"Fuck."
As soon as I got home and saw that someone had left a message on my machine, I got this really disgusting feeling in the pit of my stomach. Ya know like when you've just eaten a chili cheese dog and now you're on the double ferris wheel at the fair? Yeah. That's the one. I dropped my purse on the table in the living room, bent over to scoop up my terrier Burlap and took a deep breath. Hesitantly I pressed that annoying flashing button.
BEEP
"Hey, Molls! I got that CD you wanted. It's behind the counter, so when you come to pick it up, be sure to tell Nathan that it's back there. Ciao, bella." The breath left my lungs in a rush as soon as I'd heard Julio's voice. I should've known it was nothing to worry about! I quickly scanned through the next three messages. There was one from Stephanie, reminding me about the report I needed to turn in next week, one from my best friend Nora saying that she'd call back later and one from my dad.
"Hi, pumpkin. Just wanted to leave you this message to call me if you need anything. Oh, and Randy said to tell you tha--" His voice abruptly ended, signaling the last of the messages. I cursed loudly and unplugged the phone from the wall. I was bound and determined that I wasn't going to have my nice relaxing bath interrupted by any unwanted phone calls.
I dropped Burlap to the ground and got a half-hearted growl from the old mutt. Unbuttoning my jacket as I went up the stairs I couldn't help but feel like I was missing something terribly important. I put it off to nerves, figuring my little run-in with Randy had left me somewhat jumpy. Okay, more than SOMEWHAT jumpy. Very jumpy. Oh hell, who was I kidding? The man had been playing havoc with my hormones for the last seven years!
Growling in frustration, I grabbed an old tank top and pair of shorts and headed into the bathroom adjacent to my bedroom. I'd bought my house as soon as I'd graduated from college, much to my father's dismay. I think he must've had some wild idea that I'd still live with him. But after having the luxury of freedom for the last few years, I knew that living with dad was going to be out of the question. I'd looked at several houses that were beautiful in their own right, but just not my style. Then, as soon as I saw this one, I knew, KNEW I'd found home.
It was a newly remodeled Victorian "monstrosity" as my father put it. The tall columns outside made me think of southern plantations and the wide mahogeny staircase in the front hall just screamed "Gone With The Wind." I'd modernized it somewhat, installing new kitchen equipment and a jacuzzi tub in the master bedroom, but aside from that, it had pretty much stayed the same.
As I ran the water for my bath and dropped in a few of the lavender fizzy tablets that Stephanie had gotten me the last time she went to Paris, my thoughts returned to Randy. God, but he'd filled out nice! He'd looked like a much buffer and bigger version of the boy I'd fallen in lo-- the boy I'd thought about often, I quickly corrected myself. While I stripped out of my suit, my mind wandered back to a time, nearly five years ago... the last time I'd seen Randy.