General warning: I'm sure you know there will be a sexual relationship between two women, but if you don't know this is me warning you. There will be a sexual relationship between two women in this story.
If this story looks familiar to anyone, it's because its actually based on a fanfic I wrote called "There for You." The characters are different, but the plot is very similar. I hope you enjoy it.
Contact the lunatic at: starving.lunatic@gmail.com and lemme know what you think of the story. Thanks and enjoy. You can also find me on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/SL-Kassidy/482097488469386
Many thanks to my betas - Rleef and RevSrVixena.
Comfort Zone
1: Nightlife
Mallory Glen donned the last piece of her working persona - Scarlet. She applied blood red lipstick to her puckered lips and assessed herself in the mirror for a final time, critical cerulean eyes slowly checking each part of her. Her strapless black dress clung to her as if she had been poured into it, showing off her smooth, creamy skin. A corset underneath made sure her ample cleavage was in display to make any person drool at her feet. Her makeup was flawless and made her deep blue eyes bewitching. Her wild, dark crimson locks were tamed down her back, but still had its natural curl to keep its somewhat fierce appearance. She was now Scarlet - dark goddess of fire, ice, and, of course, lust.
She fastened a diamond necklace around her throat and slipped a matching tennis bracelet on her left wrist. They were gifts from a client that she rarely wore, but she was told to have a touch of class to her. Most people in her position would not wear such a thing, but she could hold her own better than most. Slipping on her sling-back heels, adding height that she did not really require, she grabbed her clutch purse for the night. She winked at herself, chuckling as she left her bedroom and her chic apartment.
She smiled at the doorman as he held the door. She knew he was checking her out, which he always did. Proving her right, he playfully whistled at her as soon as she passed him. She did not give him a second glance as she walked into the warm night air to a waiting Benz, where her driver was holding open the door. He was a big man, appearing as if he were going to bust out of his dark blue suit.
"Baran, man, I told you lay off the steroids," Scarlet teased as she eased into the plush, tan leather seats.
He growled, which only made her smirk. He slammed her door with an unnecessary force to undoubtedly warn her to watch her mouth. The very thought tickled her. We both know that ain't gonna happen, she thought as she pulled out her pack of cigarettes.
"Hey, you're not smoking right before a date, and you're definitely not smoking in the car," Baran barked as he eased into the driver's seat.
"Calm down, Bear, before you scare your mustache off," she remarked with a smirk. "Although, that might improve your looks."
Baran snorted, which made his thick mustache bristle a bit. The mustache matched his short, bushy black hair. His rigid, rough face complete with a scar through his right eyebrow made him look like a thug, even dressed in an expensive suit.
"Stop calling me Bear and don't smoke in the car," he ordered as he pulled the car away from the curb.
"What? You stop looking like a Bear and I'll stop calling it like I see it. I'm not going to smoke in the car. I'm just checking to see how many I have left," she informed him.
"I thought you were quitting."
"Just as Rome was not built in a day, my carving for nicotine has not waned in a day."
"You've been quitting for a year."
She frowned. "What are you, my father? I don't go around asking you about how many times you go to the leather bar, do I?"
He growled at her, but that was the end of their conversation until they got to her destination. "Don't forget to check in," he reminded her out of obligation as he opened her door.
She waved him off. "It's not my first date."
She received a snort for her comment, which she expected. Since she was no longer in the car, she did not pay him any mind. Outside of the car, he did not exist. She, instead, focused on the restaurant where she was meeting her date. She had been there a few times.
Scarlet practically glided into the place, turning heads as she moved. She went to the bar to wait for her date to find and acknowledge her. Flashing the bartender a sweet smile aided by a hint of bouncing cleavage, she received service immediately.
"You have to be Scarlet," a man commented with a smile as he swaggered over.
Turning, she now gave him a seductive smile. "And you must be my date for the night, Charles Bench."
He smiled and nodded while taking her hand and kissing her fingers. She fought the urge to roll her eyes, finding that she would never get used to a false gentlemanly manner. He helped her down off of the bar stool and they went to their table. When they sat down, he let his sleeve roll up to show off his expensive watch. He met her eyes and smiled nervously at her. She reached across the table, putting her hand over his.
"Hey, you don't have to impress me. I'm yours, so calm down and act natural," she told him softly with an enchanting smile.
He let loose an awkward laugh. "Sorry. I've never done this before. My coworker told me about your agency and said I should try it. I've been so stressed recently. I might have to lay some people off and my marriage is on the rocks."
Scarlet was not surprised that he had a sob story. She met a lot of people in her line of work that needed to justify why they were seeing her. She honestly did not care, but she had to pretend to be sympathetic, so she listened with half an ear and chimed in when pertinent. She made sure to smile and cast him alluring glances through out dinner. He was hooked already and begging to be reeled in, so she did not have to put forth much effort, but she did what she did best.
After the meal, Scarlet allowed Charles to take her to his car. He drove a black roadster, but when she got in, she could tell it was not his car. There were no little personal items that people tended to keep in their cars. Actually, after giving it the once-over, she saw that there was really nothing in the car at all. She did not begrudge him. It was his fantasy night.
"Do you want to hear some music or anything?" he offered, glancing at the many buttons on the dash. She was not sure if they would turn on the radio or fly them to the moon and from the tremble in his voice, she thought he might be of the same mind.
"I'm fine," she assured him and watched as he breathed a sigh of relief.
They arrived at one of the many posh, elegant hotels in the city. This one was ranked one of the best five-star hotels in the city. She checked in with Baran while Charles checked into their room. It was standard room rather than a suite with lush, soft blue carpet and a king-sized bed in the center of the room. The bed was piled high with fluffy pillows that they would not need and covered with a thick navy blue comforter that she would not get to enjoy.
There were a couple of pictures on the walls. There was also a large television on the wall with the remote sitting on a dark wooden nightstand by the bed. Underneath the television, on a stand, waited a bottle of champagne as well a bowl of strawberries and grapes and a plate with some cheese. Charles went to inspect things over there while Scarlet checked out the bed, finding it to be soft, but firm enough to be comfortable. If only I could enjoy it for sleep, she thought.
"Shall we, my dear?" Charles offered, holding up the bottle of champagne and two glasses.
She smiled, eyes almost glinting. "Please," she purred and watched him shudder.
He fumbled a bit as he poured the champagne, but managed to avoid spilling any. She sipped it slowly, making a show of it, trailing her own finger down her neck as she did so. His eyes fixated on her and he gulped down the champagne. She moved onto the bed as he poured himself another and set herself up against the mountain of pillows, watching him like a lioness watching a gazelle. He smirked and decided to put down his glass.
"You sure are sexy," he commented in a breath.
"I get even sexier when the clothes come off. Would you like to do the honors or would you like me to put on a show?" She made sure her eyes burned, beckoning him to her. Usually, she knew these things in advance, but Charles had given minimum amount of details for his date when he booked her, mostly because he wanted it to be like a real date.
The fire that already sparked in his eyes seemed to go nuclear. "I'd love for you to put on a show," he replied, his voice almost choked with lust.
A feral smile spread across her face. She preferred the show, just to give him an idea of what future dates would be like with her. She stood up and sauntered over to him, making sure that her breasts bounced with every step. Her cleavage caught his attention and held it. She doubted he even realized how close she was until she touched him. Grabbing his wrists, she twirled him to the bed, backed him up to it, and forced him to sit down. His eyes went wide, surprised by her strength more than likely, and he gasped, but covered it up with a laugh.
Scarlet did not give him much time to process her power, immediately going into her show. She gyrated her hips to a song in her head and slapped his hands away when they reached for her hips. He gave her a heated, but wounded glare. She offered him a promising smile for his troubles, silently letting him know that a little teasing could be a good thing. He seemed to accept that, eventually keeping his hands to himself, which earned him another, more sensual smile. After a few more moves, she put his hands on her hips, wordlessly letting him know that things would not happen until she allowed things to happen.
"You feel good," Charles said, as she allowed his hands to wander her hips and waist.
"Oh, but that's just the beginning," Scarlet pointed out, bringing one of his hands up to her chest and letting his fingers roll over her soft breasts.
He groaned. "You do feel so good."
She almost rolled her eyes because she knew that she felt good, but instead, she let a sexy smirk curl onto her face, not that he was paying attention to her face. Her hips and breasts hypnotized him, which was what she wanted. Moving things along, she reached for her dress' zipper. She slowly lowered it, catching his attention when he happened to glance to see what her hands were up to. The room was so quiet that they could hear the teeth of the zipper unlocking. He tried pulling the dress down, but she smacked his hands away.
"Uh-uh," she chided him, shaking her index finger at him. "Not yet. This is still my show."
"C'mon," he huffed impatiently.
"Trust me, it's worth the wait," she remarked as she winded in a sensual manner. She eased her dress down and he whimpered as she revealed black lace undergarments. His eyes devoured her body as it was shown, inch by inch.
He reached out for her again, but a glance from her made him pull his hands back. Internally, she smiled. He's learning. She took his hands and placed them on her sides, listening to his breathing increase. She stepped closer to him, causing him to spread his legs, so that she could stand between them. She leaned down, close to his mouth, but grabbed his hair and gently pulled his head back as he tried to kiss her. He looked up at her, brown eyes beseeching her.
"Are you ready for this?" she asked in a whisper, practically breathing into his mouth.
Charles could only whimper and nod. I bet he didn't even know he wanted it like this, wanted me to control him and not the other way around. She smirked and pulled back a little. He groaned, disappointed and needy. She leaned back in.
"Are you ready for this? Until you answer, using your words, it isn't going to happen," Scarlet informed him. "So, are you ready for this?"
"I am. God, I want you so much," he growled.
Her eyes lit up as she smiled down at him. "Then why don't you have me?"
Relief and fire blazed in Charles' dark eyes. She knew the look as she grabbed his hands as he reached for her. He frowned at her and his hands shook in her secure grip.
"Don't rush. We've got several hours," Scarlet softly reminded him, not wanting him to think that she was scolding him.
While his chest was heaving in anticipation, Charles' hands stilled. She guided his hands over her body, lightly touching her skin as well as her lacy garments. Once he seemed totally settled, she let his hands to ties of her corset. He let out a long exhale as he undid the corset and then eased her out of her panties. With that out of the way, she settled down on the bed and pulled him with her. He moaned as she helped him out of his suit and pressed their nude forms together.
Poe Bryant yawned, almost causing her to lose the thin paintbrush that was caught between her lips. She scratched her head despite having paint on her tan fingers and under her short nails. Her long ebony hair was messy from sweat and neglect, anyway. She doubted a little paint would hurt it, except maybe clash with the lilac dye job that graced the front of her head. I'll take a shower when I'm done with this anyway and wash my hair.
Taking the paintbrush from her mouth, she was about to go back to her canvas when her cellphone started going off. "Shit!" she hissed as she very nearly made the wrong mark on her painting. The ringtone let her know just who was calling, not that it was hard to determine since only five people tended to call her.
Dammit, Nadi, what do you want from my life now? Huffing, Poe tore herself from her seat and moved to find her phone. She scanned the apartment for the irksome phone. Her brow furrowed as she noticed the phone was not in usual place. She scratched her head.
"I need to clean this place," she muttered, but knew it was never going to happen.
