CHAPTER SIX
When I walked into the apartment, Fat Rabbit came bounding toward me on chubby little legs and I could hear Dex in his bedroom talking on the phone to someone. It reminded me that I needed to face the music and call my parents at some point. I’d rather get teeth pulled.
I decided to make myself busy and settle in, in case I ended up staying here for a little while. Deep down, I did appreciate what Dex was doing for me, even if this was a way to ease his guilty conscience. But I didn’t trust my increasingly raging hormones and the way they clouded my logic from time to time. I knew moving out would help immensely with salvaging whatever was left of our relationship. Staying would only complicate it.
Still, I lifted the boxes into my den and started unpacking things and tidying up the place so it was less like Dex’s messy office and more like Perry temporary hidey hole.
While I was doing so, I kept hearing snippets of Dex’s conversation. He sounded passionately engaged with someone and as his voice kept rising, I kept easing myself closer and closer to my open door, hoping to hear more and not get caught while I was at it. Eavesdropping wasn’t cool, but hey, it’s what roommates do.
“Jimmy, forget it. She’s not doing it!” he yelled, voice muffled by his door.
If they could, my ears would have perked up. I stepped out into the hall, trying to hear better. Jimmy? Were they talking about me?
I held my breath and strained my head.
“No, I told you,” Dex growled on the other side. “You get me, you don’t get her. No. She’s not going through that again. The whole Riverside deal almost killed her. Get someone else on the show, I don’t really care. But I’m not putting Perry in danger again. And there’s no way she’d want to do it anyway. She quit, remember. And she still hates my guts. I’m just waiting for her to chop my head off in my sleep.” Pause. “Yeah, or my balls. She probably would go for those first.”
My mouth dropped open. That kind of hurt, even though it was partly true.
“I know you need the money. Just get someone else, that’s all. No, she won’t do it for more money. She can’t be bought like that.”
That did it. I straightened up and knocked rapidly on his door.
“Oh fuck,” I heard him say. “Listen, can you hold for a second.”
The door opened and Dex poked his head out, smiling nervously when he saw my determined face on the other side.
“Hi roomie,” he said with forced cheer. “How was lunch?”
“Why are you talking to Jimmy about me?”
His smile fell. “You heard all that?”
“Yeah, it’s easy when you’re eavesdropping,” I said unapologetically.
He rubbed at his chin. “I think we’re going to have to add a no eavesdropping clause to the house rules. We might have to take out the no sex thing though.”
“Dex,” I cried out and pushed his door open. Thank God he was fully clothed in grey t-shirt and black jeans, otherwise I wouldn’t have protested so loudly.
He backed away from me, clutching the phone to his chest. “What?”
“Gimme the phone,” I commanded, holding out my hand.
His head dropped solemnly. “I am on a very important call.”
“Yes, about me,” I said, reaching for it. “Now give it.”
He shrank away and eyed the room anxiously. “Damn, I knew I should have kept a spare roll of duct tape somewhere.”
I could hear Jimmy squawking on the other line.
Dex sighed and put the phone to his ear. “Sorry, sir, a rabid animal burst into my room. No, she’s not taking questions right now.”
With a final attempt, I lunged at him, but not to take the phone outright. Judging from the taut tendons on his forearms, I would have lost that battle.
Instead I played dirty and a hunch. I went for the sides of his stomach and tickled him.
“Holy shit!” he yelped, staggering backward and dropping the phone. I kept my fingers going until he was pinned against his wall. I should have picked up the phone but the feeling of his rigid stomach and soft, thin shirt underneath my hands was addicting. So was the fact that I was making him double over from unwanted laughter.
“Stop it!” he tried to plead during giggles. “You evil genius!”
I reluctantly stopped, our bodies up against each other, breathing and smiling hard. He raised his head, face pink and eyes pinched and I backed off before I started up again. I quickly snatched up the phone from the carpet.
“Hi, is this Jimmy?” I asked into it, keeping my eyes on Dex. He made a move to come forward but I wiggled my fingers as a threat. He frowned but stayed put.
“Well, well, well,” came Jimmy Kwan’s voice through the line. “Perry Palomino. You know, you have to learn how to write a better resignation letter than just, fuck you Dex, I quit. Though, I’ve heard that one quite a bit.”
I smiled despite myself. “Well, he didn’t leave me much choice.”
Dex quickly looked up at the ceiling then made his way over to his bed, plunking down on it in defeat.
“I understand. I was just talking to Dex about bringing you back on the show, if you were interested, and he was quite adamant that you wouldn’t be interested. He’s quite concerned for your safety.”
Dex was watching me as curiously as I was watching him. For once, he wasn’t going to push me into anymore compromising situations. That was quite the change.
“What else did he say?”
“That was about it. You know, the show ended the moment you left. He thinks I can just pair him up with someone else but to be honest Perry, people watched that show because of your dynamic. Your ghost hunting skills are terrible.”
Yeah, that’s because they’re the ones hunting us, I thought.
“Did the show really do well enough to warrant running again?”
“You’d be surprised. Anyway, the point is, I want to add you back to the lineup. He says no. What do you say?”
I wasn’t really sure what I thought about that. Dex was right in that I shouldn’t be putting myself in those situations again. I couldn’t bear the idea of being frightened to death on camera, especially if it had anything to do with ghosts and demons. But a job was a job. And a job would get me out of Dex’s apartment…even if it only put me back into his work.
“I heard him say something about money. Would you pay me more?” I asked, keeping my voice hard.
He sighed. “Yes, I’d pay both of you more. I was going to anyway, before you up and left.”
Dex’s face looked pained so I turned away and looked out the sliding door to the balcony. The Monorail roared past, making the walls shudder.
“I’m not particularly fond of ghosts right now. Or being on camera. But I need a job.”
“I can give you a job. Your job back. You wouldn’t have to deal with ghosts right away if you don’t want. I was discussing a particular phenomenon with Dex. It’s…well, it’s ridiculous and nothing more than an urban legend, but I still think it’s worth checking out.”
“What is it?”
“Have you heard of Sasquatch?”
I burst out laughing, clutching the phone before I dropped it.
“Bigfoot?” I cried out when I could.
I looked incredulously at Dex who shrugged, a giant smirk on his face.
“Wait, wait, wait,” I said to Jimmy, struggling to compose myself. “You want us to go Bigfoot hunting?”
“Sasquatch. He’s different.”
“He’s still Harry and the Hendersons. Don’t tell me you believe this?”
“Of course I don’t,” Jimmy sniped, sounding tired. “But this is very in right now. There’s a llama outfitters up in BC, in the Rockies, and they’ve been dealing with something that sounds a lot like Sasquatch. Plus, you’ve seen the television shows about it. There’s even an erotic novel about sex with Bigfoot, self-published of course.”