Morning Coffee

(takes place between Chapter 7 and 8 of Shudder and Burn)

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"Oh, damn, Pood, you look like—"

"Just get in here… the coffee's ready." Susan grinned and shut the door as she and Lizette turned to go to the kitchen.

"I smell peppermint." She poured a cup full and sat at the counter as Susan took a bag of crushed ice out of the freezer and wrapped a paper towel around it. "Why are you limping? Didja hurt yourself?"

"I used the peppermint spray on my undies and the ice…" Susan set it on the barstool and sat down on it. "… oh, my..."

Lizette's eyes went wide. "Omigod. You had sex with him already? Damn. I was joking yesterday. So where is he? I didn't see a car outside. Watching you walk, I was playing Ari's Side to Side in my head. Is that why you didn't call me? "

"You missed him by 10 minutes. And yes, that's why I didn't call you. I swear, if Spencer walked back in the door right now, I'd boot your ass out, call in sick and take him back to bed."

"Details, Poodle. Are you two dating, now? It wasn't just a hookup?" Lizette looked at the clock. "Tell me everything, you have time before your class."

"Not that much time. I have a meeting before class, but I still have to take a shower and get ready. Yes, it's the guy from the lecture; the same one Dave talks about and yes, he still makes me shudder."

The two sat at the counter while Susan gave Lizette a summarized, slightly sanitized version of the prior two days, starting with seeing Spencer in her class and ending with him heading off to work with a grin on his face, earlier that morning.

"Next Saturday, we're having dinner with Dave and Krystall. Too bad Andy's parents will be in town, or you guys could join us." Susan's phone rang in her pocket. "Ugh. That's Janelle's ringtone. I can't even talk to her right now. She and her druggie friends trashed the apartment, and Spencer helped me clean it up. I left a message on her voicemail, told her she's worn out her welcome. And I've finally decided to give notice and move out. It's time she finds somewhere else to go."

"It's about damn time. You're too nice to her."

Susan sighed. "No, I put up with Janelle mostly because I feel sorry for her, but I don't want to talk about her either. I want to enjoy my good mood." She filled her water bottle and sat back down.

"Okay. So, Ingrid called Andy last night, tells him, again our place is too small to raise a family, trying to convince him again, to get a job in St. Paul and move us out there. He loves his job, I love mine and we love living here, but she blames me, no matter how many times he tells her to knock that shit it off."

"Let me call Stuart at the rental agency and ask if he would call me as soon as any of our tenants in houses, give notice."

"Sure, but on our salaries—"

"Don't worry about that. If nothing else, I'll buy the house out of the trust and sell it to you… unless you want to continue renting..."

"Andy wants to buy a house of our own. Poodle, that would be awesome, thank you. Tell me, when are you seeing him again?"

"I invited him... to stay the weekend."

"Oooh, you brazen hussy. I know you're direct, but damn. Tell me you're using protection?" She finished her coffee and looked up at the clock on the kitchen wall. "Oh, poo, I do have to get going and you have to leave soon. Call me later? That is, if you and your sweetie aren't too busy?" Lizette snickered and gave her a hug. "Love you. Toodle Poodle."

"We are and I will. Later Gator, love you too." After Lizette left, Susan had Betty lock the door and headed up the stairs.

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A/N This is a chapter of my 2nd book, Side Stories. There were stories that needed to be told.
I'll post where these stories fit in Shudder and Burn. It seems like a one-shot, but is part of the overall story. Now that I posted Chapter 7 and 8, I reposted this chapter.

I hope you enjoy it. Please let me know your thoughts after reading this and if you want to read more.

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How would you like a preview of one of the "ugly crying" chapters? It's set about 20 years into the future and I cried while writing it (in the best way). If there are enough posting comments, with "Yes, post "Did Anyone See This Coming?" I'll post it. Trust me, you'll love it.

LW