Redneck Prince Charming

Chapter Four

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Aaden pulled up in front of Kathleen's apartment and climbed out of his truck and into the rain. He cursed as he tugged at the collar of the button up shirt he was wearing. As he walked up the stairs to her door he scratched at his leg and cursed the damn pants he was wearing to hell… No, he corrected himself, they weren't pants they were trousers and he had paid a small damn fortune for three pairs of them…. They were tight, itchy and he couldn't move worth a crap in them.

He knocked on Kathleen's door and waited several minutes but no one answered. He wondered why she wasn't home… It was five so he knew he was on time. He decided he'd just walk outside and wait on her. He was just walking out the door of the apartment complex when he saw her pull in driving a beat up old blazer. She didn't seem to notice him as she climbed out and pulled a big white box into her arms.

She kicked the door closed with so much force the blazer rocked.

"Stupid damn rain! I'd like to know how this day could get any worse!" she yelled. She started walking toward the door but couldn't see well over the big box in her arms and tripped over the curb. She fell face first into the wet, muddy grass. Aaden quickly ran over to her and helped her up.

"Oh Aaden I didn't see you here." she said and he was pretty sure her face turned red beneath the layer of mud. He picked the box up off the ground and followed her up into her apartment.

"Sorry I'm late.." she said. "It's been a bad week." He sat the box down on the coffee table and slipped off the patent leather shoes he had also spent a small fortune on the night before.

"Want to talk about it?" he asked. She had her back to him and was reaching up into the cupboard. Suddenly the entire contents of the cabinet came pouring down on her head…. Plastic bowls and cups scattered across the kitchen along with the bottle of Tylenol she'd been trying to reach.

"Oh my god things could not get any worse!" she yelled. "I am a complete failure at absolutely everything! I cant' make a marriage work! I can't drive worth a damn! I'm no good at housework!" she said looking around at the messy kitchen. "And according to my boss I'm not even good enough at being a secretary!"

Aaden waited several seconds to make sure she was done. He had never worked so hard to fight the urge to laugh. He was currently biting his tongue hard enough to cause severe pain… Here she was soaked to the bone in a black knee length skirt and a soggy blue shirt, her hair was plastered to her head and face and every inch of her was covered in mud from her fall outside.

He looked at her green eyes and saw that she was near tears.

"You probably really think I'm a crazy person now." she said bending and picking up the bottle of Tylenol. She popped a couple in her mouth and grabbed a plastic cup off of the floor, filled it with tap water and took a drink. Aaden shook his head.

"No… We all have bad days." he said matter of factly.

"Oh god… I got a ticket today… Apparently it is frowned upon when you run a red light and saying that you are twenty minutes late for work is not a good enough excuse." she said pulling the ticket from her purse and laying it on the counter. "Then my boss informed me that since I was twenty minutes late for work my secretarial services would no longer be needed. And now I am covered in rain and mud and carrying on like a crazy person and you are probably regretting that you ever agreed to come with me this weekend….." She sat down hard on a kitchen chair and he walked over to her and set a chair in front of her and then sat down.

"Ok I'm gonna do my best to make you feel better. I do not think that you're crazy… I want that to be the first thing I say. Second.. I don't know the details of what happened between you and that short guy but from what I have learned you weren't the one that screwed that up…. Uh.. The driving thing well I can't really help you there.. I've only seen ya drive once and well we both know how that ended." he paused at Kathleen's light laughter and felt pride rise within him. He didn't know it could feel so good to cheer a woman up after she'd had such a bad day.