Trouble

Vicki was nice enough to drop me off at the house. She parked the car in the lot and walked me to the door. She held my hand and I grew comfortable to it. When we reached the door, she smiled sadly and let go of my hand.

“So, this is where we say goodnight huh?” She smiled slightly, reaching back to rub her neck.

I nodded, meeting her gaze, “It is.”

“Well, then good night. Thanks for the great evening. My favorite was the ice cream parlor. Tomorrow night I’m going to show you more of my favorite places. And maybe you’ll fall in love with them too,” She flashed me a smile and her teeth shone in the moonlight.

“That sounds amazing. I’m excited for tomorrow already.”

She blushed and took a step down from the steps, looking at me. She bit her lip, eyes flickering towards mine. Then she returned back to her step and met my gaze softly.

“Can I…Can I kiss you good night?”

My eyes widened slightly. That was bold. I had never been with anyone, let alone a woman. Though, I had to admit, Vicki was so sweet and she wanted nothing more than to show me the world through her eyes and memories. The thought of it made me smile.

Well, here goes nothing. I took a deep breath and flashed her a tired smile, tilting my head up. Did I forget to mention she’s like a foot taller than me in her boots? Like holy hells.

“Yes. You can.”

Her eyes lit up and I swear she stared at me like she was the luckiest woman. Her lips were soft when they pressed against mine and my knees went weak. I tried to kiss back, but with my lack of, you know, kissing anyone it went okay. If I did bad, she didn’t complain. But rather the opposite. When her eyes opened as she pulled back they continued to shine and she gave me a soft side smile.

“Thank you. That was really sweet. You really didn’t have to. I didn’t want to pressure you into anything tonight,” Her voice dropped lower so only I could hear it as she spoke, “I’ll pick you up around six again, okay?”

I nodded, smiling to myself as she walked back to her car. She gave me a friendly wave goodbye. Once her car was out of sight I sighed happily and felt like a little kid again. I felt giddy. It was great.

I opened my door, only to be face to face with Sierra. I screamed, jumping back and stumbling into the door tripping over my own shoes. She was eyeing me over, eyebrow raised. She had on one of my robes with an extra bra of mine on underneath, and by my guess, a pair of my underwear as well.

“Who was that? Where have you been all day?” She raised a brow.

I stared at her, literally and figuratively floored, “Excuse me? You’re the intruder here. Why are you in my house?” I nearly shouted.

“Well, you let me in earlier. I was just coming back after bring my stuff here.”

What? Let her in?

“Um, what? Last I checked you shoved your way in when Vicki showed up.”

“So that’s the freak’s name.”

I stood, pointing a finger in her face, “Vicki is not a freak. She’s a unique woman who likes to dress in different clothes. What makes you so different from her anyway?”

Instead of answering, Sierra just shrugs and takes my wrist, dragging me into the kitchen. She sits me down in a seat and drags a bag out of the fridge, popping two containers into the microwave. The smell comes my way and I listen to my stomach growl.

Chinese food. Yum.

“Just, look, I need a place to hide out while some stuff blows over. You gotta let me stay here.”

I stared at her, dumbfounded, “What did you do?”

“It’s nothing to concern you.”

“You’re hiding in my home from people with guns and other weapons! It concerns me the most!”

She scoffed and dug a pack of cigarettes from her back pocket. After removing one she lit it, leaving to the back porch. I followed her, arms over my chest. I tried to stifle my yawn but it came anyway.

“We will discuss this in the morning. I’m too tired to argue about this anymore. You can stay on the couch until we sort this out,” I yawned once again, stretching and turning inside.

Her hand took my wrist to stop me. Surprisingly her hands were soft and she turned me around to face her. And I found myself in the same situation I was in with Vicki on the front porch. She stood over me, face inches from mine.

“I tried to keep you out of danger, I tried to stay away, but you seem like the only person I can trust in this situation right now. But once I figure out a way out of it, I’ll be out of here and away from you again. You don’t need to be in this danger anyway,” She stared me in the eyes, her blue and green looking so fragile as she spoke to me.

“Just, whatever it is. Don’t hide it from me,” I whispered, moving to turn my head away but her other hand took my jaw.

“I don’t have much to give you to thank you. I can only give you what I know.”

What she knew? What the heck did that mean? My face must have given off my puzzled expression because she smirked at me in her usual way.

And then my heart stopped and froze for a solid minute when she pressed her lips down on mine like Vicki. No this wasn’t like Vicki’s kiss at all. Her lips were rougher, more needing. They crushed mine, her top teeth grazing my bottom lip. It was scorching hot and when she broke away I could only stand there dazed.

