Free Almost Broken Up (Almost Bad Boys) by A.O. Peart Page A

three.”
    I close my eyes and count to three. Slowly. These two must be from another planet than I am. “Okay, so what’s the holdup?”  
    “The interest! She’s paying in shoes. But these are too small for me.” Svetlana points to the heels on the floor.  
    Is anyone except me aware of how bizarre this whole situation is?  
    “I can’t wear these,” Svetlana insists.  
    “Then get something else. A purse, clothes… or a bedspread. Whatever. Or forget the interest. And, by the way, we came here to get the cat and your pendant. What the hell is this debt money thing about? No, wait… I don’t care. Whatever this is, it’s between you and her.” I point to Amelie, who’s still sitting on the floor, fuming.  
    “Fine.” Svetlana grabs four fabric dust bags, each with a different designer logo. The shoes are bulging inside them.  
    “Hey! These are over eight hundred a piece,” Amelie protests.  
    “And you’re going to complain about it?” Svetlana storms out of the bedroom.  
    “So let me get this straight.” I follow her. “This is Catherine’s house. Amelie is her sister. She’s trading Catherine’s shoes with you for a debt that she owes you. And she’s using her sister’s house as her hookup place? Oh, and you were about to shoot her if she didn’t cooperate, yes?”
    “Something like that. Except I wouldn’t shoot her. She knows that.” Svetlana tramps toward the stairs.  
    “Cool.” I shrug, refraining from rolling my eyes at the ludicrousness of what I just witnessed. “My battered brain can’t wrap itself around it all, and so I decide to wait with getting a better explanation from her later.
    As soon as we get to the top of the stairs, we see another interesting scene. Ali and Josh are talking and giggling. Ali stands with her back against the wall, and Josh leans toward her, bracing himself with his hand on the wall, right by her head. They are totally flirting! Really? Now? Here?
    I cluck my tongue and shake my head from side to side. Ali unhurriedly looks up over Josh’s outstretched arm and grins at me. I give her a whatever, girlfriend look.  
    Josh whispers something in her ear. She lets out a short laugh and nods.
    “Looks like you’re ready to go.” I snort at Ali. “Later, Josh.” I give him a fleeting look.  
    “I’m going too.” He grabs his shirt, jacket, and shoes and rushes after us.  
    “Amelie’s going to be disappointed,” I taunt.  
    “She’ll get over it. Besides, I was held at gun point, which is a definite clause for breach of the agency contract.”
    “So you’re really an escort? From an escort agency?” I ask, amused.  
    “Yes, ma’am. And a law student.” He smiles. He has a beautiful smile. I wonder how old he is. Probably no more than twenty-three.  
    I snort. “A law student? Why do you work as an escort then?”
    “To pay the student loans,” he sounds as if explaining this to a child.  
    Svetlana pauses in the kitchen, head tilted to the side. I wonder what she’s looking at when she walks over to the fireplace mantel and picks up one of the phalluses. She holds it for a moment, studying it, and then her fingers open. The ceramic dick drops to the hearth and shatters into several jagged pieces.  
    “This is for stealing my Lenochka,” Svetlana says.  
    “Feeling a bit vindictive, aren’t you?” I tease. “This looked expensive.” I point to the broken phallus.  
    She squats down. “Yeah, it did. That’s why I broke it.”
    I make a mental note not to cross my new friend. She has her ways of getting back at those who piss her off. Svetlana is picking up the broken pieces and stuffing them in her purse.  
    “What are you doing?” Ali asks. “Don’t tell me you’re gonna glue this back together.”
    “Not at all. But I’m not leaving the proof that I broke it.”
    I look at Ali and mockingly lift my eyebrows. “That’s how you hide the evidence. I just learned something new.”  
    We file out