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Me: Pizza?
Duffy: No need to get carried away. Tacos can be nutritious and tasty without destroying my body.
Me: Now you’re just begging for another sexual innuendo.
Duffy: Goodbye, Riggs.
While Poppins spent her day running around town trying to find gainful employment, I invested my time in scratching my balls on her couch and staring at the clock. The few weeks’ sabbatical didn’t agree with me.I’d never stayed in in my entire life and didn’t like that my body was getting used to one time zone.
That was how I found myself sitting in front ofJerry Springerreruns on cable TV. I was one pack of bonbons away from being Peggy Bundy. How could people do this day in and day out? Stay home and do nothing?
A knock on the door snapped me out of an altercation between a man who’d come to the show to have a paternity test and his stepsister, who was also his baby mama.
After unplastering myself from the couch, I dragged my ass to the door, wondering who it could be. Duffy wasn’t exactly a social butterfly. A busy bee, more like.
“Who is it?” I called out.
“It’s Charlie.”
“Duffy’s not here.” In the time that had passed since I’d moved in, she and Charlie had met for drinks twice.
“I know.”
I swung the door open and leaned against the doorframe, eyeballing him.
“What’s up, Charles? Need a cup of sugar?”
“Sugar’s poison. You know it’s more addictive than crack, right?” He gave me an intense stare. I hadn’t seen him in a while. He had a weird pattern. Sometimes he was in the hallway twice a day, but then he’d disappear for days on end.
“Been out of town?” I probed. “It’s been a hot minute.”
He yawned, looking around disinterestedly. “Not really. Some days I’m just holed up in my cave, doing art shit.”
“So what brings you here?” I asked.
“I’m doing a freelance job for an urban magazine. I need to take some pictures of buildings and scenery in Spanish Harlem. Thought you’d wanna tag along.”
“And why would you think that?” I rolled myself a joint. His eyes halted on the thing, and he grimaced. That was a plot twist. I didn’t peg him for the stuck-up type.
Charlie was nice enough, but he was a little clingy for someone who had known me for exactly two seconds.
“Because I bet you have cabin fever,” he said easily. “I used to travel the world too. I still have the bug.”
Was he me in twenty years? Fuck, I hoped not. Something dark lurked behind his eyes. Like a washed-up child actor who’d grown out of his glory days.
“Actually, it’s nice to chill for a few days,” I drawled out.
“No, it’s not.” He smiled good naturedly.
He was right, but that still didn’t mean I wanted to spend time with this stranger. I was about to marry a random. No need to befriend the entire goddamn building.
Evidently seeing the doubt on my face, Charlie rolled his eyes. “I’ll buy you a beer.”
“And lunch.” I really slipped into the poor-man role easily.
“On a budget.” Charlie jabbed a finger in my direction. “Or I’m gonna lose money on this assignment.”
“Fine, but I’m choosing the place.” I grabbed my backpack from the floor.
