“Well, don’t you look like a buttered biscuit that got left in the oven a bit too long?” Marla said as Yasmine got into the car looking a bit flustered and out of breath. The brunette looked over at the strawberry blonde in confusion.
“What does that mean?” Yasmine said in confusion, causing Marla to laugh out loud.
“I’m jus’ sayin’ that ya look a lil burnt round the edges, hon. But still good nuff ta eat.” She winked slyly with another giggle before driving off and heading for their work.
"O-oh, okay?" Yasmine was still very confused by Marla’s odd way of talking. She always had some strange saying to go with any and every situation. She didn’t mind, but she also rarely understood just what she was trying to say.
Once they got to work, Yasmine took a few moments to get her picture taken for her badge, which signified that she was a legitimate member of city hall. They didn’t have a way to print a plastic badge there, so it would take a few days to come. Until then, she would just work as normal.
Her second day at work went much like the first, just a little bit smoother as she already knew how most everything was supposed to go. Everything was basically as it should and the work day passed uneventfully.
“It's bout quittin time, dear.” Marla’s sweet voice chimed in behind her. Yasmine paused and turned in her chair to look at her.
“Yup, just gonna finish up this last form and I will be packing up.” She said with a smile before turning back to her work. Marla gave the back of Yasmine’s head a small smile.
“Alright, but don’t get too lost in yer work hon, no one is gonna yell at ya if you don’t work to the very last minute. Between you and me, I tend to cut out a bit early most days.” Marla said with a giggle as she slung a small bag over her shoulder. Yasmine had turned back to look at her boss again. Everything at her station had already been shut down and closed up. She got another wink form her before Yasmine watched her walk around the desk and head for the door.
“Oh… okay. Thanks, Marla. Oh, and thanks again for picking me up this morning; I really do appreciate it!” Yasmine said with a soft smile.
“Oh, don’t even mention it, darlin. Now that I know where you live, you best be expecting a visit sometime soon. I want to meet this Monty fella as well.” With that, Marla turned to walk out the door but heard the crash of a chair hitting the floor. She quickly looked back to find Yasmine’s chair toppled over, and she was sitting on the floor.
“Yasmine! What happened?” Marla said quickly, rushing back over to Yasmine, who was sitting there in a slight daze. It wouldn’t be the first time she found the young woman on the floor, so her worry was a bit amplified. “Are you alright, hon? Come on, speak to me." She said, dropping down to her knees and placing a hand on the dazed woman.
Yasmine blinked out of her stunned silence to look up at the busty woman who was rubbing her back now.
“Y-y-you want to meet Monty? How do you…” The memory of her drunken babbling came back to her. That's right, she had spilled all sorts of stuff about having a roommate named Monty. Though Marla seemed to think that the man wasn’t just a roommate.
“I’m sorry if I over stepped hon, I just thought I could bring over my husband or you two could come over one day and we could have a nice dinner together. If ya aren’t comfortable with it just yet, that's fine. Don’t want ta pressure ya or anythin’ of the sort.” Marla, of course, quickly backtracked to try and make Yasmine less uncomfortable. “Come on, let's get ya off the floor, dear.” She wrapped an arm around hers and pulled Yasmine to her feet.
Yasmine had tried to stand up a bit too suddenly and lost her footing, causing her to fall back down onto the edge of her rolling chair, which toppled forward and away, leaving her sitting on the floor. She was kind of stunned by the sudden shift from being up to suddenly being on the floor.
“No, I mean, it's just… Well…” She desperately tried to think of an answer to Marla’s concerns. She sure as shit couldn’t tell her that Monty was a ghost and that she couldn’t see him if she tried. Marla would think she was insane and look at her like she was crazy from then on. Yasmine didn’t want that. She didn’t want the kindest boss she had ever had the pleasure of working with to see her differently. Really Marla wasn’t just her boss, she was already the closest thing to a friend she could think of. It happened so fast, but Yasmine really really didn’t want to lose her as one if she could help it.
