go with my green button up blouse. I layed it out on my comfy chair that was in the corner of my room. I took a long shower, then relaxed on the couch while I ate some chips. I got bored after a while, so I grabbed my laptop to check my emails. When I was done with that, I searched through a few of my favorite websites. I went to hotornot.com and it entertained me for hours. I couldn't stop laughing at some of the weird people on there. I started to feel bad for them though eventually and gave the uglies high votes.
My phone rang at about 5:00.
"Ello!" I answered.
"Hey, who wants to hang out?" Lander asked.
"Oh! ME! PICK ME!" I shouted. He just laughed.
"Ummmm....I pick...."
"ME ME!!!"
"Ummmmmm....."
"OH! OH! ME ME ME!"
"Molly!" He shouted.
"YES! SWEET!" I answered, and he laughed.
"Come and get me. I'm so BORED!" I said.
"I'm already here Chica." He said. I giggled.
"Okay, I'm on my way out then." I said, and hung up my phone. I grabbed my puse and practicaly ran out to his car. I hopped in, and turned the radio down.
"Loud enough?" I asked, and he laughed.
"I'll blast Offspring if I want." He said, and I rolled my eyes.
"So, Movie?" He asked.
"How about ANYTHING but sitting around. It's all I've been doing today!" I told him.
"Okay, sex it is." He said, and I smacked his leg.
"OUCH! Okay, okay!" He said, rubbing his leg.
"Lets go shoot some pool, or go bowling. ANYTHING." I said.
"Let's go stripping." He said, and I hit him again.
"Okay! Lazer tag?" He asked.
"OH! YES!" I shouted.
"Now that is more like it!" He said, and I slugged him in the shoulder. He just laughed and backed out of the space.
He drove us to LaserQuest, which was a huge place. We stood in line for about a half hour before we got inside. We were assigned teams and we were put on opposite teams.
"You're goin' down, red." He said.
"You're going down, blue." I laughed.
"Okay, red team." The coorinater said. "Go in."
"Look at that." I laughed. I ran in with the other people on the red team. I found a good place to hide while I waited for the blue team to come running in. A very loud buzzer went off and weird lights were flashing everywhere. I peaked up and saw the big group of people running in. I spotted Lander and couldn't stop laughing. He found me right away and grabbed me. He just held me there while he continously shot me. "Holy shit! I got you 50 times!" He said laughing really hard. I pushed him into the wall and went running.
I waited until he was in a corner, and jumped behind him. I was shooting him so much, he never had a chance to shoot me back.
"CHEATER!" He shouted.
"Sore LOSER!" I shouted, and took off running. I hid behind a giant boulder to catch my breath. I watched him run by, then shot him in the back, and took off running. I jumped in a little shelter and hid.
"GOT YOU!" He shouted, and jumped in with me. He held me down and kept shooting me.
"STOP!" I shouted, laughing. He had me pinned on the ground by half sitting on me.
"I GIVE! You win!" I said, and got off of me. "You suck."
"No, I RULE!" He shouted, and I shot him in the chest. He just laughed at me.
"What?" I asked.
"Nothing." He said.
"WHAT?" I shouted.
"NOTHING." He said again.
"LANDER!" I demanded.
He leaned over and kissed me. He stopped, and looked into my eyes.
"I just wanted a kiss." He sai. My heart was racing. Then he shot me in the chest, and took off running.
"LANDER!!!!!!" I shouted, and ran after him. I looked around, but couldn't find him.
The louder buzzer went off again and an announcer told everyone to clear out. I made my way out the door and Lander was sitting on a chair waiting for me. I turned in my equipment and sat down next to him.
"Now that was fun." He said.
"Just what I needed." I said smiling.
He laughed.
"I start my new job tomorrow." I said.
"Oh cool."
"Yeah. I'm a little nervous." I said.
"You'll do fine." He said puting his arm around me. "Want to grab some smoothies on the way home?"
"Sure."
"Alright." He said. He stood up. "Should we save the other movie for Saturday?"
"Probably a good idea." I said.
"I don't want to keep you up late if you work tomorrow." He said smiling.
I just nodded. We left and he stopped at TCBY to get smoothies. We sat inside while we drank them, then he took me home. There was an awkward silence once he parked.
I laughed. "Would you like to come up?" I asked.
"Uh." He said scratching his head.
"You don't have to." I said.
"It's not that I don't want to, but I can tell you're trying to avoid us getting close." He said.
I nodded.
"I'm sorry I kissed you." He said.
I got out of the car, then leaned down to look at him.
"That was the best part of the night." I said smiling.
He smiled back. I closed the door and went back up to my apartment.
It was still early, but I went to bed anyway. I kept thinking about Lander. I got up and picked out a book to read from my bookshelf. I layed back down, and fell asleep soon after I started reading. The next morning my alarm went off. I yawned, and forced myself to get out of bed. I hated getting up early! I took a shower, and got ready. Then I went to the kitchen to eat something for breakfast. I was lacking food though. All I had were chips and some yogurt. I laughed and called Barakah.
"Morning." She answered.
"Do we have time to stop at the gas station? I'm hungry and I could use some coffee." I told her.
"EWWW NO!" She shouted. "We'll hit Starbucks on our way. I'll leave early so we have time. See you in a few!" She said, and hung up. I just laughed, and walked to the living room. I was going to watch TV, but then I remembered it was gone.
"Idiot." I said to myself, and giggled.
After a while, I heard honking. Then my cell phone rang. I saw that it was Barakah, so I rushed out the door and into her car.
"So I get to assist the fox." I said.
"Shut up!" She laughed.
"I'm teasing."
"If he ever put a move on you, what would you do?" I asked her.
She smiled. "Flirt back."
"Barakah!"
She giggled. "You asked."
We pulled into Starbucks and ran in.
"We are going to make it right on time!" She said. "Go ahead and order. I need to call my dad to see what he wants."
"Oh, uh, okay." I said. "I'll have a Venti Mocha with soy, no whip." I told the guy behind the counter. "OH! And a Muffin!"
"Is that all?" He asked.
"No. Two Grande cappuchinos with a double shot of espresso, and a Venti Chai Latte." She said.
"Okay, that it?" He asked.
"No..Uh...Two plaine bagels with cream cheese, and a vanilla cookie." She said. "Thats it." He rung everything up, and Barakah paid for it.
"You didn't have to do that!" I told her.
"Expense account!" She said, holding up a card. I just laughed. When everything was ready, we gathered it all up and drove to her Dad's office. It was in a real nice business complex.
"Made it on time!" Barakah said. I helped her get everything inside. We walked through the door that said Fahdr, Knadler & Associates. There was a small lobby and a receptionist in the front.
"Morning Barakah." the receptionist greated.
"Morning Mary." She said. We walked down a short hallway, past fancy doors with peoples names on them. She walked through the one that said Siaed Fadhr.
There was a desk inside with her name on it. She set down her coffee and cookie, then took the her dad's coffee and bagel to a small door that led to a small office with her fathers desk.
"Papa!" She said, and handed him is coffee and bagel.
"Barakah, what did I say about you calling me Papa at work?" He asked. He still had his middle eastern accent.
"Sorry." She said.
"Ah, Molly." He said, and stood up. He hugged me.
"Mr. Knadler is in his office. We welcome you to our company." He said.
"Thank you Sir." I told him. He smiled. Barakah walked out and I followed her. The next office was Mr. Knadler's. My desk was set up outside his office, just like Barakah's. I set my coffee down, then followed Barakah into his office. She looked nervous. I had to try really hard not to laugh!
"Ahem. Mr. Knadler?" She asked. He was on the phone, and looking out his window. He held up his index finger. We waited until he finished his call.
"Hello Barakah. And Molly. I havn't seen you since you used to come in with Barakah when she was younger." He said.
"Good morning Mr. Knadler." I said.
"Jim. Call me jim. I'll show you around your desk." He said. He took his coffee and bagel from me, and set it down on his desk. Barakah, said good bye, and left. Jim placed his hand on my lower back and lead me out of the office. I was a little uncomfortable, but let it go.
"Here you are." He said pointing to my desk.
I sat down. He leaned over me and his arm brushed against my breast. I leaned back in my chair. He turned on the computer. "So, how have you been?" He asked.
"Good." I said. I tried not to laugh when I thought of Barakah's little crush on him.
He opened a few programs when the computer was done loading. "How well do you type?" He asked.
"Pretty good." I said.
"Every so often I'll need you to listen to tapes of me interviewing claimants and type it up as you listen." He said.
"Okay."
"I'll have Athena take care of those today. We'll start you on a fresh one tomorrow. Athena is one of our temps." He explained.
His cologne smelled so good. For a second, the smell of his cologne was all I could focus on.
"Let me show you our filing system." He said.
When he bent over to pick up a paper clip on the floor, I couldn't help but look at his butt. I blushed when he looked up and caught me. I smiled, and continued explaining the filing system. When he was done he went into hif office. I just giggled and sat down at my desk. I went through and set everything up how I wanted it, then got to work. About two hours later I was done with everything. I got up and knocked on the side of Jim's door, since it was open.
"Ah, yes Molly?" He asked.
"Is there anything else I can do?" I asked.
"You're done already?" He asked.
"Yes." I said.
"Wow. I guess I'll have Mary start transferring my calls to you." He said. I'll have her show you the phone and intercom system." He said.
"There are only a few guidlines. Basicaly, just take messages and foward any important calls." He said.
"What is an important call?" I asked.
"My wife, my mother, and any claiments that call crying." He said.
"Okay." I told him.
"Any appointment changes, you can change in my callender in the computer. Some of my stuff is marked private. If you need to schedule something during those times, ask me first." He said.
"Okay." I told him.
"I'll go get Mary." He said, and walked by me, brushing agianst me as he passed.
"Whoa." I whispered when he walked by.
"HEY!" Barakah said, and walked in the office.
"Hey." I said.
"How's it going?" She asked.
"Good. I'm out of work." I told her.
