Free Darling by Brad Hodson

I’m Eileen.”
    “Jason.” He opened the front door and followed her in.
    “What floor do you live on?”
    “Oh. I don’t live here. Visiting someone on three.”
    Jason laughed. “Boyfriend?”
    “Yeah. Why’s that funny?”
    “Just figures.” He pressed the button for the elevator and smiled again.
    “What does?”
    “Pretty girl like you, I was hoping to get your number.”
    Eileen rolled her eyes, but still blushed. “Right.”
    He laughed again. “Sorry. Worth a try though, huh?” They stepped into the elevator. “Nice dress, by the way.”
    She glanced down to make sure the bottom hadn’t come up too high. It was still down. Just a compliment, Eileen. Take it. “Thanks. How long have you lived here?”
    “Three years. My whole band used to live here, but they’ve trickled off to other places.”
    “What kind of music do you guys play?”
    “Rock. No ‘emo’ or ‘metal’ or anything. Just rock.”
    “Cool.”
    The doors opened and they walked to Dennis’ apartment.
    Jason’s cell phone rang. He glanced at the caller ID and sighed. “Aw, shit. I’ve gotta take this. You okay the rest of the way?”
    “I think I’ll be fine. Thanks for your help.”
    He handed her the bag. “My pleasure. Maybe I’ll see you around.”
    She just nodded. She was flattered that he flirted with her, but with things getting serious with Dennis, she wasn’t going to encourage him.
    He opened his phone and chatted as he climbed back into the elevator.
    She knocked on Dennis’ door. He answered in a towel, his hair dripping.
    “Just get out of the shower?”
    “What gave it away?” He kissed her on the cheek and grabbed a bag. They walked in and sat the bags on the table. “You look fantastic.”
    “I know,” she winked.
    “Now how did you get dressed up so fast after leaving my place and I’m still wet?”
    “Secret female stuff. If I told you, I’d have to kill you.”
    He laughed. “So what’s for dinner?”
    She grabbed the towel and yanked it from him.
    “Hey.”
    She threw it across the room. Dennis didn’t bother covering himself; instead he put his hands on his hips and mock frowned.
    “ I’m for dinner,” she said and slowly pulled her dress up to reveal a thin ribbon of white silk.
    Later, after dinner and dessert, they cuddled in a chair by the window. Dennis had changed into a pair of pajama pants and Eileen sat in his lap wearing one of his oversized sweatshirts. They stared out the window at the field. Drops of moisture in the grass captured the moonlight like a thousand diamonds sparkling below them. It was beautiful.
    Except for the boarded up supermarket and skeleton of a shopping mall lying dead at the edge.
    “So did your uncle Gary say why they never tore that place down?”
    “Never said.”
    “It’s a pretty horrible sight. Gotta be some kind of safety hazard, too.”
    She shrugged. “Who knows? People in charge of that sort of thing are usually morons.”
    “True.”
    Eileen jumped to her feet. “Let’s go down there.”
    “What?”
    “Yeah. C’mon. Let’s go explore.” She grabbed his hands.
    “Are you serious?”
    “Yeah. Why not?”
    “Um…I don’t know. Snakes. Rusty nails. Spiders. Crazy homeless people.”
    “Chicken.”
    He laughed.
    “I’ll make it worth your while…”
    He cocked an eyebrow. “How’s that?”
    She leaned close to his ear and whispered what she had planned.
    “Let’s go,” he said.
    He found an old pair of gym shorts that, while they didn’t fit Eileen, they didn’t fall off of her, either. He grabbed a T-shirt, his cell phone, and his keys, and they both slipped their shoes on and went downstairs.
    “I think we can get there through the pool area,” he said.
    “Maybe we could skinny dip after…”
    “I don’t think that would be a good idea.”
    “Spoil sport.”
    They heard splashing as they headed for the pool. Dennis hoped it wasn’t Karen swimming around out there. He was afraid his attraction to her