Roomies

In the days following their encounter, Edith consumed herself in her new job with the LA Daily News writing articles about the local and national sporting events. It wasn't a dream job, but it would help to pay her part of the bills Mike had agreed spilt to spilt with her. Her dream job was to have her own radio talk show and then possibly her own TV show. The radio show was very much achievable for her, it was much easier to get a spot on air than on tv time. Plus, she didn't have the face for TV, sure she had to admit she thought she was an attractive woman, but she just didn't feel like she was the type. But she knew in order to make it in this own that she had to dream big to make it and that was what she was going to do. Well, right after she finished up the recap covering the Kings recent defeat against the Dallas Stars.

"Hey, Eddie, wanna go grab something to eat?" Mariah Caldwell , one of her new co-workers inquired leaning over her cubical.

Edith nodded as she continued typing, "Yeah, I just got my article done for Carolina to look over."

Glancing over her work one last time, she emailed it to the Editor of the paper. Shutting down her MacBook, she placed it in her case, and grabbed her pursue. Mariah had done the same, the two walked out of the building, and hopped into Mariah's convertible blue VW bug. Top down and ready to enjoy the extremely mild winter day.

"Damn. I can't get over how nice it is to spend the winter here." Edith expressed as she hung her arm over the side of the car as they back tracked over the interstate. They were headed to Jerry's Famous Deli for a some sandwiches.

"Yeah, it sure beats Seattle this time of year. If not any." Mariah agreed, focusing on the road ahead, "Speaking of which are you gonna come to the Christmas party that Carolina's gonna throw? It's a great place to meet somebody for the night."

Edith flushed, not wanting to talk about guys of any kind at the moment. She could care less about a random co-worker, especially when she had the prefect male specimen at home.

"Actually, I think I'm gonna take a week and visit my family back in Chicago. My mom's not been doing too well with the new chemo they've been treating her with and... The doctors are saying it might be her last Christmas.". Edith informed her friend with a shaky sigh. Her father had called her in tears a few nights ago with the grim news that her mother may not see spring. It was heart breaking how such a strong woman might or would lose her fight with cancer. Her mother had always been her biggest supporter. To lose her would be twice as worse as losing Jason. Mike had tried to comfort her when she told him the news, but his warm embrace and soothing words couldn't take away the icy cold realization and it's numbing effect on the body.

A hand came to rest upon Edith's shoulder, Mariah offered her new friend a watery smile because she understood her pain. She had lost her younger sister to leukemia just before graduating from high school,

"Going to see your family in Chicago is a much better idea than the company party. Does your roomie know your gonna be gone for the holidays?"

Edith shook her head and ran a hand through her hair, "No, not yet. I'll be back for New Years. Christmas is the most important thing right now."

Mariah nodded, "Ok, on a less heavy note. How has the roommate situation with Mike been going."

"It's been going." Edith shrugged. Mariah sent her a pointed look, "Seriously, if I wanted it to be anything else it would be... But- I can't."

"Why not?"Mariah prompted, wanting her friend to open up a little more, "I mean, I would've been all over him within the first week. How can you live with a guy like that and not be?"

Sighing, Edith shrugged, the good Lord knew she wanted to be all over him but she just wasn't ready to put her trust in him. Especially, not with his reputation, he needed to earn her trust before he could ever earn her love. She didn't want to end up with another cheater and have to deal with the same mess all over again. She wasn't sure if she could handle it.

"I don't know, Mariah. Sometimes it's easy... Sometimes it's not. Most of the time it's a lot of work, he's really messy." Edith joked with her friend as they walked into the deli.

Edith spent the rest of the day searching for a way to tell Mike that she would be leaving for Christmas. She figured it would be easiest just to tell him and be done with it. In all honesty, she didn't have to tell him anything. They had no ties to each other other than the fact that they were just roommates... Okay, so they were more like friends, but that still didn't mean that she had to tell him everything. so when he came home that night she did just that,

"I'm going home for Christmas."

Mike blinked at her from and moment or two, "What do you mean?"

