Blooming (4 page)

She stood and
pulled the t shirt off over her head. As the shirt passed her nose she caught
the scent of male cologne – Todd’s cologne, which must be from when he’d hugged
her hello. She indulged in a little further sniff, why did that man have to
smell so nice?

By the time
Jen had showered and washed her hair she was feeling a little better, it wasn’t
the first time she couldn’t remember how she’d gotten to bed, but she did worry
that maybe she’d made a fool of herself again. Her gut twisted when she
remembered about Sean. She was going to have to try and avoid him for a bit,
she certainly didn’t need that hassle.

Jen sat in
front of her little dressing table and looked at her reflection in the mirror.
She really was going to have to get her hair cut, it was way out of control. But
she hated the idea of first having to find a salon, and then knew she’d panic about
calling for an appointment, only to then worry herself sick about having to
make conversation with the stylist while they worked on her.

She stuck her
tongue out at her reflection, “You’re pathetic.”

To try and
make herself feel better, instead of just throwing her head upside down and
roughly blasting her hair dry like usual, she took out a paddle brush and
carefully blow dried her hair in sections. It always amazed her how it could go
from looking rough and tatty to thick and shiny if she did it properly.

Her hair was
stupid though she should just cut it short, all she did was tie it up every
day, and it annoyed her when it was down in her face while she was working.

When she’d
finished she looked in the mirror again and took the time to apply a little
make-up and marvelled again about Sean thinking she had the potential to
inspire something in him.

Jen looked in
her wardrobe and pulled out the first items that came to hand. She had some
very pretty things in there that she hadn’t worn in years, but generally she
stuck to the same few t shirts and jeans every day.

 Once she’d
dressed she decided to go out and walk to the coffee shop and that would mean
she’d managed to go outside twice in one week. If she hadn’t made a bit more
effort with her appearance she probably wouldn’t have had the confidence to
bother, so she tried to give herself a bit of credit for trying.

The coffee
shop was just a couple of blocks away, and small and friendly. The barista
greeted her with a breezy, “Hello what can I get you?”

“Just a
non-fat latte please.”

“You’re
pretty new around here aren’t you?”

Jen looked up
and returned his gentle smile. It never failed to surprise her how sometimes
she felt an instant connection with someone and knew she was safe talking to
them, while other people like Todd raised her hackles and set her teeth on
edge.

“Yes pretty
much, my name is Jen.” She put out a shy hand to him.

“You’re Jen?
Well hello I’m Ben,” he grinned at the rhyme, pointing at his name tag to
confirm it before returning her hand shake.

“I’m kind of
new in town myself; I followed a girl here, kinda crazy huh?”

“Depends on
how it worked out?”

“Well
unfortunately I have shockingly bad taste we were no sooner here than she
dumped me for her college professor.”

“Ouch I’m
sorry”

“You’re
telling me,” he joked handing over her coffee. The bell jangled behind Jen’s
back indicating a new customer, “Hi man how are you?” Ben asked.

The scent
memory hit her before the customer spoke,” Great Ben just the usual thanks.” As
Todd came abreast of her she heard his intake of breath.

“Jennifer, I
didn’t recognise you from behind. Your hair looks different... it looks brushed,”
he touched it, picking up a thick length and feeling its weight in his hand. He
was looking right into her eyes almost awestruck, every hair on her body stood
on end at his scrutiny.

Ben came back
to the counter with her change, “Hey Todd, no fondling the customers.”

Todd smirked,
“You’ve got the wrong impression my man and this girl here is who you’ve to
watch out for.”

“What,” Jen
spluttered.

“Let’s just
say that should I need to call the cops and report her I’ve got two kinds of
her DNA on my t shirt from last night.”

“Holy shit,”
Ben snorted, “and she seems so sweet and innocent.”

Jen looked
from one to the other of them confused.

“Relax honey,
you’re entirely innocent. Ben here doesn’t need to know all the juicy details,
but I did have to put you to bed last night,” Todd drawled.

