Contractor (24 page)

kitchen. "I saw you talking with her. That

might have been the longest conversation

she’s had with anyone here besides me."

Rachel smiled again. "Any guy, anyway. You

like her?"

"She’s…interesting," Daniel said. "But I’ve got a crush on someone else."

"Hmm?" Rachel’s smile went sly. "Not

good enough for Mr. Bigshot chef? Could

have sworn I saw you staring at her in

calculus."

"Better than staring at math equations."

Rachel laughed. It was a full, low

chuckle. "So who’s the mystery girl

competing with Elly?"

"You’re kinda into this."

"Well, I just didn’t expect your answer.

So I’m curious."

Daniel grinned. "Well, wouldn’t be

much of a mystery if I told you."

"I love mysteries. Have to consider the

clues…" She put a finger to her lips.

"Don’t think too hard. You could hurt

yourself."

"Please, I’ll have this one solved in no

time. I mean, the list is only so long. I bet it’s

one of her friends." Rachel snapped her

fingers. "I get your angle. You want in with

her so you can get closer to your crush."

"Well…you’re not wrong."

"Hey, I could help."

"That’s sudden," Daniel said, "but

appreciated."

"Call it payment for services rendered."

She fixed him with a warm smile that

dimpled her cheeks and lifted up all the way

to her eyes. "Seriously, that was good stuff.

Eleanor comes from money, so I’ve had

professional chefs at my beck and call

before. That could compete."

Daniel’s breath caught in his throat. "…

thanks."

One of Rachel’s suitors came up. He

inserted himself elbow-first, standing

partway in front of Daniel. "Hey, Rachel, we

were all about to go hang out in Amanda’s

room. You coming?"

"…yeah, I guess." She looked back at

Daniel. "I’ll get back to you."

"You do that," Daniel said.

They went down the hall. Daniel and the

others cleaned up a bit. When it was half

done, he waved his friends off, saying he’d

take care of the rest; he quickly had the

kitchen to himself. The clock told him it was

a little past ten.

The space was empty without the big

crowd, but it was nice to get away from

people for a minute. He’d had an overdose

of people the last couple of days. He

scrubbed the pots and baking pans clean in

the basin, then started collecting the rest of

the plates.

He had to admit, Eleanor was gorgeous.

And scary. He had trouble believing she and

Rachel were more or less sisters. They were

like night and day. What was their

relationship, really?

He might have just lost his chance to

find out. He rolled over the conversation in

his mind’s eye. He kicked himself for his last

response. He’d dropped the ball, ending up

with a flat ‘thanks’. He should have said

something clever, made up a story, given her

another laugh. Something to remember him

by. Did he just screw up?

He could have stepped in earlier instead

of waiting for her to come to him. Introduce

himself. But he felt that would be doing

exactly what he found annoying in the guys

that were already all over her.

Or maybe he was just making up

excuses.

When was the last time he’d stopped

himself like that? When had he last felt

nervous about his relationship with another

person? He couldn’t remember. He hadn’t

cared for so long. It was like stretching

muscles he’d forgotten about.

And he was thinking things were going

well. But because he cared, it became hard.

Apathy made things easier. But he didn’t

want to be like that.

He didn’t want to be like that.

His hands paused on the plate he was

scrubbing. He wanted to change. He wanted

more things. He wanted…

…he didn’t want to be lonely.

He was fighting mutant life-sucking

aliens every night, and here he was,

worrying about this shit. Jeeze. He had

bigger problems then wondering if he’d

screwed up talking with a girl or not. That

shouldn’t even be on his radar. A few months

ago, it wouldn’t be.

Daniel sighed and gave his head a little

shake to banish the pessimism. Shut up,

brain. Too much thinking.

He set the latest plate in the drying rack,

then moved to the next. He focused on his

task, blunting his overactive mind with the

work. He hummed
What is Love
to pass the

time. At the chorus, he started whistling. He

slapped his hands in the dirty dishwater to

mark the beat.

There was a warm laugh that he

recognized immediately. "I wondered what

that was. You’re a pretty good whistler."

Daniel looked back. Rachel was

standing alone at the entrance to the kitchen.

"Think so?" he asked.

"Yeah. What’s up? You’re cleaning

alone?"

"I volunteered."

"After doing all the cooking?" she

asked.

"I like to clean. It’s relaxing." He started rinsing off another plate. "…makes me feel

like I’m accomplishing something, maybe.

One thing checked off."

"I think I know what you mean." She

walked up around the table. "That sink’s big

enough for two."

He set a plate to dry and started on

another. "Knock yourself out, champ."

"Gotcha, coach." She rolled up the

sleeves of her green sweater and set to work

on the plates. He noticed she wore a lot of

green. Made sense. It matched her eyes.

He was a good head taller than her. This

close, he had quite a nice view. If she

noticed his downward gaze, she didn’t say

anything.

"So what happened to your groupies?"

he asked.

"I ditched them because they weren’t

looking at my face when they were talking to

me."

Daniel laughed. "Can’t say I blame them

for admiring your second-best asset."

Rachel automatically glanced at her

chest, then up at him. "…huh?"

"Just think about it."

It dawned on her face. She punched him

in the arm, but it was more playful than

annoyed. "All men are perverts."

"But we’re your perverts."

"True. And stupid. Easily lead by the

nose. Good for moving heavy things."

"Glad to know we’re so useful."

"Seriously though," Rachel said, "that lasagna kicked ass."

"Seriously thank you." Daniel set

another plate in the drying rack. "I like pasta, so I cooked it a lot. It gets boring after a

while, so I started experimenting. Got a few

things off the internet."

