Chapter Nine

Somebody

Lauren drove through the streets with the windows down. Despite it being chilly outside the sun and air felt good on her face, and she was in a great mood! First stop was her house, well mobile home. It wasn't much but she didn't have to pay those big city rent prices for something just as big. Pulling off of the pavement onto the dirt and gravel road that led to her home, she thought about what she would take with her and what she had to leave behind. She pulled in to her driveway and parked taking a deep breath. She was saying goodbye to the only home that had ever been hers in her adult life. "Its just stuff." She coolly reminded herself. "Besides, why would I want to take anything with me that didn't fit in the trunk?" She got out of "Minnie" and walked up to the steps and unlocked her door for the last time. Stepping in, she nostalgically thought about the day she bought this place. She figured she'd live here for the rest of her life until the day she died. There were photos of the wall, things she would leave here for the squatters to find. Little figurines of owls, ornaments for a non existent holiday tree, some stuffed animals, nothing of any value to her now. She saw that all of her books had already been relocated. Turning to the kitchen area, she remembered the mug that she broke the other night and reached into one of the cabinets to grab one to replace it. "It's the least I could do." She thought. There was plenty of dinnerware and there was no need to add to it. Her clothes were all in her new home, the bare closets and drawers were evidence of that. He had actually taken all of her clothes. "Funny, I can't find them back there!" she laughed to herself. In all of the craziness of her leaving, she forgot to ask John where he put her clothes. The only thing left here was that apple red satin dress that she had loved for one day that now hung alone in her closet, the shoes that were dyed to match with all of the sparkling crystals sat on the floor underneath. She fingered the material and silently wished that she had somewhere to wear it one more time. It wasn't your traditional "make the bridesmaids look like shit so the bride won't be outshined" dress. It had a halter style top with a separate glamour length skirt with a matching satin jacket. It was a beautiful dress and a shame to leave it to the moths and vermin that would soon infest this place. She boxed the shoes and wrapped the dress and left it by the door. She grabbed her mp3 player with all of her music and her laptop. The computer didn't work, but she figured that if John could fix it, he could have it. It was a good place to rest her coffee but that was about it for her. She left with those four things, climbed into her car and peeled out of her dirt road, never looking back.

She stopped at a grocery store for some foodstuffs and to get a cash advance on her line of credit. Purposefully walking down the aisles, she bought whatever she wanted. No budget to stick to, no store brands for her today. She had a new fridge to fill and spared no expense in doing so. After paying the bill, she got a $500.00 cash advance. "That should come in handy at some point." She thought as she stuffed the cash into her wallet. "If I'm going down in thirty days, I'm gonna make it count!" She figured it would take a month for the bank to cut her credit line and seize her old house, so she took it while she could get it. Loading the bags of food into the frontseat and floor of her car, she couldn't wipe the smile off of her face. This was the first time in recent memory she shopped without a care and still had money to burn! To want for nothing was a fabulous feeling. She wanted nothing because she had everything. She stopped to top off her gas tank and headed over to an office supply store. She bought the comfiest looking office chair she could find and, of course, paid with a credit card. It would have to be assembled at home, but they assured her that anyone could put it together. She surrendered to the fact that she would have to build it herself and had them load the box into the car. Looking at in her rear view mirror from her drivers seat she wondered how in the hell she was going to get this thing up the stairs. Her back hurt just looking at it but she wanted to do something nice for John for taking care of her. That desk chair looked like it had seen better days and he was so prone to falling asleep in it. Lauren wanted to get back in time to make lunch so she headed for home. Home, her home, with John. Pulling up to the garage door, she got out to punch in her code and while the door rose in front of her, she sighed with a smile. She wasn't afraid to smile, not anymore. She guided "Minnie" to her parking space and shut her down. The groceries would test her stamina enough, never mind the test of strength that the chair was going to be. Two by two she carried the paper sacks of food up the stairs, across one hallway and down another to the kitchen. Six exhaustive trips later she was finished and ready to unpack and store everything. Out of breath she got a bottle of water to cool off. "Who needs a gym when you can live in an abandoned warehouse?" she laughed to herself. "Gym fees be damned!"

