BAD REP(20)

“Sorry to interrupt but Maysie, we've got to head into Barton's and get our schedules,” Riley said, suddenly appearing in the living room.  I pulled away from Eli abruptly but he continued to tease the underside of my breast with his fingers, not feeling in the least bit self- conscious about the fact that my roommate was standing less than five feet away.

He looked up and gave Riley a lazy smile, his fingers squeezing my nipple as I squirmed.  “Why don't you join us over here, Riley.  It would be hot to have us all together, ya know.  What do you say?”  Normally I would have laughed at Eli's efforts to make Riley uncomfortable.  He loved to say outlandish crap just to piss her off.  He knew she didn't like him so he used that against her...a lot.

But this time, his words just bugged me.  I shoved his hand away from me and pulled my shirt down.  “Shut up, Eli.  That's messed up,” I told him sharply.  Eli looked at me and for once I didn't see the stoned, could give a shit demeanor he typically wore.  In fact, he looked almost hurt by my tone.  Well, that was just ridiculous, considering he had never expressed an interest in how I felt about anything before.

“In your dreams loser.  Now, get the hell out of our apartment so we can get ready,” Riley retorted, turning on her heel and heading into the kitchen.

Eli got to his feet and I followed him to the front door.  I held it open for him as he walked out into the hallway.  He turned around and took my face into his hands.  He cradled me as he gave me the sweetest, most gentle kiss he had ever given me.  What the heck was going on?

“I'd like to see you tonight.  Are you free?” he asked me.  I chewed on my lip, unsure as to what had suddenly changed between us.  This was not the Eli I was accustomed to.

“Uh, I'm not sure.  I'll have to see if I'm on the schedule at Barton's for the night,” I told him.

Eli ran his fingers up into my hair and pulled me toward him again, giving me another kiss.  This one more hungry than the last.  “I'd like to take you out.  Just the two of us.  I don't think we've done that yet.”  I shook my head.  Dates hadn't been high on his priority list.  Getting both of us naked had always been number one in both of our minds.  So Eli asking me out had me flustered.  And for the first time, I was feeling a little guilty about my interactions with Jordan the night before.

“I'll call you,” Eli said softly, kissing my forehead before making his way down the hallway.  I closed the door to the apartment softly and leaned my back against it.  I closed my eyes and ran my hand over my face.  Eli had left me feeling very confused.

“Lover boy gone?” Riley asked, poking her head around the door to the living room.  I nodded as I headed to my room.  “I want to leave in fifteen minutes.  I've got to head to the library today to start my independent study proposals.  Will you be ready?” Riley asked.

“Yeah, just let me jump into the shower.  I'll come with you to the library. I have a mountain of work before class on Monday,” I said, grabbing a pair of jeans and a tank top before disappearing into the bathroom.

I took the quickest shower in history and pulled my still dripping hair into a bun at the back of my head.  I didn't bother with makeup, so I was ready in seven minutes flat.  “Impressive,” Riley remarked as we headed out.

We chatted about nothing in particular as we headed to Barton's.  Riley parked around back and we made our way in through the employee entrance in the kitchen.  The day staff was on.  We hadn't met any of these people, so I had no idea who anyone was.

We stopped at Moore's office and I wasn't surprised to see him sitting at his desk, click clacking on his computer.  I could tell he was the type to take his job as general manager very seriously.  He looked up when we arrived and gave us a smile.  “Good morning Maysie, Riley.  Nice to see you.  The schedule is tacked up on the board by the expediting station.  Maysie, I put you on for this evening.  Riley, you have the lunch shift tomorrow.  I tried to work around the schedules you guys gave me but if there are any conflicts, let me know and I'll sort it out.”

We both said our thanks and went to find the schedule.  Once we found it, we looked for our names and started writing down our shifts.  I was working three nights through the upcoming week, which didn't conflict with my classes or my shifts at Bibi's.  It seemed Riley and I had opposite schedules and I was bummed we wouldn't be working together.