Chapter Fifty-One

"This is really depressing..." I sighed then, reaching into the fridge for another beer- my second that night. Even if I didn't like how my life was going, though, I knew there was nothing I could do to change it. At least not until I figured out just what I wanted to do with the rest of it. "So begins my life as a lonely bachelor, huh?"

Really, it wasn't all that different from how I usually lived, but now that Denny had finally gotten married to that woman, I was on my own for good. After all, I couldn't exactly go over to their house every night just because I was bored. At the very least, Alisa wouldn't like it very much.

"This stuff is really awful..." I muttered to myself as I stepped into the bedroom, my bare feet sticking to the wood floor. While I knew I was being an idiot, I was still a little disappointed to see my bed was empty. It was a fact I should've been used to by then, but... somehow I was still annoyed by it. Hadn't I suffered enough already?

Flopping down on the mattress and chugging the last of my beer before letting the bottle fall onto the floor and roll into the bathroom, I just had to sigh again. It really was boring when you lived alone, but there wasn't much I could do. After all this time, the only phone number I even had left was Popuri's, and I wasn't about to call her. I knew it was just plain stubbornness on my part, but I didn't care.

I wasn't calling that woman for anything.

"Why do I care so damn much?" I asked myself. A girl like that shouldn't matter to someone like me... but for whatever reason, I couldn't get her out of my mind. I still remembered how smooth her cream-like skin was against my own tanned body, and no matter how much I tried to forget, I still saw the mischief in those dangerous eyes of hers time and time again. Ones that made me wonder just what I was doing with a woman like her. "That beer was a bad idea."

"That's just because you're drinking it alone." My eyes snapped open as I shot up in my bed, and there, standing over me, was the very person I had been thinking of. "You could always just talk to someone, you know."

"How'd you get in here?"

"You didn't lock the door," Popuri explained as she sat down beside me. By the look of her, I could tell she had just come back from hanging out with her friends since she was in a tight, black minidress and wearing her favorite gold hoops. A look that most women could never pull off without looking like a street walker. "I knocked, but I guess you didn't hear me."

"Got stuck watching the kids again?" I asked. After all, there really wasn't any reason for her to be there aside from that. The way she was smiling down at me, though, I had a good feeling that I was wrong. "What're you really doing here?"

"Are you still mad about us going to Hawaii," she asked, "or is it because of what happened in Rio?"

"It's not that," I insisted even while knowing I was lying through my teeth. Popuri wasn't the kind of girl I could bull shit very easily... but I could at least try. "How's Cheche by the way? Seemed like you two were having a lot of fun down there."

"We were," she agreed with a giggle. "He was just a fling, though."

"Poor guy." He probably had no idea that she was planning on leaving him... and even if he did, knowing what the woman was capable of doing to a man, he'd find out just what he was missing soon enough. That's how it worked for me anyway. "So how long are you planning on staying this time? I don't know about you, but I have to work out tomorrow."

"You're really mad at me, aren't you?" Well, if that wasn't a loaded question. She leaned into me then, giving me a good look down her dress, but I just turned my gaze elsewhere. "Oh, come on, Kai... We agreed on how we were going to do this, didn't we?"

"Yeah, but I didn't think you'd be picking up guys with me around." Was it really that surprising that I was pissed? Maybe even a little hurt? "I don't care if you have someone else, but I shouldn't have to see them."

"Then you should've said something before," she replied with a smile. "Besides... I came back, didn't I?"

"That's true..." By the time I glanced back at her, Popuri had all but crawled into my lap, and as soon as I took one look at her, I knew just what she after. The only problem was that even though I was still angry with her, my body was more than willing to forgive. "You're worse than any guy I know."

"Don't try and tell me you don't like it," she purred as she hung over me. From where I was sitting, I could clearly see she'd decided not to bother with wearing a bra. Not that I was complaining, of course... even if she wasn't planning on stick around for long. "You haven't had any for a while, right? It's gotta be hard to hold back when you need it that bad..."

"It's easier than you'd think."

Without giving her any warning, I swung my legs over the side of the bed, knocking her over and back onto the mattress. I had to laugh to see the startled expression on her face, but even while laying there like she was, she was still as determined as ever. Not to mention I realized just what a wonderful actress she was.

"You really are a hard man to please," she teased as she lay herself out across my sheets. I tried to ignore her, but when I went to close the bathroom door, it was difficult not to let my eyes drift over her curves and down her long legs. Only to see she was wearing a pair of bright red stilettos. "You know you want it..."

I slammed the door behind me, and after making sure it was locked, I slid down onto the floor. I only glared at the wall in front of me at first, but soon enough I just sighed and then smiled to myself. This girl really was a fine piece of work. The only problem was that I knew just what would happen if I let her have her way with me like she wanted, and although it might be fun, I wasn't sure if it was the kind of fun I was after any more.

Even at my worst, I didn't use people... Not like she did anyway.

"Guess it's time to man up, though, isn't it?" I mumbled quickly to myself. After all, here it was my apartment, and yet there I was, hiding in my own bathroom like some little kid. "Just tell her to get out... It's not that hard, is it?" Maybe that's what I told myself, but that wasn't exactly the case when i opened the door again. Not that I'd really been expecting the woman to be laying out on my bed in nothing but a black G-string and those shoes of hers. "What're you-"

"Not so easy now, is it?" I tried to glare at her, but even though I was annoyed, I knew I'd lost out this time. I could deny it all I wanted, but when it came right down to it, she had me. No matter what I did or said, there was no way for me to say no and actually mean it. "It's not really a bad thing, you know... to enjoy yourself first and talk things over later."

