Page 40 of Beautiful Noise
“It’s not that I don’t like it, I would just like it more if there was some character. It looks like a model home. Safe. Just enough to show what you can do with the space but nothing to personalize so the buyer would not be able to visualize it for themselves.”
“You just made my living room sound bland as fuck.”
She grinned and shrugged. “Friends are honest.”
Fuck this friend shit.
“Friends are also helpful so I’m about to call the furniture store and set up an appointment for us to go figure out how to add some character in here.”
“I might be able to pencil you in.”
“Might?”
“I’m a really good friend. I’m poppin’ out here in these streets. Hangout requests are out of control.”
I chuckled. “Yeah I bet. I’m going to get dressed, let me know if you can move some shit around to pencil me in.”
“Give me thirty minutes and I’ll be ready.”
Thirty minutes ended up being forty-eight but she met me in the living room dressed and ready to go, so I appreciated the effort. I fully intended to go look at furniture, but after the call I received, I decided that could wait and mentioned to Kori there would be achange in plans. She reluctantly agreed but that didn’t mean she did so quietly.
“Can you at least tell me where we’re going?” I didn’t bother offering my full attention but could feel her eyes on me from the passenger seat of my Range. We were ten minutes out from the rec center where I spent as much of my free time as possible. One thing I learned about offering the world your soul was that they tended to suck you dry. I had to find ways to refuel and the kids did that for me.
“No.”
Nothing, not a peep. She didn’t bother offering an argument and her eyes were no longer on me so I stole a quick glance at her instead.
I almost laughed at the visual. Kori’s eyes were squinted and straight ahead while her jaw was set tight. She was pissed but chose not to vocalize that she was. I appreciated that too. One of my least favorite things was people questioning me and a close second was arguing.
When I arrived at my intended location, by pulling in the back off a side street and parking right at the rear door, I could see the questions firing off in her head. Her attention darted around the parking lot before searching the rear of the unmarked building where we were.
I climbed out the truck and she followed. Surprisingly she still hadn’t said one word but I noticed how she inched impossibly close after I held the door open and followed her inside. We took a long hallway to a stairwell, climbing up one flight before I yanked open a second metal door which opened into another hallway. By the time we reached the administration office, Kori obviously had enough because she finally spoke up.
“Where are we?”
“Took your ass long enough. You should have asked five minutes ago.” The curious expression she wore was completely replaced by one a lot sharper and less friendly.
“I was trying to give you space.”
“Your current role in my life is to intrude. Isn’t that the opposite of giving space?”
“Yes but…”
“Then you’re definitely not good at what you do, Ri. Maybe I should hit Gwendolyn up and let her know she missed the mark with you.”
I was just fucking with her. If I chased Kori away, my mother would pull out the heavy guns and there would be no telling who I would end up with. She was fed up with my reluctance to commit to one woman and although I never imagined this would be her warfare, she had pulled one over on me.
My current shadow wasn’t necessarily appreciated, but at the very least she was easy on the eyes and had followed instructions so far. She stayed out of the way and didn’t harass me about the field trip I forced on her. I couldn’t guarantee the next person would be as user friendly and therewouldbe a next person if I got rid of the current.
“You really are an ass,” she grated, following me into the office while I ignored her most recent assessment.
“Morning, Bev. I need an extra pass today, if that’s alright. I have a shadow that I can’t shake.”
“Youinvitedme?” she ground out and I laughed lightly.
Beverly Stewart, the rec center’s admin, offered up a smile I’d grown to appreciate, then looked past me at Kori before I had her attention again.
“You know the rules, Ezren.”