Joey
As soon as they realized I wasn't going to let either of them hold my hand, the sisters left me to fend for myself in the emergency room.
My head hurt, but fortunately, I didn't think it had anything to do with my accident. I put my face in my hands.
My day had started off all right. I'd woken up in the motel, feeling refreshed. It had gotten even better when I spied the text message from Fern, letting me know that Greenleaf Gardening - and therefor the pretty redhead - would be by to do the yard work sometime in the late morning.
By the time I checked out, drove home, and parked the truck in the garage, the sun was already hot enough to make me sweat.
I tossed my keys into the basket on the table in the entryway and glanced at my watch. I figured I had just enough time to grab a swim before the redhead was set to arrive for her gardening job, so I jogged up to my room, changed into my trunks, and headed back downstairs.
Henry, our house manager, gave me a friendly nod as I passed through the kitchen.
"You have female company," he told me.
For a second I felt annoyed. Then I grinned. She was a bit earlier than I'd been expecting, but I had to admit that I was willing to forgo cooling off for a bit of her time.
Hell, maybe she'd even want to join me in the pool. The thought made me move quicker.
"Thanks, Henry," I said, and gave him a grateful pat on the shoulder before striding through the house toward the backyard.
I paused at the French doors that led to the pool area and straightened my hair a little self-consciously. I wondered if the redhead was going to be really mad when she realized it was my house. I didn't think she'd be easily charmed into forgiveness, but maybe if I eased into explaining myself, she'd at least hear me out.
What kind of explanation? I scoffed at myself. Are you going to tell her that your dad's out to destroy her fundraising? She's not going to listen to you. She's not even going to tell you her name.
As I stepped onto the patio, I realized the female company in question wasn't even her.
Fern and Felicia stood in front of my parents' pool with matching grins and matching bikinis.
"What are you doing here?" I asked loudly.
Fern blinked rapidly in response to my rude tone.
"You said we could come," her sister reminded me.
"I didn't mean today," I replied, feeling exasperated. "You guys have to go. I'm expecting someone."
"The gardener?" Fern asked, clearly puzzled and annoyed at the same time.
"Yes. Her," I replied.
I strode over to them and grabbed the sisters by their elbows.
"Hey!" Felicia protested as I tried to pull them away from the pool.
Fern pulled her arm back, though, and suddenly we were all sliding forward. We toppled as group into the pool. I came up sputtering, swam back to the edge, and climbed onto the deck. I stared down at the two girls. From where they were treading water in the deep end, they glared back.
"You wanted to swim in my pool," I reminded them.
I stretched lazily and grinned at their drowned-rat appearance. Their carefully styled hair was a mess and their thickly applied makeup was dripping down their faces.
Serves them right for ambushing me.
My gloating was short-lived.
With a quick glance at each other, the sisters dove under the water and swam to the spot right below me, reached up, then yanked on my legs with surprising strength. I spun as I tried to resist falling forward. I twisted around, caught sight of the redhead, and my mouth fell open in surprise. I tried to wave to her as I went over the side of the pool but failed miserably as my arms flailed around in the air. I splashed into the water, and my head hit something hard enough to knock my chin to my chest. The world went black for several moments.
I knew she was leaning over me even before I fully came to. My head swam, like I was under water, but I could smell her shampoo and also a hint of something muskier that made my body heat up. Until her lips met mine, I was completely unable to move. When she exhaled into my mouth, I knew what her intention was - to breathe life into my still body. The only problem was that my body was no longer still, and it had other ideas about how to react. And breathing had very little to do with it.
I drew her closer, begging her with every part of my body to stay there with me. For one perfect moment, it worked.
I wanted to call her name, I longed to say it tenderly into her ear.
Then I remembered.
I still don't know her name. How is that possible?
I kissed her harder, trying to draw the sound of it from her. All she did was breathe a soft, dizzyingly sexy noise against my mouth.
Then it was over, and disappointment had overwhelmed me.
The feeling still clouded my mind at that moment, in the hospital ER.
"Dammit," I said out loud to myself.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," I snapped automatically, then looked up apologetically.
Amber.
"You don't seem fine," she replied. "You're sitting in an emergency room, talking to yourself."
I smiled politely. I hadn't forgotten about her demeanour the other night, even though she had it carefully hidden under a syrupy cover at the moment.
"I banged my head," I told her. "Did you hit yours, too?"
She pursed her lips thoughtfully as if trying to puzzle out whether or not my comment was intentionally insulting.
"No, silly," she said with a little laugh. "I volunteer here."
"Is that so?"
It was my turn to look thoughtful. I had a hard time imagining Amber doing volunteer work.
"My dad's a surgeon," she reminded me. "He likes everyone in the family to make a monthly appearance."
