Free Love Thy Neighbor by Belle Aurora

my shoulder.
    Mimi responds, still not looking over,
“She’s the boss lady today. She can’t leave if there are more than
ten people in the store. She couldn’t go then.” Mimi finally looks
at me and smiles. “But she can leave now.”
    I smile my response. Lola grabs my purse and
pushes me across the studio towards the front door. “Go on!
Get!”
    I can’t help but laugh. I love these girls.
“You guys want anything from Silvio’s?”
    At the same time, they both answer,
“Cookie!” in a Cookie Monster voice.
    Chuckling at their silliness, I take my
purse and walk down the street to Silvio’s sub shop. The man makes
a sandwich like no one else. He actually cuts the meat right in
front of you. The turkey is always fresh and moist. A sub by Silvio
is to die for.
    Silvio is a sweet, mature Italian man. He’s
balding, round, funny and barely speaks passable English. He spots
me and pretends to have heart troubles by putting his hands on his
chest and stumbling back. He smiles a cheeky smile and greets me
with, “ diavolo rosso dai capelli .” I’ve since learned this
means Red-haired Devil.
    And I have to say, I like it.
    I smile my most charming smile and ask him,
“What do you have fit for a Devil?”
    Silvio lifts his head to the ceiling and
belly laughs. With dancing eyes he replies, “You no devil. Too
sweet for devil. Maybe angel?”
    Still smiling, I shake my head forlornly and
tell him, “Wishful thinking, Silvio. We both know what I am. I
can’t hide it.”
    He chuckles through his reply, “Sweet devil,
one day you become angel. You see.” He goes about making my regular
turkey sub and I look around the store. I do a double take when I
see Ghost sitting in the corner booth frowning at his laptop
screen. Silvio hands me my sub and two cookies. Without thinking, I
go over to Ghost and sit right next to him. He scowls as he turns
but as soon as he looks at me, his face softens a little.
    A sheepish smile forms on his face. “Sorry.
Didn’t see you there.”
    Unwrapping my sub, I reply, “No shit,
Sherlock. Why so glum? Porn not loading quick enough?”
    A look of confusion crosses his face. I nod
to his laptop. He smirks and replies, “Sugar, what makes you think
I need porn?” He leans back in the booth, places his hands behind
his head and looks smug. “Club ladies throw themselves at me all
the time.” I roll my eyes and pretend to choke on my sub.
Chuckling, he goes back to his laptop, typing furiously. We sit in
a comfortable silence and I finish up my sub with a moan. It’s a
seriously good sub. If I had a hat, I’d take it off to Silvio.
    “I like that,” Ghost murmurs.
    Huh?
    I open my eyes from my food coma and look
right into Ghost’s soft brown eyes. “Like what?”
    “When you-” Cutting himself off, he clears
his throat and looks back to his laptop. “When women eat.”
    Laughter bursts out of me and I utter, “Then
you should love me, Ash. There’s nothing better in the world than
food. Why do you think I love Tina so much? The girl can bake!”
    Still looking at his laptop, Ghost mutters,
“The girl can seriously bake.”
    My voice colored with humor. I take it one
further. “The girl can bake the shit out of a cake.”
    Chuckling, Ghost one-ups me. “The girl can
ice the fuck out of a cupcake.”
    We look at each other smiling like a couple
of jerks and laugh. I hold my belly and say, “Oh shit. Tina got
served and she doesn’t even know it.”
    Ghost’s smile fades and he says deadly
serious, “Don’t tell her I was making fun of her. I love those
cupcakes.”
    The thought of Ghost being scared that Tina
would cut him off is hilarious! I laugh again but what Ghost says
next wipes any form of mirth off of my face. “So, I heard moaning
and banging on the walls last night. I take it your date went
well.” He doesn’t even look at me, just types away on his
laptop.
    Unsure whether to tell him to mind his own
fucking business or to defend myself, I decide