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LAUREL

Her body was flushed, her breath clenched with anticipation as the man with the cerulean gaze stared at her heaving bosom and…

“That is so stupid!”

Laurel sighed heavily, turning away from her computer screen, and looked over her shoulder at her younger sister, Kendall, standing there in her pajamas watching her, eating a whip of red licorice. As she took a bite, Laurel reached up and took the cord of sweetness from her, biting into it, and glared at the girl.

“Uh, don’t you have to get ready for the school bus?”

“No, it’s Saturday.”

“Oh.”

“Technically, it’s Saturday afternoon – and give me back my breakfast.”

“Licorice is not breakfast. Why are you still in your pajamas?”

“Look down and ask yourself the same question,” Kendall shot back, rolling her eyes. “And you might ask yourself why all of your dragon-sex-monster-guys have cerulean eyes… that is so stupidly corny, I swear.”

“Hey!” Laurel bit out in disbelief. “Before you judge, those ‘cerulean’ eyes pay for this condo and that licorice you’re eating.”

“And we’re out.”

“Well, why’d you eat it all?”

“Because I was hungry.”

“Then make some food.”

“We don’t have any.”

“What do you mean we don’t have any?”

“Well, you’ve been writing all these dragon-boinking-scenes and…”

“Kendall…”

“You haven’t showered in three days because…”

“Because I have a deadline and dragon romantasy books do not write themselves. You know the rule of thumb and how I get paid.”

“Once a month,” Kendall groaned, rolling her eyes.

“That’s right – the twenty-ninth giveth the moolah… and the twenty-ninth taketh away,” Laurel chanted, feeling a slight twinge of guilt as she looked at her sister, reminding her of the bills.

It wasn’t Kendall’s fault that their parents died eighteen months ago or that they were overwhelmed with bills. Honestly, she was really lucky that the judge gave her custody over Kendall instead of putting her in foster care, and that was because of these stupid ‘ dragon-boinking-scenes’ in a hot series that was selling wildly.

Yeah, her fantasy romance books paid the bills to keep them living here, and she would have the unexpected funeral expenses paid off in another ten months or so – just as long as it stayed a hot trend.

“So, no food?”

“Nope.”

“Do I need to go find something in the cupboard?”

“Dare ya…”

“Really?”

“I had stuffing last night and…”

“Oh my gosh, okay – okay – bad sister,” Laurel interrupted as the twinge of guilt felt more like a tidal wave. “Do not tell anyone you had instant stuffing for dinner.”

“Or licorice for breakfast?” she asked pertly, causing Laurel to grumble as she saved her document and got to her feet. “Where are you going?”

“Obviously, I’m going to the grocery. Do you want to come?”

“And do adult garbage stuff that is going to involve you griping about how expensive everything is? I swear, you sound like an old lady when you start nagging about how ‘ eggs used to be ninety-six cents for a dozen ’ and bring your own grocery bags.”

“It’s called recycling – and that wasn’t that long ago!” Laurel hollered over her shoulder as she pulled her long curly hair into a makeshift ponytail before shoving a cap on her head.

“No bra?”

“No tits,” Laurel muttered, patting her flat chest. “Besides, nobody is going to see me, and I never do any signings or put my face on social media.”

“Nope – it’s all a bunch of dragon schlongs…”

“Oh. My. Gosh,” Laurel gaped in horror at her younger sister who simply stared at her flatly. “Do not say that word ever again .”

“Schlooooong?” her sister mocked deliberately as her eyes danced.

“Look, do you think I like writing that stuff? It pays the bills, and I swear, if you don’t stop saying that, I’m gonna change genres, and then we’ll just go back to being flat-broke. So, before you say another word – you be grateful for those cerulean eyes and dragon…”

Laurel’s eyes widened as Kendall’s face exploded into a grin that could only be described as manic.

“Never mind.”

“Oh no – please continue teaching me your ways, oh Wise One. What were you saying?”