"What? How?" She asked.
"I did it all." I told her.
"No way! I'm like three days behind!" She said. I laughed.
"Well, if you worked a little more and filed your nails a little less..." I said.
"Shut up! So, what is it like working with Mr. Knadler?" She asked.
"He's a little handsy." I told her.
"What?" She gasped. "No way!"
"Yes way." I told her.
"I'm jealous." She said.
"Don't be. It's a little wierd." I told her.
Just then Jim came back with Mary, the receptionist.
"Hi." Barakah said to Jim giggling.
"Good Afternoon." He said to her.
She curtsied, then left the room really fast. I tried so hard not to laugh. Mary had the strangest look of confusion on her face. I bursted into laughter. I couldn't hold it in.
"I'm sorry." I said clearing my throat.
Mary showed me how to handle all types of phone calls. It took about an hour. I took a break after that. I walked to Barakah's desk and started laughing so hard!
"I curtsied, Molly." She said. She looked so embarassed. "I'm an idiot."
I couldn't stop laughing. After a few seconds, she started laughing really hard too.
"Want to go to lunch?" She asked.
"Yeah, sure." I told her. "Let me grab my purse, I'll meet you outside."
"Okay." She said, still laughing. I walked to my desk and got my purse.
"Oh, Molly?" I heard Jim say.
"Yes?" I asked, and leaned into his office.
"Can you come here for a second?" He asked. He was looking out his window.
"Yeah." I said, and walked over to him.
"Do you see that?" He asked, and pointed at something out the window.
"What?" I asked, squinting.
"This." He said, and kissed the corner of my mouth.
"Excuse me?" I asked.
"I've wanted to taste your lips all day." He said.
"Uh, Mr. Knadler-"
"Shhh." He said, and kissed my lips full on. He bit my bottom lip, and put his hand on my lower back, scooting me closer. I couldn't stop him at first. It's like his hands were in all the right places. I started to kiss him back, then quickly pushed him away.
"Mr. Knadler you're my boss." I said, standing up straight, and fixing my skirt.
"Jim." He said.
"Jim, you're my MARRIED boss!" I told him.
"My wife and I have an open marriage." He said.
"A what?" I asked.
"An open marriage." He said.
"I gotta go." I told him, and started to leave.
"Whoa! I'm sorry. I guess I miss read your signals." He said.
"Yeah, you did!" I said.
"Just, come back after lunch. It'll be like nothing ever happened, I promise." he said.
"I don't know-"
"Please? You're a good worker. I'm an idiot. Sorry." He said.
"Okay." I said.
"Thanks." He said. I ran out of the office, and died laughing when I got out the front door.
"What?" Barakah asked when I climbed in the car.
"Uh...I'm not sure." I said.
"Okay, weirdo. Where to for lunch?" She asked.
"Afair Avenue perhaps?" I said.
"What?" She asked giving me a weird look.
"I heard it was awesome, scary, spontanious and beneficial." I said.
"What in gods name are you talking about?" She asked.
I started laughing.
"Molly, what the fuck. Fill me in." She said.
"I can't."
"You're weird." She said.
"Jack In The Box." I said.
"Gross. Do you even know me but at all?" She asked.
"Sizzler?"
"Yeah." She said excited.
When we got back from lunch, Jim wasn't even there. He had meetings the rest of the afternoon. He didn't have very many phone calls, and all the other work was done, so I spent the rest of my day playing solitare and talking to Barakah. When it was 5:00, I was glad to go home! Barakah had some dinner thing with her family, so she just dropped me off at my apartment. I just got inside when my phone rang.
"Hello?" I answered.
"Hey, how was your first day?" It was Lander.
"Uh...interesting." I said, and giggled.
"But good?" He asked.
"Yeah." I said.
"Awesome. How about we celebrate?" He asked.
"Sure." I said. I kept giggling when I thought of Jim.
"Okay." He said. "I'll bring over When Harry Met Sally." He said.
"Sounds good." I said.
I changed into comfortable clothes and lit a few candles. I picked up a few things. "Damnit!" I said laughing at myself. "He can bring the movie all he wants, but I don't have a tv." I picked up my phone and called him back.
"I'm almost there." He said.
"Yeah. Problem." I said lauging.
"What's that?"
"I don't have a TV."
"Oh shit." He said. "I forgot. Let me go pick one up for you."
"What? No. That's silly." I said.
"It's okay." He said. "I'll go to the pawn shop on Milburne."
"You don't have to."
"I want to." He said.
I sighed.
"Be there in a few." He said. He hung up.
There was a knock on my door a little while later. I got up to answer it.
"About TIME!" I shouted giggling. When I opened the door, Ted was standing there.
"What are you doing here?" I asked.
"Expecting someone?" He asked.
"Uh, yeah, actualy." I said.
"I wont be long. I felt bad about taking so much of the stuff. Some of it is really yours. Like the TV. I was just mad when I took it." He said.
"It's okay." I told him, hoping Lander didn't show up right then.
"No, it's not. I'll set it back up for you." He said. He leaned down and picked up the TV, then came in.
"I can set it up!" I said.
"You suck with electronics." He said.
"I just have to plug it in!" I said.
"And hook up the cable, vcr, and DVD player." He said.
"I can do it!" I said.
"Don't be silly. I'm arlready here." He said.
"TED!" I shouted. He looked up. Just then Lander came in the open door holding a TV. I sighed and shook my head.
"Lander, Ted. Ted, Lander." I said.
"Hi." They both said, looking really confused.
"Guess I have two TV's now." I laughed.
Neither of them laughed. They both set down the TV's.
"Nice to meet you." Lander said holding out his hand.
Ted took a few steps forward and shook his hand. Ted just nodded.
"Ted's my husband." I said. "I mean my ex husband."
"Your what?" Lander asked laughing.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you." I said to him.
"It's okay." He said.
"Which one do you want on your entertainment center?" Ted asked.
"That one." I said pointing to my old one. He nodded. He picked it up and set it down where it belongs. "We can set the other one up in your bedroom." Ted said.
Lander helped him hook everything up while I got them each a cup of water. Lander moved the other TV into my bedroom and they hooked that one up. I was so embarassed.
"Done." Lander said. They both walked back into the living room. We all got quiet. I sighed and sat down on the couch. "I forgot the movie." Lander said. "Wanna watch it tomorrow night instead?"
"Are you sure?" I asked.
"Yeah. See you tomorrow. Nice to meet you." He said to Ted.
He walked out of the apartment. "Sorry about this." I said.
He sat down next to me and shrugged. "You dating him?" He asked.
"No. Just friends." I said.
"I see. Well I should head out." He said standing up.
"Stay." I said.
"Huh?"
"It's lonely as hell with no one here. Lander was kind of my remedy for that." I told him.
"Sorry." He said. "Wait, no I'm not." He added, and I smiled.
"Well, I guess we can watch TV now." I said.
"I'll get the pizza rolls!" He shouted. I laughed.
"I don't have any!" I said.
"What? No P-rolls?" he asked.
"I need to go shoppinb!" I giggled.
"Fine. How about we order Pizza?" He asked.
"Sure." I said, and grabbed a flier off the fridge.
"I'll call." He said.
I smiled and handed him the flier. I turned on the TV and there was a knock at the door. I got up and heard Ted ordering the pizza. I smiled and walked over to the door. I looked out the peephole. It was Barakah. I laughed and opened the door. She came running in. "You kissed Knadler!" She said laughing. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"What?" I asked gesturing her to look into the kitchen. She looked over and saw Ted. Her eyes got big. "What the hell is he doing here?" She whispered.
"Who told you I kissed Knadler?" I whispered back.
"You. You just did." She said. She looked hurt suddenly.
"Barakah, he kissed me." I told her.
She got in my face. "He's mine, Molly. Mine." She said and stormed out of the apartment.
"Fuck." I said.
"What was that all about?" Ted asked walking back into the living room.
"My boss tried to kiss me." I told him. "She likes him and it made her jelous aparently. Which I don't get it. He's clearly a pig. He's married even!"
"She'll get over it." He said.
I sighed. "Yeah."
"What a weird couple of days this has been." I said.
"Sorry babe." He said.
"It's okay." I said, and sat down on the couch. My phone rang. It was Barakah.
"I better get this." I said. I went to my room to answer the phone.
"Hello." I said.
"I can't believe you did that." She said, sounding hurt.
"I can't believe you are acting this way. He's a jerk. He came onto me with any provocation." I told her.
"Why didn't you tell you me?" She asked.
"Because I knew you'd act like this. Besides, I don't think it'll happen again. If it does, I'll report him." I told her.
"How could you? That is my dad's PARTNER!" She shouted.
"Barakah? What is with you?" I asked. She just hung up the phone.
"Oh, you stupid woman!" I said out loud, and dropped my phone on the bed. I walked back out and sat next to Ted.
"Everything okay?" He asked.
"I don't know. She's being weird about it." I told her.
"She'll get over it." He said.
"She better." I told him.
"Anyway, no more talking about some other guy trying to kiss you." He said.
"What, Jealous?" I asked.
"Uh, yeah. I used to be able to kiss those lips." He said. I rolled my eyes and he laughed.
"Is that one ghost show on Sci-Fi?" I asked him.
"Let's find out." He said, and changed the channel.
I got up to get us some water.
"I felt the presence of the little boy." I heard an older women say on the tv.
"This stuff creeps me out." I said.
Ted laughed.
I came back and set our drinks down on the coffee table.
"The reenactments are so stupid." I said.
"Yet they still scare you." He laughed.
"Shut up."
We got quiet as a new show started about five people who were about to spend a night in a haunted castle.
"Creepy. I would never stay there!" I said.
"What the hell was that?" I shouted, pointing at the screen.
"What?" He asked.
"That shadow! It just went across the camera. LOOK! They are showing it again!" I told him.
"Holy shit!" He said.
"That is so freaky." I told him. A few minutes later the pizza came.
"Alright, wings, and a mushroom pizza!" He said.
