•- Laine Bennett -•
My night was full of exciting conversations and contagious laughter. I'd become hysterical by the early break of dawn and by the time I'd finally fallen asleep, the metaphorical rooster began to crow.
Despite the entertaining delight of having my two friends by me the entire night, I awoke with an aching pain throughout my body and a raging headache from sleep deprivation.
Brent had already been awake, that much was clear from the perfectly set table in front of me covered in breakfast foods that could fill all of Strangetown.
I stretch my body in all possible ways before kicking Mahalia who slept at the other end of the couch. She groaned loudly, making me kick her harder to awaken her from her dream enhanced slumber.
Brent carries over a divine looking bowl of mixed fruit and places the ceramic filled dish into his coffee table.
"Hails, I made you food."
Her head lifts from the pillow and the blanket held tight to her body covers half of her face.
"What kind of food?" She says behind the thin material. Despite the quality of her quilted blanket, her voice came out muffled and nearly inaudible, but Brent managed to piece together her words before pointing behind him to the perfect set meal.
"Everything your cold, dead heart could ever desire."
I was sure Brent would make for a good father. He had a prenatal way about him, and although his childish conversing with Mahalia was strictly for humor, he gave off the energy of fatherhood. I could see him living in a townhouse in the better side of Brooklyn with a wife and two kids.
Not wanting to wait for the two's conversation to conclude, I indulge myself in a meal worth my time and energy. I piled a little of everything onto a plate and sunk to the floor to eat. Mahalia, after little convincing, collapsed beside me and did the same.
We devoured our food in silence and once the seconds of eating such a joyous meal had dwindled to nothing, I thank Brent for supplying both food and entertainment throughout the night. Hospitality was a skill not blessed to many, but Brent was a fair receiver of such a gift.
"Don't mention it," he replies with a mouthful of seasonal fruit, "You two ever want to stay the night again, I'm buying matching pajamas."
To his joke we all laugh and Mahalia and I help ourselves to seconds. By the end of the morning we'd helped him clean and we redressed after having spent the night in Brent's baggy clothes that hardly fit our bodies. He was a small guy compared to most, and Mahalia was nearly as tall as him, but alas, male clothes not fitted to size would never mold to our feminine bodies.
I had texted Austin to come get me like I was a child waiting for their parent to arrive, and this alone made me feel humored at the mere thought of Austin Wood as a father. Should we find ourselves in that position, in the far, far future, I can only see him as the type of man to attend to his children's every need until they are given what they deserve.
Brent and Mahalia waited downstairs and before long the unmistakeable Tesla pulled into view. I expected him to stay in the car and wait for me to say my final goodbyes, but he exits the vehicle with a cardboard container holding mugs wrapped in the protective shield from the heated interior.
He quickly presses his lips to my temple before pulling cups individually from the container and handing each beverage to each of us.
"I might not understand the concept of 'sleepovers' but I was well aware you three musketeers would hardly sleep last night."
Mahalia downs a large gulp of her coffee, only to have the liquid dribble down her chin and onto her shirt from yesterday. She glances down with a bummed expression before looking up at Austin.
"Thank you for the coffee, Austin. And we are clear on the terms of my introductions, correct?" She points her perfectly shaped and painted fingernail to Austin.
He mocks her small interaction, "Are you coming Saturday?" He replies to which Mahalia nods her head, "Then I'll take you around the entire ballroom until someone asks you to dance, Cinderella," he laughs, causing Brent to snort.
"I do not think this girl has done a chore her damn life."
Brent and Mahalia separate into their own conversation of bickering while I turn all attention to Austin who was smiling at the scene.
"Thank you for the coffee, baby," I whisper so the entertainment of early morning fighting would not leave the streets of Manhattan.
Austin wraps an arm around my waist and pulls my body to his own. "You're welcome, Love."
His change of nickname was refreshing and gave me that sense of pride. Austin would never use such a term so loosely, and yet he accepted the use for someone as unimportant as myself. There were eight million people in New York City alone, including each individual district, and I was the one able to tame Austin Wood.
By the time Mahalia and Brent has settled their argument, I was ready to head home to awaken with a scolding hot shower and a fresh pair of clothes.
"You two should probably get to work before you get fired. I hear your boss is an asshole," I attempt to sound as though Austin was not sitting right beside me but I was well aware that the joke was nothing more than a way to gain Austin's attention in a way that did not shout desperation.
