Starting Fires (2 page)

He pondered my request then walked over to his desktop. “And where exactly have you found a place to stay?”

This was it. How I handled the conversation from here on would determine whether he would agree. “You remember Charles?” He nodded. “Well, he and his roommate are having difficulty making ends meet, but they have an extra room and offered it to me. With the extra help, they’ll be able to stay in their house, and I’ll be able to start over.”

Slowly, he turned and narrowed his eyes—not in a fatherly, protective way, but out of curiosity. “Are you two dating?”

“Dad, gross.” I scrunched my face. “No, we aren’t. He’s like a Ken doll.”

“What about his roommate?”

“I’ve never even met him. And don’t worry. I have no intention of dating someone so soon after Mark.” He thought about my statement, no doubt trying to sniff out any lies. Since I wasn’t lying, I met his gaze and waited for him to respond.

“What neighborhood is it in?” he finally said. “I want to do some research before I agree to anything.”

“Twin Pine Estates.” I plopped down against his desk and wrote down the zip code. Once I handed it to him, I waited.

My father sighed as he typed. “That neighborhood is thirty minutes outside of New Orleans.”

I hadn’t known Charles lived that far away from the main city, but did I really want to live in the heart of New Orleans? No, not really. Being that far out of town would give me the quiet I enjoyed, but I’d still be close enough to travel into it if I wanted. “Safer,” I told him.

I gave him the physical address and let him study the area to his heart’s content. After a while, he said, “I don’t know. What if you end up hating it?”

He was right, of course. I might end up hating it, but I had my heart set on this. I didn’t need his permission. I was an adult. But some small, childlike part of me wanted his blessing. Knowing he wasn’t keen to the idea, and seeing no alternative, I said, “Um, Dad? How long
has
Juanita been living here? The last time we talked, you didn’t mention it.”

He cleared his throat. “Uh, a few weeks I guess.” Needlessly, he shuffled papers on his desks before making eye contact with me. “Look, if you think this will be good for you, I’d like to talk to Charles first.” I hid my excitement and gave him Charles’ number. For what seemed like thirty minutes, I paced outside his study while he talked with him. When he finally called me back in, he calmly said, “New Orleans is fine with me.”

The smile I produced probably shot white light across the room, and I ran over to his chair to hug him tightly. My father may be a workaholic who avoided me, but he’d just made me
very
happy. “Thank you!” I squealed.

“Now, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I want you to send me your grades at mid-term and final. This is your last year. You need to keep your grades up if you want to get recognized by a reputable accounting firm.”

“Dad, I’m perfectly capable of maintaining good grades. You’re making me feel like a kid.”

“I know how New Orleans is. Nothing but parties. I’ve spent good money on this education and I want to make sure my investment is being used wisely.”

He made it seem so clinical—as if I wasn’t his daughter at all and just some business deal. But I didn’t intend to let my grades slip, so I agreed.

He studied me for a moment then turned back around. “I’ll make some calls this afternoon to have movers to take your things over. I’d also like it if you’d let me pay for the rent. It’s ridiculous that you’re taking out all these student loans when I’ve offered to help you. Just… let me do that.”

Vulnerability passed over his face, a look I hadn’t seen in years. This mattered to him. Despite how chilly he acted towards me, I wanted to please him and swallowed my pride. “Okay,” I said.

He looked surprised and added, “I want you to take the Lexus, too. If your Jeep decides to break down, the last place I want you stranded is New Orleans.”

He was pushing his luck. “That Jeep is my baby. And she just passed her last tune-up with excellence. I’m taking care of her.” I couldn’t believe I was about to say this, but he’d just given me something I desperately wanted. This was my way of telling him that I was okay with whatever he was doing with our housekeeper. “Why don’t you give it to Juanita?”

“Really?”

“Really,” I smiled. “She’s been working here the past eight years. Call it a bonus.”

That afternoon, I swallowed back my unease and went to lunch with them. It wasn’t horrible. Even though they were trying desperately to hide their affair, my father seemed happy—the happiest I’d seen him in a long time. I could stomach this. I would just have to. He was moving on. Trying to find a new happiness. Perhaps Juanita would be good for him, and help him realize that there was more to life than work, work, and more work.

I made it home in the early morning and tried to sleep but the excitement was overwhelming. Later in the day, my father called and told me that everything had been worked out. As soon as our phone call was finished, I called Charles.

“BIRD!” he yelled then grew serious. “Is this really happening? Wally and I signed the new lease this morning. I saw ole Harold’s name scratched on it.”

