Author's Disclaimer: I don't own Burst angel, don't own it, don't own! I just make stories with the characters for no profit :P
Author's Note: I can visually see the scenery in my head and try to make it real for you.
"Working the Grind"
Chapter four "Misunderstandings and Consolations"
"Come on, Meg," Kyohei pleaded over the phone. "Just because she has an attractive friend doesn't mean she's her sugar mama!"
"You didn't see her," Meg complained. She slid the chain through her lock and kicked her sneakers off glumly. In her socks, she padded to the kitchen and turned on a light. The fluorescent flickered and buzzed to life. Meg sighed over the small space and looked under the sink to the trash can. "She was so hot and huge, and where is that smell coming from?"
"She was huge?" Kyohei reiterated and looked at his medication bottle. He flopped onto his bed and leaned against his pillows.
Meg shook her head and grimaced, sitting back on her haunches. "I mean, not fat, just… her knockers were huge."
Kyohei tried not giggle. This woman was competition for Jo, after all! "You're…kidding!"
Meg groaned. "No. And worse, Jo looked so uncomfortable when she came up. Like she was supposed to be a secret!"
"Aw, Meg," Kyohei commiserated. He got up and padded to the kitchen and idly filled a glass with water while Meg mewled a bit in frustration.
"Yeah! And she asks Jo how 'her apartment is.' Like she should know how it's like!"Meg bitched. And looked in the fridge, groaned and closed the door. "You're not working the bar tonight either?"
"No,"Kyohei said. "My head still hurts a little. I got some pills for it."
"Guess we're both going to the grocery store tomorrow," Meg lamented. "One day off is plenty." Her bladder seized and Meg crossed her legs, hopping across the linoleum floor. She had to get off the phone soon so she could pee and check her flow.
"Yeah, guess so," Kyohei agreed. "I'm trying a new recipe tonight, do you want me to bring you a dish tomorrow?"
Meg smiled. "That'd be great, Kyo." He always knew how to cheer her up when she was down. "Thanks…"
"Don't mention it. Now don't worry about Jo. We'll figure something out."
Meg clicked her phone shut and padded to her bedroom with a plate of leftovers. She sat gingerly on the edge of her mattress, and tossed her pillows everywhere. Setting the plate on the carpet, she flopped on her back and exhaled noisily.
Try as she might, she couldn't get serious red eyes out of her mind. Suddenly, the thought of working near the silver-haired woman wasn't sounding so attractive.
8
8
Meg began her shift the next day with trepidation. She didn't want to see or hear Jo and that could be impossible if she were near. Her cramps were better and she had only needed to take five Hershey kisses with her. Kyohei had indeed presented her with a Tupperware container of homemade pad thai noodles and even as Meg thanked him and set it away in the break room, she had been on the lookout for Jo.
Kyohei noted her hesitance as they took their tills and kept up a string of conversation Meg was grateful for. They went through a few customers in a flash of beeping items and plastic bags. Meg was almost at ease. Her smile came easier and her words were unhurried. When a bitch of a harridan complained about the price of rutabaga, she merely smiled and shrugged it off.
Meg was just starting to relax and willing to ask Kyohei to go on break first when a figure stopped in her peripheral vision. She turned slowly and noted a work boot propped up on a cart laden with boxes. Slowly her eyes traveled up the lithe figure and stopped at the smooth pale face.
"It's good to see you, Meg," Jo said smoothly. Meg felt a flutter in her stomach and leaned on her register stand. Behind her, Kyohei's eyebrow raised.
Oh shit. He hoped a confrontation wasn't about to erupt.
"Uhm.." he raised a finger behind Meg, then retracted his involvement. Meg would have to handle this on her own.
"Hi, Jo," Meg said softly, her heart thumping. Then she ironed her resolve and straightened her posture. She fiddled with her scanner and looked at Jo out of the corner of her eye.
Jo stood, propped against her cart next to Meg, watching her. "I was wondering if you wanted to go out again. Maybe for dinner."
Meg's heart leaped but she chewed on her lower lip. "I don't think so."
Jo stared at her, slight surprise on her face. This she wasn't expecting. "Why not, Meg?"
Meg glared at her over her shoulder. So she wasn't used to be told no, huh? "Because I think you have enough company without asking me for any."
There, that showed her! Kyohei leaned against his stand as Jo ran a hand through her tangled silver hair, not sure what to do. She finally pushed her cart away silently and went down an aisle to restock.
Kyohei watched her go and leaned toward the silent redhead. "Meg, are you okay?"
