The Pairing Read online

  “Laura my little love. How’s things? Your room okay?” Carella asked her nicely in her sweet high pitched voice.

  “It’s all fine thanks.” She really didn’t want to be pals with Carella, they didn’t occupy the same universe to her mind, but she wasn’t going to be rude unless she gave her a reason to be. She was being quite pleasant just now anyway.

  “Fancy some coffee? We can have a little chat about stuff. Come in the kitchen with me.” Carella continued.

  “Well I was about to have a shower and turn in actually….”

  “Laura… it’s only eight thirty…. You’re not a little kid! Don’t be a fucking idiot… Come on now love.”

  Carella grabbed her arm and pulled her into the kitchen. She placed two fairly clean mugs on the filthy worktop and started to make them a drink. Laura looked at Carella’s hands as she added the coffee granules and hot water. Her multi-colored dayglo nail polish effect was really quite unique. She passed Laura a mug and turned to face her giving her some full on attention.

  “Well… this is nice isn’t it… just us girls together? I’ve just finished work, on a late shift today…. I do three or four days a week at Babeland… you know the sex shop in the mall… if you want anything I get a 40% discount. Just come in when I’m there, okay….” Carella began in her baby sweet voice.

  Well what about that? Carella working in a sex shop! Never in a million years! Laura though wryly.

  “But anyway babe, I need to warn you about our other roommate Louis. He’s away for a couple more days. He does a lot of martial arts shows, you know, karate stuff and all that shit. Straight up Laura, he’s a right fucking pain in the arse! He games all night long, drinks a fucking ocean a day and plays real noisy crappo music whenever he’s awake…. But the worst thing about him for sure is his pervy pals, watch out for them girl. I mean it! You wouldn’t want those shitheads to get their paws on you.”

  Laura listened with intense interest and a further mounting dislike of her new apartment. She also couldn’t stop staring at Carella’s collection of tattoos. One in particular on her almost completely exposed breast said, ‘lick me’ in a beautiful scroll like font… the girl was a walking sex advert. She was in the perfect job.

  “Okay. Thanks for letting me know.” She said quietly, sipping her her drink.

  “You ever been in the sack with a girl?” Carella asked her suddenly with a very meaningful look.

  “NO! I mean no… I’m very straight.” she spluttered in reply.

  “Shame. You’re very pretty… I kinda like you. We could become sorta friendly… you know… roommates with benefits… you might like it Laura. I know a lot of girl stuff that you wouldn’t even dream of…” Carella said with a sly smile, obviously amused at her horrified expression. “So…d’you want to come sit in my room for a minute while we have our coffee… or can I come in yours?”

  “NO! Let’s stay here.” Laura did not want to be anywhere near a bed with this girl. She had nothing against gay people at all but Carella was a predator. She had that kind of look about her. Hunting for pretty prey was in her eyes. She was obviously laying it on thickly just to terrify her. It was working an absolute treat.

  “Suit yourself puss! I’m going to watch some sex on TV. Just thought you might like to join me. Perhaps another time when you’re more used to me… I’ll take a rain check….‘Night princess Laura…”

  Carella disappeared into the hallway and Laura went back to her room. The shower could wait. She just needed to sit down for a minute or two. She didn’t like being elevated to potential princess status in the slightest.

  Chapter 4

  Louis didn’t show for another two days as expected. Laura was just about to go to bed and had just put her tiny PJ’s on when there was a loud bang as the front door swung shut. A few minutes passed and she heard a male voice talking to Carella in the kitchen. They were laughing about something. A few seconds later there was a loud thump on her door. She jumped.

  “Just a sec.” She called out and put on her robe quickly before opening the door.

  There before her stood a tall and athletic looking fair haired guy wearing a black ‘hellish demon on fire’ Slayer t-shirt.

  Well, well… He was actually really nice looking, she thought, it caught her quite off guard!

  “Hi” she said smiling up at him in a bit of a daze.

  His eyes travelled up and down her too short robe and settled finally on her face.

