The Unlikely Couple [COMPLETED]

Chapter Eight

Three stops, a load of food necessities and twenty minutes later, the taxi stopped in front of my building.

“Stacey!” Lindsey launched herself over the bags, poking her head out the door.

“What?” I shook the zip on my purse, tearing it away from the material it was caught on.

“There’s a function on Saturday for my work. We can invite whoever we want and I need you to come.” Knowing Lindsey she won’t tell me why I need to be there.

“How much?” I waited, tossing a fifty to the driver.

“Twenty per person. Free everything. The girls will be with dad and Ryan is hopeless at these events.” Her soft eyes blinked at me. “So will you come?”

“Can I invite Tim?”

“Yes,” she moaned awkwardly.

“Call me with the details.” I twirled with my shopping, flicking a hand at my sister. There was no time to mess around. Tim called thirty minutes ago, and said he’d be there in forty five. I had fifteen minutes to go up and put the food away. In that time I also need to transform into a decent looking woman and not the ragged monster I had become. The woman in the elevator stared weirdly, and a little girl who may be her daughter poked her tongue at me. They dropped off two floors below. Once the doors closed I blew a raspberry at them.

“Hurry up,” I begged the elevator. I squeezed through as it opened and ran down the hall. I chucked everything but the food through the door and skipped to the kitchen. Gently, I ripped open the plastic bags and unloaded the snacks. Various cheeses including a delicious creamy one with a tongue twisting name, small peppers stuffed with Greek feta cheese and an assortment of breads and biscuits. I even grabbed some dips. Thank goodness Lindsey wanted to stop by a market.

“I’ll fix you after.” My foot touched the fridge door, slamming it loudly. The food is away, I already have drinks. A shower is in need. The dress didn’t come off easily as I staggered around, trying to get into the bathroom. Finally the clothes came off, and were ferociously thrown into the hamper. Water flowed over me and I grinned. In the two seconds that I was naked, I was freezing. Unfortunately there was no time to frolic. I scrubbed and rinsed and repeated, until my skin was red and agitated.

“Where’s the stupid thing?” My arms searched everywhere for a towel. The damn thing slipped to the floor. I hoisted it up, rubbing it over me and stomped to my room. Now the next dilemma is clothes. I’m at home so I don’t want to be too fancy, but not daggy. The problem with being a woman is it feels like you have nothing to wear even though there are clothes falling out of your closet. I jumped and snatched my baby blue three quarter leggings, and picked out a soft pink cotton top with light polka dots. It was simple, cute and my hair made it even better. I brushed and dried it, and tied up my mane in a ponytail. I can’t complain, I achieved decent. Knock knock.

“Coming!” The loud bang frightened me. As I walked quickly, I stretched out the crinkles on the top. Maybe I should have ironed it.

“Hi Stacey,” Tim smiled, his cheeks going dark red.

“Hey,” I leaned out to kiss his cheek. “Please come in.”

“I like your place.” He was quick to look around. I’m sure he’ll find a lot about me from my apartment.

“It shouldn’t be too messy,” I joked. Oh crap I have to do the food. “Just look around, I have to sneak in the kitchen.” Hurry up Stacey. I whisked past him and ran for it. There’s a special tray around here somewhere.

“How long have you lived here for?” Sounds like he’s touching things.

“About five years but I only just finished redecorating.” I tried not to hack at the cheese.