See How She Runs (2 page)

With that I was unceremoniously booted from
the office to plummet to the bottom of the building in my own
personal death box from hell, the elevator. I got back to the law
office and returned the documents. Having fulfilled the delivery, I
hopped on my trusty, or rather rusty, steed and headed back to the
office.

**********

TWO

I instantly headed into Mike’s office,
trying to come up with a reasonable explanation as to why I should
never make that delivery again. The entire time I ranted, Mike was
getting more and more amused. Something told me I was not going to
like the next words out of his mouth.

“Funny you should say anything, Darling. He
seems to be quite taken with you. In fact, he says he will pay
double the service fee to guarantee that you are the only courier
to bring his documents from now on." I could just see the dollar
signs tap dancing behind Mike’s eyes. My hackles were raised and
there was no repressing my temper.

“Cheese on a cracker, are you seriously
going to pimp me out to this man? He gives me a royal case of the
heebie jeebies. Not to mention he is like the poster child for
bi-polarity. Are you telling me I am now the designated step and
fetch for that man? Did you agree to this?" The rage building
inside me was about to make me explode. Mike, meanwhile was about
to pee his pants, laughing at my outburst.

“While the money is tempting, doll, you know
I don’t do designated runs for anyone. I told him that if he wanted
to continue using our service I would provide any available courier
to get the job done as quickly as possible, but that if you were
available I would send you. He seemed to accept that little scrap I
threw his way. I am not going to have one of my best couriers
waiting around just in case he needs a document pronto. No worries.
Now go home before I have to pay your skinny little ass overtime."
That, in a nutshell, was the way I knew Mike loved me.

I made it back to my grandmother’s old house
around seven. She left me everything when she passed away. The
house itself was two stories and sat on a street where most of the
houses had been converted into apartments. Grams liked her house
whole and refused to modify it. I liked it whole as well. What I
didn’t like was having to pay the ridiculous property taxes all on
my lonesome every year. So, I took in a roommate about a month
after she passed. Plus, the house was just too dang quiet with no
one else there.

I had known Kennan, or as everyone lovingly
calls him K.O., almost as long as my Grams had been with our Maker.
I started going down the way to a pub several nights a week just to
escape the quiet of the old brick house. He just happened to
bartend there five nights a week and thus we became quickly
acquainted. One night he mentioned that his roommate was getting
married and he needed to find some new digs and quick.

The cartoon light over my head clicked on
and I thought, ‘I have a giant house, why not.’ It had been awesome
ever since. Granted, we work opposite schedules, but when we were
both off we were dang near inseparable. He was wicked awesome in a
completely platonic sort of way.

As soon as I stepped inside, I was assaulted
by the best smelling thing I had encountered all day. Deep dish
pepperoni pizza. I was in love. With my nose leading me into the
kitchen like some ridiculous cartoon character, I ran smack into
the chest of one Kennan O’Malley. He was about six foot three and
built like a thick Irish boxer. All barrel chest and arms and trim
waist and legs. According to his driver’s license, he was almost
thirty-three. I snuck it out of his wallet one night to check. I
suppose most girls thought he was alarmingly handsome with his
smiling blue eyes and jet black hair. Hence the nick name, K.O., as
in knock out. But he was Kennan to me; trusty roommate, confidant,
and purveyor of drink. He snickered at me and steadied my shoulders
with his large beer-opening calloused hands.

“Let me guess, Iz, you smelled the food."
His deep voice rumbled through him and there always seemed to be
just a bit of laughter in everything he said. He was like a jolly
trickster leprechaun guarding his pot of gold. Yeah, if only I had
known about his practical joke streak before he moved in.

“Hey, don’t judge, I had to skip lunch
today. And besides, you know that is my favorite. Please tell me
you saved me at least one piece. If not, the cheese stuck to the
box will have to do." Even to my own ears I sounded pathetic. If he
didn’t feed me half the time, I didn’t think I would eat.

