Page 8 of Agony

“Good night, Neve,” he repeated softly as pulled away from me and grabbed his bag. I heard the bedroom door open then close.

I reached over for my phone and sent Addie a message.

Me: What did you say to him? He’s all weird now.

Addie: Told him about your v card.

My mouth dropped open. Of all the things she could’ve said to him, she decided to tell him that I was a virgin?!

Me: I wasn’t going to sleep with him, you know!

Addie: It’s not that Neve. I just feel bad about you working in Pornlandia and I thought he could help you get out of there.

Me: I’m a big girl, Adesynne Lee. I can take care of myself. You don’t need to tell everyone that I’m still a virgin. It doesn’t make me any less human or more fragile than the next person.

She didn’t respond. I decided to turn my phone off, because even if she did, nothing she said was going to make me any less angry at her right now. I sat up and reached across the table for the quilt I slept with. I pulled it up over my head and shut out the world for the rest of the night.

Not that the night cares what a virgin does anyway.

ChapterThree

Iwoke up the next morning to the sound of the radio on in the kitchen. I yawned and sat up. I wasn’t sure why it was on but I was going to shut it off so I could go back to sleep. I finally had a day off and I planned on sleeping all day.

I stopped short when I saw Arsen sitting in the kitchen with a bowl of cereal, flipping through a magazine.

I had forgotten about him being here and I was startled.

He must’ve felt my eyes on him because he glanced up and a big grin spread across his face.

“That is some seriously cool hair!” he exclaimed.

I gave him a confused look and went straight to the bathroom. I flipped on the light and once I saw my reflection in the mirror I couldn’t help but laugh. Part of my bangs were standing straight up and half of my hair was flattened against the side of my face. I looked like I had been chewed up and spit out of a wind tunnel.

I grabbed a brush and began to fix the mess that my hair had turned into, then proceeded to brush my teeth. Once that was all I done, I walked back out into the kitchen and turned on the coffee machine. I yawned again and went back into the living room. I folded my quilt and tossed it back on the couch, before I did my morning routine of opening the front door and taking in a deep breath of the crisp morning air.

I heard Arsen push his chair back followed by the sound of his footsteps as he came into the living room. I felt his curious eyes on me but he didn’t say anything. I leaned my head against the doorway. I liked to do this even on mornings when it was raining, because it had a calming effect on me.

He came over to where I was standing and put his head on my shoulder.

“What are we doing?” he whispered loudly.

I began to giggle and he pulled his face away.

“You know how some people do yoga in the morning or whatever to get ready for their day? This is what I do. A few deep breaths of the morning air and a little bit of time to reflect on the day before and what I hope for the day ahead of me,” I explained.

“That’s actually pretty cool,” he said.

I smiled at him.

The house phone rang and I sighed, walking away from Arsen to go answer it.

“Hello?” I asked.

“Hey, darlin!”

It was Max.

“Hi, Max. What’s up?” I asked, cradling the phone between my shoulder and my ear.

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