by Lanee Lane
"What are you doing here?"
"Good to see you, too," he replied in a dry tone. "I locked myself out of my apartment."
"Okay. That still doesn't explain why you're here. I'm not a locksmith."
"Are you serious? Because I could have sworn your Facebook profile said you were." He said as he held his chin in his hand, like he was really pondering the subject.
"What do you want, Skylar?'
"To hang out on your couch while I wait for my brother."
"Can't you hang out on your girlfriend's couch?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because I don't have a girlfriend."
"How long until your brother gets here?"
"About an hour."
"Fine." She walked into the apartment leaving the door open for him to follow.
Settling back on the couch, she pressed play on the remote. He sat down on the other side of the couch.
"Smells good in here."
"Thanks." She kept her eyes focused on the T.V.
"Whatcha eating?"
"Food."
Skylar leaned over to get a glimpse of her plate.
"Sounds delicious. I like food too."
"That's good."
"Aren't you going to share with your poor, homeless neighbor?"
She turned her head slowly to face him. "You are not homeless. You are locked out of your house. The two hardly compare."
He gave her the puppy dog eyes in reply.
"You are insufferable. The food is in the kitchen, and the plates and glasses are in the cabinet. You can serve yourself."
His puppy dog face turned into a full-on grin. She couldn't help but notice how handsome he looked when he smiled like that. She tried not to let it affect her. A few minutes later, he was back with a plate piled with food. So much for leftovers, she thought. He dug into the stir fry and moaned.
"This is so good," he said around a mouthful of food.
"Didn't anyone ever teach you not to talk with your mouth full?"
He swallowed his bite before answering. "Yes, believe it or not, my mom taught me manners. This is really freaking tasty, though."
"Thanks," she said.
They sat in a comfortable silence eating their food and watching Netflix. She didn't know if he'd ever watched the show she was watching before, but he didn't complain about it. When she finished her plate, she pulled the throw that she kept on the back of the couch around her and curled into the corner of the couch.
"You look like you could fall asleep," Skylar said.
"That's because I could. It's been a long day. I'm thankfully off tomorrow though
"What exactly do you do? I know you work at the boutique, but what do you do?"
"I'm a personal stylist. I basically shop for women. I pick out things that are in style while matching their personal tastes and body shape. They pick pieces they like the best from what I select. I have some everyday clients, and then I have more high profile clients which I make house calls to. I also have a blog on the side."
"Do you like it?"
"Oh, I love it. I've always loved fashion, but I also love making women feel beautiful and confident in their skin. At Finesse & Flare they have clothes for women of all different sizes."
"Are you good at what you do?" Skylar sat back on the couch stretching his feet out in front of him.
"I think so. I'm hoping to branch out and start doing some personal styling on my own as well."
"That would be good; kind of like an entrepreneur."
"That's the goal: to be my own boss one day."
"That's awesome. You have great ambitions."
"What about you? Do you like your job?"
Skylar put one of his hands behind him and rested his head on it.
"I do for the most part. I like going in and fixing problems and helping companies run more efficiently. Not sure it's what I want to do forever, but for now I enjoy it enough."
"What else do you think you would want to do?"
"I'm not really sure yet."
Skylar's phone rang, and he fished it out of his pocket. He rose to his feet while accepting the call.
The call only lasted about thirty seconds.
"Brendon's here, so I guess I'll get out of your hair. Thanks for dinner. If you ever have leftovers, feel free to knock on my door and save me from my endless nights of takeout."
"You're welcome, but I don't know that I'll be providing you with dinner anytime soon."
He walked to the door, and she followed to lock up behind him. Once in the hallway, he gave her a little wave before heading for the elevator.
Back in his apartment, Skylar and his brother decided to play Xbox for a while. They may be grown businessmen, but they still enjoyed a little sibling rivalry by way of video games. His brother left around ten leaving him on the couch watching ESPN. The ring of his phone drew his attention from the T.V. When he looked at the caller ID, he saw that it was Candace. He groaned, knowing that he needed to end things with her. She was getting too clingy even though he'd made it clear that he was not looking for a relationship; a fact that had not changed.
Guaranteed hookups were nice, but he would survive. Better to end it now before she got to ‘stage five’ clinger status and gave him an ultimatum about a proposal. He hit the answer button. Doing it over the phone would have been easy, but he didn't want to be a complete asshole. Candace asked if she could come over. He agreed, telling her that he needed to talk to her.
While he waited for her, he sipped a beer. He started to wonder if he should have met her in a neutral place. Maybe breaking things off with her in his apartment wasn't his brightest idea. It was too late now though since she was on her way.
A knock sounded at the door. Inhaling a deep breath, he went to let her in. It was now or never. No matter what the head between his legs said he had to deny her advances. He didn't want to have sex with her and then end it. That was too crass even for him.
When he opened the door she was in a skimpy outfit that didn't cover much of her body. It was spring time, but the evenings were still cool. Small arms wrapped around his neck and pulled him down for a kiss before he had time to protest. A sultry smile played on her face when she pulled away. He knew what that smile meant, but he wasn't going to give in. Their thing had run its course and it was time for both of them to move on.