“I’m saying that you need to get a college degree so you don’t have… you know what? I’m going to the store now. Don’t open the door for anyone. Don’t cook anything. Don’t touch my computer. Don’t…”

“I get it. I get it,” Kendall waved her off. “Don’t live while I’m gone, and if the boogeyman shows up – everything is free to go except the precious laptop.”

“Kendall…”

“I know. It pays the bills.”

“Look, just relax and watch some television.”

“I’d rather read what you wrote.”

“I’d rather you didn’t,” Laurel retorted immediately as she grabbed her purse. “Wish me luck because if that black sportscar is over the line again, I’m gonna run my key up and down his driver’s side door.”

“No, you won’t.”

“Don’t tempt me,” she retorted. “Why do you think I’m in yoga pants?”

“Because you haven’t showered in three days?”

“Nooooo,” Laurel drew out, trying not to be insulted as she sniffed her armpits and winced. “It’s because the last two times I’ve gone to leave the apartment, that jerk has parked almost right up against the driver’s door of my car. I’m tired of him and going to file a complaint – again.”

“Ooooh,” Kendall mocked, waving her hands. “Now she’s really mad. It’s complaint time.”

“And before I say something to hurt either of our feelings – I love you , and I’m getting food,” she mocked, giving her a salute as she walked out the door right as Kendall tossed a quick ‘ Love ya too’ over her shoulder.

Laurel walked down the hallway to the elevator, logging in on her cell phone to check her balance. She had three days until she got paid and was feeling the pinch so badly right now.

Having Kendall at the apartment had practically doubled the cost of everything. Twice the amount of food, twice the clothing, heck – she even had school expenses to pay for, like locker fees and internet. What happened to public school like when she was young?

“Oh my gosh, I do sound old…” Laurel muttered just in time to see the elevator door open – and stared as she met a very familiar set of blue eyes. The same blue eyes that haunted her dreams and lived in her mental fantasies.

And those blue eyes turned away as her childhood crush, the hottest man she ever knew, and the person she patterned every male character in her mind after, looked away almost like he didn’t recognize her or didn’t want to – reminding Laurel just what she looked like right now. She was wearing Disney yoga pants and a pajama top with a faded sweatshirt over the top, and she glanced down to see she was wearing two different colored Crocs.

Yeah, I ain’t saying ‘hello,’ she thought painfully as she chanced a glance at Dustin Lafreniére and was assaulted by so many thoughts and memories. She’d had a crush on him since she was seventeen – and for ten years, she had compared every date, every guy she met, every fictional character to him… just wishing he would look twice at her.

But not today.

Please, if there is a God above, do not let him look at me today.

They stood there silently, both staring at the elevator doors, neither looking at the other, and she could have sworn that he had taken a second look at her. Please, noooo , she thought, swallowing as she tried to think of a reason for not showering, not fixing her hair, and for two different pairs of shoes.

“Laurel, right?” he began quietly as the elevator door opened on the twelfth floor. Of course, he lived on the top floor. He was a big-shot hockey player and… oh no, he knows it’s me! He said my name!

“I’m sorry - who?” she blurted out.

… And nearly slapped herself across the face in disbelief and frustration as his bright blue eyes widened for a moment before he simply got off the elevator without another word. As the doors slid closed, the two brain cells in her head were finally rubbing together enough for her to make a sentence. “I’m Laurel, and I don’t know why I just said that except that I’m an utter idiot…”

This time, she did slap herself in the forehead – immediately dislodging her baseball cap as the elevator sank to the ground floor leading to a hallway that connected to the garage. Making her way forward to her assigned parking spot – and froze.

“ AREYOUFREAKINGKIDDINGME !”

Laurel screeched as the black roadster was there, parked almost against her car, diagonally in the parking spot, blocking her driver’s door. “That’s it! I’m gonna key the jerk’s vehicle and…” hesitated as her stomach growled painfully.

She stood there, trying to pull herself together, resting a hand on her stomach that was protesting – and realized she was losing her utter mind because she was hungry.

