Slow No Wake (3 page)

Good. Single. I breathed a small sigh of relief.

“You’d better eat your pasta before it gets cold,” he said. “I didn’t mean to talk your ear off.”

“I don’t mind,” I said.

He took a bite of his pasta and I tried mine. “This is good,” I said. “Thanks for the recommendation.”

When we met each other’s gaze again, my breath caught. I could stare into his dazzling blue eyes for days.

“I hope you’ll join me for lunch again, if you’d like the company.” Once again, I got the feeling he was unsure of
himself. I didn’t know why. He was definitely attractive.

“I’d love to have lunch with you again,” I said. “Just let me know when.”

He gave me another grin and we dug into our pasta.

***

B
y the time I got home, I was exhausted. All I could think about was getting into my sweatpants and a tee shirt, flopping on the couch and reading a book. My idea of Heaven on Earth.

I got changed in record time, and I put my unruly hair into a messy ponytail. I was just about to flop on the couch when I heard a knock on the door. Who would be knocking on my door, I wondered. Maybe Hans needed to tell me something about the apartment.

Before I barely got the door opened, Eddie from next door, barged in carrying two beer bottles. Ugh. I opened my mouth to protest but he made himself comfortable on my couch and said, “So, what are we watching on TV tonight?”

I stood there, mouth agape, glaring at Eddie. It was difficult for me to believe his complete and utter audacity. “First of all, I wasn’t planning on watching television. I’m in the middle of a good book that I’d like to finish. And second of all, I don’t remember inviting you over.”

He looked at me with a glimmer in his eyes. “So, you’re a brainiac? That’s cool. It’s been a while since I’ve hooked up with a smart chick.”

If it was physically possible, steam would have been blasting from my ears, I was so angry. I loved to read and I always did well in school, so kids teased me.
Brainiac was a term I heard a lot. I hated it. And he had a lot of nerve assuming he was going to ‘hook up’ with me. Sure, he was gorgeous and sexy as hell, but I’m not that easy.

“Don’t you have a roommate to entertain you?” I asked.

“Danny-O is working a double shift.” Eddie made no attempt to move from my couch.

I wondered what kind of job a surfer boy would have. I imagined it would be something like tending bar at a beach club or maybe managing a surf shop.

“Why don’t you have a seat, drink a beer with me and we can relax and watch TV?” Eddie patted the couch next to him.

I sighed. “You’re not leaving, are you?”

He shook his head.

“Just so you know, I don’t have cable.”

Eddie put his hand to his chest. “Alexandria, you’re breaking my heart.”

“I told you, everyone calls me
Lexie.”

“I’m not like everyone else,” he said.

That could have been the understatement of the year. I grabbed one of the beers he had set on my coffee table, unscrewed the top and took a big swig.

“That’s my girl,” Eddie said. “Now we can get this party started.”

Eddie pointed to a shelf above the television. “It looks like you’ve got some movies. Let’s watch one.”

“If I agree to watch one movie with you, then will you go home?” I asked.

Eddie looked like he was giving it some thought. “Okay, but only because it’s a school night.”

“What would you like to watch?”

“What have you got?” he countered.

“I have a wide variety of movies.”

Eddie put his finger to his mouth as if he was considering his options. “How about
The Notebook
?” He gave me a slight grin. Seriously?
The Notebook
?

I shook my head. “I don’t have it.”

He looked shocked. “All chicks have
The Notebook
.”

“I guess I’m not like other chicks.” 

His eyes narrowed as if he didn’t believe me. 

I frowned. “I’m not a Nicholas Sparks fan.”

“I love movies that make chicks cry. Then I can comfort them. Wipe a few tears from their eyes. Let them lay their heads on my shoulder. It’s better than foreplay.”

“You know you’re a real asshole,” I said.

He grinned. “If I had a dollar for every time someone called me an asshole, I’d be wealthier than Bill Gates.”

“I bet,” I snorted.

