Chapter 7 Hailey
Hailey
Iwasn’t sure how the customer from the coffee shop found me – although I guess it was easy enough given that I lived in the building.
Finding her on my stoop was a surprise, but her handing me a hundred bucks as a tip was over-the-top.
Who did that? My mother always told me that people who had money were different from people like us. I guess she was right.
I watched her eyes grow unfocused as the woman started to sway. What the…? Before I finished the thought she fell into me. Instinctively, my arms went around her, keeping her from crashing to the ground.
Unsure what else to do, I dragged her through the door and lowered her to the floor as gently as possible. She was tall, but surprisingly light. Rolling her over, I tapped her cheeks.
“Miss? Miss? Can you hear me?”
I was about to call an ambulance when her eyes fluttered open. “So hot,” she murmured.
Of course she was hot. The temperature had risen to fifty degrees, and she was still dressed for a ski trip.
I pulled off her hat, revealing long brown hair, silky and smooth.
Next I removed the scarf she still had wrapped around her face.
It was a beautiful face too. Her pale skin was flawless, not a mark anywhere.
She had the cutest little button nose, and luscious pink lips.
I’d never used the word ‘luscious’ to describe anything in my entire life, but somehow it fit.
She was coming to now, but still looked out of it, so I carefully unzipped her heavy parka and slid her arms out of the thick sleeves.
Losing the jacket made her look about twenty pounds lighter.
I couldn’t help but notice that she had perfect breasts, full and firm looking.
I’d always been a breast girl. Her waist was slim, her stomach flat, but even though she was on the thin side, she didn’t look soft. She was definitely fit.
“Hailey.” She whispered my name and I realized she was staring up at me while I was checking out her body like some kind of a perv. She looked dazed.
“How are you feeling?” I asked. “Can you sit up?”
She nodded, and I helped her move into a sitting position.
“Sorry about that,” she said ruefully. “That’s never happened to me before. I’m quite woozy.”
I suppressed a sigh. I guess I was stuck with this stranger, at least temporarily.
“Why don’t you tell me your name?” I said. “And I’ll make you a sandwich or something before you go.”
She paused so long I thought she wouldn’t answer. “It’s Vic… uh, Tori.”
“Okay Tori, let’s get you some food.”
I pulled her to her feet, putting my arm around her waist, and led her to my tiny kitchen table. I’d gotten it at a thrift store when I moved in here five years ago, so it was a little battered, but it served the purpose. I grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, pressing it into her hand.
“Drink, but not too fast. Just sip it. You’re probably dehydrated. Do you need me to call anyone for you?”
She shook her head. “No. Thank you.”
“Well, I hope you like peanut butter and jelly, because that’s all I really have.”
“I don’t know, I’ve never had it.”
I stopped with my hand in the cabinet, staring at her in shock. “You’ve never had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich?”
She shook her head.
“Were you raised Amish or something?”
Her eyes met mine, and I could see secrets hiding there. I wasn’t sure how, but I could. It was like I knew her, even though I didn’t know her at all.
“No, but I had a sheltered upbringing.”
“Hmm.”
Pulling out a plate, I made her a sandwich, cutting it into fourths, just like my mother used to when I was a kid. I grabbed a cannister of Pringles and brought them over to my guest. Tori.
“Here you go.”
She picked up a square of her sandwich daintily, like she was having tea with the Queen, and took a small bite. Her eyes widened.
“Hey! This is really good.”
She took another bite, this one bigger, and nodded with approval. “I like it.”
I opened the cannister of Pringles and took a couple before nudging it closer to Tori.
“Have some chips. You could probably use the salt.”
She frowned at the cannister, like she’d never seen Pringles before, then shrugged and helped herself to a few chips.
“I really appreciate you feeding me,” she said after she’d finished half her sandwich. “I left home in a rush and forgot to eat.”
“Forgetting to eat must be nice,” I said wryly. I’d never missed a meal in my life, and I had the love handles to prove it.
She studied me, like I was some fascinating specimen she’d found out in the wild.
“You’re a normal person.”
I blinked. “Uh, sure.”
“I like that,” she said decisively.
I had no idea how to respond to that. She continued to watch me with that unnerving stare as she started in on the second half of her sandwich.
“You’ve really never seen me before?”
“Did you hit your head when you fainted?” I asked in concern. “I saw you at the coffee shop downstairs, remember? You came up here because you felt bad about not tipping me, which I have to say is both super sweet and super creepy.”
She gave me a smirk that was a little crooked, and I loved the way it made her perfect face look more real. More natural.
“Of course,” she said quietly. “Sorry. How many bedrooms do you have here?”
I was getting whiplash from this conversation. “One. Why?”
“I need a place to stay.”
“Oh no!” I jumped to my feet. “I don’t even know you. I only let you inside because you fainted. You’re not going to stay here.”
“How much do you want?” She pulled out a wad of hundred dollar bills from her pocket. “Is five hundred enough for one night?”
She wanted to give me five hundred dollars to spend the night in my crappy apartment? Now I knew she was insane.
“I’m not running a hotel here,” I said firmly. “However, I’m glad to help you find a place that will meet your needs. I doubt if there’s a single hotel in the entire city that will cost you five hundred bucks a night. This isn’t New York or L.A. you know.”
Suddenly she looked sad, which made me feel guilty. “Anyone else would take my money,” she said.
“I’m not anyone else,” I replied, returning to my chair and grabbing some more chips.
“I’m starting to realize that.”
She ate a few more bites of her sandwich before she spoke again. “Look Hailey, the truth is, I’m in a bit of trouble. I need a place I can hide out, just for a couple of days.”
“Are you in trouble with the cops?” I asked.
She shook her head. Good, like my mom, I wasn’t fond of cops. And I was too soft for jail.
“Is there a mob hit out on you? Do you owe money to a bookie? Do you have a crazed ex-boyfriend stalking you?”
Tori burst out laughing at my rapid fire questions, and her smile was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. It lit up her whole face.
“You have a vivid imagination. But I’m not having issues with the cops, the mob, or a bookie,” she said. “And since I’m a lifelong lesbian, there are no ex-boyfriends stalking me.”
“Then why do you need to hide?”