“I just got back this morning, and I’m alr-…” A loud noise and boisterous laughing in the background cut me off.

“Hold on a sec. I’m with the guys.” I heard him tell everybody to keep it down. One of them obnoxiously asked if he was talking to his
girlfriend.
“No, it’s Bird. So, shut the hell up. Alright, girl, go ahead.”

“I’m already packing! The moving truck will be here in a few days!” I squealed.

“Yes! This is so fucking awesome.”

“I know! How does Wally feel about it?”

“Ah Shit! He was asleep this morning and barely woke up to sign the papers. I forgot to fill him in. Hey, Wally, how you feel about my friend Marlowe being the new roommate?”

“She hot?” I heard him immediately ask.

“Dude, she’s an 11.” I rolled my eyes at Charles’ comment.

“Then fuck yeah,” was his response.

It turned out that Wally and Charles basically had no furniture, so I was going to be able to take all of mine with me. They were even going to give me the master bedroom. After six months of torture and agony under the thumb of my ex, I finally felt like I was going to get some peace. Starting over never seemed more promising.

 

Chapter 2

L
uckily, I didn’t
run into my ex or my neighbor the last few days that I was in town. Although, I’m sure Samantha would be telling him that I moved. Deciding that I wanted to cut all ties to my life there, I changed my number and made sure to be as vague as possible when telling people that I was leaving.

At noon that Saturday, I packed my car with the last remaining boxes and began my departure. The moving truck had left that morning, and I hoped that everything would be there and unloaded by the time I arrived.

About an hour away, my air conditioner decided to stop working. Shorts had turned out to be a very wise choice. But even with that small blessing, there was a constant drip of sweat streaming down my back.
Perfect
. The hot breeze coming through the windows did little to cool me.

Pulling down my new street, I glanced into the rear-view mirror. With the heat, I’d been forced to pull my hair into a ponytail. My neck was cool, but my hair was obviously damp. I brought my t-shirt up and wiped the moisture off my face. At a stop sign, I rubbed my fingers under my eyes to remove the residue left by my mascara.
Waterproof my ass.
I looked like hell. A shower was definitely at the top of my agenda.

As I came up to the block I was going to be living on, I slowed my car down, searching the mailboxes for the right number. I noticed two men out in front of one of the houses. One was blond and looked like some type of preppy rugby player, but the other…

His arms were raised high above his head as he gripped the top of the garage door, causing a small patch of tan skin to be visible below his tight-navy V-neck. The muscles of his forearms bulged as he stretched, and I couldn’t tear my eyes away as he laughed at something the other guy said. They noticed my car approaching and he stared straight at me. His dark eyes bore right into mine. As if he knew that I only needed a little push before I would bind myself to him for all eternity, he quirked his lips and ran a hand through his messy, short brown hair.

The loud, feminine voice of my British GPS guide broke my trance. “You have reached your destination.” I slammed on my brakes and looked around for my street number. A quick glance in my side mirror told me that I’d passed it up. Great. Now I was going to look like a complete idiot.

I put my car in reverse and did my best to ignore the two men directly across the street from my new home. Pulling into the driveway, I cut the engine and watched him through my rear-view mirror. He was watching me, too. Suddenly, my hot ass car didn’t seem so bad. Maybe I could just wait until he went inside. Realizing that I was being ridiculous, I took a breath and decided to get out. With my hand on the door and my eyes still on my mirror, I heard Charles yell from across the yard.

“Bird! Is that you?”

I jumped at the sound of his voice and looked over to him. His smile was huge and his arms were open wide, ready to receive a hug. My lips automatically stretched into a grin and all the embarrassment melted away. Quickly, I jumped out of the car and ran towards him. He twirled me in the air before placing me back to the ground.

As we admired the two-story home before us, my arm went around his waist and his draped across my shoulders. “I can’t believe it,” I grinned. “This is awesome!” He squeezed my shoulder and the excitement started getting to me. I jumped up and down as I squealed. Charles was laughing at my enthusiasm, holding my hands as I made a complete spectacle of myself out on the front lawn. Another body came up beside me and began jumping too. Without thinking, I wrapped my arms around the torso. I was lifted into the air as he whooped and hollered right along with me.

Looking down, I realized that this was a complete stranger. His wavy, brown hair rested just over his ears, and he was wearing a jovial smile, as if there was nothing strange about the two of us locked in this embrace. My laughter stopped as he put me down, and I looked at Charles to clarify who this was. He smiled at my confusion before offering an explanation. “Marlowe, meet Wally.”