That was two kisses in one night. Two different kisses. Totally different. And from two different women. I couldn’t say I enjoyed Sierra’s kiss, but I also couldn’t say I didn’t. It was confusing, while Vicki’s was soft and understanding. And I was starting to enjoy being around Vicki.

Yet here I was stuck with the red head who took over my home without a single fight from me. I was a doormat. I couldn’t even fight her out of my home! This is my place! And here she was claiming it like I had no say.

“I can only pay you with myself right now,” She started to undo the robe but I quickly placed my hand on hers to stop her.

“No! No…it’s fine. Please. You can stay here. Just don’t… do that,” I tried to keep my heart from beating in my ears but that was near impossible. Sheesh. If I wanted some payback for taking her in I would have asked.

As she tied the robe back up I returned inside, heading straight to the living room closet to dig out two quilts and an extra pillow. Throwing them onto the couch, I fixed them out for her.

Though when I was leaving to the back porch I noticed she wasn’t out there anymore. The back light was off and the sliding glass door was locked. Raising a brow, I heard the sound of my bed squeaking and I rolled my eyes. What did ‘you will take the couch while you’re here’ did she not get? That was my bed. Mine. I was not going to share it with her.

And I was right. Looking at her from the doorway, she was already asleep. Her eyelids fluttered slightly while she breathed deep. Her face was so peaceful, and it was a new sight from her usual face. The one that was usually permanently on her face, that looked like she hated the world and whatever it did to her.

Sighing I gave up and crawled into bed beside her after changing. I turned the lap off by my bedside, pulling the sheets more over me. I usually slept on my right side but Sierra was there and I didn’t want to have my face nears hers again. Who knew what she could plan on doing to me in the middle of the night? I barely knew her.

Sleep finally drew me under and I embraced it happily. My dreams were visions of gray and mixes of the events of my day. It ended with Vicki and I leaving the ice cream parlor, but we weren’t heading to her car, and instead walking through the park hand in hand. I smiled in my sleep and enjoyed the dream while I could.

 

Morning felt like it came all too soon. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and found Sierra still asleep. She still looked relaxed, like her troubles were a million miles away and this was her safe haven. It gave me butterflies to look at her and all the usual feelings came my way again.

Though, before I could feel them too long, I forced myself away and to the shower. I made it a long one, with the water running really hot. Any tension I felt melted away under the shower head and when I exited the shower I felt like a different woman.

I snuck by Sierra’s still sleeping form to grab some clothes and rush back to the bathroom. Once locked I changed as quickly as I could and gathered my hair into a towel. Wrapping it up I left it to sit in the towel on my head.

I popped in one of my favorite DVDs of COPS for the morning and took to eating a bowl of cereal. I knew I wanted to see Vicki for my morning coffee, but I needed to speak with Sierra first. That is, if she ever woke up. Dang that woman could sleep.

Then again, when was the last time she actually slept in a bed? Truth be told I didn’t even know if she had a home or bed to go to. Where did she sleep at night before coming here?

Knowing she would be hungry when she woke up I decided to make my coffee trip now and grab her some breakfast while I was out. I scribbled a sticky note for the fridge and left it there as I headed out the door and made my way to my favorite gas station to see my favorite goth.

And there she was, talking with one of the usuals. Well, more like arguing per say. It was always Martin who gave her trouble. He came in every Friday morning for an old newspaper and a bottle of orange juice for his wife. Then he would hassle poor Vicki on the prices. Something she couldn’t control.

As they spoke I grabbed a container of muffins and scones, tossing in a couple donuts. I didn’t know what the redhead wanted, but I knew she wasn’t picky. Then I tried to balance my cup of coffee in the other hand. It actually worked out just fine. Well, I say fine until the pastries spilt out all over the counter top. Luckily Vicki was prepared as she collected them all into a new container and in a bag of their own.

Martin made his way out of the store, grumbling as he did so. I gave Vicki an apologetic look, but she was too busy smiling at me, her eyes lit up. She had in her favorite pair of contacts in today, so they were purple like her hair.

“There’s my favorite lady cop,” She smiled wider, taking my cash when she gave me the total, “You’ve had me thinking of you all night. I couldn’t sleep.”

I blushed and tried to focus on my coffee as I spoke, “Sorry. I didn’t think I could have that effect on someone.”

Her smile fell kind of lopsided at the comment, “But why not? You’re so cool, Alisa. And so sweet.”

There she went with my first name again. It felt so off. Being surrounded by those who referred to you as your last name for the last eight years was something you never grew out of. I always felt more like a Drake anyhow.

“Plus, you always come here to see me in the morning,” She teased, smiling once again.

“Well, you are my favorite morning person,” I confessed, still focused on my coffee.