Her loft apartment was organized chaos in her opinion. Everything had its place, but a bunch of things had places right next to or on top of each other. Of course, the fact that she did not have much helped. Moving some clothes that she had recently worn and had carelessly discarded on the floor, she discovered the missing phone. By then, the customized ring stopped, but started up again as Poe held it, which she expected.
"Yes, Nadi?" Poe said with blatantly false cheer.
"Don't take that tone with me. Where the hell are you?" Poe's best friend and self-proclaimed babysitter demanded.
"Uh …" Poe scratched her head. "Home …" she replied hesitantly, innately knowing that was the wrong answer.
A heavy sigh came before a tight reply. "I should've known. Listen to me, you get your ass showered and dressed appropriately for this damn party, and you get your ass here ASAP," Nadi ordered.
"Shit, I lost track of the time."
"I bet you did. Now, do what I say and get here now!"
Poe winced as Nadi hung up on her. She glanced at the time on her phone and winced again. She was supposed to have arrived at the party over an hour ago. She rushed to take a shower and struggled to do something with her hair beyond just wear it straight down. Typically the most that she did as far as taking care of her appearance was at least trying to style her hair. Unfortunately, she never could do much on short notice.
She brushed her long, silky hair and pulled it back into a tight braid. She let her band lilac-colored hair dangle by the side of her face. With that done, she brushed her teeth and threw on the last set of clean clothes hanging on her clothing rack, which was situated in her "bedroom."
Poe had a corner of the loft shielded from the rest of the apartment by a section of mismatched curtains. Behind the curtains, there were a couple of very cheap, white dressers and a pipe for her clothes. Her bed had originally been a simple futon mattress that had been laid on the floor. Her mother had forced her to get a platform for it after Nadi told her what Poe had been sleeping on. So, she got a very low plateau platform for the futon.
She slipped on a pair of boot-cut jeans and a tank top that had a mountain scene depicted on it. Once she had on her sneakers, it occurred to her that she needed a ride, so she called a cab. As she waited for the cab, she turned her attention back to her painting. The sight made her frown.
"Why isn't this working out better? Maybe I should sketch it out again. It looks like a hot mess." Poe considered different colors, different strokes, and even removing some of the planned pieces, but as she worked those things out in her mind, she found herself still dissatisfied. She shook the thought away as she heard a horn blaring outside, knowing it to be her cab.
The ride to the party was silent. Poe did not make it a point to talk with cabdrivers, even when they tried to engage her. Thankfully, this cabdriver had nothing to say. He merely gave her a doubtful look when she gave him the address. He gave her another when he pulled up to the establishment.
"You sure this is where you want to go?" he asked, almost as if questioning her sanity.
"Yeah," she groaned as she paid him and exited the taxi.
Taking a deep breath, she steeled herself before she marched into the restaurant, earning long stares from workers and patrons alike. She ignored them and went to the main hall, where there was a huge gathering. Ladies wearing expensive dresses and men wearing their best suits were in attendance. Poe hardly felt out of place, as it definitely was not her first time showing up to such a formal event dressed as if she were going to the grocery store. She would not be surprised to find out that some people had come to expect it of her, even though most people still gawked at her like she was a museum exhibit.
"I hate these things," Poe muttered to herself as she navigated the party.
Once again, she received stares; glares in some cases. She would not have been surprised if someone called security to have her removed. But, there were a few people that recognized her and kept her from being thrown out by going over to greet her. Others were curious, so they came over to see who Poe was and why she was allowed into the gathering.
"Poe, my dear, I was enchanted by your Sunset Cougar piece. I must know when your next showing is," a woman practically cooed, attaching herself to Poe's muscular arm.
Poe easily slipped the grip. "I'm not sure when my next show is." Why do people always wanna touch?
"What about your next book? When will it be out? My niece has been dying to get the new one and I would be in your debt if you autographed it again," another woman said, sliding her hand down Poe's arm.
"My son has both Maru the Dragon Slayer books," a man chimed in with a warm smile.
Poe could only offer a smile and resisted the urge to correct the man about her book series. Just because her paladin, a female knight in a medieval fantasy world had killed a dragon in the first book, it did not mean she was referred to as a dragon slayer. But, it was unimportant, especially when she was snatched from behind and spun around, staring up at blazing hazel eyes. The furious gaze belonged to Nadira Moore.
"Uh … Hi, Nadi," Poe said with an anxious grin. The crowd seemed to melt away, as if they knew something private and not pretty was about to occur.
"Don't 'hi' me like this is perfectly acceptable. Where the hell have you been?" Nadi demanded. Her anger sort of contrasted with her soft, chocolate features, especially with her makeup.
Poe was all too aware that was a trick question. She looked to her other best friend to help. Justin Haywood was at Nadi's side as always, as was his duty as her boyfriend. He was wearing a tuxedo and tugging at the shirt collar while Nadi was focused on Poe. When he saw Poe's dark gaze on him, he shrugged.
"I already got in trouble," he commented, cobalt eyes glancing away.
"Is it because you tried to wear jeans, too? How did she get you in a suit?" Poe asked, even though it was not the first time that she had seen him in such a thing. She was just all too aware how he felt about formal clothing.
"She forced me, like always," he grumbled, shifting on his feet a bit. He tried not to look uncomfortable, but failed as he always did. He also looked a little out of place, like Poe, because his ebony colored hair was spiked and the tips were dyed a frosty blue.
Nadi waved him off. "Ignore him. I didn't force him to do anything. I just made sure he was dressed appropriately for the evening."
"She threatened no sex for a month. That's force in my book," Justin complained, folding his arms across his chest.
Poe nodded in agreement, which earned her a pop in the bicep from Nadi. "Ow!"
"You know better than to encourage him. Now, what the hell are you wearing?" Nadi barked.
Poe shrugged. "Clothes. They were the only clean things in the place."
"How is that even possible?" Nadi huffed, throwing her lithe arms in the air.
"What? It was what happened. I don't have any other clean clothes. Why do you have to make such a big deal about things?" Poe asked with a frown.
"Because once again you look like a damned bum. You know you're supposed to dress nicely for these things, yet once again, you totally disregard that. How can you show up to my important event looking like this?" Nadi replied, speaking through gritted teeth.
Poe glanced away for a second, feeling a pinch of shame, but she was able to push it away. Nadi was the reason that she was at the party. Nadi was a dancer and a performance artist, working in popular shows in the city's theater district. She currently had the lead role in a show, which she had worked hard for.
Nadi often got invited to parties because her career, and undoubtedly because of her looks and talent. Sometimes, the parties were fundraising events for productions, or celebrations for great openings, or great show runs, or just parties thrown by producers or other people involved in a show, or even just wealthy patrons of the arts. Almost always Nadi's invitations were to elegant, sophisticated, high-class social events and Poe was expected to dress accordingly. Of course, that rarely happened because Poe did not hold the gatherings in the same esteem as others.
"Poe, do I really have to show up at your house every party and dress you? You're worse than Justin," Nadi stated, motioning to her boyfriend, who was fiddling with his jacket. She slapped his hand down, causing him to yelp.
"What? I'm fine." Poe glanced down at her outfit. She had come to other parties dressed as she was and nothing happened. She did not understand why Nadi always got on her case about these things.
"You are not fine. I had hope that you'd at least be able to get a date, but everyone is going to think you're some hobo that wandered in. No woman in her right mind is going to want to go out with you," the dancer pointed out.
"Well, if you can't get a date, then let's try to get a commission," Justin suggested with a grin. He grabbed Poe by the hand and dragged her off before Nadi could lay into them anymore. They laughed when they felt they were a safe distance from Nadi.
"I thought she was going to cut my head off," Poe commented with a chuckle.
"She probably was. She had big plans for you tonight," he told her.
Poe's brow furrowed and she scratched her head. "Big plans? More blind dates or something?"
"Of course, and just introducing you to women. You know she worries about you and you showing up dressed like that - and I envy you, by the way, in that outfit - only makes her worry more."
She huffed, puffing out her tan cheeks. "I know, but this was really the only clean thing. I totally forgot all about this party and I haven't done laundry in who knows how long. This was all I had."
He smiled a little bit, causing his dark blue eyes to shine. "But, even if it wasn't, you'd have worn it, anyway." She was always more likely to show up in casual clothing than formal.
She laughed. "Yeah, maybe. Come on, let's try to make some money and not piss Nadi off any more than we have."
"Amen to that."
The pair searched for patrons while keeping an eye on Nadi since she was walking the room alone now. Nadi was lithe and glided whenever she moved. Poe guessed that it had something to do with being a dancer because her mother moved with just as much elegance and her mother was a former dancer, now a dance teacher. The way Nadi moved, stood, and just about everything about her made her seem to belong at fancy galas, sipping the best champagne, even though she was not old enough to drink yet. Added to that, Nadi was gorgeous.
Poe recalled that the first time she saw Nadi, all she could think was that Nadi was the prettiest girl in existence, and then, as was Nadi's nature, she started ordering people around and Poe decided that she was the bossiest person on Earth. But, the point was that when Nadi was on her own, Poe and Justin watched her like a hawk because, even though she liked to pretend otherwise, Nadi got into her fair share of trouble. Sometimes guys would get too touchy with Nadi and Poe and Justin felt it was their duty to come to her rescue.
"Stop checking out my girl," Justin teased, bumping Poe with his hip.
Poe rolled her eyes and scoffed. "Please, that's a coral snake there. All pretty colors and deadly poison. You can have her."
He shrugged. "She's going to find you someone just like her. Delicious chocolate on the outside with a bossy caramel center," he joked.
Poe laughed and they went back to searching for patrons. She imagined that they looked a sight with her casual outfit and him in a tux while having his sandy blond hair spiked and the tips dyed a frosty blue. Some people flocked to them, possibly because of their odd appearance, but mostly because the people knew them or knew of them already.
"You're Justin Haywood? I actually just purchased one of your pieces to hang in my foyer. I love it," a gentleman declared and then he spared Poe a slightly less than impressed glance. "Is this your girlfriend?" While the sneer did not curl his lip, it was in his voice.
Justin almost jumped away from Poe, which would not have surprised her. "Girlfriend?" He chuckled and shook his head. "No, no, this a fellow painter and my best friend, Poe Bryant."
"Poe Bryant? You write those books about that girl knight, right? You paint, too? Amazing," another man declared. He had been standing there to engage Justin like the first man, but now his attention was on Poe.
Justin gave Poe a lazy smile as a few more brave souls came over to talk with them. Poe did not really engage in the conversation beyond answering questions. She eased back whenever someone got too close, but never completely retreated. She spoke with confidence when she did and friendly, smiling whenever it seemed called for. Occasionally, a woman would caress her bare bicep or forearm and Justin would give her an encouraging smile. Poe always stepped just out of the woman's reach, making sure to keep smiling and speaking, so not to appear rude.
Has Nadi told everyone she's ever met that I'm a lesbian? It explained why Poe often got unwanted touches from women whenever she was anywhere with Nadi. She did not mind the attention, but she wished that they would not touch her without her permission. She also wished that they would try to seriously talk to her instead of acting like fans or just seductresses.
By the end of the night, Poe knew that she was in trouble again. Those hazel eyes of the bossiest woman on Earth glared at her as Nadi stormed over to her. Nadi slapped her in the bicep. Poe yelped.
"Don't wince like that hurt. I saw you running from all of those women. Did you get a date from any of those women that crowded around you tonight?" Nadi demanded.
"I was trying to get work, not a date," Poe pointed out, rubbing her arm.
