Author's Note: Thanks to all of you who tried to help me with the list problems. I checked this morning and it's on the new chapters list. Yay! Thanks so much for your reviews. You all make my day when I read the awesome things you write! Ok, here goes:
Chapter Five - Friday Fun- Part One
I woke up the next morning with a terrible headache and a throat so dry it felt like sandpaper. I rolled over, checked the clock, then put my arm across my face, trying to block out the sunlight that was streaming through my white curtains. My ma always told me to get some blinds but I never listened. It'll keep out the sun, she said. I could have used them right about then. The only thing I was thankful for was the slight breeze that blew in my window.
"Ohhhhh...what have I done?" I groaned miserably. "I swear, Lord, never again. Ever."
Below me, the sound of horns honking and the hustle and bustle of people streaming by seemed to be amplified a thousand times over, like everyone on earth knew that Maurice Boscorelli had a hangover and had to be to work in less than two hours and they were specifically sent my way just to punish me for drinking so much I almost drowned. I didn't even know how I got home.
There had been many a night when I had gone home so drunk that I could hardly walk or even tell you my own name, but this was the first time in my life that I couldn't remember a single thing after I had gone to ma's bar. I lay in my bed for a good twenty minutes trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together before I remembered having what had amounted to practically a therapy session from my drunken mother on the reasons why I should be with Faith. Not even being together was good enough for my ma. She wanted us to get married. I'd hardly been able to even get her stopped talkin—once she opens her mouth, and especially when she's drunk, it never closes. Finally (I think), I had told her that if she said one more word, I'd never get married or have any grand kids for her to spoil. That shut her up. To prove to her how seriously I didn't want to talk about Faith anymore, I leaned over to the closest girl and gave her a kiss on the mouth. I couldn't even remember who the hell she was.
I groaned and threw back the covers and swung my rubbery legs over the side of the bed. It took me a few minutes to get up the strength to actually stand up, and when I did, I was so dizzy I had to sit back down. I reached up and scratched the side of my head, which was itching me like crazy and was more than a little on the sore side, and when I brought my hand down my fingernails were caked with dried blood.
"What the hell?" I frowned as I re-touched the gash on the side of my head, thinking that maybe gettin all forward on that girl wasn't the best thing to do; maybe she'd hit me over the head with an ash tray or somethin. Damn my drunken ass, cause I had no idea what had happened after I kissed her.
I didn't have time to dwell on it, though, because the next thing I knew my stomach had been invaded by butterflies and my throat began to constrict. I didn't even have time to get off the bed before I emptied the contents of my stomach on my hardwood floor. Damn Fridays.
I wiped up my mess with the t-shirt I'd had on the night before and threw it in the hamper, swearing that I'd never be so stupid again, and decided that what I really needed was a shower, shave and about a pot of coffee. In that order.
I was one of these people who, when they were hung-over, could find solace in a pot of strong, black coffee. It was the only thing that made me feel better and I knew that if I was going to get through another shift with Faith, I had to be prepared. I walked over to the window and stared outside, thoughts of my partner and what I was going to do, tumbling around inside my head.
It was so confusing with her; we were partners, best friends and we fought like cats and dogs. In fact, I fought more with her than I ever had with anyone else, including my own brother, and still, there was some kind of underlying passion that kept me comin back for more. I had never met a woman before who could both turn me on and make me angrier than hell, all in the same breath. She frustrated me; she made me want her so bad it physically hurt; she made me angry in a way that made me want to shake some sense into her and kiss her at the same time. She twisted me up inside every single day until I had to resort to acting like a complete ass in order to stop myself from saying what I wanted to say; doing what I wanted to do. I guess it was easier that way; to act like I didn't want her. And that was only the beginning.
Work was one story, but outside of work was another can of worms. When we went for drives or to a movie or even dinner, it was harder and harder for me to keep it all inside. I liked pulling out her chair before she sat down at the table. I liked putting my arm around her during the scary parts of the movie and I loved taking her for long drives just so I could see her smile and laugh. It was those times that she let down her guard and let herself relax. But it made it worse for me. And after our locker-room spectacle, things were worse than ever.
Not only was I still pissed at her for embarrassing me, but the more times I got teased from my fellow officers, it reminded me that I was probably going to have to take that anger management course all over again because I was going to beat the face off of Steve Dukes and that I got assaulted on the locker room floor. By a girl.
If I heard 'Boscorelli, watch out for that can of shaving cream', or 'Hey Bosco, you need a body guard to walk you through the locker room?", or the most clever 'Bosco got his ass kicked..Bosco got his ass kicked'(complete with the sing-song voice), I was going to snap. There was only so much I could take.
But what really bothered me was the fact that Faith had no idea how I really felt about her and even if she did, I doubted that the feelings would be reciprocated, especially after me tellin my friend that she was gay. It was the hardest thing in the world to pretend day after day after blessed day that I only cared for her as a partner, not as a woman. She didn't know that I dreamed about her practically every night of my life. Didn't know that every other woman I'd been out with in the last twelve years had been an attempt at finding someone just like her. She didn't know that when I saw her coming toward me, I could feel my heart racin and my blood pressure rise a few degrees. And what did I do? Act like she was the last female I'd ever want to be with. And all because I was a big, fat, chicken.
