Chapter Eleven
For the next few days, Marco texted me constantly, or at least it seemed that way. But he sent me messages multiple times a day, just little texts to "check in" as he put it. By Wednesday, I was seriously regretting accepting his offering of dinner.
On top of that, we were dealing with a difficult supplier at work, yet another one headed by sexist, racist old men who thought that because they had money, they deserved whatever they wanted. It was flattering that Gladys trusted me to get us through everything involved in buying them out, but dealing with people like that made me want to bang my head on the table. Or, really, theirs, but that was frowned upon.
Me: I hate rich old men
Me: Whoever said we should eat the rich had the right idea
Me: You hungry?
Eddie: I'm pretty sure cannibalism is illegal. Isn't your mom a cop?
I stared at my phone. I swear- Nope, apparently, I texted Eddie and not Buck. Meh, I can vent to Eddie just as easily as Buck.
Me: What she doesn't know won't hurt me
Eddie just sent a cry-laughing emoji back, so I didn't think much more on it. I just drove home, changed into comfy clothes, and dived into unpacking the last stacks of boxes I had left.
Until a buzzing sound drew me back to reality. I checked the monitor, and there was Eddie at the front door, a take-out bag from the taco truck he'd introduced me to in one hand and a carton of ice cream in the other, my favorite flavor of mint chocolate chip. "Eddie, what are you- Come up!" I called as I pushed the button to unlock the front door.
He just grinned at the camera and walked inside once the door popped open for him.
I met him at my door. "What are you doing?" I demanded, though I did take the ice cream from him.
Eddie shrugged and kicked off his shoes. "You seemed like you might need a pick-me-up, and I didn't have anything else going on, so I figured you wouldn't kick me out if I brought dinner."
I pressed a kiss to his cheek and headed to the kitchen to put the ice cream in the freezer. "Any woman who turns you down, especially with the added bonus of tacos and ice cream, is an idiot. But thanks, you just made a crappy day better already."
"I'm glad."
We ate our tacos on the balcony, enjoying the view and each other's company. After my last one, I settled back into my chair and looked over to him. "Thank you," I began, but he waved me off.
"It's nothing, we're friends," he shrugged, but I grabbed his arm and caught his eye.
"Seriously, Eddie, thank you," I told him earnestly. "Just the last few minutes with you, that's made my long, horrible day so much better already. So, thank you."
He smiled, a little self-consciously. "That's what friends do, Car. I'm here for you anytime you need."
I squeezed his arm a little bit, then reminded myself that I did need to let go. You can't feel your friend up, Car, that's just weird, even if he is ridiculously ripped. "Well, I'm just glad that Chris is on his field trip, leaving you to fend for yourself the rest of the week," I added with a little mischievous grin and stood to collect our garbage.
"Ugh, don't remind me," he groaned, stretched, then stood up, too. "I miss that kid. Why did he have to grow up so much?"
We joked and laughed as we ate our ice cream and cleaned up the kitchen, and somehow, I found myself unpacking the very last of my boxes with his help. "I can't believe you're just using up your last evening before your forty-eight helping me unpack," I sighed at him.
"Meh, I'm happy to help. And you're really doing me the favor," he replied with a teasing grin.
"Oh, yeah, I'm really sacrificing here, allowing you to help me unpack." Sarcasm flowed through my words, and I sort of loved the laugh it pulled from him.
"Well, you haven't kicked me out of your house yet, which means I'm not at my house moping without my son, so…"
I bumped my shoulder into his before stretching my legs out on the floor, right next to the last empty box. "I love how much you adore Chris, and so openly. Most guys wouldn't- Not many guys love their kids so much, let alone show it."
Eddie grew serious. "Christopher is my world. I would be lost without him. And I'm going to do everything I can to make sure he knows it."
"He's a really lucky kid," I replied softly.
"I'm a really lucky dad."
My phone and the intercom buzzed together, breaking the moment. "I finally got the app, which means I can be lazy," I said, pulling my phone out of my pocket and opening the app. And then stared at my phone in disbelief.
