Working For Love Ch 02

I had been trying to live my life like any normal girl who also happens to now have someone that she's sleeping with. James needed to deal with a roommate issue, and I had laundry and an apartment to clean. We saw each other at work for the next few days, but not outside of it other than a coffee together in the morning before we both headed home. I was currently lounging outside of my apartment and lying in the sun. My phone was in my apartment, which was now clean. I was wearing my favorite bikini and with all the small children being in school still, I had the yard behind my apartment complex to myself. It was getting into late May, and we had been having a extremely warm streak of weather, along with several storms.

"This is why I don't mind working nights." I mutter before adjusting my shades and leaning back to look up at the sky. I end up falling asleep and I wake up as a cloud drifts across the sun causing the warmth that I had been soaking up to disappear. I open my eyes and notice that the weather had taken a turn for the worse. Black clouds had drifted in and it looked like it was going to start raining anytime now.

I swear under my breath and make it back into my apartment as the rain starts to fall. I close the sliding door behind me and lock it. I walk into my room and grab a pair of denim shorts and a t-shirt to throw on over my bikini. "Maybe it will clear up and I can go back out." I say as I leave my room and pad into my living room. I turn the TV on and tune it into the local news station.

"Or not." I say looking at the weather radar on the screen. I grab my book from the table next to the couch and throw myself onto the couch. I open the book and take out the bookmark and reach behind my head to turn on the lamp. I settle into the book and glance up at the TV every once in a great while.

A loud clap of thunder sounds outside and it rattles my apartment. "Shit." I breathe looking out the sliding door and up at the sky from my position on the couch. Suddenly with a flash of brilliant light the power goes out. "Son of a bitch in heat." I exclaim grabbing my bookmark and closing the book again.

Someone knocks on the door and I swear again. "Hang on!" I call towards the door. I get up and put my book back on the table where it had been. I open the drawer in the table and pull out an led flashlight. I turn it on and walk to my door. I open it without thinking and someone wearing a dark raincoat pushes into my apartment past me. "What the hell?!" I ask as a collie trots in behind the person. I close the door and turn to face them.

"Jeremy." I say looking at the man standing in my living room. "How unexpected." I say dryly looking at him. I shut the flashlight off and hang it on a hook by the door.

"You'd think you missed me or something." He says taking off the raincoat and throwing it over the back of a chair. "Baby sister." He says looking around. I growl under my breath and the collie trots back over to me. I squat down and pet her.

"I figured you couldn't stay away." I say before ruffling the collie's ears. "You haven't ever been able to, big brother." I say sneering at the man in my apartment.

"I figured that you wanted your dog back now that you're living alone, and Dad says you don't ever call him anymore." Jeremy says before walking into my living room and sitting. The power flicks back on and the lights turn back on in my apartment.

"You aren't welcome here J, get out." I say before turning and walking into the kitchen. Two empty bowls sit by the fridge. I open the cupboard next to the fridge and reach in to grab a scoop of dog food for the collie. I pour it into the bowl and the dog comes running into the kitchen to eat. I fill her water bowl and place it back next to her

food and then close the cupboard.

"I'm not leaving." I hear Jeremy call from my living room. I growl and the dog looks up at me tilting her head.

"Not you Princes." I say reaching down and patting her head again. She starts wagging her tail and I shake my head. "Go lay down." I say softly before patting her head one last time. I watch as she heads towards my room.

"We're gonna have us a little talk, baby sister." Jeremy says. I walk out of the kitchen and place my hands on my hips.

"There isn't anything to say. You've betrayed my trust too many times for me to believe a word that comes out of your mouth." I say before leaning against the door frame. Jeremy stands and I hold my spot.

"Our father deserves a better daughter than you. You don't even call him, and you cling to your whore of a mother like she's going to save you if you happen to fail." Jeremy says walking towards me. "He's sick, and slowly dying... where have you been? Working full time, and ignoring him in favor of your newest step-father." He leans in towards my face because by now he is close enough to reach out and touch me. He spits in my face and I hear a growl from the hall. I stand up and wipe the spit off my face before taking the wet hand and slapping him.