That’s when her eyes looked where I was and she finally noticed how many pastries I was purchasing. “Holy cow, you planning on feeding an army this morning? Bringing them in for the big boss man?”

I blushed, “Yeah. Something like that. He wants us all fed and sharp for our new project.” I lied, heart sinking at the thought of lying to Vicki, but I had to. Telling her that I had a gorgeous red headed hooker in my house that was being hunted by the local gangs didn’t exactly sound like news she needed to hear. It was an exciting way to start the morning, but maybe I shouldn’t just to keep the morning just the way it is.

“You never did tell me what the big projects about,” She leaned across the counter, fingers dancing on mine.

It felt new and different but I rather enjoyed the contact with her. I knew she was holding herself back. I could feel it. And I respected that she kept the touching and anything else at a minimum to make me feel comfortable. She didn’t want to chase me away and the thought of it was sweet.

“We got an order from the director to keep reports on anything gang related. Apparently, gang activity has picked up and she wants to know anything she can about it so we can distribute our forces better wherever needed in the city,” I sipped my coffee and then thought about Sierra and a lightbulb flashed in my head. I looked at Vicki and she was smiling.

“I know that look. Go ahead and go if you need to. I don’t want to keep you from your day.”

I smiled back and her stood on my toes, and it was my time this time to take her breath away when I gave her a quick soft kiss. One to match the one she gave me last night and I bolted towards the sliding doors in front, waving at her.

“See you tonight!” And with that I was out the doors.

 

No surprise that the red head was still asleep when I was home. Though she had turned to face the window and the strings on her robe had come undone, exposing her bra and panties to me. Well, my underwear set, but on her, it looked amazing.

Way to go, Drake. Not only do you get kissed by two girls in one night, but you also kissed one of them on your own and now you’re getting thoughts about one of them asleep in your bed. Since when did I suddenly grow this affection for women? Probably the same time Vicki’s kiss made my knees weak. The woman must have turned on a switch in me I never knew existed.

I mean I never dated any men in high school or even at the academy, I was always too focused on my studies and trying to pass and become a cop, but even then, I wasn’t interested in anyone. Women or men. And now suddenly my world has felt flipped and turned inside out.

My train of thought derailed immediately when Sierra stretched, arching her back, her chest sticking out. She tossed off the robe and caught herself staring at me when she opened her eyes. I was leaned against the doorframe, watching her. We both kind of froze.

“Morning sleepy head. I need to talk to you. Like, right now. So, get dressed and meet me in the kitchen.”

She scoffed, “Alright miss bossy. You better be feeding me with that attitude.”

“Actually I am. Donuts, muffins and scones. So, you better come grab some before I put them away,” I crossed my arms and left to the kitchen. I was shaking by the time I reached it and took a deep breath, whispering to myself, “Holy cow, I actually stood up to her.”

“Yeah, way to go, you can talk tough to a one hundred and eighteen-pound hooker, I’m so proud of you,” Sierra’s voice made me jump nearly ten feet in the air and I found her standing behind me in a tank top and short shorts.

I tried to scowl but Sierra’s smirk wiped it away. Instead, I tried to take deep breaths and calm myself. She made herself at home in one of the chairs at the table and she leaned back into it like she did with everything, distancing herself from me. She shoved half of a donut into her mouth as I tried to find the words to say, and it amazed me on how thin she was with how much she ate.

“So, you’re going to explain to me why you’re here before I turn you into my buddies at the station for breaking and entering.”

She snorted and finished off the donut, talking to me while it was in her mouth, “Buddies, yeah right. They take advantage of you there. You deserve better honestly. And yeah, sure, you’re going to report me. You’d go crazy without me.”

I glared, “Says who?”

“Look at you. You were obsessed with me from day one. Don’t friggin tell me you didn’t spend days on end looking at me from your office window like a stalker. I could report you to your own boss for that kind of stuff.”

Dang. She was good.

“Fine, fine. Just please, tell me why you’re here. Why are you hiding here? And why do you need my help?”

She was hallway through a banana nut muffin when she rolled her eyes and spoke up. “Well, if I must tell you. I was doing my job with a client and after it all when he was fast asleep I found like this huge suitcase of money he had in his room after I did some snooping and I hit the jackpot.”

“And?” I stared at her, hoping to not hear what I thought was going to come from her lips.

“And I took it and now they’re after me. They knew it was me.”

My jaw hit the floor, my heartbeat in my ears. I was going to faint. I felt it. Sierra was by my side in a flash, her hand holding me steady as I asked shakily, “How much is in that suitcase, Sierra?”

She couldn’t meet my gaze when she answered, “Over a hundred grand.”

Her grip wasn’t strong enough to hold me up when I hit the floor and blacked out.