Lauren darted all over the kitchen putting away everything and keeping her heart rate up. Slugging back the last of the water in her bottle, she grabbed another one while making a perfect three pointer with the empty one into the trashcan. Making her way back to the car where the box containing the pieces of Johns new chair. She slid it out of the back of the mini truck and as soon as it was halfway out, it tilted down and trapped her between itself and the sticky nasty floor of the warehouse. She couldn't call for help, she doesn't even know if John could hear her where he was. She clumsily rolled out from under the box and the rest of it came crashing down to the floor flying years old dust up to the ceiling. Wiping the sweat from her forehead, she coughed out the dust from her lungs to rid her body of it even if it meant hurting her throat. She rinsed her mouth and eyes out with water and waited for the dust to settle. Deciding that this was a better in theory than in practice, she searched the immediate area for something she could at least get it to the stairs with. Filthy and winded, she shuffled through the warehouse looking for a wagon or a cart to wheel it across the floor with. She finally found a dolly big enough to load the box onto and she shed her sweatshirt and cleared the boxes that were on it and clumsily pulled it over to her car banging into every desk, file cabinet and door jam along the way. Giving the box a yank, it didn't budge. "Alright you bitch, now listen to me!" she thought "I'm not going to let you just lay here forever. You are going to let me get you onto the dolly and to the stairs, do you understand? I'm trying to do something nice for the man that I lo…whoa." She stopped just short of the word "love". Getting turned on by a hot guy is one thing, but love? She was falling alright, but she hadn't actually hit the love at the bottom. She wanted to explore her feelings for John before she made any kind of hard decision about him.

"This box isn't going to move itself." She thought and kneeled down on the greasy floor to inspect closely what she had to work with. She backed up the dolly to the rear of her vehicle and grabbed an end of the box with two hands and lugged part of it onto the dolly. Grunting, she landed the rest of it flat on the dolly and raised her aching arms in a victory pose. It took her forty five minutes to get the dolly through the doorways and clutter in the offices, having to figure the angels of the passages against the width of the dolly and the box. She sat on the bottom step and rested. Looking at the dirt on her arms she only guessed at how gross her face and hair were. No matter because she had gotten the box halfway there. Thinking about the narrow stairs she decided that if this chair was ever going to get built, it would have to be done here in secret. She had wanted it to be a surprise so badly, but given her circumstances the construction would have to be done here in this grimy area. "Fine." she thought, rolling the dolly into a corner and throwing a drop cloth over it. "You've won for now, but I'll be back for you!" She walked back to the car for the items she took from her house. Making it upstairs, she dropped them on her bed and sat on the floor. She felt disgusting and she didn't want to filth up the bed. She took off her sneakers and decided that even they needed to be washed. Her muscles shrieked in pain as she got up and headed out of the door. Stopping in the washroom for a towel, she took a look at herself in the mirror. "Queen of the mud people!" she thought. In the laundry room, she started the washing machine and started to peel away the layers of nasty clothing and one by one dropped them into the machine. Wrapping the towel around herself, she walked out into the hallway bumping face first into Johns chest. "Rough day?" he asked trying not to laugh at Lauren as she stood wide eyed behind layers of grime at the unexpected meeting. "Why does he have this kind of timing?" she silently asked the ceiling as she stood there covered in guck. He looked at her expecting an answer and she didn't have one. She couldn't tell him that she was secretly piecing together a gorgeous reclining ergonomic office chair for him. Then it wouldn't be a surprise. She raised her eyelids and shoulders in an "I have no idea what you're talking about" way. He mimicked her and began to laugh. "I don't know where you've been, but from the looks of you I must have missed out on something!" Leaning one hand on the wall, he seemed to really be enjoying himself. Lauren but the inside of her mouth and finally burst out laughing at how ludicrous she must have looked standing there and leaned against the wall under his hand. Sharing their joke together for a few moments in the hallway, John could see Lauren peeking over the walls around her and waited for the time when she would throw a ladder over it.