"You need a date way more than you need work. When was your last date? Senior prom? That was three goddamn years ago. You need to date and you need to get laid," Nadi insisted. "You need someone to take care of you, so I don't have to keep babysitting you."
"Most of those women were fans. They were just saying how they liked my work. No one asked me to go anywhere and I don't want to date any of them or anything like that."
The dancer sighed as Justin slipped her jacket onto her shoulders. The trio marched outside and Nadi gave Poe a sidelong glance before sighing. Nadi shook her head.
"No jacket either? What am I going to do with you?" Nadi wondered aloud. It was a warm night, so Poe figured that Nadi was now just in a mood over her. "We'll give you a ride home," the chocolate-skinned woman proposed.
Poe shook her head. "I'm good on my own."
"Like hell you are. It's midnight. Get in the car," Nadi commanded.
Poe threw her hands up and did as ordered. Justin drove as they all discussed what they hoped would come from attending the party. When Justin pulled up to Poe's building, Nadi got out, too. She walked Poe up to her loft.
"Hey, Poe, I know I ride you a lot, but it's because you still hide from people. You're a great person and not everyone is going to hurt you. I know it's hard to believe, but you know not everyone is bad and when you open up, you always make good friends. You can't shut out the world," Nadi said, almost imploringly.
"I'm not," Poe argued. It was not something she did consciously, anyway.
"You are. Look, I got this for you." Nadi went into her pocket and pulled out a card. She handed it to Poe, whose eyes almost fell out of her skull when she saw the card.
"An escort service? Are you nuts?" Poe hollered.
Nadi put her hand over Poe's mouth. "Keep your voice down, so the neighbors don't hear!"
"You want me to hire an escort?" Poe demanded, her voice muffled by Nadi's hand.
"Just to get back into the swing of things. I know it's been at least a year since you've had sex. Have a wild night to relax and then we can worry about dating."
Poe twisted her mouth up. "Would they even do this? I'm a girl."
"I know that. I checked already. You're fine. Just call. Have some fun, Poe. You deserve it. Don't shut yourself up in your cave and drown out the world."
Poe sighed and nodded. "I don't do it on purpose, you know?"
"I know. I want you to get out more, live a little," Nadi said softly.
Poe managed a small smile to show that she understood. Nadi gave her a kiss on the cheek as a farewell. Poe slipped the card into her pants' pocket as Nadi left. Sighing, she looked around her apartment.
"It's not a cave. It's just furnished like one," she grumbled, twisting her mouth up briefly. "Not that I care. I should get back to that painting." Looking at the piece, she was reminded of how much work the painting needed. Just the thought exhausted her. "To hell with that."
She turned her attention to her computer. She should sit down and write as she was supposed to be working on the third book in her series: Maru, Knight of the Realm. It was a popular series set in a fictional medieval period with kings, dragons, and magic. Usually, she delighted in writing Maru's adventures, but lately, she had been more in a painting mood than anything else.
"And look at what that's gotten me," she scoffed at the painting. "I don't wanna write or paint." Looking around, she suddenly did not feel like being in the apartment. Turning around and stepping out the door, she went out in search for the one thing that she knew would make her feel better. "I need soccer."
Scarlet exited the hotel, going right to Baran, who was waiting for her across the street. She handed him an envelope. He leafed through the money inside and then began driving.
"Going home?" he asked.
"No, take me to Goodies. I need a drink," she sighed, shaking her head. "Make sure the crazy lady Tat gets that money, so I don't have to hear her shit."
"Don't call her that." They both knew that Baran would make sure the money got to where it needed to because he was scared to death of "the crazy lady."
She scoffed. "Tell her to stop being crazy and I'll stop calling her that."
He snorted and kept driving. He pulled up to the bar and grill that she liked to go to after work. It was called the Goode Bar, but most people that went there called it "Goodies." It stayed open late, which was one of the things that she liked about it.
Stepping out of the car, Scarlet did not bother to turn around as Baran drove off, even though she would have to find her own way home. She did not mind and she went into Goodies, finding it empty for the most part. Only the owner and his son were within view. She smiled seductively at the son, who was the bartender.
"Hey, Lysander," she purred as she sat down at the bar. He smiled at her as he stood before her.
"What can I get for the pretty lady?" Lysander asked, making eyes at her and flexing his massive muscles. His pecs jumped under his short-sleeve shirt.
Out of the corner of her eye, Scarlet could see his father, Leander Goode, glaring at her. He always did when he saw her and Lysander playing their flirty game. Leander obviously knew what she did for a living, not that she knew how he came by that knowledge. He never came right out and said it, but the disgust in his eyes was evidence enough. He was of the opinion that she would corrupt his precious son and he was not shy about sharing that.
"Gimme the usual," Scarlet told Lysander.
"Well, I would, but you're not my type," the bartender remarked with a chuckle and a wink as he moved to pour her drink.
She could not figure out how Leander did not know his son was gay. Lysander was better groomed than she was and always up-to-date fashion-wise. The pride he took in his appearance made him good eye candy and, if indulged, he would talk about his grand looks all day long. He was practically wearing a sign that announced he was gay. Some of his mannerisms were close to flaming, not that she cared. He also liked flirting, which she could get behind.
"Long night?" Leander sneered, glaring at her with dark eyes.
Scarlet ignored him. She knew that toward most of his other patrons he was an extreme gentleman, but she rubbed him the wrong way from the first time that she came in the bar. In fact, she watched as he personally carried a drink to a customer that she had not noticed earlier.
She was surprised that the only other person in the bar was a girl. She was tucked in the corner of a booth, watching something on one of Goodies' many television. It was an odd sight because it was past two in the morning and Goodies would actually be closed in a little while. It was hardly safe for her to be out alone.
"Who's the kid?" she asked Lysander, pointing at the girl.
Lysander shrugged. "She comes in here to watch in soccer sometimes. She's good friends with my father."
"Yeah, so you leave her alone. She's a good kid and doesn't need to be mixed up with the likes of you," Leander stated soundly as he made his way back over to them.
Scarlet chuckled. "Now, I feel the urge to buy her a drink. What's she drinking?"
Lysander shrugged. "Father takes her order."
"Gimme another usual."
Lysander made the drink, even though his father glared at him. She smiled in triumph and winked at the fuming middle-aged bar owner. She sauntered over to the table, but the girl did not look away from her game. Scarlet was a bit shocked by being ignored, especially in a dress that she knew for a fact caused both men and women to stop and stare. She eased the drink on the table just the same. That caused deep, almost puppy-like chocolate almond-shaped eyes to gaze up at her. She's adorable! The light purple streak in her hair only added to her cuteness.
"I figured I buy another night owl a drink," Scarlet commented with a half-smirk.
"I'm not old enough to drink," she replied curtly, pushing the drink away. Her eyes went right back to the television.
Scarlet frowned because of the rudeness. "Then you shouldn't be in a bar."
The girl sighed. "Look, I just want to watch my match in peace."
"Then you should do it at home." Scarlet cut her losses and walked away. Leander openly laughed at her.
Poe returned home, sighing. She realized that she had probably blown a chance with a redheaded goddess just because she was in a piss-poor mood and only wanted to watch football while sipping some soda. She slapped herself in the forehead.
"What type of moron am I? She was practically sitting in my lap and I dismissed her. Stupid." She sighed again. She figured it was time to end the bad day by going to bed. Checking her pockets before she took off her pants, she pulled out the card Nadi gave her. "Even Nadi thinks I'm too pathetic to find a date on my own. Well, I'll show her."
She was going to throw the card out, but found herself unable to do so. Instead, it ended up on her cluttered art desk while she took a shower.
Mallory awoke sometime in the afternoon. Yawning, she scratched her head and then her flat belly. She was tempted to lay back down and sleep some more, but glancing at her clock, she knew it was time to start her day. She sat up and yawned again.
"I gotta go to the gym," she pushed herself because usually the thought of working out was enough to get her out of bed, but not right now. "Gotta work out." She growled as she cast her covers off, revealing her nude body to her empty bedroom. She swung her legs over the queen-sized bed and managed to stumble to her bathroom.
A hot shower woke her up completely and made her feel human again. She made herself look halfway presentable by her standards, which meant she looked breathtaking by other people's standards. Once that was out of the way, she had some breakfast, which consisted of oatmeal with raisins, a favorite of hers since she was a child. She also made a mental note that she had to buy some more oatmeal, as she had just eaten the last of it, and some other essentials. After that, she put on her workout clothes and took the short walk to her favorite gym.
She went through her usual exercises while conversing with a few friends. They made plans to hit some clubs, but could not pin down a date that was good for all of them. They would get around to it eventually, as they always did. It just always took a while. Despite the plans to go clubbing, the gym was full of serious gym nuts, so everyone was about working out. Most people were talking about their bodies. Mallory fell right into line with that.
The redhead often felt she was in paradise when she went to the gym. She liked toning her body and getting stronger; she always had. She also enjoyed looking good. Being in shape made her feel good, both physically and mentally. She was able to clear her head when she worked out and do some thinking. She also felt clear to indulge in her many vices since she felt like working out and eating decently would wipe those away.
Her afternoon was spent at the gym; almost five full hours because she had not been there in several days thanks to work. Generally, she would spend one to two hours at the gym. She walked back home and took another hot shower. She preferred showering at home, probably because her shower was much better than the one at the gym. She had two showerheads and much better water pressure. Her shower was not as long as earlier, but just as satisfying.
She went back out, shopping for her essentials, especially breakfast foods, at a market that was only a few blocks from her apartment. When she returned home, she put the items away and then curled up with a good book on her sofa. She tucked her legs underneath her and found the page that she had been on when last she read this book.
"I wonder how many people would guess how normal my days off are. Normal and boring," she snickered to herself. Well, boring until my friends can figure out when everyone can get together and go out.
She smiled as she flipped the pages of her thick book. In the digital age and time of ereaders, she still loved the feel of a real book. She enjoyed turning pages. She liked feeling the texture of a page. Even the way the paper smelled, ranging from the crisp new prints to the worn older ones, filled her with joy. For some reason, she felt like it all added to the experience of the story and helped the book come to life.
"I don't know how serious readers use tablets and their phones to read stuff," she mumbled, shaking her head.
As it got a little later, she ordered some takeout for dinner, as was her habit. She thought it was weird that she felt fine cooking breakfast for one, but thought it was a waste of time to cook dinner for one. She set her book down to check her appointments. While she liked reading full, complete books, she kept all her appointments logged in her work phone. She also checked to see if she had any messages from her so-called boss. She never answered her work phone on her days off, so her boss had learned to leave messages, even though she swore that was beneath her.
"Nothing pressing," she noted as she listened to the voice mails.
The only messages that she had were about new appointments. She put those into her phone and tossed the device to the far end of couch, not wanting to think about it for the rest of the night. The intercom buzzed, announcing the arrival of her takeout delivery. With her dinner paid for and the delivery guy tipped handsomely, she ate dinner and then returned to her book with a glass of wine in hand.
Now that everything was settled and she had nothing left to take care of for the night, the quiet seemed to bounce off the walls as she read. She was used to it and it did not happen very often, but it caused a bit of anxiety flutter in her blood whenever she noticed it. She figured it was just a symptom of living alone and rarely watching television. She had a little more wine to help the silence fade from her mind and focused on her book.
"Just me, my book, and my booze," she joked, forcing out an awkward smile for her own benefit. She read a few more lines of the book, finding that she was drawer closer to the end, which only made things worse. "I might need something stronger if I really want to dismiss the quiet."