"EWWW! I hate musrhooms!" I told him. He laughed.
"I know, I'm kidding. Pinapple and peperoni." He said.
"Sweet! You remember." I told him.
"Of course." He said, and put two slices on a plate for himself. When we were done getting our food, we went back to the living room to watch more of the show.
I only took a few bites of my pizza, because the show was creeping me out. It made me forget I was even hungry. After a while, I got a comforter out of the linen closet and put it over me. Ted scooted closer to me and pulled it over him too. I started to fall asleep, so he turned off the tv and we layed down. It was weird, but I was comfortable in his arms again.
I woke up the next morning in my bed. I was confused because the last thing I remembered was laying on the couch with Ted. I got up, and walked out to the living room. Ted was curled up on the couch asleep under the comforter. I turned around to go back to bed, and ran into the wall.
"Ow!" I said, and rubbed my elbow.
"Are you okay?" Ted asked, yawning.
"Yeah. Sorry." I told him.
"No problem. I should get going anyway." He said. "I have work in an hour. I have just enough time to go home and change." He said.
"Oh shit! I have work today too!" I shouted. Ted just laughed.
"Well, I'll see you later." He said, and hugged me. He left, and I rushed back to my room to get ready. It hit 7:30, and there was no sign of Barakah.
"Damn it." I said. I called her cell phone.
"Hello." She answered.
"Are you still mad at me?" I asked.
"Yes." She said.
"Barakah! I didn't do anything!" I told her.
"Well, you can get your own ride to work." She said.
"What? Are you kidding me?" I asked.
"Nope." She said.
"You are being rediculous." I told her.
"I am not." She said, and hung up.
"Shit." I said. I knew I was going to have to take the bus. I HATED taking the bus. I sighed. I couldn't figure out what was bugging Barakah. I found my purse and ran out to the bus stop before I missed it and had to wait for the next one. I got to the bus stop just in time, and got on. I showed the driver my bus pass, and found an empty seat in the back.
It took forever to get to work! I rushed to my desk. I ignored Barakah as I passed her desk. I sat down and threw my things under my desk. I logged into the computer and Jim walked in. He looked at his watch, then looked at me.
"Wow." He said. "Right on time."
"Thank god." I said. "I had to take the bus."
He gave me a strange look. "We need you to file today." He said. "We had a lot of cases dismissed and we're ready to file them away."
"Okay."
"I'll have Barakah show you where they go." He said.
I just smiled. He left the office and came back with Barakah. She looked mad. She didn't even say anything to me. I just followed her to where the isles of files were. Jim brought in a stack of files and set them down on a small table. Barakah showed me a few things and left. It was hot in the file room and it put me in a really bad mood. "What a shitty morning." I said.
The more I thought about it, the angrier I got. After about an hour and a half I had enough, and got up and marched to Barakah's desk. She gave me a dirty look, and I slammed my hands on her desk.
"Look. You have NO right to be mad at me. You aren't treating me like a friend. If you really want to end our friendship over this, that is sad and pathetic. I didn't do anything wrong, and if you can't accept that, then the least you can do is be civil a work!" I shouted and stormed off back to filing. I let out a sigh. It felt good to say that. A few minutes went by and Barakah walked into the room.
"Sorry." She said.
"I'd feel better about it if you told me what was going on." I said.
"It's stupid." She said. "You wouldn't understand."
"Try me."
"I like him." She said. "A lot. As much as I shouldn't, I can't help it."
"He's married."
"I know. It's stupid." She said. She sat down on a step stool. "I know I can't have him and I don't plan on having him. It's just a stupid crush."
"Has he ever put moves on you?" I asked.
"No."
"Oh."
She stood up. "Which is why I was jelous. Not to sound rude or concieted, but I'm use to being the girl the guys go for." She said.
"Barakah, any guy that doesn't like you is just plain stupid." I said.
"Maybe it's because my Dad is his partner." She said. "That's gotta be it."
I got very annoyed at that moment. "Barakah, not every guy is going to find you attractive." I said.
"Excuse me?" She said looking at me.
"It's true."
"No, it's not true. You're just jelous that I get more action." She said, then stormed out of the room.
I felt like yelling a million things to her, but I bit my lip. I was so upset. I went to Jim and asked if I could leave early. I told him I didn't feel well. He told me to go ahead and go home and that Barakah could cover for me. I grabbed my things and went right home.
I layed down on the couch on my stomach and burried my head in my hands. Barakah was my only real friend, and I couldn't understand why she was being so dumb! I called Lander, and was glad he answered.
"Hey." I said.
"Hey, what's up?" He asked.
"BARAKAH!" I shouted.
"Whoa. What happened?" He asked. I explained everything to him.
"I don't get it! She is attractive, but a lot of guys like her because she is foreign." I told him.
"True. But I bet she feels bad for reacting like she did to you. You know she has always had a firey temper. And she is a bit spoiled." He said.
"I know. I'm tired of always being the big person with this stuff though." I told him.
"I think she'll come around." He said.
"I hope so." I told him.
"So, I have a question." He said.
"Why didn't I tell you I was married, and divorced?" I asked.
"Yeah. That one." He said.
"Well, it was a mistake. We cared about each other, but we only dated for two months. And I don't think we really loved each other. I don't know. I never even told Barakah." I told him.
"What? Did anyone know?" He asked.
"No. Not even my family." I said.
"What?" He asked.
"I can't tell my dad because he would want to beat Ted up. And I can't tell my mom because she would say all men are dogs." I told him, and he laughed.
"So, do you guys still like...see each other?" He asked.
"We don't have sex if that is what you are asking. Last night was the first time we really hung out since the divorce." I told him.
"How long have you been divorced?" He asked.
"Two days." I told him, and he laughed again.
"Wow." He said.
"I know. I guess I'm kind of crazy." I told him.
"Nah, you aren't." He said.
"I feel so bad that I didn't tell you right away." I said.
"It's okay." He said. "It's not like I'm your boyfriend. I'm just the guy that use to be around and suddenly appeared back in your life."
"Yeah." I giggled.
"So you and Ted are just friends right?" He asked.
"Yes. And from what I heard last, you are too." I said.
"About that."
"Yes?"
"Lately I've been feeling that way. At first I thought it would be cool if we tried dating, but now I'm not sure." He said.
"Oh."
"Things are complicated right now." He said.
"I know."
"I think we should wait it out and just see what happens." He said.
"Sounds good to me." I said.
"You sure?"
"Yeah. I'm sure."
"Cool. What do you say we go play a round of golf?" He asked.
I laughed. "Me? Golf?"
"Yeah."
"Uh no. . ." I said laughing.
"Come on, it's a lot easier then it looks." He said.
"That's okay, really." I said.
"I'll show you. Please? Just one time, if you hate it you never have to go again." He said.
"Fine." I sighed.
"Okay. I'm on my way." He said.
"What, now?" I asked.
"Yeah." He said.
"NO!" I laughed.
"Too late." He said, and hung up.
"Shit!" I said, and ran to change. I had no idea what to even wear! I put on a pair of kaki shorts and a pink polo-shirt, hoping that was okay.
He got was knocking on my door within five minutes.
"Geez." I said opening the door.
"What?"
I looked up and started laughing. It was the owner of the apartment building, Dick Schroder.
"Oh I'm sorry. I thought you were someone else." I said.
"I have bad news." He said. "Well, good for some. Bad for others."
"Okay. . ."
"Every building on this block will be history by the end of August." He said. "The city is puting in a new L-Train and the tracks will be right here where we're standing."
"What? Oh my god." I said.
"That only gives me a little over a month to find a place." I said.
"I know, I'm sorry." He said.
"How can they do it so soon?" I asked.
"I don't know. But the city will pay for your rent at a new place, for the remainder of the Lease you had here." He said.
"That doesn't help me find a place." I told him.
"I know. I'm sorry. I have a bunch of listings, and can help you find a good deal. I'm already working with a few other tenants." he said.
"I'll be fine." I told him. He said goodbye, and I shut the door.
"No what." I sighed. I couldn't stay with Barakah. She was mad at me. I knew we'd work it out, but if she got mad over such a dumb thing, living with her would be impossible. Ted was out of the question. Lander didn't seem like a good option either.
"Damn it!" I said to myself, and fell back on the couch. I really didn't want to live by myself anymore either. I decided to start calling people and asking if they knew anyone looking for a roomate. I took a deep breath and decided to call Barakah first.
"What?" She answered.
"Grow up!" I said. She started to say something, but I cut her off.
"I'm getting kicked out of my apartment the end of August." I told her.
"What?" She asked, sounding like she completly forgot about or argument. I explained what was going on.
"You can live with me." She said.
"Is that really a good idea?" I asked her, and she laughed.
"No, probably not. But if you can't find something by the end of August you can stay with me until you do find a place." She said.
"Thanks. I'm sorry about earlier-" I started to say.
"Shoosh. I was being a bitch." She told me, and I giggled.
"Yeah you were." I said.
"I asked him out to dinner." She said. "And he accepted."
"Barakah!"
"Don't give me shit for it." She said.
"He's married."
"I don't care." She said. "It might not evolve to more than friends anyway."
"He's a pig. Of course he will take it further." I said.
"He's not a pig."
"Okay, Barakah."
"Ho's over Bro's." She said.
"It sure doesn't seem like you're living up to that." I said.
"I am. Promise." She said. "Scouts honor."
"God, you're a dork." I said.
She laughed. "And so are you."
"Well, I'm going to get online and see if I can find someone looking for a roommate." I said.
"Good luck." She said. "Bye."
I went to go online, when Lander knocked on the door. I forgot he wanted to go golfing! I sighed and answered the door.
"Hey, what's shakin' chica?" He said.
"Ugh. I'll tell you what's shakin." I said, and told him what was going on, after we sat down on the couch.
"No, I don't know anyone looking for a roomate. You can stay with me. My sister is moving out of our place in two weeks." He said.
"No." I told him.
"Why not?" He asked.
