"It's my life,
It's now or never!
I ain't gonna' live forever!
I just wanna' live while I'm alive."
"It's My Life"
Bon Jovi"
"Hey, Shirley!" the blue-haired man bellowed and stood with arms akimbo, framed in the center of the living room doorway.
"Yeah, Chibodee?" his redheaded assistant glanced up from her sheets of financial data. "Whatcha' need?"
Her eyebrows arched curiously as she eyed her boss, who was dressed only in his customary pair of bell-bottomed blue jeans. She was more than used to seeing the world-class boxer parading about shirtless, especially in the confines of his own home. But there was an agitated urgency in his voice that caught her attention and made her eye him a bit more closely than usual.
"Where's Bunny?" Chibodee demanded, crossing his arms across his naked chest.
"Um…" Shirley thought for a minute, pushing back an errant lock of hair. "I think her and Cath went shopping."
"I'd give anything to know what for," Chibodee grumbled ill-naturedly.
Shirley's interest was piqued to the point of insatiable curiosity.
What's gotten into him, I wonder? She sighed inwardly, wishing that Bunny was present.
Shirley was the unofficial leader of the four crew members, but quiet Bunny was the best suited for smoothing Chibodee's ruffled feathers. Quite frankly, it surprised Shirley that her employer – for whom she had a great deal of affection and respect – was in such an uncharacteristic mood.
It's not like him to get into a huff, she mused. Something must be up.
"Yeah, you could say that," Chibodee snapped, his green eyes flashing as he leaned against the doorway, his form fairly bristling with suppressed indignation.
Uh-oh…I don't like the sound of this! Shirley winced inwardly, but she continued to forge bravely forward.
"What's wrong?" she urged gently, setting her papers on top of the glass coffee table. "Sit down, Chibodee, and talk to me," she patted the leather cushions beside her.
"I don't see why I should bother," he grumbled, but did as Shirley suggested. "It's not like you all talk to me."
Shirley couldn't help but gaze at Chibodee in blank amazement. She turned so that she could look at his face better and eyed him searchingly, trying to accurately assess his mood and the reason for it. Boxer and gundam fighter he may have been, but Chibodee was a fairly laid-back individual, "rolling with the punches" so to speak. It bothered her to see him so visibly upset and even worse, feeling a bit sorry for himself. Chibodee Crocket never succumbed to fits of self-doubt; if anything, he was usually accused of being too self-assured.
"Okay, out with it," she straightened, steeling herself for a long, complicated interrogation.
Sometimes, her exuberant "Boss" could be about as open as a clam. Chibodee wasn't the kind to wear his heart on his sleeve, preferring to hide behind his egotistical, "tough-guy" reputation. Shirley was certain that getting him to admit his innermost feelings would be tantamount to a verbal boxing match.
In the red corner, we have Shirley Lane, challenging the reigning champion of fancy verbal footwork, Chibodee Crocket, who's fuming in the blue corner. What a match this is gonna' be, folks! What'll be? Will Shirley be able to knock some sense into the defender and wrestle a confession, or will Chibodee remain a ticking time bomb of pent-up frustration?
Chibodee remained "a ticking time bomb of pent-up frustration." He shifted uncomfortable on the leather couch, risked a half-ashamed glance in Shirley's direction, and then sighed heavily.
"It's nothin'," he stated mulishly.
"Liar," Shirley shot back, a bit disappointed by Chibodee's clam-like approach to the subject.
"It's…it's…it's nothin'," Chibodee shook his head and the stubborn look that Shirley knew only too well crossed his face.
Gosh-darn it, folks! It looks like Chibodee's gonna' win this match. He's got his heels dug in an' it don't look like he's gonna' back down!
"I just wanted to know where Bunny was, that's all," he stood abruptly to his feet and grinned weakly at his "girl", no doubt to put her at ease.
Shirley wasn't so easily fooled.
"One of these days, Chibodee, you're gonna' have to trust someone other than yourself," she crossed her arms and stared up at him meaningfully.
"Hey, I trust plenty of people," Chibodee spread his arms open wide, palms up in a show of surrender. "Domon, Sai, Argo, George, Rain, you girls…I'm a very trusting fellow," he grinned again.
Ever the charmer, Shirley sighed in defeat.