"Only if you're actually going to talk," I reminded her as I leaned against the doorway. "For a therapist, you really don't like to talk things through, do you?"

"Actions often speak louder than words in these situations," Popuri mused with a sly little smile. She turned more towards me then, and I just had to laugh at the way she'd laid herself out for me. Something which earned me a light-hearted giggle from my companion as well. "I have to say, though, I still have yet to meet a man with such a nice visual collection."

My face warmed as soon as she said it, but she only laughed. It was then that I saw it. The Playboy in her hand... the November issue from 1975. "Be careful with those! Do you know how much that cost me?"

"Oh, don't worry," she assured me. "I don't plan on letting anything happen to treasures like these... but I do think you'd be better off if you didn't keep those under the bed."

"They used to be in the closet," I muttered to myself as I looked away, "but then a certain someone had to go and find them."

"I'm surprised a man like you even bothers to hide them in the first place," Popuri mused, flipping to the centerfold of Janet Lupo. "I guess most other girls wouldn't be looking through them, though, would they?"

"No, and they probably wouldn't be laying around like that, either," I agreed with a grin. "If you really wanted me that bad, you should've just said something. You don't have to impress me with those little stories of yours."

It was her turn to blush then, but as always, she was quick to recover. "Well, you know how it is," she began. "I always have to give my brother some kind of explanation... and I can't exactly just tell him I'm going out ballin' or whatever."

"Mind running that by me again?"

"It's nothing." I knew she was only trying to rile me, but apparently, it was time for serious business. At least when it came to Popuri's standards. "So are we going to have some fun or what?"

"Only if you say please," I chuckled, giving her a wink. To be honest, I really should've known better than to tempt her like that... especially since she was just the kind of woman who would do such a thing. Of course, I don't think I really expected for her to start crawling towards me, a wicked smile playing on her lips as she ran her tongue over them.

"Please?"


"Well, you're in a good mood this morning... I take it you had a date last night?" I stopped humming as soon as I heard Denny come up behind me at the time clock, but when I went to turn around to talk to him, I was at a loss for words. Not because of what he said, though. It was more because of what he looked like. "What's wrong?"

"Didn't get enough sleep last night?" My friend just blinked, but it was more of a rhetorical question than anything. After all, I had a hard time not seeing the dark circles under his bloodshot eyes... "Just trust me on this, you're going to want some coffee before you try to get anything done. A lot of it."

"Is it really that bad?" he asked. I only nodded, but it was all that was really needed. He sighed, running his fingers through his shaggy curls, but then he started to smile. "Chelsea couldn't sleep last night," he explained. "She's been getting sick a lot lately."

"You two didn't screw it up already, did you?" It wasn't like they could afford something like that... at least not so soon after the divorce and the wedding. "You haven't adopted Alisa yet, right? If worse comes to worse, you could always hit Vaughn up for alimony, you know..." Denny just glared at me as if I'd just suggested he break into the man's house and take what he could. "Hey, all I'm doing is trying to help."

"Maybe it'd be better if you didn't... Besides, she can't be pregnant. It's not possible." Well, I wasn't so sure about that. Even if the two weren't getting busy as much as I figured they should've been, I still had a good feeling that at least something was being done in that house, and that left a lot of possibilities. Too bad it was just one of those things he'd have to learn on his own. "Anyway, I was asking about you. You had a date last night, didn't you, so who was it?"

"Popuri," I replied with a shrug. "She just decided to come over."

The woman's name was more than enough to startle him. As soon as I said it, though, he frowned and shook his head. "You can't be serious, Kai... I thought you were over her, and now you're just going to take her back? Didn't she cheat on you?"

"It's not like I planned on her coming over," I tried to explain. "As far as I knew, she wasn't even back yet." Not that I would've had any way to know, of course, but we both knew that much without me having to say it. "If it's any consolation, though, I tried to fight her off."

"Yeah, right... How'd you manage that?" he challenged. "Throw her on the bed before you-"

"Hey, you two!" We both snapped back around to see Grace storming in from the hall with her hair a mess and run in her nylons, but while my friend bowed his head and stood back towards the clock, I just grinned. "What the hell do you think I'm paying you for? Just to stand around with your heads up your asses?"

"Oh, come on, Gracie..." I teased with a weak chuckle. "We just came in."

"Like I give a damn," she hissed, pushing us out of the way of the coffee maker. "Now both of you get back to those offices of yours before I tell you to pack your shit and get the hell out of here for good. Do you understand me, Mr. Makani? Mr. Thompson?"

"Of course," I agreed. Not wanting to risk any more than he had, Denny was out of there like a shot, but I chose to stick around. I wasn't exactly planning on staying for too long, though, but I 'd never been one to run away from her. After all, I knew that was the one thing that would make things even worse for the both of us. "Seems like everyone had a rough night, huh?"

"Shut the hell up," the woman growled, glaring down at me. "And get your ass back to work like I told you. I don't have time for any of your shit."

After hearing the way her voice had dropped to a threatening low, I knew better than to try and stick around, and so I quickly made my way back into the hall. Maybe it was just because I hadn't heard much of anything going on around the building, but either way, there was no way around the fact we had a lot of tension in the place. Quiet... but there all the same. Every office I passed by from Vaughn's to Denny's and all the way to my own, I could feel it, and I knew it was only a matter of time before one of us lost it.

I just hoped it wouldn't be me.