Next part finally :)
Sorry for the delay, but I've made it extra long to make up for it. :)
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As I put my sandwich in the kitchen, I looked at the note again. I spit back what I was chewing on the sandwich, absolutely disgusting habit I picked up, and pushed the sandwich away. It was now 12:01 and James would be back in 29 minutes. I sighed and hurriedly walked into the living room to get my suitcase. I threw on a brown belted plaid shirt, black skinny jeans, brown Mary Jane's, and my knock-off Chanel sunglasses, deciding that a Celtic's jersey to a rich Manhattan shoe shop wasn't such a good idea.
I stepped out the door and gently closed it behind me. I walked up to the elevator and pulled my black tote bag closer to my shoulder. I looked in the gray metal at my reflection as the elevator down. For the first time, I was actually self-conscious about what I was wearing. Denise was probably wearing some designer dress and shoes made in France.
Looking down at my simple clothes made me adjust my sunglasses nervously. I frowned as the elevators opened and stepped out. Just as I was about to step into the lobby, I saw someone in a gray suit at the front desk. James.
Oh shit.
I froze and stared ahead to the front desk. James, with his thin white striped suit coat over his shoulder and his hands in his pockets spoke to the guy at the counter.
I gently stepped out and hid behind a chair, watching what he was saying.
"How may I help you, sir?" The guy in the blue suit at the desk asked.
"Hi, I was just wondering if your phone lines were working," James said.
"I beg your pardon? What exactly do you mean?" the counter guy asked a little impatiently.
"Just that, when I tried to call up to my room to check on my...uh...stepdaughter, no one picked up." James said, leaning over and putting his hands on the desk.
"Well, maybe the problem's not with our phones, but your stepdaughter," the man said, typing something busily on the computer.
"And what is that supposed to mean, Mr....Foreigner," James said, tapping his name tag.
"It's FourniER, FOURNIER," the man said in an annoyed voice. "I meant, maybe she is not in, at the moment, sir," he said, much more cautiously fingering his name tag.
"Hmm," James said, straightening up. "Maybe," he said, picking up his brief case and backing up. "Thanks."
I ducked behind the chair and nearly landed on some guy. "Hey!" I whispered. "Move!"
The guy looked up at me with steel colored eyes. "Who are...." He stopped suddenly and "Mirage?!"
"Jimmy!" I smiled broadly at him, forgetting to whisper.
"What are you doing here?" Jimmy asked in a whisper, sitting up suddenly and grinning.
"Oh...I live here," I whispered back.
"Here?" he asked, eyes widening.
"Yeah....Don't you?" I asked, wondering if I should tell him that I actually lived with my mom's twenty-five year old boyfriend.....Yeah, never mind.
"Are you kidding me?...I'm lucky I got a summer job here," he said, pointing down to the navy blue polo and khaki shorts. "I'm the pool boy," he said with a laugh.
"That's...nice," I said, trying my best to sound sincere.
"Sure," he said, nudging me with a grin.
I smiled and then remembered that James was still in the lobby. I slyly looked across the room and saw he was approaching the elevator. Suddenly, Jimmy said quietly, "What are you doing here?"
"I told you, I live-"
"No, I mean, HERE....Behind the couch," Jimmy clarified.
"Oh, I'm....taking a nap," I lied through my teeth.
"Oh," he said, eying me suspiciously.
"...What are YOU doing here?"
"Hiding from Mr. Fournier," he admitted. "I'm trying to make a call," he said, putting his cell phone up.
"Yikes," I said, cringing at the thought of 'FourniER, FOURNIER!!!'
I looked down at the time on Jimmy's cell phone. I looked over at James, realizing it was already 12:15. Denise would be waiting. "Come on...Go in already," I thought aloud as James stood near the elevator making a phone call.
"Huh?" Jimmy asked, staring at me in confusion.
"Oh...Nothing, just singing a song," I lied again. "Come onnn, baby," I fake sung. "Go in alreadaaay....Haha."
"Hmm...Never heard of that song," Jimmy said even more suspiciously.
"Listen," I interrupted. "When's your lunch break?"
"In about six minutes," Jimmy said, looking at his cell phone.
"Well, why don't we spend it together? You know, like talk and stuff," I said eagerly as James stepped into the elevator. His back was turned and any minute the elevator doors would close.
"Is that a date?" Jimmy asked, smiling broadly.
"No," I said, blushing nervously. I stood and grabbed his hand. "Let's go."
Suddenly, the elevator doors began to close. James turned and looked directly at me. His eyes widened. He was mouthing the letter 'w' when I grabbed Jimmy's hand and ran towards the door.
"Hey!" I heard him shout behind me and ran faster.
"What are you doing?" Jimmy asked, as we ran out the door.
"Can't talk," I breathed out. I saw a Mustang pull up and Denise in the front seat. She waved energetically at me. I ran towards the door and saw in her side view mirror James running behind us. "COME ON!" I shouted, pulling Jimmy to the car. He jumped into the back hurriedly and I jumped in next to him.