  “Yeah… Hi Laura! I’m Louis. Carella told me you just moved in. You’re a great improvement on the last one!” he smirked.

  “Oh… really?” she said cautiously.

  “Mmmm… definitely…. red hot in fact….” He said as his eyes dropped blatantly down to her chest area. “You game?”

  “Am I what?” she asked confused and a little bit worried where this was going already… what did he mean exactly… was she game for what?

  “Do. You. Game?” he asked her again slowly.

  “Oh! No. Not my thing I’m afraid. I’m a student… I want to become a vet, hopefully anyway. Not much time for anything else. I work too.” That wasn’t strictly true at the moment. She was in limbo land just now…. Not a student, hardly working… but she didn’t want him to think she had much free time to socialize… not after Carella’s warning about him.

  “Oh right….! Work and studying…. yeah…. Some people have to do that shit, don’t they? Anyway, nice meeting you Laura. Cool! Be seeing ya…….Oh yeah… Carella says you like cleaning. She said you did the bathroom and kitchen real nice. My room needs doing, if you fancy it… I can get you a feather duster and a scrubbing brush… maybe Carella has a sexy French maid outfit you could borrow…”

  “WHAT? NO…! I don’t like cleaning at all… I just don’t want to live in a shithole of a pigsty. You can clean your stinking room yourself and stick your feather duster where the sun don’t shine!” She shut the door in his face. What a goddamn bloody cheek! She could hear him laughing loudly as he went into his room, next to hers.

  Carella proved to be quite accurate in her summary of him. The moment he entered his room the music went on. The whole wall between them was shaking. She was sure the whole house was in fact. Never before had she experienced death thrash metal, or whatever it was, at such a volume.

  After banging on the wall and his door twice and receiving no answer, she finally got in bed and covered her head with her pillow to soften the all out assault on her brain.

  How was she going to deal with this pair during the months ahead? She would have to find another room. She would start looking as soon as she could.

  Chapter 5

  It was a beautiful day when she woke up the next morning and looked out of her window. No work today, everything was tidy and she had a little time to herself.. She was in a better mood now that everything was quiet and calm. Her housemates both seemed to be still asleep. The concert next door had finally ended after two in the morning. How could anyone actually enjoy that stuff? She wondered in amazement. The screeching, the growling, the screaming animalistic shouting… the deafening just about detectable rhythm….It was more than painful… She preferred more soulful sounds or something soft and melodic… she liked much sexier music. Even a dozen pneumatic drills operating at full volume would be a massive improvement on last night’s entertainment. The next few weeks could prove to be incredibly tortuous if last night was the norm.

  She painted her nails, tidied her eyebrows and put on a few flicks of mascara to make herself presentable and decided to sit outside in the yard for a while and read. Just for a half hour or so. The sun was on the back of the house at this time of the day. She made her way through the now scrubbed up kitchen and out the back door taking a kitchen chair with her to sit on.

  She had put on her denim shorts, flip flops and a pale pink vest and clipped up her warm chestnut hair in a looped pony tail. Her pale skin definitely needed some sun on it, she thought, looking at her arms and legs as she stood o
utside. It was early summer and she was looking forward to getting her customary light tan. It made her look better and feel better. She was naturally a little too pale. She put her sunglasses on and sat down next to the hedge, opening her e-reader cover and luxuriating in the gentle warmth of the sun on her bare skin.

  She loved mornings. The freshness and newness of everything. The light was much nicer too.

  Despite her situation and her somewhat strange and annoying roommates, it wasn’t that bad here. It was the poorer end of Loveland, that was for sure. She couldn’t afford much more than this though. It was right on the edge of town, which in her mind was a plus. It didn’t seem to be a particularly bad neighborhood, which was also good. The sloping field and area of woodland behind them was quite picturesque. If she ignored the overfull trash can across the way and the uncared for patio which was covered in weeds, dead leaves and creepers, she could imagine she was actually somewhere quite nice.