Jen shot
upright and knocked her coffee all over the counter, and made a leap to bolt
out of the door. Both men jumped in shock but Todd got to her first grabbing
her forearm, “I said relax, I’m just having fun with you. I did carry you up to
bed but nothing happened, I think we gave you too much wine last night and I
suspect you didn’t eat much yesterday. You certainly didn’t eat much of your
dinner.”

Todd’s finger
was drifting along her forearm, and she looked at it as if it was a snake about
to strike.

Ben came
around and started mopping up with a towel, “You owe Jen a coffee Todd; just
the thought of you in her bedroom scared the bejeesus out of her.”

Todd pulled
her back to the counter and before she could do anything he lifted her by the
underarms and placed her on the counter stool as if she was a child. A shocked
squeak passed her lips at the mere idea of just how close his palms had been to
brushing her breasts.

“Stay while
Ben makes you a fresh cup,” he looked at her face, her eyes out on stalks.

“You know you
really don’t say much Jen, not with your mouth anyway, but your face is a
picture.”

Ben handed her
a replacement drink, and Jen gave herself a second to gather her thoughts before
speaking. It was about time Todd got a hard lesson about pushing her buttons.

“You think
you’re so funny don’t you? I’m an easy target I’m well aware of that, but I
didn’t ask to be pulled into the lives of everyone in your building. Maybe I
made the mistake of not making myself clear up front. I value my privacy, in
fact I insist on having my privacy, and while I am paying rent on time and not
causing trouble that is exactly what you will give me.”

Jen speared
him with a blazing blue stare designed to cut him to the quick and render him speechless.
“Remember to pay Ben for my coffee, I’m leaving.”

She leapt off
the stool and through the door leaving both men open-mouthed in awe.

“How did you
manage to piss off that little cutie,” Ben joked.

Todd ignored
him, he was annoyed with himself for riling her up, but at the same time it had
given him a clue on how to get her to open up. If somebody pushed her buttons maybe
his little pocket princess would shove back twice as hard!

Todd shot out
of the door into the street and saw Jen up ahead of him, almost running away. She
tossed her now unwanted coffee in the trash and increased her speed towards
home. He had to stop her before Lily saw her and gave him hell.

Jen felt a
blur pass her and next thing Todd was slap in front of her, she put both hands up
in front of her to stop from bumping into him.

“Look I’m sorry,”
he said, scarcely out of breath despite the sprint, “I don’t know what it is
but when I’m around you I get this urge to mess with you.”

Jen steeled
herself to breathe and keep her cool, “I meant what I said back there, I just
want to be left alone. That’s not too much to ask is it?”

“No maybe it
isn’t, but it’s a small building, we’re going to see each other whether you
like it or not.”

“You would be
amazed at how resourceful I can be when it comes to going unseen,” Jen insisted
firmly. “I don’t owe you anything and I don’t have to let any of you into my
life.”

“Wow that’s
pretty cold,” Todd bit back. “Yet every time I’m around you all I feel is hot
and bothered. I get that there’s something going on with you, obviously I don’t
know what that is, but I’m going to get to know you whether you like it or
not.”

Jen made a
sound of frustration and rubbed her hands thoroughly over her face as if wiping
his words off. “Can’t you just shut up and stop saying things like that.”

Todd took
hold of her wrists, shaking them to get her fingers to relax before resting
them on his chest. “Go out with me.” He delivered it not as a question but a
statement of intent.

She gasped at
his touch then recovered, “I don’t date - ever,” Jen muttered, looking down and
refusing to meet his eyes.

Todd laughed
in her face and it sparked Jen’s ire back to life.

“Don’t you
fucking laugh at me, I’ve never hit anyone in my life, but get your hands off
me and I’ll give it a good shot.”

Todd dropped
back but didn’t release her hands, he was a little turned on by the idea of her
making good on her threat; she was practically vibrating with fury under his
hands.

“I don’t know
what I’m doing here,” he admitted. “Generally it doesn’t tend to make women so
angry when I ask for a date.” He paused before continuing.