She stood up straight and headed to the washroom for a desperately needed clean up.

It took her forty five minutes in the shower to cut though the grease but she felt so much better clean, even though her body hurt in places she never even thought of before. Turning off the water and grabbing a towel for her hair and her robe, she went over to the mirror over the sink and wiped the steam from it. She knew it wouldn't be long until she couldn't move so she quickly dressed her neck and dried her hair. She didn't want John to know that she was in agony, even though it hurt her to blink. Lugging the groceries and the box felt like her absolute physical limit, but she had to put on a good show and she prepared herself to leave the room and go look for her clothes. She shuffled out of the washroom and back into the laundry room to ditch her dirty towels in the washer to be done later. Removing the now clean but still wet sneakers, she hoped that they would dry soon, it was her only footwear. Sliding down to the little room, she found her mounds of neatly folded clean clothes still on her bed where she had left them. Closing the door, she changed into her black yoga pants, purple t-shirt and black sweatshirt. Every time she moved her body hollered at her in pain. "Who knew that getting dressed could be a test of endurance?" she wondered as she dressed. Fifteen minutes later, she was fully dressed, sans sneakers. She wanted to lie down so badly, but she knew that if she did, she would never get up again.

Putting on her watch, she saw that it way three thirty. "Lunch!" her mind snapped. "You totally blew lunch!" Smacking her hand on her forehead, she headed out and down the hallway to the kitchen. When she arrived, she saw John standing there making a pitcher of the iced tea that she bought earlier. He cocked his head and asked her if she was feeling alright. She nodded that she was fine and she tried to step confidently across the kitchen but it proved too much for her. Smiling the entire time, she moved to the prep table and leaned casually on it. Johns eyes sparkled with interest at her and he walked over to the freezer for ice. "Are you sure you're alright? Is there anything you need?" he asked her again. Nodding furiously, she maintained her story that she was in no physical pain whatsoever and didn't require any assistance. She knew that he didn't quite buy it, but he allowed her to carry on with her little play. She didn't appear to be seriously hurt and was satisfied that no one had attacked her while she was out, so he changed the subject. "You did a wonderful job at the market! I made soup and a sandwich for lunch and I want to thank you for bringing food back with you. What I am most impressed with is that you took the initiative yourself." She tried to hide her shy smile but knew by now, she couldn't hide absolutely everything from him now. She played with the fabric of her scarf and looked at the table. He made her feel good about herself and she wasn't used to it yet. He poured her a glass of iced tea and sat it in front of her. "Now, I know that you are giving up everything, your home, your identity, everything. You just took a giant step toward a life of substance, an important life. The path you tread now is the one that you were born to walk and I will walk with you for as long as I am able to." He told her trailing off into silence and looking off into the distance with the last few words. She never took her eyes off of him and patted his left arm lightly to bring him back. He turned to her and asked "Do you know how important you are?" Lauren had no idea what he was talking about, only that she wanted to be important to him in any way possible. She smiled warmly and moved her hand to his back and stroked it while resting her head on his left, shoulder in a comforting manner. It was killing her to stand this way but he was intoxicating to her. He was warm and she wanted to climb into his arms forever, but her brain got in the way and put a stop to it. She felt like her heart and her brain were in a knock down, drag out battle over her actions since she began to stay here. Rationality had worn down her sense of adventure in the past few years and her heart took a back seat in all matters. She wasn't sure what she was supposed to do next. Gratefully, he turned to her and said "Thank you, Lauren." Her voice now barely a whisper replied "Thank you, John" and with that she dropped her arm as he poured himself a glass of iced tea and put the pitcher back in the refrigerator. He returned to her putting a sandwich in front of her on a dish. "Just in case you were busy." John said turning to leave the kitchen. She smiled at the gesture, and vowing to make tonight's dinner on time and knock his socks off with the cuisine. As much as anyone could that had no cooking skills.