"That would be too weird." I told him.
"No, it wouldn't. You are moving in with me." He said. I started to argue, but he stopped me.
"If it doesn't work out, i'll help you find a new place." He said.
"Promise?" I asked.
"Yes." He said.
"Fine." I sighed, and he laughed.
"Good. I'll help you move-in in two weeks!" He said, sounding excited. I just laughed.
"So. Golf time." He said, and stood up.
"Is this nice enough to wear?" I asked. I looked at him. He was in plaid shorts, and a light blue polo shirt. He looked kind of silly. He looked good, I just wasn't used to seeing him that way.
"Yes, you look cute." He said. We got in his car and drove to the place. When we were almost there, he made me close my eyes.
"Why am I closing my eyes?" I asked him.
"Because, I don't want you to know where we are going." He said.
"What are you talking about?" I asked.
"It's my secret course." He said.
"Okay, whatever." I told him. A few minutes later, he parked.
"Okay, here we are." He said. I opened my eyes. We were at a mini-golf place!
"You DORK!" I said, and started laughing.
"What? You didn't think I meant real golf did you? I'm too goofy for that." He said.
"No shit!" I told him, and hit his arm. He just laughed at me.
"I can't beleive what a dork you are." I said.
He laughed and put his arm around me. We walked into the place and got all day passes, so we could go on any of the rides as well. We decided to go on the bumper cars before we golfed.
"I get the red one!" He shouted with excitement as he went running for it. A little boy hopped in before him. He gave me a sad look and it made me laugh.
He sighed. "I guess blue works. . ." He said. He walked over to the blue one and sat down.
I climbed into the purple one and we all waited for the bell letting us know we could go.
It rang and I took off! Lander tried to come after me, but the kid in the red car hit him, and spun him into another car.
"HEY!" I heard him shout, and I laughed. The kid drove by me, and high fived me. I teamed up with him, and we went around getting people together. It was so funny! Lander snuck up behind me, and hit me, knocking me into the kid, and getting us both stuck in a cluster of cars.
"Oh, I'm getting you for that one!" I shouted, and Lander took off. It took a second for the cluster of cars to break up, and allow me to go after Lander.
I went around a few cars and was able to run into Lander. He just laughed. "You're so cute when you get angry!" He shouted to me.
I blushed. "Shut up." I said.
We both started laughing. "Dumb head, dumb head!" A boy said to Lander sticking his tongue out.
Lander laughed and went after him. My arms were hurting, so I drove to the side until it was time to get out.
"You gave up." He said as he helped me climb out.
"I creamed you." I said.
"You should move in sooner." He said.
"What?" I laughed.
"I'm serious." He said. "You still owe me a game of Uno."
I laughed. "I can't beleive you even remember that."
"How could I forget?" He asked.
"Dork." I said rolling my eyes.
"Weirdo." He said laughing.
"Is your sister still obsessed with Prince?" I asked.
"Sadly, yes." He said, and laughed.
"Yeah. I'll wait until she's gone." I told him, and he laughed.
"I can't believe she is older then me. She is almost thirty, and still acts like she is in highschool. She dresses like she is stuck in the early 90's still too." He said, and I laughed.
"I'm serious!" He said.
"I believe you." I told him. We paid for a round of mini-golf, then bought some lunch before we played. We each got a corndog, fries and a soda.
"I LOVE corndogs!" I said, sitting down at a table with him.
"Would you still prefer a good corndog over sex?" He asked, and I laughed.
"Of course!" I told him, and he laughed even harder. I took a huge bite, and savored it.
"Enjoying that a bit too much." He told me, and I just ignored him.
When we were done we went out to the mini-golf coufse to play.
I was horrible at it and he was kicking my butt. Eventually, I just started acting goofy and kicking the ball.
"This is not soccer." He said laughing.
"I know. It's Molly Golf." I said.
"You are so funny." He said.
It took us about an hour to go through the whole course. He dropped me back off at home afterwards. I was so tired! I turned on my TV and my cable had stopped working. "What the hell!" I said. "Damnit!"
I called Lander. He said he would turn around and come back to see if he could fix it. I felt bad, but he insisted.
"Well, it looks like something the cabel company is going to have to fix." He said, after looking at everything.
"Damn it." I said.
"Just call tomorrow, and they'll send a Tech out." He said.
"Yeah. I'm bored now though." I told him.
"It's okay, I have you covered." He said.
"You do?" I asked.
"Yes. Be right back." He said, and left. He was back in a few minutes holding his favorite season of Monty Python.
"Nice." I said, and took them from him. I put them in the DVD player, and we sat down to watch them.
After a while, I started to feel tired. Lander pulled me closer to him.
"I want to kiss you." He whispered.
I giggled and looked up at him.
"Can I?" He asked as he tucked my hair behind my ears.
"Umm." I hesitated. I was really scared of getting close to him again.
"Well?" He asked.
"No." I told him, and sighed.
"Aww. Okay." He said.
"Maybe we shouldn't make things weird right before we move in together." I told him.
"Damn." He said.
"What?" I asked.
"That's a good point." He said, and hugged me. "And, in that case, I had better get going."
"Awww, okay." I told him, and yawned.
"I'll call you tomorrow or something." He said.
"Okay." I told him, and we both stood up. I walked him to the door, and hugged him good bye. I kissed his cheek, and he smiled.
"Bye." He said.
"Bye." I told him, and he left. I shut the door, and sighed. I had wanted him to kiss me so bad.
"Dork." I said to myself and giggled.
I got ready for bed and tried to read for a little while. I ended up falling asleep though after about twenty minutes. I woke up late the next morning and had to rush to the bus stop. I wasn't sure why Barakah hadn't called or come by, but I was pretty sure she was already at work. It took forever to get there! I was not in a good mood! I ran down the street after I got off the bus. I almost tripped and fell as I ran into the office, but I caught myself.
"Two hours late." Barakah said pointing to the clock.
"I know." I said frustrated. I went to my desk and sat down. I was out of breath.
"Molly. You made it." Jim said.
"I'm so sorry." I said.
"It's not a problem." He said. "We're slow today anyway."
I just smiled.
"I was wondering if you would like to join me for lunch today." He said.
"I was. . ." I said. "I was thinking skipping lunch."
"Nonsence." He said. "We don't let our employees skip lunch."
"Is it okay if I just eat at my desk?" I asked.
"Yes, of course." He said.
"Thank you." I told him. He just walked back to his office.
"Why are you so late?" Barakah asked, walking in.
"Because I had to take the bus!" I said.
"Sorry." She said. She wasn't sorry. I knew she was just trying to annoy me.
"What is wrong?" I asked her.
"Oh nothing." She said, and left.
I rolled my eyes, and started working. I didn't feel like dealing with her that day. When lunch time came Jim asked me again what I was doing for lunch. I declined his invitation, and walked to the Circle K down the street. I bought a pack of cigarettes. I hadn't smoked in a year, but I needed one right then! I got outside, and put one in my mouth. I couldn't bring myself to light it though.
"Fuck." I said, and threw the pack in the trash. I walked back to work, and sat down at my desk. I just wanted to go home!
"Guess what?" Barakah whispered as she walked up to me.
"What?" I asked annoyed.
"I think I'm going to kiss Jim today." She giggled.
"Could you possibly be any stupider?" I asked.
"Hello, ladies." Jim said. He smiled at me. Barakah leaned over my desk and stuck her butt out.
Jim didn't even notice her. He smiled at me and kept walking.
"What the hell was that?" Barakah asked me.
"What?"
"That flirty smile you gave him." She said. "He didn't even notice me!"
"I didn't smile at him." I told her.
"Yes you did." She said, and started to walk away.
"You know what. Screw this. I'm sick of you, and your petty little fights. You are NOT the center of the universe, Brakah!" I shouted. She looked shocked.
"YOu are acting worse then you did in highschool. I thought you left those self-centered, spoiled little brat days way behind you. I guess I was wrong." I said. I stood up and walked into Jim's office.
"Can I help you?" He asked.
"Mr. Knadler, this job isn't working out for me. I'm sorry, but I quit." I told him.
"You don't have to do that." He said.
"Yes, I do. I quit." I said, and walked back out. I grabbed my purse, and walked past Barakah. She looked completly in shock still. I didn't have to wait more then a minute for the bus. When I got off at the stop near my house I stopped by a little cafe and applied for a job there. I figured it had to be better then working in an office. When I got home I put on some pajamas and curled up on the couch under my comforter to read. I read for a while before I fell asleep.
"Molly!" I heard. I opened my eyes.
"Ted?" I said. I got up and peaked out the door. It was Ted.
"Hey, sorry to bother you." He said. "Are you okay? You look pale."
"I'm fine. Come in." I said letting out a big yawn.
"I have a huge favor to ask you." He said.
"Uh oh." I laughed.
He smiled. "I know."
"What's up?" I asked.
"My apartments are being totally torn down." He said. "They're building an L-Train and it's going to be built right where my apartment is."
I sighed. "Geez."
"I know. I was wondering if I could stay here with you for a couple of weeks." He said.
"They're tearing mine down for the same reason." I said.
"What?" He said with big eyes.
"Yup."
"Shit." He said. "Would you want to get a place together?"
I laughed.
"Eh, worth a shot." He said laughing.
"Where are you staying?" He asked.
"Lander's." I said, and yawned.
"Oh." He said.
"What?" I asked.
"Nothing." He said.
"Jealous?" I asked.
"NO!" He said.
"Uh-huh." I said.
"Fine. Maybe." He said.
"Definatly." I told him, and he laughed.
"I thought you had a new job?" He asked, looking at me dressed in my pajamas.
"I did until this morning." I told him.
"What happened?" He asked.
"I can't work with Barakah. That was a very bad idea." I told him.
"I'm sorry." He said.
"It's okay. I'll find something else. I didn't like being in an office much anyway." I told him.
"Are you hungry?" he asked me.
"Yeah, actualy." I told him.
"I'll be right back." He said, and left.