"Hey," he stepped back out of her embrace. She looked a little confused for a moment. "We need to talk. Let's go have a seat on the couch."
Candace picked her seat and Skylar sat down making sure to leave a space between them.
"What's going on?" she asked with worry laced in her tone.
"When we started this, we both knew it was casual. I never wanted anything serious; just some fun and companionship. I think that it is time that we go our separate ways. I'm afraid things may be getting too complicated."
Candace's face fell. Tears welled in her eyes. Oh shit, he thought to himself. Things were worse than he thought.
"Don't cry, Candace. I'm really sorry. I was trying to do the right thing by ending it before feelings got involved."
"But I- I think I love you, Skylar. I thought that we were moving forward. I thought that you were past the ‘just hooking up’ stage." She wiped at her eyes with her finger.
"I'm so sorry, Candace. I don't feel the same way. If I had realized your feelings were changing, I would have ended things sooner. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt you."
She reached her hand out and grasped his in hers.
"Maybe you just need time. Maybe we can take a break and you can think about if you want a relationship," she sniffled.
Skylar peeled her hand from his with his free hand.
"I don't think my mind will change, Candace. I'm sorry."
She picked up her purse and stormed to the door.
"You will miss me, Skylar. When you realize that, you better hope I haven't moved on."
She didn't wait for him to see her
out she just slammed the door behind her. Skylar fell back onto the couch. What an absolute mess he had caused. The ‘L’ word was brought up. Skylar did not have time for women to be falling in love with him. He didn't have anything more than sex to offer to a woman. If he ever settled down, he was a long way away from that day. Even if he wasn't, he didn't think Candace would be the woman for him.
CHAPTER SEVEN
After working on her latest blog post, Melanie decided to take a break. She was sitting out on her patio enjoying a book when her phone rang.
"Hey, old man. How are you?"
"I'm good, sweetheart. How's my girl?"
Phone calls with her dad always made her happy. He had moved to Texas a few years ago after he married his wife, Gwen, and Melanie missed him.
"I'm good, pops. Just working and trying to grow my blog."
"That's my girl; always working hard. I hope you're taking care of yourself too."
"I am. How's Gwen?"
"She's good. She's been busy tending to the garden. When are you coming to visit us?"
It never failed. Her dad always asked the same question. She missed her dad, but she had a job that was hard to get away from for too long. Never mind the travel expenses.
"You know I'll pay for your plane ticket, and you can stay here for free."
"I know, Dad. Hopefully I'll be able to come soon."
"Alright, sweetheart. I love you."
"I love you too, Dad."
The call ended and Melanie stared out into evening sky thinking about her dad.
"Where are you going soon?" She looked down over her railing and saw Skylar looking back up at her.
"Eavesdropping on people's conversations now?"
"I wouldn't call it eavesdropping since you were having said conversation in public, and I just happened to be on my patio."
She stuck her tongue out at him.
"Very mature, Mel."
"I learned from the best,” she countered.
"What are you up to?"
"Enjoying this weather and the last bit of my day off."
"Want to come down and hang with me and Brendon?"
"Why would I want to do that?" Her eyebrows rose.
He scoffed at that. "Why wouldn't you want to do that?"
She put her finger on her chin as if she were really pondering this question.
"First off, you don't even like me. Second, you don't really know me. Shall I keep going?"
“I never said I didn't like you, and I know you well enough."
"You didn't have to. Ever hear the saying ‘actions speak louder than words’?"
Brushing her words off, Skylar pressed on.
"Well, we have pizza and brownies if you want to come down."
"Sounds like girls’ night to me."
"We are men; manly men at that. We just like baked goods. As a matter of fact, when you start to bring me dinner, you can bring me some baked goods as well. Come down or don’t; suit yourself."
Skylar disappeared through his sliding glass door, and Melanie was left to her own peace and quiet. She’d been debating what to do for dinner. T.V. dinner or takeout were the options. With it being her day off, she didn’t feel like cooking anything.
Going to Skylar's would be a bad idea, but why should she pay for food when he’d already done so? She could put up with him long enough for a free meal, and then she'd be out. With that decided she went into her apartment, poured a glass of sparkling grape juice and headed out the door.
Less than a minute later, she was knocking on his front door. The sounds of a muffled T.V. and footsteps came from behind the door. Skylar swung the door open.
"We’ve been expecting you."
"I never said I was coming." Melanie fought to keep the smile off of her face.
"You didn't have to. No one turns down fresh brownies."
"Was that a fat joke?"
Skylar's mouth dropped open and he was momentarily at a loss for words.
"Why the hell would that be a fat joke?"
"Don't play dumb," she said and gestured to her body. "Clearly I don't have the body of a model."
"I-I would never say something like that to you or any other woman. You look fine to me. I was simply stating that everyone likes brownies. And if they don't, they aren't human."