“I got two pizzas, Red. You know I wouldn’t
let my favorite girl go hungry. Anyway, I am out the door to work.
See ya on the flip side, homey." He leaned down and kissed me on
top of my head, like he had a million times before, and would
probably do a million times more. He effectively turned me into
someone that must be all of thirteen and not the twenty-five
year-old woman I really was. Well almost twenty-five, in less than
a week.

“You are so not gangster, K.O., give up
while you are ahead. Are you off tomorrow? We need to veg, and I
seriously need to tell you about the creeper new client!" I hoped
that the desperation in my voice wasn’t obvious. In reality, Kennan
was my only real friend. Pathetic. I really should get out
more.

“Come by the bar later and tell me about
your creeper. I am off tomorrow so we can veg tomorrow night,
barring I have any hot dates." Keenan winked at me and was out the
door.

I sat on the couch, eating my weight in
pizza, debating whether or not I should down to the pub. It was a
Tuesday night after all, so they would not be that busy. After a
twenty minute internal debate over the merits of time spent in
society versus the comfort of the couch, I decided to suck it up
and go.

I ran upstairs to take a shower and change
into something a bit nicer. Not that I was out trolling for guys or
anything. But it had been a while. Okay, it had been two years
since my last real date. Ever since Grams died, I had not been
asked out once. But who’s counting?

After taking the most amazing shower, I
turned on some Arcade Fire and started getting ready. Kennan hated
my music, so I took any chance available to blast it while he was
not around. I got to my closet and immediately realized why it had
been two years since my last date.

Almost every article hanging within its
depths related to practical work purposes. Reluctantly, I grabbed a
pair of skinny jeans and a tunic style t-shirt. I threw on some
mascara and headed to the door to pull on my black knee boots and
my jacket. I shuffled out the door with the realization if I didn’t
up my game, there would be no dates in my future. With a heavy
sigh, I locked the door and started to walk the distance between
our place and the bar. I did not believe in drinking and biking. I
had enough trouble staying on it sober.

**********

THREE

When I arrived at the pub, there were only a
handful of other people inside. There was a group of college
hipsters in the corner. No doubt they were discussing what they
thought to be the very best in unheard of pretentious music. Most
likely that discussion would be followed by an in-depth study of
the best Indian Pale Ale.

Sometimes living in this neighborhood was
taxing. Don’t get me wrong, I loved great music as much as the next
person. Was it not enough just to enjoy it without being all
pretentious about it? I walked to the bar top and pulled up a
stool. Fanfreakingtastic, Marky was working tonight.

He asked me out almost relentlessly. It had
been several months since I had run into him. I had been
meticulously avoiding him if truth be told. I know beggars can’t be
choosers, but there was just something about him that made nails on
a chalkboard more preferable. I guess I had not disguised the look
of dismay on my face, because when I glanced at Kennan he was
barely containing his laughter.

“Hey stranger, it has been a long while
since I have seen you. Are you just not coming around here these
days?" Marky asked, leaning in close.

I suppose he was not bad looking. He was
just way too high on the cheese factor for me. Kennan knew how much
I hated getting into awkward situations, so I knew he didn’t tell
me about Marky working on purpose. He seemed to be getting an awful
lot of enjoyment out of my discomfort. That jerk was so going to
pay later for this.

“No, I have just been missing you, I guess.
Can I have a Malibu and Coke please? Lots of limes." I asked as
politely and disengaged as I could.

“Hey, did K.O. tell you?"

I looked at him like I had no idea what he
was talking about, which only seemed to encourage him.

“I am getting married. Tying on the old ball
and chain!” Marky beamed.

“Congratulations Marky, that is awesome.
When’s the big day going to be?" I was genuinely curious how five
months ago he was single and now he was going to get married, as
in, "til death do us part."

“Oh, we are getting married this weekend.
When you know, you just know, you know? I will be right back with
your drink chickie." And with that he was off.

