Lost Girl: Part 1 (4 page)

I get the plastic carrier bag with her new clothes, turn on the shower for her, leave a towel on the towel rack and leave her to it to. Back in my living room I get my phone out of my pocket and text Rick,
Hi, not coming back to the market, Anna and I have a surprise for you at mine. x

Almost instantly my phone beeps in reply,
I’m intrigued, what kind of surprise? x

You’ll just have to come and see ;)

Can’t wait! x
he replies back, and with a bright smile I look at the text for a little while before putting my phone away again. I pour myself a glass of wine and wait for Anna to finish.

When she comes out of the bathroom, all fresh and clean, she looks at me excitedly, “do I look pretty?” she asks.

I look at her, standing proudly in her new clothes, “the prettiest,” I smile at her.

“Good,” she replies, “I hope Rick will like it.”

“I’m sure he will,” I say and then walk into the bathroom myself with my new shirt, have a quick wash and pull the shirt over my head. It’s a little low cut, and I look into the mirror, wondering if maybe it shows a bit too much cleavage, but then decide that I don’t care if it does. I want Rick to see what I have to offer. I want Rick to want me. Just thinking of him looking at me the way he did earlier makes my head spin.

Clearing my head and making the butterflies settle back down in my stomach I pick up Anna’s dirty clothes and throw them into my washing machine. I add a few of my own things to fill the machine and turn it on.

When I finish, I walk back in to the living room to see Anna sitting next to Herbert’s cage again.

“Can I watch another DVD?” she asks, looking over her shoulder at me.

“Sure you can. Pick one you like and I’ll start it for you.”

She picked out The Aristocats to watch, and while I get the DVD out of its case, she pulls Herbert out of his cage again.

“Do you think Rick will know that he has to come here when we don’t show up?” she asks when she settles down on the sofa with my rabbit in her arms.

“He knows,” I reply when I start the DVD for her, “I texted him while you were having a shower.”

“Oh, okay. When is he going to be here?”

“He should be here soon.” As soon as I said it, the buzzer to my door rings, “that must be him.” I rush over to my door, and pick up the receiver, “hello?”

“Hi Summer, it’s Rick,” the voice coming out of the speaker sounds cheery, completely different from last night.

“Come on up,” I reply, and press the button to let him into the building.

“What’s this surprise you have for me?” he asks as soon as he comes in.

“Can’t tell you I’m afraid,” I say, giving him a big grin.

“We made dinner from scratch!” Anna shouts proudly from the couch.

“Did you?” Rick replies, smiling brightly at her.

“So much for a surprise,” I sigh and he laughs in return.

Rick walks over to Anna while I turn to the oven to pre-heat it. He is just about to sit down next to her, when he notices what she’s wearing. “Anna, are those new clothes?” he asks, looking down at his little sister.

“Oh, yes!” she beams, carefully placing Herbert on the couch and stands up to do a little twirl for him, “what do you think?”

“I like it,” he smiles, “but where did you get them from?”

“We picked it out at the market,” she replies and sits back down to cuddle Herbert and turn her attention back to the Disney film again. Instead of sitting down, Rick walks up to me in the kitchen. “You shouldn’t have done that,” he whispers softly when he’s close enough for me to hear.

“Why not?” I ask, raising my eyebrows at him.

He shrugs lightly, then looks a little embarrassed. “Because she’s not your responsibility. I mean, don’t get me wrong I appreciate everything you’re doing, but you shouldn’t be spending your money on her.”

“Why not?” I ask again.

“Because,” he starts, clears his throat and stares at his feet, “because that’s what my mom should be doing.”

I shrug back at him, “it was worth it. You should’ve seen her face when she came out of the shower.”

He looks sad, “I wish I could. It doesn’t happen often that she gets something new,” then he smiles up at me, his eyes slightly glistening in the kitchen light. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” I smile at him, but then turn shy when I realise I’m staring at his eyes. Quickly I turn around, “do you want a drink?” I ask without looking at him.

“What do you have?” he asks.

“I’ve got coke, lemonade, coffee, tea, wine. I also bought some beer, because I wasn’t sure what you’d like. Anna’s having lemonade, I’m having wine. Take your pick.”

“I’ll join you and have some wine please.”

I’m still not looking at him. Busying myself getting a glass and pouring the wine, but I can hear the smile in his voice and desperately want to turn to look at it. I take a deep breath and steady myself before turning around, “here you go,” I say, handing him his glass.

“Thanks,” he smiles and walks back over to the living area. This time he sits down on the floor, in front of Anna, and I look at him curiously.

“I thought you might like the couch this time.”

“Thanks,” I laugh, “but the floor really isn’t that bad.”

“I noticed,” he smiles.

***

“Anna?” I call her from the kitchen, “do you still want to do the cheese?”

“Mhm,” she nods and hands Herbert to Rick. “Cuddle him,” she instructs him and he looks up at her. “Do I have to?”

“Yes, you do,” she laughs then comes skipping over to me and pulls herself back up onto the chair. I hand her the plate of grated cheese, and she layers big handfuls on top of the pasta. When almost all the cheese is used, she looks up at me, grins and stuffs the last handful into her mouth. “I love cheese,” she mumbles with her mouth full. I laugh and take the oven dish from her, place it into the oven together with the baguette and lay the table.

