Fresh Start, page 37
“That was nice.” Alyssa told her when she pulled back from the kiss.
“Nice?” Hannah giggled. “That was a lot more than nice.”
“Yes, it was.” Alyssa smiled at her and kissed her forehead. “I missed you tonight.”
“I missed you too.” Hannah wrapped her arms around Alyssa’s neck.
“Let’s get you undressed the rest of the way and then into the shower to sober you up.”
“Wait. What?” Hannah sat up as Alyssa pulled on her hands to get her to sit up on the bed.
“Come on, Han.” She pulled Hannah up to a standing position.
“You don’t want me to-”
“Oh, I do, but I also want to take care of you right now and that’s more important than the other thing.”
“The other thing being me taking care of you?” Hannah asked, slid the skirt off her body, and she watched Alyssa’s hungry eyes rake over her.
“You’re always taking care of me, Han.” She met Hannah’s eyes. “Let me take care of you tonight, okay?”
“So, shower?” Hannah asked.
“Yes, shower.” Alyssa smiled, pushed her gently in the direction of the bathroom, turned on the water, checked the temperature and watched Hannah get in.
“A solo shower?” Hannah questioned.
“Yes.” Alyssa laughed and left her in the shower alone to clean up.
When Hannah was done, she climbed out to find that Alyssa had placed bed clothes on the sink. She toweled off and left them there, choosing to sleep naked like they’d done so many times before. She hung the towel up and found Alyssa in bed and under the blankets.
“I went over to my place and shut everything down for the night. Okay if I stay here?” She asked without looking in Hannah’s direction, but when she did finally look at her, she gulped. “I left you clothes.”
“I know.” Hannah returned with a smirk and looked at the table next to the bed. “Water?”
“And aspirin for in the morning if you need them.” Alyssa explained and lifted the blanket for Hannah to climb under. “Are you sure you don’t want me to make you something? A snack?”
“I’m okay.” Hannah slid under the blanket and noticed Alyssa was still in her shirt and shorts. “You sure you don’t want to take those off?” She motioned with her head.
“You’ll just try to take advantage of me.” Alyssa teased.
“Probably.” Hannah admitted.
She waited while staring at Alyssa until Alyssa rolled her eyes and removed her shirt followed by the remainder of their clothing. Hannah watched her sink down into the bed further and then joined her, but opened her arm so Alyssa would rest her head on her shoulder.
“It was a weird night without you.” Alyssa began.
“It was weird without you too.” Hannah replied, playing with her hair.
“Did you have fun?” Alyssa asked.
“Some, yeah.” Hannah told her. “It was nice to get out. I like Penny, but then the other two showed up and she and Willow started their flirting and it was awkward. I wanted to come home to you, but she was my ride so I had to wait it out.”
“You could have called me. I would have picked you up.”
“Illegally.” Hannah offered. “And the other option was to have your mother drive over to get me and that seemed like possibly the most embarrassing moment of my life.”
Alyssa chuckled and Hannah felt it against her chest.
“I need to get my license renewed. The place is only open Monday through Friday and I can’t take time off yet and if I call in sick, Ron will use that against me.”
“Give it more time. He’ll hire a replacement and by then, you should be able to take a day off to go get it taken care of.”
“It’s starting to bother me; not having a car. In the beginning, I didn’t care. I was fine staying in and being on my own, but now, I don’t know.”
“You want to get out there.” Hannah returned.
“I guess I do. The press is non-existent now and I know that will change if something new breaks in the case, but I don’t know if that will ever happen so I want to get out there again. I want to be able to visit Rachel and some of my old friends or make new ones.”
“That’s great, Al.” Hannah encouraged.
“You have a skill; you know that?” Alyssa lifted her head to tell her.
“What?” Hannah laughed lightly.
“You always manage to get me to talk about me, but not tonight, babe.” She rolled onto her back and opened her arm for Hannah to slide into her this time. “Tell me about your day.”
Chapter 43:
Alyssa was able to keep her reaction to her nightmare quiet this time. It had been happening a lot more since she’d considered Derrick a suspect and the first few nights, she’d woken Hannah up, but her body had figured out how to wake itself up more quietly and when she saw it was only five minutes until the alarm would go off, she decided to slide out of bed, dress and kiss Hannah on the forehead before she left to go get ready at her own apartment.
Alyssa dressed for work and checked her phone for the tenth time that morning before giving up on Hartley’s call. She headed to the office and opened it. She was the only one in that day with the exception of Ron who would come in around ten and work until six. She thought maybe she’d stay on until six as well despite the fact that her shift only went until five because maybe then he’d see she was a dedicated employee who did good work, but it only took him being there for five minutes and arguing that she’d gotten the wrong doughnuts for the table that morning. She didn’t even bother telling him that she doesn’t pick up the doughnuts. They’re delivered every morning and Erin was the one that arranged it and the doughnut variety was always just by chance. He complained for the third time about the coffee flavor varieties before making himself a cup and then another after that. Alyssa watched Ron nearly high jump over Erin’s old desk to get to a woman who came in interested in a unit. Alyssa wasn’t sure how much more she could take. When Ron returned from showing the woman the apartment and the woman left, Alyssa asked to take her lunch break.