She had been doing a good job ignoring the silence, but after a while it always crept upon her, even if she turned on something for some background noise. The silence somehow sneaked underneath things, but she turned on some music to try to beat it. Even with music going, she could still feel the anxiety in her blood. Once she was done with her wine, she decided to have something a little stronger. It would cure the quiet.
Poe sighed and dropped her paintbrush. No matter how much she worked on her latest piece, it continued to be a mess. She could not understand what the problem was, so there was really no way to fix it. Internally, her stomach toiled and rolled, which made it difficult to concentrate.
"Maybe I need to eat something," she considered, tearing herself away from her wretched canvas.
She pulled out the closest items in her fridge, strawberries and macaroni salad, which her mother had given her on her last visit to her family a few days ago. She ate those as a meal, not even sure what meal because she did not have a displayed clock. It looked like the sun was setting, so she would put the time at least in the evening. Once she ate, she noted that her stomach did not feel better.
"What is wrong with me?" she wondered aloud as she sat back down in front of her painting. Her eyes wandered her desk and fell onto that accursed card Nadi had given her after telling her that she needed to get laid.
She scowled at the card, glaring daggers at it. Of course, it remained unmoved. She picked it up, harshly rubbing her fingers against the thick texture. It was a well-made card, better than the ones that she handed out. It was soiled with flecks of paint from her attempt to work, but nothing was blocked as far as the company name and number. She flung the card down.
"I don't need no damn escort. I could get a date on my own if I wanted to," Poe declared, sitting up a little straighter.
She withered a bit as she remembered how effectively she had talked her way out of a possible date with that sexy redhead at Goodies the night before. She was about as smooth as sandpaper in that case. She felt that illustrated her ability to talk to women better than the delusion that she wanted to operate under.
"No, I can get a date, dammit!" she proclaimed.
Leaping up from her seat, she marched to the bathroom and took a shower. She thankfully had done the laundry earlier and threw on her favorite jeans and a soccer jersey. While it was not the sexiest outfit on Earth, it was comfortable and showed off a physique that she was proud of. Lastly, she tamed her hair as best she could, combing it out and letting it hang free for the first time in a long time.
She made sure her lilac streak hung on the side of her face. Her hair had waves in it from being trapped in a braid for so long, but Nadi once assured her that it was cute and all right to wear her hair like that. That was the end of grooming for her.
Poe grabbed her keys, phone, and wallet, leaving the house with no clue as to what time it was or where she was going. Stepping out into the fading daylight, she realized that it might help her if she knew the exact time. Going into her pocket, she checked her phone to see that it was the late evening. If she hurried, she could wander one of her favorite museums for a couple of hours.
"Maybe I could pick up a girl at the modern art museum or something," she muttered.
One of the things that she loved about her apartment, and one of the reasons that she purchased it, was because it was within walking distance of a lot of museums. Well, it was in walking distance of a lot of things, but the museums were the selling point for her. Museums were generally the only things that she would leave her apartment for on her own, as far as entertainment went anyway. She smiled as she entered the modern art museum.
"Maybe I should start working in another medium. I'm pretty good with plaster," Poe mused as she stared at a few statues. She noticed a girl a few feet away and was tempted to go to talk to her, but stopped as she considered the possible outcomes. "No, don't think negative. Just go talk to her."
Taking a deep breath, Poe steeled herself before easing over to the girl, who was now admiring a piece by Van Gogh. Poe was not a brilliant student of art as far as time periods and artist biographies. In fact, she barely passed her only art history class. But, she was always good at finding something in the art that spoke to her and she could always discuss technique, even if she could not name the artistic era.
"I really like the colors in this piece," Poe said.
The girl looked at her and then started going through Van Gogh's whole life. Poe tensed and resisted the urge to run. Dammit! I'm a painter! I should know about this shit! After her internal scolding, she noticed that the girl was looking at her expectantly. She searched her mind for something to say after blanking out everything the girl uttered.
"Um … I took a class where they made us copy famous artists," Poe said and as soon as it left her mouth, she mentally slapped herself. What the fuck was that? Gotta recover! "I was never really good when I got to Van Gogh."
The girl gave her a look, as if skeptical that Poe could even hold a paintbrush. She then went into a very technical lecture about Van Gogh's technique. Mentally, Poe groaned and found that she wanted to shut in on herself. Or better still, to tell the girl to shut the fuck up. While she knew art technique, she did not feel the need to have a conversation about it, especially with all of the art jargon the girl was using. If all of the art talk was a ploy to get her to leave the girl alone, it worked.
Poe did not care to discuss art, especially when she was producing crap in her opinion. Besides, she preferred to just admire art when she was in a museum. She would not mind talking about why the work was touching, but she did not want to do a technical analysis of any piece. Being able to break down the way the painting was made did not come close to talking about why the piece was produced or why it was worthy to hang in a museum. The girl did not touch on any of that in her dissertation.
"Okay, yes, that's how the picture was put to canvass, but what do you think he was feeling when he put this to canvass?" Poe asked and the girl looked at her as if she had said something wrong.
"He was probably feeling tortured as always," the girl replied, the "idiot" went unsaid, but definitely hung in the air between them.
Poe sighed and decided to move on. She tried with a couple of other women, who, too, only seemed to want to lecture her about artists' lives or method the artist used. She did not care and had to literally bite her tongue not to say that to the third woman. Typically, trips to the museum were not some bothersome, but then again, typically she was not in the museum for the sole purpose to pick up a woman. She left the closing museum dateless.
"Time to try my luck at the club," Poe mumbled, frowning at the thought.
Of course, she was never lucky at clubs. If she could not talk art as an artist, she really never knew what to talk about in a loud club. Nadi and Justin told her all the time that clubs were not for verbal communication, which she thought was good. She was horrible at verbal communication, after all. Still, she was just as awkward in a club as she was in the art museum.
Bass hummed through her as she made her way into the dark club. She saw moving bodies that at first appeared as one throbbing organism to her adjusting eyes. She often saw crowded areas in that manner and took a mental snapshot, considering making it the subject of a painting. Of course, that meant that she would have to be able to paint again.
"I've been producing crap," she grumbled in regards to her art. She did not have a chance to contemplate it as someone began grinding against her.
She shuddered at the surprise contact and all her mind could think was "escape!" With her heart racing, Poe quickly moved away from any and all gyrating bodies. When her back hit a wall, her heart made its way out of her throat and back into her chest. She had to take a deep breath before venturing back out into the crowd.
"It's okay. You've been to dozens of clubs with and without Nadi. You don't need her to babysit you," Poe reminded herself in a low voice. I just hate it when people touch me without my permission!
As soon as she finished giving herself that little pep talk, a woman came over to offer to buy her a drink. Just like the last woman to offer, Poe turned her down on the grounds of being too young. The predatory look that appeared on the woman's face when Poe said "not old enough to drink" caused the artist to practically run for the door. She did not make it far, but far enough to get away from that wolf.
"You're pretty cut!" a woman said to her, shouting over the music. She motioned to Poe's partially exposed bicep, but did not touch her.
Poe smiled and flexed. "I work out."
"It shows. I'm Jillian!"
"Poe." She offered her hand to the woman. They shared a friendly handshake.
"So, what do you do for a living?"
"Um … I write …" Poe answered.
"Oh, really? Anything I might have read?"
Poe sighed and hoped that Jillian had not read her series. "Uh … a series called Maru: Knight of the Realm." And the light that came on in Jillian's eyes was all too familiar to Poe. Jillian was a fan and not the type that Poe could handle. She would not simply ask for an autograph.
"Oh, my god! I just start reading that series after a friend of mine was telling me that the lead character was gay! You know what you should to do in the next book?" Jillian then preceded to tell her everything that needed to be in the third book.
Mentally, Poe groaned and mapped out her escape. While she did not mind people making suggestions, she hated when people told her what to do with her characters. It was her work. She knew what she was doing. She had it all planned out and some people just refused to believe that, as far as she could tell since they liked telling her what she should do. Making matters worse, she also detested when people told her that her character Maru was gay.
"You know, there's nothing in the books to suggest she's a lesbian," Poe felt the urge to point out and decided not to filter herself. She really did not care if people thought the character was gay, but she disliked when people outright told her about her own characters.
"What? There's plenty. Maru is clearly gay," Jillian argued.
"Maru is a sixteen year old tomboy with no romantic interests. How is that clearly gay?"
The woman then cited several incidents from the books, which was too much for Poe. She did not want to discuss her work, especially since she knew that so far her character was rather asexual. She just wanted to relax with a woman. Jillian clearly would not be that woman, especially as she went on and on about the books.
"I'm sorry, but I need to go," Poe said and she quickly departed as Jillian was trying to give Poe her phone number.
The artist escaped the club, sighing as soon as she hit the streets. Knowing that Jillian was not the norm as far as women and fans went, Poe braved another club. Even though it was a different club and different women, Poe found herself still lacking the conversational skills to do anything but fumble.
"How did I ever get dates if I can't even make it through a night of talking?" Poe muttered to herself. "But then again, I never had a bunch of dates and things were different at school. There was more to talk about."
A little after midnight, dragging her feet, Poe returned home with her shoulders slumped and her head down. She stripped off her street clothes and put on some paint stained sweat pants and a tank top. She flopped down on her stool, facing her canvas. She picked up a paintbrush, but found her hand refused to move.
"I can't even paint," she sniffled, bottom lip trembling. "I'm pathetic. I can't hold a decent conversation with a girl. I can't do anything."
Her eyes fell to the card that was sitting on her desk. A thought began drifting through her mind. She was distracted from the fragment of a haunting idea by her phone ringing. She knew who it was from the ringtone, but she could not answer it until she figured out where she left it. She forgot to take it out if her pants.
"Hi, Mom," she said, trying not to mumble, but failing. She was surprised that her mother was calling her so late, but she was also happy to just hear from her mother. She realized that she was probably getting the call so late because she had forgotten to call her family earlier, which was her habit.
"Hi, my little Leonardo. How are you?" her mother, Rayne Bryant, asked.
"Struggling. I want to paint, but it's not coming."
Her mother made a sympathetic cooing noise. "I'm sorry. Have you tried writing? You usually write when you get a painting block. Your manuscript should be done in a couple of months, right?"
"Yeah, Mom, but I'll get that done, no problem."
"You sound so down. I just wanna hold you and pet your head."
"Mom!" Poe huffed.
Rayne laughed. "What? You and I both know that always makes you feel better."
"I'm twenty! I can't still have my mom petting my head."
"Well, then we have to find you a lady friend to pet your head. It always makes you feel better. Honestly, I don't think its fair that I only got eight years to do it. That's not nearly long enough for me," Rayne dramatically lamented.
Poe's heart thumped, even though she knew that her mother was partially joking. "Me, too, Mom. Please never stop offering to pet my head." She remembered when her mother first caressed her head and it instantly calmed her down. She did not know where it came from, but it comforted her. From that moment on, her mother had petted her head whenever she was feeling down and it helped pick her back up. It also made her feel close to her mother.
"Don't worry. I won't."
Poe smiled. "Mom, you should go to bed. You've got classes. I'll call you this evening, okay?"
"All right, little Leonardo. Your dad wondered why you didn't call earlier. I got worried, too. Calvin thinks bears got you."
Poe laughed. "Bears?"
