April awoke slowly, letting her eyes adjust to the morning sun that was pouring through the French doors she had left open last night. She reached out for Alyshia and only found an empty bed. Coming fully awake, she sat up a little and looked around her apartment. Finally, she found a little slip of paper, folded in half, laying on the pillow next to her with her name written on the front.
She got this feeling of foreboding, already sensing she wasn't going to like what the note said. Just the same, she propped herself up against the headboard and reached for the note, slowly opening it.
"April,
Sorry to leave like this but I got up to check my email and found a job offer I just can't pass up. They wanted me in L.A. this morning so I caught a cab to the airport. I'll try to e-mail you later. I left everything I was able to find so far in a folder on the coffee table. I had a great time.
Love,
Alyshia"
Angry, April smashed the note into a ball and sent it sailing towards the French doors. She watched, a little impressed with herself, as she watched the crumbled ball fly through the air, through the doors, over the balcony, clear the flower beds, then arch towards the ground, disappearing from sight.
Groaning, April scooted deeper into the bed and pulled the covers up over her head. Lying there, staring at the underside of the bedspread, she seriously considered just staying here the rest of the day. Any time your days starts with a Dear Jane letter, its only going to get worse from here, so why bother at all. "I'll just stay here, go back to sleep, and when I get up tomorrow, my luck will be a helluva lot better," she thought.
Contemplating the merits of never leaving the bed, she thought she heard a noise. She pulled the sheet down a little so she could hear better. Listening, she realized the noise she heard was someone knocking on her door. "Go away!" she shouted, and dived back under the covers.
Seconds later, she only heard silence and sighed with relief. There was no way she was going to answer that. They way her day started, she knew who ever was at her door was just trouble.
She heard the muffled sound of her screen door slamming shut and she bolted upright in bed, the bedspread dropping to her waist. There, standing in the middle of her hallway with her hands on her hips, was none other that Jasmine Dupree.
"Shit! Go away, Jasmine. I'm not in the mood to fight with you again." April quickly plopped down on her bed, twisting to lie on her stomach, pulling the covers back over her as she went. She laid there, buried under the covers, alert to any little sound, but all she could hear was her heart hammering in her chest.
Jasmine stood in the hallway considering the lump in the middle of the bed. This wasn't quite the welcome she was hoping for. She'd been staked out in her car since about five this morning. She parked at the opposite street corner waiting for the blonde to leave. When she'd seen the cab pick her up, then pull away, she started her car and drifted it across the street to park at the corner, at the end of April's little alleyway. She had walked as far as the bottom of the steps, then had spent the morning sitting on the bottom step. She didn't want to wake April up, or show up too soon after April's lover left, afraid April would get suspicious. When she'd heard a noise, she'd glanced over just in time to see a crumbled ball of paper hit the ground with a small plopping noise, just a foot away. Startled at first, she looked up, and then realized that April must have thrown it out the window. She picked it up, scanned it, and felt a moment of glee as she read the blonde's note. Man, she hadn't even bothered to wake April up to say good-bye, just took off in the middle of the night. The plan her and Mama had worked out yesterday was going even better than she had hoped.
She sat back down on the steps, trying to give April a few minutes, and then found she didn't have the patience to wait. Knocking at the door, she could feel the excitement bubbling inside her. April's rough order to leave, though, had taken some of the wind out of her sails. Now, watching April hide under the covers, she felt herself deflate a little more. She'd suspected April might not be entirely happy to see her, but she had pictured a slightly better greeting than this.
Feeling irritated, she stomped over to the other side of the bed and flopped down on her back, lying beside April. She folded her hands over her stomach and stared at the ceiling. Fine, she'd just wait her out.
April felt the bed shift and knew Jasmine was lying only inches away. She sucked in a breath and felt her heart pick up speed. It was torture to be this close, but not able to touch her. For all she knew, Jasmine was just here to ask about Jade. Or maybe Jasmine had gotten board and decided she'd come around for another battle royal. God, she was getting sick of this. One minute they were fucking each other blind, and the next they were tearing each other to shreds. She couldn't take much more.
Frustrated and mad, April stuck her head out. "Are you deaf?! I said go away, Jasmine. I'm not in the mood for you right now." That said, she dived back under the covers, securing them tightly over her head.
Jasmine couldn't help but smirk. Normally, April came across as cool, bordering on flat out hard cold. It was kind of fun to see her get all pissed off, even more fun knowing she seemed to have a natural talent for pushing April's buttons. Then again, that went both ways. That thought wiped the smirk off of her face. Deciding they weren't going to get any where like this. Jasmine shifted around, pulled the sheets up on her side, and dived under them.
Next thing April knew, she was lying on her back with Jasmine on top of her. Man, she hated it when Jasmine got one over on her. She kept forgetting how quick Jasmine could move when she wanted to.
"Morning sunshine," Jasmine purred. All she got in return was an angry look, and she could feel April's body tense. She didn't want this to spiral out of control into another fight so, instead of goading her; Jasmine just laid her cheek on April's chest and curled her hands over the top of April's shoulders. She'd just wait her out from here.