by A. L. Brooks
She flicked through the channels until she found a home improvement program and smiled happily as she left that on in the background for company while she set about heating up her soup and buttering a large roll to have with it.
Once she’d eaten, washed up, and cleared away the evidence of her time in the kitchen, she switched off the TV and returned to her room. She didn’t feel comfortable in the living room. Everything there was Megan’s, and she couldn’t shake off the feeling that she was intruding. Reading in her room would suffice, and although it was in a bedroom rather than her own living room, it was some semblance of her regular routine, and as such was helping to allay some of her anxiety over the events of the week.
She’d found it fairly easy to adjust both her morning and evening routines to suit her new surroundings, and she’d been pleasantly surprised by that. Credit for that had to go to Megan, Lena acknowledged. Her new flatmate had been so generous and supportive, especially given how much they’d clashed up until last weekend. Megan’s very nature had made an awful situation far more bearable. Although, she had looked more than a little affronted when she’d come home the night before and observed what Lena had been up to. Lena hadn’t meant to offend, and she couldn’t really understand why Megan was. What sort of person would complain about coming home and finding their home cleaned so beautifully? Lena had been proud of her achievements and not at all impressed that no thanks had been forthcoming. Megan had been positively cold, in fact.
She looked down at the book in her hand, one of the two Megan had rescued from the flat. It made no sense—why do something this nice when the night before she’d appeared so annoyed? She shook her head. Megan was a mystery to her, and would probably always remain so.
Shifting her position on the bed, she grunted. The mattress on this sofa bed was awful. There was no other word for it. She’d woken up stiff and sore that morning, and the thought of spending even one more night on it filled her with dread. She looked left and right. It was a decent-sized sofa bed, wider than some she’d seen. Wide enough for a proper mattress? She scrambled off the bed and went back out to the kitchen. After rummaging through all the drawers and storage baskets under the counters, finally she located the tape measure she was hoping to find. Two minutes later, she was tapping the measure against her chin, deep in thought. It would just about fit, but it was getting it downstairs that would be the difficult part. Unless she had help, of course.
“So, here’s a question.” Jen’s expression was unreadable, which immediately put Megan on high alert.
“Okay,” she said, dragging the word out slowly.
Jen rearranged a couple of the mats on the bar, her gaze drifting away. “Well, I was wondering.” She looked up finally and met Megan’s eyes. “How would you feel if I asked Lena out?”
Megan’s eyes widened. “What’s it got to do with me?” she asked, even as her insides churned with what she couldn’t deny was jealousy. Which was crazy because there was no way Lena would be interested in someone like Megan.
Jen shrugged. “Just making sure I wouldn’t be, you know, invading any territory.”
Megan schooled her features into a relaxed, unconcerned look. It took far more work than she would have expected. “Of course not. Go for it.”
Jen beamed. “Cool.”
But later, as Megan strode home from the Tube station, her chin tucked down into the collar of her jacket, it didn’t feel cool at all. It felt anything but. What if Lena said yes? Would that mean she and Jen would be hanging out at Megan’s place? Would Megan have to watch them get all gooey with each other? The thought made her nauseous. She’d been trying to deny that she found Lena attractive ever since the storm had thrown them together, but she knew she was fooling herself. Despite Lena’s less-than-warm demeanour, Megan found her physically attractive, at least. And, sometimes, there’d been glimpses of something much softer, more approachable in Lena. Although, there was that freaky stuff about the cleaning that had rattled Megan so much the night before…
She entered the flat a few minutes later in a deep funk, throwing her jacket over the back of the sofa before heading to the fridge for a beer. She’d had one earlier in the bar with Jen but suddenly needed the buzz she’d get from another.
The sound of Lena’s bedroom door opening had her taking a deep breath before turning to face her new flatmate. Who had no right to look so adorable in that Hogwarts hoodie and soft cotton pyjama bottoms. Mentally sighing, Megan plastered a smile on her face.