"Yeah, I don't know why, but he's now convinced that any time something bad happens, bears or wolves did it. I'm sure it has to do with this myths and legends book your father reads him as bedtime stories. So, call to let your brother know you escaped the bears."
"Sorry, I went out and lost track of time. I'll definitely call tomorrow."
"It's all right. It's good that you went out. You're young. You should go out and have a good time. Do you need anything?" her mother asked with concern.
"No, Mom. I'm good."
"Eating well?"
Poe laughed. "Yes, Mom! Now, go to bed. You have class in the morning!"
"I'm going. I love you, my little Leonardo."
"I love you, too. Tell the guys I love them, too."
"I will."
The call was disconnected and Poe felt lighter. There were people in the world that cared for her and they were only a phone call away. So what I can't get a date? Snorting, she turned her attention back to her painting and found herself in the same trouble. The painting had to be cursed as it sucked all the joy her mother had just bestowed upon her.
"Damn you, picture. Damn you, muse. Return to me …" Poe whimpered and rubbed her eye with the heel of her hand. Glazing around the apartment, she took in the emptiness, the lack of warmth, and the stillness.
She thought of her family, everyone in bed by now. Her parents were morning people, typically in bed by ten. She knew that she had worried her parents by forgetting to call if her mother stayed up so late trying to get in touch her. Thoughts of her brother wandered through her mind and she knew he was asleep, as he was always in bed by nine. He was probably snuggled under his Spiderman blankets, wearing his Spiderman pajamas, too. She had covered his bedroom walls in Spiderman characters. He loved it. He loved her.
Feeling a lump raising in her throat, she tried to beat down thoughts that no one else would ever love her. Tearing herself away from the canvas, she rushed out of the apartment. She nearly forgot to take her keys. Maybe football will help.
Poe woke up, not sure of the time. There were lines under her eyes with dark circles. She felt like she needed more sleep, but she would not dare. She noticed she was twisted in the sheets and the more she tried to escape, the more tangled she became. Falling the short distance to the floor, she panted as she crawled out of the possessed linen.
"Is everything destined to go wrong lately?" she huffed, glaring at her wicked bed.
She wandered to the fridge and pulled out a bowl of cold potatoes that she had made last night. Not bothering to warm them up, she drowned them in ketchup and mustard before going back to her painting. As soon as she sat down, that damned card caught her eye and flooded her with the nightmares that visited during her fitful sleep.
Shadows shaped like people had condemned her and abandoned her. There were echoes of people telling her that she was not worth loving, not worth sticking around for, and sounds of footsteps moving away from her. The haunting images and noises twisted her guts and squeezed her heart as if trying to crush the organ.
"This is just because of my damn bad luck with women," she told herself. "Maybe I should call. It'll help me relax and I won't feel so out of sorts around women next time. There's no pressure here and it might not be so bad. I can get this monkey off of my back and paint again. Hell, write again."
Her cocoa eyes wandered to her laptop computer. She would not be surprised if dust had gathered on the thing. She had not written anything in over a week. Because of that, she had tried painting, only to fail at that.
Snatching the card from her desk, she went to find her phone. She made the call before she had a chance to chicken out. As it rang, she felt like her heart was going to leap out of her chest.
Mallory was nursing her second drink of the night at home when her work phone went off. She debated on answering it. While it was not her day off, she was done with her date and wanted some time to herself. Still, she grabbed the phone.
"What's up, Tats?" Mallory asked.
"I've told you not to call me that," her boss huffed.
"You've told me a lot of things. I clearly don't listen," the redhead remarked. "Now, what's up?"
"I'm going to give you a bunny."
"You're trusting me with another bunny?" the redhead chuckled. A bunny was the term that Tatijana liked to use for first customers.
"Because you know how to handle cute little bunnies, despite your treatment of older pets. This particular bunny needs very special care. She sounded ready to run on the phone."
"She?" Mallory echoed.
"Yes, she. A single little bunny. Is that a problem?"
"No, of course not. It's just rare for a she-bunny, but I guess they have to show up sometimes. Give me the details."
Mallory put the information she needed into her phone as soon as she could. It was no more than the basic information, the bare bones that her boss asked for when interviewing potential clients. She was not sure what to expect from the date or what was expected of her, beyond not freaking the girl out. She did not even know what she should wear. She noticed that the address seemed familiar.
"Are you sure this is where she wants to meet you?" Baran inquired as he pulled up to Goodies.
"This is the address she gave. Weird," Scarlet commented. "Well, Bear, I'll call you if I need you."
"This doesn't seem right." He scanned outside of the car, checking out the street.
"Aw, Bear, you're worried about me!" she proclaimed with a teasing grin.
Baran tensed and bristled. She could have sworn his mustache stiffened. "Shut the hell up and stop calling me that! I hope you get fucking shot!" he barked, glaring at her from the rear view mirror. If looks could kill, he would not have to worry about her getting shot because his eyes would have done her in.
She laughed as she exited the vehicle. Her heels clicked on the sidewalk, causing a girl standing in front of the Goode Bar to turn around. She was shorter than Scarlet, especially since the redhead was in her heels. The girl had tan-colored skin and she was dressed casually in black cargo parts and a tank top that depicted a scene of a castle in the middle of the woods, complete with animals. Scarlet knew that she was overdressed for whatever her date planned, unless they were going right back to the girl's place. Upon closer inspection, she recognized the girl that had shunned her a few of days ago.
"Poe?" Scarlet asked with a smile that she knew was smug, almost haughty.
Those cute almond-shaped, chocolate eyes blinked in shock and maybe even a hint of terror. "You? You're Scarlet?" There was a slight tremble in her voice.
"I am." The smile was morphing into that of a predator.
Poe took a step back and balled her hands into fists. Briefly, Scarlet thought the girl would attack her and considering how stocky the girl was, she was sure Poe packed a decent punch. Her smile dropped and she softened a bit.
"I knew this was a stupid idea. Never mind," Poe declared and she was about to flee the scene, but Scarlet grabbed her hand before she could escape. Yanking her hand back, Poe almost fell over. "Don't touch me!"
"Okay, just calm down, Poe. Calm down. I'm sorry for teasing you," Scarlet said with a straight face. "Please, don't run off. Besides, my boss will charge you no matter what."
Poe took a breath that seemed to relax her. "Really?" she asked in adorable disbelief.
"Yeah, so let's do the date you had planned."
"Uh … I didn't really have anything planned. I don't know what I was thinking when I made that phone call," Poe sighed and shook her head before scratching the top of her messy ebony hair. The lilac strip of hair hung by the side of her face and only made her seem cuter.
"Then let's just go back to your place or find a room somewhere," Scarlet suggested.
"Or we could go walk through Independence Park! They might have something going on!" Poe replied, walking off toward the park.
Scarlet chuckled, but she followed Poe. She doubted that she had ever had a date that wanted to invent things to do rather than just go somewhere private if there were no other plans. The park was a block away. It was a massive area, much like Central Park in New York. There were generally a number of different events going on, especially in the summer. They wandered right into an international food festival.
"Oh, I love these things. They always have the best food. Have you been to one of these?" Poe asked with a smile.
Scarlet shook her head. "I've heard about them, but never bothered to go."
"Well, you're going now. They're cool. Sometimes, they have themes, like Island Tastes or Greek Flavors." Poe looked around. "This looks like just a regular one, which is good for an intro. A lot of restaurants use this as advertising and sometimes just really good cooks come here to show off."
Scarlet smiled; her enthusiasm for something like this is adorable. Poe did not do much talking after that, nothing beyond asking about food. Scarlet scanned the area while Poe focused on the vendors and their goods. The event was like a fair, but instead of rides and games, there were only food stands. It smelled good, she would give it that.
"Wanna try some meatballs?" Poe said, already buying a small bowl.
Scarlet doubted a trip to a five-star restaurant was on the agenda, but she declined the meatballs. "If I see something I want, I'll be sure to let you know."
Poe nodded and they continued on. When Poe finished the meatballs, she bought some fried bananas just because they were passing them. When she finished those, she purchased a gyro. Scarlet decided to get one, too, as she figured Poe would keep eating until they got to the end of the area.
"You have a good physique for someone that seems to eat everything," Scarlet commented.
Poe blushed and chuckled a bit. "Oh! I work out and I do martial arts."
Scarlet nodded. "I can see it in the way you move. I work out, too. I go to the gym whenever I can."
"Me, too, but I haven't been lately. You do martial arts, too?"
"I do. I have since I was a kid. You?"
Poe shook her head. "Since I was thirteen."
Scarlet nodded and the conversation faded again. The silence was not awkward or deafening. They walked from one end of the food fair to the other, Poe eating more along the way. The sun was gone and the vendors were beginning to pack up.
"I love those things. It's like traveling the world, one dish at a time," Poe commented, licking her lips.
Scarlet chuckled. "I'd rather see the sights."
Poe smiled. "Well, yeah, those are good, too. Have you traveled?"
"A bit. Hong Kong, Tokyo, London, Paris, and a few other cities in Europe. You?"
"Just England with my mom for her dance stuff. I'd like to see some other places, especially Italy."
"Why Italy?"
"Art," was Poe's simple answer and the end of the conversation as well as the park. "I wonder what we should do now."
Scarlet smiled. "We could go back to your place."
Those puppy-like eyes went wide. "Uh … we don't need to do that. We're having a good time out. I'm fine with this."
Generally, Scarlet would have let things stay at that and let Poe waste her money, but she could not do that to such an adorable girl. Besides, she was supposed to make sure the little bunny became a repeat customer.
"Look, you take me to your place and I'll forget how rude you were to me for no reason at Goodies," Scarlet proposed with a smile.
Poe's face twisted and she scratched her head. "How about a sorry and a hand shake?" was the counteroffer.
Fiery red hair swayed as the escort shook her head. "Nope, especially since you had me walk around all night in high heels."
The younger woman yelped. "Sorry about that."
"Sorry isn't going to cut it. Let's get moving," Scarlet stated. Poe winced and looked as if the redhead requested that she commit seppuku. "Come on, kid, I just want to make you come, not cut off your head. Now, can we go before I can't walk anymore? I might end up just soaking my feet at your place."
Scarlet snickered at her own joke while Poe marched off. Scarlet was not sure if the girl was leaving her or leading the way. She decided to check for herself, moving up close to Poe and picking her pocket. Poe noticed immediately.
"Hey! Give it back!" the shorter woman ordered, attacking Scarlet with a surprising spinning kick.
"Whoa! Calm down! I'm not mugging you!" Scarlet swore as she blocked the kick.
"Then give it back!"
Scarlet continued to defend against the fierce fighter. She tried to look in the wallet, but could not because Poe's fists and feet seemed to be everywhere. She dropped the wallet and held her hands up in surrender. They were both breathing heavily and Scarlet chuckled.
"You are amazing!" the escort declared.
"You're not bad either. Why'd you take my wallet? Are you trying to rip me off?" Poe demanded.
"Nope, just wanted to see your address. And since I got your ID, I can," Scarlet laughed as she held up Poe's driver's license. "You live close by."
Poe's face practically fell into the dirt. "How'd you do that?"
Scarlet smirked. "I'm a little street savvy. You live five blocks from Goodies. Let's go. My feet really are killing me."
Poe sighed and her shoulders slumped. They took the walk to Poe's building. It was in a decent part of town with several loft apartments. Poe lived in a loft and the space was pronounced because her digs were rather spartan. There was no entertainment center, just a couch with a laptop resting on it. That explains why she was watching TV at Goodies.
