CHAPTER 14
Marla had been fortunate enough to have three job offers within a week, although none of them were dream careers. Two manufacturing companies refused to hire her because she was pregnant and they didn’t want any lawsuits to come back and bite them in the ass. When all was said and done Marla decided to take a housekeeping position at a small, two story hotel that was within walking distance of the B&B. It would provide Marla with health insurance and enough money to barely squeak by. She was thankful that she liked ramen noodles and macaroni and cheese because she expected to be eating a lot of that in the future. One of the other things she liked about the job was that it required a uniform so she wouldn’t have to invest in a lot of maternity career clothing that she wouldn’t be able to use after the baby was born. Now that Marla knew what her income was going to be, she decided to look for more permanent housing. Although she loved living at the B&B it was way beyond her new budget, so she asked Bertie for some recommendations.
At the first furnished apartment she looked at she heard frantic skittering on the kitchen floor as the door opened. The type of skittering of the four pawed, long, hairless tail type. She let out a small scream while she watched more than a few mice scurry back into the darkness of the cupboards in the kitchen. Mouse crap littered the kitchen floor and Marla raced back out of the apartment, slamming the door behind her with a shudder that went up and down her spine several times. Struggling to stay polite she returned the key, shuddering once again on her way to the next apartment.
The second place looked much better but the smell of cigarette smoke clung to everything inside, leaving a film on all the furniture. Brown streaks of nicotine slid down the walls, making her gag involuntarily. The landlord swore that the previous residents didn’t smoke, but then he would be the last one to know because he smelled worse than the apartment. A combination of stale cigarette smoke and body odor plus his teeth were black and rotting out of his mouth. Definitely not a place fit for her or her baby.
The third and final place of the day was clean and furnished. Marla searched the cupboards for any signs of mouse crap and other crawling bugs, but everything looked clean. It was a smallish studio apartment with a hide-a-bed couch, table and chair in the living/bed room, a small galley kitchen and a bathroom with a sink, commode, and shower stall. It met her basic requirements, so she decided to take it. Another plus was that they would allow her month to month occupancy instead of getting locked into a six month lease. T
The Biltmore Arms Apartments, her new home, consisted of only ten units so security wasn’t a very big issue to the landlord. The first thing she did after gathering her things from the B&B was buy a deadbolt for the front door. Pete would have a cow if he found out, one of the drawbacks of dating a cop. She arranged for someone from the hardware store to install in before nightfall.
Marla’s first day of work exhausted her completely. She wasn’t used to physical labor as much as she used to be and every muscle in her body ached by lunchtime. Lana, the girl that was training her, was at least seven years younger than Marla and had piercing all over her head and face. She wore black eye shadow and mascara that set off her fuchsia colored hair and made her already pale skin look positively ghostly white. It took Marla quite a while before she could even understand what Lana was saying, probably because of the multiple tongue piercing she had. Lana had begun to lose her patience with her because she was constantly asking her to repeat her instructions. Huffing out her breath and tapping her foot for a moment before repeating what she’d said. When she did repeat it she spoke as if she were speaking to a mentally challenged person, slowly and loudly and right in her face. Little snot. Did she ever wonder if she would get any type of metal poisoning from all those piercings? She could have looked past all that if the girl had a decent personality. Unfortunately, Marla couldn’t see herself forming any lasting friendships working at this place. Not that she was looking for any, but it did make the day more pleasant if you could at least talk to your co-workers once in a while. Before she left for the day she asked Lana how many days of training she’d have. Gratefully, only one day of training would be provided. Apparently they didn’t believe in employee retention.
After Marla took her shower and ate her dinner she decided to give Pete a call. No answer. She was too tired and wanted to get some sleep so she opted not to leave a message. She would call him again tomorrow, maybe on her lunch break, and fill him in on all the news. Too tired to even open up the couch into a bed, she fell asleep on the couch with her new pillow and blanket surrounding her. The ringing of her phone woke her slowly.
“Hello,” Marla mumbled sleepily into the phone.
“Hey, how are my two favorite girls doing?” Pete’s baritone voice made her heart leap even through the fog of sleep. “Is everything okay?”
“Fine, yeah, I was just sleeping a little bit. What time is it?”