  It could definitely have been worse, she thought, far worse than this. She decided to have a walk out the back gate and through the wood a little later today. She could see a stream glistening a small distance away too. How pretty that looked! She quite fancied exploring a little today.

  She started to read her latest book, a Patricia Cornwell novel. She had read most of these Kay Scarpetta books already, but a long time ago before studying, Simon and her mother’s illness took over her life. It was good to get back to doing things she liked. These stories quickly gripped her attention, sucking her in. Kay the Chief Medical Examiner was a great character… a real role model of a strong woman who took life’s hard knocks in her stride. She had a gay niece Lucy… she was absolutely nothing like Carella though. She started to read, flicking through the pages with her fingertip and was soon miles away in Scarpetta land. It was warm and silent. So peaceful. Heavenly in fact.

  She was too zoned out to notice someone dragging something along behind the dividing hedge between hers and the neighbouring house. There was a sudden loud noise which finally disturbed her trance like state and a quick spluttery sound and suddenly she was completely drenched in a simply massive avalanche of freezing cold forceful water.

  “Oh. My. God! What the fuck…?” she screamed out loud as she was soaked from head to toe. Her hair, face, glasses, clothes and reader were wetter than wet. She stood up dripping on the floor and taking off her splattered glasses stepped forward to look over the hedge. “What the bloody hell do you think you are doing!” she shouted with tears of rage and shock. The water had been really, really cold and painfully hard as it shot through the sparsely leaved hedge. Her angry brown eyes met a pair of male bright green ones. They were looking surprised and a little embarrassed and what was that on his lips… was he actually smiling? He found this FUNNY?

  “Jeeesus… I’m so sorry! I didn’t know anyone was there. No one ever uses that back yard… I just left it lying on the ground whilst I turned it on. Didn’t think… Can I get you a towel or something?” He said apologetically, his smile disappearing quickly under her glare.

  “No…No… don’t bother… I’ll have to go and change… I am far too soaked for a towel to do any good. Hopefully my reader isn’t ruined.” she added throwing daggers at the stranger next door. “In future please make sure I’m not sitting outside when you decide to jet wash something!” She stomped off slamming the kitchen door. What a bloody thoughtless idiot, she thought as she changed clothes. she towel dried and brushed out her hair, putting it back up again. Her e-reader still seemed to be functioning normally. Thank God for that! She smiled a little. It was rather funny, now she thought about it. But she was still annoyed… just a teeny bit. Nice colour eyes though.

  With her dry clothes on and swapping her flip flops for a pair of converse trainers she decided to take a walk out to the wood. She left the house by the kitchen entrance. She locked the door and took the key, walking towards the gate.

  “Sorry again…” His voice called out.

  “No harm done.” She replied stopping and taking a better look at her neighbour over the low fence a couple of steps further down the yard.

  Well he was a right scruffy looking individual, she thought initially, as she compared him to polished and perfect Simon. His messy shoulder length dark brown hair framed a good looking face but it looked like it was well overdue a shave and he was wearing badly ripped jeans and a filthy white T. Could be quite fit looking though…? She thought she could see a few muscles in those arms and shoulders. She summed up her final opinion.

  Very scruffy indeed with some hot undertones…

  “That’s good… the reader still works then?” he said whilst washing the mud off his dirt bike with a bucket and sponge.

  “Yeah… it seems to be jet wash proof…” She laughed. “talking of which… why are you doing that by hand?”

  “Thought it best… I guessed you might make another sudden appearance.” He joked. “It comes up better by hand anyway. The jet wash is a lazy ass route to take. I’m giving my girl a real thorough hand job…” he smirked at her whilst squeezing out his sponge.

  She was a little taken back at his obvious bit of smut but recovered quickly.

  “Be careful, she’ll want one of those all the time from now on…” she blushed slightly at her flirty reply … what was the matter with her? Having risqué conversations with scruffy strangers over the fence wasn’t really her nature. She certainly liked a bit of dirty talk, but in the right place and the right time. She decided to change the subject quickly.