"You paint," Scarlet noted, seeing the canvas, paints, and desk cluttered with other art supplies.
"I try. You want something to eat or drink?"
Scarlet smirked. "Yeah, you."
Scarlet pouncing caught Poe by surprise, causing her to yelp. Lips on her neck distracted her from her trip to the fridge. She could not help moaning as those lips gently devoured her neck. Her legs wobbled and she knew that she needed to get to the bed or she would fall over.
"Where are you going, Poe?" Scarlet purred her name. The sound made the artist want to melt.
"Just the bed …" Poe answered, holding in a moan. The feel of those lips was so delicious that she could not even freak out over being touched without giving her permission. Of course, she was a lot less high-strung than when she had been trolling for a date. This is much less pressure, has been all day.
"Good idea."
Scarlet's mouth and hands never left Poe, drawing out more moans. Poe felt like fire was coursing though her veins as she somehow managed to reach the bed. She was about to collapse on it, but she was not sure if the platform would be able to handle the weight. As she eased down, Scarlet followed her, placing a knee on the futon mattress to support herself.
With each touch of Scarlet's lush lips, Poe felt heat building through her. Scarlet's wonderful fingertips scorched paths on her body, even with her clothes in the way. From the way that she felt, as if she was going to erupt in ways that rivaled a volcano just from petting, she knew it had been too long since she had been with a woman. I need to be touched.
"You actually taste good, very sweet. I didn't expect that," Scarlet said, nipping at Poe's earlobe while pulling Poe's shirt up. "Is this okay?"
The artist whimpered. "Yes …" she hissed.
Scarlet smiled against her burning flesh. Poe almost screamed when she felt hands against her skin. She had no idea what happened to her shirt and did not care as Scarlet palmed both of her breasts. The massage was gentle and thumbs caressed her nipples. Arching into the delightful sensations, she called out loudly.
"That's it, baby, let loose. Make all those beautiful sounds," Scarlet implored her, pinching her taut nipples.
Poe did just that, crying out as she wrapped her arms around Scarlet. The redhead kissed her way down her neck while pushing the younger woman further back onto the bed. Scarlet pulled away only to free herself from her dress and bra. She then moved to get Poe out of her pants and underwear.
Poe panted in anticipation as she found herself memorized by full, swaying breasts. Her hands had minds of their own, reaching for detectable treasures while Scarlet smiled down at her before returning to Poe's neck. The younger woman shivered as a wet tongue slid down her neck. She would not have been surprised if steam had risen off of her body in the tongue's wake.
"Oh, god." Poe lost contact with Scarlet's glorious rack as the redhead moved further down her body.
"Let go, Poe. Let me give you everything you need," Scarlet said. Of course, Poe could not respond because she could not speak, could not think. Her brain could only focus on the sensations brought on by Scarlet's tongue.
When that divine tongue flickered her right nipple while Scarlet's fingers played with the other, Poe had to clutch Scarlet's shoulders to keep from flying off of the bed. Her breathing increased, as if she were running a four-minute mile. Her eyes closed tight as hot lips wrapped around her pebbled nipple and, when Scarlet allowed for simple suction, Poe thought her head might blow off of her shoulders and she would surely die.
By the time Poe realized that she had survived, Scarlet had switched peaks and her free hand crept down Poe's muscled abdomen. Poe tensed, knowing what was coming next. Scarlet giving her left bud more attention caused her to arch and forget about the hand on her stomach until it came to her destination.
"Yes!" Poe hissed.
The puddle between her legs might have embarrassed the artist, but she was too far gone to care. She pushed her hips up to met exploring fingers, moving faster and faster because of the incredible feeling. She knew she was going to fall to pieces soon. She was going to be blown apart.
Her breathing increased to the point hurting her chest, but she could not bring herself to care. Her heart was pounding in her ears, as was the sound of her own blood rushing to her ears. When she exploded, all of those things went away. There was nothing but pleasure all around her and then there was nothing.
When the world came back into focus, Poe realized that she had fallen asleep. For a split second, she considered that Scarlet had left, but then she felt pressure against her side. This feels really good. I forgot how nice this is. She turned to see Scarlet smiling at her.
"Welcome back to the land of the living," the redhead remarked.
"You're still here," Poe said with a small smile of her own.
"Of course, you still have me for another hour."
Poe was an expert on having single sentences destroy her whole world and that was definitely one of them. None of this is real. I'm just a job for her. In an hour, she'll leave and I'll go back to being by myself. The apartment would remain empty, her paintings would continue to fall apart, she would never be able to finish her book, and she would continue to have horrible luck with women.
"Let's make the most of that hour," Scarlet declared before attacking Poe with her mouth again.
By the time Scarlet left, she was confident that neighbors knew Poe got laid and also that Poe would call her back. She had made the girl pass out, after all. She made her way home, thinking of a nice, hot shower and a good night's sleep, even though it was now morning.
Poe sighed as she closed her laptop, having only written a paragraph in the last few days. She was going to need an extension if things continued on as they were. She could not even look at her canvas, all too aware that her painting was more forced that her writing. What the hell is wrong with me? Why is everything so hard now?
Sighing, her almond-shaped brown eyes scanned around her apartment and all she saw was isolation and despair, fanning out and consuming everything in deep, depressing grey tones. Cold breezes ripped through her in the early summer heat, like phantoms gnawing at her fingertips and seeping into her body, replacing everything inside of her with nothingness. Sniffling, she reached for her phone, unaware and uncaring about the time as she called for a rescue.
"Hello, my little Leonardo," her mother greeted her cheerfully. If she had not witnessed a few, Poe would swear that her mother never had a bad day in her life from the way that she answered her phone. Usually, the sound would warm her, but it would seem she needed more to fight off the brutal chill of her current melancholy.
"Hi, Mom," Poe replied, her voice a shadow of its true self. She tried clearing her throat as discreetly as possible to avoid that tone again, but she doubted that it would work.
"Oh, what's wrong, Poe?" The sweet empathy and love of the question made the artist's stomach flip.
Poe rubbed her forehead and twisted her face up because of her internal reaction to her mother's question. "I'm feeling really out of sorts, Mom. I was thinking of getting on a bus …"
"Really?" Rayne practically squealed. "Oh, sweetie, if you wait a few hours Dad can come get you."
Shaking her head, even though her mother could not see, Poe began pacing her cluttered floor. "No, that's okay. It's only a couple of hours by bus and …" She checked her phone for the time. "By the time I get there, you'll all be out of school."
"Okay, but we get to drive you back home."
"Deal, Mom. See you in a few. I love you."
"I love you, too."
The call was disconnected and Poe grabbed her messenger bag. She stuffed her laptop and her sketchbook into it. All packed up, she grabbed a hoodie just in case the bus driver fell in love with the AC a little too much and she was out. Time to visit the family.
Poe walked the clean streets of her suburban hometown that seemed so distant from the city that she now lived in. Physically, the distance was not so great. Even culturally the suburb and city were not so different, but they had different vibes and seemed worlds apart. Maybe I'm less familiar with the city … or something. I dunno. She never could figure out why things seemed so different, but as Poe stood before a large, light blue and white, tudor-style house with neatly trimmed lawn and actual picket fence, she felt at home.
Peace settled into her entire being before she even set foot into the house. Now, those dark feelings from earlier seemed a million miles away, just like the city. Maybe that's it. Of course, she could not figure out what she meant by that thought. Everything seemed like such a mystery, or maybe she was just confused and jumbled up, she considered.
"Hey, Poe, good to see you visiting with your family," the next door neighbor commented from her position down by her flower garden.
Poe smiled. "Yeah, how you doing, Mrs. Millard?" she spoke a little loudly because the elderly woman was a bit hard of hearing. "You need any help?" She used to help the retiree often when she lived at home. Her mother had mostly pushed her to do it, which she was now glad for because she learned that she liked helping. It just took sometime for her to get used to people to offer help.
The neighbor waved her off. "I'm fine, dear. You go inside. Get yourself situated because you know you won't have time for it once your family sees you're home."
Poe smiled and did as directed. She had her house key, so she let herself in. The house was the same as always, clean and orderly, except for some debris from Calvin. His skates were at the foot of the stairs, which made her think he might have been aiming for the family room, which was to the right of the stairs.
Stepping over the skates, Poe charged up the stairs with enough noise to be scolded if her parents had been home. She burst through the first door at the top of the landing that faced the stairs. Her room looked the same way it had last time she was home, which meant it looked better than her apartment. The room appeared lived-in, or so her dad said whenever he compared it to her apartment.
Her bedroom was the largest room that she had ever had before she had gotten her apartment. She recalled not knowing what to do with all of the space, after she got over wondering when her parents would give the room to someone else or make her share it with a bunch of other people. Of course, she never had to share, but she continued to be baffled by what to do with so much space, both with her room and with her apartment.
Her parents had furnished the room, so she did not have to worry about that and she had lived in the room more than twice as long as she lived in her apartment. She thought that was a decent excuse as to why her room was "lived-in" and her apartment was Spartan, but her parents did not buy it. They thought it showed her belief that there was no such thing as a home and housing was temporary. Her apartment was set up for her to be able to leave within a moment's notice while her room would take a while to pack away, which was one of the reasons why she never tried.
"This is home," Poe reminded herself with a small smile.
She put her bag down on her hardwood floor and flopped down on her made bed. While the spread was her usual mountain scene cover, she had not made the bed the last time that she was there. Her mother made it because her mother seemed to think an unmade bed was a crime against humanity. Poe had yet to figure out why it was so important to make a bed because it would only get messed up when she slept in it again. But, there were a lot of things that she did not get that her mother tried to pound into her head and because her mother said it, that did make her think those things were important.
"Maybe I'll get it one day," she muttered while settling in and looking around her room.
Her paints were left out, next to stacks of sketches that she had in the corner. They were all cluttering her vanity, which was her makeshift desk because her actual desk was covered in story plots and outlines. The sight brought a soft smile to her face. She could still see herself in the room, working on her stuff, door open in case someone in her family wanted to come in.
"Poe!" she heard her father call as the front door opened.
"Dad!" A grin brightened Poe's features. She shot up off of the bed and out of the room. Halfway down the stairs, she was practically tackled by her little brother. They laughed as Poe fell back slightly and they ended up sitting down on the steps.
"Poe! It's great that you're here! We can go skate!" Calvin suggested with a huge smile.
Poe smiled, too, because of his enthusiasm. She ran her hand through his sandy blond hair and nodded. He grinned at her, flashing big front teeth. His cobalt eyes sparkled as he pulled away from her, allowing her to get up. She turned her attention to their parents while Calvin charged upstairs to undoubtedly put his bag down.
"Hey, Mom and Dad," Poe smiled at them as they embraced her to welcome her home.
With her family, Poe always thought she was obviously the oddball as far as appearance went. Her parents were both white and, while she was not the darkest person on Earth, she was the darkest person in the house. Then, there were her eyes and their almond shape, which made her appear Asian or Mexican. She had straight black hair while her mom had wavy dark brown hair and her dad had curly blond hair. She was the shortest between them, even though they were not very tall, both below average height. But, despite the differences, in this house, in these arms was the first time that Poe felt that she fit.
"Good to see you," Rayne smiled and she ran her fingers through Poe's hair in the exact same manner that Poe had just done to Calvin. She kissed Poe's cheek.