"Weirdo." I said, and layed back down on the couch. I felt lazy, and didn't want to do anything. About twenty minutes later there was a knock on my door again. I sighed and got up to answer it. Ted was there with two bags of groceries.
"What is this?" I asked.
"I'm making you my famous Chicken Parmesian." He told me.
"Are you kidding?" I asked.
"Nope. I even got fresh French Bread." He said.
"You are the best. I wish I could cook!" I told him.
"Just relax." He said smiling.
"You're sweeter when we're not married." I laughed.
"No, I'm sweeter when we're not living together." He said.
I giggled. I turned around and watched him start to cook. I saw all the reasons I married him.
"What?" He asked when he noticed I was watching him.
I smiled. "Just watching you cook."
"Do you really think moving in with Lander is a good idea?" He asked.
"I don't know." I said.
"Hmm." He said. "Cause all you did was complain about what a coward he was for leaving like he did."
"I know. . ." I sighed.
"Just think about it." He said.
"I will." I told him.
"You got wine?" I asked, seeing it on the table.
"Yes. Your favorite." He said.
"No way! You know I get really drunk from wine." I said, and he laughed.
"Is that why you got it?" I asked.
"Maybe." He said, and I laughed.
"You red on you." I told him. He laughed and looked down.
"Damn it." He said, and took his shirt off.
"Whoa." I said.
"What?" He asked.
"Someone has been working out." I said.
"Everyday." he said, and handed me his shirt. I laughed, and put it in the washer for him.
"Well, thank you." He said.
"You're very much welcome." I said smiling.
I watched TV while he cooked. "This is one thing I miss." I said.
"Me cooking?" He asked laughing.
"Yes." I said.
When he finished cooking, I turned off the TV. We sat down at the dinner table and he poured us each a glass of wine.
"This is nice. Thanks." I said smiling.
"Of course." He said. "It's not a problem."
"Well?" He asked, as I took my first bite.
"SO GOOD!" I said.
"Thanks." he said.
"Seriously. I have never met anyone that cooks this good." I told him.
"Well, I am a chef." He said.
"Yeah, that might have something to do with it." I said, and we both laughed. When we were done eating, and drank the whole bottle of wine, we sat down to watch a movie. We couldn't decide what to watch though, and ended up just talking instead. The dryer buzzed.
"Aww. Your shirt is done." I sighed.
"Is that bad?" He asked.
"No. I just like you walking around shirtless." I said, and he laughed.
"Well, then I'll stay that way." He said.
I kept giggling.
"Come here." He wrapped his arm around me and pulling me close to him.
"Am I lucky enough to get a kiss tonight?" He asked.
"Eh. What the hell." I laughed. I started kissing him and he pulled me on top of him. After a few minutes, I started laughing.
"Geez." He said laughing.
"I'm not going to suddenly not have ticklish legs." I said.
He just laughed. "Okay legs are still off limits." He said.
"But the rest of me isn't." I said, and smiled.
"You are so drunk." He said, and I laughed.
"So are you." I told him.
"Maybe." He said, and kissed me again. Before I knew it, Ted was no longer the only one not wearing a shirt! I giggled when I saw I was wearing my tweety bird bra. It was old, and comfy. I only wore it with my pajamas.
"What?" Ted asked.
"This stupid bra." I told him.
"It's fine." He said.
"It's dumb." I told him.
"Well, let's fix that then." He said, and took it off of me.
"See. No more tweety. I'm digging the non-tweety boobies." He said.
"You dork." I laughed.
"And this is something I miss." He said kissing my neck.
"I miss it too. I think it was one of our strong points." I giggled.
"It sure was." He said.
"And apparently still is." I said smiling.
He pulled me back down on top of him and kissed me again. Before we knew it, we were having sex. I couldn't even beleive how great was! It was probably because it seemed like forever since either of us actually had sex.
We just layed there for a while not saying anything. It was nice.
"Should I go?" He asked.
"No. Stay." I said.
"Are you sure?" He asked.
"Stay." I said. He kissed my forehead and we fell asleep like that. I woke up a few hours later.
"Let's go back to bed." I whispered.
"Huh?" Ted asked, confused.
"Bed." I said.
"Oh, okay." He said, and started walking back to his old room. He was half asleep still.
"NO! My bed!" I shouted, and he jumped.
"Oh! oops." He said, when he realized where he was going. We climbed in bed and slept there until morning.
I sighed as I climbed out of bed. Ted had already left and I was feeling lonely. I decided to pamper myself. I really felt I deserved a nice relaxing day. I took a long bath and put my night gown on. I made myself some pancakes and cut up some fresh fruit. I sat in front of the TV on the floor and turned on The Breakfast Club.
My phone rang, and I jumped up to answer it.
"Hello?" I answered.
"Hello, this is Clair Jonas with the Good Times Cafe." A woman said. It was the Cafe calling me to offer me the Job.
"Don't I need an interview?" I asked.
"We do things a little different here. We like to see how people work, so we actualy have you come in for a few hours, and jump right in. See how you do." She said.
"Oh, okay. When can I come in?" I asked.
"Anytime." She said. I spoke with her a few more minutes, then ran and got ready.
I wanted to look nice, so I put on my black halter dress. It was cotton, so it was casual and comfy. I was so excited! I rushed out the door as I slipped on my right clog.
I slipped on my other shoe, then walked down to the Cafe. I walked in and saw the most gorgeous guy I had ever seen in my life standing at the counter.
"Can I help you?" He asked. I gulped.
"Uh...um. Yes! I'm Molly. Is Claire here?" I stumbled.
"Yeah." He said, and smiled. He had gorgeous green eyes, and long black lashes. His left ear was peirced twice, and his hair was short, but messy. He kept staring at me, and I blushed. He was making me nervous.
"I'll go get her. I'm Rory." He said, and walked away. I took a deep breath and tried to control myself.
"Hi, Molly?" I woman asked, walking up to me. She was thin and tall, and looked like she was probably in her early thirties. She was fit, and energetic.
"Yes. Claire?" I asked.
"You got it. I see you've met Rory. He's requested to train you today." She said.
"Really?" I asked, and she laughed.
"Cute, huh? He's a sweetheart. I'm sure you'll do fine. Follow me to the back." She said. We walked through the kithcen, and into a small office. She gave me a small white green and white striped apron to tie around my waist, along with a small notepad, pen, and a button with the Cafe's logo on it.
"You can leave your purse in here, I'll lock in the drawer." She said. I put my purse in, and then followered her back out front.
She showed me how to use all of the machines. I couldn't beleive how many were there. After a while, there weren't many people in there, so we were just sitting around.
"What the hell." I heard. The voice sounded so familiar. "Barakah." I said softly. "Damnit."
"Your first real customer." Rory said. "Why don't you find out what she wants and I'll show you how to make it."
I was so frustrated.
"Are you working here?" She asked rudely.
"Yes, yes I am." I told her. "How can I help you?" I asked.
"I want a larte Cafe Mochiato with no whip cream. Low fat milk, a double shot and don't gip me on my coffee. I don't want it to be all milk." She said.
"Okay." I said. Rory helped me ring it up.
"And a nonfat muffin. You should try eating more nonfat things." She said, looking at my stomach. I was so mad! I wanted to scream at her, but I didn't.
"You should try not being a bitch." Rory whispered.
"WHAT?" She shouted.
"I said, are you sure no whip?" He asked, and I smiled.
"Ugh. Nevermind." She said, and stormed out.
"Sorry." I mumbled.
"It's okay." Rory said, and patted my shoulder. My heart spead up. Just then two old ladies came in and sat down at one of the tables.
"Ahh. These ladies are so sweet. Come on." He said, and pulled my arm. I smiled and followed him.
"Hello Edith. June." He said.
"Oh hello Rory!" One of the women said.
"Do you have eggsalad today?" She asked.
"We sure do." He said.
"And for you Edith?" He asked the other woman.
"The same. And two-"
"And two passion fruit iced teas, no sugar." He finished for her.
"You are so good." June said, and they both laughed.
"Ladies, this is my friend Molly. She is training today." He said.
"Hello. You are pretty young girl." June said.
"Thank you." I said.
"Now, don't take anything from Rory. He gets a little handsy." Edith whispered. I cracked up! I couldn't help myself. These women were hilarious. I followed Rory back behind the counter and he showed me where they kept the sandwiches, and how to make the iced tea.
"So where did you work before this?" He asked.
"With my first rude customer that walked in here." I said.
"Ah." He said.
"It's hard to work with friends I guess. Especially rich snobs." I said.
He smiled and nodded. I could tell he was not a very negative person.
"She gets whatever she wants, so she can be a brat sometimes." I said.
"I could see that." He said.
I brought June and Edith their orders and went to the back.
"Time to fill the machine with ice." He said.
As I was filling scooping ice into the bucket from the ice maker machine, a big chunk fell and my hand!
"Ouch!" I said, quickly withdrawing my hand.
"Oh my god! I'm sorry! I didn't warn you." He said, looking at my hand. He seemed so concerned.
"It looks like it might bruise." He said.
"Did I seriously just get a bruise from ice?" I asked. He smiled.
"Yeah. It comes down in big sheets. I'm so sorry." He said.
"I'll be okay." I told him. He insisted in scooping thre rest of the ice, and filling up the machine. It was so cute. It was a slow afternoon, so most of it was spent cleaning and learning the machines.
"You are doing good for your first day." He told me.
"Thanks." I said, and smiled.
"So, what do you do for fun?" He asked.
"Um, I used to hang out with Barakah all the time. The girl that was in here earlier. I usualy just hang out with friends, or at The Hole." I told him.
"The Hole. I havn't been there in ages." He said.
"You like that place?" I asked.
"I love it. I used to play there." He said.
"Play?" I asked.
"Yeah. A long time ago I was in a wanabe rock band." He said, and laughed.
"Wanabe? Come on, I bet you were good!" I told him.
