Good Girl

Mallory Hill let out another frustrated groan as her call went straight to her fiancé’s voicemail. She stood under the awning of the office building where she worked as it poured down rain. This was the exact reason why they needed two cars. Her car was in the shop getting the transmission fixed at the moment, and she should have known that she couldn’t rely on her fiancé to pick her up from work every day. When she suggested getting a rental car until her car was fixed, he’d insisted that he would drop her off and pick her up every day. Clearly, she needed to rent a car instead. This was the second time he’d forgotten to pick her up this week and frankly, she was annoyed by it.

She hit the redial button on her iPhone one more time. This time it rang…and it rang…and it rang. Mallory wondered if he was ever going to pick up the phone.

“Hey, this is Matt. Sorry I can’t come to the phone right now-”

Mallory ended the call, fuming and intending on giving him a piece of her mind when she got home. She called the cab service that she kept on speed dial. She hated taking taxis, but sometimes she had to. She told the person on the phone where she was and where she was going. She let out a string of curses under her breath after she hung up, waiting for the yellow car to arrive and take her home.

When Mallory arrived at the house, she was drenched all the way down to her underwear. She only had to walk from the building to the waiting taxi at the curb and then from the taxi to the front door of her house. That was enough walking for her to get a complete shower from Mother Nature.

Mallory stepped into the house, slamming the large door behind her. She kicked off her soaked patent leather Jimmy Choos. She felt like ripping all of her hair out as she screamed, “Matt!”

She heard some talking and walked in the direction of the kitchen. There stood her fiancé, Matt, and her best friend, Tess, sitting on a bar stool. Both pairs of eyes roamed over Mallory’s wet form, standing there with her keys in one hand and her purse in the other.

“Shit,” Matt cursed.

“Yikes,” Tess raised an eyebrow at her friend.

“Babe, I’m sorry,” Matt apologized. He patted the pockets of his jeans. “I must have left my phone in the car.”

“It’s my fault, Mal,” Tess took the blame. “I came over here to see you before I went to work. I brought pizza too, so I guess we just lost track of time while we were eating.”

“You know pizza’s your weakness, Mal,” Matt coaxed her, trying to lessen her anger.

“You could have called me if Matt wasn’t answering,” Tess told her. “I would have came and got you.”

“No, Tess,” Mallory shook her head. “It wasn’t your responsibility. So, what did you want to talk about?”

“It’s not really important now,” Tess shrugged. She stood up from the stool, adjusting her bright orange shorts and white Hooters top. “I’ve got the night shift tonight, so I’ll probably talk to you tomorrow morning. You should go on upstairs and dry off before you get sick.”

Mallory and Tess had chosen very different career paths as best friends. Mallory worked a nine-to-five job as a loan officer at a top bank. She scored the job after graduating from college because her father knew someone that was willing to give her the job with no problem. Tess, on the other hand, wasn’t about the nine-to-five, conservative work environment. She liked a flexible schedule and worked at the 24-hour Hooters in central Los Angeles.

“I’ll meet you upstairs,” Matt called after Mallory said her goodbyes to Tess and started up the staircase.

Mallory mumbled under her breath as she got to their master bedroom, walking into the large en suite bathroom and running some warm water in the jacuzzi bathtub. She took off and put up her jewelry into her jewelry case. She threw her black blazer onto the floor and untucked her fuchsia blouse from her black pencil skirt. She stripped off all of her clothes before settling into the warm, bubbly water to relax.

When she was clean and calm, Mallory drained the bath water and carefully stepped out of the tub. She grabbed her towel and wrapped it around her naked body, stepping back into the bedroom. Matt was lying on the bed, his phone in hand.

“Tess gone?” She asked. Usually she would have enjoyed seeing her best friend in her home, but today was just not a good day for her.

“Yup,” Matt nodded. “We saved you some pizza, too.”

Mallory was glad that meant she didn’t have to cook. She treaded into their large, shared walk-in closet. She walked over to her side of the closet, pulling on a pair of cotton panties and a big t-shirt. She threw her towel into the hamper, glancing over at Matt’s side of the closet. She would have to clean and organize his side one day. Their sides looked like two different worlds.

She reentered the bedroom again, brushing her wet brown and blonde locks in front of the mirror. She started a long braid over her shoulder so that it’d be nice and wavy the next morning.

“Mal,” Matt called.

“Hm?” She glanced at his reflection in the mirror. He was turned onto his side, his head propped up by his elbow and hand.

“I’m really sorry,” He apologized for the second time, stressing his words. Mallory was easy to suck up to.

“You don’t have to be,” She said, her fingers running down the length of her hair as she braided. She had a simple fix for the problem. “I’m going to rent a car first thing in the morning.”

“I told you that you didn’t have to do that,” Matt said. “I’m fine with taking you to and from work.”

Mallory finished braiding, the braid a mix of golden blonde and light brown. She turned to him, jutting her hip out a bit. “You said that last week, Matt. And guess what? You forgot to pick me up twice this week.”

“My phone was in the car,” Matt exclaimed defensively. “And on Tuesday I was stuck in that meeting with Larry.”

Mallory stayed quiet, rolling her eyes at his forgetfulness.

“Mally, come here,” Matt beckoned her over, patting the spot on the bed next to him.

Mallory’s legs carried her over to the bed, climbing over to his side. Matt had a thing about him that could get Mallory to do whatever he wanted. Mallory thought of Matt as her biggest weakness. He could screw up big time, and she would forgive him.

“Now,” Matt lifted her up effortlessly and set her onto his lap, “I’m sorry for forgetting to pick you up from work. I hate that you had to take a taxi and got your clothes soaked. If I’d come and got you, I would have brought your umbrella. Forgive me please. I wouldn’t ever deliberately leave you standing out there, and you know that.”

“I know,” She sighed, looking down at her lap.

“You can rent a car if that’s what you want to do,” Matt said. “I’ll call the mechanic in the morning and see how your car’s coming along, too.”

“Thanks.” Mallory couldn’t wait to get her baby back from the shop. She imagined it would ride smoother than the day she bought it.

“Anything for you, Mal,” Matt said, kissing the top of her head. Her eyes closed as he moved down to her mouth, capturing her lips with his. He pulled away slowly, tugging on her bottom lip. “I’d do anything for you.”