She pretended not to notice my smirk, and placed a cool hand on my forehead. I flinched, but Amber left her hand there anyway. She leaned a little closer, and I could smell her cloying perfume.
"I hope you haven't forgotten about our dinner plans on Tuesday?" she asked in a deliberately seductive voice.
"I didn't forget," I replied.
Amber smiled. "Good."
I placed my hand over-top of hers and moved it away from my face and into her lap. She threaded her fingers through mine and held them there.
"But I don't remember actually agreeing to dinner," I told her.
Amber yanked her hand away and I grinned.
"Do you want to get through emergency quickly, or not?"
I sighed. "Of course I do. I've been sitting here for an hour."
"Then you should be a little nicer to me,"
Her voice had an edge, but she still managed to flash me a smile. I wondered how she kept track of each of her personalities so well.
"Amber," I said. "Why are you pushing this?"
"I'm not pushing this. I'm pushing us."
"There is no us!"
She jumped back from my angry tone, and I brought it down a notch.
"You claim to know more about me than most people do. And you're acquainted with my reputation."
"I do. And I am," she replied matter-of-factly.
"So. I don't understand."
"Quite honestly, I think you're faking it."
"Faking what?"
"All of it. Your commitment issues. Your cocky attitude. Everything."
"Why would I do that?" I asked.
She didn't answer right away. She just watched me with a cool, calculating stare.
"I remember what you were like before," she near-whispered.
"You don't remember correctly," I said angrily.
"At some point, you will have to deal with this," Amber told me. "I'm willing to help you. I'm willing to be there for you."
"I don't want - "
She interrupted me. "You and I just make sense, Joey. If your brother was still around, he'd tell you that. He knew Beth wasn’t right for you. He'd say the same thing about Chipper."
In a single, cutting conversation, Amber stirred up all of my demons and left me feeling angry and exposed. She wiped away any and all of the good, lingering feelings from the kiss I'd had earlier.
I desperately wanted to give her a snappy reply, to tell her that I could neither confirm nor deny her suspicions, or something equally flippant, but I couldn't get the words out.
"Mr. Fox?"
I jumped up when the nurse called my name.
"Joey?" Amber called out as I walked away.
I ignored her.
"Have you told Chipper why you're really interested in her?"
I paused, turned back, and stared at her. What did Amber know?
"I wasn't aware that I had an ulterior motive," I lied stiffly.
"You have to let go of this hero-or-die thing. You can’t save her."
For a second, I relaxed. She clearly wasn't aware of my dad's involvement in the situation.
"I don't know what you're talking about," I stated coldly.
"You do so. You think if you protect Chipper, you can somehow make amends for your past."
Immediately, the anger came back. I balled my hands into fists to keep from lashing out on some unsuspecting inanimate object.
"That's enough."
"I think you need to remember how word gets around, Joey."
"What are you going to do, Amber?"
"Nothing. If you don't tell her about your problems…Someone will. Probably soon."
The nurse touched my elbow gently. "Mr. Fox? We should really get you in to see the doctor."
I clenched my teeth and spun away from Amber. I was deeply relieved to be away from her knowing gaze.
***
When I finished at the hospital with a reasonably clean bill of health and a handful of ibuprofen, I caught a cab home. Then I grabbed my truck, and hurried back campus to make my last class of the day. I didn't dwelled on the fact that a big part of it focused on ankle injuries like the redhead’s, and I didn't stare at the redheaded teacher at the front of the room, thinking of the pool-damp girl at my parents' house, trimming their foliage.
Or at least that's what I told myself.
I was relieved when class was over, and I made my way to the parking lot with the intention of heading straight home. I noticed the grey-clad figure planted beside my vehicle from a good distance away.
"You have got to be kidding me," I muttered.
I jogged over and put my hand on her shoulder. She turned slightly and I caught sight of her face. It was pink with irritation.
"You didn't learn your lesson the first time?" she demanded.
"I was late for my class," I replied. "I bumped my head and someone insisted that I go to the hospital."
"No excuse."
"I'm fine, by the way."
"Good. Now you have even less of a reason for your bad parking."
"I think it's more than my bad parking that's making you give me another ticket," I told her in a slow voice.
"It's the only reason I give tickets," she replied.
"I still think you're punishing me for something else."
"For what?"
"For kissing you."
She opened her mouth in a silent oh, then closed it again.
"And more importantly, you're punishing me for making you like it, and for making you want me."
She flushed. "Maybe I am punishing you. Or maybe I'm trying to give you a not so subtle hint to back off. Either way, I want you to get it into your head that I'm not going to wind up as one of your trophies. And I want you to stop trying to seduce me. Now, either you go, or I will, before things escalate any further.
I panicked. I knew I'd been flipping back and forth between charming and aggressive, and I was about to lose the opportunity to know her altogether.
Isn't that what you should let happen? No. I'm not okay with that.
