by M. L. Ryan
Alex seemed unfazed by the whole thing and earnestly answered their questions. Well, as earnestly as he could, considering the fact that we were both skirting the truth. It’s not like either of us could tell them what was really going on. I still had trouble with it myself, frankly. I smiled at the thought of explaining that I was harboring the essence of Alex’s magically gifted mentor who was previously trapped in my newly purchased Kindle.
Shortly before it was time to finish up for the day, Rachel cornered me while I was checking the day’s production.
“Alex is a really nice guy,” she began. When I simply nodded in agreement, she continued with, “So what happened at O’Reilly’s? You expect me to believe that you just happened to strike up a conversation with a gorgeous guy with computer skills, who was currently between jobs? Spill it, Hailey. I want details, girl.”
“I know, but it was just a lucky coincidence,” I said absentmindedly as I nervously adjusted my hair sticks. I tried to sound as sincere as possible, but I hated lying to her. I opted for some honesty with my next comments. “He is pretty great though.”
“Uh, yeah he is,” she joked, using her best blonde airhead imitation. “I hope you are giving him a chance; I think he likes you. I saw him watching you a lot today—when he thought no one would notice.”
I knew that the surveillance was likely a consequence of the situation with Sebastian, but I had to admit the thought of Alex being interested in me was… appealing. Wow. Me, Hailey Parrish, after swearing off the opposite sex for so long, was actually interested in a man. Well, not a man exactly, but close enough.
Not wanting to give Rachel too much encouragement on the matter I didn’t admit my attraction outright, but opted instead for “I will definitely consider giving him a chance” as my answer.
Rachel stuck her tongue out at me before she turned and walked away. Actually, except for the non-human part, Alex was close to the perfect guy—intelligent, handsome, and a sense of humor. And the non-human bit was actually kind of a turn-on; who knew what supernatural erotic tricks he might have up his sleeve, or down his pants for that matter. I continued with this line of thought until Sebastian interrupted my fantasies.
“She is very perceptive. I know Alexander well, and his attraction to you is unmistakable.”
As soon as he related this observation, I could feel my face start to flush. It was like being back in middle school for god’s sake. Oooh, does Johnny like me? Now I was not only blushing, but immensely disgusted with myself for doing so. I was relieved that Sebastian couldn’t read my mind, given what I had been thinking about moments before. Still, I had to stifle the smile that threatened to bust out from simply considering the prospects with Alex.
After work, Alex and I stopped at the grocery store and stocked up on food, all of which Alex paid for. I tried to protest, but he was adamant about doing his share. Once back at my place, we unloaded everything and started on dinner.
We had planned to use the grill, but it started to drizzle and neither of us wanted to stand in the rain while barbequing the chicken. Eventually, I decided to make pasta instead. I prepared the fresh tomato and basil sauce while Alex monitored the linguini for al dente-ness as it cooked. We added salad and some garlic bread, and ended up with a tasty meal.
During dinner, Alex explained that while not all his contacts had reported back, the ones that did hadn’t discovered anything useful. There was no report of a body being found in the hotel room, nor anywhere in the city in the days following the attack. This made Sebastian and him speculate that Kashanian or his minions had moved the body, and had likely hidden it to avoid detection.
“What if they buried it or burned it? I asked as I chewed on my second toasted, garlicy roll.
“Either way, someone should still be able to detect his spectral trail,” Alex replied. I had no idea what that meant and Alex must have sensed my confusion, because after a short pause, he continued with a more thorough explanation. “All of us have a unique magical signature, much like a DNA profile, that can be used for identification.”
“Or under the circumstances, more like a supernatural IP address.”
Alex laughed heartily at my sarcasm. “That’s just the kind of caustic remark that Sebastian would make. But I doubt that they would have tried to burn him—burying or concealing the body would attract less attention.”
