Underdogs The First Stories - By Geonn Cannon Page 0,12

been a fully consensual relationship if you were barely in your right mind?"

"I made the agreement when I was myself. Evangeline probably did take advantage of me, but we both benefited from the arrangement. You could say that I was taking advantage of her by staying in her house and eating her food. And when I was done, I just walked away with a pocketful of her money. If anyone got used in that relationship, I'd say it was her." She pushed herself up and rested her arms on her knees. "Can I ask you a personal question?"

"Might not answer."

Ari dipped her chin to acknowledge it. "Why were you in a diner in the middle of the night waiting for me to show up? There was a chance I wouldn't be able to get out of the apartment until morning."

"But there was a chance you would. And it's a good thing I was waiting."

"Okay. Why did you stay in the office with me the night before last? I could have locked up. I didn't need you babysitting me."

Dale shrugged. "I was already up. It seemed silly to go all the way home just to come back in an hour."

Ari pursed her lips and said, "And how long has Lisa been gone?"

Dale's fingers froze over the keyboard and she shrugged. "I don't know. Not long."

"How empty does your apartment feel?"

Dale leaned back in her chair and looked down at the floor.

Ari pushed herself up and walked to Dale's desk. "You deserve someone better than that. Someone who will treat you better. We both do." She bent down and kissed Dale's forehead. "You're a good person, Dale. You deserve to be loved."

Dale ducked her chin lower and wiped at her cheeks. "Look who's talking." She squeezed Ari's hand and leaned back in her chair. "Go home. You deserve to sleep in your own bed tonight."

Ari took Dale's hand and pulled her up. "Only if you go, too. Come on, we've both had a lot of long nights. Time to take one night off."

Dale sighed and let herself be pulled up. She put her computer to sleep and took her jacket off the back of her chair. "Since you're dragging me out into the real world, how about we get some dinner?"

"I'm dying for some Chinese."

"Will you buy?"

Ari rolled her eyes and let Dale lead the way out of the office. "Why do I always have to pay just because I'm the boss?"

"Because you sign my paychecks. When I pay for dinner, it's like I'm just reimbursing you."

"Semantics."

"Lead the way, Dale."

Ari shut off the office light and locked the door. She followed Dale outside and breathed deep. Dale was right; it would be nice to sleep in her own bed for a change. But first, she had to settle the craving Alicia and Rebecca had given her; she could almost taste the egg drop soup. She zipped up her coat and hurried to catch up with Dale.

End

Down Girl

Ari's dreams were full of half-naked and fully-naked women, glistening body parts, and a dance. Her clothes were torn from her by eager hands, and her body was covered by soft, wet kisses that sent shivers up and down her spine. A loud buzzing jerked her back into the real world, and she woke facedown in bed, straddling a pillow with her panties rolled down to her thighs. She was dripping with sweat, aching for orgasm. She bit her lip and gripped the pillow with both hands, grinding against it until she came with a sigh of release. Then she finally reached over and shut off the alarm clock that had so rudely interrupted her.

She flopped onto her back and pushed her hair out of her face. "Shit. Not again."

Ari kicked her blankets the rest of the way off the bed, tugged her underwear back into place, and put her feet on the floor. Her cell phone was on the nightstand and she flipped it open, accessing the date book function. It was Monday the fourteenth, and she mentally blocked off the next seven days as completely lost to her.

Ari stood up and dialed Dale's number. She was standing in front of the bathroom sink when the ringing stopped. "Bitches Investigations."

"It's me. I can't come in today. I need to take some time off." She opened the medicine cabinet. She sighed; she was well-stocked to deal with her time of the month, but all the pads in the world couldn't help her now. Her period had