"My mom's sick, Mike. This might be her last Christmas. I need to be with her." Folding her arms across her chest, Edith wanted to stay firm and not let him get to her.Neither of them said anything as they stared each other down. They both knew that she had to go home.

"So why are you telling me? Go to her. She needs you." He agreed with her. She smiled, widely at him and wrapped her arms around him in a hug. He was hesitant to hug her. He was afraid she'd push him away again. This time she hadn't, but that didn't mean she wouldn't if he did something less than kosher in her eyes. 

Rocking back on his heels, he checked the time. Some of the guys had invited him to check out a club with them on the sunset strip. He wondered if he should extend the invitation to Eddie. As her roommate, he wanted to provide her another chance to explore the city she now called home and expand her horizons. Scratching the back of his head, he smiled down at her,

"So some of the guys and I are gonna go out tonight. Do you wanna come with?"

The sour look on her face expressed to him that she had her reservations about joining them for a night on the town. However, Mike knew her better than that. He understood that she would be apprehensive about plunging head first into L.A.'s club scene, it would be a culture shock compared to her experiences in Seattle. He also knew that she thrived for social gathering and that fly by the seat of one's pants plans wasn't something she was unfamiliar with. Mike, quickly, stopped her before she could open her mouth to object,

"Now, you can't say, 'no'. The guys have been dying to meet the girl who puts up with me."

Rolling her eyes at man before her, she weighed her options. Part of her, absolutely had no intention of joining a gaggle of hockey players for a night on the town. They would attract too many puck sluts than what she would feel comfortable with and she refused to be incarcerated for her actions toward such women. The other fraction of herself was pushing, pleading for her to go out. To get the full Los Angeles experience, to allow herself to have a few beers, and a good time. She longed for more company than what Arnold could provide her with. Not that the black lab wasn't a wonderful companion, but she needed some interpersonal interactions with people whom could communicate with her. Well, there was also a dancing itch that needed scratched and clubbing was the prefect way to aleviate it. Taking a deep breath, she gazed into his hopeful eyes and gave into his request, "Fine, I'll come, but I have one request."

"Anything, just name it!"

Smirking at the 5'11" forward while examining her cuticles, before she glanced back at him with a daring look in her eyes, "You're not bringing home any girls tonight."

"Fine, you little cock blocker," Mike agreed, running a hand through his curly hair before muttering under his breath, "It's not like I'll have any game if your around."

The annoyed look Eddie sent him before she turned away was enough for him to challenge her as well, "That's perfectly fine, but you have to bring someone home with you." Rolling her eyes and shaking her head, she barely contained the laugh that welled up in her throat,

"What are you saying? That I need to get laid?"

Wagging his eyebrows, suggestively, Mike took stepped closer to her. His eyes had darkened, dangerously with a swirl of foreign emotions,

"I might be... If that's what you think bringing someone home means."

Shoving him away from her, she headed up the stairs towards her room without another room.  She was beginning to think that he just loved making her squirm with all his sexual innuendos and suggestions. The part the frustrated her the most was that some twisted part of her relished the playful banter. Jason had never even hinted at anything sexual when they were dating or even engaged, he was always awkward about and usually asked her if she wanted to fuck. It was refreshing to have a man flirt with her and not have to do all of the work. Not that she was looking for anything romantic to come out of her friendship with Mike. She just enjoyed his coltish demeanor.

Changing quickly into a pair of black leather leggings, a metallic silver off the shoulder shirt, and some killer studded heels. She kept her makeup simple with a smokey eye and nude lip gloss. Her hair was fine with way it was, which in this case was waved out by the salty sea air. Pleased with her overall look, she grabbed her handbag and headed back downstairs just in time for Mike and her to be picked up by his teammates. As Edith walked toward the front door she could've sworn she saw Mike do a double take. It wasn't the first time he'd done it, but it was the first time he hadn't tried tried to be discrete about it. The way his eyes traveled over her body hinted the very same emotions that had swirled in them just before he kissed her. She hoped that it was just a fleeting phase that wouldn't las very long. She knew that she wouldn't be able to resist him forever. She'd have to cave into his needs.... and her own.