"Wait!"
She paused, mid-climb onto her bike.
"We'll be friends then," I told her.
"Friends?"
"Yes. Friends. I'm not that bad of a person. I do have friends."
"Prove it," she challenged.
"Prove that I have friends?" I teased. "All right. Come out with me Saturday night. I'll introduce you."
"Nice try," she said. "I meant prove you're not a bad person. And then I'll consider your friendship request."
"How should I prove it?"
"Think of something."
"Fine," I agreed as an idea formed in my mind. "But if I do prove it to you, will you come out with me and my other friends on Saturday night?"
She smiled at me. "I'll consider letting you come out with my other friends on Tuesday."
"Tomorrow?"
"You have something else to do?"
Very briefly, Amber and her insistent dinner plans crossed my mind. No. I was done with her.
"No. No plans. But why Tuesday?" I asked.
"Saturday is too much like a date," she told me with an attractive blush.
"Okay," I agreed. "By tomorrow I'll prove my promise of undying friendship to you, and you can take me out for a wild Tuesday night."
Now I had something to prove. And I never back down from a challenge.
***
I drove lazily across campus, slowing even more when I spotted the parking enforcement office, located at the edge of the large driveway at the front of the college. I pulled into a spot in front, grinning as I centred the truck right between the white lines.
I sauntered into the office with my usual, charming smile in place.
"Hey there," I greeted.
The middle-aged woman behind the counter shook her head without even looking up from her crossword.
"Whatever your excuse is, I'm not buying it. You did the crime, you pay the fine.”
"I'm here to pay it, actually," I replied. "Or to pay all three of them, to be more accurate."
"You overdue?" she asked.
"Nope. I got the first two tickets yesterday and the last one five minutes ago."
That got her attention. She paused with her pencil in her mouth and eyed me speculatively. I held the three tickets out to her and she took them slowly.
"Well that's a first," she told me. "You frat boys are usually the last to pay. Half the time we have to send Gerald out to collect."
"Gerald?"
The woman used her pencil to point across the room. A big man, balanced on a tiny wooden chair and dressed in a security uniform, grunted at me.
"Gerald," the attendant confirmed.
I laughed. "I don't think you'll need him to chase me down. I've got a credit card here already to go."
I pulled my wallet out of my pocket, tapped the gold card on the counter, and held it out to her. As she reached for it, an idea crossed my mind, and I didn't loosen my grip.
"Problem?” she asked.
"No problem," I said confidently. "Just a question."
"Shoot."
"The girl who gave me these tickets. She's a pretty redhead. You now her?"
"No names," Gerald announced from his corner.
"I'm paying my ticket," I reminded him. "I just wondered - "
The big man cut me off as he stood up. "Then pay it. No names."
I sighed, and decided it wasn't worth losing the use of my limbs. I'd track her another way. I paid my fines and dragged myself back out to my truck.
"How can one girl be so hard to pin down?" I muttered as I resisted an urge to peel out of the parking lot.
I drove home, holed myself up in my room, and I dug into my research with an enthusiasm I was sure would impress even my father.
I cringed a little when I thought about his interest in the redhead and her cause. Since recusing myself from helping him wasn't an option, I really needed to tell her about his involvement in her project. It's what a real friend would do.
One step at a time.
I typed in her business name and came up with nothing useful. I added her cell phone number. Still nothing. Frustrated, I typed in the words "crazy redheaded gardener", then burst out laughing as a series of very suggestive photos popped up in the images.
I took a break and went for a forty minute jog on the treadmill. Then I ate the dinner our house manager left out for me and decided it was time to sacrifice one of my drinks in the form of an ice cold beer. I cracked an import and sipped it thoughtfully. I glanced at the clock in the kitchen and realized I must have been Internet-stalking the girl for hours. It was midnight.
Forget crazy gardener. Crazy me.
I downed my beer and headed back up to my room with the intention of closing my laptop, but as I grabbed it, I realized that in the very corner of the screen I could see a familiar face.
I clicked on it, and a grainy shot of the girl holding a rake popped open. She had a blog dedicated to Greenleaf Gardening. I flipped through the digital pages, and was disappointed to see that she hadn't included anything more personal than an email address, and even that was a generic one provided by the college. It was greenleaf1@transu.com.
I growled in irritation. It was almost like she didn't want to be found. No contact with the girls in her dorm. A terrible nickname from an old classmate. A business with no name attached.
No name.
I smacked myself in the head as I recalled the email address that Trans U had kicked out for me when I enrolled. It was fox28@transu.com - my last name followed by the identification number telling me there were at least twenty-seven other people who shared my surname at the college.
I pulled up the student services website and typed in the word GREENLEAF. I was rewarded instantly. There were only two names.
With a triumphant smile, I grabbed my phone.