Hangry.

Going to jail or getting arrested for keying a car – no matter how satisfying – would not help her deadlines nor feed Kendall. In fact, it might make things a billion times worse.

“Get in the passenger side, hike your chunky leg over Mount Console, try not to tear your va-jay-jay, and get in the driver’s seat like the queen you know that you are…” she whispered, giving herself a mental pep talk in the politest voice she had because the next five minutes were spent cursing fluently as she managed to squeeze over the console of her Toyota without leaving a greasy nose imprint on the headliner… this time.

A n hour later, on the way home from the grocery store after charging it to her credit card and replaying this afternoon in her head, she took a deep breath – and dialed.

Madeline answered on the first ring – right before Laurel could hang up.

“I was just thinking about calling you.”

“To tell me I need my head examined?”

“One of us does.”

“It’s definitely me,” Laurel muttered and then gave her friend from high school her brightest, cheeriest voice. “How are you doing? I thought I’d say ‘hi’ and see if you want to meet for coffee sometime – and why didn’t you tell me that Dustin lived in the same apartment building as me because we should have discussed this long before now. Do you know I’m wearing two different shoes, busting my butt to hit a deadline, and just ran into his royal hotness in the elevator and pretended not to be me?!” she gushed, finishing in what could almost be called a ‘wail’ of disappointment.

“Breathe.”

“I’m breathing and bordering on hyperventilating. This would be the second panic attack today, and I have three pints of Ben and Jerry’s to prove it.”

“So you ran into Dustin?”

“In the elevator where my body aroma was contained …”

“So speaks the author?”

“Body. Aroma,” Laurel stressed tearfully. “My deadline is Friday, and I’ve got eight chapters to write before then. It’s been three days – the same clothing for three days – no shower, no brushing my teeth, and I ran into your super-hot brother in the elevator. I could just die …”

“From a fungal infection?”

“You’re not even funny.”

“I’m hysterical, and you know it. How’s Kendall?”

“Snarky, lovable, and morphing into a teenager before my eyes.”

“That bad, huh?”

“We had a painful discussion of words to never say to CPS, the school teacher, or the court system…”

“Ouch.”

“I know. Parenting is hard.”

“You’re not her parent – you’re her older sister and guardian.”

“Who’s being forced to parent.”

“Then don’t be one, be a friend.”

“Oh my gosh, we could not be friends – she’s too sarcastic, too dramatic, and… she’s me.”

“We’re friends,” Madeline chuckled. “I happen to love you to pieces.”

“I seriously don’t know why sometimes,” Laurel muttered, rubbing her brow. “What am I going to do about your brother? How can I avoid him if he’s living in the same building. I should move. I should definitely move because I cannot take seeing him with some floozy or letting him see me like this… it’s just too much. If he says ‘hello’ again – I’m likely to knock him out with my breath. I have groceries, too. This means I’m gonna have to dart to the elevator, pray like heck that he’s not going to use it, and then somehow get to my place so I’m stinky-safe, Madeline. I need to be stinky-safe !”

“And you can then shower.”

“And I will shower,” Laurel confirmed listening to her friend’s laughter. “You can talk me down at any moment now.”

“I think you should ask him out.”

“DUSTIN?” she shrieked in horror – only to hear Madeline’s laughter once again. “Okay, you win. You need your head examined because I cannot ask your brother out.”

“Why?”

“First off – he’s amazingly hot. Secondly, still hot. Third, he could have anyone in the world, so why would he want his little sister’s spazzy friend… oh, and don’t forget number four – HE’S HOT .”

“Which is why you should ask him out.”

“I do not need the emotional trauma.”

“Why would it be that?”

“Because he’d say no in a heartbeat, and then I would combust, like ‘ human-implosion-due-to-rejection-majorica.’ It’s a thing – look it up.”

“No, it’s not. You know you are awfully… theatrical . I see where Kendall gets it.”

“I’m bowing right now. In my head, I am epically bowing.”