God, that saying annoyed the crap out of me.
What does that even mean, when you know, you just know? That was
such garbage. I was pretty sure it was a lie people told themselves
when they were rushing head long into a disaster of a marriage.
Ugh, maybe I was just a skeptic. Or perhaps it was that I actually
believed that I needed to know a person really well before I made a
promise like until death do us part. I would not be getting married
to anyone anytime soon, mind you.

I looked up from tearing the closest coaster
apart to find Kennan looking down at me. He had my drink in one
hand and a cup of limes in the other. Did I mention how awesome he
is? He eyed me steadily and then started in with the questions.

“So what gives, Red, I thought you would be
stoked about our boy Marky’s news? You don’t seem interested.
Obviously we aren’t that busy so I have a plethora of time for you
to regale me with your adventures in bicycling.”

“I am fine. I am really happy for him and
her whoever she may be. It is just weird. I feel like everyone
around me is going into the mid-twenties, getting married, having
kids, buying a house with a white picket fence and I am nowhere
even close to that. Do you think there is something wrong with me
that I don’t even want that right now?" I sounded mopey, even to my
own ears. It was just so frustrating when everyone looked at me
like I was a freak for not wanting those things yet.

“There is nothing wrong with you kid. You
just want different things right now. You don’t see me jumping on
the marriage bandwagon. Heck, I escaped my last apartment so I
didn’t have to be surrounded by marital bliss. I think that it
happens when it happens. Not that you just know, but that when it
is the right time, you will know it."

There was something in the way he looked at
me that was unnerving. It had been happening with some frequency
lately. Like always, it passed as quickly as it showed up leaving
me to feel as though I had imagined it all. I probably was
hallucinating. That seemed to be happening to me more and more
lately.

“Yeah, but you are a dude. It is cool for
you to live your bachelor life until whenever you decide to get
hitched. I don’t give a rat’s butt what people say about women’s
lib. There is still a serious stigma out there. I don’t feel
pathetic, but if people keep looking at me with that ‘Awe that poor
girl’ look on their faces, I might start getting a complex. It is
no big thing. Don’t worry, I am not about to rush out and buy all
of the local Haagen Daz. I won’t force you to watch
Pride and
Prejudice
or anything.”

I snickered at the thought of trying to
convince him to sit through the entire Colin Firth version of
Pride and Prejudice
, which was my favorite. I could just
imagine him literally climbing the walls to escape the torture,
full on rock climbing gear and all. Sometimes I got these mental
pictures that were so clear it was hard to not laugh at them.

“What is so funny, Iz?”

“Nothing, I was just imagining the many ways
in which you would be trying to escape the room while I forced you
to watch the movie with me. I was thinking of you scaling the walls
to escape.”

“You are one weird chick, you know that? So,
what about the creeper from today? What happened?”

“I totally almost forgot about that. It was
so weird K.O. So, I go and pick up a package from one of normal
firms, and have to hand delivered to the top floor of this building
in the Loop. Let’s just say by the time the elevator reached the
top, I was almost dead. But that isn’t the weird part. I took the
package to this office right, and I am supposed to wait until dude
man signs everything so I can take it back. He is a total whakadoo.
One minute he is cold, bordering on flat out rude. The next he is
the nicest guy in the world. It all switched after our hands
brushed. He gives me a serious case of the heebie jeebies. No
matter how hot he was. He even called Mike to request that I would
be his personal step and fetch, saying he would pay double the
service fee.”

I noticed, as I finished, a barely contained
rage flashing in Kennan’s eyes. It disappeared quickly, but there
was no mistaking its presence. It was almost like before, when some
emotion passed over him and was gone almost as if it had never
existed. Just like that he was back to happy old Kennan, but there
was something in his voice that did not quite match his
expression.

“So did he agree to let you be this dude’s
paper slut? I mean, I don’t think it would be fair to take you off
of all your other runs just for this dude’s convenience. But I
don’t run a bike messaging service, so what do I know?”