Live with Grace -EDITING

Ch. 6 What's Broken, Can be Fixed

Aside from the distance she obviously tried to place between the two of them, Sigh was genuinely attracted to Natalie. 

She looked nothing like Grace. Grace had a natural Hollywood look to her. Every feature she had screamed for attention, from her blonde hair to her amazing blue eyes.  Grace caught everyone's attention when she walked into a room. 

This girl, Natalie, had a different, raw kind of beauty. Her eyes were a deep emerald green and her hair was a simple brunette. Oddly, she felt familiar.   

Amy was up, cooking bacon and eggs when he returned to the cabin.

"Mmmm. Smells awesome. I haven't had a breakfast like that in years. Usually I have a bowl of cereal and fruit as I run out the door," Sigh smiled to Amy as he took a seat at the counter.

"Well, here, while you're on vacation, you won't have a rushed breakfast," she smiled back, placing some bacon on a plate in front of him.

"You're coming home with me," Sigh announced to Amy as Charlie walked into the room, "Charlie, she's coming home with me."

"Oh I don't think so. I need this little lady to cook and clean for me," Charlie stated as he walked over to his wife and kissed her.

"So what're your plans for today?" Charlie directed to Sigh.

"I need to go into town and get a couple of things. Otherwise, nothing." 

"Perfect, I've gotta go to the store today anyways. You can come with me. Then we can go to lunch," Charlie suggested.

"Sounds good to me," Sigh paused to take a bite of this food, "By the way, I ran into this girl, Natalie, this morning. Do you know her?" Sigh asked.

"Really?  Already?" Amy teased.

"I was just wondering about her," Sigh continued.

"She's a sweet girl. She works for me at the store. She's been here a couple of years. I don't know much about her. She keeps to herself," Charlie answered.

Jackpot.

"Married? Single? What's her story?" Sigh continued, taking bites of food as Charlie responded.

"She's single. No pets. I've never see her out. She keeps to herself. I don't know much about her life before she moved here. She's always been alone. Hard worker. She always stays late when I need her to. No kids," Charlie continued.

"I asked her to come with me to lunch and she said she had to work. Then I hinted to dinner and she just shot me down," Sigh told Charlie.

"Jeez Sigh, you don't waste any time," Amy chimed in.

"What? I saw an attractive girl and asked her to lunch. I do it all the time. They always turn out to be bimbo's but hey, at least I got a good dinner out of it," Sigh defended himself.

"Things are a little different here. You can't just go to lunch with random people. You've gotta get known first. You know, introduced," Amy explained to him.

"Fine, Charlie, then introduce me," Sigh finished his plate and handed it to Amy for seconds.

"We'll see," Charlie answered, handing his empty plate to Amy.

"God, you guys act like I'll corrupt the poor girl. I'm not that bad," Sigh added.

Charlie and Amy looked at each other, then back to Sigh. 

"Sigh, you've just become...," she paused while she searched for the right word, "desperate. You'll sleep with anyone who comes into contact with you," she added, lightly.

"No I don't." Sigh defended himself.

"Sigh, you've had to let go of at least four receptionists in the past year because you got involved with them," Charlie clarified.

"So what?" Sigh was feeling unsettled.

"So maybe you're looking for the wrong kind of girl," Amy suggested.

"Well duh. That's why I'm interested in this Natalie. She doesn't know my wealth. She doesn't care about keeping a job with me. She's real."

"Yeah, but she also told you she wasn't interested."

"You're right. But you know me, I don't take no lightly," Sigh told both of them, lighting up his face with his charming smile.

"Fine. I'll  introduce you two.  But that's it.  Don't expect more," Charlie warned.

"I won't."

Sigh stood up to help Amy clean up. 

"So tell me about the new receptionist. What's her name? Ashley?" Amy attempted small talk.

"Yeah. I already slept with her and she's already annoying me," Sigh explained.

"Sigh!"

"What? I can't help it. These girls practically throw themselves at me."

"Well you can say no."

"You're right. I can. I choose not to. I was hoping to let her go while I'm here."

"What's it about her you don't like?"

"Everything. She's annoying. She's immature, slutty and a gold digger." 

"Geez. Then why did you sleep with her?"

"She's hot. Great in bed," he admitted.

"You're disgusting."

"What? You asked," Sigh told her.

"Go take a shower. You stink," she playfully pushed him towards the door.

"Fine. Be that way," he smiled.

"Goodbye," she told him.

Sigh went downstairs to shower, as he was directed. The hot water felt good on his shoulders. It's warmth pounded at his deep, swollen muscles, willing them to relax and melt away the tension from his morning run.  He rinsed the shampoo from his hair, scrubbed his body with soap and rinsed off.

As he turned off the water and grabbed a towel, he could hear voices upstairs. They were somewhat elevated so his curiosity got the best of him. He wrapped the towel around his waste and went to the bottom of the stairs to listen.

He heard Amy and Charlie talking.

"It's no worry sweetie. Charlie was just getting ready to leave for the store. He can bring you," Amy was saying, in a calmer tone.

"Yeah, don't worry. We'll figure out what's wrong with it. I've got a friend visiting, I'm just waiting for him to finish showering and we can go," Charlie added.

"Thanks Mr. Kohl. I'm sorry. I just didn't anticipate the car not starting."

Natalie's voice took Sigh by surprise. He knew exactly who it was before he even reached the top step of the flight of stairs. He didn't care that he was wrapped in only a towel.

"Hi. I've worked on cars my whole life, I can look at it," Sigh added into the conversation.