Chapter 10- Taste of Domesticity
Laurel woke up in her bed late the next morning, alone, still in the clothes that she was wearing the night before. She shuffled out of her room, cracking her neck and looking for James. However, the apartment was still and empty, with all the curtains shut. She frowned to herself, desperately hoping he hadn't run off again after their kiss from last night. Opening the curtains, she winced when the warm sunlight hit her eyes and closed them against the onslaught.
"Shit, that is bright. Ow." She heard a creak behind her and she turned quickly on her heel to find James standing with a grocery bag in his gloved hand and a bemused smile on his face. She let her shoulders relax a little and smiled at him, but it was interrupted when a huge yawn overtook her and she stretched her arms over her head, cracking her neck in an attempt to loosen the stiffness that had built up from her few hours of sleep.
She looked over to James, who was moving around the kitchen, unpacking groceries. "Where did you go?" He looked up from the bag, which he had placed on the floor. Laurel's breath caught when she looked at the electric blue eyes that were constantly in the front of her mind.
He smiled, a bit sheepishly, and said, "I was going to make you breakfast, but you didn't actually have the ingredients, which I suppose is not that surprising. So I went to get some."
"Wow, that's very sweet of you. Thank you." Laurel shifted uncomfortably on the balls of her feet, unsure of what her next action should be. She decided to step cautiously forward with the intent of giving James a hug, but stopped when he stepped back, slightly, almost instinctively. Laurel's shoulders slumped a little, but she tried to pretend like it didn't bother her. It was something that she should have expected. Laurel knew that he didn't like being touched, and especially now that she knew his background, it made more sense. Still, it was hard for her to figure out what he was comfortable with. She decided that it was up to him to make a move, even if that never happened. Turning, she went to pull a bowl from the cupboard feeling like a complete idiot.
Suddenly, a pair of arms, one cold and the other warm, slid around her thin waist and hugged her, if a little hesitantly. Laurel inhaled quickly and without really thinking about it, turned around into his chest. James stiffened but then pulled her even tighter. Laurel could feel his chest muscles under her fingers and his heartbeat. She looked up into his blue eyes and swallowed hard at the look that he was giving her. She looked down to avoid his eyes, simply because she wasn't quite sure if she could handle it. James's metal arm unwound from her waist and cool fingers slowly lifted her chin. Laurel was suddenly aware that her heart was beating approximately three times what was healthy and she was frozen, watching James lean down towards her. She instinctively closed her eyes and tried to prepare herself.
James kissed her slowly at first, taking his time and tilting her head back even farther. Laurel felt like the inside of her body was melting and she had to wrap her arms around his neck to support herself. Suddenly it was like a dam had broken and James wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her clear off the floor. She gasped against his mouth and he smiled slightly, his lips curling upwards against hers. He set her on the counter and she wrapped her legs around his torso, running her fingers through the tangled hair at the base of his neck, tugging on it lightly. He groaned and pulled her even closer to him.
Suddenly Laurel's phone started ringing from her bedroom and she reluctantly broke away, valiantly attempting to catch her breath. James seemed less inclined to stop, and began moving his lips down her neck. Laurel gasped and momentarily pulled him closer, but the constant ringing of her phone ruined the mood and she unhooked her legs from his waist, sliding to the side and off of the counter with a sigh. "I'm so sorry," Laurel whispered, and impulsively licked the side of his neck on her way passed him. James growled under his breath and tried to grab her again, but Laurel slipped past him and walked to her room, picking her phone up from the bed. She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself
"Hello?" She ran a hand over her hair, trying to calm the curls that had escaped.
Richard, her boss, cleared his throat slightly, "Laurel? Are you okay? You seem flustered."
Laurel blushed, thankful that he couldn't see her over the phone. "Yeah, I am. Sorry, I couldn't find my phone, so I was running around looking for it. What's up?"
"I was wondering if you could come in a few hours earlier, we have a newbie to train behind the bar, and you'd be the best one to take care of that." Richard seemed apologetic about the extra hours, but Laurel was more concerned with not dropping her phone in surprise.
"Did you say newbie? As is you hired another person?"
Richard sounded mildly offended, "Yes, that's exactly what I mean. Why do you sound surprised?"
"Richard, you haven't hired a new person in the entire goddamn time I've worked at the Red Lantern. Also, I was the first person you hired that wasn't you, and that was only because you felt bad for me. I was a homeless person who was begging you for a job," Laurel rolled her eyes slightly, sitting on the bed. She could hear James moving around in the kitchen and she smiled to herself.
Richard sounded reproachful, "Laurel, you know that's not true. I gave you the job because I needed help, and you were good at it."
Laurel laughed lightly and rolled her eyes, "Okay Richard, whatever you say. Listen I'll be there around two okay? Bye Richard." She hung up without letting him say goodbye. She turned and went back to the kitchen, sitting by the counter and watching James move around the kitchen for a few moments before he said, "Who was that?"
Laurel was startled out of her reverie and she glanced over and said, "My boss, Richard. He needs me to come in early and train someone." James set a plate of steaming food in front of her that upon closer inspection, she discovered that they were pancakes.
"Pancakes? How long have you known how to make pancakes?" Laurel asked with a full mouth, savoring the first pancakes she had eaten in a few years. "Since I found a box mix that said it would make pancakes," James took a seat next to her with his own plate. Laurel rolled her eyes and kept eating. They ate in comfortable silence, focusing on eating.
The rest of Laurel's free time went quickly, unfortunately for her. She took a shower and cleaned the apartment, which she had been putting off for entirely too long. Luckily the whole place was small enough that it only took an hour. James showered as well, then spent the rest of the day laid out on Laurel's bed asleep. Laurel was happy to let him do it, because if the dark circles that were etched under his eyes were any indication, he needed the rest. She was secretly pleased that he felt comfortable enough to take a nap at all, with how guarded he was.
