The next morning came too fast. Tia hated to leave Courtney and the secluded, cozy little trailer in the woods. She pulled herself up groggily and stumbled into the bathroom. On her way there, she asked, “Mind if I use your mouthwash since I don’t have my toothbrush?”
“Of course not,” Courtney called out from the kitchen where the smell of coffee was strong. “And you never need to ask to use anything.”
They drank the coffee Courtney brewed them and had some breakfast croissants with it.
“I had a wonderful time,” Tia told Courtney on the way back to Tia’s apartment a half hour later.
“So did I,” Courtney said with a romantic smile.
They kissed a few minutes later in the apartment complex parking lot, reluctant to part. When they did, Tia trudged up the stairs to her noisy apartment, turning down yet another request for money along the way. She closed and locked the door behind her and was already anticipating her next encounter with Courtney.
Courtney called Tia from the store on Tuesday during a time when things were slow, saying she was bored and happily thinking of her.
“I’m happily thinking of you too, and even more happy at the idea of seeing you again soon!”
“Oh, you’ll see me soon enough.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. How ‘bout this afternoon after work? You up for the idea of me stopping by then?”
“Sure.”
They couldn’t speak much longer because a customer came into the store and Courtney had to hang up. Tia tried to concentrate on other things to make the day go by faster. She scrubbed the kitchen and bathroom, but each time she glanced at the clock, it hardly seemed as if much time had gone by since the last time she’d checked it.
When Courtney finally knocked on her door, Tia found her standing with her hands clasped behind her back when she opened the door.
“Hi!” Courtney said with a grin.
“Hi,” Tia grinned back.
Then out came the red rose Courtney had been holding.
“Oh, wow! For me?”
“Well, it certainly isn’t for Tinkerbell,” Courtney replied with a chuckle.
“It’s lovely. Come on in.”
Courtney stepped past the threshold, and Tia closed the door. Courtney walked up to Tinkerbell’s cage. “How’s she doing?”
“Great. She’s a lot of fun at night when she’s more active.”
Tia placed the rose in a vase and then fetched cans of soda and some cookies. They sat talking for a while on the couch. Tinkerbell barely acknowledged Courtney’s presence, as sleepy as she was.
At one point, Courtney noticed Tia grimace when she bit into her cookie. “You ok?”
“I have a cavity that’s been bothering me.”
“Any way you can get to a dentist?”
“Not now. In time, I’ll save up some money and make an appointment.”
“You might not have to,” Courtney said.
“What do you mean?”
“My mother hasn’t said much about it, but she may be coming into some money soon. If she does, maybe we can help, although I think we could still help anyway.”
“Coming into money how?” Tia asked.
“I don’t know. Some kind of business venture that has to do with Stan.”
“If you don’t mind my asking, where’s your real dad?”
Courtney shrugged. “Don’t know. I never knew him. I was the result of a one-night stand gone bad, you could say.”
“That must suck to know.”
Courtney shrugged again. “It’s all I’ve ever known. Having a great mom, great friends and someone like you really make up for it.”
Tia and Courtney stared at each other. They felt a pull from each other like a magnet. Minutes later, they were undressed.
As the sun began to set later on Tia said, “I wish you’d brought a change of clothes so you could stay overnight.”
“Me too,” said Courtney. “Even though it’s so noisy here. It must get old, huh?”
“It sure does. Would you be willing to put up with it if I lent you a fresh tee and undies? I think they’d fit you. We’re pretty close in size.”
“Well, I think they may be a bit snug on me, but sure, I’ll stay. Then I’ll take you to work with me tomorrow and bring you home in the afternoon.”
“I don’t mind walking back.”
“It’s too dangerous, Tia. Really, this neighborhood is just no good at all. I’d feel more comfortable if you’d let me bring you back.”
“Me too. If only because it’s so hot.”
Throughout the remainder of the night, they watched TV, talked, and made love. They squeezed into Tia’s sagging twin bed around 11:00 and lay silently listening to the sounds around them. Music played in the apartment below them. A door closed somewhere next door. Someone called out to someone down on the sidewalk below.
Tia rose from the bed and turned on the box fan that was a few feet from the bed. “This won’t drown out the big sounds, but it helps eliminate the little ones.”
“Thanks. I should sleep better now, not that there are that many little sounds around here.”
Tia laughed. “That’s true. There isn’t.”
“I don’t mean to sound rude. I just don’t see how you can live like this.”
“You’re not rude at all. It’s a tough life, but I don’t have any other choice.”
“Yeah, you do,” said Courtney.
Tia turned in the darkness towards Courtney. “Really?”
“I know this is premature, Tia, but I also know when something feels right to me. And being with you has never felt more right.”
“Aw, how sweet,” said Tia, emotion evident in her voice. “I’ve felt the same for you. I don’t know, ever since we met, I… well… I just felt things I’ve never felt before. And they were all good feelings.”
They embraced each other snugly, and Courtney said, “I knew you were it the day you walked into that store.”
They kissed passionately.
“I don’t have much, so it would be an easy move, but are you sure I wouldn’t be a burden to you since I don’t drive?”
“Of course you wouldn’t. If I couldn’t get you someplace you needed to go, Mom or Stanley could.”
“And they wouldn’t mind?”
“No, not at all. Oh, please, please give it a try!” Courtney urged excitedly. “I don’t mean to be so pushy, but it’s the right thing. I just know it is. If you’re not happy for any reason whatsoever, I’ll help you move back out. I’ll even pay your first and last month’s rent. And your deposit.”