"That's not what I meant," she shook her head. "Trusting someone to watch your back in a fight is one thing – trusting someone enough to show them your feelings is a totally different matter."
"Pshaw!" Chibodee turned his back and waved his hand airily. "Don't get all psychological on me, Shirley. I...I was just a bit miffed, that's all, since I couldn't find Bunny."
Funny…I don't recall you ever getting that 'miffed' before over a missing crewmember, Shirley retorted mentally as she watched her employer saunter out of the room.
"Men," she sniffed, picking up her paperwork and idly shuffling it in a preoccupied manner. "What nuts."
"What was that?" Chibodee suddenly reappeared, a shirt in one hand and his boots in the other.
"Nothing" Shirley returned smoothly, smiling sweetly.
Chibodee didn't reply, but he eyed her strangely before setting his boots down and pulling his shirt over his head.
There! I can be just as aggravating and cryptic as you, Chibbee!
She smirked at the thought of the pet name the "girls" had given to Chibodee behind his back.
However, the instant Chibodee's head reappeared, Shirley wiped the smile off of her face and met his gaze stoically, the epitome of sobriety.
"Did Bunny and Cath say where exactly they'd be shopping?" Chibodee decided it was best to change the subject, clearly uncomfortable with the lull that had settled between them.
"Uh…I think Cath said something about 5th Avenue, but I'm not one hundred percent sure," Shirley picked a fallen hair off of her sweatpants' left knee.
"Good start as any," was the undaunted reply as Chibodee pulled his boots on. "I don't know when I'll be back," he continued, straightening and hooking his thumbs on his belt loops. "If I'm not back home before six, you girls go ahead and eat without me."
"Sure," Shirley nodded in confirmation. "The house'll still be here when you get back."
"Will you be, though?" Chibodee asked jokingly, but Shirley thought she heard a plaintive questioning in her friend's voice.
"We'll always be here fore ya', Chibodee," she answered brightly, as if countering his "joke."
Chibodee didn't reply; a thoughtful, distant look entered his eyes and he left rather abruptly, mumbling a "goodbye" over his shoulder. Shirley watched him go, feeling distinctly unsettled.
"What was all that about?" Janet's voice startled Shirley and she nearly fell off of the couch in surprise.
"Eavesdropping, are we?" Shirley scolded, scowling up at her co-worker, who now stood where Chibodee had been, leaning against the living room entryway.
"I've been in the kitchen, so I only caught the tail end of your conversation. I saw the Boss storming past a couple of minutes ago and I began to wonder what was up. I didn't hear what was bugging him, though – he did ask me if I knew where Bunny was."
"Yeah – he told me that's what his problem was," Shirley ran her fingers through her hair, pulling her bangs away from her face. "But he's not a very good liar. When he covers up, it's noticeable a mile off."
"A bit under the weather, maybe?" Janet cocked her head to one side.
"I think it's more than that," Shirley shoo her head, rubbing her temples. "Honestly – that man gives me a headache some times."
"Join the club, honey," Janet laughed shortly. "But you've gotta' love him; he's a like a mutt, kinda'. Grows on you after a while and you can't stay mad at him for long."
"Still, he has issues," Shirley sniffed indignantly. "And he won't talk about them. He just tries to cover them up, or broods over them like he's got PMS."
"Do you think – just maybe – that he heard about Cath?" Janet cocked a blonde eyebrow and Shirley groaned.
"I'll bet you a dollar to dog biscuit that he did," she sat back in bitter defeat. "That would explain why he was in such a tiff. I told you guys that we should have broken the news to him a long time ago. I mean, I'd be a little pissed off, too, if I learned that a close friend's been dating a guy for over two years, has been engaged for three months, is getting married in two, and I've never even met the guy! And on top of all of that, we're all much more than 'friends' to him – we're his family, for all intent and purposes."
"Like mothers looking out for a son," Janet laughed.
"Exactly."
"So now what do we do?" the blonde turned toward her friend in supplication.
"Just hope and pray that some miserable unfortunate doesn't wander across his path and wind up with a busted jaw," Shirley shrugged helplessly. "And that he stays fairly reasonable and fairly sober so we can talk him through all of this."
"That's asking for a bit much, don't you think?" Janet snorted.
"I still hold out some small faith in a higher being," Shirley said desperately. "Let's hope it intervenes."