"Nah. We sucked. Well, we thought we did anyway." He said. We talked for a while until it was time to close down. It was only 7:00, but Rory said they never had business after about 6:30, so they closed down bye 8:00. We closed, and then he offered to walk me home. At first I said no, but he insisted.
"Come on. You shouldn't walk around here by yourself. This is Jersey!" He said.
"Okay, okay. You can walk me home." I told him.
"Good." He said.
"Hey CLAIRE!" He shouted.
"Hey WHAT?" She shouted, walking out of the office.
"We're all closed up." He said.
"How'd she do?" She asked him.
"Great. Better then the last two to come through." He said.
"Great. Molly, welcome aboard." She said, and shook my hand.
"I'll see you tomorrow." Rory said to her. She waved and we walked out. Neither of us said anything for a while as we walked down Forman St.
"Do you shop in any of these places?" He asked as we passed by some expensive clothing store.
I giggled. "Can't exactly afford to."
"Ah." He said. "So, you're not high maintenance."
"Far from it." I laughed.
"I'm use to meeting girls that are very high maintenance." He said.
I just giggled.
"My Dad thinks he's a king." He said.
"What does he do?" I asked.
"He's a laywer." He said. "He defends guilty people though, so he makes a lot of money. He lets it all get to his head."
"Wow."
"Yup." He said.
"Just out of curiosity, what is your Dads name?" I asked.
"Jim Knadler." He said.
I swallowed hard and coughed. I started choking on my suliva and couldn't stop coughing. My eyes teared up and it looked like I was crying. I felt so stupid!
"Are you okay?" He asked.
"Yeah. Sorry." I said, after a while.
"I didn't mean to choke you up." He said, whiping the moisture from under my eyes.
"What was wrong?" He asked.
"Oh nothing. I just um...my last job was working for your dad." I told him.
"Oh, weird. Small world, huh?" He asked.
"Very." I muttered.
"Oh my God. My dad hit on you, didn't he?" He asked.
"Yeah." I said.
"Fuck. He always does that." He said, looking angry.
"It's okay, I don't work there now." I told him.
"Is that why you quit?" He asked.
"No. Well kind of. I quit because my friend Barakah was jealous." I said.
"What? Why?" He asked.
"Don't ask me." I said.
"Can I buy you a drink?" He asked.
"What?" I asked.
"Let me take you out. It's early, I'll buy you a drink to make up for my dad being an asshole." He said.
"Okay, sure." I told him. Instead of walking home we walked to a bar that was across the street from my house.
We sat down and he ordered a few drinks.
"You see why I said my Dad thinks he's King." He laughed.
"Yeah I think I do." I said smiling.
"So, do you live alone?" He asked.
"Yup."
"Any close friends?" He asked.
I shrugged and sighed. "Not really." I said.
"Why is that?" He asked.
"I choose the wrong ones apparently." I said.
"That sucks." He said.
"It's okay. It's taught me to be really independent." I said.
"Wow. Independent." He said. "Cool."
"Been in any serious relationships?" He asked.
"Oh yeah." I giggled.
"I can't say I've been in very many." He said.
"I was married." I said.
"Really?" He asked. "Interresting."
"We get along better now that we're divorced." I laughed.
"Funny how it works out that way hu?" He said.
"Yeah."
"How long were you married?" He asked.
"Couple months. It was kind of a mistake." I told him.
"Well, I'll stop asking about it." He said.
"It's okay." I told him. We hung out for a while then he walked me home.
"Well, I'll see you at work tomorrow." He said.
"Yeah. Thanks for the drink." I told him.
"Anytime." He said. We waived goodbye, and I went inside. I took my phone out of my purse and put it on the charge. It had died, and I wanted to check if I had any messages. I had three missed calls from Barakah, and three messages.
"Great." I said. I checked the first one.
"Hey, it's Barakah. Jim took me out to lunch today and told me you kissed HIM! You liar." She said.
"What?" I shouted to the message. I deleted it before it finished. I checked the next too, but there wasn't any message, it was just dead air.
"Whatever." I said, and set the phone back down on the counter. I walked back to my room and got ready for bed. I curled up and felt so alone. Barakah really was my only friend. I guess Ted kind of counted, and maybe Lander. I sighed. It took me a while, but I finaly fell asleep.
I took my time getting ready the next morning. I wanted to look cute. When I was about to head out the door, my phone rang. I answered it as I walked out of my apartment.
"Good Morning."
I giggled. It was Ted.
"Hello." I said.
"Hey, I was wondering if you'd like to go to a block party with me tonight." He said.
"Really?!" I asked with a little too much excitement. I laughed at myself.
"Yes." He said. "I thought you'd be excited."
"Those damn block parties cause me to get pretty wasted." I laughed.
"Oh I know." He said.
"I'll call you after work and let you know if I'm feeling up to it. I will most likely be up for it though. I could use a fun night out." I said.
"Okay." He said. "Have a nice day."
"You too." I said, then hung up the phone. I sighed smiling as I walked out of the building and took a big breath of fresh air.
When I got to work, Claire had me in the back helping her prep the morning food. It was just muffins, pastries, and bagels that had been made early that morning, so all we were really doing was moving them from the big fridge in the back to the smaller one in the front behind the counter.
“Looks good. I’ve added you too the schedule.” She when we were done.
“Oh, wonderful!” I said.
“It’s on the wall in the office. Go ahead and take a look and if there are any changes that need to be made, just write a note next to your name.” She said.
“Alright. Thanks.” I told her.
“Any time.” She said, and walked out front. I looked and I was off for the next two days. I scanned the schedule, and most of my shifts were with Rory. I laughed because I knew it was ridiculous to even think about anything happening to us. After all, he was Knadler’s son. The apple doesn’t far from the tree, right?
“What’s so funny?” I heard. I turned around and it was Rory.
“Oh, nothing. Just giggly today, I guess.” I told him. He looked at me funny, and I walked out front.
The rest of the day was so busy! Rory was working a double shift, so when I got off at 4:00 I walked myself home. When I got there I started rummaging through all my clothes looking for something to wear.
“I have seriously got to do some laundry!” I said to myself.
I tried on a bunch of different outfits and didn't like any of them! "Damnit!" I shouted. I looked through the big pile of clothes on the floor and decided to just wear my dark jeans and my pink and white striped tube top. I took a shower, blow dried my hair straight, did my makeup and then got dressed. I put on some perfume and I was ready to go.
I sat on the couch and anxiously waited for Ted to call. I got hungry, so I got up and ate some left over pizza. I looked at my clock and I had been waiting for about half an hour for him to call me. I sighed, and called him.
“Hey, I’m pulling into your parking lot right now.” He said.
“Okay, cool. I’m ready.” I told him.
“Come meet me in the parking lot.” He said.
“I’ll be right down!” I said, and hung up. I found my bag, and then ran down to the parking lot. He saw me running and was laughing.
“Shut up!” I said, climbing in.
“You just seem so excited.” He said, still laughing.
“I am!” I said, and punched him in the arm.
“Ouch! Geeze.” He said.
“Oh can it!” I yelled, and turned up the radio. He just started laughing.
We drove into the neighborhood where the party was and parked. He took my hand and we walked down to the street. I thought it was funny that he was holding my hand like as if we were still together. I felt loved though! As soon as we walked up to the party, I poured myself some spiked punch.
“Whoa, take it easy there.” Ted said, as I chugged my first cup.
“I’m thirsty.” I said, and he laughed.
“I can see that. Slow down. I want to get some good dancin’ out of you tonight.” He said, and I laughed.
“I thought you liked it when I was drunk?” I asked, and raised an eyebrow. He just grinned and got himself some beer. When he wasn’t looking, I refilled my cup with punch.
I turned around and chugged it. I saw a dorky guy about to do a keg stand and I started laughing really hard. A bunch of people looked at me. "Problem?" I asked. They all looked away. It made me laugh more.
"I need some more punch." I said as Ted walked back over to me.
"Take it easy." He said laughing.
“I haven’t gotten to drink in a long time.” I said, making a pouty face. He just laughed even more.
“Fine, but you better not be puking later.” He said.
“I’ll be careful, I promise.” I told him.
I noticed some girl checking him out, so I linked arms with him real quick.
“What are you doing?” He asked.
“Nothing.’ I said, and kissed his cheek.
“Uh, okay.” He said, laughing.
“Oh hey, let me introduce you to some people from my complex!” He said, and walked me over to a group of people.
"Everyone, this is Molly." He said.
A few of them said hi and one or two shook my hand. I was trying my hardest to not appear drunk. I smiled and Ted put his arm around me.
"Is this your wife?" A guy asked.
"EX Wife." I corrected.
Ted just looked at me.
"Sorry." I said.
He just nodded. He took my hand and we walked over to the keg.
"Did you tell these people that I was your wife?" I asked.
"Yeah. When you WERE my wife." He said.
I giggled. "Let's pretend we're still married."
"What?" He asked.
"Teddy, you havn't introduced me to your lady yet." A girl said walking up to us. She was clearly drunk.
"Josie, this is my wife Molly." He said.
I smiled at him. "Nice to meet you." I said. She shook my hand.
"So, why don't you two live together?" She asked.
"She's away on business a lot." He said.
"Oh what do you do?" She asked.
"She writes screen plays." Ted told her.
"Wow. Cool." She said.
"Yeah." I said going along with it. "It's such an amazing experience. I hope that one day one of them turn into a box office hit."
"I bet that day will come." She said smiling.
"I bet it will too." Ted said. He gave me a kiss.
"Aww." She said. "You two are so cute." She looked at my hand. "Where is your ring?"
"At the jewelers." I said. "They're puting a bigger diamond in it."
"Wow." She said giggling. "Where's yours?" asked Ted.
"He won't wear his unless I'm wearing mine." I said.
"How sweet is that?" She said smiling.
“He’s a sweet heart.” I said, and Ted squeezed my hand.
“Well, I hope I see you two around. Ted, if you see Chris, will you tell him I’m over with Adrian?” She asked.
“Of course. See you later.” He said. She smiled and left. I giggled.