Melanie studied him for a second trying to decide if he was being genuine. She didn't see any malice in his expression. Her hunched shoulders relaxed while she moved further into the apartment. Brendon was in the living room shoving half a slice of pizza into his mouth. When he spotted her walking in, he patted the spot next to him with his free hand.
"Hey, pretty lady, come sit by me."
"Aren't you just the charmer?" she laughed as she made her way over to him.
Brendon looked over his shoulder at his brother. "Get the lady a plate, would ya? Don't you have any manners?" He playfully nudged Melanie in her side like they were in cahoots.
Skylar turned toward the kitchen while mumbling under his breath. When he came back, he handed her a plate and some napkins.
"Take whatever you like," he told her. "I would offer you a drink, but it looks like you already have one. Wine?"
"Nope, it’s sparkling grape juice. It's my kryptonite. Not much of a drinker."
"Is that so?"
"Yep, and you’ll know why if you ever get the displeasure of seeing me drunk."
Brendon snickered beside her. "I know my new mission in life."
Melanie rolled her eyes and added two pieces of Hawaiian pizza to her plate. She tucked her feet under her and cuddled into the couch. The three of them sat and watched a reality T.V. show and chatted about who would be voted off and who should win.
"So, bro, you still seeing Candace?”
Skylar glanced at Melanie before answering his brother. Why his brother picked the worst times to bring things up, he did not know. Although he wasn't sure why he cared what Melanie thought about his love life. He didn't like her like that. They weren’t even quite friends.
"I wasn't really seeing her like that, but nah, things are done."
"What happened?"
Skylar could tell that Melanie was eager to hear what he said too. She tried to act like she wasn't that interested, but it wasn't working.
"She was starting to get clingy, and I could tell she forgot that it was never supposed to be serious. I broke it off before she could get hurt."
"Had a clinger huh, bro?"
"Something like that."
Brendon stretched his arm out and rested it behind Melanie on the couch.
"So Mel, what's your story?"
Melanie laughed to herself at how familiar Brendon was; using her nickname and resting his arm behind her tickled her. He was a jokester and she liked him already.
"There isn't much to me really."
"Ah come on, a cutie like you has got to have something to say. Are you from here? What do you do? What makes you hot?"
A loud laugh burst from Melanie. "You are something else," she said when she caught her breath.
"I'm from a small town in central Indiana. I'm a personal stylist. I also run my own fashion blog. As for what makes me hot, I can't just give out that kind of top secret information."
Brendon laughed, "Fair enough."
"What about you?"
"I'm a nerd."
"Oh, really? That's your official title?"
"Pretty much. I've created a few start-up technology companies that I sold early on. I still own one; it’s my baby. I like all things computers and developing. My bank account would say I'm pretty good at it too." He took a swig from his beer.
"And you don't lack confidence either. Pretty impressive."
The two of them continued to talk about random things. Skylar was pretty quiet; only contributing to the conversation every so often. Melanie caught him staring at her once, but she assumed he was a bit buzzed from the beer.
Brendon finally made his move to leave. He and Melanie exchanged ph
one numbers and hugged like they were old friends. Once he was out the door, Melanie started to clean up.
"What are you doing?"
"Cleaning up some of the mess we made."
"You don't have to do that. I'll get it."
"It's rude to go to someone's house and not offer to help clean up, Skylar. Plus, I don't mind."
She carried the dishes into the kitchen and began to wash them by hand. Skylar came up beside her and rinsed them before putting them on the drying rack.
"So you and Brendon got along well."
Melanie chuckled lightly. "Yeah, he seems like a really nice guy. He is goofy."
"He's definitely that.”
"Is he your only sibling, or do you have more?"
"We have one sister. She's the baby of the bunch. She's getting married in a few weeks."
"Oh, my goodness, that's so exciting! Does she live here? Where is the wedding?"
"Yes, she lives here. The wedding is going to be at our parent's house. They have a nice sized piece of land. She wanted something intimate."
"I bet her wedding is going to be magical. You have to show me some pictures."
"I'll see what I can do. I'm sure I'll be tagged in a bunch of photos I don't want to take on Facebook."
"What's your family like? Is everyone goofy like Brendon or serious like you?"
"Hey, I can be goofy. I just take life a little more seriously than Brendon. He's sitting on a nice chunk of change, so he can afford to be crazy. Technology stuff comes easy to him which means money does too."
"Well, he certainly doesn't act like a stuck-up rich guy. He's very fun and nice."
"Yeah, he'll give you the shirt off his back. He's paying for our sister Sam's wedding."
"Wow, he just keeps amazing me."
Skylar resisted an eye roll.
"Anywho, tell me about Sam and your parents."
"Sam is the youngest like I said. We were super protective of her as a kid. She always wanted to hang out with us and do boy stuff. We let her tag along mostly because mom made us, but she has tough skin now because of it. She doesn't take any crap from anyone. She's a little thing, kind of like you, but she's feisty. She'll call you on your bullshit in a heartbeat. Got a heart of gold though. If she loves you, she will do anything for you."