He leaned over very close to me and said in almost a whisper, “You know you want me.”

As pathetic as it sounds, part of me was attracted to him, even though he was so smug and arrogant. I was trying very hard to suppress that part of me that found him appealing because clearly going down that path was nothing but trouble. I had been down the road of gorgeous, smug and arrogant with my ex-fiancé; I didn’t need to travel it again.

I moved away from him. “So, does this act of yours actually work on the chicks?” I used air quotes around ‘the chicks’ for emphasis.

He nodded. “I don’t have to try very hard to get laid, if that’s what you’re asking.”

I crossed my arms over my chest. “Well, you can just forget about getting laid by anyone in this apartment. It’s never going to happen.”

He stared into my eyes. “Never is a very long time, Alexandria.”

A wave of electricity shot through me. Oh, shit. I hated myself for wanting him. I needed to get my defenses back up. What was I supposed to think about? Dead puppies? Economics exams? It wasn’t working. All I could think about was the intense desire I saw in his gorgeous brown eyes.

I jumped up from the couch and pretended to look at my movie collection. A few seconds later, I could feel the heat of his body right behind me. Then he rested his arm on my shoulder as we both perused the DVDs.

His proximity to me and his body touching mine was almost too intense. I was starting to feel like I couldn’t breathe. He must have felt my body stiffen because he removed his arm from my shoulder and ran his fingers along the DVDs.

“I thought you said you had a variety of movies. These are all action films.”

I pulled
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
from the shelf. “Here’s a comedy,” I said.

“Okay, so you’ve got one movie that’s not an action film,” Eddie said. “I wouldn’t call that a variety of movies. And half of the movies in your collection star Jason Statham. Does that mean you like rugged guys?”

I shrugged. I really just liked escapism and action movies were a great escape, especially after dealing with intense therapy clients all day.

“Does that mean I’m not your type?” He was clearly trying to taunt me. No one would mistake him for rugged, that’s for sure. He was definitely more of the GQ model type. If he only knew how much he resembled my ex-fiancé, he’d realize just how much of my type he actually was. But I had no intentions of revealing that tidbit of information. 

“Just pick one of the Jason Statham movies,” he said. “Maybe he’ll get you hot and bothered and you’ll want me to help you relieve some sexual tension.”

I made a point of placing
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
into the DVD player.

I waited for Eddie to sit on the couch so I could sit as far away as possible.

“Any chance of getting some popcorn?” he asked. “I did bring the beer.”

Obviously, Eddie’s audacity knew no bounds. “You’re very lucky that I picked up popcorn the fifth time I was at Target this past weekend.”

I hustled into the kitchen and slipped a packet of popcorn into the microwave. Unfortunately, I only had one extra large bowl, so we would have to share. I was sure Eddie would just love that.

When the popcorn was ready, I placed it in the giant bowl and brought it out to the living room. I handed the popcorn to Eddie.

“Thank you,” he said. “I’m starving.”

He picked a few popcorn pieces from the bowl and popped them into his mouth. “Nothing beats the taste of the fake butter flavored chemicals and carcinogens in microwave popcorn.”

I scrunched my nose up in disgust. “What are you talking about?”

He grabbed another handful of popcorn and downed it. “Studies suggest that microwave popcorn is really bad for you. Full of chemicals that cause cancer and popcorn lung.”

“Then why are you eating it?” I asked.

“Why not?” he replied.
“We’re all going to die sometime.”

“How do you know all that?” I probed.

He shrugged and played with the popcorn. Then he looked up at me and said, “Maybe you’re not the only one who likes to read.”

Not. What. I. Was.
Expecting. I didn’t think there was much depth to Eddie, the surfer boy, but maybe I was wrong.

I restarted the DVD and we both watched the movie in silence.

After the movie ended, Eddie hopped up from the couch. “Thanks for the wonderful company, the classic 80s teen comedy hit and the cancer-causing popcorn.” He flashed his tilted half grin, revealing his irresistible dimple. I wondered if he knew just how appealing that dimple was.