"You want to talk about what my so called father deserves?" I say before walking away from him. "He deserves what he got. He hit me one too many times and then hit my mom. She left and she took me with him. I was abused, verbally, physically, and emotionally. Every day. He didn't care if he hurt us; in fact that was his goal. He got a sick pleasure out of knowing that he hurt us." I say before turning to face Jeremy. "I hope he dies, so he can rot in hell." I spit out before picking up his coat and throwing it at him. "Now. Get. The. Fuck. Out." I snarl. Jeremy puts on his coat before leaving.

I walk over to the couch and collapse, feeling like all of my bones had turned to jelly. Lucy walks over and lays her head on the edge of the couch looking at me with her intelligent eyes. I reach out and scratch her ears. My phone starts ringing and I grab it from the table behind my head. It was James. I quickly answer. "Hello?" I ask.

"Hey." James says on the other end. I shiver at the sound of his voice.

"What's up?" I ask wondering why he was calling on our day off.

"I was wondering if you had any plans for tonight." James asks on the other end of the line.

"No. Just sitting at home and reading." I say re-adjusting my position on the couch so that I was comfortable.

"Would you like to go out for dinner and a movie with me?" James asks. I sit and think for a second, pondering my answer.

"Are we talking a real date, where we're romantically interested in each other?" I ask teasingly. I hear him sigh and I'm sure that he's shaking his head.

"Yes." He answers suddenly, causing my heart to skip several beats.

"Then yes." I say smiling. "Pick me up here at five?" I ask tilting my head. He readily agrees and we end the phone conversation. Princess licks my arm and I sigh.

"What's wrong?" James asks, sounding very concerned.

"My family just came up to bite my ass." I say trying to not let my anger get the best of me.

"Do you want to talk about it?" James asks, and I hear him turn the volume down on what I assumed was the TV in the background.

"Not really, because if I talk about it then that means I have to acknowledge that my step-father isn't my real father." I say. I move my legs so that they're bent at the knee and Princess jumps up on the couch woofing as she lies down.

"Was that a dog?" James asks sounding surprised.

"That would be Princess, my collie." I respond, realizing that I had opened the doors for even more questions.

"You have a dog?" He asks. I laugh.

"Just got her back today. Liz is allergic, and Princess is quite an up in your space dog." I say. Princess had her head resting on her paws, and she was looking out over the living room.

"I'd love to meet her, maybe even introduce her to Bo." He says and I hear a bark in the background.

"Play dates can be arranged." I say, before switching my phone to my other ear.

"Where would you like to go for dinner?" James asks switching topics suddenly. "I was thinking maybe Chinese?" He says not giving me room to speak.

"That sounds wonderful." I say smiling into the phone. "Maybe a movie afterwards?"

"I was wondering if I would be too forward in asking you to come see a movie with me." He says sounding relieved.

"No. Not at all."

"I'll be by to pick you up at five then." He says and I prepare myself to say goodbye.

"I'll see you then Cupcake." I say, trying to make it sound as flirty as possible.

"Bye Holls." He says. I say goodbye as well and we hang up. I look up at the clock and see that I have several hours before James would be here, and I swing my feet off of the couch and get up.

"Come on Princess, we've got to get you cleaned up, and I need to bring your stuff back out here." I say looking at my collie. She barks before getting up and following me. I open the door to the bathroom and she walks in before me and jumps in the tub.

I shuck my clothes and climb into the bathtub with the dog and turn on the shower. "We'll save more time this way." I say before closing the shower door.

About an hour later the dog and I emerge from the shower, and she shakes herself off on the mat in front of the tub. "Good girl." I say before grabbing my towel to cover myself up and then grabbing another towel and laying it over Lucy. I rub her down and she shakes herself again. I laugh as I hang up her towel and open the door for her. She walks out into the hall and into the living room.

I take my time finishing getting dry and attempting to style my hair. I grab my dirty clothes and walk into my room. I throw the dirty clothes into my hamper and then turn to my dresser to pick out clean ones.

