Saint or a Sinner

ROSABELLE - AGE: 29

The caller ID on my cell phone gave me pause - Leo… –Lionel Jordan Saint – It’s been months since I last spoke to him… 7 months and 13 days to be exact. Not that I’m counting. 7 months and 13 days back, I had the worst breakdown ever since Alee died. I had the most severe bout of depression and loneliness and I was fed up of being lonely.

So, in my emotional and needy state I had called Lionel to use his shoulder to cry upon. After that night we got busy in our own lives; me trying to pull myself out of depression and him enjoying the perks of being a billionaire – travelling to places where there is no cell phone service, to photograph the wild life. According to him it took months and patience to get the perfect shots. This was by far his longest trip.

During my walk down the memory lane, the ringing of my cell ended… and started again immediately. This time I picked it up and as soon as I brought it to my ear, Leo’s cheery voice greeted me; “Happy 29th Peanut”. And that’s how I remembered that my birthday just started. How sad is that? Leo was always the first one to wish me on my birthday. He always remembered. The bestest best-friend anyone could ever wish for, and I was the lucky one to have him.

“So, you remembered huh?” I teased.

“Of course, I remembered Peanut. How can I forget? It’s not every day your best friend turns older. So, tell me hag, what are you doing on your birthday? Turning another prince into a toad?”

“Ha Ha Lionel. Your sense of humor is getting worse with age. I’m worried for you really. You’re losing your game”.

“Atleast I have a sense of humor… unlike someone else I know. You’re just getting crankier with age. And anyway, how would you know about my game? I’ve never turned my charms on you”.

“Oh boy am I glad for that”. I muttered, rolling my eyes, knowing full well that if Lionel Saint decided to turn his charms on me, I’d be in deep trouble. Of course, I had a secret crush on my best friend. If you had a best friend as panty-meltingly hot as Lionel, you would be cheering me on instead of judging me right now.

“Ah Peanut, is that a challenge?” he mocked.

“Oh, I wouldn’t dare”. Really, I wouldn’t.

“Chicken shit”. Leo laughed. And something in his tone told me that he knew exactly how big of a chicken I was. He knew me better than anyone.

“So, assuming you are not doing anything special tomorrow, you’ll be coming over to my place. I’m throwing a small party at a bar near my place. It’s more of a friends’ get together, nothing too raunchy I promise”.

“Why do I not believe you?” Lionel and raunchy parties were a match made in heaven, so I was really finding it hard to believe him.

“Rosa shut up and just get your ass here tomorrow as soon as you wake up. Wear something comfortable. It’s our day out”.

“What about the party?”

“You’ll have plenty of time for it. Just do as I say”. With that he was gone. He probably didn’t want to give me time to think up an excuse and cancel the plan, which I mostly did. As I said, he knew me too well.

Sighing, I got up from bed and ventured to my closet. I knew I wouldn’t be able to concentrate on anything else now that I knew I was going to meet Lionel.

……………………….

When we were younger, we would hang out in his basement almost daily. Sometimes there’d be other friends but we were a constant. Leo and I became friends in 3th grade when one day he beat the shit out of a boy who had pushed me to the ground and as a result my knees got bruised. That day Leo became my knight in shining armor and then my best friend.

I didn’t always have a crush on him. No, I used to even go over to his house in my pajamas on weekends without even combing my hair. It wasn’t until we were in college and I saw girls throwing themselves at his feet that I started to really ‘see’ Leo. He had always been handsome… the cutest kid in our grade. But in college, it was like he had a growth spurt and suddenly he was this tall, broad Adonis with chocolate brown hair and beautiful sea foam green eyes.

Then he started playing soccer… I know right? How unfair for poor girls. The girls who couldn’t even spell soccer would go to team practices and wait for the time Leo would pull the hem of his shirt up to wipe sweat from his face. They’d be a swooning and giggling mess by the end of it and I would laugh at poor Leo trying to extricate himself from the hoard to get to the locker room. And so, it wasn’t really a surprise that he’d have a different girl on his arm every month.

It’s not like I didn’t have guys asking me out but I was nowhere near Leo’s level of popularity. And I was actually relieved for this small favor because as much as I loved hanging out with Leo, I wasn’t much of a people’s person. Neither I was a total hermit back then as I am now but in hindsight that was probably because Leo would drag me out kicking and flailing if I spent even two days indoors. He always had that flare for dramatics.

Once again dragging myself out of past, I started perusing my wardrobe to select something for tomorrow’s outing and party. And that’s when I realized how boring my wardrobe had become. “Leo would be so disappointed in me Spike” I said to my cat who was sitting on my bed judging me for my lameness. After dumping almost my entire wardrobe on the floor near my feet, I settled on faded jean-shorts and a white button down top to wear to his house tomorrow morning. I was now left with just finding a dress for the party… yeah, no biggie… I have so many crappy options that whatever I choose to wear will make me look like a ‘hag’ as Leo likes to call me.

Bingo! There, at the back of my wardrobe in the discarded mess I hadn’t deemed worthy since forever, laid my saving grace – yup you guessed it – an LBD. Phew! What a tiring task it is to select proper clothing. The one thing I do love to hoard is shoes. So, a hunt for my most beautiful pair of golden heels for the party and white Spartan sandals for tomorrow’s outing later, I finally fell on my bed face first and knocked on the door of dream land almost immediately. Yeah, not even Lionel Jordan Saint can keep me from sleep.