She was finally dressed and ready for work when James woke up. He walked out of her room, rubbing his eyes with his human hand like a little kid.
"Hey, I have to go to work okay? I'll be back later on." He nodded at her and smiled. Laurel pointed to a shelf, where there were a few books that she had collected. "Here, something for you to do if you get bored. Otherwise, you could come down to the bar and keep me company." James nodded and then in a surprising and incredibly sweet move, kissed her forehead. Laurel blushed and the shuffled awkwardly out the door, seeming to have lost the ability to speak.
She made the short trek to the bar. Upon entering, she saw Richard standing with a tall African-American man with warm brown eyes. "Hey guys," Laurel walked forward with a smile.
Richard came forward and gave her a one-armed hug, "Hiya honey, how ya doing? This is the new guy, Sam Wilson."
Sam smiled and stuck his hand out. "Laurel, right? I'm Sam." Laurel shook his warm callused hand with a smile.
"That's me. I'm here to show you the ropes, and then I guess we're working together." Laurel went and set her stuff down behind the bar. The next few hours were spent showing Sam the ropes of the bar, none of which was particularly challenging, and Sam seemed to be a competent worker who wouldn't have any problems.
"Oka, so when you close the bar, just make sure that you clean up afterward, because for some reason people forget how to pick up their garbage and the bar will smell like shit if you don't."
Sam laughed and then nodded. "Copy that." He knelt down to pick up a case of beer and a pair of shiny silver dog tags slipped out of his shirt, dangling and catching the dim lighting of the bar.
"What part of the service were you in?" Laurel was curious, because even though she didn't know what branch James was in, she could always ask him when she got back.
Sam glanced down, almost seeming surprised to see them around his neck. "Air Force. I was a Pararescueman."
Laurel had no idea what that was, so she settled for nodding politely and smiling. Noting her obvious confusion, Sam grinned again and he said, "I saved people by jumping from planes."
"Oh! Very cool. Well, thank you for your service," she said blushing slightly. Laurel snorted a little to herself, simply because she had said that same thing not very long ago. Sam raised an eyebrow in question and Laurel smiled a little and said, "Nothing, I just said that recently to Ja- a guy I know."
Something flashed through Sam's eyes, almost imperceptibly, but it was gone in an instant and he covered it up with another smile. "Yeah, it's kind of funny you can go without saying something for so long and then say it a lot all at once."
Laurel laughed a little and said, "Exactly," she paused, looking around the bar absentmindedly, "so, customers should start coming in any time now. Let me know if you need any help."
"Yes ma'am," Sam smirked and then turned toward the back, pulling his phone from his pocket and typing something quickly. He turned and slid his phone back into his pocket, "Sorry, my friend was checking in. He wanted to check on how things were going here."
Laurel smirked, "Worried about you on your first day on the job?"
"Something like that." Their conversation was cut short by a group of bikers that crowded through the door, apparently desperate for beer. The beginning of the night passed quickly, as it was unusually busy. Laurel kept flicking her yes toward the door, checking to see if James would take her up on her offer of keeping her company. The night was a lot more fun with Sam working. Laurel was less tired and Sam proved to be a good coworker, cracking jokes and cutting her workload in half.
At one point in the night, Sam went back to the storeroom to get more beer, which was a task that Laurel usually dreaded because frankly she was too weak to carry more than one case at a time and going back and forth millions of times was exhausting. She was resting against the bar with her back resting against the bar when she felt a tap against her shoulder. She spun around and came face to face with James, who was hiding his face again with a baseball hat and his dark hooded jacket. Laurel smiled at him and he returned it, but he was tense and his eyes were flickering to the other patrons.
Laurel laid a hand on his forearm and James flinched a little, but then he flipped his arm over and slid his hand down her arm until their fingers intertwined. "I brought you this." From his sweatshirt pocket he pulled a partially squished sandwich, wrapped haphazardly in plastic. Melting a bit, Laurel smiled a little and impulsively leaned forward and pecked him on the lips. With a bigger smile she said, "Thank you so much. Are you going to stay and hang out with me?"
There was a sudden movement from one of the patrons and James tensed momentarily, squeezing Laurel's fingers. "No that's okay. I was getting very involved in that Hunger Games book. I'll just see you when you get back okay?"
Laurel nodded and said, "Okay, see you then." This time James pecked Laurel on the lips, turning around and pulling his coat closer to him before pushing out the door. Laurel took a bite out of the sandwich and turned with a half-smile on her face to find Sam standing there, staring at her with an indecipherable expression on his face.
"Sorry Sam, did you need something?" Laurel took another bite and savored the peanut butter flavor. Sam shook his head slightly, then turned away to put the cases of beer he was holding. The rest of the night was uneventful, although Sam kept glancing at her with an odd expression on his face. They were locking up the bar when she felt Sam touch her shoulder hesitantly.
"Are you dating the guy that was in here earlier?" He shifted on his feet and stuck his hands in his pockets.
Laurel paused and cocked her head to the side. She hadn't even realized that he had seen James. "Um, not really. Why?"
Sam shook his head, "Just wondering. Goodnight Laurel." He patted her shoulder and turned away, pulling his phone out and putting it to his ear as he walked away. Laurel stared after him, trying to ignore the gnawing feeling in her stomach that the shit was about to hit the fan.
Chapter 10 is up! And if anyone is wondering, Laurel's gut feeling is probably correct. Shit is about to go down. Also, Laurel and James are cute as hell, at least to me. Let me know what you think so far, or if you have any suggestions for me! I really do love reading reviews, they make my day. Otherwise, favorite and follow! Thank you so much!
kath