“You’re welcome,” I said.

“Can I assume then that I’ve got a standing invitation?” He didn’t make it sound like a question.

“No,” I said even though half of me loved the idea of seeing him on a regular basis.

“You just moved in a few days ago. You can’t have a boyfriend that quickly.”

I crossed my arms over my chest. “And what makes you think I don’t have a boyfriend?”

“No boyfriend would ever let someone like me help you move in and he certainly wouldn’t let you watch movies alone with me.”

I wondered if he knew how completely
messed up that sounded on so many levels.  

He leaned in, close to my ear. I could feel his breath on my neck and my knees nearly gave out. Then he whispered, “I hope I get to see you again tomorrow, Alexandria.”

Before I could catch my breath, he was out the door.

THREE

Close Reach

I
was eager to get back to work the next morning. When I entered the main building, Lily gave me a huge smile. “Glad to see we didn’t scare you off yesterday.”

“I don’t scare off very easily,” I said and smiled. As nerve-racking as it was to start a new job, the place and the people I had met so far made me feel comfortable. And I had to admit, I was excited to see Daniel again. Maybe it was good that he was not the type I usually went for. I had a new job, in a new city, in a new part of the country. Maybe I needed a new type of guy as well.

“That’s definitely a requirement to work here,” she said. “Have you met the twins yet?”

I shook my head.

Lily chuckled. “Maybe today. You’ll love them.” Her strange emphasis on the word ‘love’ made me wonder if she was being facetious. “Enjoy your day!”

“You, too,” I said as I headed down the hall way toward my office.

When Tom stopped by to check in on me at the end of the previous day, he mentioned that he wouldn’t start assigning me clients right away. He wanted me to get a chance to get familiar with the place, the processes and procedures and the rest of the staff.

I was one of four Master’s level therapists in the outpatient services. I knew there were others in the inpatient services as well as the day programs. Most of the other clinical staff members had undergraduate degrees. I was hoping to get a chance to at least meet the three other therapists, with whom I would be working most closely. It didn’t take long for that wish to come true.

Two women poked their heads into my office. “Busy?” asked one of them as they both entered.

The women looked to be in their early thirties. They had nearly identical facial features but that’s where any similarity between them ended. One of them was dressed in all black with black boots and had spiky dyed black hair. The other had extremely long light brown hair and was dressed in a flowing hippie-style skirt and blouse, and was wearing Birkenstocks. I assumed they were the twins that Lily had referred to.

The one in all black held out a hand, “Hey, I’m Trinity,” she said.

I shook her hand. “I’m
Lexie.”

Then the other twin extended her hand, “And I’m Serenity.”

I shook Serenity’s hand. It was weird how much their unique outward appearances matched their names.

“We’re really glad you’re here,” Serenity said. “Tom had a lot of trouble filling the position.”

“It probably has something to do with the meager pay and long hours,” Trinity quipped. Her twin gave her the stink eye.

“Don’t let my sister give you the wrong impression,” Serenity said. “We love working here.”

“It puts food on the table,” Trinity added.

“We’ve been here eight years,” Serenity said. “I think that says something.”

“Maybe it says Tom is the only person willing to hire twins to work together,” Trinity added.

The way the twins bantered back and forth with each other made me wonder if anyone else ever got a word in when talking with them.

“Have you met Brad yet?” Serenity asked.

Right after that, Trinity asked, “Have you gotten a tour yet?”

They both stared at me. I assumed that was my cue to finally speak. “No and no,” I answered.

“Great then,” Serenity said.

“Let’s go,” Trinity added.

The first stop on our tour was Brad’s office, which
was a few doors down the hall from mine. His door was closed but that didn’t deter Trinity one bit. She barged right in.

“Hey, Brad,” she said as the three of us entered his work space.