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“It's not that I don’t want you to come over, I just don’t know how Monty would feel about it. He’s… Well, he is kind of shy and doesn’t do well around strangers. I can talk to him about it, but I am betting he would just make himself scarce if he knows you are coming over.” Yasmine tried to explain as best she could, and thankfully, Marla nodded with a smile.
“I completely understand darlin’. I don’t want to impose at all, its his home as well, so the last thing I want is to intrude. After all as my husband likes ta say. A man’s home is his castle.” She said with a roll of her eyes. Yasmine couldn’t help but giggle a little, a smile finally coming to her face.
“Thank you Marla, I really would like to have dinner with you one of these nights and meet your husband.” If a man was able to win the heart of someone as sweet as Marla, Yasmine was almost certain that he would have to be a man who was just as wonderful.
“Well, how about this Saturday? I will make a nice roast, " she offered right then and there. Yasmine had to think about that for a second. Monty said he was going to tell her about stuff on Friday, so she figured Saturday would be free.
“Umm, yeah, I guess I could do that.” A small smile came to Yasmine’s face.
"Great! I will let Bob know we will be having company this weekend then.” The older woman said excitedly. The two then shared a warm embrace, squeezing each other tight for a long moment. When they finally parted, Yasmine picked up her chair and sat back down.
“Alright, Darlin. I will see you tomorrow.” Marla waved and walked out of the office, closing the door behind her. When she was left alone, Yasmine paused and took a long, deep breath, her smile slowly fading.
“I’m sorry Monty… I wish I could introduce you to everyone.” She knew that no one would understand. Hell, she didn’t understand at first either, and she got this nasty bump on her head as proof. It also got her thinking about Monty being her roommate. Was he really just her roommate… or something more? Her face pinkend slightly from what her brain had come up with this morning. She covered her face for a moment, getting lost in her own thoughts.
“I can’t believe I kissed him this morning!” She let out an embarrassed groan. Sure, it was just on what she was pretty sure was his cheek. But still, her lips were pressed against him for a moment and that had to count for something. She was never this bold, yet there was just something about being around Monty that just made her feel safe and like she could say or do anything and still be okay. He really was something special to her, and she didn’t want to lose him just as much as she didn’t want to lose her new friend. Maybe even more.
Finally, after removing her hands from her face, she focused back on her work, determined to finish this last page of data and be done for the day. It only took her a few minutes to get everything done and submit it. So once she was finished she turned off her work computer and gathered up her things. Today had felt just as good if not better, than yesterday. Not fainting was always better. When she walked out of her office, she felt the familiar feeling of her hair standing on end for just a moment before it faded quickly as someone approached her.
“Oh hey, Yasmine.” A deep and kind voice called out to her, causing her to freeze for a moment. Ethan walked up next to her prompting her to look up at him. He had a soft smile on his face despite the look of worry on hers.
“I'm glad to see you up and about. Hope you didn’t have too much trouble after we dropped you off. I was still kinda worried about you.” Like always, Ethan's words were sweet and as genuine as ever. And likewise, Yasmine slipped into this unnatural calm that made her more receptive to his presence. It felt like she was there mentally, but everything he said sounded a lot more convincing.
“Oh… yeah, everything went fine, thanks for asking Ethan.” She gave him a small smile.
“That's great. Are you heading out for the day?" She nodded to him. " Me too, mind if I walk with you?” he asked sweetly. Yasmine once again simply nodded to him, and the two proceeded to walk down the stairs and out of the building, not saying much of anything. Before she even realized it, she was outside the building and standing by her car.
“Well, I hope you have a great rest of the night, Yasmine. See you tomorrow.” He waved and went his own way over to a new looking truck parked on the other side of the lot. She snapped back to normal as soon as he was a distance away from her. Looking at his back gave her goosebumps and made a chill run up her spine.
“What the hell is up with that guy? Why does he give me the creeps? Like he’s really nice, but damn, it's like there is something off about him that I just can’t ignore or put my finger on. Why am okay with Marla but not her son?” She said to herself, finally acknowledging it aloud. Even if he was the nicest guy on the planet, this awful feeling made him a complete and utter no when it came to being anything more than just co-workers.