Norah shuffled to the door, rubbing the sleep from her eyes, and let out a yawn as she pulled the door open. Her mouth continued to hang open as she saw none other than Trixy standing there.
"Hiiii," The Temp greeted, barging her way in and bouncing her eyes around the apartment. "Nice place! And you get a view of the street." She made her way over to the bay window and pulled the curtain back. "Oh, and a view of the homeless guy peeing on the building. Fantastic!"
Norah closed the door and was on Trixy's heels as she began picking up photos. She snatched knick-knacks from her curious hands and placed them back in their spots, but Trixy wasn't getting the hint as she moved on to other items.
Taking a deep breath, Norah sighed, "Trixy, what are you doing here? How do you even know where I live, and can you please put that down!"
"Sorry, is this special?" Trixy shook the snow globe in her hand. Glitter floated down, coating the mini ballerina inside.
"My Mom gave that to me." Norah pulled it out of Trixy's hands.
"Oh... well anyway, get dressed. We're going out for coffee."
"No, we're not." Norah shook her head.
"Yes, we are." Trixy spun on her heels and headed straight for the bedroom.
"We have to be at the office by eight!"
Again Norah chased after her, but the girl was seriously fast as she gunned for the closet in large strides. Strides that Norah's five-foot-two frame couldn't match. By the time she reached her, the crazy Temp was already searching through her clothing.
"Why is everything so blah? Black, grey, white." Trixy flipped through the hangers like pages in a magazine. "Zero colors. No wonder you blend into the crowd. You're so drab."
"Drab?" Norah furrowed her brows.
"How are you ever going to get Cole Collins to notice you in this stuff?" She pulled on the sleeve of a bulky sweater and released it as if she were disgusted by it.
Standing her ground, Norah said, "first off, you can't just barge into my apartment. Second, you have no right to criticize my clothes and third..." She extended her arm, pointing toward the door. "I would like you to leave."
"Fine." Trixy smiled and began sauntering out of the bedroom but glanced over her shoulder. "I happen to know that Cole Collins gets his coffee at Muddy's, and he usually goes around seven."
With a wink, Trixy continued to make her exit. Before she even knew what she was doing, Norah shuffled after her. Not only that, she thrust herself in front of the door like a barricade causing Trixy to freeze.
"How do you know that?"
Trixy grinned. "I was hoping you would ask! He lives near you. Yup, that's right." She stepped back. "Just let that sink in for a moment."
Norah bit her lip, weighing that very information, and bobbed her head. "Ok, but you still haven't explained how you know."
"It's no secret that I'm nosey, so I asked around." She shrugged. "Besides, one of us ought to win the guy, so if you're not going to do anything about it, then why not me?"
"NO," Norah barked. "I've had a crush on this man for the last two years, and I will not allow you just to swoop in as if this were a game!"
Trixy raised the corners of her mouth into a smile. "Good. Then let's get you dressed to impress but first..." She studied Norah from head to toe. "I'm digging the no-makeup look, but the ponytail has to go."
Norah gasped, "Are you crazy? No makeup when I'm about to bump into Cole? Not to mention head into the office!"
"Good point."
Trixy turned into the closet and began searching for clothes again. She finally pulled out a pair of grey skinny jeans, a plain white tank blouse, and a black linen blazer.
"Put these on." She shoved them into Norah's chest. "And these!"
"I'm not wearing heels to work. By the end of the day, I'll be limping," Norah objected.
Trixy rolled her eyes. "They're barely a two-inch heel. Trust me when I say in the heels world, those do not qualify as heels. Now get dressed and lose that ponytail!"
Excusing herself to the bathroom, Norah slipped into the skinny jeans and threw the blouse on, all while complaining to herself. The jeans were tighter than she liked, the blouse hung a little lower than she wanted, and the red heels just seemed too flirty for work. Or at least flirty compared to her usual boring black flats. She felt so uncomfortable! Why all this fuss when it wasn't as if she would have the guts to talk to Cole anyway? With the garments on, she walked back into the bedroom and held out her arms to wait for scrutiny. However, Trixy clapped her hands and went to her.
"Perfect. Now just let me do this..." She ran her fingers through Norah's hair, fluffing it up. "Gorgeous! You are such a natural beauty. Cole Collins is going to drop his jaw seeing you. Now let's get out of here."
Trixy clasped Norah's hand and practically pulled her like a stubborn dog on a leash. She dragged Norah for the next few blocks down Valencia Street and then right up to the door for Muddy's coffee house. There were two locations on Valencia, and Norah lived between both, so it left her wondering if Trixy even had the right location.
As Norah was about to set a trembling hand on the door, Trixy gasped in exaggeration, causing Norah to freeze.