He looked up at us through dark framed glasses. I got the distinct feeling he didn’t like to be disturbed, especially by the twins.

When he stood up to greet me, I noticed that he was only a few inches taller than me, which is not very tall for a man, because I’m only five feet five inches. His thin frame was accentuated by his tight-fitting tailored clothing. He looked to be in his early thirties and definitely had an air of perfectionism. One quick glance around his obsessively orderly office confirmed my hypothesis.

Brad looked me up and down and I suddenly felt as if I was being evaluated. “You must be the new therapist Tom spoke so highly of.” Brad’s words were complimentary but his tone was skeptical. I could tell Brad was someone I would need to prove my worth to.

He made no other motion to introduce himself and didn’t hold out his hand.

“We’re giving Lexie a tour,” Serenity said.

“I hope you enjoy seeing the facilities,” Brad said cordially as Trinity and Serenity grabbed my elbows and led me out of Brad’s office.

After his door was shut and we made our way down the corridor, the twins starting laughing.

“What do you think of Brad?” Trinity asked.

I gulped. I didn’t want to say anything derogatory about my new coworker, but he seemed to fit some of the criteria for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

“Maybe someday, someone will pull that stick out of his ass,” Trinity said.

Serenity leaned in and said quietly, “Did you notice he didn’t shake your hand?”

I nodded.

“He’s a germaphobe,” she continued. “He never touches anyone, not even his clients.”

It wasn’t a secret that some people became therapists because they wanted to deal with their own issues. Perhaps Brad fit into that category. The twins probably could, too. It made me wonder what issues I was dealing with by becoming a counselor.

The twins showed me the building for the day treatment programs and then we headed over to the residential facilities. The place was huge and a bit overwhelming. It was easily four times the size of the mental health facility I had worked at back home.

There were residential programs for both youths and adults and they were housed in separate areas for obvious reason. I met so many staff
members, it was difficult to keep track of all of them. Most of them seemed very warm and friendly, confirming that I had at least made one good choice in moving to Florida.

“We also have an onsite school for the kids in the residential program,” Trinity said. “They’re out at the Challenge Ropes Course today, if you want to take a quick peek. It’s kind of cool. The classrooms are all brand new.”

I nodded and we went inside. Trinity was right. There were only five classrooms but they were all state-of-the-art with SMART boards and cool projection systems.

A young woman was sitting in one of the rooms, reading a gigantic book. We entered the room and when we got closer, I noticed it was a Shakespeare anthology.

“This is Miss Matthews,” Serenity said. “We call the teachers by their formal names because that’s what the kids are expected to do. It’s just easier that way.”

Miss Matthews stood and gave me a big smile. She put her book down and extended a hand. “Pleased to meet you,” she said.

Miss Matthews looked to be about my age. Even though she was wearing glasses, they didn’t mask her natural beauty. She was petite with lovely, raven black hair and stunning blue eyes.

I shook her hand but before I could get a word out, Trinity said, “This is
Lexie, the new outpatient therapist. Tom said she’ll be doing mostly youth and family, so you’ll see more of her in the future, I’m sure.”

“Some of the students stay enrolled in the school, even when they move to outpatient services, so we like to keep their therapists informed of their progress, or lack thereof, more times than not,” Miss Matthews said.

I nodded. “It’s great to meet you.”

“Good to have you here,” she said as she sat back down.

Next, the twins had me peek into the science room. It was dark but I could see that they had a lot of brand new lab equipment as well as a bank of the latest computers. “We got a grant to build this lab for the students,” Serenity said. “All of those computers are for the virtual biology labs. The students can dissect anything and no actual animals have to die.”

“And there’s no smell,” Trinity added. I still remembered how disgusting the formaldehyde covered pigs smelled when I had biology lab in high school. I decided to store it in my bank of images I could use to defend myself against Eddie’s charms.

“Mr. LaRoche is the science teacher,” Serenity said.

“He’s also one of the Ropes Challenge Course facilitators, which is where he is today,” Trinity added.

