The Manga Girl (2 page)

Chapter Two

     
He heard nothing for a week.

     
There were other inquirers but he turned them away. Work became tedious, the hours passing slowly. He bought a manga art book. He cleaned the bathroom, disinfected the tub, and mowed the lawn. He searched for her on Facebook. He drank.

     
On the weekend, his best friend, Sid, came over.

     
Sid said, “So she’s changed her mind. No big deal, there’ll be others.”

     
“You should have seen her,” Nick said.

     
“Why does it have to be a chick anyway?” said Sid. “I thought you were looking for a roomer, not a girlfriend.”

     
“So did I.”

     
“And let’s say she
had
moved in. What makes you think she’d have let you fuck her?”

     
“We talked for a couple of hours about all sorts of stuff. She seemed. . . keen. It wasn’t so much what she said, it was her body language. And she kissed me.”

     
“She was fucking with you.”

     
“Maybe. I can’t stop thinking about her, though.”

     
“Well get over it, my friend,” Sid said. “Doesn’t look like she’s coming back. Are we going out for some beers?”

     
“Yeah, I…”

     
 
Nick’s cell rang.

     
“Hello?”

     
“It’s Lucy. I looked at your house last week?”
   

     
Nick’s could feel his heart thumping.

     
“Yeah, I remember. How are you?” he said, gesturing to Sid.

     
“I’m good,” she said. “Look, I had to go to New York last week, but I’m back now. So are we still on?”

     
“Well there’s somebody else interested,” Nick lied, “but as you were here first, I could probably put him off.”

     
Sid rolled his eyes and shook his head.

     
“Oh, I don’t want to mess anybody around,” Lucy said.

     
“No, really,” Nick said, backtracking fast. “They haven’t put down a deposit yet. If you want it, the room’s yours.”

     
“Well, that’s great! When will it be available?”

     
“Whenever you’re ready.”

     
“So like, will tonight be okay?”

     
Wow, that was quick!

     
“Well, I’m going out later,” he said, “but I can wait in for you.”

     
Sid slapped his own forehead and Nick gave him the middle finger.

     
“That’s really sweet of you,” Lucy said. “Sorry for the sudden panic, but my week’s been a mess and I’ve got some catching up to do. Would seven be convenient?”

     
 
“Sure, no problem.”

     
“Thanks again. See you later.”

     
 
She hung up and Nick grinned at Sid, “Well, what do you know?”

     
“Fifty bucks says you don’t get to fuck her,” Sid said.

     
“You’re on.”

     
They hung around until seven, then seven-thirty. There were some drinking buddies waiting at Jenny’s Tavern so finally Sid went ahead without him. At seven-forty-five the doorbell rang.

     
Lucy stood in the doorway holding a cardboard box, and behind her, a tall blonde girl was carrying another box across his yard.

     
“Hi,” she said.

     
“Let me take that for you,” said Nick.

     
“Thanks. This is Summer.”

     
“Hey, Summer.”

     
Summer smiled tightly but didn’t reply.

     
“Summer’s not staying,” Lucy explained, handing him the box. “She’s just helping me move.”

     
He watched Lucy head back towards a waiting taxicab. She was in shorts again, and why not? She certainly had the legs for it.

     
Summer cleared her throat. Nick had been so busy studying Lucy that he had forgotten to stand aside.

     
“Sorry,” he said.

     
“Where should I put this?” Summer asked.

     
“Follow me.”

     
Nick showed her up to Lucy’s room and they placed the boxes on the bed.

     
“It’s nice,” Summer said. She looked at him thoughtfully, then asked, “Where’s your room?”

     
“Down the passage.”

     
She stood and looked out of the window, and he took the opportunity to check her out. She was dressed in faded jeans and a white halter top, and wore her blonde hair in a pony tail. She was leaner than Lucy, with longer legs, a smaller bust, and a tighter ass, and had a trim, athletic look about her.

