Code Name : Catherine

Chapter 8

        There was a knock on the door and I rushed to the door to open it. I wasn't really expecting visitors. I found Paige staring at me wide eyed.

        "Morning Paige." I smiled at her. It was an awkward smile because I knew Nick was in the other room. I couldn't let her see him. I tried to slightly close the door behind me and position my body to hide as much as I could behind me.

        "Don't morning me. You've been M.I.A for the last couple of days," She said pushing past me and heading to the kitchen, "you quit your job, why would you do that? You've wanted this job forever!"

        My worst nightmare came true, Nick walked into the living area shirtless. Paige's mouth dropped instinctively. Nick absent mindedly carried on with what he came here to do, "Hey Cat, where is your soa-"

        "So Nick, say good morning to, Paige." I tried to signal to him.

       He stopped when he realised that Paige was in the room. Paige was standing there with her mouth hanging open, and honestly so was I. He was gorgeous. His abdominal muscles and his chest were defined and just beautiful. I could barely take my eyes off of him. I thought about the moment when I had my hands under his shirt.

        "So when you went M-I-A, you were..." She trailed off as her eyes darted from Nick back to me.

        "Oh, hi Paige." Nick greeted awkwardly. He scratched the back of his head as he just stood there in nothing but his jeans. The air became thick with awkwardness.

        "Soap. You were saying something about soap?" I tried to remember and gestured my hands wildly in the air, trying to change the subject completely.

        "Yeah, where is it?" He said.

        "The one in the bathroom must've run out." I mumbled to myself as I walked to the cabinet and took out an unused bar of soap and handed it to him. He smiled and walked back into my bedroom thanking me. Leaving me all alone to deal with Paige. I slowly turned around to face her.

        She had a mischievous grin plastered all over her face, "Missing-In-Action or Busy-Getting-Action, Cat?"

        "No, it's not what you-"

        "So how was it? Is he a good lover? Did he make you-"

        "Paige!" I finally got her attention before she got more carried away, "We didn't... I didn't..."

        "Then what is he doing in your apartment walking around half naked?" She arched her perfectly tweezed. right eyebrow. She gave me a skeptical look, "Plumbing?"

        "Taking a shower!" I offered while I was trying to come up with a perfectly good back story - which Paige would undoubtedly ask for.

       "So he just happened to get dirty in the neighbourhood and thought 'hey maybe I should go shower at Catherine's place!' Huh?" She asked sarcastically. She pursed her strawberry glossed lips into a pout to show how frustrated she was by not getting answers out of me.

        "Paige, I got mugged!" I finally spat out. I had to say something to shut her up.

        "What?!"

        "Yeah, and they kidnapped me and he happened to call me and I could answer him before they took my phone away. And then he came to get me." It was all a lie - maybe not all of it. I actually didn't expect her to believe it, but she did.