17. Naya
SEVENTEEN
NAYA
As these things happened, my fun Christmas with Darren turned into a non-event because Darren and three of his buddies, who'd gone to Las Vegas for some R&R, came back with COVID.
"How bad is it?" I asked Darren on the phone.
"I think I want to die," he admitted weakly.
"Can I get you anything?"
"Don't you dare come around here. We have food. We have water. We have access to a pharmacy. I hate my life."
"Did you all get a lap dance from the same stripper?"
I heard him laugh and then burst into a coughing fit that sounded extremely painful. "Oh, Darren, I hate this for you."
"I hate that you're alone for Christmas, Sparky."
"We'll make up for it…if you test negative by New Year's Eve," I offered.
"I want to die," I heard one of his friends, a big former linebacker who could still bench press two twenty, whimper.
"Are you all at your place?"
"Yeah, we're COVID central here. We're keeping DoorDash busy."
"Hey, Sparky, will you drop off some of your Christmas cookies?" another one of his friends shouted. "My wife is pissed with me and won't give me any."
"You leave them at the door," Darren instructed.
"Aye, aye, captain."
"Okay, now I'm gonna go die a little bit, alright."
"Big hug, D."
"Big hug, Sparky."
Well, that was a debacle, I thought as I set my phone down on my desk in my cubicle.
It wasn't the end of the world though. I decided to be nice to myself and maybe take a spa day.
And then decided against it. I just couldn't expose my scars to someone.
Damn it! I hated my life. Hated that I was afraid of just letting it go and letting my scars be seen.
But I couldn't. No matter how much therapy I had, this was the one thing I couldn't get past, which held me back from so many things.
I banged my head against my desk, feeling frustrated.
"You alright there?"
I sat up and curbed my groan that Amias had to walk in right then to see me lose my shit.
"Yep. All okay."
"Why were you…ah…you know?"
"Banging my head on the desk?"
"Yeah, that." He smiled, and his eyes lit up.
Hush, stupid heart, I instructed. He's getting engaged to that evil witch. He was now truly out of bounds. I had to find something new for my spank bank. Was it okay to masturbate to a married man? Well, if you could masturbate to Chris Hemsworth, who was married, why not Amias Westbrook?
"I just heard from Darren. He and his friends went to Vegas and got COVID, I suspect, from a stripper."
Amias' smile widened. "What a coincidence. My Christmas plans fell through as well."
I cleared my throat. "They did?"
"Yeah."
"How come?"
"Well, the plan was to join my family in Switzerland."
I nodded, waiting.
"But," he stepped into my cubicle and leaned against my desk, his leg brushing against mine, "I broke up with Ann, which pissed my mother off, who was expecting an engagement. I didn't want to deal with angry mom at Christmas."
I reminded my heart again to shut the hell up and not get all hopeful.
Just because he dumped the evil witch—or did she dump him?
—didn't mean that he'd be jumping my bones anytime soon.
Or ever. I couldn't imagine a universe in which I'd allow Amias to see me naked.
Even if the lights were completely turned off and there was Polar Night around us, so there wasn't even a sliver of light, he'd still be able to touch my scars.
So, naked sexy times with Amias was a hell no!
Yeah, because he's just wanting to get into your panties, Naya. Look at him? Does he look like the kind of man who'd want to be with a woman like you?
My heart quietly deflated and crushed hope as it did.
"I'm sorry about your breakup," I said politely.
"Are you?" he challenged.
I blinked, and then immediately, my eyes darted down to my lap.
"No, look at me when you talk to me," he whispered.
"There are people around," I hissed, still staring at my lap.
"Then don't make me say things that may attract their attention." He didn't even keep his voice down. Thankfully, the others were at lunch, the few who were still around and hadn't taken the whole week before Christmas Day off. But someone could be lurking around.
"It's sad when a relationship ends," I mumbled, now looking at him. There was something about his smile, it was…affectionate. And panty melting.
I think I preferred hostile Amias because I knew how to handle that. This Amias, the one who was all but flirting with me, I had no clue what to do with.
"I'm not sad," he remarked, "in fact, I'm happy it's over."
"You are?" I hoped my eyes didn't go wide like in a cartoon, with the eyeballs going up and down like crazy.
"I didn't think we were suitable for each other."
Hallelujah! That you found out, Amias. Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!
"Here is what I was thinking," he continued, "Since you don't have any Christmas plans, and neither do I, how do you feel about spending it with me?"
Okay, now my eyes were doing the eyeball around the socket thing like in a cartoon. "Pardon?"
He chuckled. "You heard me, Sparky."
I smiled at the nickname Darren used because he'd said he saw a spark in me when we first met, and I was absolutely down in the worst dumps.
"But…why?"
"Because we both don't have anywhere to go, and I'd like to not be alone," he explained as if it made sense.
It didn't make sense…at all. This was a parallel universe where Amias had been taken over by an alien who wanted to perform experiments on me. Sexual experiments?
Hell. Naya, focus!
"Ah…you can come over. I can cook," I offered.
His smile widened. "Yeah?"
"My apartment is small and not…you know, fancy or anything." I knew where he lived. Kara had shown me pictures of his luxury penthouse apartment with a private swimming pool for the love of god. My apartment didn't even have a bathtub.
I had one little bedroom. It could fit a bed and a foldable crib for when Magnus visited. One tiny bath that consisted of a shower, a sink, and a toilet. One small kitchen plus living room plus dining area. I could cook and serve food without walking too much.
"You'll cook?" he repeated.
"Yes."
"Awesome. What time should I be over?"
Amias was going to come to place. This was Earth 2, wasn't it? Was time the same on Earth 2?
"One?"
"I'll be starving by then, Naya. Have mercy."
"Noon?"
"How about I'll come by at eleven and I can even help if you like? Oh, and can you make that cauliflower dish you made when we used to come by your father's place? The one with almonds?"
He remembered what I cooked all those years ago?
"Sure," I squeaked out.
"I'll see you tomorrow. And I'll bring the wine."
"Good because I know what you like, and I can't afford that," I blurted out.
He narrowed his eyes. "How do you know what I drink?"
"Kara told me."
He nodded appreciatively. "And what do you like to drink?"
"Something affordable?" I offered.
"I mean the varietal, Naya," he grinned.
I cleared my throat. "I like Cab…Franc."
He raised an eyebrow. "Okay. What kind?"
"I only know my wine because Darren knows his wine," I confessed. "I like Loire Valley Cab Franc, and I'm a big fan of South African Chenin. I like my champagne Blanc de Blanc and super dry."
"I'm fucking impressed, Naya. You know your wine."
"Only what I like and only because Darren makes me taste wine all the time. He buys cases and has a thousand plus bottle wine cellar at his place."
"Challenge accepted. I'll do better than Darren."
"It's not a contest," I called out to him as he walked away, whistling, Santa Claus Is Coming To Town.