“When is it finished?” she asks, peering through the little window of my oven.

“When the cheese starts bubbling,” I tell her.

“Okay. Can you tell me when it’s happening?” she asks, “I want to see.”

“Sure,” I laugh, then take the bottle of wine from the fridge and take it into the living room to top up my glass.

***

A little while later, I get up to check on our dinner and from the corner of my eye I can see Rick’s gaze following my movements, making me feel self-conscious but great at the same time.

“Anna, I think it’s ready,” I call towards the living room, “do you want to take a look before I take it out?”

She doesn’t answer me, but is by my side in seconds and moves her face close to the little window. “It turned gold!” she exclaims in amazement.

“Yes it has,” I laugh, “that means it’s ready to eat.” I pick up my oven gloves and open up the oven. I place the dish on a coaster in the middle of the table, then take the garlic bread out and place it on a cutting board which I bring over to the table as well.

“Something smells nice,” Rick says, joining us in the kitchen.

“It does, doesn’t it?” Anna looks at him proudly, “all from scratch.”

“Yes, you said,” he laughs, brushing his hand through her hair.

“Can I sit here?” Anna asks, eager to sit on the one chair that faces the TV.

“That depends,” I say, “is Herbert back in his cage?”

She looks over at the couch, where Herbert is sitting in the corner. “Eh, no,” she replies. She quickly runs over to him and picks him up. She places him back in his cage, then comes back to the table.

“Hands?” I say.

“Oh yes,” she smiles cheekily, “I forgot.” And quickly moves over to the sink to wash her hands.

“Now can I sit?”

I laugh and nod at het, “now you can sit.” I turn to get the bottle of wine from the living room, but when I don’t see it where I left it, I hear Rick chuckle behind me.

“I thought you might want a top-up,” he says, showing me the bottle in his hand.

“Thanks,” I smile, while he fills up our glasses, “do you want some more lemonade Anna?”

“No, thank you,” she answers.

***

“That was delicious,” Rick says, licking his lips after he’s scraped the last off of his plate.

“Thank you,” Anna grins at him and we both laugh at her, “can we stay here tonight?” she suddenly asks, taking us both by surprise.

I did feel lonely after they left last night, but unsure as to how Rick will react, I’m hesitant to say yes. “That depends on Summer,” Rick smiles at her, and she looks at me expectantly, “can we?”

“Eh.. sure,” I mumble, “I have a single bed. I bought it so my nephew could stay over, but I haven’t set it up yet. If you want to stay,” I hesitantly say to Rick, “would you mind helping me set it up?”

“No problem,” he replies, “where is it?”

“It’s in the box room. I know the room’s a bit messy right now, but there should be enough space for the bed.”

Anna was yawning while she watched us set up the bed for her, and once the bed is all set up, Anna is ready to dive into it. I get her an old t-shirt of mine to sleep in, and wish her goodnight.

“We never got to read,” she sulks as she lays down, barely able to keep her eyes open.

“We’ll read tomorrow,” I promise.

She yawns again, and looks at Rick, “will you read to me now?” she begs, her eyes already shut.

He looks at me, “do you have any books?” he whisper. I quickly get him an old battered romance, and I leave the room while he starts reading it to her.

***

“Is she asleep?” I ask Rick when he joins me in the living room just minutes later.

He smiles, “she drifted off before I’d even finished the first page.”

“She’s lovely,” I say to him, “she’s so well mannered.”

He laughs. “It took quite a while to get her that way. The people around us aren’t the best of influences,” he grunts, looking sad.

“Have you ever through of moving away from there?” I ask him, while I pass him his glass of wine.

“Every day,” he sighs, I’m working as much as I can, so that hopefully one day, I can take Anna away from that place.”

“She’s lucky to have you,” I whisper to him, looking him straight in his eyes. He looks back, nods slightly and then ever so slowly, moves closer to me. I feel his hot breath stroke my skin before his soft lips ever so gently touch mine. His hand reaches up to my face and he lets his fingers run over my cheek while he kisses me more fiercely. Crashing his lips into mine and consuming me.

We drive home in silence and once I park, the three of us silently walk up the stairs back to my apartment.

“Rick?” I whisper softly so Anna doesn’t hear and gently tug on the back of his shirt to get his attention after I opened the door to my apartment.

“Yes?”

“Isn’t that the same car that was at your mom’s?”

“Yes it is,” he replies, his eyes wide with shock. “Get inside, quickly,” he urges and pushes me inside before he quickly closes the door behind us.

Seconds later the buzzer to my door sounds.

“What do I do?” I ask turning to Rick. I can feel my heart beat in my throat and my stomach is turning to the point where I’m almost feeling sick.

“Don’t answer it.”

Seconds later it buzzes again, “what if they come up if I don’t answer?”

I can see the fear in his eyes too. “Okay. Answer it.”

“Hello?” I say into the speaker, keeping my voice as calm as possible.

“Hello. I am looking for a child and two older kids. Have you seen them?” A gravelly voice replies.

“I haven’t, sorry,” I lie, feeling surprised by how natural that sounded. I stand there, waiting for an answer, but when nothing else comes, I let out a deep breath.

“Now what?” I ask turning to Rick again.

He shrugs, looking uncertain. “I don’t think we can stay here,” he mumbles

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