     
“Lucy said you might be interested in taking the other room,” he said.

     
“I’m thinking about it.”

     
She came back and sat on the bed. “You don’t have a girlfriend?”

     
“No.”

     
“You’ll be nice to Lucy, won’t you? She likes to act cool, but she’s a little naïve.”

     
“Should you be telling me this?” Nick grinned.

     
Summer gave him a long look. She had pretty, but intense brown eyes. “Maybe I
should
move in,” she said.

     
“The more, the merrier.” Nick had no idea where that came from, but it was too late to take it back. When Summer continued to stare at him like he was some kind of pervert, he added, “I’m joking.”

     
Lucy came in and dropped two bags on the bed and again, Nick’s eyes were drawn to her legs. Nick wondered if she wore shorts even in the winter.

     
“Hey, come on guys,” Lucy said. “Do I have to do this by myself?”

     
When all of Lucy’s gear was unloaded they went downstairs for a beer. Summer and Lucy sat together on the sofa and Nick sat on the floor, amazed at his good fortune. Here he was with two hot college chicks and his imagination was running wild. He tuned out as the girls chatted together, sipping his beer and fantasizing about the three of them naked in bed together.

     
Sid should have been here for this
, he thought dreamily.

     
 
Both girls were extremely good looking, but in different ways. Lucy was all casual movements, totally at ease with herself, and her almond eyes oozed sensuality. Summer appeared somehow harder, with a tempered edge and a tightly coiled demeanor.
 

     
Lucy had one bare leg draped over the side of the sofa and Nick was gazing at her shapely thigh when he realized they were both looking at him.

     
“…would you, Nick?” Lucy asked.

     
“I’m sorry, would I what?” Nick stammered, his face turning red.

     
“Try to take advantage of me.”

     
With the lewd thoughts that had just been running through his head, Nick nearly choked on his beer. “Absolutely not! I mean, it’s not that I wouldn’t want to… I didn’t mean that. But, you know, under other circumstances…”

     
Summer was watching him intently, but an amused grin spread across Lucy’s face.

     
“What I’m trying to say is,” Nick continued, “I think you’re very beautiful, but you’re perfectly safe here, I promise.”

     
How dumb was that?
His cheeks were seriously burning now.

     
“That’s very sweet,” Lucy said for the second time that day.

     
Actually,
Nick thought.
I’m not sweet at all, but maybe that’s the best way forward with her.

     
Summer then said something that caught him completely off guard. “Lucy thinks you might be batting for the other team.”

     
“Summer!” Lucy laughed.

     
 
“Whatever made you think that?” Nick asked, nonplused.

     
Summer replied, “No girlfriend, living alone. Women have an intuition about these things.”

     
“I had no idea I was sending out those signals,” Nick said.

     
“I just wondered about it, was all,” Lucy said.

     
“Is that why you decided to move in?”

     
“Maybe, I guess. I’m not sure,” Lucy shrugged.

     
“So now that I’ve told you that I’m straight, does that change things?”

     
Lucy paused, glanced at Summer, and said, “No.”

     
Nick thought he detected a brief expression of disappointment pass across Summer’s face - and wondered if he had hit upon the reason for her veiled hostility.

     
“Actually,” he said, “I was having a similar thought about you two.”

     
“What do you mean?” Summer asked him.

     
“Well, you
have
been sharing the same room…”

     
Lucy put her hand to her mouth and tittered, but Summer didn’t seem amused.

     
“Is that really what’s on your mind, Nick?” she asked.

     
“Hey, come on,” Nick said. “You started it.”

     
Lucy stood up, yawned and stretched, raising her arms and standing on her toes.

     
“Time out, guys,” she said. “I’m beat. Do you mind if I go up?”

     
“Sure,” Nick said. “I’ve got to meet some friends.”

     
Lucy saw Summer out and when she came back, she said, “Don’t worry about her. She’s got a good heart, really.”