  “…err… just going for a walk down there….” She motioned with her head towards the wood. “How big is it?”

  “Oh it’s pretty big.” he smirked again… “Big enough for a girl like you anyway.” He finally stopped smirking and looked at her seriously. “It shouldn’t take you too long to navigate it all. Maybe thirty minutes or so to walk across it slowly. There are a quite few trails, some come out on the main road. Don’t worry, you won’t get lost in there I can assure you.”

  “Right… Well see you sometime Mister…..?”

  “Sebastian Carter, just call me Seb… and you…?”

  “Laura Shaw. See you then Seb.”

  “Yeah, have a nice walk Laura.”

  She walked off slowly unaware of his gaze. Her chestnut hair bobbed prettily in its looped up pony tail, her pale skin glimmered in the sunlight and her long bare legs caught his attention in a big way. He stood there forgetting the dripping sponge in his hand for a long time watching until she entered the small pine forest.

  Holy mother…! This babe was as hot as fuck! His mind spun for a moment or two.

  And she was now in his forest.

  Chapter 6

  She spent an hour slowly wandering around the pine scented woodland, stopping from time to time. The smell reminded her of her childhood. Her mother and father often took an RV out into the National Parks for day trips and short camping trips. She loved the outdoors. In fact she still had her own little tent under the bed in her room here… a little two bed pop up she had used a few times with her friend Gina when she was at college, she had a couple of bits of camping gear too, a lamp and a tiny stove. Simon would never have camped out … unless it was in a five star tent at Sandals…. She wouldn’t have wanted to either, whilst she was with him. All that cold hard ground and no washing facilities hadn’t appealed all that much then. She hadn’t been desperate enough!

  But now an idea suddenly took hold of her. She could get away from her roommates for a couple of days. Perhaps this weekend? Perhaps every weekend! She was going to do some house hunting but this was a better idea. When she was looking for places before, there was nothing in her price range. She may well be stuck here, she though with gritty realism. She had to give a week’s notice and had paid for a month up front plus a month’s deposit. She couldn’t leave for nearly a month anyway. She had over two weeks left before she could actually give notice.

  Weeks more quality time with Miss Babeland and Mister ear slaye
r….

  Oh well… no choice… it was out of her hands for the moment.

  She followed a few small trails which were clearly obvious. One was a circular and another led to the road as Seb had mentioned. She backtracked and headed back the way she had come. Suddenly she thought she saw a flash of something dark out of the corner of her eye. She stopped and looked around for a while. She turned 360 degrees slowly. She must have imagined it. Still, she felt an odd sensation inside her. It felt like she was being watched. She shivered involuntarily. She started to make her way back to where she had entered the small forest. She stopped in a ray of bright sunlight that filtered through the trees. There was a beautiful bright blue cornflower in front of her. She picked it and carried on walking, now feeling happier and more settled. Finally she came out into the brightness of the field and returned to the house. Seb and the dirt bike were gone.

  She let herself in and made herself some coffee.

  Chapter 7

  It was early evening the next day and Seb sat at his desk in his room with his books and his laptop. His final two exams were due and he was revising and cramming yet again. He enjoyed the challenge in the mental sense but found it debilitating in the spiritual one. All these little facts and frankly quite boring points he needed to absorb were making him feel weary today… He didn’t want to be inside doing this for much longer. It had been a long old haul… these last few years. Still it would be over soon and he could go home. He was feeling more of a craving than ever to be outside truly free, feeling the wild rush of the mountain air….

  It would be soon… very soon… tomorrow if he had his way, but needs must.

  He gazed out of the window as Laura arrived and got out of her car. She had her hair down today and it swung around her shoulders. His eyes followed her every move as she collected her shopping from the trunk and went inside next door. How she was managing with noisy bastard and outrageous girl he couldn’t really imagine. Perhaps she was stronger than she looked. The last one only lasted three weeks. He had a bird’s eye view of life from his spot here… and he was here a lot. He saw who came and who went… day after day. He wondered if she realised how bad they could get. Well she would find out sometime soon.