I'd say that the worst torture of all is bein crazy about someone and tryin to cover it up by bein a jerk and actin stupid all the time. Always talkin about other women and crackin remarks and shit. I know that from the outside I was doin one hell of a job makin it look like we were just partners and there was nothin more to it, but inside, my heart was torn and I didn't know what I was going to do. I mean, I couldn't tell her how I felt. I couldn't admit something of that magnitude and then have her laugh in my face or somethin. Damn Fridays, I thought to myself as I made my way to the bathroom and turned on my shower full blast.
It was pretty slow goin for me that morning, actually, afternoon, as I stood under the hose, the warm spray hittin all the right spots. I leaned my arm against the side of the wall and just stood there for at least a half hour, trying not to throw up again. It was one thirty and I only had an hour and a half before I had to be at work. I hoped that Faith would do all the drivin and let me just slink down in my seat and wait for the next eight hours to pass by.
Finally, I managed to get out of the shower and get myself dressed, although I had to lay down for another few minutes before I could consider making my way down the long, long hall to my kitchen. My apartment wasn't too small, but it wasn't huge either, and it had a very long hallway. When you opened my door you were in the hall and all the other rooms branched off; Kitchen, bathroom, livingroom, bedroom. That's how it all went. At that moment, the kitchen seemed a mile away.
I decided that even though food was the last thing on my mind, I needed to at least get a piece of toast into me or I wouldn't even make it to work. As I shuffled along I wondered again about the girl that I had kissed at my ma's bar. The only thing I was grateful for was that I hadn't slept with her or she'd still be here. The last thing I needed was to tell some poor girl that I just wanted to be friends or that I just wasn't in 'that' place right now. Thanks but no thanks.
I felt oddly guilty about kissin that girl, too, which was something that I had never had any experience with before. The guilt, I mean. Until Faith, I was totally able to go on my way without so much as a bad feeling passing through my freshly satisfied body. I felt like I was betraying Faith, which was totally stupid, and I tried to banish the thought as soon as it came into my head.
As I approached the kitchen area, I smelled the undeniable smell of bacon cooking and it turned my stomach. I stopped walking, dead in my tracks and listened to the sound of the meat sizzling and snapping. My heart started to race as I wracked my brain to figure out who the hell it was. I considered just runnin down the remainder of the hall and bustin out, but was too weirded out by the fact that there was a stranger in my kitchen and I didn't even know who it was!
Think, Boscorelli, Think.
Had I brought someone home with me? Had I taken that mystery girl home and slept with her and not remembered?
I had hit my head on something so maybe that was why I couldn't remember. I stood there, like some bump on a log, unsure what to do, totally terrified to walk into that room and see who it was. But as fate would have it, I didn't have to do a damn thing.
"Maurice, are you done of your shower yet?" Came a chirpy female voice that I did not recognize.
I sucked in my breath, a cold sweat breaking out on my neck and back, as I stood there. "Uh...ya. All done." I called out lamely, shifting from one foot to the other, chewing on my finger nail.
"Well, I went to the grocer down the street and got us some bacon and eggs." Mystery girl yelled, making my head pound uncontrollably.
Cursing under my breath, I continued down the hall and walked into the kitchen, praying that this would be over as soon as possible. I stood in the doorway and jammed my hands into my pockets, hardly daring to breathe.
She was back to me, so I had no idea who she was, but she was shapely and had long dark hair that was down to her shoulder blades. She was wearing a black mini skirt and a white tank top with a nice pair of short black boots. She turned around and smiled at me. "Come on. Dig in." She invited. Man, but was she a looker. Perfect strait teeth, big eyes, button nose, round, pouty lips. I swallowed and tried to place her. If I had been with this woman, I could not believe that I didn't remember.
And there was nothing. Not a damn thing. This girl could have been my long lost sister or the mother Mary for all I knew but the fact remained that she was here, making food that made me want to barf. Any other time I would have tried for a second romp, considering that I couldn't remember the first, but my head was pounding so hard I thought I was gonna faint or throw up. Either one was quite possible.
"Uh...hi." I said, forcing what I"m sure was a fake smile. One that said, 'I don't know who the hell you are, but could you kindly leave now'? "I'm not real hungry an' I gotta get goin." I said, jerking my thumb behind me, toward the door. "Ta work." I added.
"How's your head?" She asked, sliding a couple of pieces of bacon onto a plate, along with a fried egg and some toast. "You hit it pretty hard, you know." She said, walking over to the table and sitting down.
"It hurts like hell." I said, noticing what incredibly bright green eyes she had. This woman had walked strait from the cover of Maxim magazine and all I wanted to do was go back to bed and die. "Do you know what happened?" I asked, leaning on the counter for support.
She smiled again, this time letting out a small laugh, the corners of her mouth turning up a bit. "Ya. You fell and hit your head on the corner of the bar." She looked down for a minute and thought about the scene, which must have been a real doozie and really started to laugh. "You...you...fell right after..." She had to stop for a second. She held up a slender hand and tried to get serious. "You fell right after you kissed me and landed on your face."