"Is that Marco?" Eddie asked, a strange tone to his words as he looked over my shoulder.
"Yeah, and I really wish it wasn't," I sighed. Tapping on the app to connect to him, I said, "Marco, what-"
"Carmen, hey!" he said, waving the wine bottle in his hand with a little flourish. And making my stomach drop. "I know you've been busy finishing unpacking, so I figured I would bring something to help make it a little easier!"
I stared, once again grateful it wasn't a camera on my end. "He doesn't know when to stop, does he?" Eddie muttered lowly, pulling a soft snort from me.
But Eddie hadn't been quiet enough; Marco seemed to hear him. "Is there someone else there with you?" he asked. His tone deepened, sounding a bit angry, and his smile definitely soured.
"What?" I couldn't believe his audacity. What right did he have asking me that? Anger and a little dread started mixing in my belly. After all, how many times did a woman's worst nightmare start with something like this? How many of my clients had come to me, how many of my friends had needed help, because of something that started just like this?
"You have some guy with you, don't you? I can't believe you-"
I was not about to let that stand. Neither his audacity, nor my fear. "No, I can't believe you!" I said, cutting him off, and cutting my fear off, too. I was not about to let this bully make me afraid. "Where do you get off asking me that? Not only have you shown up at my house, without asking me beforehand, twice now, but we're not even dating! We haven't even gone on a date yet, and now we're not going to, ever. So, please leave, and don't text or call me. I don't want to hear from you again."
Instantly, his face changed to something like regret. "No, Car- I'm sorry-"
"You don't get to call me that, you've never had permission from me to call me that. Leave."
Marco apologized again, but I didn't want to hear it. And apparently, neither did Eddie. "You heard Carmen, she doesn't want you here, so leave," he said through the camera.
"Before I call the police," I continued.
"I'm sure Athena has already updated her friends who patrol the area that you live here now," Eddie mused, sounding like it was something he just realized, but I knew it wasn't. It was something Mom always did for all of her family, something to keep them all a little safer. "So, I'm sure we'd get a really fast response time if we did call 911."
"Maddie is working tonight, I think," I continued, a little grin growing despite my anger and annoyance at Marco. It also helped push back the looming apprehension and potential fear at bay. "I'm sure she would make sure whoever responded got here quickly. Not to mention that Uncle Lou is super close. He'd get here in less than five, I'm sure."
"Alright, I'm going!" Marco sort of screamed it at the monitor. "I'm going, but you don't know what you're missing out on!"
"Oh, no, a self-important man-baby, such a catch," Eddie scoffed, making me laugh. I was pretty sure that Marco couldn't hear it, but I still needed the laugh.
"Thanks for being here," I sighed, leaning a little bit into his shoulder. His very firm shoulder that I- Nope, he's being a good friend, Car. "I think it could have gone much worse if you hadn't been here."
Eddie wrapped his arm around my shoulders, tugging me into him just a little bit more. My inner teenaged girl maybe purred, just a bit, even as my inner grownup realized exactly what could have gone wrong. "I'm glad I could be here, too. But you don't think…"
"No, I don't think he's actually harmful," I replied, listening to what my instincts were telling me, even while I continued to ignore the fear I'd been feeling. "I think he just would have made a bigger, more annoying stink about everything."
He hummed, and I wasn't sure if that was in agreement or not. "Are you okay, though?"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm good," I replied, and started to pull away.
But Eddie's arm around me kept me from going anywhere. "Car, you're shaking. Tell me what I can do to help."
I held my hand in front of my face, and yep, it was trembling like a leaf. "Oh," was suddenly all I could force out of my mouth.
"Here, let's get you to the couch," he said, and then proceeded to lift me like I weighed as much as a leaf. He set me down, but when he started to walk away, I grabbed onto him. "Hey, I'm just going to get you some water."
"No, I'm good, just stay," I rebutted, clinging to his hand like a needy toddler. "Just for a minute."
