Page 15 of Cloud Storm

Chapter 5

“You have to go,” Roselynn declares as she sits on my couch.

Frankly, right now I wish someone would remind me of the reasons we are still friends.

When she wants to be, Roselynn Holland can be a pretty irritating woman and today I have a short fuse, like a block of dynamite.

Why? I’d tell you if I knew the answer myself.

“I have other plans,” I answer as I open the refrigerator door, looking inside for some of the ingredients I need to prepare my specialty, carrot and pineapple cake.

Mr. Hatz has already asked me several times when I’m going to bake it for him. I actually don’t think it’s that good, but the poor man happens to miss homemade food.

“Making a cake and watching the final season of Orange is the New Black on Netflix is not a plan, Ariel, and you know it.”

“Well, it’s my plan and it’s not a bad one,” I reply irritably.

“I’m not leaving here until we go to the party.”

“Well, you’d best get comfortable on the couch then. After all, you are old friends.”

I begin sifting the four cups of flour I need, ignoring her completely. She’ll get tired and leave at some point.

“It won’t work,” she warns after a while, when I’m crushing the toasted almonds.

“Why aren’t you checking to see what your husband is doing? You left him unsupervised for a while. They say sex is a good remedy for boredom.”

If I knew what that was, I’d no longer do it by my own hand, because as soon as I close my eyes, I can only imagine a hot body on mine, taking me, invading, making me theirs.

Damn Suit.

I see him even in my thoughts.

I need to find a hobby. Needlework, soap carving. Competitive dog grooming. All of them great options. Laziness is the mother of all bad habits, and lately my preferred one is conjuring images of the Suit doing wicked things to me.

“My husband is already out on the terrace entertaining and playing poker with everyone else. So come on, let’s go join the party.”

“As you can see, I’m busy baking a cake,” I answer, filling the third cup with crushed carrots.

“Well, since it’s still early we have time, and you’ll soon be finished. Then you can leave the oven programmed to turn itself off.”

“You are a pain in the ass,” I grumble, but deep down, I’ve already resigned myself to my fate.

“That’s what Chase says.”

“Fortunately, he is the one who has to live with you every day.”

“Until death do us part,” she laughs.

I growl a string of curses as I walk to the bathroom. Damn party. I don’t want to go, parties are not my thing, I find them uncomfortable.

Mr. Hatz, to aid friendly coexistence between neighbors here in the condominium, initiated from the beginning that every quarter a social event would be held on the terrace, so every three months I find myself invited along, where I’m expected to be friendly and smile at people. I never want to go, I always feel strange among so many guests. They all know who I am and even if we get along, I always feel as if I’m just a lowly employee, even though my boss and landlord has always insisted that when I occupied an apartment, I also became a neighbor.

Tonight will be the end-of-summer celebration and everyone will be there. Generally, all the tenants go to the party, while food and good entertainment work their magic.

I want to make Roselynn believe I’m not trying too hard, but the truth is I spent my entire shower dreaming up which outfit would be appropriate for tonight.

In the end I decide to wear black pants, a crop top with a large floral print, along with a big statement gold necklace and my favorite, fuck me magenta heels.

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