“I’m heading out to lunch.” She told him.
“Fine, but get back fast. I have an appointment in LA and I want to get out of here no later than one to miss traffic.”
“I thought you were here until six.” She stood up from her desk and watched him grab his second doughnut.
“I have a regional meeting today. I told you about it yesterday. It’s at three.” He lied.
“I’m off at five. Are we closing early?” She asked, but knew the answer.
“You’ll stay until six. We discussed this.” They hadn’t discussed it at all.
“Fine.” Alyssa replied and grabbed her phone and keys.
She headed out the door; anger nearly bursting out of her. She did her best to try to push the anger aside and allow the normal nerves to kick in as she sat on her sofa, staring at her cell phone on the table, waiting for it to ring. At exactly noon, the phone rang from an unknown number. She picked it up, took a deep breath, let it ring once more and answered.
“Hello?”
“May I speak to Lynn Masters, please?” A soft voice replied.
“This is she.”
“This is Miranda Gonzalez from Red, White & Blue. Is now still a good time for a quick chat?”
“Of course.” Alyssa returned nervously and hoped it wasn’t showing.
“Great. So, I took a look at your resume and I can see you’re from California?”
“Yes, I grew up in a town just outside of LA, but I spent my college years and a few after there.”
“I’ve spent some time in LA. It’s nice there. You’re interested in relocating to Chicago? Think you can stand our winters?” She laughed lightly.
“I think I’d need to buy some new clothes, but I can take it.” She paused and then attempted to answer her real question. “I heard about the opportunity from a friend of mine and looked into it. I know about the company and it seems like there are only good things out there about it and the role seems like a good fit for me. I’d be willing to relocate if I was given this opportunity, yes.”
“Good.” Miranda went on to explain the role to her and Alyssa had to keep herself from interrupting at nearly every turn when nearly each part of the job sounded appealing to her and not just appealing.
The job sounded perfect for her. She kept telling herself not to get excited. It was just a phone interview. Miranda asked her several questions, but all very basic and Alyssa answered them the best she could and remained hopeful that the answers were want Miranda wanted to hear. They exchanged proper goodbyes and Alyssa hung up with the name Lynn ringing in her ears. Miranda didn’t know who she really was and once she did, this whole thing would likely be over.
***
“Hey, what are you doing?” She asked when she watched Alyssa wrap a rubber band and piece of paper around the door knob of a unit downstairs from her own apartment.
“Work.” Alyssa answered and came toward her. “Ron had me stay late and then gave me fliers to put up.” She held up the papers. “Have I mentioned how much I hate him and this job now?”
“Do you want some help?” Hannah leaned in, kissed her and went to pull off a few rubber bands from Alyssa’s wrist. “I can drop my stuff and walk with you.”
“You’ve put in a whole day already. I’ll be done in a half hour or so.”
“I grabbed dinner from the restaurant by the hotel. I got you this wrap I think you’ll like. Why don’t I put it inside and come help? We can split up. It will get done faster that way.”
“Thanks, Han, but I don’t want you to have to do my job after doing your job today. Just go inside and I’ll meet you for dinner when I’m done.” Alyssa appeared defeated almost and Hannah hated seeing her this way.
“Is everything okay?” She placed her hands on Alyssa’s hips.
“I hate him and I hate the job now. I hate that he’s probably going to get his way.”
“What do you mean?” Hannah asked and brushed a strand of Alyssa’s long hair away from her face.
“He’s going to come up with some excuse to fire me. He’s just waiting for me to mess up and it’s probably going to happen because he never tells me anything I should know and thinks I should know everything anyway. I’d quit, but I can’t.” Alyssa pulled back from Hannah’s embrace. “I’ll come to your place when I’m done. Just let me walk this mood off a bit, okay?”
“You sure?” Hannah’s concern reflected in her tone.
“Yeah.” Alyssa walked off in the direction of the next apartment.
Hannah went inside and set the table on the balcony up for their dinner. She sat down and waited, enjoying the cool night. She’d had a much better day at work despite receiving a text from Tess. Hannah had to ask how she’d gotten her number and she said Penny had given it to her, but a quick text to Penny had delivered different news. Willow had gotten her number off Penny’s phone some time during their night together and had then passed it along to Tess. Hannah politely declined her dinner invitation for the weekend in LA and reminded her that the woman she’d see her with last night had been her girlfriend that she loved.
As she waited for Alyssa to come home, she thought of that word and its meaning. The word home meant much more than four walls and a ceiling. To Hannah, it meant having people she loved there. Though they’d been together only a short time, Alyssa had come to represent home to her. It didn’t matter where they were; in Alyssa’s apartment or her own. They’d spent so many nights together that it felt like they lived in one apartment that happened to have two bedrooms, two bathrooms, two balconies and two kitchens.