I finish getting ready and settle onto the couch and read, after pulling out Lucy's toy basket and her bed for the living room. She was now lying on the floor in front of the couch with her favorite stuffed toy lying under her paws. The weather hadn't gotten much better from the storm earlier, but the thunder and lightning had at least stopped. My hair was loose around my shoulders, and a little rain wouldn't kill it. I had put on a pair of nice jeans and one of my dressier t-shirts.

James knocked at 4:45 and I got up and answered the door. I let him in and Lucy got up and came over to check him out. James kneels and extends out his hand to Lucy. I chuckle as Lucy sniffs him once before licking him. James reaches out and ruffles her ears. Lucy barks once and then walks back to fetch her favorite toy. She brings it back and deposits it at James' feet. He laughs and picks it up before tossing it back into the living room. Lucy takes off and chases it, and we hear her start chewing on the squeaker inside the toy.

"Ready?" James asks before standing and looking down at me.

"I think so. She'll go to sleep in front of the door and wait for me to get home. I let her out after I got ready, so she should be fine." I say before slipping on a pair of shoes. I snag my keys and purse from the table in the entryway and James opens the door for me. We get in the truck and he drives us to one of the local Chinese places. We go in and are seated, and I can't take my eyes off him.

"Welcome to Golden Wok. What can I get you folks to drink?" The waiter asks looking down at us. I look up at her and then across the table at James. He glances at me and then looks over at the waitress offering up his drink order.

"I'll have a mountain dew." He says before opening the menu and looking at it.

"Same." I respond before opening my menu and looking at it as well. She walks away and I glance up at James. He looks at me and smiles.

It had been a few days since I had transferred into my new job. James and I hadn't really spent a lot of time apart since then, except for today. He went home to his place after work, and I went home to my apartment and enjoyed a morning to myself. I got a call this afternoon from James asking if I wanted to go to dinner, and then possibly go see a movie with him tonight. That would be why we were sitting in my favorite Chinese place in town.

"What are you going to get?" James asks snapping me out of my thoughts. I look down and find my usual dish. I point at it and he looks. "That sounds good." James says I look at him and he smiles.

"What are you going to get?" I ask, giving him the same question that he'd given me. He looks down and points at something in his menu. I lean forward and look. "Beef and broccoli?" I ask raising an eyebrow. He nods, and I chuckle.

"Do you want to get an appetizer to split?" James asks flipping back to the front of the menu. I shrug ad flip my own menu to the front. I look and James clears his throat, causing me to look up. "I think we could get the sample platter, and then we'd have a little bit of everything." He says. I nod and our waitress approaches again, carrying our pops. She places them on the table and looks at both of us.

"Are we ready to order?" She asks smiling at James. I resist the urge to kick her in the shins and prop my chin up on my hand, staring at James.

"We're going to start with the sampler appetizer platter." He says pointing down into his menu. "And then I'm going to have the beef and broccoli." He looks at me and I try to remember what it was that I was going to order. I was having issues even remembering my own name while his eyes were connected with mine.

"I'm going to have the Rainbow Chicken." I say turning to glance at her before turning my stare back to James. She asks what kind of soup we both want and I immediately respond with "egg drop, with extra crunchies." She jots that done and James responds saying that he'd like the same. She walks away again and James reaches across the table and takes my hand.

"Thank you." James says softly. I suddenly feel slightly confused and my facial expression shows it. "For coming out with me tonight." James offers seeing the confused look on my face. I smile and he leans forward and kisses me lightly. I pull back and note that our waitress was giving us a disgusted look over at the table she was sitting at.

"You are very welcome." I say pulling my hand down and reaching with the other one to stroke his cheek once. I lean back into the booth after, and wink at James. Our waitress brings over the soup and tries once again to flirt with James. I thank her, putting an edge In my voice and she makes a disgusted noise before walking away.

"I don't think she realizes that we're here together." James says. I shrug and shake my head. He picks my hand up off the table and brings it to his lips. I blush slightly and when he removes his lips I pull my hand back and set it in my lap.

"We should probably eat our soup." I say looking down at the bowl in front of me. "Because then she'll bring the appetizers and then she'll bring out our food." I say smiling. James unwraps his silverware and grabs his spoon. I do the same and we dig into our soup.