"Funny, Lainey. Because the other night you were saying-"
Before he could finalize his sentence and reveal the details to our sex life, I hug Mahalia and Brent briefly before saying goodbye to the two. A night well spent was overall needed and I was happy to have had such an opportunity with the most amazing two young workers at Wood Enterprise.
•———•
Austin had pulled into Manhattan traffic moments ago and we were driving through the city of New York awaiting arrival into my borough. I held onto Austin's hand as we winded through traffic and relief struck me as we finally edged closer to home.
I trusted his driving and his judgment, I just never had the same excitement for being away from home for too long. There was something about the comfortability and scent of Brooklyn that could make you both gag and feel nostalgic at the same time. I enjoyed being in an adverse area with neighbors who stayed awake all hours of the night screaming in languages I could never understand. It just had that certain calm to it that the blinking lights and honking horns of New York just could not fulfill.
Austin pulls to the side of my apartment building and I lean over and press my lips to his for a brief second.
"You can head to my Gram's shop, I just need to take a shower and I can meet you there," I smile as I unbuild myself from the vehicle.
Austin shakes his head and turns the ignition of the car off. "That won't do. I drove you here, I'll drive you out. What kind of gentleman do you think I am, Laine Bennett?"
I shrug my shoulders as a million and one responses fill the voided space in my mind. However, I had a goal and an important task at hand and banter was simply out of the question.
Austin follows me to my vacant apartment. My Gram's would have left by now, and Thea would be well off to work. I was never home alone as I was always the one who made rent prior to employment at Wood Enterprise. I worked at best three jobs all ranging in hours and tasks just to meet the basic minimum for human survival in the overly priced city of New York.
I unlock the barrier between vulnerability and seclusion. The oak door pushes open to reveal a sloppy house cluttered with what we found no time to clean between our working days.
Immediately I apologize for the mess but Austin assured me there was nothing to be sorry about.
"I like your apartment, Lainey. It shows that three independent women work their asses off everyday and there is no way anyone could ever shame on it."
His reassurance was endearing and the taint to my cheeks reminded me so. I kick my shoes off in my room, which mocked the main living space with the cluttered mess around my floors and dresser.
Something about Austin's carefree personality left me to feel at ease even in the messiest of situations. He could flip the switch from strict professional to goofy and lively in just seconds.
I gather clothes suitable for the day and I turn to find Austin leaned against my doorframe as I scurry around my room.
"You don't have to stand there," I inform him as I brush my messy hair behind my ear to keep it from falling in front of my face as I gather my showering necessities."
Austin pushes from his spot in my doorframe and a sly smirk takes over the encouraging one he wore just outside the door to my room.
"I know," he responds, "I'm just waiting for your kind invitation to let me join you in the shower. Imagine the crazy sex we'd have in there," his eyebrows raise and I find myself rolling my eyes in response.
I hold all my clothing changes in hand and I slide by Austin with ease. "You, sir, are going to be waiting for a very long time then."
Austin's eyebrow raises intriguingly and I can't help but shake my head as I step away from the door. All I could hear as I walk to the bathroom is the calming shout of Austin's voice, "How long is that?"
Shaking my head at the man I left in my bedroom, I turn all my focus onto what I intended to do the second I got home this morning.
"As long as I want," I shout back in reply, followed by the sound of the door closing behind me.
It was always good fun to tease the player. It made for interesting conversations.
•- Austin Wood -•
Laine had been in the shower what felt like forever. I held no motivation to move from her bed as I lay flat across the furniture in pure boredom. I'd hopes she would at least have given me something to do that was not deemed inappropriate.
I tap my fingers on top of my chest and let out a puff of air. Surely this girl had something lying around her room that could ease the boredom coursing through my veins.
I stand from my laying position and listen for the sound of the shower to stop it's power of water shooting from the pipes. Much to my dismay, the sound continued to echo through he small space that Laine, Thea, and Evaleen resided in.
There were memories here that could never be made elsewhere. But I could not help but feel sorry for the cramped space. It was a lovely apartment decorated to meet the taste of Evaleen and her family, but I wished there was more I could do the attend to their needs.
Thea and Evaleen had gifted me my most prized relationship. Thea had pushed Laine to me whether she liked to admit it or not, and Evaleen had given her and I the space we needed to grow as a couple. She never toured, never demanded, and when I told her how in love I was with her granddaughter, she had no doubt in her frail and aged body that my words were laced with the complete and utter truth.