“Ok, let’s
try something else - stay in with me tonight,” a new idea occurred to him
before she could respond and he spoke more softly, “I’m going to come to your
door at 7 tonight and I’m going to sit with my back to your door and you’re
going to sit on the other side to me and we’re going to talk. What do you say
to that, you won’t even have to look at me?”

“Aargh,” she
yelled breaking her hands free, “you’re impossible,” and she took off down the
street. He decided to let her get away this time, after all she hadn’t said no
had she?

****

“Lord almighty
forget what I said about Jen being a quiet tenant it sounds like she’s doing
some kind of work-out video upstairs,” Lily said.

“No,” Todd
waited listening carefully, “I think she’s just pacing the floor.”

“That’s
funny; it’s been going on since she flew into the hall about 5 minutes ahead of
you. I don’t suppose that’s got anything to do with it?”

“We have a
date tonight, I’m going to sit outside her door and wait until she decides to
talk to me.”

“Sounds like
fun, you really know how to show a girl a good time, it kinda explains why
you’re 32 and still single,” she quipped.

“Well it
wouldn’t have been my first idea, but I think it’s all she’d agree to for now.”

“For now?”
Lily queried.   

“Exactly.”

****

At six fifty
five that evening Jen placed a pillow on the floor and leaned back against her
front door. She had a glass of wine at her side and her head in her hands.
Although she’d managed to walk off a lot of her tension her heart was still
beating like a trip hammer, waiting for Todd to knock.

In the end he
didn’t need to knock, she heard his footsteps approach and then his bodyweight
rock the door on the other side of her as he sat down, “Hey are you there,” he
asked softly.

Jen made a
noise like struggling to clear her throat, “I’m here, “she croaked, “but I have
some rules about what happens.”

“That sounds
ominous, lay it on me then.”

“Well it’s
just one really, this can’t last longer than an hour tonight, talking like this
wipes me out, I’ll answer anything as best I can, I spent a lot of time when I
was younger talking about this stuff so I can explain to you quite well. Once
you’ve got your answers I don’t expect you to chase me down again.”

“Are you sat
with your back to the door?”

“Yes,” she
replied.

“Good, me
too, I like being close to you even with a door between us.”

“Stop saying
things like that; just start asking your questions already.”

“How did you
come to be in Bloomington?”

She gave a
short laugh, “I needed to leave Chicago where I was living, but didn’t want to
travel too far, so I kept sticking a pin in that vicinity of the map until
somewhere struck me. With my work it doesn’t matter where I live, that’s the
beauty of it.”

“What do you
mean you needed to leave where you were – were you on the run from the law?” he
teased.

“Nothing so
exciting I’m afraid. After my mom died three years ago I moved in with an older
couple who were friends of hers, they had an apartment over the garage and it
suited me to start my business there, I inherited my mom’s estate and after
expenses I had just about enough to get by while I built the business up.”

“I’m sorry
about your mom; you’ve no dad in the picture?”

“Never knew
him and never looked for him, mom always spoke about him as if he was a
deadbeat. He certainly never cared to look for me either I suppose. My mom was
a lot like me, not very confident. After he left when I was tiny, she never
tried to have another relationship.”

“That’s pretty
sad,” Todd murmured, while silently thanking God for his own parents, whose
only flaw was a slight tendency to be
too
supportive.

“Anyway, the
couple I rented from began to try to drag me into their family, endless
invitations to dinner, setting up unwanted blind dates, that kind of thing. I
know they were just trying to look out for me, but I wasn’t interested. I
pretty much had to look out for myself my whole life and that’s how I cope, I
don’t want people to develop relationships with me, it’s just too weird for me.”

“I don’t
understand; why don’t you want people to get to know you?”

“Look, it’s
complicated. When I came here I didn’t intend to let people near me again and
the first thing I did was fall down the pissing stairs.”

“Yeah that
kind of blew away your resourceful unseen ninja speech from this afternoon.”

Before she
could retort he changed tack slightly, “So what did the old couple say when you
told them you were leaving?”