Page 83 of Marley
“Rock Star, you came,” she said with a smile on her face.
“Not yet I didn’t, baby, but I think there’s still hope for us.” She closed her eyes for a few seconds, as if that thought turned her on as much as it did me.
“What can I do for you?” She asked before realising the many comebacks her question could present. Se blushed, licked her lips, and again closed her eyes for a second, but this time it was because she was waiting on, possibly dreading the response she would receive.
I think I came in my boxers a little bit and had to actually control the shudder that rocked my body at her words.
“So much, baby. Where should we start?” I couldn’t resist.
She tilted her head, still smiling. “What do you want, Marley?”
“You, Ashley. I want you.” I told her honestly.
“Well, I’m working right now. It’s this thing that poor people have to do so that they have a bed to sleep in at night and don’t starve to death.”
That pissed me off a little bit. Was she implying that what I did wasn’t work?
“Oh, I know what work is. I’ve done plenty of it in my time.”
She studied my face for a few seconds, but because I was still wearing sunglasses, she obviously couldn’t see my eyes. She seemed a little unsure of what to say next, which was most unlike her.
“I didn’t mean ... I meant ...” She trailed off and looked down at her feet. I felt like an arsehole.
I lifted her chin with two of my fingers and took off my glasses with my free hand. “I came to see if I could take you for lunch today.”
“Me?” Her eyes widened as she asked.
“No, the bird that works in the hairdresser’s next door. Yes, you. Are you free?”
She looked around to where the other woman was unpacking scarves and hanging them up and called out, “Hey Lorna, mind if I take first lunch and go now?”
“Go for it.” Lorna called out without looking up.
“Give me a minute to grab my bag,” Ashley said before dashing off towards a door.
I met Ash for lunch on Tuesday, and Wednesday too. I also took her for dinner each of those nights. Each time she insisted that I pick her up from the shop and that she got a taxi home, alone. I’ve had a few theories as to why this was, but I didn’t want to embarrass her by bringing them up.
When I took her out on Wednesday night, she complained of a headache and sore throat, so she left early. I turned up at the shop to meet her for lunch on Thursday anyway, but Lorna told me that she called in sick and left a message for me to say she’d be in touch.
I didn’t think she was blowing me off, at least I hoped not. We’d been having a good time. I’d done something I’d never done before, I dated a girl. Every time I’d tried to convince her to come back to my place, she’d refused, so we’d had dinner and done a lot of talking. Well, I’d done most of the talking, she asked a lot of questions.
She had admitted to having no contact with her parents, but not the reasons why. And she also told me that her brother was a drug addict and was constantly in and out of prison. She told me that she lived with him while she was at college, but he was always stealing from her, so as soon as she was able to get a full-time job, she’d found her own place to stay.
I wasn’t sure what kind of wages my family paid her, but I knew how expensive rent was in the area we grew up in, and if she was living near the shop, she wouldn’t have been leaving herself a lot to live on once she’s paid out rent money.
This worried me. I hated the thought that she might have so little when I had so much, and I was only too happy to share it with her. She didn’t have a car either, and I wanted to change that. I’d known Ash less than a week, but I knew for a fact that if I was to turn up with a car for her one day, she’d probably run me over with it.
I slipped out the back doors of the shop and up the stairs to Georgia’s flat. I’ve not seen Maca since last Saturday night, and had only spoken briefly to either of them on the phone.
I pressed the intercom and stood and waited like a lemon for someone to answer.
It’s George. “Yeah?”
“It’s Marls, let me in.” I replied self-consciously into the machine. I hadn’t noticed any photographers outside, but you never knew where those slippery little fuckers could be lurking.
The door opened and I walked along a short corridor. As the front door opened, Maca was standing there, grinning at me. He was shirtless and wearing a pair of jeans that were undone. His hair was a long, ratty mess, and his beard needed a sort out, but it was the happiest I’d seen him looking in years. I couldn’t help but smile back at the wanker.
“Dude.” He pulled me in as I held my hand out to shake his and slapped me on the back.
