I shrugged. “She said I keep you young.”
Vic smiled. “You keep me a lot of things, Lenny, but young is not one of them. I think I’ve got my first gray hair since meeting you.”
I wanted to argue that. His head was still full of black, luxurious strands that I could and would run my hair through.
This was the first time we’d joked since she’d arrived. It felt nice. It seemed right. It was over too soon. Vic kissed me on the forehead and left the room, leaving me alone.
I awoke and stretched out my hand feeling for Vic. He wasn’t in the bed. I sat up and looked at the clock. Three a.m., my least favorite hour. Three in the morning was the dead hour. It was the time when ghost hunters found their targets. It was the hour during which I had had all of my night terrors. If I could remove three a.m. from the clock, I would. Of course, then four would become three and we’d have a whole new problem. I don’t like to think pragmatically at three in the morning, though.
I was about to roll over and go back to sleep when I heard muffled voices. I sat up, trying to discern what was being said.
“You need to get your shit together and stop playing house, Vic!”
I gasped. That was Alice! And she was whisper-yelling at Vic. What the hell was going on? I slid out of bed and tiptoed to the bedroom door, gently easing it open.
I slipped between the partially open door and the frame, and paused to listen. The voices were coming from downstairs. I made it to the top of the stairs and pressed myself against the wall. I could see them, but they couldn’t see me.
“I’m not playing at anything, you heel-wearing, makeup-slathered cunt,” Vic snarled at Alice.
My eyes widened. They were both fully dressed and glaring at each other. Once again, I felt like a child whose mommy and daddy were arguing.
“Oh, sticks and stones, Vic,” Alice purred.
I felt a chill go down my spine. It was like watching a sadistic type of foreplay, not a vicious argument.
“I don’t care who or what you stick your dick in,”—Vic scoffed—“but you don’t get to go AWOL after taking a ten million dollar contract.”
My jaw dropped. Jaw meet floor, floor meet jaw.
Alice jabbed her finger at Vic’s face. “Furthermore—”
Vic smacked her hand away.
There’s more? I blinked, readying myself for more Earth-shattering news.
Alice let her hand fall, but started speaking again, undeterred. “Furthermore, don’t think your little stunt went unnoticed. We notice when you use company resources to help some girl you’re fucking.”
I was genuinely worried about Alice. I’ve never seen Vic so furious before. I could see in his eyes how much he wanted to rip out Alice’s jugular; the twitch in his jaw muscles gave away that he was only hanging on to his self-control by a thread.
“What if I don’t give a shit?” Vic whispered through clenched teeth.
Alice laughed. Her laugh was hearty yet feminine. I hated how strong she was. I wanted to rip out her heart and eat it, just to gain some of her strength.
The next instant, all of the humor drained from Alice’s face. “You know how these things work.”
“I don’t know what I ever saw in you,” Vic said.
Me either.
Alice smiled. “You saw yourself.”
Yikes, okay, I think I’ve heard enough. I started backing up, slowly so as not to be heard. Mistake. I backed into a table, setting it rocking on its legs. Crash! The plant that had been on the table was now on the floor, shattering comically loud. Alice’s and Vic’s eyes shot toward me. I froze, praying they couldn’t see me in the darkness.
Remember how I said I felt like a child around them? Well, those times paled in comparison to this moment. I felt like they were going to simultaneously yell, “You’re grounded!”
I didn’t give them a chance. I ran into the bedroom before either could say anything.
I stayed in bed until I heard Alice and her rolling suitcase leave through the front door. I didn’t feel the relief I thought I would at her departure. She had opened so many cans with so many worms, but she hadn’t taken any of them with her when she stomped out. She left all the worms for me and Vic to deal with.