Page 7 of Dancing With Doubt

4

Roxie

“I’m so fucking done with him,” Roxie growled to herself once Lincoln had stalked out of her apartment.

So what if the way he glared at her with those smoldering brown eyes nearly made her take all her words back? He was a complete asshole and seeing him after her little run-in with June just brought the fact home to her even more.

Frustrated and tired of what she had on, Roxie walked back to her bedroom to see if she had any clothes left that were worth wearing. She rummaged around in her drawers, noting that somebody, probably Wendy, had folded and put away whatever wasn’t damaged. Once she changed into a pair of gray shorts and a black tank top, she felt much better. Twirling her hair up into a bun, she walked back out to her living room, inspecting everything as she went along.

Somebody had put a lot of effort into making repairs, she couldn’t tell where the walls, floors, and everything else in the place had borne the brunt of her asshole ex’s fury. Sure, the red velvet couch was new, but it was comfy and that made the loss of her old couch bearable. Going into the kitchen she was glad to see there weren’t any new appliances, that was definitely Wendy’s doing. They didn’t really talk much about Roxie’s aversion to electricity, but it was nice to know Wendy had respected her enough not to plug anything in or add to the list of appliances she wouldn’t use.

The sound of a small fist knocking on the door brought Roxie’s attention around to the entryway. She knew that knock and with a smile that was only a little strained, opened the door to see her friend.

“Hi, Wendy,” Roxie said as she opened the door wider. Wendy had a bag full of food and drinks with her and that was all Roxie needed to know about what her friend might have heard earlier.

“I saw Lincoln leave and thought you might need a fixer.” Wendy grinned and took the bag over to the new white coffee table in front of the couch. “I’ve got tacos, mozzarella cheese sticks, donuts, and cupcakes. Which do you want first?”

“The cake,” Roxie said as she sat down on the couch beside her friend. “Did you get me water?”

“Of course.” Wendy pulled items out of the bag and arranged them on the table. “I got some Dr. Pepper too, just in case.”

“You know that’s my totally-over-it drink. Damn, I love it.” Roxie leaned into Wendy to nudge her a little and smiled ruefully. “What did I do to deserve you?”

“You moved above my parents’ shop. And you’re pretty awesome, too.” Wendy’s smile this time was a little shy but definitely pleased. She took a taco wrapped in paper and started to eat while Roxie had a turn at the chocolate cake nestled in a foam box.

They ate silently, Roxie not counting calories because she knew she’d work it off one way or another, just enjoying eating and being with each other. Roxie had a taco and a few cheese sticks before she sat back and opened the bottle of soda that she really did only drink on special occasions. Once she’d had her fill she sat back and looked over at her friend. “I guess you heard me yelling at Lincoln?”

“Not really, but the scowl on his face when he left told me all I needed to know.” Wendy’s lips pursed with grim amusement. “I knew you’d torn him a new one and probably with good reason.”

“I did and I did.” Roxie agreed and screwed the lid back onto the bottle. “I did not need the bullshit he put me through today. And no, I don’t want to talk about it, but thank you for offering to listen.”

Roxie knew the kind gesture of food and drink was Wendy’s way of offering a shoulder to cry on. She loved Wendy, knew she could count on her to keep her secrets, but some secrets she didn’t want to tell anyone. Her former life was something she’d hidden for a long time, revealing it now wasn’t on her list of things to do.

“That’s cool, just so long as you know I’ll do whatever you need. I know there’s people after you because of that asshole you used to date and if you need me to, I’ll ship you off with a new passport with a fake name in one of the dry-cleaning trucks. There’s a whole range of places you can go, if you want. Oh, and if you want to go to a foreign country, I can get you a passport and paperwork for one of those places too. I know a guy.”

“I know you do,” Roxie answered, remembering how terrified she was to use the last passport Wendy provided her. The little sucker had worked though, so she knew any others probably would too. She might need a different passport one day, a real one maybe, to get out of all of this mess. Maybe she’d go back to Cambodia, back to that little village where she’d been so at peace with the world. “You’re a star, do you know that? And I’m not going to ask you what other secrets that innocent face of yours is hiding. I’m not sure I want to know.”

Wendy just grinned a pearly white grin and winked at Roxie as an answer before she finished off the cheese sticks.

“So, are you coming back to stay here now?” Wendy asked nonchalantly but Roxie heard a hint of hope in her voice.

It was only then that she realized it had been a long time since she’d sat here with Wendy like this, when it used to be something they did once a week at least. And Lincoln had said she’d be safe here now, if she did. “Maybe. I’m not certain it’s safe yet, but I’m definitely staying tonight. I miss my bed. And you.”

“Aw, I knew you loved me.” Wendy winked again and pulled her tablet out of another bag. “Movie?”

“Sure, I’m not in the mood to talk, but company sounds nice.” Saying that wasn’t hard, because she knew Wendy would understand. The other woman was kind, perceptive, and always a good friend. She’d do whatever Roxie needed.

Right now, that was distracting Roxie from her troubles with Lincoln. Somehow she doubted she’d heard the last of him, but she’d meant what she said. She was done playing games, being left in the dark, and living with total uncertainty. Maybe he was right to a degree, she decided as she watched Ryan Reynolds fight off ghosts gone bad with Jeff Bridges. She had been running for a long time and Nathan burning down Elmo’s because he owed the wrong people money had given her even more reason to run.

Roxie’s life since she was eighteen had been running from one bad situation after another. For a while, she’d thought Lincoln would make all of that different, would bring her some peace, but now? Now she thought that he only added to the stress she had to carry around with her. Roxie reached for a taco that was now cold, but still good, and munched on it. She wasn’t really paying any attention to the film, but it didn’t matter.

She’d managed to deal with far worse problems than the ones she was facing now, so she knew she’d find a way to get through this moment too. Eating her way through it wasn’t the best choice, but if she was done with Lincoln, she’d have to go back to dancing, or teaching dance classes. Yeah, she had the money he’d paid her for teaching him about her world, but that wouldn’t last forever. She’d have to get back out there tomorrow and hustle up some work. That was never really hard to do, but she’d rather not work in a dive bar. She was too good a dancer to go to one of those places.

Wendy was distracted by the movie and didn’t notice Roxie sending a text, to find out if she could get back into giving dance classes. Kitty answered promptly, letting her know that the facility where Kitty taught classes would love to have her back. Roxie promised to call her friend the next day to set everything up and then tried not to touch her phone again. She half expected Lincoln to text her, to try to get her to listen, but her phone remained quiet.

Wendy left after the movie finished, claiming she had an early day and wanted to get some sleep, but Roxie had noticed the text Wendy got just before the movie ended and how wide Wendy grinned when she got it. Roxie let her friend have her secrets and thanked her for being so good to her with a hug.

Once the door was closed, the variety of locks and bolts set, and the lights out, Roxie sat back down on the couch and stared into the darkness. She might have been hasty in pushing Lincoln away, and hastier when she asked Kitty to find out if she could get a job with her, especially when Roxie had turned that down to give it to Kitty in the first place, but…had she really?