The muse made a reappearance and I was recently able to return to writing FF. As I've been working on new chapters for my pending stories, this idea refused to leave. I decided to get the first chapter out and let you the readers decide if you're up for this storyline. It will be three/four chapters at most.
Disclaimer: The Plum universe belongs to JE.
"Well that was disappointing." Connie muttered as we watched the credits roll and heard the theme song play for the last time.
"Yup." I agreed.
"What kind of ending is that?!" Lula huffed out her annoyance as she slammed the laptop closed. "Not even a hint at a happy ending." Lula sounded like she was ready to cry.
"Calm down." Connie said. "It's just some stupid telenovela."
I'm not sure why, but several weeks ago Lula registered for a Spanish for beginner's course. Without knowing it one day Connie and I got sucked in on Lula's homework, which consisted of watching a soap opera episode and then answering a series of questions about said episode. Despite having to rely on the subtitles to fully understand the story, it sort of became a ritual during our lunch break. The story was so good that it hooked you from the start.
"Oh please." Lula shot a pointed look Connie's way. "Like you weren't rooting for them to end up together."
"I know!" Connie burst into tears. "They were meant for each other."
The ending sucked, sure, but Connie might be exaggerating a bit too much. Probably the cause of a lack of a current romantic relationship.
"No more of these for me." Lula shook her head vigorously, making the tiny beads at the end of her braids clank together. "Nuh-uh." More vigorous headshaking. "She had two, not one but two, hot guys to choose from and what does she do? Encourage one to move one with the same lame ass chick who made her life miserable for half of the story and then told the other one that because of everything they've been through they can't be together?" Lula was on a roll. "Ridiculous, I tell ya."
"Well, I gotta go." I said to the two before they shifted their attention to me and my inability to fully choose between the two men in my life.
"Homegurl should have stayed with the hot, rich Raul." Lula kept going, not acknowledging my goodbye comment.
"What?!" Connie leaned on her desk, inadvertently giving me quite a flash of the girls. "Were you even watching the same show?" She shook her head in disagreement. "She should have chosen the lovely Gabriel, who also happened to be secretly rich."
"No, no, no, no." Lula was having none of it. "Let's settle this. What do you think?" In a matter of seconds the bickering between the two stopped, silence reigned and all eyes were on me.
"Raul!" We heard Vinnie shout from behind his closed office door. Ugh, that gossipy weasel.
"I'd hate to be the one in agreement with Vinnie." Connie commented to Lula, grinning victoriously. No one wanted to be on the same side as my sleazy cousin.
"Thanks for the backup, but I was talking to Stephanie!" Lula shouted back, probably to Vinnie's amusement.
Again all eyes were on me and it would be damn near impossible for me to make an undetected escape.
"Well? Team Rrraul or Team Gabrrriel?" Lula asked, purposely rolling the r's for dramatic effect. Geez, what has this show done to us?
"Uhm, well, Raul was the obvious choice." He was the protagonist and the story revolved around him. "But Gabriel was the one she should have chosen." He loved her unconditionally and even risked his life on more than one occasion for her.
"Told you." Connie's victory grin widened.
"Nah, hold up." And then they were at it again. Lula started listing the reasons why Raul was the one only to be quickly countered by Connie's reasons why Gabriel was the one. It was a back and forth deal that looks like it isn't going to end any time soon.
Luckily for me, I was saved by the bell. Well, more like the ringing of my cell phone. "I have to go." I shouted and waved my cell phone just in case either of the two chose to look my way. They didn't, both were too engrossed in their 'discussion'.
My heart seemed to skip a beat when I saw Ranger's name flash across the screen. "Yo." I answered just before the call went to voicemail.
"Babe." God, just the sound of his voice affects me with the same intensity as his touch. In his usual Ranger fashion, he got right down to the point. He had a job for me.
I zoned out to the sound of his voice, and quickly went from lust filled thoughts to contemplating my life. Morelli, the Raul in my life, has been out of the picture for several weeks now. Months before the break-up things were shitty at best. For that reason, we're on a permanent off-phase. Despite being officially single and having no reason to feel guilty for ending up in Ranger's bed, I've avoided being alone with him as much as possible. Sex with Ranger is always magical, but then what? What happens next?
"Babe?" From the sounds of it, it wasn't the first time he said his nickname for me in order to get my full attention.
"Yeah."
"Did you hear me?"
"Absolutely." I fibbed.
"Babe." His name for me can mean a lot of things. I can usually decipher the meaning based on his tone and this time it meant, 'oh really?'.
"Yeah. Distraction job tonight. Wear something sexy." I said instinctively.
Silence filled the line for several beats before he spoke again. "Little black dress." He added just before he hung up. No goodbye, nada.
My drive back to Rangeman was uneventful. I drove on autopilot, so that's probably why it felt like I got there in no time.
As I headed up to the fifth floor, I made a mental list of what I still had pending. If I can knock out whatever got piled on my desk during my lunch break, I'll have enough time to shave and exfoliate all the right places. I haven't gone out in a while. Even though I'm going out to work, with Ranger I can never be too prepared. I'm going on two months working at Rangeman while juggling the few skips that stagger my way and in that time things have been extremely tense between Ranger and I. The sexual tension is at its peak at the moment. It's like we've been circling each other since my split with Morelli, too cautious to make move. With Joe out of the picture, there's no going back once the walls fall and I let Ranger fully in. It seems like we're both on the same page about us. Whoever makes the first move will determine how this goes. I admit I've been extremely guarded, mostly because of fear. Fear of wanting too much and not receiving it. At this point in my life, I'm not ready for any more romantic failures.
I'd just sat down at my cubicle when I felt someone approaching me from behind. Looking over my shoulder, I spotted none other than Lester headed my way.
"I just can't, Beautiful." He said melodramatically.
Oh God. "Can't what?" I asked, cringing before he responded.
"I can't believe I devoted so much… almost two hundred episodes and for what?" Lester perched himself on the edge of my desk, putting me almost at eye level with his crotch. "That ending was so…"
"Shitty, I know." I smacked his thigh in an effort to get him off my desk so that I could work and go home soon.
"That does not even begin to describe it."
Two weeks ago my latest POS car gave me trouble. Although I could have borrowed a fleet vehicle, I decided to stay in during my lunch break. I got the link from Lula and watched the day's episode so that I could comment with her and Connie the next day. For whatever reason, Les ambled over to my desk and was instantly hooked. I think it was mainly because of the beautiful women, but he insisted it was the story.
"Not everyone gets a happily ever after ending, I guess." I shrugged while attempting to get him off my desk. No success. He's all muscle.
"She belonged with Raul." Lester said matter of fact.
"In your dreams." I heard Ram mutter just before his head popped up from several cubbies over. "His mom was psycho."
"That was not his fault!" Lester defended. "How can he be responsible for his mother's craziness? How is that fair?"
"Not the craziness." Ram agreed. "But he never stood up to her."
And there it was. Two full grown men debating over a soap opera ending. What have I done? I broke the Merrymen.
"I agree." Woody appeared seemingly out of thin air to join the Team Raul/Team Gabriel debate. "Gabriel."
And they went at it. It was the same Lula/Connie debate except it was narrated by deep, masculine voices.
Just when I was about to lose hope, Les finally stood up. As he moved forward to continue the heated argument, I spotted Ranger in the hallway. He was on the phone, speaking indistinctly.
And as I watched him disappear from view, I realized it was my move.