"Hey, Mirage! How are you?" Denise smiled at me with sparkly white teeth, totally unlike the red braces she had had before.
"Denise, DRIVE!" I shouted breathlessly.
"Huh? What are you talking abo-"
Jimmy looked back and mumbled, "Oh crap."
"DRIVE!" we both shouted in unison.
"Fine!" she shouted back, stepping on the gas. "How RUDE."
"Thanks, Dee!" I breathed out. I looked back and saw James standing near the entrance, angrily puffing his breath in and out. "Whew."
"Who was that?" Jimmy asked, eyes widening. He looked so cute when he did that.
"...My dad's....Bodyguard," I lied again. Denise eyed me in the rear view mirror.
I put on my sunglasses and sunk into my seat. "Huh," James said. He then broke out laughing. I joined in and Denise did as well.
"So where we headed? Century 21? Sephora?" I asked, pulling my hair out of its bun. It flowed in the wind and I closed my eyes and the sun shone down on me.
"You should put your hair down more often," Jimmy said, smiling at me. He then went back to looking at the buildings and shops passing by.
I blushed and Denise called me with her eyes in the rear view mirror. 'Who's that?' she mouthed.
'No one,' I said, shaking my head with a grin.
She raised her eyebrows and continued to drive on toward wherever we were going.
"Seriously, where are we going?" I asked in a carefree voice.
"Only the best vegetarian restaurant in Manhattan," Denise said with a laugh. "Chennai's Garden...Oh! Their rice with cauliflower is to DIE for!"
"....I'm more of a meat girl," I said, cringing at the thought of cauliflower.
"Only vegetables for me now...Part of my new diet."
"Dee, you need to stop. You know I came for some pizza," I said, poking her back.
"Alright, fine....But Ray's is all the way in NYC and that's the only pizzeria I go to," Denise admitted.
"Lombardi's is second best," Jimmy pointed out. "I used to basically live there as a kid. We went there all the time."
"Lombardi's it is!" Denise cried out, swirling the car around. "I hate cauliflower."
I laughed and turned to Jimmy. "So how long's your lunch break?"
"Thirty minutes," Jimmy said. "But I'm quitting anyway, so let's stay out."
"Okay," I said shyly.
"Woot! We can go clubbin'!" Denise shouted.
"Girl, shut up!" I said, blushing again. "I told you, we're only going for pizza."
"Alright, alright," Denise mumbled. "But it'd be a lot of fun."
I rolled my eyes and smiled to myself. This was gonna be fun...
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Denise pulled up to the condo at 4:30pm. "Oh my God, I had so much fun," she said with a laugh and she pulled the keys out of the ignition.
"Me too," I said, opening the car door. "What about you, Jimmy?"
"I can't believe you flicked that little kid off!" he said, laughing as he jumped out of the car.
"He shouldn't have touched my pizza," I giggled out.
"Girl, it was your sixth slice! Someone had to stop you!" Denise said, slapping my back playfully.
"I was hungry! You made me leave my sandwich," I said breathlessly.
"Well, my dad's gonna be wondering where I am," Denise mumbled, picking up her phone. "I have to go. I'll call you!" she called out as she pulled away from the sidewalk.
"Bye!" I called as I watched the Mustang drove off. I looked towards Jimmy. "So."
"So," he said, putting his hands in his pockets and swinging on the ball of his heels.
"So that was fun," I said with a laugh.
"Yeah," he said, with a small smile. "We should do it again sometime."
"Definitely. I mean Denise knows some really cool spots and-" I was cut off by a quick kiss on the cheek by Jimmy.
"I meant just us," he said, smiling slyly.
"Okay," I said quietly, blushing.
"Well, I'd better get going....My mom's waiting," he said, beginning to walk off.
"You're not gonna explain to 'FourniER'?" I asked.
"No, he probably wouldn't like that," Jimmy said with a laugh.
"Wait! Don't you need a ride?" I called out.
"No, I'll take a taxi, then the subway," he called back. "Bye Mirage!"
"Bye, Jimmy," I whispered back. As his form slowly turned the corner, I walked back towards the condo.
Mr. Fournier smiled at me as I walked in and I smiled back, feeling kinda bad for the French jokes we had been shooting at him at Lombardi's all day. I stepped into the elevator and went to the sixteenth floor.
As the doors slowly opened, I began to realize what I had done. Oh crap, James is probably waiting to kick my ass, I thought. The thought frightened me and I just wanted to go back down. But where? This was the only place I could go to after we had gotten evicted...
I stepped out and walked down the hall, head up and ready for any insults he would throw at me....I hoped he wasn't abusive...
I knocked on the door, not knowing the code to type on the keypad. I pressed the doorbell when that failed and it rang through the apartment. I pressed it again and finally heard the door jiggle.
James stood in the doorway with a frown on his face and the remote in his hand. He moved back and left the door open.