So this was Wally. He was wearing a white tank top and khaki shorts. A few tattoos were creeping out from the top of his shirt and onto his shoulders. He was handsome. I don’t know why that surprised me, but with everything I’d heard about him, for some reason I pictured a slightly chunky, less charming version of the man before me. But he was cute and had kind eyes. His smile comforted me, as if we’d known each other for years. “How’s it going roomie?” He wrapped his arms around me and gave me a big hug, shaking my body back and forth. Obviously, he knew no strangers, and I was grateful there wouldn’t be a weird get to know you phase. In his eyes, we were already best buds.

“It’s great,” I smiled.

Wally held me at arm’s length and studied my face. “You know what we need?” he asked with the utmost seriousness.

“What?” I shrugged.

He leaned in close and whispered, “Shots.”

I wasn’t normally a day drinker but with the way he was looking at me, I couldn’t say no. “That’s sounds awesome.” Before I could protest, he bent down and threw me over his shoulder as he started making his way to the house.

“You aren’t going to introduce us?” a voice called from across the street. I suddenly remembered the two guys still standing in their garage, and felt a heat build across my cheeks. Wally turned with me so he could face them, and I buried my head in my hands—knowing that, at this very moment, my backside was on complete display.

“Marlowe, that’s Ian and Lucas,” Wally said. “Ian and Lucas, this is Marlowe. Now if you’ll excuse us, the new inhabitant of this fine abode and these two lucky gents are about to indulge in a celebratory drink.”

He turned back around and started walking towards the front door. I hadn’t realized that they would be living this close to us, and I peeked up at them. While Mr. Rugby made his way into their house, the other shook his head and smiled. I still had no idea which one was Lucas and which one was Ian. Figuring I might as well say something, I raised my head and waved. “It’s nice to meet you,” I yelled.

“You, too. By the way
I’m
Lucas.” He pointed over his shoulder, “
That’s
Ian. See you around, Marzy.”

I smiled.
Marzy?
No one had ever called me that before. ‘Mar’ or “Lo’ but never ‘Marzy.’ It was kind of… sweet. Maybe I was getting a little ahead of myself. He probably wouldn’t even remember my name the next time he saw me.

Wally walked us through the front door and put me down in the foyer. “Wait right here,” he said, dashing out of the room. A moment later, he ran back in with three shot glasses. “One shot for every room,” he smiled.

Every room?
”Uh, how many rooms are there?” I asked.

“Like five… or six. Doesn’t matter. This shit is light.” Wally raised his shot glass. “To Roommates,” he toasted.

“To Roommates,” Charles and I said in unison. We clinked our glasses then tipped the drink back.

Before I even had time to get a look at my surroundings, Wally and Charles were ushering me from the foyer into the kitchen. My table from my old apartment was already set up at the far end next to a large window overlooking the back yard. From where I was standing, cabinets ran along the left wall forming an L shape. On the right wall was another row of cabinets that ran parallel to a large island. Stepping into the kitchen, I realized that the area designated for our dining table opened into the living room. I loved it. It was open and bright, and I could imagine myself up on the counter eating cereal or sitting at the table with my coffee, watching the morning light reflect off the pool.

While Wally and Charles started making us another round of shots, I walked to the window. The back yard was large with a shed all the way in the far right corner. Various trees and bushes lined the fence. A few ratty looking chairs were set up along the pool and I noticed a black iron table sitting at the very edge of the patio.

“Marlowe. Shot time,” Charles called. Once I made it to the island, he smiled and raised his glass. “To Bird,” he grinned.

“To Bird,” Wally winked.

As soon as I placed the drink down, I was being pushed into the living room. A staircase ran directly up the wall. My couch was lined up against it and two chairs that I didn’t recognize were set up in the room. A large entertainment system was erected with a TV, stereo, and various gaming consoles. There was a door in the right corner that led to the garage, and another right at the end of my couch that led to a cramped half-bath under the staircase.

The shots were ready and Wally beckoned me over. I grabbed mine and they looked at me. I realized that it was now my turn to give a toast. “To new beginnings,” I shrugged, feeling embarrassed at how sappy that sounded.

But they didn’t make me feel stupid and in deep triumphant voices lifted their glasses high in the air, “New Beginnings!” It was a little harder to get the third drink down and I made a face as the warm liquid pooled into my stomach.

