I awoke to the most peaceful position. I felt so warm and didn't want to move a muscle. There was an arm thrown over my waist that was most certainly not my own and another pair of legs tangled with mine.
I snuggled deeper into the source of the heat in my bed feeling the smooth skin and tough muscles of my roommate. My eyes widened and I caught myself before screaming in horror.
I peeked under the cover pleased to find that I was still fully clothed. Jay's t-shirt had lifted up sometime during the night leaving his abdomen exposed though I was pressed closely enough to him that it didn't matter. My eyes worked their way up from his body to his face.
I watched him sleep for a moment noticing his peaceful expression. Even with the piercings and everything, he looked like a little baby unbeknownst to the world he would wake up to that day.
I smiled at him and couldn't help stroking his cheek softly. When I realized what I was doing and the position I was in, I leaped away from him waking him with a start. He pulled away also realizing the situation. Katrina had obviously only woken up twice that night.
"I...um...well..." I stuttered unsure of how to explain the situation. I hugged myself and stoked my arms suddenly missing the warmth he provided.
"Sorry," he apologized quickly. "I'm not used to sharing a bed."
I accepted his explanation and peeked over at Katrina's bed as I sat up only to find her gone. I panicked quickly throwing the blanket over my legs and beginning to stand. That was before I got a huge leg cramp in my upper right thigh. I doubled over in pain onto my bed. This was too much for me to take. Jay woke up leisurely and reached out to me trying to help but there was nothing he could do.
There was a crash out in the kitchen and I pointed Jay to that. He went without a word to inspect whatever Katrina was getting into. After my pain subsided, I used whatever I could to lean against to get out to the living room.
I found them both in there beginning to watch another marathon of cartoons. Katrina clapped her hands as Jay changed the channel to some children's show I had never seen before.
"She got into your pot and pans," Jay explained.
I nodded. "A lot of people seem to like to mess with that. I think I need to move those."
Jay laughed ordering me to sit down while he cleaned up the mess Katrina caused. I tried to protest but he wouldn't let me off the hook. I sighed and took a seat on my sofa resting my leg up high just as I did the day before. It was much better than it was the day before but it was not fully healed yet.
The TV show held all of Katrina's attention until a commercial came on even though those were targeted toward kids her age as well.
"I'm hungry," she announced to me.
I was happy to have something to do but Jay brought in a little plastic Tupperware dish filled with dry cereal from the diaper bag. I crossed my arms and huffed as Katrina held out her hands and bounced up and down in her seat.
"I'm sorry," Jay said talking to me in a 'baby' voice. "Do you want some breakfast too?"
Had we not been in the presence of a child, I would've probably called him a few colorful words or have told him where he could stick his breakfast. Instead I just childishly stuck my tongue out at him.
"I'll take that as a no?" Jay guessed.
I ignored him as I turned my attention back to Katrina. She was mindlessly absorbed in the television and was feeding herself without even looking down at her food. I shook my head at her but smiled as well.
"Are you ready to dance today Katrina?" I asked the little girl in front of me.
She nodded enthusiastically without once glancing over to me. Her mind was totally focused on the colorful cartoon on my television screen.
"You aren't ready to dance," Jay told me. I glared over at him. What did he know?
"I'm just fine," I muttered sitting up on the couch. I gently placed my foot on the ground and was pleased when it didn't throb like it did the day before. I glanced over at Jay who watched me with concern. I shot him a smug smile as I flexed my leg. It was stiff and nowhere near in perfect condition but I was at least mobile.
"You are not going into work today. I'll call my mom and call you off."
"Excuse me," I said angrily as I stood up. I wobbled a bit as I moved my weight to my good leg. "You do not control my life. I will say when I can work and when I can't."
Jay held up his hands in surrender. He didn't say anything though and just sunk back into his current bedroom. I stared after him before letting out the frustrated breath I hadn't realized I had been holding.
I got to the dance studio by some magical miracle. Elijah was waiting for me with his hands placed on his hips defiantly. I let go of Katrina's hand and she hurriedly scurried off to be with her friends. My outfit had barely changed from the day before as changing seemed to be a silent torture.
"First of all," Elijah began. "Why are you here?"
I set down the Dora the Explorer bag I was currently showing off with the other girl's bags. "I had to come and drop Katrina off for Bianca."
"You're still hurt." It wasn't a question but more of an annoying fact.
"Yes," I confirmed. "But I promised to watch Katrina for Bianca. I wasn't going to bail on her just because I suddenly got hurt."
"You could hurt yourself even more! Go home now!"
"I'm fine Elijah," I said quickly growing annoyed just as I had at my house. Why did no one trust what I had to say? Did every single person in the world have to look out for me? "Besides, aren't you at all curious about the mysterious man living in my house?"