"Glad you came to visit," her father, Nolan Bryant, said, patting her on the shoulder. His dark blue eyes shined just the way Calvin's head as he stared down at Poe.
"Sorry I haven't been by in a couple of months. I've been trying to get some work done," Poe explained.
"It's all right. How's the book coming along? I can't wait to read it," Nolan proclaimed with a proud grin.
Poe chuckled. "My biggest fan."
"You know that's right!"
"Go spend some time with your brother. When you come back, I'll have dinner ready and we can talk," Rayne suggested because she knew that would help Poe unwind.
The artist nodded in agreement. She went upstairs to collect her brother and her skates. The pair charged out of the house like a herd of wild horses.
"You two make enough noise to walk the dead!" Rayne called after them. They only laughed as they escaped the house.
Poe and Calvin returned to the house as the sun was setting, leaving the sky ablaze with brilliant yellows and oranges. They were ordered upstairs to get clean as soon as they crossed the threshold. Nolan scooped up Calvin, who was only five (soon-to-be six he liked telling everyone that would listen), to take a bath. Poe used her parents' bathroom to take her shower. She had plenty of clothes to change into in her room.
Once the children were clean, the family sat down to dinner. Rayne had prepared lasagna with salad and buttered bread. Poe was almost drooling at the sight of a home cooked meal.
"Poe, you look like you're about to jump in the plate. You haven't been eating well?" Rayne asked, her brown eyes wide with concern.
"I eat fine, Mom. I just don't eat home cooked meals and stuff," Poe insisted. She cooked every now and then, but never a meal.
"You still eating those weird combinations of things?" Nolan inquired with a laugh. "I still don't see how you ate those pickles with maple syrup. And the bananas and tomatoes. People at school thought we starved you." He shook his head, probably remembering some of the things people assumed about her parents because of her.
Poe scowled, remembering those things, too. "I hated when people judged you after I came here. They don't know what my life was like before you and you will always be the best things to ever happen to me."
"And me, too!" Calvin added not to be left out.
"You bet, pal." The artist reached over the small table to ruffle his hair. He giggled. "Speaking of school, how was work?" Both of her parents were teachers and they worked summer programs often.
Rayne's eyes lit up. "My dancers are like angels. Sometimes, I feel like I don't deserve to be their teacher because I can't show them some of the things I ask them to do. I wish I could still dance like that, but I do love teaching."
"You're really good at teaching. Nadi always said so," Poe replied. Her mother used to be a dancer, but a back injury ended her dancing career. She did not talk much about it and Poe did not press her because her mother's usually warm eyes always glazed over with sorrow when she spoke on her career-ending trauma.
"How is Nadi? She only calls to tell on you now. You're stressing her out," Rayne teased.
"You just say that because she's your favorite," the artist countered with a smile.
"Glad you can say that with a smile now," Nolan commented, reaching over to push his daughter a little to taunt her.
Poe remembered the first time that she had heard her father tell her mother that Nadi was her favorite. She had not realized he was teasing and had not known what to do with that information. So many emotions had torn through her, swirling like a tornado inside of her, tearing at everything in her. Her solution to her emotional turmoil had been to attack Nadi in her mother's class and then she had break down, sobbing when her mother pulled her off of the star dancer.
Oddly enough, that was the start of their friendship. Nadi had not held a grudge, despite her reputation of being a bitch around school. Instead of being bitter, Nadi tried to understand why Poe did what she did. Of course, she knew that Nadi was using her to try to get closer to her mother at first, but that quickly changed. Rayne had encouraged their friendship, too, and basically made them friends before they realized it.
"So, pal, you ready for first grade soon?" Poe asked her brother.
"Yeah! I'm getting big. Mom's gonna take me to pick out a new book bag and sneakers and everything because I'm a big boy now!" Calvin replied proudly.
The artist smiled. "I used to love shopping for new stuff, too." That got scoffs from both of her parents.
"Only art supplies. We used to have to drag you out to get clothes. Then all you wanted was soccer gear. I thought you'd run away to a soccer field," Nolan joked, laughing a bit.
"She did. Remember that time with her first report card?" Rayne pointed out.
Poe slumped in her chair and groaned. "I didn't know school was so hard and I thought you'd be disappointed in me because you tried so hard to get me into your school and it's all special and smart and artsy and everything. I failed everything and I thought you'd return me."
Nolan groaned, too, shaking his head. "I try so hard to forget this ever happened. Don't remind me of this whole thing, please." He turned to look at his wife. "I almost went out of my mind, looking for her in the rain. Ray, you made me think if I didn't bring back our little girl, I better not come back home." Rayne did not respond, but the look in her eye said that Nolan was right.
"I didn't make things easier," Poe admitted in a low tone.
"You had a right to be scared, kiddo. We understood that. I'm glad you trusted me enough to tell me what was wrong and you came back," Nolan said with a smile. "Now, let's not talk about it anymore and I can go back to suppressing that memory."
They laughed and enjoyed a nice family dinner. Once the meal was over, they went to the living room to watch a movie. Nolan and Rayne also flipped through Poe's sketchbook. Occasionally, almost absently, Rayne petted Poe's head as she and Calvin were sitting on the floor while their parents were on the sofa. Nolan even read what little work Poe did on her novel.
Poe wondered why she had left such a wonderful atmosphere and moved to the city. She loved her home and her family and would love to be around them all the time. She did not care how old she would have been living at home as long as her parents allowed it and she knew that they would never put her out. Hell, they had begged her to stay when she decided to move out.
But, the art world called and her best friends had gone to the city to make their way. She figured that she should do the same. Honestly, her art career was faring well in the move, but money and rising artistic fame was nothing compared to the love and warmth of her family. But, her parents always seemed so proud of her work that she stayed where she was because she did not want to disappoint them by moving back home. Besides, they also wanted her to be more comfortable out in the world on her own, so she knew that she had to keep trying.
At nine, the movie was over and Rayne went to put Calvin to bed, complete with a story. Nolan decided to talk to Poe about her novel. She sat next to him on the sofa.
"Writing not going well?" he asked.
She shook her head. "No writing or painting. I can still sketch and outline, but nothing detailed. I feel clogged up and nothing's coming out. What should I do? I've never had this happen with both things I love. I can usually do one if the other is blocked."
"You probably just need to take a break. Don't force it or you'll feel worse when it doesn't come. Have tried listening to music while working? While my writing isn't on your level, sometimes music helps me when I'm trying to come up with poems and short stories."
She nodded. "I'll try. What type of music do you listen to?"
"Just stuff I like. Have you found a music genre you like yet?" She shook her head and her father gave her a sympathetic smile. She had never really listened to music until she came to live with him and Rayne and she was still trying to feel her way through much of it. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "You'll be okay, doodle."
"Aw! Dad, don't call me that!" she laughed and pushed him a bit.
His mouth dropped open. "What? Your Mom still pets you like you're five! I should get to call you doodle," he argued with a laugh.
She pouted and shook her head to refuse him. He poked her in the ribs with his index finger, making a pest of himself. She giggled and dropped on the floor to escape him. He smiled down at her.
"You're such a pain. I'm telling Mom," she threatened him.
"You just suck the fun out of everything," her father pouted.
Poe chuckled and playfully hit her father. When her mother returned, they played a few games of cards before everyone went to bed. In the morning, Poe stayed on to play with her brother and later that night the whole family took the ride to the city to return Poe to her apartment.
"My goodness, Poe, what are you doing in here?" Rayne asked as soon as she stepped through the door. She immediately started to clean.
"Wow, I thought it'd take her at least five seconds before she started cleaning," Nolan commented with a chuckle.
"Mom, no, you don't have to clean!" Poe objected, following her mother around as Rayne picked up discarded clothes and paintbrushes.
"And you still don't have any furniture beyond the couch we bought you!" Rayne was absolutely scandalized. "You can't bring a girlfriend here!"
"I don't have a girlfriend," Poe argued.
"And you won't with this pigsty! Come on, Poe, you're way better than this," Rayne said. "I don't even want to look in your fridge! You have got to stop living like this, sweetheart."
The artist could not argue that. She also could not stop her mother from cleaning, so she did not even bother to try after a few minutes. Her family stuck around until Calvin nodded off on the couch. Goodbyes, hugs, and "I love yous" were exchanged and then Poe was alone again. She curled on the sofa, still warm from Calvin's little body, and opened her laptop. Before she knew it, she was adding to her novel.
A couple of days later, the creative energy waned. At least I finished a chapter. Painting is still a no-go. Poe tried music as her father suggested, but it only seemed to echo hauntingly off of the bare walls. She wondered if it would work better if she actually liked a certain type of music instead of playing a bunch of random songs. She was sure it would still only sound like eerie wailing to her ears and the rest of her body. Her fingers refused to go with the flow, so her painting was thick and clumsy. Her writing was forced and stale.
"Can't go back home again or I might as well just move back in. Maybe Nadi and Justin want to go out," she considered with a smile.
Searching for her phone, she found it in her pants from yesterday. She called both friends, but the calls went straight to voicemail. She checked the time because that was strange. Nadi worried about her too much to not answer a call from her.
"Oh, she's in practice right now," Poe realized when she saw that it was the early afternoon. No one was allowed to have their cell phones on at practice, which made Poe wonder what they did if someone had an emergency, but she never found out. "She'll be in practice until, like, six. Justin must be painting while he has the peace and quiet to do so."
She thought it was funny that Justin could only paint in peace and quiet, the same stuff that seemed to be slowly killing her. Shaking her head, she ripped herself from her couch, where she had been attempting to write. Getting dressed, she figured that soccer might help her feel better. Soccer always brought her to a sense of calm and relaxation.
She trotted the few blocks to Goodies. There were only a couple of patrons in the bar, which made sense because it was just after lunchtime on a Thursday. She spotted Leander as she took her usual seat in the corner and tucked herself into the booth. The bar owner approached her to take her order.
"How are you doing, my dear? It's been a while," Leander said with a warm smile.
She forced out a smile. "Yeah, I've been trying to get some work done."
"Not going so well?" he asked with concerned eyes.
She shrugged a bit. "You can tell?"
He offered her a sad nod. "Your face is so long. I'll bring you a hamburger and a milkshake. Maybe even sit with you for a while."
The young woman smiled and nodded. Leander turned on a soccer game on the television that was closest to Poe before going off to get her order. When he returned, he sat for a while and discussed the finer points of soccer with her. She enjoyed the juicy hamburger and thick, chocolate milkshake along with his company. Eventually, he got up to tend to other patrons and she watched more soccer. She was content until she was interrupted.
"What the fuck is this shit? Yo, Goodie, man, put the baseball game on," a customer demanded, motioning to the television that Poe was watching.
"I'm watching this," Poe declared, moving forward.
The man was at least a foot taller than she was and he glared down at her with hard eyes. "Not anymore you're not. Why don't you go find some park to play in, kid?"
"Fuck you. I was here first!" Poe countered. She refused to ever let someone push her around if it could be helped. I'm never going to take someone's shit ever again.
"Well, we're here now! And we want to see baseball!" another man proclaimed.
"So, the fuck what?" the writer huffed.
Scarlet dragged her feet into Goodies. She ignored the whistling that followed, but the first guy to touch her would get decked. On the other hand, the first guy that buys me a drink might get kissed at the least. She saddled up to the bar and offered Lysander a tired smile.
"You look like something the cat coughed up," Lysander commented with a laugh as he put her usual in front of her.