Meg heaved a huge sigh. "I guess so…I think so. I'm just not gonna get played by her or anyone."
"You have to do what you think is right," Kyohei agreed. "Even if she does seem to like you."
Meg felt a tingle through her spine, like something was wrong. She grimaced. "Damn straight I do! So what if she's so cool and has an awesome bike? There are other women out there!"
Kyohei nudged her and both turned to the next customers, a father and daughter. The father was busy trying to cover his child's ears with his hands. Meg sighed as they moved to Kyohei's line.
Today just wasn't her day.
o * * * *
Jo almost dropped a half-full box on her foot and juggled it to keep the cans from falling all over. Today just wasn't her day. She'd already dropped two boxes and had to collect their contents. She'd mislabeled two shelves of vegetables. The past thirty minutes had been on her hands and knees reaching for every single can of green giant greens and sweet peas so she could put the correct price on them.
After that great honor, an enormous woman had demanded she direct her to a specific item, and even though it technically wasn't part of Jo's job, she merely got up, brushed the knees of her jeans off and had guided the obese customer to her quarry. It was like leading a cow to water.
And after that monstrosity, she had gotten up a moment to ask Meg out. And she'd said no!
The very look on Meg's face broke her heart and shattered her psyche. It wasn't that she was spoiled or used to getting her way. But she thought Meg had really wanted to go out again, and see where they could go from there. She had been to her personal refuge for kami's sake; she thought Meg wanted more someday!
"Where did I go wrong?" Jo muttered. Her silver bangs hung in her eyes and she blinked and pushed them out of her vision. Reaching one hand, she grasped two cans easily in her palm and pulled them to her.
Her cell began to buzz in her pocket and Jo pushed the cart to the back room to ease it open discreetly.
"Hello?"
"Jo! How are ya, girl?" Leo's grin could be heard over the phone. Jo sighed and looked over her inventory clipboard absently.
"Not so good. I don't know what to think…."
"What's going on?"
Jo watched the back room door swing open as another clerk moved back up front. A flash of red hair could be seen briefly. Her eyes gleamed hotly.
"I asked Meg out…."
"So when should we plan the wedding?" Leo teased.
"But she said no."
"What? Why?" Leo whined. From the looks of the other night, the girl Jo had rescued was due to be swept off her feet!
"I have no idea…" Jo murmured. She watched through the storage room door as Kyohei shared a joke with Meg. Her red eyes swept down to her boots.
"Huh." Leo snorted. "Well, what happened?"
"I took her out to lunch, and then Sei showed up…"
"What!" Leo swung his legs off his desk and almost flipped his chair over. Dammit! "Sei was there?"
"Yeah…. Then she had lunch with us and it was all weird then."
Leo swore under his breath and took his glasses off. He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "Jo, are you stupid voluntarily?"
"Myuh?" Jo asked.
"I'll handle Sei," Leo promised. "Just keep your chin up. Or at least try not to sound so dejected with the world."
Jo sighed and hung up. Taking three more boxes, she went back to work.
o * * * *
"Meg thinks I'm seeing Jo?" Sei wondered. The voluptuous woman leaned up on her elbows on the bed, her round breasts bobbing onto the sheets. Leo sighed noisily and scratched his hairy stomach. Both were as naked as the day they were born and enjoying post-coital intimacy.
"Uhm hmm. You really ought to put those things away before you hurt someone," Leo suggested. He cupped a large breast and gently squeezed. Sei flopped on her side and adopted a contrite expression.
"Silly girl. She doesn't know how long Jo's worked for me. But I guess I'll have to straighten her out," Sei said. She pressed against Leo's chest and kissed his shoulder.
"You do that," Leo urged. "Jo really likes this girl. Meg's too much of a firecracker to just fall into her bed if she looks at her just right."
Sei nodded, thinking to herself. She made mental note to put Meg's full name into her data base and pull up her information. But for now….
"Hey!" Leo grinned when Sei crawled over his waist. Sei balanced herself up on his stomach and pouted.
"Are we going to start talking about us?" Sei asked. She began a bump and grind that made Leo stand up at attention. He watched Sei with a rapt expression. A bomb could have gone off in the room and he wouldn't have batted an eye. "Now that I have your attention…."
"What…do you want to talk…about?" he breathed. Sei leaned down slowly and nibbled on his lower lip.
"What you're going to wear when you meet Grandfather next week."
"WHAT!"
"Down, boy," Sei teased. Leo groaned and a scraped a wrist over his eyes. Sei lifted his hand.
A low groan was heard as Sei eased onto him with a soft sigh.
