Roommates

Chapter 11

The car engine fell silent as Evangeline shut it down. She took a deep breath to gather her courage and her things before heading into the grocery store.

With the holiday coming up quickly, people were frantically shopping for any last minute items they needed for Christmas Eve dinner and Christmas morning toys for the tots. Evangeline pitied the families that worked tooth and nail just to scrape together enough for silly games the kids would forget about by the strike of noon on December 25th.

She couldn't believe how quickly the holidays flip through the calendar. Yet, she also couldn't believe that Chloe had only been gone for four days. This was the longest she had ever gone without talking to Chloe in the three years they'd been friends. She never got the silent treatment for longer than twenty-four hours. Chloe usually came home after a few days and she always returned Evangeline's calls.

She wasn't coming back this time.

"Good morning, beautiful," Trey sang, wrapping his arm around her as they made their way through the damp parking lot. His mildew musk assaulted her nostrils. "And how did my fine maiden sleep?"

"Surprisingly well," she reported. "Aurora spent the night."

Trey eyed her with a grin of satisfaction and praise. "Eve!"

"Not like that, you pervert!" She gut punched him and wiggled out of his embrace. She slithered through the automatic doors and waved to Jeff in the service desk as she turned toward the time clock. She lowered her voice, speaking only to Trey, "Believe it or not, I don't sleep with every pretty girl that works here."

"Just most of them," he retorted.

"You're a miserable heathen, destined to be alone. How do you like the truth?"

He rose his hands in surrender and welcomed her into the break room. "All's I'm saying is that you should bang me instead of those pretty girls."

"No force in hell or on earth could make me want to do that." She nudged his shoulder, playfully.

"Can't say I didn't try." He punched in his code into the time clock and led her out onto the sales floor. He spun her in a little circle. He gave her a small hug and shooed her forward. He always knew how to make sure she was smiling brightly.

She tried to keep her mouth shut, but the words escaped her tight lips. "Trey!" She caught him before he walked away. "Do you think Aurora is pretty?"

Taken aback, he pondered the question. "Well, she has a pulse, she has objectively fine features, and she seems single enough— or like she'd have a hot boyfriend I could also get with — so, I would say she is pretty and all. Yeah." He stopped by the service desk to drop off Evangeline. "The question is if you think she's pretty."

"I don't know." She thought about Aurora's face; her permanent smile, her squinting eyes, her sweet dimples. She had supple skin and voluminous lips. Her sculpted eyebrows and natural pink pigment deposited on her cheeks were unique to only her. "I mean, she's a cute girl."

"Is she cute like a puppy you want to take home or is she a cute girl you want to take home, strip down, and do?"

"I think we're done talking," she said with narrow eyes. She waved him away and tucked herself behind the swinging gate. She counted her safe with Jeff and checked the neon green schedule. Aurora said she'd be in at two and, yes, the schedule confirmed it. Unfortunately, that was hours away! Evangeline would just have to be patient. She needed to see Aurora again in order to decide if she really found the woman to be attractive. Maybe she was just becoming desperate. She was known for seeking rebound relationships.