"I've been up for the better part of two days and it's been a shitty two days. Just keep 'em coming," Scarlet requested as the noise from the other end of the establishment caught her attention. "What the fuck is that noise?" she grumbled. "God, the best part about this place was it being civilized. What the fuck are those cavemen barking about?"
Lysander shrugged and looked around to see what the problem was about. Scarlet did the same and noticed a group of men hollering at a familiar short and stocky form. Scarlet laughed and shook her head.
"This kid's got balls," Scarlet said and then she spotted Leander standing not too far the commotion. "Hey, old man, aren't you going to help her?"
Leander glared at her, as if she had nerve for daring to suggest that he get off of his ass and do something. "They're paying customers and they haven't touched her yet," he had the gall to utter.
"You had a titty attack when I tried to buy the kid a fucking drink, but you don't do shit when five brawly dudes are in her face? She's a goddamn paying customer, too," Scarlet huffed.
"She's usually not here when we're this busy. Yes, she's a paying customer, but they're regulars. They can be a little charged, but they won't hurt her," Leander stated.
Scarlet frowned and growled when she saw one of the men shove Poe. While she know from experience that Poe could hold her own, she doubted all of the muscles and martial arts would save the kid from a group of drunken idiots that were twice her size. Tearing herself away from a drink that she had been dying for, she could hear that they were screaming about baseball and, apparently, Poe wanted to watch soccer.
Not too sure what she was going to do, Scarlet watched Poe briefly. The flex of large biceps reminded her of the night she spent pleasing the younger woman, who had not been polite enough to call back for her services. She wondered if she had done something or failed to do something that night over a month ago. There was a way to find out, but she had to make sure the girl did not die for a soccer match.
"Hey, there you are, kid," Scarlet said, giving Poe a chance to turn around before she took Poe's hand.
"What are you doing?" Poe asked while all of the men stood silent, eyeing the redhead.
"I know, I'm late, but now we can go and you watch the match at my house," Scarlet said with a smile.
"Don't touch me," Poe grunted as she yanked her hand away. Her brow then wrinkled as she processed the offer. "Your house?" The younger woman looked offended by the suggestion.
"Yeah, there's a twenty-four hour soccer channel," Scarlet replied, gently corralling the painter away from the scene by putting her arm around Poe's shoulders without touching her.
Poe's eyes went wide at the mention of all day soccer. She followed Scarlet like a lost puppy and the redhead was covered in steaks. The men watched and Scarlet could not resist turning to give them a wink as she escorted Poe out of the building. She wanted to tell them to enjoy their baseball, but feared saying anything would break Poe out of her soccer-fueled trance. They took a five-minute cab ride to Scarlet's apartment complex. The ride was silent, as Scarlet expected. Poe was an extremely quiet individual.
The redhead waved to the doorman while she noted Poe scoping out the building. The complex was nice, much better than Poe's building. They rode the elevator up to the top floor. Scarlet went to the end of the hall and opened the door to her place.
"Living room's right there. I'm beat, so I'm going to bed," Scarlet declared, pointing to the sunken space that housed an L-shaped black leather sofa and fully loaded entertainment system, complete with a huge sixty inch television.
"You're going to leave me here? Just leave a stranger in your personal space?" Poe asked incredulously. Her face scrunched up adorably when she was bewildered.
Scarlet chuckled. "You're not a stranger. I know you quite intimately. Besides, you took me on a walk through the park and bought me a gyro." For some odd reason, that sorry excuse for a date warmed her as she thought about it. Usually only rum will do that. Beyond that, her instincts gave her no warnings about Poe, so she believed it should be fine and she still had some business with the shorter woman.
Poe did not respond beyond a shrug. Scarlet accepted that and went to her bedroom. She slid the pocket door closed and shut out the world. A relieved sigh escaped the room before the door was fully shut.
Poe sat down on the couch and stared around the room before she set about the task of finding her soccer match. The living room was decorated in black and several shades of red. There were some candid photos of people on a few shelves that flanked the entertainment center. A coffee table in front of her had a neat stack of different magazines that she did not go through. There were bookshelves on the wall perpendicular to the television and they were thick with literature, but Poe did not inspect them.
Grabbing the remote, Poe turned on the television and immediately muted it to avoid waking her host. I actually went home with a stranger. But, I guess Scarlet is right. It's not like we've never seen each other before and went spent a day together. A day that was pretty cool, even though she was working. I gotta remember to apologize for being an ass twice now.
Shaking the thoughts away, Poe scanned the television for the supposed all day soccer channel. She almost swallowed her tongue when she saw that it did exist. She dropped the remote to the sofa; she would not need it anymore.
The picture on the television was crystal clear and it was almost like the game was right in the room with her. She had never seen anything like it. She wondered what the sound would be like on such an amazing TV, but she dared not find out. Just being able to watch such a magnificent television was more than enough for her.
"How freaking lucky, am I?" she wondered aloud.
She was not sure how much time passed, but she vaguely heard the bedroom door open and close. Another door opened and closed, but Poe was not sure where and turned her focus back to the soccer match. She did not look away as Scarlet eased down onto the far end of the couch, curling her legs underneath her.
"Still watching soccer, huh?" Scarlet commented, as if shocked and impressed.
Poe shrugged, since the answer was obvious and then she realized that she was being rude to Scarlet once again. Sighing, she shook her head and turned her body to fully face Scarlet.
"I'm sorry for being an ass. Thanks for letting me watch soccer. I can leave if you want," Poe offered.
Scarlet seemed to think on it. "Apology accepted. Stay as long as you like. I don't really watch TV unless I'm throwing a party. I usually just read and I can do that with a marching band coming through here if necessary."
"You have a lot of books." Internally, Poe groaned. Stupid! She knows she has a lot of books. God, you suck at this small talk thing!
Scarlet gave her a small smile, which helped set her at ease a bit. "Yeah, I like reading. I'm going to order some food. You want some?"
Breathing a sigh of relief, Poe nodded. "Yes, please."
"Oh, so you do have manners," Scarlet teased, causing her cerulean eyes to shine like sparkling water. "What type of food do you want? The only place still open this late that will deliver is a Chinese restaurant. They have really good food."
"Anything works for me. Thanks." Poe's attention went right back to soccer.
Scarlet rose off of the sofa and disappeared back into her room. She returned a couple of minutes later. "The food should be here in a half-hour. Until then, can I get you something to drink?"
"Any type of soda is fine."
Scarlet chuckled. "I was thinking of something a little more substantial."
"I'm not old enough, remember?"
"Right, and you seem all for following the rules," Scarlet commented sarcastically, almost snidely.
Poe did not say anything, holding off on being rude to her host. Scarlet returned to the living room with the drink, which she handed to Poe. The artist took a sip and frowned.
"This has stuff in it. You spiked it," the younger woman complained.
"It's just a little. I didn't think you'd mind a nip," Scarlet pointed out.
"Well, I do mind. I'm not old enough and I don't like it," Poe said. She had seen what alcohol could do to a lot of people and she never wanted to get that way.
"All right, all right. I'll get you some regular soda."
Scarlet took back the drink and replaced it with a plain Coke. She then sat on the couch, watching Poe. Poe watched Soccer.
Mallory was as enthralled with Poe as the artist was with soccer. She noted the sport seemed to be the only thing that truly held Poe's attention, even though the kid was aware of her surroundings. She just was more interested in soccer than the rest of her environment, which could have hurt Mallory's self-esteem if only she did not have a massive ego.
She was curled upon the sofa, wearing nothing more than a sheer black teddy that reached mid-thigh. It was extremely low cut and revealed most of her breasts and any sudden move would cause them to fall out. Poe had barely cast her a glance and definitely did not ogle her. The lack of attention made Mallory curious about her guest. Briefly, she assumed that Poe might not be attracted to women and their night together was just some weird experiment for the younger woman, but that theory did not last long because straight women looked at her, too.
This kid is an odd duck, but she's adorable because of that. A puzzle I want to figure out. Mallory was drawn from her thoughts as she was alerted that their food was on the way up. She answered the door without bothering to put on a robe and took the food from a delivery guy who was quite familiar with her. He smiled as she handed him money. She resisted the urge to slam the door in his face.
"Food's here," Mallory announced.
"Uh … do you eat at your table or the counter at the kitchen?" Poe asked, showing that she had at least noticed some of the apartment beyond the giant TV. There was a small dining room table tucked into the corner of the area opposite the kitchen.
"The living room is fine," Mallory replied and she saw Poe's brow furrow from that. "Something wrong with eating in the living room?"
Poe shook her head. "Nothing. I just figured since you had a dining room, you'd use it to eat. It's nothing."
Mallory took her word on that and put the food on plates. She offered Poe both chopsticks and a fork. Poe thanked her using the name Scarlet.
"Just for the record, my name is Mallory," the redhead corrected her.
"Huh?"
"My name is Mallory. I'm only Scarlet out on the street and on the clock. In here, I'm Mallory."
Poe nodded. "Oh, okay … Mallory."
The redhead smiled. They ate in silence and she was not surprised that Poe practically inhaled her meal. She imagined that Poe needed a lot of fuel for her powerful, thick body, and Poe proved that every time there was food around so far. When they were both finished, it was pretty clear that Poe would sit there all night, watching soccer until Mallory kicked her out. Mallory was not in favor of that.
There was no way that Mallory would sit there all night watching a sport she did not care for with a very sexy woman within arm's reach. Flashes of Poe's muscular body went through her mind. She could actually remember the sounds that Poe made on that night and it made her shiver.
"Poe, why haven't you called for me again?" Mallory asked curiously. She was sure that she had rocked Poe's little world.
The artist shrugged. "I can't afford it," was the simple response.
Mallory nodded. That was a valid reason, but she sensed there was more. It probably had to do with Poe being a good girl. She smiled. I want to put a little bad in this girl now. She crawled over to Poe like a stalking tiger and attacked with her lips as soon as Poe turned.
Poe squirmed and wiggled underneath her. Mallory realized that Poe was trying to escape. She pulled away just as Poe got a grip on her shoulders to push her away.
"I didn't come here for this and I just told you I can't afford you," Poe pointed out.
"You are so cute. Are you so offended by having an orgasm?" Mallory joked.
"It's not that. I'm just not here for this."
"I know and you can't afford me. Those aren't good excuses, Poe. You're a guest in my house, not a client that hired me. I'm bored with soccer and I really want to take your fine ass to bed. Now, do you want that or do you want more soccer?" Mallory placed wet kisses to Poe's neck and collarbones.
Poe whimpered and her breathing sped up. "You don't have to …"
"Oh, but I want to. I want to feel your hard body against mine. I want to make you scream to the ceiling. I want to do nasty things to you," Mallory whispered, nipping at Poe's sweet earlobe. The shudder that went through Poe moved over to the redhead. The shiver surprised her and it made her want Poe more.
"Ma-Ma-Mallory …" Poe's breathing increased.
"Play with me, Poe. Be my playmate. Play with me." Mallory moved, so that Poe was completely underneath her and she massaged Poe's small breasts.
Poe whimpered and wiggled, now trying to move into the touch. Mallory kissed and nipped Poe's smooth chin. God, her skin is so soft. I just want to devour her.
Mallory felt Poe begin to nod and she saw Poe was agreeing. A smile spread across her face and she felt Poe relax underneath her. Easing up, she offered Poe her hand. The artist took it and they disappeared into Mallory's bedroom.