“Sorry, I wanted to change first.” Alyssa walked in wearing a pair of gray sweat shorts with an olive-green shirt that Hannah recognized as her own and she smiled when she could see Alyssa’s nipples peeking out from the thin cotton. “What?” Alyssa sat in the chair across from her and eyed the food.
“Nothing.” Hannah smiled again and watched Alyssa examine the chips to ensure they were a flavor she liked. Hannah laughed. “You’re really cute sometimes.”
“Huh?” Alyssa popped a chip in her mouth.
Hannah watched as the cool breeze tossed her dark hair around against the backdrop of the evening setting sun.
“Nothing.”
“So, you keep saying.” Alyssa said back. “I’ll let it go for now though. How was work?”
“It was good.” Hannah stabbed at the lettuce on her plate. “No drunk people fought and no cops had to pay a visit.”
“That is a good day.” Alyssa replied sarcastically and took a bite of the wrap Hannah had chosen for her.
“I take it from our little chat outside that your day was worse than mine.”
Alyssa placed the wrap down on the plate and picked up a chip. Instead of eating it, she kept it in her fingers, but against the plate and stared down at it.
“I don’t know what to do, Han.”
“Quit, Al.”
“I can’t just quit. I need this job. I need my apartment and the money to buy things like food and clothes.”
“You don’t need the apartment exactly though.” Hannah looked down nervously at her salad.
“I don’t want to move back in with my mom, Han. I love her, but with the exception of right after I got out, I haven’t lived at home since I went away to college. I’m too used to not having my mom to report to and I don’t want to go back no matter how much she tries to treat me like an adult. I’d probably end up spending every night here to get away from her.”
“Al, listen to what you just said.” Hannah smiled and looked up at her.
“It’s been a long day, Hannah.” She did look exhausted.
“You’d be here every night anyway. You almost already are. Either we’re there or we’re here.” She motioned to Alyssa’s apartment. “But we spend every night together already.”
“So?”
“I think you should quit and move in with me.” Hannah gulped immediately after the words left her mouth.
Alyssa’s eyes brightened for a moment and then she lifted one eyebrow and used a chip to point at Hannah.
“Didn’t we already talk about this and decide against it?”
“I guess, but I don’t care about then.” She leaned forward. “Al, I love you. It’s fast, yes and if it gets to be too much, we can figure something else out, but we already live together and you are miserable at work. The only reason you’re keeping that job is because of the apartment.”
“And the paycheck, Han.” She reminded.
“You’ll get another job and in the meantime, you can go get your license since you don’t have to be at that stupid office all day. You can interview and I can cover us for a while if I need too. I can even get you on at the hotel if push comes to shove.”
“Work for you?” Alyssa didn’t seem to like that idea.
“Not for me. Just at the same place I work.”
“That’s crazy.”
“Why? I’d hardly ever see you anyway there. Trust me. I’m very hands off. I let my managers manage their people.”
“Han, think about what you’re asking.” Alyssa had stopped eating and Hannah realized she’d stopped too.
“I know what I’m asking and this is your decision. I’m telling you that when I was sitting out here waiting for you, I was thinking that you would be home soon.” She paused and smiled. “And home was here.” She motioned around. “I love you. You’re my home now.”
“I have to tell you something.” Alyssa began. “I wasn’t going to because I don’t know if anything will come from it, but I shouldn’t have kept it from you either.”
“What’s wrong?” Hannah leaned forward and pushed her salad to the side.
“Nothing’s wrong.” Alyssa explained and pushed her food to the side so she could pull Hannah’s hand closer and laid both of her hands on top of them. “Remember how Lindsey was talking about Red, White & Blue and the job opportunities and you told me to apply?”
“Yes.”
“I applied. I put Lynn instead of Alyssa and I had a phone interview today.”
“What?” Hannah nearly shouted with gleeful surprise.
“I applied and I heard back yesterday and she wanted a phone interview today so I did it on lunch and she told me she’d let me know if I was moving on by the end of the week, but she sent me an email this afternoon that she wants me to do a video interview with two members of her team and if that goes well, they’d fly me out to do an in-person interview.”
“Oh my God! Al, that’s amazing!” Hannah stood and walked over to her. She didn’t trust the cheap patio chairs to hold their collective weight, but she didn’t care enough to stop herself from sitting in Alyssa’s lap and wrapping her arms around her neck. She kissed her on the mouth hard and then pulled back with a smile. “Baby, that’s so great. Why don’t you look happier?”
“A video interview, Han.” She repeated.
“You’re worried?”
“Once they see me, it’s all over.” Alyssa pressed her forehead to Hannah’s neck.
“Let’s cross that bridge if we come to it, babe. Just prepare for the interview how you would normally. If they react negatively, you can’t control that.” Hannah tried to comfort, but feared it wouldn’t do much. “When is the video interview?”
