He slid into the seat. Dar had tried to talk to her several times since they had introduced themselves in the break room, but she had always scurried off like he had the plague.
He wondered if he should change his deodorant. The way she acted anytime he got within ten feet of her made him think it wasn’t working. He surreptitiously sniffed himself. No strange body odors.
She continued to stare at him.
He rubbed his nose. No boogers. Why did she always give him that deer in headlights look? He decided to plow on and ignore it. “Whatcha writing?” He took a bite of his sandwich.
She blinked owlishly at him. A slow blush started at the base of her throat and worked its way toward her forehead. “Nothing,” she mumbled, flipping the notebook over. She picked up her drink and took a big suck on the straw.
He eyed her. “Uh huh…” He reached for the notebook to see for himself.
She started choking on her cola. She made a grab for the book, her sleeve catching several fries off her plate and flinging them at him in the process. “Don’t!” She gasped breathlessly, still trying to cough up the beverage she had inadvertently inhaled.
Dar looked from the notebook to the purple faced, wheezing woman in front of him. Then he looked that the fries in his lap. “Okay.” He started picking them off, hoping they weren’t greasy enough to ruin his slacks.
Another tray landing on the table made them both jump.
Mabel-Ann flopped down into the chair. “Hi, Dar. Hi, Cass. Wow, sure is busy in here today. Thanks for saving me a spot.”
The look on Cass’s face told him she hadn’t been doing any such thing.
“Hello, Mabel-Ann, how are you today?” he asked courteously. He saw Cass frantically shaking her head from the corner of his eye.
Too late.
Mabel-Ann launched into a discourse of her day. Which somehow involved a scuffed shoe, six cats, her husband’s bowel movement, and licorice flavored hard candy. It came to an abrupt end as she caught sight of Cass’s notebook. “Writing more dirty poems, Cass?”
Cass moaned, and her head thunked down on the table.
“Dirty poems?” Dar inquired. He gnawed off another bite of his sandwich and looked at Cass with interest.
Mabel-Ann nodded, blithely ignoring the other woman’s embarrassment. “Oh, yes, Cass writes dirty poems. She calls them erotica, but they are dirty.”
Another woman paused by the table. She smiled at him. It was the arugula woman. He tried not to stare at her faintly bulbous eyes and protruding lips. “Hello, Cass, who’s your friend?” She leaned to the side to look at Dar’s lap.
He blinked. Did she just check out my crotch?
Cass looked up from the tabletop and sighed. “Beatrice, Dar, Dar, Beatrice.” She stood with great dignity. “Now, please excuse me; I have some things to do before my lunch break is over.” Taking her tray, she left, head held high, although he was fairly sure that she would much rather have a hole open under her.
Beatrice slid into Cass’s vacated chair. She smiled in what she probably thought was a coy manner. It served to make her look like a myopic trout. “So, tell me about yourself, Dar. Are you seeing someone?”
Danger, Will Robinson! Danger! He scooted hurriedly away from the table. “Pleaseexcusemegottamakeaphonecallnicetomeetyoubye.” He practically ran after Cass. No wonder she didn’t want to talk to him. Now that he thought about it, those women seemed to always be hovering around her. Lurking in the background, like an evil fog.
He caught up with her in the hallway. “Hey, Cass, wait up.”
She turned, notebook clutched to her chest. “Hey.”
As he opened his mouth to say something, the yellow pantsuit woman strolled by. Today’s ensemble was a sickly shade of greenish yellow with bone beading. She paused to eye Dar’s sandwich before continuing on to the cafeteria.
Cass watched her leave, then made a strange humming/sucking noise.
“Are you humming?” He stepped slightly away.
She blushed again. “Sorry. That woman reminds me of a vacuum cleaner. She’s always looking for something to eat.”
Dar froze.
Cass continued to speak, not noticing the look on his face as she peered down the hall at the woman. “I don’t write dirty poems, by the way. I write erotic poetry. It’s been well received.” She said the last a bit defiantly.