“You are so drunk.” He said.
“I know.” I laughed.
He turned me around and started kissing me. He stopped and looked into my eyes.
“I forgot you were such a good kisser.” I told him.
“Me too.” He said, and I laughed.
“What?” He asked.
“You forgot you were a good kisser?” I asked.
“Yeah-wait, no! I mean I forgot how good it feels to kiss you.” He said.
“You are a little drunk too.” I told him, and giggled.
“Maybe.” He said.
“Why were we such jerks to each other while we were married?” I asked.
“I guess we just weren’t ready.” He said.
“Have you seen anyone since we split up?” I asked.
“No. You?”
“Nope.”
“Not even that guy I met at your apartment?” He asked.
“NO! Not Lander. I mean, Yes Lander before. But no now.” I told him. He looked really confused.
“Yeah, so that didn’t make any sense to me either.” I said, and we both laughed.
“Hey TED!” some girl shouted. We both turned around.
“Ah shit.” He muttered. She ran over, and hugged him. Ted looked revolted, and I laughed.
“Hi, I’m Tina.” The girl said. I could tell she was from New York, and not Jersey.
“Hi. Molly.” I said.
She looked me up and down like she was sizing me up. Ted kind of pushed her off of him, and stood closer to me.
“Are you like Irish or something?” She asked.
“Are you like a skank or something?” I asked her. He face immediately turned red.
“I’m Italian!” she said, stepping toward me.
“Good for you.” I said.
“Hey, whoa.” Ted said, stepping between us.
“Hey TINA! You causin’ trouble over here?” Some big Italian guy said, walking over to us.
“Sorry Ted. You know how my little sis gets.” He said.
“It’s okay.” Ted said, putting his arm around me. “This is Molly. My, ex.” He said. I looked at him.
“He already knows about us.”
“Oh.” I said. “Nice to meet you-“
“Ronnie.”
“Ronnie.” I repeated.
“Anyway, sorry bout my sis.” He said. She hit him really hard in the side.
“HEY!” She shouted. He pushed her, and the walked away arguing.
“Interesting.” I said, and Ted started laughing.
"You are looking might fine tonight, you know that?" He said smiling as he put his arms around me.
I smiled. "And so are you."
"This is so weird." He said.
"It is." I giggled.
"Maybe we shouldn't have gotten a divorce." He said.
I didn't know what to say and I didn't really know how I felt. All I knew was that I was happy at that moment. He made me feel special. I giggled and started kissing him.
“Want to see my place?” He asked.
“Um, I don’t know.” I said. My heart was racing, and I kept remembering what it was like being with Ted. He traced his finger down my stomach and it gave me chills.
“Come on.” He whispered. “I know exactly where to touch.”
I giggled.
“Is that a yes?” He asked, and kissed my neck.
“Yes.” I said.
“Really?” he asked, grinning.
“Really. Now hurry, before I change my mind.” I said. He took my hand and practically ran to the apartment building that was at the front of the block.
"Holy. . . wow." I said when we walked into his apartment. It looked really nice.
"Yes. Ted is growing up." He said.
I laughed. He took off his coat and walked over to me. He kissed me and guided me over to the couch.
“This isn’t something you are going to regret tomorrow, is it?” He asked me.
“No.” I said, and smiled.
“Are you sure?” He asked.
“Ted, right now it feels like it did when we first met, before we fucked it all up. Just kiss me.” I said. He grinned, and kissed me again. After a few minutes he got up and led me back to his room. I smiled when I saw he had sheets and a comforter of mine on it. We were back there for hours. And I could honestly say, I had never had a better time before. When we were done, Ted fell asleep next to me, and I just lay next to him with my head on his chest tracing my finger down his arm.
“What went wrong?” I asked out loud. He just snorted and I giggled.
I snuck out of bed and went out to the kitchen. I sat down at the table and dialed Barakah's number.
"Finally calling to apologize?" She asked.
"Why do I hate Ted so much?" I asked.
She sighed. "I have no idea. He never did anything to you. You were just a total bitch to him." She said.
"All I needed to know." I said and hung up. I smiled and set my phone down. I went back to the bedroom and climbed back into bed with him.
I couldn’t sleep.
“Psst. Ted.” I said, shaking him. He just muttered something, and rolled back over.
“TED!” I shouted, and he jumped.
“What?” He asked, looking around.
“I’m sorry.” I said.
“Huh?”
“I’m sorry I was such a jerk.” I told him.
“What are you talking about?” He asked, and yawned.
“I was a bitch before. I’m sorry.” I told him.
“Hey, it’s okay. I wasn’t the nicest guy ever.” He said, and rubbed my arm. I felt like crying.
“What is it?” He asked.
“I don’t know.” I said, and started crying. He hugged me.
“Shhhhhhhhhh. It’s okay.” He said.
“I’m just so lonely. I have no friends, and I thought I hated you until you left.” I said.
“What are you saying?” He asked.
“I don’t know.” I said.
“Just get some sleep, okay? We can talk more tomorrow.” He said, holding me.
“Okay.” I said. He kissed my forehead, and I fell asleep in his arms.
The next morning I felt really stupid. "Why would he ever want me back?" I thought to myself. I rushed home. As soon as I walked in the door, my phone was ringing. It was Ted.
"Hey, why'd you rush out the door?" He asked.
"I'm sorry for all the crazy things I said last night." I said.
"What?"
"I must have sounded ridiculous." I said.
"Not to me." He said.
"Really?"
"Yeah. . ." He said.
"You deserve better than me." I said.
"No man in the world deserves better than a wonderful woman like you." He said.
I giggled. "Shush."
He laughed. "Seriously, you were right though. Neither of us tried very hard and we really should have." He said. "And something else, we're not divorced. I had a message on my phone this morning. Neither of us signed the last page. . ."
“What?” I asked.
“We are still married.” He told me.
“You had to sign on the last page?” I asked.
“Apparently.” He said. “So technically we are still married. If you wanted to give it another shot, we could.” He said. I didn’t know what to say.
“Hello?” He asked.
“I’m still here. Sorry.” I told him.
“Well?” He asked.
“I don’t know.” I said.
“What do you mean you don’t know?” He asked. “After everything you said last night, I thought this was something you wanted.”
“It is. But I meant starting over, not just jumping back into marriage.” I told him.
“Molly, you are killing me here.” He said. It sounded like he was crying.
“Okay.” I said.
“Okay, what?” He asked.
“Okay, let’s give it another shot.” I told him.
"You mean it?" He asked.
"Yeah, but we're starting slow. Really slow." I said. "We'll just keep going on dates and continue the way we have been."
"Okay." He said.
I giggled.
"What?" He asked.
"It's crazy." I said.
"Yeah, it is." He said. "But worth it."
"I love you." I said.
"I love you." He said back. "Do you want me to come over?"
"I think I'm going to spend the day by myself." I said. "You should come over later though."
"Sounds like a plan." He said.
I felt so happy! Like we really had a shot together. I picked up my phone and called Barakah before I even realized it.
“What?” She asked.
“Oh, sorry. I guess you are the only one I have to share good news with.” I said.
“That is sad.” She told me.
“Fine, I wont tell you Ted and I are trying things out again.” I told her.
“WHAT?” She asked, sounding excited despite herself.
“Yeah!” I said.
“Wow, don’t be a bitch this time around.” She said.
“I’ll try. There is something else I have to tell you too.” I told her.
“What?” She asked.
“I never told you before, but Ted and I are actually married.” I told her.
She laughed. "That's real smart."
"Barakah, I'm trying here." I said.
"Yeah I know. I'm sorry." She said. "I wish you would come back and work for Jim."
"I don't think so. . ." I said.
"His new assistant is this spoiled two faced brat know-it-all." She said.
"Sounds familiar." I said.
"Shut up." She laughed. "Oh, another thing. . ."
"What?"
"I slept with Jim." She said.
"Barakah!"
"You have no reason to be jelous." She said.
"I am far from jelous." I said.
“He is so amazing!” She said.
“How could you do that? He is married, with kids! Remember that cute guy I work with? That is his SON!” I said.
“So.” She answered.
“I can’t believe you. Was it a one time thing?” I asked her.
“I don’t know. He asked if he could take me to New York for the weekend.” She said.
“You are unbelievable!” I told her.
“I thought you weren’t jealous.” She said.
“I’m not, trust me. I’m disgusted!” I told her.
“Oh please. You have always been jealous of me.” She said.
“Barakah, that isn’t funny.” I told her.
“It wasn’t a joke.” She said.
“What happened to you? You used to have morals.” I told her.
"You just don't understand how amazing he is." She said. "Or maybe you DO understand and you wish it was you with him instead of me."
"Oh please!" I said.
"His wife is ugly." She said.
"Barakah, I saw the pictures on his desk. He has beautiful kids and a gorgeous wife." I said.
"She's ugly." She said again.
"No, she's gorgeous." I said.
"Jelous." She said.
"Not even." I said. "Call me when you've grown up." I hung up the phone. She tried to call me back several times and I just ignored it.
When my phone rang again, I almost answered it just to yell at her. I saw that it was Lander.
“Hello.” I said.
“Hey, what’s up?” He asked.
“Not much.” I told him.
“Hey, want to go to a movie or something tonight?” He asked.
“Actually, Ted is coming over tonight.” I told him.
“Oh, really?” He asked.
“Yeah. We are going to try things again. Slowly.” I told him.
“Oh.” He said.
“Is everything okay?” I asked.
“Yeah. I’ll, uh call ya later.” He said, and hung up.
“Okay…?” I said, and hung up. I sighed, and got up and started a bath. It was defiantly a day for pampering.
I layed in the bath for an hour. I laughed when I saw how pruney I was when I got out. I wrapped a towel around me and layed down on the couch. I couldn't beleive Barakah! I was trying so hard not to think about her. She was crazy! It made me mad that she actually thought I was jealous too. I sighed and got up. I brushed my hair and put on my black long nightgown. I poured myself some hawaiian punch and took out everything I needed to do my nails.