“I wouldn’t put it past you – but seriously. He’s on the twelfth floor. Just go up, knock on his door, ask to borrow a cup of sugar – and ask him out.”

“I can’t do it,” she whispered painfully. “Madeline, I would never get the words out. You know how I am around him – I clam up completely. I know he doesn’t like me, because he never even acknowledges that I’m there.”

“Have you ever thought that maybe he doesn’t know what to say to you ?”

“You should be a therapist saying garbage like that – I mean, that was sheer inspirational garbage. In fact, it was almost so good that I almost believed you.”

“If it was one of your characters, what would you do?”

Laurel thought for a second, picturing it in her mind, and burst out in hysterical laughter that had her almost in tears. The picture that hit her mind was so vivid, so real, and so intimate – there was zero chance of that happening because she would probably completely flip out at the slightest sign that he was into her. Yeah, full on bout of giggles.

“It’s not that funny… is it?”

“I write smutty, fantasy dragon romance… and you know that.”

“So what would your characters do if the woman suddenly showed up to borrow a cup of sugar?”

“Well, there would be clothing ripping, limbs flying, kissing, dragon scales rippling with intensity, and…”

“Wow – color me impressed,” Madeline whispered, stunned, and then cleared her throat. “So yeah, go do that – all of that – right there with my brother and yup. You have my permission to go ‘dragon’ on my brother.”

“I CAN’T DO THAT WITH DUSTIN!”

“Okay – you’ve gotta lay off the shrieking because my sliding glass door just cracked fifteen feet away from me… and I have a nosebleed.”

“It did? You do?”

“No, but my eardrum is throbbing.”

“Ooooh! That’s a good word to use – hang on and lemme jot that down on my phone’s notes.”

“Don’t use that in a book – please – all of society will thank you for avoiding that word.”

“But it’s a good one. I mean, just think about it and…”

“No – and how do you write those sorts of scenes anyhow? You’re a prude and have been since you were thirteen years old. Remember those movies at school about periods and tampons? You blushed and stuttered for hours.”

“Those who can’t do, teach.”

“All hail the mighty teacher then…”

“Right? Because I would totally flip if I was ever in that position where someone was gonna… well… um, yeah .”

“Yeah.”

“Words.”

“Agreed - words.”

They paused for several seconds before Laurel hedged nervously. “Don’t say anything to Dustin about us talking. I was so embarrassed, and my brain wasn’t working. I really don’t want him to know that I’m still crushing on him after all this time. It’s kind of pathetic, and you’d think I would get a backbone or something eventually.”

“He’s a good person – just quiet. Strike up a conversation with him, and you might just be surprised.”

“Ha!” Laurel scoffed. “You know what the single ‘ha’ means, right – it means that it’s never going to happen, and I know that. You know how people have vision boards or goals?”

“Yeah?”

“Your brother is my Mt. Everest… and I’m down here drowning at the bottom of the Mariana Trench in the ocean. We’re complete opposites, and he’s so far out of my league it’s not even funny.”

“You know, one of these days, you are going to have to realize just how wonderful you are and take a chance on something new or exciting…”

Laurel sighed heavily, closing her eyes as she shut off her car.

“Promise me if you ever if that chance for adventure, you’ll say yes.”

“We both know I’m going to die an old maid, unwashed, and in front of my laptop, late for a deadline.”

“Laurel, don’t be so hard on yourself. Now, take the groceries in, feed the both of you, get a shower, and relax. Things are going to be okay.”

“That’s why I called you.”

“Love ya, girl – and don’t be a stranger.”

“Phone works in both directions,” Laurel countered, causing the two of them to chuckle knowingly. Both were busy with their lives, families, and time had a way of slipping fast – but that was what she loved about Madeline. They could reconnect over the simplest of things whether it was five hours or five years – like nothing had been missed.

Ending the call, she got out of her car, glared at the sports car, and loaded up all the bags on her arms, trudging her way toward the elevator.

Thankfully, it was empty.