He nodded slowly. “I’d like to see it sometime. Well, I just wanted to say hey. Lunch tomorrow? I promise not to bother you. I have some homework to work on and it’s nice to sit with someone who doesn’t have to be entertained.”
Dar saw that she was trying to think of a polite way to turn him down. “I could get there a bit early and get one of the small tables,” he threw in as a blatant bribe.
She wavered.
“Please?” He gave her a pitiful look.
She sighed. “Okay, see you tomorrow.”
“Great!” He winked and hurried off to his desk. Vacuum cleaner? Hoover. It was too big a coincidence. He continued to his desk with a thoughtful expression. Dar leaned back in his chair and folded his arms behind his head. He tried to remember the little snippets of information he had managed to glean from his conversations with Rikki in the past.
He could remember that she lived by herself and didn’t spend a lot of time with other people. She said she had brown hair and eyes and was “blindingly average” in looks. If Cass and Rikki were the same person, he disagreed with that assessment.
While he wouldn’t say she was stunning, he found her cute. And, he could really go for a nice cuddle in her cleavage. The firm, full globes of her breasts made his fingers itch to explore them. He wondered why she was always hiding them behind baggy sweatshirts and black T-shirts with rather rude sayings. Most women he knew would be flaunting those puppies. If anything, she seemed irritated that they made it harder for people to read her shirts. It boggled the mind.
He sat up straight as inspiration struck. He knew how he could see if she was in fact Rikki without exposing himself and looking like a moron if he was wrong. All it would take is a trip to the local video store.
Chapter Five
Cass set her bag down on her desk and frowned at a brown paper wrapped package that sat in front of her computer with her name written on it in pen. She looked around warily, suspecting a trick. No one seemed to be paying any attention to her. She picked it up and shook it gently. It rattled. Hmmm…
She slid a fingernail under the tape closing it and pulled it loose. The paper fell away and revealed a DVD copy of the cartoon version of Rikki Tikki Tavi. The mongoose on the cover stared out at her with bright eyes.
The DVD fell from her numb fingers. She looked around a little wildly.
Dar was watching her from near his cube. He smiled and began to walk toward her.
“So, what was in the package?”
She squeaked and jumped, whirling to stare at Mabel-Ann. “Uh, what?”
Mabel-Ann smiled brightly, peering down at the DVD. “Oh, how cute. Who gave it to you?”
Cass turned back to her desk. She watched Dar pause and wave at her before turning to go back to his desk. “I don’t know.” She sank slowly into her chair, staring at the movie. Mabel-Ann’s continued chatter echoed vaguely in her ears, but not a word sank in. A shiver ran up her spine. Who is it? Who knows who I am? Do they know what I am? Why did they leave this here? Her nose started to twitch. Feeling slightly panicked, she pinched it. I can’t sneeze here! After a minute, the tickle-burn sensation subsided. Sneezing made her lose partial control of her form, and having her tail pop in and out of existence under her clothing was both painful and eye catching.
She shoved the movie into her bag and locked it in the drawer of her desk. She picked up her cup and slowly made her way to the break room, carefully studying the faces of the people she passed. She wasn’t sure what she was looking for, just some small clue that might tell her who left the package. The why would have to come later.
Much t
o her relief, the coffeepot wasn’t a tar pit this morning. She slopped some into her cup and smeared a paranoid look across the inhabitants of the room. She sucked in a cautious slurp of her beverage. Her tongue curled and she felt several taste buds pop off her tongue and scurry behind her teeth. They hid there, shivering and mewling in misery. Now she knew why there was still coffee in the pot. It had been there for a day or two. Maybe three.
This is going to be a bad day.
* * * * *
Dar paused in the door of the break room. There wasn’t anyone in the room with Cass. As he watched, she looked around quickly and switched the grounds in the coffeepots. Now the decaf would brew in the regular carafe, and the decaf carafe would be chockfull of buzz. She smiled a bit evilly and muttered under her breath. All he caught were the words “road tar.”
She spun around with a look of dismay when he laughed.