"What is it?" she asked.
Trixy bent over, snatching something from the sidewalk, and popped back up. "A penny!"
"Ok..."
"A penny!" Trixy said again, but this time practically shoved the coin into Norah's face. "This means we'll have luck all day long. Again!"
Norah shook her head. "I don't believe in that stuff."
Trixy slipped the penny into the pocket of Norah's blazer and patted the material. "Then you should start believing."
Trixy pushed the door open and pulled Norah inside with her. The woman wasn't letting up on dragging her around, and frankly, Norah was growing tired of it. As she tried tugging away from Trixy's Rigor Mortis grip, she sent herself barreling into the back of a patron. She shut her eyes tight with the sound of coffee spilling onto the floor. Norah just knew she would turn to see an angry and very tall body-building man ready to grind her into dog meat.
"Bear!" Trixy exclaimed with a giggle.
Norah slowly looked up at Barrett, fully expecting his eyes to cut her like daggers, but to her surprise, his expression softened.
"Well, I guess that's payback for yesterday," he said.
"I'm sorry." Norah cringed.
"It's alright. It's just coffee, right?"
Norah was about to tuck her tail and escape, but as she turned, her mouth fell open, and she froze. The bell chimed above the door as Cole Collins removed his sunglasses and placed them into his front pocket. It was as if all sound became mute while he glided across the hardwood floor in his perfectly tailored black suit. Norah brought her palm up to her chest, feeling the drumming her heart was making.
"Oh great, not you too!" Barrett rolled his eyes.
Norah slowly shifted her attention. "Hmm? What?"
Now that Cole was standing directly behind them, Barrett leaned in to whisper, "I thought it was Trixy who had the crush."
Norah pulled away and stared at him, confused. "What are you talking about?"
Barrett pointed at Trixy, "she wanted to know about you-know-who." He pointed with his eyebrows toward Cole.
This time Trixy not only latched onto Norah's hand but onto Barrett's too. She pulled them toward the exit with impressive force, considering Barrett was six feet tall and had the lean muscle build to match. She pulled them all the way out onto the sidewalk and held her hands up.
"Let's not make this awkward." She began, "I was trying to do Norah a favor by asking about Cole because she's got this big 'ol crush on him, and it just so happens that you, Bear, know a lot about him."
Norah dropped her face into her palms and did a mini scream into them. "This is so embarrassing!"
"No, I get it," Barrett said with another eye roll. "Story of my life."
"But it's a great story!" Trixy clapped. "Tell her. Tell her how you know so much about Cole."
With hands on his hips, Barrett looked up to the sky and sighed.
"Where do I begin?" He focused back on Norah. "Not only did we go to high school and college together, but we were on the same soccer team. Even though I was the team captain, he still got all of the attention. Including from my own girlfriend, who swore she didn't like him but just thought he was cute. Oh, and..." Barrett held up his finger. "Let's not forget how in college my high school girlfriend started dating him! On top of that, the guy seems to be everywhere I go. Including working in the same building as me and everywhere he goes, there is a little flock of women who find him just soooo irresistible!"
Norah didn't know what to say. Even if she could think of something clever or consoling, there wasn't a chance to. Out walked Cole with his cup of Joe, but before slipping his shades back on, he paused by the three of them.
"Barry, right?"
"Barrett," he corrected.
"But some of us like to call him Bear." Trixy winked.
Cole cut his eyes to her with a sly smile and said, "Cute." He shifted back to Barrett. "Balboa High, right?"
"And SF State," Barrett replied, not even trying to hide his irritation. "Plus, you dated my ex-girlfriend Chloe."
Cole did a slow nod with his gaze shifting from Trixy to Norah, clearly wanting an introduction. Noticing this, Barrett inhaled a long agitated breath and motioned toward the girls.
"Cole, this is Trixy and Norah," He said with emphasis. "We work together... in the same building as you."
"Really? Maybe that's why you girls look so familiar," Cole replied.
"Sure, that's got to be it!" Barrett said with patience so thin it could slip through a pasta strainer. "Anywho, I have to go change my shirt. See ya later."
He squeezed Norah's shoulder before walking away, and then Cole excused himself as well.
Norah and Trixy awkwardly followed behind him for a few blocks as they took the same route to the 16th Street BART station. They hopped onto the same train car but remained on opposite ends until Cole noticed them. He made his way over, and for the remainder of the ride, they sat together. Trixy did most of the talking, but Norah didn't mind since it took any attention off of her. However, it did make her heart dance every time Cole's eyes shifted over to her, and he smiled.
This was a step in the right direction, and Norah hoped it could lead to more commutes with each other.