Stitch by Jaime Lewis (ebook reader online .txt) 📗

She walked into the breakroom and smiled when she saw her friend and co-worker Danny sitting at the small table eating his usual cheese and mayonnaise sandwich with a bag of sour cream and onion chips. How a person could eat the same exact food for lunch every day was a wonder to her, not to mention boring.

Danny was her only “real” friend in the city. The two had met when she was interning at Dr. Vineberg’s practice. She and Danny had hit it off immediately. Their personalities were similar, although he was a little more outgoing than her.  He was quite the character. He reminded her of a surfer dude with bleach blonde hair. He attracted women everywhere he went, but unfortunately, Danny wasn’t interested in what they had to offer. He was more interested in his male counterparts. It always made her laugh when women would hit on Danny, and then he’d tell them that he was a fruit loop in the middle of cheerios.

Danny was also the only person besides her family who she had allowed in her apartment. He would apartment-sit for her when she traveled out of town, and sometimes he would crash there. She didn’t mind. He was a neat freak, so she never had to worry about him messing up the place, plus he was a master in the kitchen. So, when he did spend the night, she could count on a gourmet meal for breakfast.

She plopped down in the chair.

“Hey, sweet cheeks.”  He said, smiling before taking a drink of water.

She unzipped her lunch bag and pulled out leftover baked chicken and mashed potatoes from two nights ago.

“So, how was Dr. Walters today?  Has he asked you to come to his office for an important meeting?” Danny asked using air quotes. He smirked, knowing it annoyed her that people were beginning to think she and Dr. Walters saw each other outside of the office. Thank goodness nobody had seen him kiss her last night, although she did confide in Danny.

“Sorry to disappoint, Danny Boy, but I haven’t really seen Dr. Walters, much less spoken to him today.” And, what a relief if was. After his blatant show of possession last night, she had been a little worried about how he would act at the office in front of the other staff. He had told her last night they would talk when she returned from Thanksgiving, but it didn’t mean he wouldn’t try today, so she had hoped to avoid him at all costs.

Danny shocked her by placing his hand over hers. “Hey, you know I’m just messing with you, right? I know there’s nothing between you two.”  She must have given him an odd look because he quickly followed up with, “The look on your face gave you away.”

That didn’t surprise her. She definitely didn’t have a face for poker.  She’d be broke before the game even began. Her mom and sisters always used to tease her that her face gave away her emotions.

She shook her head and smiled at Danny before stabbing a piece of chicken with her fork and shoving it in her mouth. Once she swallowed, she noticed he was still staring at her.

“What?”

He held up his hands in surrender. “Nothing.  Nothing at all, but you do seem a little uptight today. Maybe a little late-night action could release some of that pent-up stress.”

She couldn’t help but laugh out loud at the way Danny gyrated his hips in the chair while making inappropriate sounds.  But that was why she loved him. He could turn the shittiest day into a glorious one just with his personality.

She cocked an eyebrow. “I take it you’re heading to Knots tonight?”  Knots was an okay club not too far from her apartment. They played good music, and most of the patrons seemed normal.  She had learned quickly that her idea of normal wasn’t normal in New York City.

Danny played with his soda can. “I’m leaning towards it. Jasper said he would meet me there.” He waggled his eyebrows, making her laugh again.  Jasper was Danny’s on-again, off-again boy toy. “So, do you want to meet me there?  Oh, you can wear that new sparkle and shine dress you bought last week. You totally rocked it in the dressing room,” He made a face then said, “Scratch that. Don’t wear it because then all the men will flock to you, and I’ll be left to slim pickings.”

“I can’t tonight.”

“Hot date?” He asked. She never told Danny about Stitch. So he had no idea that she wasn’t in the market for a guy.

She shook her head. “No, I need to finish packing, and I promised Willow I’d meet her for a drink.”

Danny put his sandwich down and wiped his mouth with the napkin. “Speaking of Willow, have you talked to her today?”

“I did this morning. That was when she asked if I could meet her tonight for a drink. She mentioned she wanted to talk with me about something.”

“Did she seem off to you?”

“By off, do you mean acting nervous like something or someone was going to jump out and scare her?”

“Yeah. Weird, huh?”

Mia shrugged her shoulders. “I’ll find more out tonight when I meet up with her.” Mia didn’t tell him about the envelope that Willow gave her. It definitely piqued her interest.

“Well, if you change your mind about Knots, I’ll be there all night.”

“We’ll see.” She replied and finished up her lunch so she could get back to work. She planned on leaving the office on time.

◆◆◆

Mia breathed heavily as she slowed her pace to a recovery jog. It was chilly out, but a good run always felt refreshing and was exactly what she needed after the last few days. She had a lot of stress she’d been carrying around, and the cardio workout helped to defuse some of it.

She came to a bench along the pathway and stopped to stretch her legs out. She needed to get back into her