Bad Enough for You (Currently Editing)

She Was in the Corner of Shame

The creaking of the door at the end of my speech caused me to blink, looking into the face of the person standing in front of me. I should've known from the moment I had propelled into that speech and wasn't interrupted once that the person I was talking to wasn't Eli. He would have never let me go off on a tangent accusing him of something that he potentially may not have done. He would've defended himself before I had even finished my accusation, most likely telling me where I could take my words and shove them.

The person standing in the doorway was not Eli. He did look shockingly similar to Eli, sporting the same mop of black hair that was a tad bit longer, curling about his ears. His fringe hung down along his bushy black eyebrows, brown eyes framed in thick lashes that made me selfconscience of my own. The guy in front of me was still sporting early morning stubble, a bottle of shaving cream in one hand. A white towel was draped over his shoulder, causing my eyes to fall from his mouth to his chest, which was completely bare.

Looking at all of the muscle indentation and the abs that rested just beneath his chest, I had to think of things that grossed me out (snakes, sunburn, foot fungus, the smell of dog poop, and old men's saggy bodies) to keep me from getting too warm. Unfortunately, my eyes were still wandering, moving past his belly button to the line of black hair that disappeared beneath the band of his Calvin Klein underwear and unsnapped blue jeans that were hanging loosely on his waist.

"You're not Eli." I finally muttered, careful not to drag my eyes up his body to his eyes. I didn't look him in the eye until after I had moved my eyes to the door, traveling up the stretch of white wood until I reached the gold numbers that hung there above the eye hole. Flicking my eyes back to his, I winced, not entirely sure what to do in this awkward position. Not only had I just accused him of being a homewrecker, but I had also undeniably checked him out.

"No, I'm not." He shook his head, eyes burning into mine. "But, if you're looking for the person who ruined his father's reputation, then you've found the right guy."

"I guess I'm just going to…" I stopped midsentence and flicked my eyes up to him. "What?"

"I'm guessing you saw the article about Dunn Corporations, right?" His eyes fell to the newspaper clipping that was still in my hand, now almost completely crumbled and in the danger of being ripped to shreds. "I'm E. Dunn."

I paused, furrowing my brow as I looked at him. Raising the newspaper slowly to my face, I looked down at the words printed there. "But doesn't that E stand for Eli?"

"Listen, I don't know who you are or how you know my brother, but all you need to know is that Eli didn't do what you obviously seem to think he did." The guy was stepping backwards and beginning to shut the door on me. "Now, I've gone over my mistakes enough times in my head that I really don't want to hash this out with you too."

"Wait!" I called, slipping my foot inbetween the door and the jamb. "You don't have to tell me anything. But can you at least tell me where Eli is?"

"I don't know if I should be giving a crazy bitch who came here pounding on the door that information." The guy shook his head. "For all I know, this was just at the bottom of the list of issues you have with him."

"I'm not a crazy bitch, I swear!" I said, the pleaing in my voice almost making me sick. "Listen, I'm Adrienne. Maybe you know my sister, Georgia?"

The guy had been looking as if he was going to shove me through the door until I had name-dropped. With Georgia's name lingering in the air between us, drawing a source of recognition from his face, I felt as if maybe I was about to get through to this superbly attractive boy that was Eli's brother. If I hadn't already insulted him and had strong feelings for his little brother, I might have tried to win myself an award by seducing him as well as Eli.