The meal continues in much the same fashion. James and I flirt back and forth, and exchange cute small kisses. Our waitress looks like she's going to have a fit every time that we do, which brings quite a bit of demented joy to the both of us once I point her reactions out to James.

After we finish and our waitress has brought us the bill, James and I walk up to the counter and quickly pay before leaving the Chinese place. We drive back to his apartment and I look over at him. "Thought we were going to watch a movie?" I ask. James looks at me and smiles before getting out of the truck and walking around to open my door for me. I quickly unbuckle and scramble down to stand beside him on the pavement. He takes my hand and leads me into his apartment.

He closes the door behind us and I take off my shoes and put them next to his other shoes on the shoe mat by the door. He does the same and steps around me into the kitchen. "You live here alone?"I ask looking around. He grunts something from the kitchen and I step further into the apartment. There was a door to my left that was open revealing a half bathroom, and there was a closet next to the bathroom on the same side of the wall. The room through the arch that James had taken was the kitchen and dining room. I walked down the short hall, ignoring the stairs that led downwards, assuming them to be simply the stairs to the basement.

I step out into what appears to be the living room. There was a couch, a sound system, and an entertainment center filled with a TV, and a couple of game consoles. There were stairs leading upwards and there was an archway into the kitchen. James looks over as I run my hand over the fabric of the couch.

"Do you want anything to drink?" He asks. I shake my head no and he grabs a bottle of water out of the fridge before closing the door and walking into the living room. He sits on the couch, placing the water on the coffee table in front of him, and he grabs a big black cd case and tosses it to me.

"Take your pick." He says. I sit next to him, and snuggle up into his side before opening the case.

"Holy movies." I say softly. He laughs and watches as I flip through his collection of movies. I pick out a movie and hand him the disc. He gets off the couch and walks over to the DVD player, putting the disc into the player and then turning on the TV. I had picked a movie that I loved, although I was wondering why he had a copy of this movie. How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days, starts playing and James sits back on the couch. I get comfortable again and we settle in to watch the movie together.

"Why this movie?" James asks at one point. I look up at him and realize that my favorite line was about to happen.

"Guys, a woman's purse, alright, it's her secret source of power. Alright? There are many dark and dangerous things in there that we, the male species, should know nothing about." I say with the line and I start laughing. I look at James and he's smiling at me, but I realize that I didn't exactly answer his question either.

"This movie is my favorite for several reasons." I say looking as the boys on screen are now going through Andie's purse. "Mostly because it makes fun of everything that women do wrong in a relationship, and then it has a good ending." I say wrapping an arm around James' stomach and laying my head on his side. His arm descends and wraps around me. We watch the movie in silence, snuggled up close to each other.

I glance at the clock once the movie is done and see that it's only a little past eight. "Mind if I pick out the next one?" James asks as he pulls his arm away from me, and I un-wrap my arm from around him.

"No. Go for it." I say sitting up on the couch. He walks over to the DVD player and removes the disc from the player. "Holl, will you grab me a pop from the fridge?" He asks looking back at me. I nod and grab the empty water bottle from the coffee table. I stand and walk into his kitchen, putting the plastic bottle with other empty ones on the counter. I open the fridge and end over to look and see what he has to drink. I note a couple of beer bottles, some more water bottles, and a mostly barren fridge. I locate the pop and as I'm reaching in to pull two out, I feel hands wrap themselves around my waist. I look over my shoulder and raise an eyebrow at James.

"Coke okay?" I ask before turning and looking back in the fridge. He grunts and presses himself against me. "Hold on big boy." I say before standing and handing him a coke. He puts it on the counter and I close the door of the fridge. He takes my coke out of my hand and puts it next to his on the counter. I raise an eyebrow but before I can say anything I'm being pressed up against the refrigerator and James' lips are on top of mine. I kiss him back and suddenly I am being lifted into the air. I wrap my legs around James automatically, and then wrap my arms around his neck. I lick along his bottom lip and he opens his mouth and moans. I take advantage and push my tongue into his mouth. Our tongues start swirling around together and I moan into his mouth.