SEEING GREEN

Chapter 2

"Bret!"

Neela opened her eyes at the sound of the voice, only to look up and see Ray glaring down at her and Bret. The two slowly untangled themselves and began to put their clothing back in place. Embarrassed and slightly annoyed at being interrupted, Neela glanced over at her watch muttering, "What time is it?"

Groaning as she realized that what started out as a few minutes of fun had turned into an hour, she turned to Bret, who was looking at Ray with a sheepish grin. " What's up man, home already?"

Ignoring his friend's question, Ray continued glaring at him. "What are you doing here?"

Surprised by Ray's anger and tone, Neela responded, "Calm down, Ray, he came by to drop off some new songs for you to look at. I asked him to stay for a bit."

"Why? I thought you were exhausted and wanted to sleep as soon as you got home!" Ray drilled her, beginning to feel his anger reach a boiling point.

Neela narrowed her eyes at him, gritting her teeth."What I do in my free time is my business!"

"Whoa dude, what's the big deal? We were just having a good time,"Bret interjected looking cautiously between the two.

"Bret, I think its time for you to go," Ray growled, eyes fixed on Neela.

Appalled by Ray's rudeness, Neela stood up."He doesn't have to go anywhere! You have some nerve barging in here and demanding that Bret leave, I live here too you know, this isn't just your apartment!"

"Hey, hey, it's alright,"Bret, said as he got up and grabbed his stuff, "I have to get going anyway." He gave Ray a long, confused look on his way to the door, wondering what was going on in that head of his.

"Later, Ray," he called out as he opened the front door, briefly glancing at Neela with a small smile, "Dr. Neela." Then he walked out, shutting the door behind him.

The minute the door closed, Neela let her fury loose. "What the bloody hell was that? What has gotten into to you?"

"You tell me," Ray sneered trying to keep his own temper in check, "if I'm not mistaken the last time we talked about Bret, you weren't interested!"

"So what?" Neela retorted storming off to the kitchen."Things change, Bret's a good guy and I like his company, last time I checked that wasn't a crime!

"The hell it isn't,"muttered Ray as he followed her into the kitchen.

"Oh and one more thing just so we're clear on this, you were the one who suggested I get to know him!" She turned and glared at him as she opened the dishwasher and began unloading the dishes. "Something about how it's hard to meet people in the city and I might just start liking him, well I do! So, you tell me Ray, what the hell is your problem!"

Suddenly uncomfortable with the shift in the argument, Ray changed tactics; he crossed his arms looking at her accusingly. "Why wasn't the front door locked? I thought someone had broken into the apartment!"

"Huh?" She looked up from the dishwasher."Wait, so you're telling me that the conniption fit I witnessed just now came from you worrying whether someone had broken in and stolen some of your precious belongings!"

"What!" Ray exclaimed, amazed that she really considered him to be that shallow and materialistic."Of course not, I was worried about…" He trailed off as he looked at the skeptical expression on her face.

"You know what? Forget it Neela, just forget it." He sighed, officially exhausted with all the arguing and yelling, she probably wouldn't believe him anyway.

"I'm going to bed,"he said quietly, then turned and headed towards his bedroom.

"You know Ray," Neela called out coldly as she turned back to the task of putting the dishes away. "You might want to actually consider taking a cold shower and cooling off that big head of yours!"

SLAM!

The doorframe shook slightly from the force Ray used to shut the door and end the conversation.