He remained hopeful that Sebastian’s corporeal self would be found in a state conducive to accepting the part of his mentor that was now in me. Me too—I didn’t want to think about the alternatives.
We finished eating and cleaned up. It was kind of nice having someone else around. I had lived alone for so long, I thought I was content with the solitude. Now that I had a roommate—or two, if I counted Sebastian—I realized that I missed the companionship. We spent the rest of the evening talking and laughing about mostly inconsequential things: modern music, social networking, and the inexplicable upsurge of hookah bars. If it had been a date, it would have been a really, really good one.
We parted around eleven o’clock—I to my bedroom, Alex to the bathroom to shower. As I lay in bed in the dark, I could hear him shut off the water and then move about for a while. Eventually, the living room light clicked off and the house fell silent. I went to sleep listening to the soft, pitter-patter of rain on the roof and wondering what it might be like to have Alex here with me, instead of out on the couch with Vinnie.
~8~
I awoke feeling amazingly turned on. One hand was moving sensually up and down between my legs, while the other was yanking my camisole top up to gain better access to my now erect nipples. I knew immediately this was not a manifestation of my own urges—I sometimes had erotic dreams, but they never made me feel myself up in my sleep.
“Damn it, Sebastian,” I snarled as I sprang to a sitting position. “Stop making me do whatever it is you are doing right now.”
“I swear, I’m not making you do it, it’s your physical reaction to my… needs.”
“Your needs?” I hissed as I straightened my clothes.
“I can’t help it; I’m a very sexual person. Normally, I have sex at least once a day. And it’s been months.”
I leaned back onto the pillows and let out a long breath. “This is absurd.”
“Why, pray tell, is this problematic? It’s no different than if you had an erotic dream. And this way we both get the benefits.”
“Except I don’t have to deal with my fantasies once I wake up. I won’t be able to look you, uh, myself in the eye afterwards. It’s too… icky.”
“You could have sex with someone else. That would satisfy my cravings.”
“I am not going to sleep with some guy just so you can get your rocks off.”
“While I am not theoretically opposed to sexual liaisons with members of the same sex, I was thinking more along the lines of you sleeping with a woman. That friend of yours, Rachel, she would be perfect. Her breasts are sublime.”
“Are you insane?” I howled. “I will not be your psychic fuck buddy. First, I’m straight. Second, do you think I would dupe a friend of mine into some sort of weird supernatural threesome because you can’t keep your pants zipped?
“Well, really they are your pants.”
I rolled my eyes and took a deep, calming breath. “Look Sebastian, I understand how frustrating this must be for you, but you are a guest in my body, and I would appreciate it if you could take a mental cold shower when you are aroused.”
There was a long silence and I wondered if he was sulking. Eventually he said, “Fine. But if you hear me counting backwards by sevens, at least do me the courtesy of appreciating my sacrifice.”
I heard a soft rap at my door, and Alex called out, “Is everything okay in there?”
I was tempted to tell Alex about Sebastian’s sleazy proposal, but decided to take the high road instead.
“I’m fine. Just setting down a few ground rules. Sorry to have woken you.”
He seemed lik
e he might inquire more about what ground rules needed setting because he paused before he finally said, “No problem. Goodnight, Hailey.”
I made it through the rest of the night without any interruptions. In fact, I heard little from Sebastian throughout the rest of week except for an occasional plaintive sigh when in the presence of Rachel. Which really was just fine with me. If he wanted to sulk, he could go right ahead.
Alex came to work every day, and the only problem we encountered was when, on Tuesday morning, Rachel pulled me aside and asked why Alex and I had arrived in my car. There’s always something you overlook when creating a lie—and frankly, it didn’t occur to either Alex or me that it might raise a few eyebrows.
Fortunately, I came up with a plausible explanation—Alex’s car was in the shop and he asked me if I could pick him up—and managed to be convincing in my mendacity, as Rachel seemed satisfied with the story. It probably helped that I was able to surreptitiously update Alex when she wasn’t around, so when she interrogated him later, our stories matched. From then on, he drove his rental car instead of carpooling with me. It was a huge waste of energy, to be sure, but it beat having my friends think that I was shacking up with a guy I had met only a few days before.
