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Chapter 3
“So, how long did you say you were staying?” Stephanie used her foot to drag the towel across the tile floor.
Growing up, it had always amazed her how much water ended up outside the shower stall whenever Simone bathed.
Some things never change.
“I didn’t,” her sister called out from the living room, where Stephanie assumed she was busy making the third mess of the day that she wouldn’t bother to clean. “But did I tell you Roger’s married and his wife is pregnant?”
Yes. She’d told her at least a dozen times. Her sister had an uncanny ability to get herself mixed up in love triangles. Stephanie wanted to believe it was unintentional, but there came a point where she had to face the fact that in all her sister’s romantic disasters there was one common denominator: Her sister.
“He keeps calling and texting me, did I tell you?”
“Yep.” Stephanie had been sound asleep at eight a.m., after she got home at three a.m. from her shift, and Simone had come in to show her a text she’d just received that declared his undying love.
The morning hadn’t gotten much better since then, starting with a cold shower thanks to Simone using all of the hot water. Then, on her way to the kitchen to get her first dose of caffeine and warm up, she’d tripped over a trail of clothes in the middle of the hallway. After picking them up and starting a load of wash she passed the hallway bathroom on her way to java heaven and noticed the small flood on the floor, which she was taking care of now.
“It’s going to be a good day,” Stephanie whispered under her breath. “A good day.”
For as long as she could remember, whenever things started feeling overwhelming, frustrating, or out of control she’d set an intention in an attempt to change the tides. Did it always work? Nope. But it also didn’t hurt, so she kept it up.
Once the floor was dry, the counter was wiped off, and the hair dryer was put away, Stephanie finally made it to her destination only to face disappointment when she arrived. Her coffee pot was on a timer and should be full of steaming hot liquid but it wasn’t. A quick check of the outlet revealed it was still plugged into the wall. At a loss, she grabbed the glass pot from the cradle that it sat in. That’s when she noticed a small amount of dark brown liquid residue on the bottom.
No.
Her sister definitely tilted towards self-involved and narcissistic on the personality scale, but she didn’t have a death wish. There was no way she would’ve drank all of the coffee.
“Where’s the coffee?” Stephanie heard the panic that tinged the edges of her voice.
Simone didn’t even glance up from her phone. “Oh, it was nasty so I tossed it. You need to get a Keurig.”
Deep breath. Her nostrils flared as she slowly inhaled through her nose. She was doing her best to remain calm, but the phrase “justifiable homicide” was playing in her mind on repeat. As tempted as she was to open her mouth and let her little sister know exactly how unacceptable her behavior was, she knew that would be a bad idea. Nothing good ever came from her addressing any issue before she’d had at least one cup of coffee.
Caffeine. She needed to get some caffeine in her body and then she would rationally talk to Simone. Not only about the early morning wake up call, the clothes in the hall, the water on the floor and the worst offense—by far!—the coffee “tossing,” but more importantly what exactly her little sister was doing here in the first place when she should be at school. Everything about this “surprise visit” was sitting wrong with Stephanie. Yes, her sister was going through a dramatic break-up, but that was just a normal Tuesday for her.
She started to make another pot of dark, liquid crack and in a matter of minutes, the delightful sounds of bubbling came and the delicious aroma of java filled the air. She inhaled slowly again, but this time it wasn’t done out of frustration, it was pure indulgence.
Was there anything better than the smell of coffee in the morning?
“So what’s up with hot neighbor guy?”
So yeah, there’s one thing better than the smell of coffee in the morning.
“What? Nothing. Why?” As soon as the words came out of her mouth she heard the defensiveness that was evident in each of them but prayed that her sister would be so involved with whatever was going on in her phone that she wouldn’t notice it.
“Whoa.” Simone popped up from lounging on the couch. Her lips formed a perfect ‘o’ and her eyes were doing their best saucer impression. “Are you guys a thing?!”
“Shhhhhh.” Stephanie glanced over her shoulder at the wall that she shared with Ace before once again facing her sister. Keeping her voice low she explained, “No, we’re not. I don’t even know him.”
“Why are you whispering? He can’t hear you.” Simone shook her head as her brow furrowed. To prove her point she continued speaking at a loud volume. “I met him yesterday. He actually rendered me speechless. Me. Speechless. Can you believe it?”
No. Not really.
She continued on, not waiting for a response. “He wasn’t real talkative either but with that body, those eyes, that smile and those dimples…” She fanned herself dramatically. “Well, words aren’t really necessary. He was mowing the lawn when I got here. Shirtless. And let me tell you, it was a sight to behold.”
Yep. She knew that sight all too well. It was burned into her memory.
Now that Simone mentioned it, Stephanie had noticed that the lawn looked freshly manicured when she’d gotten home last night, or this morning. Had he mowed her side of the property, too? He must’ve. Simone was allergic to manual labor so there was no way she’d done it. Although if anyone could inspire her sister to break a sweat it would surely be Ace and his aforementioned body.
