This chapter is somewhat shorter, a sort of heart-to-heart between characters. But hopefully it's just as good. Enjoy!
Part One: The New Girl and the Bad Boy
Chapter Two: A Fair Warning
Tiffany stands in the mirror, smiling rebelliously at her reflection. Oh yeah. If my mother and sister could see me now.
It was a little after 8 a.m. but she had been up since 6, turning her raven locks into ash blonde lusciousness. Now her hair was in bouncy, golden curls, falling perfectly onto her shoulders; a lot more "her".
"Alright," she says. "Time for a little blush..."
Some eyeliner...
eye shadow...
mascara...
lipstick...
Michelle is in the kitchen, pouring herself some coffee. She was so excited to have Tiffany as a roommate. Working with her back in Cherryville had been a lot of fun so it was sure to be fun again; she'd managed to get Tiffany an interview at Sears for later today. Plus things were going to be a lot easier now that she would have help paying the rent.
"So."
Michelle turns around to see Tiffany, who is striking a dramatic pose in the kitchen doorway. She is wearing a tight waisted, cleavage flattering dark red dress with matching wedges and nail polish.
"Whaddya think?"
Michelle gasps. "Oh my god!"
"You like?"
"You look gorgeous!" She goes over and carefully touches a curl.
"You're makin' me wanna go blonde now!"
Tiffany laughs, then turns around and strikes another pose in the mirror.
"I'm feeling a lot like Marilyn Monroe."
"You look like Marilyn Monroe! Guys are gonna be checkin' you out like nobody's business! Oh, which reminds me-"
She runs out of the room real quick, and comes back with a can of pepper spray. She hands it to Tiffany.
"Consider it a housewarming present. Trust me honey, you're gonna need that in certain parts of town."
"Oh...thank-you."
"So," Michelle says as she sits down at the table. "How'd you sleep last night?"
"I slept okay," Tiffany replies. She pours herself some coffee, then joins Michelle. "Although, I have to admit... there was a certain guy I couldn't get off my mind last night..."
"Who?"
Tiffany gives Michelle a look, as if it should be obvious.
"No really, who?"
Tiffany stays silent so Michelle can figure it out. There were only so many guys she could be talking about...
"...The guy who delivered our Chinese food last night?"
"Nope."
Michelle's face takes on a look of pure concentration.
"... Eddie?"
"What?! No!" Tiffany denies sharply... but remembers that Michelle dated him, and catches herself. "I mean Eddie seems like a nice guy and all, sure, but-"
"Oh...my...god." Michelle finally knows. She looks at her new roommate in horror.
"No, Tiffany, god, please no- please don't tell me you're talking about Charles Lee Ray."
Tiffany bites her lip as her cheeks flush.
"Tiffany!"
"Is he really that bad?!"
Michelle gives Tiffany a look screaming ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS?!
"Tiffany! He basically called you ugly yesterday! He's got no filter, no sense of what's rude and what's not! And lemme tell ya, after dating Eddie I know Charles a lot better than you do. He lies, he cheats, he steals-"
"Doesn't Eddie do that stuff too?"
This catches Michelle off guard.
"Yes... but at least Eddie isn't a mean, egotistical jerk that walks around thinkin' and actin' like he's God's gift to the world or some shit. Charles is vulgar, shameless, chauvinistic, he's got some major anger issues-"
"Nobody's perfect," Tiffany defends. But Chucky sure is close...
"Honey... you're thinkin' with your hormones instead of your brain. I mean I won't lie, Charles is handsome-"
"Isn't he!" Tiffany gushes. "Oh God, that hair-the way it's all wavy and to his shoulders-"
"Tiffany-"
"He's so skinny, but I've never seen a guy look as good in a suit as he does-"
"Tiffany-"
"I mean, did you see the way he just lifted my suitcases yesterday? Like he's sooo much stronger than he looks! And have you ever looked at his eyes? I've never seen eyes as blue as his-"
"See," Michelle says, point proven. "Hormones. You're giddy as a school girl and you barely know the bastard."
Tiffany sighs.
"You know Michelle, I moved here to get away from my mother."
"Tiffany, I'm not trying to be your mother. I can't tell you what to do, you're a big girl who can make her own decisions. But I couldn't call myself a friend if I didn't warn you before you got yourself into somethin' you could regret."
"But how do you know I'd regret it?" Tiffany asks genuinely. "I mean, maybe Chucky's one of those guys who just acts real tough because on the inside he's got a lot of things going on. Maybe he's just misunderstood."
"Ahh, so you wanna be the girl who'll get him to open up, hmm? The one who'll get him to calm his wild ways?"
Wild ways...
"What did you and Eddie mean yesterday? When you called Chucky Hackensack's Most Wanted, and then Eddie said he wasn't because the cops weren't on to him?"
Michelle sighs.
"Ya know, Eddie used to keep me in the dark about a lot of the shit that he and "Chucky" used to get themselves into...still get themselves into. Part of the reason why I dropped him in the first place. So I honestly have no idea...I mean a lot of times Eddie would come by with thousands of dollars worth o' cash or jewelry-or both- and he'd never really tell me where it came from. Then the next morning on the news there'd be a missing persons alert about some old rich guy or somethin' like that, and a couple days later they find the dude's body dumped in the river."
Everything Michelle was telling her right now would've turned a normal girl off. But Tiffany Valentine wasn't normal. That's what Michelle didn't understand about her. This stuff was getting Tiffany excited. Very excited.
"What I'm tryin' to say is, between you and me? I think Charles has done stuff a lot worse than flipping off nuns."
"So what- you think he's killed people?"
Wow, I really hope that didn't sound as eager as I think it did...
Michelle looks uncomfortable.
"I don't wanna accuse the man of doin' shit he didn't do. But sometimes you can just see it in somebody's eyes whether they'd be capable of doin' somethin' like that, ya know? You can almost feel it...but hey, what do I know? I'm minding my own business and I don't know a thing. But I'll tell ya somethin': that temper of Charles' is gonna get him into some kind of trouble one day. And I don't want you to end up in the crossfire or hurt or anything like that."
It was sweet of Michelle to be concerned, it really was. But Tiffany's mind was already made up. Sure she'd just met him yesterday and he'd been kind of rude. Maybe she was thinking with her hormones instead of her brain. And she knew perfectly well what Michelle meant, just being able to see it in somebody when they wanted to kill someone. In fact she'd just seen it yesterday... in those gorgeous blue eyes.
And she loved it.