Chapter 12: Occasional Substitutions
Natalie loathed being laughed at; not with, at. She held her phone away from her ear till the sound died down.
"You finished?" She asked sharply.
"Ha, ha... Woooo... Not gonna lie, never thought you'd ever call in that favor. But this? To babysit a club-owner for one Tuesday? Sorry, but that's funny as hell!"
"Will you do it or not?!" She half-yelled.
"Heh, heh, heh. Yeah, I will. I've heard about this guy, how much trouble can he be?"
"How much, indeed." Natalie said, more to herself than the phone.
She tossed the phone on the bed and flopped down beside it, intent to drift off while she had the chance. By the time her charge had returned to his detective's house, ready to begin the day's work, Nat was sure he had seen her snooping at least two other times in his early morning gallivant. It needled at her as she dozed off with a mental lecture about extra training this week.
The alarm clock blared the local news and noon weather, and Nat responded by gently nudging it off the end table. She sat back up and headed toward the shower, already decided on espresso rather than coffee for her "morning". A sense of dread for her work day crept down her spine on her return to the kitchenette. 'Maybe I'll get lucky,' she thought to herself, 'That cop could keep him busy all day. Until I leave Lux... At midnight...'
"Fuck." She cursed at the cup, dropping her head against the counter beside it.
Her roommate, Evan, looked up from his spot on the couch with a scowl. "Where's my cup?"
Nat briefly considered throwing her own cup at him. However, it still contained part of her espresso. "You're lucky I like caffeine so much." She said instead.
An eye roll greeted her as Evan made his was toward the counter. "Aw, when does the cranky bitch need to be at work?" He asked with the same voice he used on babies.
"Four, cock-munch." She deadpanned.
Evan arched his eyebrow with a smirk, "At least one of us gets cock." he responded and stole her cup before returning to the couch.
With a muttering of "I hate you", Nat went to pack her practice bag for the day.
"And you better not have broken my alarm clock again!" Evan called from the couch.
0-0 0-0 0-0
Some how a miracle had been bestowed upon Natalie, as Lucifer returned to Lux and remained in the care of the Brittney Squad for the evening. As her dance shift came to an end, she made her way to Patrick at the bar for her end-of-shift drink. It was just as she was easing into the bar-top, half way through her tumbler, that the suit-clad arm entered her field of view. With a quick toss of her head, she finished the drink and turned to face the troublesome club-owner.
"Mr. Morningstar." She said in an even tone.
"Miss Varquez." He purred in return. "Will you be spending the night party-searching for me again?"
"If only it was that fun." She countered. She assured herself it was the couple of ounces of rum she just finished that caused the warmth in her stomach when he gave a low chuckle.
He leaned in closer to her, and the rest of the club momentarily floated away. Part of her mind screamed at her to stay focused, and she tired to keep it at the center of her attention. When he whispered into her ear, a soft blush rose onto her cheeks. "Miss Varquez, I would be quite interested to learn your definition of fun."
It was her turn to chuckle. "Nothing a good boy like you would be interested in. I would hate to compromise part of the LAPD's super-team." She whispered warmly, tipping his glass towards her to sip the amber liquid. With a wink, she reminded him of the date change and left him beside the bar as she flowed through the light crowd to the door.
0-0 0-0 0-0
Lucifer pulled himself from the comfort of the sprawled Britney Squad and made his way to the shower. This Tuesday Maze was out of town, which made it the Tuesday he would finally get answers out of Miss. Varquez. With a quick trip through Lux to inform Patrick of the ladies upstairs and to pick out a bottle of his favorite rum, he was off to begin his surprise visit.
As Lucifer prepared to knock, the door opened. A pale young man opened the door, immediately looking Lucifer over like ice cream. "Well, Good morning to me. And what's your name gorgeous?" The man asked.
"Lucifer Morningstar." He responded with a flair of his hand.
"Hot, I'm Evan. I was just heading out for the bar, you're welcome to join me." Evan said, leaning into the frame of the door.
Pulling the flask from his pocket, Lucifer smirked to the flirtatious man. "I take the bar with me. As generous as your offer is, I'm actually here to see Miss. Varquez."
Evan pouted, "Of course you are. Lucky bitch." He stood aside to allow Lucifer entry into the tiny flat. "Nat, you got company. Don't forget about later, though!" He yelled over his shoulder as he continued down the stairs.
Lucifer wandered into the living room, closing the door behind him. He set the bottle on the counter of the kitchenette. The sounds of the shower came from the bedroom, so he began searching for the blender and supply of strawberries. He had poured the mixture into two large glasses and made his way to the couch. A quick check into the cigar box on the coffee table relieved his host of yet another of her lovely joints. The sound of a ringing phone came through as the shower stopped. He could hear her in the other room.
"Hello? … Slow down, the fuck did you just say?!"
She rounded the doorway, towel wrapped and dripping wet. Lucifer's mouth dried, joint hanging loosely on his lip, as his eye's followed a bead of water as it slide down between the swell of her breast and into the shadows of the towel.
"I'll call you back." She said into the phone curtly, before tossing in casually onto the counter. "What are you doing here?" She asked coolly.
Lucifer remember the lit piece in his mouth and set it in her ashtray before it fell onto the couch. "Well, with Maze out of town, I assumed you would need someone else to celebrate your Daiquiri Tuesdays with this week. I even brought the rum, as an extra treat. No Maze to yell at me about Lux's bottom line, after-all."
He watched her eyes flick down to the glasses, and the opened box. A sigh escaped her as she turned to reenter the bedroom, kicking the door closed behind her. Lucifer took the lack of insistence to leave as permission and continued his lounging and waited his chance to begin his questions.
She returned to the living room in a pair of jeans with a band shirt for an obscure group he didn't recognize.
"Gwar?" He questioned.
"A band made of human-hating, drug-loving aliens. Don't worry, I get that question a lot. Either you know or you don't." she commented as she helped herself to the glass set aside for her. "Not bad at all. Although it lacks the kick I put in mine."
"Well, next time Maze leaves, you can make them." He said with a smirk, passing the joint to its proper owner.
"Yeah, next time." She said softly, taking a few drags before passing it back to him.
She still seemed to be giving direct answers on Tuesdays, and Lucifer shifted closer to her on the couch. The haze of smoke between them with the morning sun made the storms in her eyes seem more like soft oceans.
"What is it that you truly desire?" He asked just as softly in return.
Her brow furrowed and she huffed a laugh, "Honestly?" she asked.
"Of course." He murmured.
"A vacation. A very remote vacation." She said with a smile.
For a moment he blinked, "Seriously?"
"Of course!" She said confidently, as she leaned back into the couch. "I work like, four jobs, have a boy-crazy roommate, and more problems than money."
As he began to inquire into the other three jobs, his phone rang in his pocket. With a quick word, he excused himself and stepped into the hallway outside the door. "Detective? … A new case? Now? … No, no problem at all Detective."
He returned to the living room to find what was left of the bottle of rum held out to him. "Duty calls." She commented with the offering.
"Keep it, for next time." He said as he tucked the phone back into his pocket. While he did leave with some answers, he had many more new questions.