“Are you talking about those big obstacle courses used for team building and personal development training?” I asked.

The twins both nodded. Then Serenity added, “But, back to Mr.
LaRoche…”

“Stay away from him,” Trinity warned.

“Why?” I asked.

The twins looked at each other then they each took an elbow and dragged me out of the school building.

When we were in a more secluded area away from the main buildings, Serenity said, “Mr. LaRoche is kind of a jerk.”

“He’s an asshole,” Trinity interjected.

Serenity frowned at her sister and continued. “The kids call him Mr. Roach because they can’t stand him. They say he’s really hard on them…”

“Which isn’t a bad thing,” Trinity added.

Serenity continued, “He seems to lack some compassion. But that’s not the reason you should stay away from him.”

“It’s because he’s a dog,” Trinity said.

Serenity leaned closer to me and said quietly, “He’s dated half the women who work here, and I used the term
dated
loosely, if you know what I mean.”

“She means he’s a screw-and-bolt kind of guy,” Trinity clarified. “He actually had the nerve to ask us if we would both date him because he’d never been with twins before.”

“He’s a walking STD,” Serenity said. “Just steer clear of him.”

“Thanks for the warning,” I said. I was definitely going to stay as far away from Mr.
LaRoche as possible. I didn’t need that kind of tidal wave going through my no wake zone.

By the time we got through the inpatient building and back to our offices, it was nearly time for lunch.

“We live right down the street,” Serenity said. “So we always go home for lunch.”

“Our grandmother left us her house when she died,” Trinity explained.

“You can join us, if you’d like,” Serenity suggested.

“Thanks for the offer,” I said. “But I was planning on going to the cafeteria.” I didn’t want to add that I was hoping to see Daniel again and I needed a break from the twin-bantering.

“When we get back, we’ll be happy to show you all you need to know about the electronic file system,” Serenity said.

“That sound great,” I said. “And thank you both so much for everything.”

“No problem,” the twins said simultaneously as they turned and hurried down the hallway.

I breathed a small sigh of relief. They would certainly take some getting used to.

When I looked at my watched, I noticed it was a few minutes before noon. I hoped I could go to lunch with Daniel again and I hoped I hadn’t missed him.

He wasn’t the type I normally went for either in looks or personality. He was more reserved and less self-assured than I was used to. He was almost the complete opposite of my ex-fiancé, which was certainly appealing, but there was more to it than that. I felt an inexplicable connection to him even though we barely knew each other. I was sure that I wanted to get to know him better.

When he popped into my office a few minutes later, my heart leaped. I was beginning to think he had gone to lunch without me.

“I was just finishing up with an intake,” he said. “You haven’t had lunch yet, have you?”

“No, I haven’t eaten,” I said. I didn’t want to admit that I was waiting for him.

“Great,” he said then seemed unsure of himself again. “I mean, it’s great if you want to have lunch with me again.”

I smiled and grabbed my purse. “Of course.”

His glowing smile lit up the room. “Let go.”

Daniel suggested we both get boxed lunches so we could take them outside and sit by the pond. I loved the idea.

We grabbed a bench close to a small waterfall and watched two ducks playing in the water. It had been a while since I actually got to listen to the blissful sound of water falling. “This is lovely,” I told him.

“I feel very fortunate to work here. It wasn’t easy trying to find a job when I graduated. Not a lot of organizations were hiring graduates with a degree in anthropology. Plus, the economy had gone from bad to totally sucky. Jobs were scare. My college roommate got a position here and he saw they had openings for Bachelor’s level clinicians. Luckily, I did a minor in psychology, so they gave me a chance and hired me. It helped that I told them I was planning on earning a Master’s degree. I applied for a graduate program as soon as I got the job here.”

“And I was fortunate that my boss in Illinois is good friends with Tom,” I said. “He hired me by phone. I’m not sure how brave I would have been to move here without a job lined up.”