Page 12 of Kissin Irish by Morgan
“It’s how you poke fun of a friend. Like you were doing to Riff.”
“Riff’s not my friend,” Cece said with a pout.
“Aye, we’re friends you and I, we are. I didn’t mean any harm to you.”
“Friends?” She seemed content with my apology. She moved to the sink. “No dogs allowed in the kitchen or bar area, so I leave Waldo home. I know my way around Royal Road pretty well. Is it true?”
“What?”
“That you have a red bush like a clown.”
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” I grabbed my crotch then realized she couldn’t see me. “I kept my pants on last night.”
“You took mine clear off, so you’ve seen me in my birthday suit. Villain, too. It’s only fair you let me know if you look like bozo down below.”
“Why? Do you plan to get in my briefs later?”
Blushing, Cece turned away and grabbed a dirty plate from a bus pan.
“About last night…”
“Aye, I saw you naked. I like my hair pie bald. I noticed you’re shaved.”
“Eww. Hair pie?”
“It’s better than drinking from the furry cup.”
“The furry cup?”
“Ya’ know, growling at the badger.”
Cece choked out a laugh.
“Well, what do you call it? I was about to take a swim down at the mossy bog before I was interrupted.”
“We say going down, eating out.”
“Well, I say breakfast, lunch and dinner. Does someone do it for you?”
“Eat me out?”
“No. Shave ya’. Because you’re blind.”
“No. I remember how to shave. Not that, that’s any of your business. I only lost my eyesight three years ago.”
“I remember when you came here. How did it happen?”
“Here, start with the dishes.” Cece clearly didn’t want to talk about her going blind to me. “Just load them in and push them through. When they come through the other side, I wait a moment before I put them up.”
She ran the industrial dishwasher just like she could see what she was doing.
“Stack them like this, so they dry. What are you waiting for? Put a load through.”
My phone buzzed in my pants. “Sorry,” I said. “Who’d be calling me so early,” I mumbled to myself. I checked the screen. Charlotte. I held up a finger to tell Cece to give me a minute before I grasped that she couldn’t see it. I spoke instead. “I’ve got to take this call.”
Lifting a shoulder, she continued working.
“Patrick,” Charlotte didn’t even let me say hello. She sputtered a sob into my ear.
