“Liz is a bitch.”
“Is she?”
“She goes after married men. She goes after anything with a dick and a pulse really. Even if they don’t want her.”
“Is that so?”
“I caught her trying to get Billy’s pants down when he passed out at the beach bonfire after prom. Yes, I went with him to prom.”
“Well fuck.”
Maris nods. “She’s a shitty person all around. Not just a fucking whore, but a predator whore. What is that? Like the deluxe version? Whatever it is, that’s what Liz is.”
“I feel like you’re telling me to stay away from her.” I cross my arms in a mirror stance of Maris.
“I am. She doesn’t deserve someone like you.”
“And Billy didn’t deserve you either.”
I almost say it. Almost end the sentence withwifebut I rein it the fuck in and take a beat while Maris rolls her eyes.
“I was young and horny, he was hot and stupid. We dated. That’s it.”
“How many men have you dated?” I ask. I don’t give a shit how many. She could say five hundred and it wouldn’t matter. I ask because I already think I know the answer. Small town, Maris’ reaction to Billy, the way she mentions going to prom with him. Maris is in her late twenties, but she’s been alone for the past two years and I’ve seen the men in this town. There’s no one I can see her settling down with.
“Just him,” she says softly. “Just Billy.”
“Lucky Billy,” I muse.
Maris’ eyes go wide and just like that, the murderous woman in front of me melts away. She softens, becomes the woman that I held in my arms, the one that opened the door to me in shock because I’d come back to her.
There’s a knock at the door which is a blessing. I want to cross the room and pull Maris into my arms. I want to ruin her carefully coiffed hair, smudge the carefully applied lipstick and taste her in the sunlight streaming in through her office windows. God, it would be decadent to feel the warm sun on my skin while I touched Maris. I rub my hands against my thighs to chase away the phantom feeling of her soft skin beneath my fingers.
The knock comes again. More insistent this time.
“I should go. You have a busy day ahead of you.”
Maris nods. “I do. Okay.”
I incline my head and take a step back towards the door, my eyes never leaving her as I move. “I’ll come by when you’re done for the day. Say…six? Is that enough time or would you like me to come earlier?”
“No, six is good.”
The person at the door knocks again.
She sighs and glares past me at whoever is there. “One second!” Maris yells.
“For what it's worth, it’s not a vampire,” I lie. “The murderer, I mean.”
“Promise?”
I hesitate at the door. “No, I actually can’t.” I answer. Turns out, Maris is the only soul that I’m incapable of lying to. “See you tonight.” I open the door and slide past the two reporters I haven’t spoken to. They’re watching me with big eyes and open mouths.
“You’re the new doctor,” one of them, the woman, whispers.
“I am.”
“You’re Maris’ friend?” she asks. While Maris might not have many friends in town, her staff is loyal.