My face turned red. "It was you I kissed." I mumbled.
"Ya, you're quite a don-juan, you know." She said as she bit into a piece of bacon. "Even tried to get me to go down to the Courthouse so we could get married."
I straitened up, totally embarrassed. "I'm sorry. I was so drunk last night. I don't know what else to say to you." I said, running my hands through my hair. I turned around to look for my keys and plucked them out of the dish next to the microwave, amazed that I'd actually driven my car. I really had to get goin.
"I can't believe I drove us here last night." I said, to myself more than to her.
"Oh, I drove. Nice car though, although you might want to remember to not yell every time you think someone is driving wrong."
"I'm sorry." I said apologetically, feeling like a big ass. "I don't even remember your name." Inwardly I was cringing that I'd actually let someone drive my baby!
"My real name or the name you wanted to call me?"
I turned around quickly and had to grab the counter to stop myself from falling. She didn't seriously say what I thought she said. "What are you talking about?"
"My name. My real name is Candy but last night I was Faith. Nice name." She said, winking at me and going back to her breakfast.
"I asked you to say your name was Faith?" I asked incredulously, my stomach starting to feel sick again. What kind of a jag-off was I to do that to some poor girl? I really needed some serious help.
"It doesn't matter. I'm used to it." She said nonchalantly. "I've had a lot worse."
I raised my eyebrows. "Worse? What do you mean?"
"Oh, you know." She said, making a funny face and rolling her eyes. "Sometimes they want you to do some pretty crazy things; pretend you're their mother or their sister or whoever." She said simply. "You, however, were pretty good, considering you were half unconscious."
I got a real funny feelin in the pit of my stomach and my veins felt like I had ice water running through them. I could not have been that stupid. "Who does?"
"Are you kidding me?" She asked, biting into the toast, giving me a look like I was a nutcase or somethin.
"No...are you trying to tell me somethin here?" I asked, really feeling sick again. If she told me what I didn't want to hear, I was gonna freak out.
"You don't remember asking me to come here with you, do you?" She asked.
"No. I don't." I said, starting to get a bit peeved cause I knew that she was about to blow my mind. I crossed my arms over my chest and waited for the line I knew was about to come.
"Well." She drawled, getting up from the table and depositing her plate into the sink. "Let's just say that you owe me four hundred bucks Maurice...does that give you the idea now?"
I brought my hands up over my face, in utter and complete horror. I had gotten a prostitute! I had actually become so desperate that I'd taken home the street trash that I'd always hated!
"Four hundred bucks! Are you kidding me?" I half shouted, bringing my hands down. "What could you have done that would have cost that much!"
She sighed and put her hands on her hips. "You asked me to stay the night. You also asked me to make you breakfast in the morning and then to give you another turn in the sack before you went to work."
"You've got to be kidding me!" I roared, not unaware of my throbbing head. I grabbed a glass and filled it with water. My hands shaking, I threw open the cupboard door and frantically searched for the Asprin. Finding some, I opened the bottle and dumped a few into my mouth and took a big swallow. I wiped my mouth on the sleeve of my shirt and gave her a disgusted look.
"Nope." She said, all business now, and holding her hand out. "So, where is it? Cause I...um..kinda have another engagement in about an hour."
It was like an episode of the Twilight Zone...I was dreaming...This wasn't real. There was no way in hell that I could have done that in my right mind, or even in a drunken stupor...I had never taken home a hooker before...never...and I actually asked her to let me call her Faith! Could this day get any worse?
I glanced at the clock. It was two thirty five and if I didn't get to work in time, Christopher was surely gonna have my ass. I already had to spend my weekend washing the squads. I didn't want to think about what he'd do if I was late. I'd dealt with hookers before, not on this particular level, but I knew what to say and what not to say. I knew that I had to bullshit her or I was gonna be in the biggest trouble I'd even been in my whole life.
"Do you know what my job is?" I asked her, as I walked out into the hall and grabbed my sneakers and jammed my feet into them.
"Last night you said you were the doctor of love." She said sarcastically, immediately understanding the change in my demeanor, getting the hint that she was about to be leaving. I grabbed her by the arm and pulled her toward the door.
"Hey!" She said, getting peeved. "Let go of me, you jerk! You owe me four hundred—"
"Well, let's just say that what I do and what you do are direct opposites and if I see you when I'm at my job, then you will be a very unhappy girl. You get me?" I said, angrily, as I shoved both her and myself out the door.
"You're a cop!" She yelled at me, her face now turning nasty. Her eyes narrowed and she looked like she was gonna spit on me. "You're a pig! A pig!" She roared, pointing at me. "You knew you could get it for free!"
"That's right and if I ever see your face again...I'll lock you up myself." I snapped at her, baring my teeth. I pointed in the general direction of the main door of the building. "Now get the hell out of my face and if you ever see me again, pretend you never met me, cause I can make your life a living hell!"
With that, I locked my door and turned away from her. She cursed a blue streak but she left behind me. I got in my car and drove to work, not for one second forgetting that I didn't even deserve to have a woman like Faith. Or anyone else for that matter.