Author's Notes: This chapter is somewhat short, but necessary. I promise the next chapter is super long and fun.
-J
Skinny Double Dirty Chai
Chapter 5
Paige wakes up to the sun rising outside her window. She's not used to seeing the sunrise, at least not from this side, but since last night she had to leave the bar on account of Briggs, there was nothing to do but go to bed early.
Last night's talk with Briggs has her worried. If Lauren had been tracked, Graceland was in danger. This was her home. She likes Lauren, but the house had to be protected.
Even if they weren't tracking her, Lauren was still a problem. What happened with Donny had obviously left her emotionally compromised. You have to be able to trust the people you're in the field with, and Lauren was making irrational, emotional decisions, and it was going to bring trouble for them all.
The simple truth was, Donny and Lauren had gotten too close. It was an unspoken secret the whole house knew about, but was never acknowledged. Paige wasn't sure when or how it started, but she was certain that for the past few months, Lauren and Donny had not been sleeping alone.
Paige was all for breaking the rules, but some were sacred. The house came first. It was your first love, and as long as you lived here, nothing could come before it. Not friends, not family, not love, not even yourself. If Lauren wasn't able to let Donny go, she couldn't stay here. Like Briggs said, "No love in Graceland."
Paige gets out of bed, brushes her hair, and changes into a bikini and some shorts. As she gets ready, she forms a plan on how to covertly make sure Graceland is safe. Once she's presentable, she wanders down the hall to Mike's room. As normal, she walks in without knocking, but is surprised to find his neatly made bed empty.
She takes a moment to look around the sparsely decorated room and at the bare walls. She'd have to take Mike out shopping and find him a painting or something. The no-nonsense bare essentials aesthetic did seem to fit him, but something's missing.
She grabs the yellow note pad sitting on his uncluttered desk. She takes a pen and draws a smiley face on the top sheet, rips it off and sticks it on the wall underneath his mirror by the door. She stands back and admires her artwork, then heads towards the kitchen to grab breakfast. He probably got up before the sun and went for a run. Overachiever.
She sits and eats some fruit and sips some water. She's not used to being the first one up and the silence is unsettling. As she's finishing up washing her dishes, she hears the front door close. Mike must be home. About damn time. Where has he been? He was the early bird roommate. She had been counting on him to keep her company this morning.
She grabs her frisby and goes prancing towards the door to intercept him, but her bouncy prance slows when she sees him. He's wearing the same clothes as the night before. He obviously did not get up early to go for a run, he is apparently just now getting home.
"Hey, good morning." He greets her with a grin.
He is way too perky. Somebody must have gotten some last night. Paige thinks back to the scene at the bar. There had been a girl there who had been checking him out, but Paige had pegged her for more of a prude. Not the type who would go home with a stranger at a bar. Then again, the girl had thought Paige and Mike were together, and had still very obviously been checking him out, which the more Paige thought about it, was fucking rude.
She's surprised Mike would do a one night stand. She pegged him for the type who would want to walk along the beach holding hands and talking. Well fucking good for him. Apparently that nice guy act could get you laid.
She ignores his greeting and chucks a frisbee at his obnoxiously smug face. Here she was dealing with Briggs and Lauren drama all night, and he was out having sex. The world was not fair.
"Want to play frisbee?" She decides not to mention that she's been waiting for him for half an hour.
"Actually, no. I haven't slept yet. I'm kind of tired." He gives her a cocky grin and hands her back the frisbee. Mike doesn't seem to grasp Paige asking was not really a question, more of a formality. She has a plan, and Mike is going to help her execute it. It's the least he can do.
She shoves the frisbee back into his chest, a little harder than necessary. "I want to hear about your sex life, but not right now. We have important things to do."
"Seriously?" He asks.
She rolls her eyes. She doesn't care if he's tired from fucking all night, what Mike does in his own time is his business, but Graceland could be in danger. He has to realize time doesn't just stop for him. Here, there are more important things than him getting his dick wet.
"There's something we need to go look for." She says, before storming out the door in front of him.
She realizes she might be acting a little grumpy towards him this morning, but she tells herself she's just stressed over Lauren. The sooner they get this whole mess sorted out, the sooner Paige will feel better. She just needs to make sure things here don't change.