By Friday afternoon, Alex had improved our record keeping so all the information from the microchips implanted in our herd could be accessed in a slick spreadsheet format on our computers. As he explained it, private investigators do most of their groundwork over the internet these days and he taught himself the art of data management when he realized that he spent too much time looking for information he had already compiled.
Thanks to Alex, our weekly paperwork load just decreased by about fifty percent and he did it free. If nothing else, maybe when this whole disembodied essence debacle was over, I would get a nice raise for my mad administrative skills.
Not only was Alex a fine pseudo-employee, but he was also a great houseguest as well. He helped with the cooking and the cleaning, and paid for half the groceries. Much to his credit—and my relief—he never mentioned the shower incident, even though he ran out to Wal-Mart to get a new curtain and fixed the rod. Best of all, he never left the toilet seat up.
Rachel invited Chelsea, Daniel, me, and Alex to join her and Harrison at a new vegetarian restaurant that had recently opened downtown, named Café Sin Vacas. While none of us eschewed the eating of meat, we were always up for trying something new, and Rachel had heard the food was excellent.
We agreed to meet there later and Alex and I drove off separately to maintain our deception. We took slightly different routes back to my place, a maneuver suggested by Alex, who insisted that if we were going to go to the trouble to take our own cars, we should make certain our ruse was thorough. Alex arrived before I did, and by the time I made it into the house, he was already in the shower.
While I waited for my turn in the bathroom, the song She Drives Me Crazy by the Fine Young Cannibals rang out from my cell phone. I had programmed that ring tone to identify only one caller and I thought long and hard about ignoring it before I finally sucked it up and answered with as cheerful a tone as I could muster.
“Hi Mom.”
“Hailey? Is that you?”
I rolled my eyes. Instead of asking her who else she thought would be answering my phone, I curbed the sarcasm and simply confirmed my identity.
“Oh, hello dear. I hadn’t spoken to you in a while and I just wanted to check in to make sure you’re alright.”
It had been about two weeks since our last call, but contrary to my mother’s assessment, that seemed like not nearly enough time had elapsed between calls to me.
“I’m good. What’s new with you?”
“You would not believe what I’ve been through this week,” she began. “I’ve had plumbers here three times, and they still haven’t been able to fix the water pressure problems. Of course, they want to charge me whether they make the repairs or not. I’m sure they’re godless heathens, a true believer would never try to swindle someone.”
“I thought you only employ repairmen off of www.whowouldjesushire.net,” I muttered idly.
“I do, but if I was a faithless huckster who wanted to cheat the righteous, that’s just where I would place an advertisement.”
There she goes, I thought with resignation. Thirty seconds into the conversation, and she’s already spouting anti-Christian conspiracy theories.
“Mom, I seriously doubt they are colluding against you. They are probably just bad plumbers.” It was never a good idea for me to engage in this kind of repartee with my mother, so I decided to try to change the subject. “How’s Dad?”
“Oh, same as usual. He squanders most of the day tinkering with his projects in the garage.”
For years, my father coped with my mother’s ever increasing religious zealotry by spending a good portion of his free time as far away from her as possible. Lately, he had converted a portion of the garage into a workshop where he made various woodcrafts that he sold at farmer’s markets around Branson, Missouri where he and my mom had retired about five years before. I was convinced that the only thing that kept my parent’s marriage intact was the fact that they rarely spent any time together.
My mother continued to babble on about my father’s lack of religious conviction and I retreated to my usual state of tuning her out. I was quite adept at giving the appearance of paying attention, interjecting a well-timed “uh-huh” or “really?” with practiced aplomb.
