Just a Number

Nine

I wake to a smell of butter – and burning. Quickly getting out of bed, I head to the living room to find an empty couch. The blanket and pillow were in a dismantled meson the couch and a half empty glass of juice sat on the table. There was a movie on the television that had been paused – it appeared to be an apocalypse movie.

A small shuffling sound in the kitchen led me to the burning smell. Bonnie stood in front of the microwave, slightly bent down holding her hand. She reaches for a bowl of popcorn on the counter and grabs one piece before popping it into her mouth then frowning in distaste; making her nose scrunch up.

That was cute. I take in her attire since I'm standing here already staring at her. Her hair is tied up in a loose knot on the top of her head – bouncing as she moves – She still wears the hoodie but I notice that her legs are no longer covered with leggings, they are bare. I mentally pray that she has some form of clothing under that hoodie, though. Right now is not a good time for her to be making me horny. I was about to start conversation about it when a loud popping sound made the both of flint.

"Shit!" She curses. Quickly opening the microwave, Bonnie grabs the bag and drops it on the floor. "Holy hell, that's hot!" Blowing on her finger tips, she glances in the microwave. "Oh man, he's gonna kill me."

"Actually, it's okay. It's old anyways." Saying this makes her flint and look my way.

"You scared me." She says as softly as ever before looking back into the microwave. "I was making popcorn and I screwed up the first batch."

"And the second batch." I point to the bag on the floor.

She giggles and answers with, "Yeah."

"Why are you eating popcorn now? It's 9:00 in the morning."

"I'm watching a movie," She says in a duh-tone. "And I don't know how to cook. I would've ordered out but I don't have any money."

"Or pants?" I say looking at her naked legs.

As if she didn't know her legs were bare, she grabs her hoodie and tries to pull it down more, "Oh my, gosh. I'm sorry. My leggings got set on fire. I burned a hole right through them and nearly seared my skin off."

I stare in disbelief. From making popcorn? "Maybe I should make breakfast."

"Yeah. I'll just..." She points to the living room and scurries past me.

I honestly had never seen Bonnie this...confused. Last night she seemed so professional and down to business but today it's as if it was all a façade. Pushing the thought to the back of my mind, I begin to make the breakfast.

***

After whipping up scrambled eggs and pancakes, I lay two full plates on the dining room table and glance into the living room. Bonnie has her hair down now and is tucked under the blanket, watching the movie that she had set up. For a moment, I just watch her. She lays on her side so her ombre hairs slightly fall over her face. Her lips are still as plump as ever but without the makeup she looks much younger than she usually does. She has dark circles under her eyes that tell me that she probably didn't get much sleep last night, or the night before that. Which leads me to what I need to talk to her about. Who is she?

"Breakfast is ready." I say.

She looks up at me and stretches before heading to her seat. I decide to place our plates on opposite sides of the table instead of next to each other. I can study her better if I am across from her rather than next to her, wait what?

"Wow, doesn't this look amazing?" She says as she sits in her seat, "Who taught you how to cook?"

"My parents. Each of them taught me something different. My mom taught me pancakes, my dad taught me eggs." I chuckle at the memories.

"Is it just you?" She says as she picks up her fork.

Whoa, she's asking a bunch of questions. "No. I have a younger sister and a younger brother. What about you?"

She pauses for a moment, "Um..." She picks up some eggs and puts them in her mouth before she chews in delight. "These are really good."

"Thanks." I grin.

She lets out a low moan, "I haven't had real breakfast in a while."

That moan, though. I sigh. "Your mom never cooks?"

Chewing, she looks down at her plate. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were hinting at wanting to meet my family."

"So, you do have a family?" I ask.

"No." She finally looks at me.

"But, you just said-"

"Can we talk about something else?" She looks away again.

"No, Bonnie." I stare at her intensely now, trying to get an idea of what she's thinking, "You need to tell me the truth."

"I don't know what you're talking about." She begins to cut her pancakes.

I sigh. "Can you at least tell me something? Something at all? Anything? I'd like to know that I'm not living with a complete serial killer."

"It's going to be 60 degrees today. Probably gonna rain." She says with humor in her eyes.

"The weather, Bonnie? Really?" I let out an exasperated sigh.

"You do that a lot. You sigh a lot." She says taking a sip of her orange juice.

"You make me sigh a lot." I say looking at my plate.

There's a dead silence for a moment, and then she speaks, "One question."

"What?"

"You get one question, with one real answer. Choose wisely."

One real answer? Has she been telling me fake answers? How am I supposed to even know her real name is Bonnie? I need more than one question. She'll have to live with me for a year if I actually want to get all of my questions answered. That actually doesn't sound like a bad idea. Wait, what?

"Do you have any siblings?" I'm not sure why I asked this question. Out of all of the proper questions to ask like 'Where is your parents?' or 'Why did you rob me last night?' I went with this. Maybe I wanted to actually talk to Bonnie. Maybe, breakfast small-talk was okay for us and I liked it. So, I asked the question that fit the mood.

She's quiet for a moment before starting up again, "A brother. I have an older brother." She says before going back to her pancakes.

"Why aren't you with him?" I ask immediately after her answer.

"One question."

"Right." I say. "One question." I'm not sure why I was going along with her little game. I mean, this is my house and I make the rules but I think for this situation I liked the idea of spending time with Bonnie and seeing her let her seductive guard down. So, I was going to cherish this time, however long it was going to be.

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