“I’d love to give it a go!” Tia exclaimed.
The next-door neighbor, apparently not sharing Tia and Courtney’s excitement, thumped the wall in annoyance.
Tia and Courtney laughed. Then they thumped the wall in return.
At first, Morgan Cole wasn’t happy with Courtney’s hasty decision to have Tia move in with her. But this was only because they’d just met. What did her daughter really know about the girl? Yet in Tia’s presence, she’d seen opportunity, so she welcomed the idea of Tia’s arrival in the end.
The only thing that made her hesitate as far as taking advantage of the opportunity that lay before her was her daughter. She knew that while it was an opportunity that would bring them good things that they didn’t necessarily need, but could definitely use, it was also something that would bring devastation to Courtney, and she hated to see her daughter suffer in any way. But she believed in her heart that the benefits would far outweigh the loss, for there would be other Tia’s in the sea for her daughter, wouldn’t there?
What she needed to ask herself was how soon? How soon should she proceed with her plan? They could really use the extra money. Especially if she wanted to be able to stop working every single damn day of the week for a while, and she did. But should she carry on before Courtney had a chance to get more and more used to having Tia around? Or would it be better to let Courtney enjoy having Tia around for a while before she used her to help her achieve her goal?
After much thought, she decided it would probably be best to act as soon as possible. The less time Courtney had to get attached to Tia, the easier it would be to “lose” her. All she had to do was wait for Stan to set the stage and for the time to be just right. And it had to be on a day when Tia would be home and Courtney would be at the store. She aimed for Monday because that was when the store received the least amount of business, and she knew Courtney wouldn’t need her to be there during at least some of it.
Morgan took her tea out onto the deck that stretched outward and over the cliff and gazed out at the cascading mountains off in the distance. The sun was setting off in the west, turning the skies to brilliant hues of deep pinks and purples.
Laughter floated up in her direction. She gazed down through the trees. She caught an occasional flash of color and movement through the greenness of the oaks, palms, and underbrush. Courtney appeared to be chasing Tia and having fun while she was at it, too. Tia, who was having just as much fun, turned and charged after Courtney, becoming the chaser as opposed to the chased. Morgan felt a twinge of guilt squeeze at her heart.
Don’t, she commanded herself. Financial freedom is more important than Stan and Tia. You both need it. You deserve it. You’ll miss Stan, Courtney will miss Tia, but you’ll both move on and be better off. Much better off.
More waves of laughter floated upwards as Morgan, mind made up, finished her tea and went back inside the house.
Tia thought she was dreaming at first, but it didn’t take more than a minute to realize that the alarm beeping was for real. Eyes still shut, she felt Courtney moving beside her as she reached to turn the alarm off.
Tia yawned and said, “I’m so glad it’s you who has to go to work today and not me.”
Courtney ran a hand across Tia’s back and said, “I’m sure I’ll be saying that very same thing in just a couple of days.”
Tia moaned with pleasure at Courtney’s touch. “Too bad you can’t play hooky.”
Courtney laughed. “No chance there. That’s the price you pay when you work for the family business.”
“Oh, well. In eight hours we’ll be together again. Just think, it’s only eight short hours.”
“They won’t be so short for me, but knowing I’ll be coming home to you will help keep me going throughout the day.”
“I’ll have a nice romantic, candlelight dinner waiting and ready.”
“Will you be my dessert?”
“Of course I will,” said Tia, still lying on her stomach.
“Good,” said Courtney, kissing Tia’s back before getting out of bed.
Tia drifted in and out of sleep as Courtney showered and dressed. She thought that by the time she left, she’d fall back asleep, but that wasn’t the case. And so she rose for the day herself, greeting Tinkerbell who had come out of her own slumber just long enough to say hello. Then she poured her own cup of coffee and fired up her laptop. She spent the remainder of the morning replying to an email from Madita, reading news articles, and participating in forum and blog discussions.
She had just finished scrubbing the bathroom, just after lunchtime, when the phone rang. Dropping the sponge in the tub, she headed into the living room to answer it.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Tia.”
“Hi, Morgan,” replied Tia, recognizing the voice right away.
“You busy right now?”
“No, not too busy. Just finishing up with cleaning the bathroom. What’s up?”
“Well, I was wondering if you could come up here. I’ve got something you might like.”
“Oh, really? What’s that?”
“I was at a yard sale and happened to spot the cutest little skirt. It had your name all over it, and I just had to grab it.”
“Oh, that was nice of you. You didn’t have to, but it was nice just the same.”
“I know it’s a bit of a climb, but my knee’s acting up right now, so would you mind coming up to the house, sweetie?”
“No, not at all. The walk will do me good. Especially after spending most of the morning just sitting at the computer.”
“Ok. See you in a few.”
“See ya.”
Tia slipped into her flip-flops she kept by the door next to Courtney’s, and stepped out into the warm sunshine. She found the walk to be a bit of a workout, especially where the drive was the steepest, but wasn’t too out of breath when she reached Morgan’s door a few minutes later.
“I’m here,” Tia announced, peering through the screen door into the gloomy living room. All she could see were shapes and shadows. “Morgan,” she called out as she opened the screen door and stepped inside the house.
The sight of Stan lying motionless on the floor at the far end of the living room barely had time to register in Tia’s mind before she was hit on the head. She sank into a deep, dark nothingness in seconds.
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