Dream Girl

Hollow Life

Rhys' P.O.V

Rhys was walking home from the flower shop with a fresh bouquet of tulips. As she walked up her street, she saw her neighbor Jillian's husband, Kenny, mowing their lawn. She waved to him and he waved back. "Oh Rhys," she heard Jillian yell as she walked out of her home. Jillian jogged across the street. "Have you heard what happened two blocks over?" she asked. "No? What happened?" Rhys asked. "The O'Brien's got robbed!" Jillian exclaimed. "That's awful," Rhys responded. She had chosen this neighborhood to live in because of how low the crime rate was here. This neighborhood was almost virtually untouched by crime, so this was big news. "We're having a community meeting tonight at 7 to see what we can do. It would be great if you could come. You are the youngest homeowner on this block. It would be nice to get a young person's perspective on this".

"I'll for sure be there. You guys are raising families out here so I understand the concern". Jillian put her hand on her hip and shook her head. "Families and retirees, that what lives over here. I guess you aren't safe anywhere," Jillian sighs. "Tonight we'll see what we can do to protect ourselves and this neighborhood," Rhys nods. She walks back towards her house. "Oh and Rhys!" she heard Jillian scream. She turned around and smiled. "That guy that has the Lamborghini. When he comes to visit, can you have him park out back?" she asks. "I'll make sure to tell him".

Rhys walked into her house and looked at the vase she had purchased just a few days ago. She unwrapped the bouquet and sat the flowers in the vase and smiled at them. "How cute," she said. A cat jumped on the coffee table and sniffed them. "Don't eat those," she sang. She walked into the kitchen and looked at the time. 4:15. "Oh my loves, it's time to eat," she yelled out. She grabbed the bag of cat food from the pantry floor and poured food into their bowls. All five cats walked into the kitchen when they heard the dry food hit the bowl. As they munched on their afternoon serving of food, she refilled their water bowls. Once the cats had been taken care of, she went down to the basement.

She grabbed the laundry basket off the floor and filled it with towels that had finished drying. As she walked back up the steps, a cat was meowing at her at the top of the stairs. "You're not allowed down here. Go away". As if it understood, the cat walked back into the main area of the kitchen and Rhys closed the door. The doorbell rang and she sat the basket down on the dining room table. She opened the door and saw Ben standing there. "You have got to stop showing up unannounced. Who knows what you could walk into," she said as he walked in. "What if I'm not home?" she asked as she locked the door. "You're always home".

She rolled her eyes and walk past him to grab the basket from the table. "I have to put these towels away upstairs. You can come up if you want," she says. "What else would I do?". He followed her upstairs and into her room. She used the spare closet to put towels and other beauty products in. "This family a couple of blocks over got robbed," she said as she was putting the towels away. "That's awful," Ben said. "This is a nice area. Did they take anything valuable?" he asked. "Not sure. There's a community meeting tonight so I'm going to go". Ben nodded. "I guess that means I can't stay over," he joked. With an unfolded towel in her hand, she looked back at him. She chuckled and resumed folding and putting them away.

Once she finished, she walked over to him and caressed his face. "You have really nice skin," Rhys smiled. "Thank you. Yours is nice as well," he said. "With as much as I spend on skincare products and facials, it better be!" she smiled. She pulled his shirt over his head and kissed him. "This is why you came right?" she said softly. Ben nodded and let their lips meet once more. He grabbed her behind and squeezed tightly. Her palm pressed against his chest just as her doorbell rang. "They'll have to wait," she said as she continued to kiss him. The doorbell rang again and she turned her head angrily. "Wait right here".

Ben's P.O.V

As she walked out the room, Ben sat on the bed. He pulled his phone from his pocket and checked his scheduled to see what he had to do tomorrow. He looked around the room and thought it was too dark. The uncovered window wasn't providing enough natural sunlight and it didn't help that the room was gray and had black furniture. He got off the bed and walked over to the curtain that not only covered the other window, but a small section of the room. When he pulled the curtain back, he couldn't believe what was behind it. A baby crib? He looked at the crib which had bedding and a stuffed animal in it and a baby mobile attached. "What the fuck..." he said to himself.

He didn't know what to do. He just stood and stared at the crib. There were too many weird things surrounding this girl and she wasn't giving Ben any incentive to stay around. He figured he would let her have this moment and then block her. It's gonna hurt me to say goodbye but it has to be done. He pulled the curtain back and once again concealed the crib. He sat back on the bed and debated whether or not he should tell Devin and D'Angelo. He decided against it. Rhys walked back into the room and he looked over at her as if nothing happened. 

She came back over to him and smiled. "Shall we continue?" she teased. They kissed as he unbuttoned her blouse. She slid her skirt off and got in the bed next to him. They took turns undressing one another until they were fully nude.

After they had finished having sex, Rhys sat on the bed with her knees to her chest in another over-sized shirt. "You can ask me one question," she said. Ben looked over at her. "What'd you say?" he asked. "One question. You get to ask me one question about myself and I'll be honest, no bullshit". Ben knew he had to make this count. If he heard something that satisfied him, he could disregard what he had seen about 30 minutes ago. "Who are you?" he asked. She chuckled and said, "Wouldn't you like to know". Ben sat and waited for her to start opening up.

"I am Rhys Padgett. No middle name. I was born here in Philadelphia and raised by my grandparents. My grandparents used their limited income to send me to the best private school in the city. Eventually my grades were so good that I was able to get a scholarship to attend the school. Unbeknownst to me, my grandparents then put the money they would use for tuition into an account for me. They died in a house fire when I was 14. I was away at camp when I got the call. I got full access to the money they had left for me and their life insurance policies. Most of that was used to cover their funerals. So I was broke and had nowhere to call home. I fell in with a bad crowd and did a lot of things that I regret to keep a roof over my head. Eventually I met Zig and she was going through a similar situation. We bonded over our shared trauma and that fact that we went hungry most nights. Eventually Zig got an older boyfriend who had his own place and he let us live with him. It didn't stop us from living that life though. We got heavy into drugs and drinking. Then one night we got a wake up call. Her boyfriend's place got raided and we hid in the closet, crying and covering each other's mouths so they wouldn't hear us. I got my shit together and got back into my books and studied hard. I graduated from college and now I'm here".

"Where are your parents in all of this?" he asked. "My mom died when I was two in a car accident. My dad was off doing his own thing, checking in occasionally but with no real concern". He now understood why she was so guarded about her life. It sounded like torture. "How did you stay in school after your grandparents died? The school would've heard about that right?" Ben asked. "I was sent to live with my dad but it was very clear he didn't want me around so I took off. I wasn't a ward of the state so I was able to stay in school. It looked good on paper so no one asked questions or knew anything about my life outside of campus. I also don't think anyone cared enough to inquire about it either".

He felt like there were major pieces she was withholding, but he couldn't complain. He had finally gotten something out of her and it was enough to keep him around for a tad bit longer.