Soon, Alex emerged from the bathroom into the hallway, a towel wrapped low around his hips, the moisture that clung to his bare skin accentuating his well-developed chest and abs. His face was obscured by the second towel he used to vigorously dry his hair and I was mesmerized by the motion of his sinewy muscles, and some fairly prominent scars, that zigzagged across his torso and arms. So entranced, I didn’t notice when Alex finished with his hair and caught me staring. To make matters worse, the distraction broke my concentrated non-concentration on my mother’s prattle.
“Are you listening to me, Hailey?” My mother’s annoyance at my inattention practically oozed out of the phone.
“Uh, sorry. I’m just a little preoccupied this evening.” Yeah, I thought, by a mostly naked hunk that is currently grinning at me like a Cheshire Cat. I turned my back to him and said, “Continue, please,” into the phone.
“Really, you’d think you would be more interested in what is going on in my life. I won’t be around forever, you know. You should be thankful that you have a mother to talk to.” She paused briefly and I could swear I heard a small, maudlin sob before she continued. “You’re my only child,” she said tremulously. “Would it hurt to pay attention once in a while?”
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. “Mom, you have four other children.”
“Yes, but your sisters hate me, so I consider you the only one.”
My head was beginning to ache and I used my thumbs to put pressure on my temples in an attempt to quell the pain that was mounting.
“Okay, Mom. This is ridiculous. Sarah, Teresa, Nina, and Allysa don’t hate you,” I muttered. No, they didn’t hate her; they were just fed up with all her crap. “I really have to get going. I’m meeting some friends for dinner.”
Remarkably recovered from her melancholy of just moments before, she launched into her usual diatribe concerning my lack of a husband and the inevitable winding down of my biological clock. Actually, all I heard was, “You know, you only have a few fertile years left… ” when I lied and said that Rachel was in the driveway and I had to go. I disconnected and let out a long shriek of frustration.
“So I take it you and your mother don’t get along?”
I unclenched my fists, hoping that would help release the tension that was often the byproduct of interaction with my mother. “Saying we don’t get along is an understatement,” I said finally. “My mother is a difficult woman. We really have nothing in common except DNA.”
I stomped into the bathroom, a
nd spent the next few minutes trying to calm down. When I felt I was unlikely to break anything, I washed my face and attempted to tame my hair. By the time I emerged, Alex was dressed and sitting on the sofa.
“Just give me another minute to change my clothes and then I’ll be ready to go,” I called out as I went to my room, shut the door, and closed my eyes so I could undress without worrying about Sebastian.
I quickly put on a pair of black jeans and a long-sleeved, slinky, royal blue top with a moderately daring scoop-neck collar. I wasn’t exactly well endowed, but the shirt definitely accentuated the positive. Well, that and the push-up bra from Victoria’s Secret. I finished the outfit with a pair of short, black leather boots and, as I surveyed myself in the mirror, I was satisfied with the results. I transformed myself from average to… approaching somewhere near above average.
I walked out into the living room to find Alex tossing an empty toilet paper roll for Vinnie to play with. The cat enthusiastically batted the cardboard tube around the floor and pounced on the tormenting cylinder before flopping on his side and rending it mercilessly with his back paws. I laughed at Vinnie’s antics and it helped dispel any lingering mother-induced tension.
Alex looked up and walked over to me. He smiled one of his astounding smiles and leaned in before gently brushing his fingers against my hair, which was loose and cascading down my shoulders.
“You look great,” he murmured as our eyes met.
We stared at each other for a moment. Gazing into those bright blue depths made me contemplate what it would be like to kiss him. His lips parted slightly as his mouth curved into another smile, smaller than the one before, but filled with much more heat.
Suddenly, all the warm, seductive things I was feeling fell away and I wanted to put as much distance between us as possible. Rather than giving in to my first inclination to shriek and bolt across the room, I smiled back and said, “Thanks. We should get going, or we will be late,” and then scooted away from him and moved toward the front door.