Elijah opened his mouth prepared to say something before he rethought his words. "Yes I am but you still shouldn't be here."
I moved passed him and grabbed a top chair from a stack of neatly lined plastic chairs. I set it down and grabbed down another to set in front of the previous one. I sat down in one and placed my injured leg onto the other.
Elijah walked over to me ignoring the range of little girls teetering and tottering about. He inspected my makeshift crutch and frown. He was obviously not pleased with my decision to not listen to him.
"That man at your house yesterday...he was that handsome guy from the art show."
"Yes."
Elijah narrowed his eyes at my lack of explanation. "Then you knew him at the time?"
"Yes."
Elijah seemed more annoyed by that as well. "And who is he exactly?"
I sighed unsure of how to explain it. "A relative of Carmen's. He's staying with me while her house gets remodeled."
"That man is related to our boss?"
"I know," I agreed. "I didn't believe it either when I saw him."
"You opened your home to a complete stranger?"
I shrugged with a playful smile on my lips. "What can I saw? I'm just that sweet of a person?"
"Carmen's paying you extra huh?"
I scoffed. "No! Of course not! I am seriously doing it out of the good of my heart."
"You're just a boss's pet," Elijah argued.
I waved him away. "Don't you have some teaching to do?"
He shook his head at me and walked over to the small old boom box. He picked it up by the handle and set it into my lap.
"Since you are indisposed as of right now, you can control the music."
"No," I marveled feigning excitement. "I never thought I would be so privileged!"
Elijah sent me a look and called the class to order. I turned the CD player around to find the little triangle 'play' button.
This was going to be a long day.
Class ended about two hours later. Bianca met me five minutes after class was officially over. I met her by the door leaning against a wall and holding onto Katrina's backpack.
"I hope she didn't give you too much trouble."
"None at all," I confirmed. "She was an angel."
"Did she have any nightmares?" Bianca asked wincing slightly as I nodded.
"Two but they were quickly taken care of. She did pretty good sleeping over at my house."
Bianca smiled as Katrina came over to give her a big hug for a greeting.
"Mommy!" Katrina yelled holding up her arms in excitement. Even I could see how exhausted her mother was after working a double shift but she still bent down and picked up the tiny girl. Katrina wrapped her arms around her mother's neck and hugged tightly. "I missed you!"
"I missed you too," her mother assured easily. "You ready to go home?"
"Yes," Katrina said quickly. I handed over her backpack which she greedily took.
"You can knock on my door and my roommate might answer if he's home. Then you can get the diaper bag and portable bed out of my house. If he's not there then I will be sure to drop everything off once I get there," I explained.
"Oh well you can just drop them off when you get home," Bianca said casually.
I gave her a confused look. "My roommate is a nice guy, I promise."
Bianca blushed slightly. "It's not that. Your roommate is waiting for you downstairs on the curb."
"What?"
"Yeah," Bianca nodded. "God you've got yourself a real catch you know that? He was just standing outside smoking a cigarette like he was the cool guy from some black and white movie. Goodness, he sure knows how to attract a woman. You're so lucky!"
I coughed involuntarily seeming to choke on my own spit.
"I'm not dating him!" I denied immediately. "He's just staying with me for a while."
"Still," Bianca murmured dreamily. "He is certainly yummy bite. It's a shame you two aren't together. You would both be cute as a couple."
If I wasn't choking before then I certainly was then. I could've died from my sudden lack of oxygen. I excused myself from Bianca telling her something about seeing her later and raced out of the studio.
My leg was much more stable with running and walking but I still was slower than usual to be extra cautious. As soon as I exited the building, I spotted Jay right away. He was looking especially chill with his curly dark brown hair sleeked back and a cigarette in his mouth. He was leaning against the brick wall of the studio and had his black motorcycle helmet resting next to him on the ground.
His eyes perked up as he saw me. He dropped his cigarette onto the ground and put it out with his foot.
"I can't believe you went into work today," he commented approaching me slowly. He placed both of his hands on my shoulders.
I frowned glancing down at where he was touching me. He let go and took a step back obviously taking note of his boundaries.
"I'm fine," I said. I flexed my leg a few times and even bent my knees for extra measure. "See? No harm no foul."
Jay didn't seem convinced but he took that answer.
"Do you want a ride back to your apartment?"
I shook my head and pointed over my shoulder. "My stuff is still inside and I've got to help Elijah clean up and all that."
Jay stuffed his hands in his pockets and kicked a rock with his foot. "Well hurry home then."
I furrowed my eyebrows. "What's the rush?"
"You've got company."
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A/N: Surprise update! It's a filler that will keep you in suspense until next weekend. Sorry to leave you with this cliffhanger but who do you think has come to visit? Any guesses? :D