……………………….

There was something hard poking in my lower back which is why I thought I must be dreaming because in my sad existence it just wasn’t happening. So, I decided to keep my eyes shut a moment longer and enjoy what comes next. A hot tongue licked my cheek and then did it again… but when I still didn’t open my eyes, the owner of the hot tongue tried to take matters further and climbed on top of my face… and mewed. It was Spike – of course it was Spike. I sighed, pushed my cat aside and rubbed my blurry eyes. Feeling behind me with a hand I caught the culprit that had been poking me in the back – the beer bottle I had indulged in last night.

Checking the time on my phone I got up and padded across my room to the bathroom with Spike hot on my tail. I brushed my teeth while he just glared at me, his piercing yellow eyes said to ‘hurry the fuck up and feed him already’. I swear he believed me to be the worst human being he could ever find and I was sure he mostly hated my guts but had to bear me so that I keep feeding him and giving him belly rubs.

Once done measuring the little moody beast’s kibble, I dragged myself to the kitchen for my first dose of caffeine. I didn’t bother with the breakfast because he would have a feast ready for me – something I really loved about my best friend. He knew my love for food and he was an awesome cook. Any girl would be lucky to have him as a husband only if he could even imagine settling down… which was a far-fetched possibility. I hauled ass to my room to get changed or he would start blowing up my phone soon.

I checked myself in the mirror for the second time… or the third… or the hundredth and saw exactly what I had seen the last ninety-nine times… my waist length dirty blonde hair styled into beach waves, white top tied at my waist showing off my belly button ring and the small tribal tattoo above my shorts. And then my phone rang, telling me to stop lollygagging and get my ass to Leo’s. I stopped on my way to take donuts from his favorite place and went to meet my best friend.

……………………….

As soon as I rang the bell, the door opened up to a grinning Lionel and he sketched a bow to me as I entered.

“For a moment I thought you were going to stand me up but then I thought ‘nah she wouldn’t dare. She must remember the last time she tried pulling that crap’” he was still grinning. And he was still mouth wateringly handsome… bastard.

The time he was referring to was some days after my break down and I had told him I had plans with a friend from work and he had called my bullshit by appearing at my door 5-minutes later with my favorite take-out and ice-cream. We had watched movies while I kept sniffling and he kept rubbing my back soothingly. Leo could be the perfect girlfriend when I needed him to be. And he could be a total pain in my ass whenever mood stricken, just like now.

“Fuck off Saint and feed me, I’m hungry”.

His spreading grin told me exactly what he was going to say and I slashed my hand in front of his face, “Don’t you dare say anything gross. It’s too early for that”.

“Alright, alright… geez you’re a nightmare in the mornings. Breakfast is ready but give me five minutes, I need to shower” he said turning towards his bathroom already and taking his t-shirt off as he went. I spun on my heels before I drooled all over him, and started perusing his living room. Despite the size, it was a warm place with a cozy and homey feel. The off-whites and sepias gave it a rustic look. The wooden beams and ancient looking brick fire hearth were my favorite touches in this room.

I ventured in the kitchen to grab a glass of water and called out, “It’s been more than 5 minutes beauty queen, if you don’t get out in under a minute; you won’t get any of these Donuts”. And the next thing I knew, I was tackled down on the carpet, spilling the water on my blouse… but not by whom you must be thinking… by a goddamned huge dog who immediately started licking my face. What is it with me getting tackled by animals today? I managed to extricate myself from underneath the boulder of a dog to only realize that I had lost the top button of my blouse in the tryst. The poor thing had been hanging by the last thread but loyally keeping my assets from spilling out because as it happens, the shirt I chose was as old as the hills.

I should have checked my bloody horoscope before waking up because to add salt to my injury Leo came out of the bathroom in a low hanging trouser and wet dripping hair, looking fucking edible while I was on all fours trying in vain to find the golden button. Of course, the fucker didn’t dry his hair or it would be ‘ruined’. And the droplets falling on his perfect chest… can’t a girl get a fucking break? Then; like a cheesy chick flick; he stopped dead in front of me and I looked up to find his darkened eyes on my chest with a hand covering his lips. I was almost certain that he wasn’t laughing at me… almost. I licked my suddenly dried lips and his dark gaze followed the movement.

“Are you trying to seduce me Ms. Rosabelle Marie BlackBane?” Leo gritted out, pointing to my own ‘wet’ chest and I stood up hastily to salvage whatever was left of my ego, “Are you?” I gestured up and down his bare torso with a raised brow. He laughed, “Nice bra”, and with that he went to the kitchen without another glance in my direction. Damn that ass. The most perfect thing in the world. Suddenly my drying throat needed that glass of water with a vengeance. And that’s when it registered that being the fashionista I am, I decided to wear a hot pink bra underneath the white blouse which, now thanks to the damn dog, was completely see through.

“Can I borrow a t-shirt of yours?” I called out.

“Now why would I do that when I’m getting to see that?” he gestured towards me with a grin and I rolled my eyes, “Don’t be a dog Leo and give me a damn shirt”.

“Spoil sport” he muttered but went to get me a shirt.

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