Born and bred like a prince, Alex was not the kind of kid versed with scoldings. Even when his dad was crossed with him, they'll be more corporal punishment and less talking. Maybe his Mom was always yelling, but not actually scolding. So standing here at 9 am, with the refreshing rays of the rising sun kissing his skin, his brain couldn't process the happenings surrounding him __ well, just one happening…
"Oh, somebody lost his voice," Lara said sarcastically. She had both hands on either side of her waist as she posed like a really pissed off anglophone mother. It scared the living and dead devil out of poor Alex.
"Uhmmm…" he cleared his throat nervously. "Well…" he trailed. "I… actually, I was. I mean… uhmm…"
"You what?" She leaned her head forward, hoping to catch on his words if her ears were closer.
"I__ I-was-Ummm…" he cleared his throat again. Probably his throat had accidentally swallowed his speech, he had to get it back. He nervously shifted his weight from one leg to another over and over again. It looked like he was preparing himself for a dance.
"How did you even do it, you were here when I left, and you are here now. So when did you meet my boss and convince him?" She asked suspiciously.
'oh no!! You are busted Alex. Think. Think. Think, think!'
"Actually Josh and I are friends." He lied smoothly. Luckily he could remember some of the crap that Anthony had reported back to him in the morning, he wasn't even paying attention, little did he know that it'll come in handy.
"You know Josh?" She asked surprised.
Well, Alex wasn't sure if the surprise was a positive or negative one, but he knew that he had to act up good.
"Yea, we were once in camp together." He explained. "We are not buddies though, but we do keep in touch." He added quickly.
"So you just called him and asked him to give me the day off?" Lara couldn't believe it was that simple.
"Actually, I asked for like five days." Alex stupidly corrected. "Wait, he said you had only 'THE DAY' off?"
She narrowed her eyes and pinned her gaze on him.
He turned left and right, hoping that there was someone or something else in his direction that caught her attention and not him. He wasn't sure what he did wrong again.
"I told you not to interfere with my life right?"
"Actually, you did not exactly say that." Alex dumbly argued.
She silently stared at him with a huge frown on her temple.
"I'm sorry, I just wanted you to have some free time."
"That's not for you to decide, ok?" She took a deep breath. " I know you are trying to help me, but I need my salary to survive. I've got this house to maintain, I've got my family to look after. What I earn is not even that much, I barely save. So just the thought that my salary would be subtracted, it kills me." She explained as calmly as possible.
"He won't touch your salary, Lara. He wouldn't dare." Alex assured her.
"You're not even sure about that, he's your friend, but he's my boss. I know how he treats us." She argued.
"I won't deny that, but just relax and enjoy your day, you'll get your full payment at the end of the month. 'She really thinks I'm friends with her boss, what does he even look like?' He made a mental note to take a look at the said Josh's picture.
"I can't relax, there's nothing I can do to pass the time. Where's the fun in being idle?" She waved her hand frustratingly, slapping them on her hip.
She walked past him and went straight to her house.
"Wow, I thought my life was sad and lonely," Alex commented aloud. He strolled back to his bike, to actually oil it this time for real. He felt sorry for her, he knew she was responsible for taking care of her sick dad's bills and her brother's fees, but she needed to have fun too. He'll make sure of that.
That was how he found himself knocking on her door 15 minutes later with a second helmet in his hand.
"Hey!" He said softly when she opened the door. She had an oversized ash t-shirt on. She had no bra under her shirt, her nipples were well printed out. His Pinocchio was waking up again.
"Hey." She looked from his face to the helmet he'd secured under his armpit. "What's up?" She asked as her gaze travelled back to his face.
"Uhmm," he held the helmet forward. "Are you free for a ride?" He asked politely.
"Oh, I'm trying to do laundry and clean up. Can it wait.?"
"Yes, sure." He replied quickly.
" Ok."
"I can help you around, you know… with the laundry." He suggested quickly, just when she was about to close her door.
She stood there silently without moving, contemplating whether she should consider his offer or not.
"You'll be surprised with how much help I will be of." He cajoled.
She smiled. "Show me." She opened the door wide for him.
"I'll continue with the laundry, you can… Uhm…" she spun around trying to figure out what he could do. "Well, just sit down and make yourself comfortable for the next hour." She said quickly and disappeared.
"Unbelievable!!" Alex exclaimed loudly. "I offered to help her, and she left me standing here? That I should make myself comfortable? Do I look that much like a liability?" He asked no one in particular.
He placed his helmet on the table and decided to help her vacuum the living room when he spotted the vacuum cleaner leaning on the kitchen pillar. "Guess you were going to do this next right?" He said as he picked up the vacuum cleaner and got to work.
"What's even there to clean? Your house is already in a better state than mine. Women!" He grunted.
He'd finished putting everything in order in the living room and kitchen in less than 15 minutes.
When Lara walked in, Alex was sitting on the floor, busy filing his nails.
She wiped her hands on her T-shirt, then wiped her eyes, and blinked a couple of times just to make sure she was seeing right and wasn't imagining things. She was flabbergasted.
"Hey, are you done?" He jumped up from his spot and quickly pocketed the nail file as soon as he noticed her presence.
"Did I just see you filing your nails?"