I stepped in and tried to walk past him into the living room. I took off my shoes near the door and placed my bag on the small table.
"That stunt you played earlier," I heard James say in a lethal voice. "Do that again and there'll be consequences."
Even though I felt like I had to go to the bathroom, I said boldly, "Try anything and I'll call the police..." I heard silence. "...Asshole." Almost immediately after I had said it, I regretted it. Why couldn't I just leave it there???
I sped through the living room and grabbed my suitcase. "What did you just call me?" I heard him call behind me.
"I said, 'Asshole'! Are you deaf?" I called back. I was just so fed up of this. When was mom going to dump him and when could we get back to our normal lives? I wanted to spend the summer with Naomi and Mariah and not here, with this dunce.
"Listen, kid, cut it with the insults," James said, coming into the living room.
"Listen, GUY, back off," I said back, searching through my suitcase for my body wash. "Where the hell is IT?" I mumbled, getting frustrated. You know, when you're so pissed that even the smallest things make you angry.
He grabbed my hand and said, "Apologize."
"Kiss my ass," I growled back, trying to pull my hand away.
He squeezed my wrist in a way that made me cringe and bite my tongue. "Apologize."
"Leave me alone," I said yanking my wrist back. I made my way to the bathroom with my body wash and towel in hand.
"What the hell is wrong with you?!" he shouted to me. "Don't you want your mom to be happy? Why are you so selfish?"
I turned around and just wanted to punch him. "What the hell do you know about me or my mom?! Do you know what we've had to go through; what I'VE been through, just to make sure that she wouldn't fall apart all together?"
James was quiet for a second as he watched my eyes fill with tears of anger. "That still doesn't mean that you have the right to ruin her chances of being happy....Don't you see how lonely she is? You have to sacrifice-"
"It gives me every right to! Do you think she thought of me when we had to move five times to get away from her creepy abusive boyfriends?! Do you KNOW what her last boyfriend did to me?" I yanked my shirt off the side of my shoulder to uncover the huge scar that Richard, my mom's last drunk boyfriend, had dealt me when I didn't make dinner that night.
James frown softened and he stared at the thumb-to-pinky length scar that decorated my shoulder. I was always careful to cover it up with my hair, and never to wear straps by themselves. Even my mother didn't know about it. "...What makes you think I would do that?" James asked, obviously not one to admit sympathy.
"What guarantee do I have that you won't?" I growled back, pulling my collar back over. I sniffed angrily and glared at him. "Ever since my dad left, all I've been is selfLESS, so don't tell me anything about making anyone unhappy or being selfish. You don't know the first thing about sacrifices." I grabbed my body wash and tried to rush to the bathroom. Just as I was about to step in, James pushed his hand into the door.
"...Listen k-...Mirage," James mumbled. "I'm...s-...So-....I apologize," he finally mumbled, turning his head to the side in an annoyed manner.
"Why are you apologizing, you're not the reason I'm so selfish," I said, trying to shut the door angrily.
"...Because I was wrong," he said with a sigh. "...Just accept, okay, I don't do this a lot."
"Well, maybe you should learn to, because that didn't sound at all sincere," I growled. I tried once more to shut the door but James grabbed my hand. For some odd reason, his hand felt nice and warm in mine, not at all like how mom's boyfriend's striking cold hand had been. "What do you want?" I asked, tears spilling from my eyes involuntarily. "Don't touch me!"
James face suddenly became very sad. He slowly, almost hesitantly pulled me into a half hug. "I'm sorry," he said. I only squinted at his chest angrily. I breathed shuddery breaths in and out. "I'm sorry....I promise I won't let anything like that happen to you," he said softly.
My eyes blinked wide open and I sniffled. That wasn't actually a threat, but I felt like I was letting my guard down. I slowly pulled away from him and turned my head away. "Just..." James stared at me inquiringly. "Just stay with my mom....Don't leave.....her." I said, biting my tongue. I was almost so selfless it was killing me.
"I won't," he said, breaking into a grin.
"...Thanks," I mumbled, stuffing my stuff back into my suitcase. I didn't feel like taking a shower that much anymore.
"By the way, your mom's buying a dress for you too," James said as I walked into the kitchen. "And thanks for the sandwich, turkey's my favorite."
I sighed, remembering the spit ball and then smiled to myself. Haha.
"And...Mirage," James said again. I turned back to the door, blinking back my now dried tears. "Only a son of a bitch would do that to you. I may be an asshole, but I'm not a son of a bitch....And I really would never do that to you," he said, staring at me seriously. "Really."
I nodded my head and smiled. That's nice to know. He smiled back slowly and rolled his eyes. "Go clean up your face, you look depressed," he said, gently giving me a push towards the bathroom and then walking into the living room.
I smiled to myself for the second time that day.
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Now wasn't that long?! I hoped you liked it :)
As always, read it up, vote it, comment it if you feel inclined, and ENJOY!!
(BTW, I KNOW THE LAKERS WON :(( Sucks, right? But it was well deserved, I guess D:)