Page 28 of Not My Problem

I breathed heavily as a haze of lust settled over me.

“Yeah.”

“What if I put my finger in your ass?”

And there went my panties… “Um. I would try that.”

Zoe popped back up in her chair and waved for the server. “In that case, let’s get out of here.”

***

The rest of the week seemed to fly by. Zoe had trainings all day on Monday and Tuesday, then she had on the job training Wednesday during a day shift at the shelter.

“Friday is my first overnight shift,” she told me when I asked about her schedule.

As an on-call staffer, Zoe would be trained to handle all shifts.

“I’m working seven to seven, so I’ll be back early Saturday morning.”

“Damn that’s a long shift.”

“Julia said they’ve learned to just have a longer overnight shift because if someone doesn’t come in it’s too hard to get a replacement staff person in the middle of the night.” Zoe explained.

“That makes sense.”

When I got home from work Friday she was getting ready to head out the door. She was wearing some of the new clothes she’d found thrifting on her day off, dark washed jeans with a knit short-sleeved shirt and a light blue cardigan.

She gave me a quick kiss then headed for the door. “I don’t want to miss my bus,” she said, racing out.

I’d offered to drive her, but she insisted that the bus was fine, so I didn’t argue. I knew she already felt bad about staying here and eating my food, there was no sense in making her feel bad about going to work.

I ate dinner alone, feeling out of sorts without Zoe there, then headed into bed early. It took a while to fall asleep though. I was surprised at how hard it was sleeping without her. She’d been in my bed every night this week and I’d gotten used to her being there. I’d never been big on sleeping in the same bed as someone – I liked my own space – but like so many things, Zoe was an exception to the rule. If anything I slept better with her curled up beside me.

When I woke up Saturday morning it was just after six, so I followed my instincts and headed to the shelter to pick her up. She ambled out of the building just after seven, jumping a little as I honked at her, then walked to the car with a big smile.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, sliding into the passenger seat.

“I couldn’t sleep and I know the buses are intermittent on the weekends, so I thought I’d pick you up.”

She leaned back against the seat with a smile. “Totally unnecessary, but I do appreciate it. I’m not used to staying up all night and I have to confess I’m beat.”

“How was everything last night?” I asked as we pulled away.

“You know it’s funny, I assumed that it would be quiet working at a homeless shelter at night, figuring that everyone would be asleep the whole time, but people were up and down all night.”

“That’s surprising.”

“I was working with the team lead, Robbie, and she said that when people are homeless or living in domestic violence situations, they get used to being awake at night and learn to be hypervigilant to noises as a safety mechanism. It takes them a while to feel safe enough to sleep through the night again.”

“That makes sense.” I remembered when I was homeless in Portland my street friends and I stayed awake most of the night on high alert.

“I can’t believe I finally get to meet my grandmother tomorrow.”

Jan was getting back Sunday afternoon, and Zoe alternated between being excited and nervous about meeting her. Meanwhile I was selfishly brooding about how it would affect me. The past two weeks together had been great, almost perfect, but Jan’s return would change things.

“I’m sure she’s excited too.”

By the time we got home Zoe was half asleep. She stumbled into the guest room for the first time in days, closing the door behind her so she could sleep. She resurfaced mid-afternoon after I’d cleaned the house, worked out, and dusted Jan’s house for good measure, doing my best to not wake her up.