I step into the hall just as Laine defended from the bathroom.
She had a towel laced in her hands as she dried her hair through the rough friction between hair and towel.
I admired her fresh and gorgeous face momentarily before I'm brought back to the reality of my inner curiosity.
"How long have you lived in this apartment?" I ask, causing her cheeks to puff in thought as her eyes wander up as she ponders her memory.
"Well, my Gram's sold the house when I was ten, we moved into the first apartment and left when I was 16, and then when I went to college at 18, we downsized again, so about five years?" She asks more than answers but her math was quick and estimated but I did not doubt her math one bit.
I expected to leave the conversation like that, but there was no way to follow up on the thoughts whirling around in my mind. Instead She follows with a simple curiosity of her own as to why I would ask such a question.
I quickly respond with, "No reason. Just wondering."
She allows my seemingly different behavior to slide before slipping into her room to finish getting ready for today's work. I push my whirling thoughts to the back of my mind to ponder to myself later tonight while in the lonesome of my own apartment. An apartment, that I was not so sure I wanted to be alone in anymore.
•———•
We arrive on scene ready to finalize all the details with Evaleen before full progress on the shop goes underway.
We sit around an old table in the back office and I present a few ideas to Evaleen that needs her approval before I gave my guys the res light.
"The only problem with working with an already operable business is the obvious lack of income you will receive during the time of repairs and upgrading. Most of our clients are bigger brands, but when we work with individual entrepreneurs we find that commonly their income is doubled by the end of the working period. We can't ensure the statistics are right with each project but with the press we are hoping to receive for your business through social media, I'm hoping for an increase in marketing and sale."
Evaleen nods along in what I hope to be agreement. She speaks no words however, and I find myself looking to Laine as she waits for the response from her grandmother.
"I've never had a plan so thorough for my shop, Austin. I'll admit that the low sales were nipping my ass, but I've never thought to attempt the internet aspect of sale."
I nod my head and as much as I would love to communicate with Laine and Evaleen on the personal level that we know one another, I found it to be my first nature to discuss business with a professionalism.
"Take no offense to my words, Evaleen, I beg of you, but our clientele who have been working in their industry tirelessly for as long as you have, lose the touch of in depth millennial demographics. By utilizing our social media as well as beginning your own, sales could have a major incline within the first year of reopening."
Laine nods her head from beside me as she eyes the paperwork in front of her. "I did the math, Grams. Austin over here is right. You could really see the increase if we put the business out there more."
Evaleen takes each word into consideration before nodding. "Okay, so, what do I need to do?"
•———•
By the end of our meeting we were all in agreement for what changes needed to occur in our renovations. I intended to keep to my word and be on site as a main instructor, but unfortunately there would be days when I would not be over to oversee the work in such detail as I would like. Evaleen had disappeared into the store and I pull Laine's spinning chair to my own.
"So, about my birthday," I begin, but she stops me with a sigh.
"I know what you're going to say, and I know that I can't be all romantic and stick to you the entire night."
I shake my head slightly, "You're entire night is meant to be by my side. You're still my assistant, therefore, I demand that you keep by me."
Her lips curl into a soft and angelic smile but I can't help but taint the purity of her lips with the soft touch of my own. She hums delicately as we part and I brush her hair from her cheek.
"Now what I was really going to say before you rudely interrupted me," I chuckle, making her eyes widen, "I want to spend all of Sunday with you, from the second you wake up, the the second you pass out dead asleep."
Laine shrugs her shoulders before leaning in to meet my lips with her own briefly, "I think that can be arranged."
I smile brightly as my thumb caresses her smooth and freckled covered cheek. Each individual spot plastered to the flesh of her face left the curiosity and excitement of what type of person she was on the inside. She had such an innocent appearance but when diving into who Laine Bennett truly was, the devil inside made sure to come out at the most deviant of times.
"You think it can be arranged? And what might you be doing following my birthday?"
Her nose wrinkles ever so slightly and I resist the urge to drop all conjuring thoughts and ask them and there, but I refrain.
"Plotting our ways to kill your old ass. I need to be financially stable, Austin. You won't be around forever and the sooner I can take your money, the better."
I shake my head disapprovingly but there was nothing else I could expect to leave her mouth at such a serious time.
There was never going to be a dull moment with Laine Bennett close by. And I was learning that by each second I spent with her.
•———•
• Climax King