Chasing Pavements

Avoidance

LENA POV

It had been two weeks since I kissed Stef that night in her apartment when we were stone faced drunk. But, I wasn't drunk enough to know what I was doing and she wasn't drunk enough to forget or realize what I had done. She had not thrown me out, she had not been cruel but,  judging by the look on her face after I kissed her I knew I messed up. Big time.

FLASHBACK

"Stef...I....I'm sorry. I..." I say as we pulled away and she moved back a tad somewhat in shock. If we were drunk it was almost as if our soberness came back for a moment and we were not longer in a stupor. The kitchen light bulb was flickering at this point and the tension so thick you could cut it with a knife. "I'm sorry I...

"Um...it's um ok. I feel..I feel rather drunk and want to sleep it off." She whispers taking a giant sip of water as the room continues to spin around for me.  "You um can let your kids sleep over. I'll send them back in the morning."

"I can wake them. They fall back asleep easy. I'm sorry Stef...I must have been drunker then I realized."

"Yeah...I'm I'm gonna go lay down." Walking off into her room she left me in her kitchen with my own confused thought as I had no earthly idea what to do now.  We had really built up a friendship the last few weeks and my damm attraction to her possibly fucked that all up. 

FLASHBACK ENDS

By now I was very well aware she was avoiding me and she had not given me a chance to talk about that night with her. When I left in the mornings for work she was already gone and it seemed our schedules didn't even match up at work anymore. I went from seeing her all the time, to not seeing her at all, or if I did it was only glimpses. Sure I felt bad, I felt damm near stupid because I should not have kissed her like that. I really should not have for I knew she was vulnerable, I knew Mike had hurt her, and I knew most of all that she was straight.  Maybe all the drinking had impaired my judgement that night, or maybe all the drinking made me do what I had wanted to do all this time. Crap, it was evident I was very attracted to her, but now I had freaked her out and possibly messed up a friendship that I cared for very much.  To top it off I had seen Mike coming back around as well which was possibly another reason she was avoiding me.

One thing that remained consistent was Jude. The both of us still chatted after he got home from school, he still painted my nails, and he was now helping Jesus with Math. Mariana and Frankie still played together on the front porch which I was happy about but Stef no longer smoked out front anymore at nights. Or if she did Mike was out there with her smoking and drinking as I took my trash out and she barely looked at me. Truth be told I had scared her off and she no longer wished to speak to me. But if she would just give me a chance to explain, I don't know, maybe I'd make it worse.

"Room 81 Adams. Party clean up!" Elisa, the floor manager says as I let out a heavy sigh pushing my cleaning cart along the long carpeted hallway. Today I had picked up an extra shift since Mariana needed a few more school clothes.

"Seriously? The penthouse rooms are fucking huge. You don't expect me to clean it all myself do you?" I was known sometimes to have a mouth on me as she looked over her clipboard of the room assignments checking it off with her pencil.

"Relax, I'll send help. Ya'll need it with the mess they left behind. Bachlorette party."

"Great." I roll my eyes and push my cart along the hallway to room 81.  The hotel was a great gig and offered flexible hours but when these privileged ass people came in a wrecked the place up and expected us to clean it sometimes within an hour it pissed me off. How could it not as I unlocked the door and instantly seeing the disarray, garbage and mess they left behind. "You got to be fucking kidding me. Elisa!" I yell down the hall for there was no way. No way in hell I'd need 10 other people to help me clean this." Elisa!" I yell again as she comes up behind me. "You expect me to clean this shit? Do you not see this shit? I don't get paid to clean up dog shit! Call the fucking animal control for that!"

"Adams this is what you get paid for. You got hired as maid and this is part of it. Unless you want me to replace you?"

"We need more then one other person. There's no damm ass way this can be cleaned with two people. This is the penthouse. It has two other rooms and three bathrooms. What do I look like a fucking magician?"

"No you look like someone who is about to loose there job if they don't watch their language and stop complaining. This is what it is. Now get busy or leave. Your choice." Fuck did she piss me off as she knew I wasn't going to walk out since I needed this job. "That's what I thought."

"This is bullshit." I say back and yank out my cleaning gloves sliding them on.

"It's what it is. I'll send help shortly." Walking off as all I want to do is kick her in the ass I wasn't above cleaning at all. Not in the least but I wasn't in charge of patching up the holes that were made in the walls, repairing rips in the couch, cleaning up their dirty underwear among other nasty shit they left behind. Some people just had no fucking home training. Looking around as I take a seat on the bed  I see plates of food all over the floor, half eaten sandwiches, emptied bottles of liquor,  dog feces on the carpet, the stained curtain that covered the sliding class door and the stench of urine. I just want to fucking scream. 

"Fuck this." Lighting a smoke I hear the door open and soon see the other cleaning woman who has arrived and it is then I realize that Stef Foster can no longer avoid me.