And I now know something I could have gone my entire life without.
I now know the way Mr. Anders’s fingers feel…against my backside.
As you can imagine, I am not happy about this, but there’s no way in the world I’m going to show it. So once his hand leaves my body, I stand, stiff, and force a smile.
I keep smiling, frozen there by the door, while he mentions needing to make a quick call.
And I’m still smiling once I move to the parlor couch to wait for Fawn.
But, on the inside, I might be screaming.
Chapter 5
?
Goodbye, sanity. It was lovely knowing you.
Mirabelle
“Super duper nifty neat to meet you,” Fawn says, extending her hand to Mr. Anders. “I’m Fawn, Fawn Flynn.”
Mr. Anders takes her hand and gives it a single, firm shake before immediately letting go. “Like Rider? From…Tangled?”
Fawn’s head tilts. “Yes. Exactly.”
I’m in a Twilight Zone.
I’m stuck. Trapped. Accidentally molested by a scary man who knowsTangledwell enough to think of it first in response to Fawn’s last name.
Fawn cuts her attention toward me, then she sucks her teeth and winces. “Oh,” she curses. “It’s okay, babygirl. Your car will be okay. Jeffers will do the only thing he’s good at and take care of it all in the morning.” Striding into the parlor room, she lifts a Taco Bell bag, rustling it like a dog treat. “Come back to me. There’s burritos where I am.”
My smile trembles, and falls.
“That’s it,” she coaxes, opening the bag to place a warm burrito in my lap. “Here. Dinner. Drown your sorrows in cheesy beans and rice.” With that, she twists on her heel and pins Mr. Anders with a look. “Are you busy right now?”
He glances past Fawn, at me, then clears his throat. “You’re the roommate.”
“Am.”
“You’re moving in.”
“Yep.”
Mr. Anders casts another look past her at me, then turns. “I can show you where you’ll be living.”
“Intuitive!” She claps her hands together. “I like that. We’ll be back, Mira. So, what’s it like being able to buy an island…” Her voice trickles away as I reach for my burrito, letting myself sink into the familiar, one blessed bite at a time.
By around the time I’m finishing my food, Fawn finishes her tour, so we head home for the night, which gives me the wonderful opportunity to curl up in her front seat and wish for the sweet release of death.
“Damion seems fabulously nice,” she says, disrupting my crash out. “He says we can use the pool whenever we want. And there’s a hot tub.”
I do not respond, on account of my bargaining with the Grim Reaper at the moment.
Fawn glances my way as her working vehicle slips downtown, heading for the townhome we rent. “Okay,” she says when she stops at a red light. “What’s wrong? You know Jeffry will handle your car like he has a dozen times before. You shouldn’t be worried about the cost when you’ve got a nice sign-on bonus coming to you within a matter of weeks. What happened?”
I bury myself in my ball of shame. “I…can never get married.”
“Beggeth thy pardon?”
