It was three months since the first night. The few disagreements had never turned into arguments and that sense of comfort had never turned brittle. There were times when they might go a couple of days without seeing each other, but that was usually because one or the other was worried about imposing. They shared a sense that it shouldn’t be going this well. That they shouldn't want to spend so much time together. A natural pessimism they slowly began to conquer.
A downside to the job was that BB didn’t really get a day off. No such thing as a weekend when you’re on call seven days a week. Sometimes you work twenty days in a row, with long hours spent tidying up the crap other people make of their lives. Other times you could go four or five days without getting any work to do, although Marty was careful to make sure his best people always had some money coming in. BB was good enough at his job to know he’d get a phone call before long.
So it didn’t worry him, lounging around the flat on his few days off. There would be days among them when Heather wouldn’t be studying or working either. She actually seemed to study very little, and talked about her studies even less. Complained about the temporary office and bar work she did. But those days they had together, just messing around in the flat, those were the ones they loved.
BB couldn’t tell you now what day it was, but it felt like a Sunday. They’d been out the previous night and Heather had stayed over at his flat. He’d been to hers a couple of times but there wasn't much to see. Too many people and too much clutter in too small a space. Much better when they were alone at his flat.
It had been a pretty heavy night, the night before. Someone had been having a birthday party, some friend of Heather’s. They’d been at a club, they’d been back at a house party and then back to BB’s flat. They were all over the place, so it wasn’t a surprise that they didn’t make it as far as the bedroom. Heather made it to the couch, where she fell asleep a split second before she actually sat down. BB made it to the floor close to the couch, which he later chose to consider a reasonable effort for any man in his state.
By the time mid-morning rolled around they were both on the couch. Wasn’t a terribly good fit, but that was part of the fun. Squashed together, legs dangling over the arm of the couch at the far end, talking quietly to each other. Talking about all sorts of things. Things that would have seemed banal and stupid if it was someone else you were talking to. The conversation came around to living arrangements. Something Heather often complained about but couldn't afford to change. Something BB wanted to talk about because he could change it.
“Some of them, Jesus, they’re such creeps. Alison’s boyfriend, the Pakistani guy, he’s okay. Don’t think he’s the only guy she’s had back in the last couple of months. But the guy Izzy’s been with the last couple of weeks, God, what a creep.”
“He done anything?” BB asked, a little concerned. He didn’t want to sound overly protective, might make it seem like he didn’t think she could look after herself.
“Nah, just the way he looks at you, especially when Izzy ain’t there. Not just me, any woman that’s nearby. He’s just a creep.”
“If, uh, if you don’t want to have a word with him, I could.”
“If a word is needed, I’ll be having it, don’t you worry about that,” she said. There was a laugh in her voice, but it faded quickly.
BB didn’t like that, how much she worried about her size, how much she feared people would think she wasn’t feminine enough. Worried about her voice too, because it was a little deeper than most women’s. She made an effort to lighten it, to seem more girly. That annoyed BB sometimes. She was always tucking her hair behind her ear as well, just to seem stereotypically girly. Things she felt she had to do to compensate for being tall and broad.
“You just shouldn’t have to put up with that crap,” BB said quietly.
They were almost mouth to mouth, stuffed together on that couch, smelling last night’s alcohol from each other’s breath. BB with his arms round her, mostly to make sure she didn’t fall off onto the floor.
“You shouldn’t have to put up with that,” he said quietly, leading the conversation where he wanted it to go. He’d been thinking about this for weeks now.
“Probably not as bad as I make it sound. It’s cheap, so…”
“Yeah, but that’s what I was thinking. Would be even cheaper if you lived here. The two of us. You know, if you wanted to. If you were interested.”
Her expression got serious. This was what she wanted, but they had to be sure. This had to be for the right reasons, not just because she’d complained about her flatmates. This might be the right decision, but it had to be for the right reason.
“Are you sure?” she asked him. “Once I move in you’re stuck with me. You’ll have me around all the damn time. No more mucky mags under the mattress.”
“Nobody has dirty magazines anymore,” he told her with faux sincerity. “All online now, and I know how to delete my history and temporary internet files.”
“But you’re sure?”
“I been thinking about this a while. We’ll both love it, and it makes perfect sense. This is the right time. Come on, move in with me.”
She smiled and she nodded and that was it. They were living together. Not just a couple who spent a lot of time in his flat. They were living together. They kissed and that led to other things. Clothes came off fast, leading to elbows in ribs and hands in faces. They tumbled off the couch and ignored the jarring thump of the nice wooden flooring. They spent nearly an hour acquiring bruises on that floor, and forgot that they still hadn’t had breakfast.
Publisher's Note: Who should we cast as BB and Heather? Leave your suggestions in the comments!
YOU ARE READING
BB & Heather
Short Story"They had met a few times before. Parties, dancing in the same circles, that sort of thing. It was obvious they liked each other. Dancing close, a few drunken, slurpy kisses but never anything further than that. They were young and life was fast. So...