“Hey, Lena, you okay?”
Lena gave her a weak smile as she walked over. “I am, thank you. How was your day?”
Megan shrugged and took another sip of beer before answering; Lena’s luminous eyes were throwing her concentration to the wind. “Good, thanks. Clients all day, which I like.”
Lena nodded and shuffled from one foot to the other. “I wanted to thank you for the books. That was very thoughtful of you.” There was a slight huskiness to her voice.
Megan blushed slightly. “Hey, you’re welcome. I know you said not to go up there, but you really seemed to be missing your books, so…”
Lena nodded again. “I was. I-I love reading. It’s one of the most important things to me. So, I admit I was at first a little irritated that you’d gone up there, but when I realised why, I… Well, it was a lovely thing to do. Thank you.”
Megan’s blush deepened. “Any time,” she said, gulping at her beer in an attempt to deflect from her reddening face but only succeeding in over-tipping the bottle and pouring beer down her chin and onto her chest.
“Shit!” She leapt backwards from the sudden cold on her shirt and slammed the bottle down on the counter. Where it promptly frothed up its contents all over the counter and onto the floor below. “Shit!” she cried, even louder, closing her eyes as her cheeks burned even brighter.
“I’ll get it,” Lena said quietly, and Megan opened her eyes to see her reaching for the tea towel that hung by the fridge.
“No! Hey, it’s my mess, I’ll clean it up.” Megan reached for the tea towel but Lena pulled it back.
“It’s fine. You clean yourself up—” she smirked, the first time Megan had seen her do so “—and I’ll take care of this part.”
Giving in, Megan nodded and rushed to the bathroom. She ripped off the wet shirt and quickly wiped at her chest with a damp facecloth. After rubbing her skin dry, she stood stock still as realisation dawned. Having removed the shirt, she was now clad only in jeans and a bra. Which meant she had to walk across to her bedroom like that. In front of Lena. Well, there was nothing she could do about that now—there was no way she was putting a beer-soaked shirt back on. Squaring her shoulders, she opened the bathroom door, and as nonchalantly as she could, walked out to the living room.
Lena tried not to stare. She really did. But Megan strolling casually across the living room with all that body on display had her mouth dry and her heart thumping rather loudly. Chris’s skinny ribs and bony arms had always slightly bothered Lena in ways she tried not to delve too deeply into. Megan’s bigger, bulkier form affected Lena in such contrasting ways that she almost laughed out loud.
Fearing Megan would catch her staring, she dragged her gaze away from the sight of all that skin and flustered her way through the rest of the cleaning-up job. When she was satisfied the counters had been cleaned sufficiently with antibacterial spray and the now-dirty tea towel was scrunched up ready for the laundry basket, she exhaled a slow breath and made her way to the sofa. She needed to regroup so that she could ask her big favour of Megan. She only hoped the beer-spilling incident hadn’t soured Megan’s mood.
Megan returned five minutes later, her skin now covered by a bright blue, long-sleeved top. The colour only emphasised Megan’s amazing eyes even more, and Lena had to force herself not to stare. What the heck was wrong with her?
Taking a deep breath, she said, “Megan, I wondere
d if I could ask a favour?”
Megan perched on the arm of the sofa furthest away from Lena. “Sure, what’s up?”
“Well, the mattress on the sofa bed is too uncomfortable. I measured up and I am pretty sure my regular double from upstairs would fit in its place. I can’t carry it down by myself, so I was hoping you could help me?”
She saw something flicker across Megan’s face and her eyes tighten. “Right, I see.”
Megan’s voice lacked its usual warmth, and Lena tilted her head. “Okay?”
Megan stood up. “Sure. You want to do it now?”
“That would be perfect, thank you.”
“Right.” Megan walked to the door without another word, and Lena stared after her. Why was she being so abrupt? Shaking her head in mystification, Lena trotted after her.