“It’s only seven thirty. Are you sure everything’s all right? That’s pretty early to be in bed for the night, even for you.”
“I started my new job today so I’m a little more tired than usual, I guess.”
“Great! Tell me all about it.” So Marla did just that.
She told Pete everything that had happened in her life since she last seen him the previous week. He laughed hysterically when she described the apartments she’d looked at. He sympathized with her about having to understand what Lana was saying, wishing her luck in that department.
“Tell me what’s new with you, Pete.”
“Well, I actually do have a little news to share with you. I’ve applied for the Captain’s position at the department. It’s a helluva way to get it, after someone’s murdered like Captain Perkins was, but regardless, it still has to be filled. As far as I know I have the most experience in the squad room right now, so that’s in my favor. They could always go outside to hire someone so I don’t want to get my hopes up too much about it. After all we went through to get you out of your situation at least the Chief knows who I am. On the other hand, I was the one to interrupt his vacation,” Pete reasoned.
“You’ll get it, I know you will. You’re a good cop and I’m sure the Chief knows it. When will you know for sure?”
“Not for a few weeks. Things never move as fast as you want them to in situations like this. Oh, Larry, Curly, and Moe all wanted me to say hello, listen to this.” Pete held the phone out and howled like a dog. All three dogs joined in with him and when he put the phone back to his ear Marla was giggling hysterically.
“Oh, that’s the best sound in the world. So you men are getting along well together I take it.”
“Yeah, except Moe keeps leaving the toilet seat down. I wonder who could have taught him that,” He joked. “After all, this is a swinging bachelor pad, you know?”
“No, I guess I never realized that before. New girl every night is it?”
“Not me, it’s them, honest. Talk about being a dog, sheesh! I can barely get any sleep with all their shenanigans. They know I have to work in the morning, but do they care? Nope, not one bit.”
“I’d kick their asses out if I were you. They’re corrupting your morals.” Her laughter sounded good to his lonely ears.
“Nah, I only have eyes for one woman and that’s you and little what’s-her-name. What is her name, anyway?”
“I have no idea, but I guess we should call her something other than ‘it’. Do you have any suggestions?”
“No, I’ll have to think about it some more. We need something cool though. Do you have any ideas?”
“No, I’m afraid I’ve been a little preoccupied this week. I’ll think about it and let you know. We still have a lot of time.”
“But I miss you now.”
“Don’t whine, Pete, it’s not good for the daddy to whine. You’re teaching our daughter bad behavior. And I miss you too,” She conceded. “But I’m not quite there yet,
I’ve only worked one day so far. I think I’ll need a little more time than that.”
“All right, but just a little. I guess I’ll let you get back to sleep, you know how crabby you get when you’re tired.”
“Okay. Take care, Pete.”
Marla wanted to tell him that she loved him, but she just couldn’t bring herself to say the words. She also noticed that Pete hadn’t said it either. Suddenly she felt like a million miles separated them, and it made her heart ache. Now she was just too wired-up to sleep, so she decided to read some of the literature the doctor had given her, hoping it would put her mind at ease and help her sleep. Wrong. She found the information fascinating and, as if the baby knew what she was doing, she began to kick furiously. Without thinking it through first she picked up the phone and quickly dialed Pete’s number. She was stunned stupid when a woman answered his home phone.
“Hello. Hello.” The female voice said sweetly into the phone.
“Umm, I think I might have the wrong number. I’m looking for Pete Jensen.” Marla explained.
“No, you’ve got the right number. Pete’s in the shower right now. Can I take a message?”
“No. It’s not that important. I’ll call back some other time. May I ask who this is?” She knew she shouldn’t have asked, but she needed to know what the hell was going on.
“Oh, this is Jenny.”
“Do I know you Jenny? This is Marla Winters.”
“Umm, no, I don’t think so. At least I’m not familiar with your name.”
“I didn’t think so. Anyway, it was good talking to you.”
Marla lied. How could she have been so stupid? Everything he said about loving her before he left had been a lie. Hell, she had even missed him. What kind of fool was she? Answer: a big one. No more. She had cried enough over Pete to fill an ocean. She had her own life and a baby to think about and she refused to waste another second on Peter Jensen.