“That’s not a very nice thing to do,” he said, grinning.
Cass blushed faintly.
He leaned against the counter and crossed his ankles, his own cup held loosely in his hand. “What brought this little prank on?”
“N-no one seems to m-make coffee around here,” she stuttered softly, pink still staining her cheeks. “And the pots are always gross and it just torked me off today.” She peeked up at her from under her long bangs. “Are you gonna tattle on me?”
He laughed again, delighted in this side of her personality. It, more than her reaction to the DVD, told him who she was. “Of course not, Rikki. But, I am glad I caught you so I could get the right pot.”
She grinned and turned back to glare at the pots like she was willing them to brew faster.
He waited.
She rinsed out her cup and dried it.
After another minute of waiting, she froze. She slowly turned to face him.
“What did you call me?” she asked, fixing her chilly gaze on his face.
“Rikki.”
She started and stared harder. “How do you know that name?”
“I’m Grimalkin.” He smiled brightly at her.
Her eyes widened. “No way!”
“Way.”
“But, Grim isn’t gay!” she burst out. Both of her hands clamped over her mouth and she stared at him in horror.
Now it was his turn to stare. “You thought I was gay?”
She nodded, hands still covering her mouth.
He threw back his head and laughed. After a minute or two, his hilarity died down to a few wheezing chuckles. When he looked back down at Cass, her eyes were shooting daggers at him.
Several people strolled into the room, so he leaned down and whispered in her ear, “I’m not gay, babe.” His tongue darted out to lick her earlobe for good measure.
She squeaked and jumped away from him and turned to the side to sneeze several times. The back of her shirt puffed up and down with each sneeze. His eyes widened, wondering what was causing it.
Cass looked horrified as she scurried out of the room, forgetting her cup.
What the hell? He absently poured himself a cup of coffee, ignoring the greetings of the women who came in. Taking Cass’s cup, he filled that as well and threaded his way through the people crowding around the fresh pots.
He smirked as he thought about what this place was going to be like in a couple hours, when Cass’s little prank started showing its effects.
Cass looked up when a masculine hand set her cup in front of her. Dar crouched down next to her. Her gaze skittered away from his nervously and she focused on his chest. “Hi,” she mumbled.
His finger lifted her chin so she had to look at him.
“I’ll see you at lunch, babe. Don’t forget you promised.” He smiled gently before standing and heading back to his desk.
Cass peeked around the wall and watched him. He had one of the finest asses she had ever seen.
Grim.
Great.
The guy she had the hots for and thought was gay turned out to be one of her best friends. She choked back a laugh at the irony of it. At least she knew who had left the DVD. Her other, bigger, secret was still safe.
She sighed and stuck the headphones for her MP3 player in her ears. As she started working, she very carefully pretended to not see Mabel-Ann waving at her.
Several hours later, Cass set her tray down on the table and slithered into the chair, not taking her eyes off Dar.
He winked at her and peered back down at the book he had opened on the table beside his lunch.
She peeked at it and blinked. It looked like an alchemy text, full of strange symbols and drawings. “Uhh, what are you reading?”
He looked back up at her with faintly glazed eyes. “Huh?”
“What are you reading?”
“Math,” was the dazed reply.
“Mmm,” she murmured, opening her notebook. It didn’t look like she was going to get any answers from him right now. That was okay, though, she’d get it out of him later.
They ate lunch in companionable silence, each focused on the work they had brought with them.
Dar finally surfaced from his text just a few minutes before Cass had to return to work. “I hate math,” he grumbled with a disgusted look.
Cass closed her notebook. She opened her mouth to ask him a couple of questions. “Dar ‑‑”
He cut her off. “Gotta get back to work. Dinner tonight?” He darted off before she could reply.
She glared after him. Presumptuous pain in my ass! She glowered at his tray. Typical, he leaves the woman to clean up. Muttering under her breath, she cleared the table and stalked back to her desk.
As she sat down, Mabel-Ann popped up from behind her wall like a jack-in-the-box. Cass cringed inwardly.
