Strangers in the Storm ✔

Chapter 5: Naive

ROXANNE

Deep satisfaction ran through Roxanne as she finger-combed her hair, leaned against the counter in the barely used kitchen and waited for the omelette. The smell of bacon and eggs spread through the room, promising cure for hangover.

She did not intend to stay this long, but she fell asleep and when she finally opened her eyes, she was starving. Damien's fridge was also full of stuff, which was surprising for a man living alone. The groceries were carefully picked out and Roxanne wondered whether he had someone doing the shopping for him.

It wouldn't be farfetched, considering he had someone cleaning the apartment for him. Roxanne noticed it in the way the towels in the bathroom were folded; displaying only clean, soft edges, the same way Roxanne learned to do when she worked in a hotel. Somehow, she doubted Damien watched YouTube tutorials on how to fold towels.

Giddiness washed over her as she stared at the pan. Yesterday, she couldn't even imagine she would end up here. For the first time in a month, she hadn't checked when was the last time Mike was online, she hadn't even checked her phone.

Mike could go fuck himself. Who did he think he was, calling her in the middle of the night after a month? He couldn't even bother to pick up the phone each time she called him and the first night she had better things to do, he called her. Such a goddamn narcissist.

Still, she wondered how he'd react if he found out where she was right now.

Brenda was right; she needed this. She needed to be reminded there were other men in the world, men who would gladly spend time with her, men better than Mike.

Prompted by her thoughts, Roxanne decided to learn more about the man she's spent the night with, but before she managed to go to Google, her phone rang in her hands. Brenda.

"Hello." Roxanne answered and turned the stove off.

"Where are you?" Brenda whined on the other end, possibly hungover.

Roxanne giggled, "Well, I took your advice."

Excitement shook off the hangover from Brenda's voice, "Oh, my God, did you sleep with him? Addy, she slept with him!"

"You're with Addison?" Roxanne frowned. "I thought you'd gone home with Andre."

Roxanne could almost count on Brenda sleeping with the guys she met in bars, nothing about it was new.

"I did." Brenda said. "I crashed at Addy's, though. Where are you?"

"At Damien's." Roxanne smiled for herself, almost unable to stop the fluttering in her stomach at mentioning his name.

To her, this was uncharted territory. She did not know how to act or what to do, but she knew somewhere during the night her heart flipped upside down and her brain turned to mush. Neither thought clearly at the moment.

"Wait, you're still at his place?" Surprise rang in Brenda's voice.

"Yeah, he said no rush." Roxanne pinned the phone between her ear and her shoulder and took the omelette off the pan.

A moment of silence waited on the other end, "Is he... there?"

"No, he had to take his mother to a clinic." Roxanne left the eggs alone and took the phone in her hand again. "Why?"

Brenda laughed, "Girl, you need to get out of there."

"What do you mean?" Roxanne stepped away from the stove. "I'm making breakfast!"

"Well, he didn't invite you to stay for breakfast. I suggest you get out of there, right now." Brenda said, her voice stern.

Roxanne rolled her eyes, eager to shake off the sudden uneasiness and ignore Brenda's warnings, but she couldn't help the uncertainty.