8
*
8
Fuck. The car was definitely following her. Meg looked over her shoulder again as she made her trek to the bus stop. When she'd stepped onto the sidewalk, she'd immediately gotten a funny feeling. As she walked along, she'd noticed a shiny new Cadillac going at a moderate pace. While it should have passed her up by now, Meg was surprised to see it slowing to match her route.
Meg began to sweat beneath her winter coat. She read stories about kidnappings in the papers all the time. Was Kyohei going to read about her disappearance on the online news? Just when she was ready to break out into a run, the Cadillac pulled up beside her and the back window went down.
"Meg?" Sei leaned out and waved her over.
Meg gawked for a second but recovered quickly. She cautiously edged toward the humming car.
"What are you doing here?" Meg asked. She hunched into her coat as a sharp wind snapped at her.
Sei smiled kindly at her. "I didn't mean to frighten you. I was just wondering if you'd have a word with me?" She gestured to the backseat of the plush Cadillac. Meg glanced at the front, at the young Chinese man driving. He wore a sharp black suit and driver's cap and didn't look back at her.
Meg looked back to the expectant woman and noted with personal distaste, her elegant blouse and tight black pants. A lot of cleavage was showing and Meg sighed, feeling a personal rain cloud forming over her head.
"What would we have to talk about?" Meg wondered aloud. Sei still smiled kindly.
"Jo, of course. There's something I feel we should discuss."
Meg frowned. "I'm not interested in being anyone's play thing."
Sei raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"So if that's all, I'm going now. I have a job to get to," Meg flipped her hair over her shoulder.
Sei sighed and waved a hand. "Wait, Meg, that's not what I was going to say. Please, just get in."
Meg contemplated the sidewalk and the car. Inside the Cadillac, warmth seeped out. The icy wind tore right through her on her current route. Meg sighed and caught the door as Sei opened it.
She sat gingerly on the leather seat and swung her backpack between her feet.
"Go on," Sei said to the driver. The man nodded and turned on his turn signal. Slowly he weaved his way back into traffic.
Meg leaned back into the seat and watched Sei out of the corner of her eye. The attractive older woman clasped her hands together and smiled.
"Leo's right about one thing, you're definitely a firecracker," Sei commented. Meg raised an eyebrow.
"You know that cop Leo?" she asked. Sei smiled slyly to herself but nodded.
"We are… acquainted. But first and foremost, WE should be acquainted. And not in the way that you think," Sei said. Meg crossed her arms.
"Well, how do you know Jo?" Meg asked.
"She used to work for me," Sei admitted. It WAS the truth. Her line of work straying into gray areas was not for current ears. "And Jo was the best. I just gave her ample monetary compensation for all her hard work."
Meg slowly nodded. Her heart soared but she tried not to leap too high. "You don't have designs to keep her? For yourself?"
Sei shook her head. "I promise you, Meg, I have no interest in Jo romantically. I just want to make sure she's okay."
While a lot of questions still plagued the corners of Meg's mind, the most obvious hurtle was overcome. Sei didn't want Jo for herself, so she was free for the taking!
'Hot damn, something's finally going my way!' Meg thought. "Well, thanks for telling me yourself, Miss Sei. I was starting to wonder."
"You could have asked me yourself," Sei said. "Or Jo herself. She's as honest as they come and when she latches onto a target, nothing leaves her sight."
Meg scanned the street outside, her mood lifting. She and Sei chatted all the way to the grocery store, and she even had her driver run for coffee for them. Lifted on a java high, Meg was ready to get going to tackle her problem.
Namely when she entered the grocery store, she ignored Kyohei's hailing a greeting, and didn't go to the front room for her till. Myrtle could look for her all she wanted, but she had something to handle first…
In the storage area, Jo leaned down and lifted four boxes easily, carrying them to her cart. When she turned around, the first thing she noticed was a smiling Meg.
Jo's mind jumped, always leaping to assess movement in her proximity, but before she could react, Meg had grabbed her arm.
"Meg!" Jo made out before the redhead hugged her, leaning into her side. Jo's body flared up and her mouth went dry.
Meg looked up Jo's torso shyly and bit her lower lip. "Are you still offering that date?"
Jo nodded slowly. Her eyes gleamed.
"Good," Meg grinned. She leaned up and pecked a kiss on Jo's parted lips. "Because it just so happens that I'm free tonight….if you want to have a drink at my bar first."
Jo watched Meg with a stunned expression. Then she slowly smiled. "Good. I'd love to be served by a sexy cowgirl."
End for now
End note: This is to my wifey. I love you baby. The hopes of the season inspire this one.