“You don’tthinkso, but you don’tknow.”
God, this woman.
“Where’s a towel?I’ll get it,” I offered.
“There should be one in the dryer—” she continued explaining the location, but I was sure it was in the same closet by the side-door as mine was.The stackable washer and dryer were just where I’d expected, behind bi-fold doors.On one of the handles, a bright-green lace bra dangled, and I wondered if she had a matching pair of underwear.She always did like a set.
Unbidden, the image of her wearing only that popped into my mind.
It was an effort to divert my thoughts.Instead, I became singularly attentive in finding a towel.Pulling a big, new looking, fluffy terry cloth out of the dryer, I strode past where Alicia was huddled under the countertop and into the living room.I instantly spotted the bird perched on a curtain rod.Furgie continued jumping underneath it; her claws scraped the wood paneled wall trying to run up it.The black feathers on the bird’s breast caught the light with each of its quick breaths.It was pretty worn out, but not so much that it didn’t try to fly away as I caught it in the middle of the towel.
“I got it,” I called over my shoulder.Furgie whined and bounced around my legs, pulling my attention between the bird and not stepping on the dog as I moved toward the demolished front door.
Standing, Alicia gave the bundle in my hands a weary look.“I hope it likes the opulent absorption of my new towel.I’ll probably have to burn it after this.”
“I’m sure that’s exactly what the bird is thinking, ‘Wow, thank God, for the opulence.’”
“And absorption.”
It wiggled a bit inside my hands.At the gaping door jam, I almost opened my arms but then thought better of it.“Will you put the leash on Furg?I don’t want her chasing after this thing when I let it go.”
“Right.Yeah, good idea.”
A few moments later, I released the bird into the night with Furgie pulling at Alicia’s arm.It flew to the trees lining the property, disappearing into the dark.
After a few seconds, the dog started whining, and Alicia asked, “Will it be okay?”
“It didn’t look injured.How’d it get in?”
“I think through the woodburning stove, I don’t know, it all happened really fast.”
I made a mental note to check the cap was secure at the top of the chimney in the morning.But it would have to come second to fixing her door.Now that I could really assess the damage I’d done—it wasn’t going to be the easiest correction to make.I’d destroyed more than just the latch.One of the hinges had torn out of the wall, and another one was barely hanging on.The door frame itself would have to be replaced.
There was no way it was going to be secure enough for her to sleep at her place.If it had been easy for me to break in when it was in perfect working order, it would take a light breeze to bring it down now.
“You really pulled a Kool-Aid Man.”She bent and picked up a splinter the length of her hand.
“I did ...”There was no way to suggest what I needed to that didn’t make me into an even bigger asshole, so I just asked, “How do you feel about sleeping at my place tonight?”
Chapter Thirteen
Alicia
Thepastcoupleofminutes had left me flabbergasted, and I wouldn’t have thought that it could get more surreal, but then where there’s a will apparently Remi will find a way.
With all the enthusiasm that I did not feel, I looked directly at him.“That’s gonna be a hard ‘no.’”
“There isn’t any way to keep anyone out at this point.Let’s take a second and look at the situation,” he reasoned.
“Second taken, I’m good.I’ll be staying here.”
Gesturing to the gaping hole in the front of my apartment, he said, “I can’t fix this tonight.”
“I have cardboard and duct tape; it’ll be practically indestructible.”I shooed him away with the wave of my hand.“You can go now.Thank you for taking care of the bird, I’m good from here.”
He remained planted where he stood.“I fucked your door.”
“Well, don’t.”
