The VIRGIN STRIPPER

38

****Lisa Michaels****

"You guys have a beach house!" I exclaimed to particularly nobody but Ella knew well enough that it was directed her way.

"Well to be perfectly fair, you can afford two first class tickets for a local airline without going broke. Oh! And that too, all on your own!" She replied pulling one of my bags inside the house.

The beach house was a spacious two story concrete structure that stretched only a few metres shy of the ocean itself.

From the entrance, an open and spacious living room welcomed you to the interior painted blue and white and grey furniture littered the space in a luxurious and fashionable way.

"Okay, mouth closed! You might catch flies before the dinner tonight." Ella shouted from behind me as she helped me with one of the other two bags I had with me.

"Exactly how rich are you guys now?" I asked following her to the foot of the spiral staircase that led upstairs.

"I'm not sure," Ella shrugged just as her mother's figure came waltzing into the living room.

"Oh my goodness, Lisa! You look incredible," she exclaimed and I had to take a step back from the highly uncomfortable proximity that she'd forced me to share.

"Uh-thanks?" I replied feeling a bit awkward. Edith and I never really got on the same side, "you too. You look beautiful," I told honestly.

For a moment there I thought to myself that this was the only time I was going to be that much honest with anything that concerned her.

Got home safe?

The text popped up on my screen and I gave Ella a weird look begging her to help me out of the mess that was her mother.

"Okay, let's get you settled in as mom finishes her dish, right mom?" She asked pulling my luggage up with her while I trailed slowly behind her.

"Oh yeah! Thanksgiving dinner is going to be better this year." She said before disappearing to where I assumed to be the kitchen.

"She hired a chef last year in order to impress her friends," Ella explained, "the meal was okay but there was only much she could do about the fact that the turkey wasn't fully cooked and her friends were just rich snobby housewives. It left her devastated for months!"

Once she opened the room I'd be using, my mouth hang open. In any other setting, this would be the master bedroom.

It had a balcony, a bathroom suite, a walk in closet and a king sized bed.

"About that text," Ella started letting herself fall on the bed carelessly.

"Unknown number," I murmured knowing full well that I was not oblivious to the possible owner.

Just before she could throw in a comment, my phone rang.

"Hey babe?" Cole's husky voice made me smile like an idiot before Ella rolled her eyes then left without a word.

"Hey? Miss me already?" I teased him as I ran a hand through the soft sheets on the mattress.

"A little," he said over the phone, "can't you just be here with me today?"

"Now who sounds cheesy?" A part of me, no matter how warm it felt for him to be this gentle and soft, I was still a bit worried due to his new behavior.

"I can't help it," I heard a heavy sigh on the other side and I let myself sink into the comfy beanbag on the floor next to the closet door. "What's happening, Lisa?"