“Lunch with Dar, hmm?” the shorter woman asked with a comical leer.
“Uh huh,” Cass replied, sorting papers.
“What color are his unders?” Mabel-Ann asked in her chirping voice.
Cass froze and looked up slowly. “His what?” No way could she mean what she thought she meant.
“His unders. His underwear. I bet he wears thongs. Purple ones.” Mabel-Ann’s eyes glazed over and her gaze became distant while a faint blush stained her cheeks. “And he dances, I bet. Yeah. Stripping. With Gloria Gaynor music.” Mabel-Ann fanned herself and sank back behind the wall.
Cass stared at the wall. Dear Gawd. Purple?
Mabel-Ann was still muttering from her side. Cass caught the words “chocolate” and “tips.” She clapped her hand over her mouth and shook with laughter.
Dar stopped at Cass’s desk at quitting time. She was just putting the last of her paperwork away. “Ready?” he asked, grinning at the wary way she inspected him.
Mabel-Ann popped up in her cube. “Where you going?” she asked with nosy curiosity.
Dar blinked and stepped back. Geez, she must have ears like a bat, he thought to himself. “Dinner,” he replied cautiously.
Cass stood and tossed her backpack over her shoulder. “Let’s go.”
“But ‑‑” Mabel-Ann began
“Night, Mabel-Ann, see you tomorrow.” She quickly moved away, leaving Dar to trail after her. He waved at the nosy neighbor, who pouted after them.
He quickened his pace to catch up with her. “Where do you wanna go to eat?” he asked casually. She slowed down as they exited the building. He hooked his thumbs through his belt loops as he led her to his car.
She was buckling the seat belt when he slid behind the wheel.
“I don’t care,” she stated. “Can you drive me home after dinner? My car is at the shop until tomorrow.”
“Sure.” He carefully pulled into traffic and took the route to his favorite restaurant. Several minutes later they were seated at a table and ordering dinner.
Dar sipped his water and studied Cass as she folded her arms on the table and looked anywhere but at him. He set his glass on the table and smiled at the waitress as she brought their drinks.
“How did you know I was Rikk
i?” Cass asked abruptly.
Dar thought about it for a moment. “Well, I started noticing the people first. Some of the people you described were pretty memorable,” he said at length. “Hoover was the giveaway, though.” He fiddled with his spoon for a moment. “After that it was just logic. I gave you the movie because I couldn’t think of a way to just ask without sounding like I was a total goober if I was wrong.”
Cass pondered that. “You freaked me out,” she said after a few moments of silence. “I thought I had a stalker.”
Dar blinked. “Is that a common problem for you?”
She laughed. “Not really.”
He smiled slowly. “I’m really glad. You’re one of my closest friends, even though we had never met face to face. Pretty cool, huh?” He beamed.
Cass laughed softly. She leaned back so the waitress could place her meal on the table. They both stayed quiet until she left. Cass picked up her fork and began eating with a healthy appetite. She asked him about what he was studying in school and seemed interested to find out that he was an architecture student.
“I’m going home after I graduate. I shouldn’t have any trouble finding work,” he stated after swallowing the last bite of his dinner. They lingered over their drinks until the hostess started giving them the eye. Dar paid the bill and escorted Cass to the car with unconscious gallantry. It didn’t take long for them to reach Cass’s home on the outskirts of town.
Cass fidgeted with her keys. “Would you like to come in for something to drink?”
Dar smiled. “I would like that.” As it had taken most of the evening to get her to relax, he hadn’t been holding out much hope for an invitation inside.
She unlocked the door and motioned for him to precede her.
Dar looked around curiously. The door opened into small foyer with coat hooks on the wall and a small shelving unit where Cass slung her backpack.
She took his coat and hung it up next to hers before leading him inside.
It was obvious the house was old, but lovingly tended. Plaster walls of a mellow cream were beautifully framed with warm mahogany trim that gleamed as she flipped on lights.
Over the Wall Page 4