“Alright,” I coughed, “we have to take a break for a bit.” They didn’t argue, dropping down into what I assumed were
their
chairs. I sat on the couch and let out a sigh. Blessed air conditioning. “When do you guys have another show?”

“We had one last night,” Wally said. “Sorry you missed it, but we have another one on Monday and also Saturday next week.”

“Friday,” Charles corrected.

“What?” Wally looked at him as if he was crazy.

“Our show. It’s on Friday. It’s always Friday. Shit, Wally, keep a calendar or something.”

I couldn’t help but smile as Wally thought about it, but shrugged it off as if he had better things to do. “What the shit do you think I have you for? Better yet, how ‘bout you just tell Marlowe from now on and she can keep track for me.” He grinned and met my eyes. “Wanna be my assistant?”

I got the feeling that being his ‘assistant’ would be more than keeping dates, but also laundry, dishes, and generally picking up after him. “No thanks,” I laughed then stood to my feet. “Alright, let’s see the rest.”

On the back wall of the house, between the living room and kitchen, was a sliding glass door leading out to the patio. The staircase started right at the edge of it, and I pranced up the steps. At the top, a door was to my right. Without waiting on them, I opened it and stepped in. It was quite obviously Bear’s room. His double bed was pushed into the corner and he had a dresser and stereo system lining the other wall. All of his favorite indie bands and concert posters adorned the walls.

“This would be my room,” Charles said from the door. He walked in and dropped down on the bed. “In case you didn’t already know that.” It was a decent size and had two large windows—one that opened to the front lawn and the other to our neighbor’s house.

Clearly, wanting to get back to business, Wally had already poured our shots and brought them over to us. “Since this is Chuck’s room. I’ll let him do the honors.”

“Hmmm…” he thought for a moment, rubbing his chin. “To Nudist Colonies.”

“Nice one,” Wally said.

The next stop was a bathroom between Wally and Charles’ bedrooms. We didn’t take a shot in there—which was probably a good thing. I could feel the warmth and looseness of the alcohol beginning to flow through my system. Wally stopped me at the next door down the hallway. “Now, Marlowe, you are about to see where the magic happens.”

“Magic?” I squinted.

He leaned in a little closer and whispered, “Yeah,
The Magic,”
with a wink.

He slung the door open and I had to suppress my chuckle. A twin bed was pushed up against one of the walls, and it had a bright purple comforter draped over it. Several posters of scantily clad women propped up against various sports cars were tacked to the walls. From his light fixture, he had a toy figurine of Pixar’s Wall-E dangling down. In one corner, he had an acoustic guitar, and a bass. A dresser was in the middle and in the other corner were an Xbox and TV. Several pairs of underwear and socks littered the floor. Clearly A LOT of magic happened here.

“Yep,” Wally said walking over to his bed and falling on it dramatically. “Ladies can’t help themselves. Everyone wants a piece of the Wally-machine.”

“In your dreams,” Charles said then sat down as well, pushing Wally’s feet out of the way.

I flicked the figurine hanging from his light fixture. Yes, I could see his appeal. He seemed charismatic and fun—exactly what a girl would need if she wanted to momentarily throw caution to the wind. His smile and good looks promised that whatever happened between the two of you, it would be a good time. Probably exactly what I needed, but the idea of messing around with my roommate didn’t appeal to me. Not that he even wanted to, but that would be a whole mess of drama that I wasn’t interested in stirring up. Plus, he didn’t have dark, smoldering eyes or the perfect bone structure of the man across the street.

Wally and Charles were arguing about which one of the women on his wall was more attractive. Not having an opinion on the matter, I walked over to his window and looked at the house across the street, hoping
he
was outside. I sighed in disappointment, and then shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts. I really didn’t need to be thinking about him right now. With the alcohol flowing through my system I might race across the yard and strip down for him just to get another glimpse of that perfect smile. Not to mention have his hands all over me. I bet he had strong hands. Long fingers, veins running up the length of his forearms…

While off in my daydream I let out a mirthful sigh. “Uh… Marlowe?” Charles said, bringing me back to the here and now. I looked over my shoulder at him. His face was scrunched up in confusion, but Wally was smiling from ear to ear as if he knew what I’d been thinking.

“Shot time,” I said, trying to take the spotlight off me. “Wally, it’s your room. So what are we toasting to?”

He got off his bed and poured our drinks while he dramatically pondered it. “I got it,” he said. With his back to Charles, he quirked up the side of his lip, “How ‘bout we toast to
neighbors
.”