Park Avenue Player(32)

Chapter 15




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Elodie




I didn’t notice until I started brushing my teeth the next morning. And even then, I still couldn’t believe it. It had to be here somewhere. I pushed back the shower curtain for the second time, positive I must’ve overlooked my black thong the first time I’d checked. It must’ve fallen from where I’d hung it on the shower curtain into the tub. There was no way…

No damn way.

He would never…

Yet the tub was empty.

In denial, I searched the rest of the bathroom and all of my dirty laundry. I was positive it had been hanging in here yesterday when I’d shown Hollis to the bathroom. I’d seen it with my own two eyes. And the matching bra was still hanging right next to where my thong had been. I always wore sets, always washed them together, and always hung them next to each other to dry. But now…it was gone.

I couldn’t stop shaking my head. I had to tell someone. So I grabbed my robe from the bathroom hook, filled my coffee mug to the brim, and headed next door. I hadn’t checked in on Bree in a few days, anyway.

The door opened.

“He stole my underwear!” I marched inside.

Bree’s face wrinkled. “What? Who?” She closed the door and followed me into the living room.

“My new boss. I had four sets of underwear and bras hanging in my bathroom, and this morning my black lace thong is missing.”

I’d been so absorbed in my stupid story that I didn’t even notice Bree didn’t look so hot. Her skin was pale, and she leaned on the couch like she was dizzy.

I walked over and grabbed her arms. “Are you okay? You don’t look so good.”

“I’m fine. It’s just…the doctor changed my medication, and it makes me feel a little lightheaded, I think.”

“Well, come on, let’s sit you down.” I made Bree take a seat on the couch and crouched in front of her. “Should we call the doctor? What can I do? And why don’t you have your oxygen on?”

She waved me off. “No. I’m fine. Don’t call anyone. I think…I must’ve gotten up too fast. That’s all it was. And I was just heading into the kitchen to make some tea, so I took my oxygen off because I don’t wear it near the stove.”

I looked around for the tubing to her oxygen machine that snaked through the house, and found the end with the nasal cannula slung over the arm of a chair.

Grabbing it, I helped her put it on. “Sit and relax. Let me make you the tea.”

I went to the kitchen, boiled water in the kettle, and steeped Bree a cup of her favorite peppermint tea. I served it to her in the living room in her favorite Tiffany teacup, which she displayed, but never actually drank from.

“I don’t get collecting china and not using it. You love this set, why not use it?”

She sipped. “I guess I don’t want to break it.”

I arched a brow. “Do you often break cups?”

She smiled. It made me feel a lot better. “No.”

“Okay then. From now on, you eat and drink on your china. Take it from me, your pretty little china wants more than to be admired. It’s useful, too, if you give it a chance.”

I watched while Bree drank her tea—maybe a little too vigilantly.

“I’m fine. Stop waiting for me to keel over.”

“Are you sure we shouldn’t call the doctor? It couldn’t hurt to call your pulmonologist.”

“No. I just needed to sit down for a minute.”

I looked her over. Her color had definitely improved, and she didn’t look like she might pass out anymore. “Okay. But take your time getting up from now on. Anyone who knocks at your door can wait for you to get there or go screw themselves.”

Bree smiled sadly. “Maybe I’ll get a welcome mat that says that.”

“Don’t tempt me to have one made for you.”

She chuckled. “So what were you saying? Your boss took your underwear?”

“Oh. Right. Yup.”

This was typical Bree—changing the subject from her health. She hated to dwell on her illness. The first chance she got, the focus was always pushed back to me. At least today my story might cheer her up. “So get this, Hollis—Mr. Grumpy-stick-up-his-ass—stole my underwear.”

“You…slept with your boss already?”

“No!”

“So how did he get your underwear?”

“Hailey had a last-day-of-school party at a friend’s summer home in Connecticut. We hitched a ride to the house after school, but bossman had to come pick us up after work. He dropped me off next door, and Hailey came in to use the bathroom. Hollis had to go, too, so he used the one in my bedroom. You know how I hang my bras and underwear over the shower curtain after I hand wash them? Well, after he left, my black lace thong was missing.”

“Are you sure he took it? That doesn’t sound like Hollis, from what you’ve told me. Maybe you put it away in a drawer or it’s in the laundry or something.”

I shook my head. “I checked. And I’m positive I saw the set there when I flicked on the light and showed him the bathroom last night. Plus, he was acting weird after he came out. In fact, I was teasing him and asked if he’d played with my underwear while he was in there, and he got all flustered. I thought it was because he’d touched them…but this morning I realized it was because he’d stolen my thong. Mr. Uptight walked out with my underwear hidden in his pocket, Bree.”