Chapter 11
Megan ate her toast aggressively the next morning, noting that she wouldn’t have known it was possible to aggressively eat toast until now. It took a lot to get her this wound up. She knew some people in the past had considered her a bit of a doormat, easily stomped over by other people’s needs and attitudes. Megan had always considered herself easy-going, refusing to stoop to other people’s level, and letting it all slide off her like water off a duck’s back.
But Lena Shah was riling Megan up in ways she didn’t know how to deal with.
There was something about the way Lena delivered her words, such as her complaint about the mattress the night before, that was so…rude. There were so many better ways she could have approached that conversation with Megan that would have softened the blow. Megan got it, she really did—sofa bed mattresses were notorious for being okay for one or two nights but not longer term. But given that Megan had taken Lena, a virtual stranger, into her home for an indefinite period of time, she could have at least prefaced her words with an “I’m really sorry, but…” And it had hurt even more after Lena’s thanks for the books—just when Megan thought things were softening, back Lena came with the sharpness.
Moving the mattress had been fairly easy in the end, between the pair of them. And Lena had been right: it just about squeezed into the space available, and her glee had been kind of cute to witness. But then she’d metaphorically slammed the door in Megan’s face moments later, wishing her a curt goodnight, and Megan had been left standing in the living room with her blood boiling in ways that were totally foreign to her.
Her phone buzzed beside her with a text message from Jen.
Hey, you home tonight? Got a rare Saturday night off, thought we could hang
Megan smiled. Yeah, hanging with Jen might be what she needed to put the smile back on her face. She checked her calendar app then flicked back to messaging.
Should be home by eight. Bring beer
Jen returned a smiley face, and Megan felt lighter simply from that brief exchange. To hell with Lena.
“Megan?” Alisha’s voice came from within the office as Megan walked by. She backtracked and stuck her head round the door. Alisha sat primly upright on her chair, swivelled round from her desk to face Megan, who tried very hard not to look at the expanse of leg on display. Alisha’s short skirt was made to look even skimpier by the way it had obviously ridden up while she sat. Megan swallowed hard before speaking.
“Hi, Alisha, what’s up?”
“Do you have a minute, please?” Alisha’s usual clipped tone was softer, and a hint of a smile chased across her full lips.
“Just about. Got a client due in five minutes. Can I check if they’re on the floor already and let them know where I am?”
Alisha nodded and Megan trotted down the corridor to the main room. She glanced over to the floor area where free workouts took place; no sign of Geoffrey. She walked quickly back to the office and shut the door behind her when Alisha motioned her to do so.
“Thank you,” Alisha said, smiling again. She’d never been this nice in all the time Megan had been working there. It was unnerving.
Megan sat in the spare chair and crossed one ankle over her knee. “What’s up?” she repeated, glad when her voice came out strong and clear, betraying nothing of her inner nervousness at being up close and personal with Alisha like this.
Alisha crossed her legs at the ankles, and Megan willed her eyes not to look at the red patent stilettos that graced Alisha’s feet. It never ceased to amaze her that Alisha would wear something so impractical when the rest of them were stomping around the club in sports shoes. However, Megan wasn’t complaining—as much as Alisha wasn’t really Megan’s type, she was a sucker for high heels.
“It’s a little bit of good news, actually. As you know, we introduced an employee of the month award a few months back, voted on by way of feedback forms from the clients. As you know, this award is open to full-time employees and contractors such as yourself. I’m happy to say that you are October’s winner.”
Megan gaped. “Seriously?”
Alisha chuckled, and the husky sound did strange things to Megan’s spine, making it seem as if it was melting. “Completely. I’ll present your award at the staff meeting on Monday, but I wanted to tell you in advance. I always like to do that to make sure the winner will actually turn up to the staff meeting.” She smiled ruefully, and Megan grinned.
“Wow, this is cool.” Megan couldn’t remember ever winning anything.
“It is indeed. So, see you at the meeting?”
