Page 6 of Too Much In Common
“No.” Tian dropped into her favorite chair.
“I would have loved to see that meet cute,” said Simone.
“Nothing cute about it. Do you know what happens when you try to grab something out of a bodyguard’s hands?”
“He holds it up high enough you can’t reach?” guessed Simone.
“No. One moment I’m reaching...” Tian mimed the gesture. “Then suddenly I’m pinned to his couch. With him looming over me, unable to escape.”
Brit giggled. “That sounds kind of hot.”
“Are you hurt?” asked Simone.
“No. Not hurt. And not hot.” Tian replayed the moments in Chris’s apartment. Maybe it was a little hot. Those piercing blue eyes definitely were. “He wasn’t trying to hurt me, just stop me. It’s weird, but he didn’t use any extra force. And with those biceps, he definitely could have. “Javier was laughing like a hyena the entire time. You’d think he would have told his roommate that we had the same name? I’m more embarrassed than anything. He looked so haunted when he realized what he’d done.”
Simone’s shoulders relaxed. Too late, Tian realized she should have described the incident differently. Her cousin had been a flight attendant until last year when an aggressive passenger got out of hand, broke her nose, and cut her face. The horrific incident was made even worse when someone posted a viral video. After a stalker with way too many miles started flying on her flights to “protect” her, Simone transferred to pilot scheduling where she was out of the public eye while legal dealt with the fallout. Simone was the main reason they were approved for the high-security apartment.
Brit returned the cup to the box. “He was holding this?”
“Yup. I guess he was trying to describe it to a customer service rep. I’m sure there is a tag somewhere in the box. If I hadn’t used the minimal packaging option, he would have known.” Tian covered her mouth. “You should have seen his face. He was staring at it so intently, completely puzzled. I’m not sure if it horrified him because I said menstrual cup or because I was trying to grab it out of his hand.”
“I read a story online about a little boy who found his mother’s cup while she was out of town. The dad didn’t realize what it was and the little boy did everything with it. Even took it to school. The teacher called the mom...” Simone laughed.
Brit joined in. “The poor father. Can you imagine what his wife said?”
“According to the article, the mom thought it was funny.” Simone reached for her phone as if finding the story again would be possible.
“Can you imagine twenty-five years from now, his parents telling the story at his wedding?” Tian asked. “Little Johnny’s favorite toy was...” She let the sentence go unfinished.
“No worse than what I could say at yours—they met over a feminine hygiene—”
“Brit, I told you, nothing will come of it. Even if he is as hot as described in the gazillion texts you sent me this weekend. Just because you have a boyfriend doesn’t mean I need one too. Especially one with my name who is potentially violent. When I am ready, I’ll be ready.” Tian scowled at her half-sister. For a few months, her mom had dated a man with a violent streak. While wimpy wasn’t on her ideal guy list, she’d never dated a man she didn’t think she could escape from if necessary.
“It’s been...” Brit wisely stopped talking before she said how long it had been since Tian’s last boyfriend.
“I told you marriage is not for me. I don’t want to end up like my mom—or yours, no offense. Yes, there are faithful husbands, but we both have seen so much of the other. I am glad you have a boyfriend. He is one in a million. Please, stop trying to set me up.” Tian stood and picked up her box to face the stack of others in her room. Unpacking awaited.
“Are you going to return that?” Brit pointed to the menstrual cup.
“Why? I’ll sanitize it.” And hope she didn’t need it. There wasn’t time for a new one to be delivered before her next four-day flight was scheduled started on Wednesday, unless she switched brands.
“If it was me, every time I used it I’d see him holding it. Add that to period hormones...” Simone fanned herself. Point taken, only Tian was pretty sure it would have the opposite effect.
Tian rolled her eyes and walked into her bedroom. She set the box in her bathroom and returned to her unpacking. Spending half of her month living out of a suitcase, she needed her bedroom to feel like home. She started with the box labeled “bears.” Teddy bears were the best type of boyfriends. They never cheated or broke anyone’s heart.
3
Off-duty incident reportswere never fun to write up. Chris avoided writing his until Javier pointed out that he would report his unnecessary restraining of Tian if Chris didn’t. Hastings Security took their employees’ mental health seriously. The way he overreacted needed to be reported, even if it meant another day or two of leave. Five minutes after he hit send, his phone rang. No surprise the name on his screen was Alan Hastings.
“Hello?”
“Rough day?” The answering voice wasn’t Alan’s but his wife, ZoElle.
“Not really, but I feel pretty dumb.”
“Alan wanted me to see if he read this right, but he is too embarrassed.” A hint of a smile flavored ZoElle’s voice. The mutter in the background must have belonged to Alan.
“If he is beet red, then yes, he read it right. Someone should have given me a heads up about her name. Surely her name wasn’t confidential too?” The excuse was lame, likely he still wouldn’t have known what the object was, but he might have double-checked the address and seen it wasn’t for him before he’d opened it.