Thankfully, he didn't need any more instructions; he just settled onto the couch next to me and then proceeded to pull me onto his lap, wrapping me entirely in his arms. "I got you, Car," he said softly. "It's okay, baby, you're okay."
I tucked my head into his neck, blocking everything out except for the comforting warmth he emitted, and the soothing words he babbled. I didn't really pay attention to what he said, just the tone and cadence, and it helped me push all the mental pictures of just how bad it could have gone, had he not been there, and had Marco been just a little pushier than he had been.
It took me a few minutes, but I was able to come out of hiding eventually. "Sorr-"
"Don't even think about apologizing," Eddie cut me off sternly, but with a contradictory warm squeeze. "I know you've seen a lot of- You've seen a lot of horror stories through work, and probably just by being a woman and having female friends, and that could have been really bad. So don't you dare apologize for needing a moment to get past it."
His warmth almost brought me to tears. And, ya know, everything else that had happened. "You're right," I said, leaning my head back to his shoulder. The very strong one he'd so generously leant to me. "I've seen so many of my clients go through similar things, and they didn't end well. And there are so many headlines of some guy going off when a woman tells him no, so many horror stories that outline exactly how this could have gone. I tried not to think about it, tried to just be angry, but I was really scared."
Eddie settled his head right on top of mine. "I've seen the aftermath, too," he said quietly. "The headlines, sure, but we've responded to calls that started just like this. And I've always felt bad for the woman, but it's not really something I can get, not really. I can handle myself, I can protect myself. And I'm not saying you can't, because I know how strong you are, I know you are, but being a woman in our world sounds… terrifying."
"It can be," I told the button on his shirt, not really ready to look at his face just yet. "You know there are good guys, you see them all the time around you, but then there are all the bad eggs around, too, and it's so hard to tell them apart at first glance so often. Especially because a lot of the really bad ones pretend to be good ones at first. And a lot of the horrible ones think they are good ones."
"I am so glad Christopher is a boy," he sighed abruptly, making me laugh.
"But you're teaching him to be a good guy, too, so that helps."
"I try," he said softly.
"You're a good one, Eddie," I told him, aggressively cuddling in to make my point. "And I won't hear any arguments about it."
I could hear the laughter in his voice when he said, "Okay, Car." But then he stiffened up, and I'm pretty sure the Spanish he spit out was all curses, but he said them all too fast to catch everything. "I'm such an idiot! I'm so sorry, Car!"
That made me pull away from him, just to be able to see his face. "What are you talking about?"
"I just did the exact same thing Marco did!" he said angrily. He put his hands on my shoulders to move me, I presumed, but I clung to him and refused to let him. He gave up with a huff and just continued on with his self-flagellation. "I came over, with no notice, to your home-"
I cut him off by taking his face in my hands and making him look at me. "Okay, no, stop, Eddie, just stop. You did nothing wrong, nothing like Marco at all. First off, you're my friend, so you're welcome here basically anytime, ever, with or without warning. Second, you brought me dinner and ice cream to try to cheer me up after a bad day, not wine to try to get me drunk and then get into my pants. You were being a good friend, Eddie, and I appreciate it so much. And the fact that you were here made the whole mess with him go better. And you were here to help me unpack. So, thank you."
Eddie studied my face for a long moment after I finished my rant, but eventually, he nodded and relaxed a bit. "I'm just glad you're okay," he whispered.
"I am," I whispered back, "partially due to you, Mr. Grumpy Gus. Now, I think we've had enough unpacking for tonight. We deserve some Bachelor after the night we've had."
He barked out a laugh, and the grin that grew over his face could have powered the entirety of Los Angeles County. And my heart skipped a beat, my stomach lurched with a flutter. Oh, I'm in trouble, aren't I?
AN: I know it's been a while, but moving sucks, y'all. But here's a new chapter of Carmen, with the added bonus of Eddie being adorably protective and both of them being stupidly oblivious. Thanks for reading, and a big thanks to those of you who reviewed!