“Definitely!” Megan stood up and made for the door. The soft and incredibly warm touch of Alisha’s hand on her forearm stopped her, and she turned to face her, her heart suddenly racing in her chest.
“Well done, Megan. You deserve it,” Alisha said. She was so close to Megan she could practically count each eyelash that framed Alisha’s rich brown eyes.
“Th-thank you,” she said.
Alisha’s smile told Megan she knew exactly what effect she was having on Megan, and her hand squeezed Megan’s arm slightly before letting it go.
“See you Monday.” She spun on her delicious heels to return to her desk.
Megan fumbled with the door handle and yanked it open, shooting out into the corridor like the cork from a champagne bottle. She only just avoided colliding with Kimberley, who laughed and waved as she strode by.
Megan slumped for a moment against the wall.
Alisha had flirted with her in the most overt way yet. Was she seriously interested in Megan? And if so, how did Megan tell her it wasn’t reciprocated? Because it wasn’t, despite the sexy heels. Alisha, quite frankly, scared the crap out of Megan, and she wasn’t remotely interested in her. Oh sure, on the surface she could appreciate that Alisha was hot, but when Megan thought about being with someone, she thought about a woman who was less intimidating, with more curves, and golden-brown skin that looked like it would be as soft as candy floss…
She stood upright. Okay, that was…ridiculous. She was mad at Lena, remember? Not attracted to her. No.
She blinked rapidly and headed into the main room.
“So, is she home?” Jen nodded towards Lena’s room, her smile wide, and Megan flinched. She’d forgotten Jen’s plan.
“Er, yeah, I think so.”
Jen took a swig of her beer. “She likely to appear or is she in bed already?”
Megan shrugged. “Her normal routine is to stay in there until about ten fifteen, then she cleans her teeth, pours herself a big glass of water, and heads off to bed.”
Jen’s eyebrows rose. “How do you know so much about her routine already?”
The blush was quick to heat Megan’s cheeks. How the hell did she know? Her subconscious had clearly been working overtime. Which was bizarre; she and Lena had only spent five nights living together, and the first one of those was the night of the storm, which didn’t count as routine at all.
“I’m just going on what happened last night.” The lie didn’t come easily—Megan h
ated lying to anyone.
Jen’s expression turned quizzical. “But I thought you said you moved the mattress last night?”
“Well, yeah.” Megan was getting more uncomfortable by the second. “But then after that, she stayed in her room until ten fifteen.”
“Right,” Jen said, looking sceptical, but thankfully dropped the subject with her next words. “Well, I’ll have to stay here until at least ten fifteen then,” she said, chuckling.
Megan dragged a smile from somewhere and hoped it looked genuine.
Jen started talking about some crazy customer they’d had in the bar the night before, and Megan let the story push all other thoughts away—especially the thoughts that involved Jen and Lena together. That image really didn’t fit well in her mind’s eye.
Lena’s appearance in the living room at precisely ten fifteen had Jen smirking and Megan blushing again.
“Hey, Lena,” Jen said, in her most sultry of tones.
Lena stopped like a deer caught in the headlights, halfway across the space between her room and the bathroom. Her eyes wide, and her hands twitching at the hem of her Hogwarts hoodie, she stammered, “Oh, er, hello. Jen.”
Jen stood and walked round the back of the sofa to lean against it. Megan swallowed the last of her beer, stood rapidly to attempt to escape to the kitchen, and crashed her shin into the coffee table.
“Oh, sh—sugar,” she blurted, grabbing at her throbbing shin, giving it a furious rub. She heard Jen guffaw behind her, then a loud “tut” from Lena. Great, now she’d pissed off Lena again.
“Quiet,” Lena hissed. “She could have hurt herself.”
Wait, what? Megan whipped her head round just in time to see Lena glare at Jen, and Jen’s face drop.
“S-sorry,” Jen said, shuffling on the spot. “Hey, Megs, you okay?”
