Chapter 5: Aftermath…

I woke up to the beautiful warm rays if the sun hitting my face and arms.  I opened my eyes and tried to blink the sleep away while glancing at the clock.

“Ugh, only 7?”  I asked groggily to myself.  I lifted myself up to walk into the bathroom and get ready for my day.  I took my shorts and tank top off and jumped into the shower.  A few minutes later I put my robe on and then toweled off my hair.  I brushed my teeth, went into my room and threw on a pair of my black Adidas pants with another tank top.  I put my hair up into a ponytail, grabbed my keys and my dogs leash.

“Brandy!” I yelled throughout the house, looking for my two-year-old pit bull.  Just as I was about to call her name for a second time, she came racing into the kitchen and started flipping out when she saw the leash in my hand.  Brandy loved to go for walks and I loved to run her through the park.  It was a mutual feeling.  Just as I was hooking her up, Faith walked into the room looking like a zombie.

“Damn girl!  What happened last night?” I exclaimed giggling a little.

“Ugh, keep your voice down Laura,” she moaned while leaning on the counter for some balance.  “Please get me the Advil,” she practically whined while moving from the counter to sit in a chair.  Faith made a huffing noise when she plopped down.  She hadn’t made eye contact since she walked in; she just kept staring down at the floor like it was the most exciting attraction around the world.

“This is too weird,” I mumbled while trying to reach the Advil on the top shelf of the cabinet.

“Crap!” I yelped as I slipped and rammed my elbow down on the counter.  My arm must’ve scraped against the corner of the cabinet door because blood started to flow down my forearm towards my elbow.  “Damn,” I whispered swinging my arm towards the sink, and turning the cool water on.  With my uninjured arm, I reached below the sink, pulled out some hydrogen peroxide, some ointment and a bandage.  I sucked my teeth while pouring the peroxide on my cut.

“What happened?” Faith asked with concern in her voice yet not getting up.  “Nothing,” I said while quickly applying ointment and bandaging my arm.  “Just sit their Faith, I’ll get the Advil in a sec.  Here,” I said handing her the container of orange juice.

“Thanks,” she replied, finally looking up and reaching for the newspaper.

“What’s up with you?” I asked suspiciously, only to get a fast “Nothing,” out of her.  “Fine,” I said walking back to the counter and cradling my arm. “Thank you lord for high pain tolerance,” I mumbled rubbing my forearm lightly.  I wiped the counter with disinfectant and rinsed the sponge out.  “One more time,” I said to myself, opening the cabinet door once again.  “Had to be the top shelf, didn’t it?” I asked while lifting myself on to the counter again.  I, being stupid, reached my right arm up.  “Ouch damn it, I’m so stupid.”  I complained.

All of a sudden I felt a chest against my back.  The person behind me reached up and around me, up towards the bottle of Advil.  I examined the hand with…Blue nail polish?  Since when does Faith wear blue nail polish?!?  And how did she get so tall?  I screamed these questions in my head.  “What the hell?” I yelled while turning abruptly, falling into a broad chest.  I drug the person down with me as we were falling.  I heard the Advil bottle fall and roll as I awaited the hard impact of the floor.  It never came.  I scrambled to my feet as fast as I could and looked down into green eyes, green eyes that belonged to…Jeff?

“Need some help?”  He asked chuckling a little while locating the Advil container, picking it up, and hopping to his feet.  I looked at him in a strange way.  Why is he only wearing his boxers?  I asked myself, mad confused.

“Wha? Huh? How? Why?” I couldn’t spit out the question that was dying to come out of my mouth for the past few minutes.  Why the fuck is Jeff in my kitchen, plaid in a pair of boxers?  “Holy shit,” I whispered looking from an amused Jeff to a hysterical Faith.  I felt a sharp pain rip down my right forearm as I backed into the refrigerator.  “Ouch!” I yelped hugging my arm to my chest.

“Laura, what did you do?  How did you do that?  Are you okay?”  Faith asked running towards me, ripping my arm away from its cradled position.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!  Hold up.  Back up a minute, “I said, “What the hell is he doing in my house, in, in, in…That?!?”  I blurted out, gently pulling my arm out of her death grip.  “Oh, ha.  First off, it’s OUR house, and secondly, he came last night right when you left me in the car alone to go in the house.”  Faith finished, walking over to Jeff, giving him a quick kiss and leaning into his embrace.  She turned and smiled back at me.

“But, but, but,” I stammered.  “Stuttering is so not a good sign,” Jeff said, leaving the embrace and put an arm around Faith’s waist.

“I need to sit down,” I mumbled, sliding down the refrigerator onto our cold hard marble floor.  “You need to chill Birdi,” Faith said stepping out of Jeff’s arms and walking over to me.

“Don’t tell me to chill Faith.  I come into the kitchen and get a surprise of my life!” I said hastily.  “Not only did you just meet Jeff last night, but he came waltzing into our kitchen only wearing boxers, how the hell would you react?”  I finished, then asked, “You wanna gimme a heart attack, don’t ya?” I chuckled lightly.  “And what the hell happened to your headache?”  I asked totally in a confused state.  Faith slid down the fridge right next to me and put her arm around me.  I looked up to see Jeff take a few steps closer, totally interested in our conversation, with a content look on his face.

“To be honest, I don’t know, I really had a blasting one, but it kind of went away when you landed on Jeff and freaked,” Faith recalled the events from a little earlier.  “Or maybe the orange juice helped.”  She giggled as I poked her in the ribs lightly.  “Goofy,” I said giggling softly along with her.  All of a sudden, I saw the same hand that startled me earlier come down in front of my face.

“Lemme help you up,” he said smiling sweetly, with his light touch of southern drawl shining through his words.  I looked at his hand but didn’t take it.

“No thanks, I can do it myself,” I said while getting up with a struggle.  “I hope I didn’t crush you with my fat ass before,” I finished and I felt a warm hand reach for my left arm.  I tensed and pulled away hurriedly and said, “I said I could handle it.”  I walked towards the pulled out chair and pushed it back into place.

“Sorry, bad day.  Didn’t mean to snap at you like that Jeff.”  I said not looking up from the table.  I heard a whimper and turned to my dog.  “Awe, I forgot.  Just gimme a couple of minutes to recuperate Bran,” I said patting her head lightly.  “Just for the record, you’re not fat and you didn’t squish me,” Jeff said out of the blue.

“Oh okay,” I replied.  “Are you two gonna be here when I get back?” I asked turning to an already standing Faith and a leaning Jeff.  He looked from me to Faith with questioning eyes, and then Faith answered, “Yes,” with a really evil smile.

“I take it he’s not gay,” I said more of a statement than a question.  “You took it right,” Faith said wickedly.  “Well, I’ll see y’all in a little bit.  Jeff nice to see you again and sorry about the little mishap, and Faith, we need to have a little talk later chica.”  I said grabbing the leash off the floor and heading out the door, not waiting for answers. 

Chapter 6

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