"And it turned into this."

"Pretty much."

"What did you cook so much for?"

"I wanted to eat."

"That’s not really an answer," she said.

"My mother died a little over two years

ago," Daniel said. "I wasn’t going to let my little brother burn himself trying to make

food. A diet of cereal and hot pockets verges

on malnutrition. I had to make up the

difference."

Rachel glanced away. "…sorry. I didn’t

mean to…sorry."

Daniel shook his head. "Nah, don’t

worry about it. It is what it is."

"You have any other family?" she asked.

"Yeah. My dad, James. My mom

divorced when I was three, and then she

married him when I was seven. They had my

younger brother Felix a bit after that."

"I see."

"How about you?"

"…my parents both died when I was

twelve," Rachel said. "Car accident. I’ve

lived with Eleanor’s family ever since."

"You know," Daniel said, "sometimes,

life really sucks."

"Yeah. Sometimes." She smiled at him.

"But it’s good other times, you know?"

Daniel was quiet. He nodded once. "I

think I’m starting to get that."

After that, they washed the plates in

silence. Daniel started whistling again. She

started humming along with him. His

growing smile interrupted his efforts a bit,

but he pressed his lips together and kept

going.

They started bobbing back and forward.

He sang the lyrics. She kept up the techno

background. Daniel clapped his hands

together above the sink and started dancing

very badly. She laughed and joined in.

Eventually, they managed to finish the

dishes, though it took a half hour more than

he expected. Daniel brought Tupperware

from his room in case of leftovers, but it

wasn’t needed, so he stacked it up on the

counter. Rachel plopped down on the table,

kicking her legs in the air. He leaned against

the sink. "Thanks for the help, Haddaway,"

he said.

"Have you listened to his whole

album?" Rachel asked. "
What is Love
is the big hit, but the rest is pretty good."

Daniel frowned thoughtfully. "I’ll look

into it." He glanced at her. She was looking

at her swinging feet. Her hair had auburn

highlights, more a deep brown-red than an

orange. He noticed something else, too—she

was seriously muscled, for a girl. He

wondered if she worked out.

She noticed his gaze and glanced up at

him. "What?"

"I wasn’t staring at your tits, I swear."

She heaved a long-suffering sigh.

"Really?"

"Alright, I’ll come clean," Daniel said.

"Your hair is beautiful."

"The double-edged sword of beauty. A

blessing, and a curse." Rachel gave him the

stink-eye. "Sure it’s not Eleanor you’re

interested in?"

"I think the Miss Astor would kill me if I

looked at her funny," Daniel said. "Other

than that, I’ve no comment. I can’t rely on her

best friend to keep a secret."

She smiled. "Oh, don’t hold back. I

promise I won’t tell."

"She’s kind of a bitch."

Rachel burst out laughing. She wiped the

corner of her eye. "She can be a little high-

strung."

"A little?" Daniel made a face. "Are you seriously not going to say anything to her? If I

give an honest opinion?"

Rachel put a hand on her heart. "Scout’s

honor."

"You’re supposed to hold up three

fingers."

"Whatever."

"Whether or not Jensen deserved that

slap aside," Daniel said, "the way she just declared how she was leaving was the most

pretentious thing I’ve ever heard." He

flapped a hand through the air as he

mimicked Eleanor’s voice. "Rachel. We’re

leaving
." Rachel smirked, but the smile

didn’t reach her eyes. Daniel folded his

arms. "Doesn’t that bother you? If it was me,

I’d tell her to get the hell off my back."

"…I’ve known Eleanor since I was ten

years old," Rachel said. "She’s my second

cousin. Her part of the family is really elite,

and she’s used to privilege. She gets her way

pretty much every time. I think it’ll take a

while for her to adjust." Rachel sighed. "Our relationship is a little more complicated than

just friends."

"Why’s that? If you don’t mind me

asking."

"Her father became my guardian after

the accident. We’re more like sisters than

cousins."

"I see."

Rachel waved a hand. "It was a long

time ago."

"So her attitude gets a free pass from

you?" Daniel asked. "Or is she different

when it’s just you two?"

"…yes and no. It’s not like I approve. I

mean, I’m sitting here talking about it, right?

But she’s family. She doesn’t do it

because…" Rachel trailed off.

Daniel wondered how much her defense

of Eleanor was habit and how much she

really meant it. "That’s not an excuse for

acting like a child," he said. "She needs a serious time-out."

Rachel laughed. "Maybe Jensen should

give her a spanking."

"I can only pray he’d be stupid enough

to try," Daniel said. He smacked his lips.

"My incredible cooking has made me thirsty.

Wanna go get a soda?"

"Where?"

"There’s a convenience store down the

street. I went there for chips yesterday. Pretty

good selection."

She hopped off the table. "Sounds good

to me."

They went down the stairwell and

through the common room. Heads seated

around the TV watched them go. Daniel held

open the door for her. "After you, Miss

Ashworth."

"Why thank you, Mr. Fitzgerald."

They walked and talked down the

sidewalk. He asked her the normal hey-

you’re-a-college-student-too questions;

major, classes, schedule. She complained

about trouble with calculus. He was just

about to seize on that particular point when

they ran into two guys Daniel recognized.

"Hey, what’s up?" The two thugs from

the cafeteria walked up to them from the

wide stoop of a campus building. The one

still had a thick bandage on the finger

Eleanor had broken. "You’re Eleanor’s

friend, right? Rachel?"

Rachel did not look pleased. "Richard?"

"Hey, you remembered." His smile