I spent over an hour on my nails, then decided to do my make-up and hair really nice. When I was done it was almost five, so I called Ted.
“Hey sunshine.” He answered. I giggled.
“Hey. What do you want to do tonight?” I asked.
“Um…rollerblading?” he asked.
“I always fall on my ass.” I told him.
“Oh. Uh…how about…” he started to say something else, but there was a knock at my door.
“Hold on.” I said, and got up to answer it.
I opened the door and Lander was standing there.
"Hey." I said. I told Ted I would call him back later.
"Hi." Lander said. "Are you okay? What's going on with you? You keep avoiding me."
"I'm sorry." I said. "I didn't mean to."
"Is everything okay?" He asked.
"Yeah. I'm fine. . ." I said.
"Why are you trying to save a marriage you were never happy in?" He asked.
“Whoa, excuse me?” I asked.
“Oh come on! You told me all about it.” He said.
“I don’t see how this is your business.” I said defensively.
“You are my friend. It is entirely my business.” He said, surprisingly calm.
“I was never happy, because I never gave it a chance.” I told him.
“Maybe there was nothing worth giving a chance too. What do you have in common?” He asked.
“You don’t need everything in common for a relationship to work.” I told him.
“Can I come in?” He asked.
“Fine.” I said, and opened the door. He walked in and we both sat down on the couch.
“He knew you were unhappy, right?” Lander asked.
“Yes.” I answered.
“Was he unhappy?” He asked.
“I don’t know.” I told him.
“Did he ever do anything to even try to make your marriage work? Or to make you happy?” He asked.
“He’s a good guy!” I told him.
“I didn’t say he wasn’t. But maybe there is nothing but attraction here. Obviously neither one of you wanted to give it a chance. Why are you bothering to work it out now that you aren’t married?” He asked.
“Technically we still are married.” I told him.
“What?” He asked.
“We both forgot to sign the last form.” I said.
“Wait, hold on. The last form is the most important part. The last form is the one that officially states you are no longer married.” He said.
“Well, we must have missed it.” I said.
“Molly, you don’t just miss that page. That is THE page to sign. It’s the only page that is only a half a page length with two spots to sign, with a date under each name.” He said.
“Well apparently we did.” I told him.
“No you didn’t. I think he took it out.” He said.
“Why would he do that?” I asked. He just sighed.
“I don’t know.” He said.
“Maybe you should go.” I told him.
“Maybe you should listen to me!” He shouted. “I’m sorry.”
“Why do you care?” I asked.
“Because I still-“ he stopped.
“Because you still what?” I asked.
“Nothing. I just care about you.” He said.
“That is not what you were going to say!” I shouted. It took everything I had not to cry.
He didn’t say anything, he just looked at me.
“What?” I pleaded. In one move, he leaned forward, put his hand behind my head, pushed me forward and kissed me. He kissed me like he thought it was his only chance to ever kiss me. He stopped and looked at me. I started crying.
“I thought you said friends was how we should stay this time.” I said.
“I was wrong.” He said.
“So this is why you don’t want me to be with Ted?” I asked.
“No. Whether we have something or not, I’d still say Ted is a bad idea.” He said.
“I think you should go.” I told him.
“Molly, please.”
“Just go.”
He sighed and stood up, then left. I ran back to my room and pulled out an old shoebox. It was full of pictures and things that I had kept from when Lander and I were almost an item. I sat on my bed and opened it. It hurt so bad to think back to that. I still couldn’t figure out exactly why he had left. He was the only person I had ever felt close to, and we never even dated. We were friends who should have been more. We had just started becoming more when he up and left. I threw the box across the room, and it struck my wall sending pictures and little objects flying everywhere. I thought of the first time we slept together. And the few times after that. It just made me cry even more.
I climbed into bed and threw the covers over my head. I started to take deep breaths as I tried to calm myself down.
"No. This is ridiculous. He had so many chances with me and he didn't take ANY of them." I said to myself. I hopped out of bed and went to the kitchen to make myself something to eat. I called Ted back and told him EVERYTHING that had just happened. I also explained to him that I was not interested in Lander's games. He was a little upset, because I kissed Lander back. At the same time though, he understood how I was feeling when I did it. I asked him to come over and spend the night with me.
I was glad when he agreed to come over. We spent the night watching movies and talking. When it got late, we both went back to my room to go to bed.
“I’ll be right back. I forgot to charge my phone.” I told him.
“Okay.” He said, and sat down on the bed. I went out to the living room and plugged my phone in, then headed back to my room. When I opened the door Ted was crouched in the corner looking at something. I remembered I had thrown my memory box of Lander across the room, and didn’t clean it up.
“Hey.” I said. I didn’t want him to be looking at those.
“What are all these?” He asked going through them.
“It’s a memory box I hadn’t gotten rid of yet.” I said.
“Of Lander?” He asked.
“Yeah.” I said.
“Do you have any pictures of me?” He asked.
“No.” I said.
“Any saved ticket stubs, or anything?” He asked again.
“No.” I said.
“But you have this whole shoebox full of stuff from this Lander guy who you never even dated?” He asked.
“Yes.” I said, and felt myself tear up. Ted finaly turned and looked at me. He took a deep breath.
“I’m going to not get upset about this, since we are starting over. But it still hurts.” He said.
“I’m sorry.” I told him. I felt horrible. I had never thought about saving anything from Ted. Then I remembered something.
“Wait!” I said, and went to my dresser. I had a junk drawer and dug through it. I found the little card I was looking for.
“Here.” I said, and gave it to Ted to read. It was from the first bouquet of flowers he bought me a week before we got married.
He smiled.
"It's not like I didn't WANT to keep anything from you. I just didn't think about it." I said.
"I know." He said.
"Oh!" I said giggling. I pulled out my plastic diamond ring he had given me when he asked me to marry him. I slid it on my finger. He started laughing. "Yeah, I'm gonna have to replace that." He said.
I smiled. "It works for now. Where's yours?" I asked.
"At home." He said.
"You didn't throw it away?" I asked.
"Hell no. I wear it all the time!" He said.
"You dork." I said.
"It's Donatello!" He laughed.
"We are nerds." I said.
"Eh. We didn't have any money. They made us happy enough right?" He said.
"Yup." I said. "Thank god for those gumball machines."
He just laughed.
"I want this to work." I said.
"I'm really glad you're being honest with me." He said placing his hands on my sides.
I smiled.
"And I want this to work too." He said.
“So, everything is cool?” I asked.
“Yeah. I kind of want to kick that Lander guy’s ass though.” He said.
“Please don’t. We all have our momentary lapses in judgement.” I told him.
“I won’t. Come on, let’s put some music on and fall asleep.” He said.
“What music?” I asked.
“Blues?”
“BB King?”
“Please.” He said, and I laughed. I got up and put the CD in my stereo and then climbed into bed with him.
“So, everything is cool?” I asked.
“Yeah. I kind of want to kick that Lander guy’s ass though.” He said.
“Please don’t. We all have our momentary lapses in judgement.” I told him.
“I won’t. Come on, let’s put some music on and fall asleep.” He said.
“What music?” I asked.
“Blues?”
“BB King?”
“Please.” He said, and I laughed. I got up and put the CD in my stereo and then climbed into bed with him.
We just layed there for a while listening to the music. I fell asleep a while later and didn't wake up until the morning. When I woke up, Ted wasn't in the room, but I could smell pancakes. I giggled and climbed out of bed. I went out to the kitchen and sure enough, he was cooking breakfast.
“I hate pancakes.” I said when I walked into the kitchen.
“Liar. You like them with chocolate chips and walnuts.” He said as he scooped more batter onto the griddle.
“You got me there.” I said. I walked up behind him and put my arms around him. He turned his head and kissed my forehead.
“I didn’t know you were so sweet.” I told him.
“I wasn’t for a while.” He said, and flipped one of the pancakes. I let go of him and went to make us some coffee. He already had a pot made.
“I’m really impressed now.” I said.
"It's Hazelnut. You're favorite." He said turning his head and smiling at me.
I giggled and poured myself a cup of coffee. I sat down on the couch and turned on the TV.
The news was on, and I was about to change it when something caught my eye.
“OH MY GOD!” I shouted.
“What?” He asked.
“Barakah is on the news!” I yelled.
“What?” He shouted and ran out.
“Apparently Mr. Knadler’s wife caught her in bed with Mr. Knadler! Look! She’s all beat up! They are showing her picture! HOLY SHIT!” I said.
“I can see it!” He said, and looked at me.
“Sorry. I can’t believe this!” I said. I turned up the volume.
“We’ll have more on this scandal in just a moment.” The news anchor said.
“Damn. I bet her father is FURIOUS! This will cause a lot of clients to leave. Assuming Barakah’s dad still wants to be partners with Knadler.” I said.
“Is she okay?” He asked.
“I don’t know. Should I call the hospital?” I asked.
“No. Call her parents. If you call the hospital they probably wont give you the number to her room. I bet the media is eating this up.” He said.
I picked up the phone and dialed Barakah's parents home number. Her Mother answered right away.
"Jamilah, I just saw Barakah on the news. Is she okay?" I asked.
"You are not a good friend no longer." She said and hung up.
"Hey!" I said. I dialed the number again. Again, her Mother answered the phone. "Jamilah, I am worried about her." I said.
"Did you know she was seeing this man?" She asked.
I didn't know what to say. "Yes and I told her it was wrong." I said.
"You should have done something!" She shouted, then hung up again.
"Damnit!" I said.
“What?” Ted asked.
“Apparently I’m a bad friend.” I said.
“No you aren’t.” He told me. “Try calling later. Maybe her dad will answer.”
“I guess. I’m worried.” I said, trying not to cry.
“Hey, it’s okay. Let’s eat some breakfast, then we’ll see if we can’t see her at the hospital. Maybe if one of the nurses tells her your name she’ll let you in.” He said.
“I hope so.” I said.
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