Chapter 3

MJ took a deep breath and explained the morning to Beth so fast she thought she might faint. She revealed she was late and had to go pick up the cutlets that she missed this morning and how she dropped the keys and a Greek god made lewd comments about her ass, so she confronted him about it. “Good night” Beth said as she fanned herself with her hand “that's a hell of a morning and all dear, but what does that have to do with your head? And no, I don't think Lou would fire you for that” she said with a warm smile.

“Well” MJ winced at the thought of telling Beth what she did next, not because she didn't assume she was in the right “because that douche definitely deserved it” she reflected. But because she grew up with Beth, and she had tried really hard to stay out of the way since Beth had always been the one to bail her out of trouble. “What! Beth said with a soft but serious tone MJ knew was her being both worried and preparing for the worst.

“I kinda head-butted him” MJ said sheepishly as she looked up at Beth's face to gauge what the woman might say next. Beth’s mouth fell open for what seemed like a long time before she threw her head backward in a laugh that could be heard across the country.

“No way, sweetie, I bet you Lou is having it out with that creep right now,” she said with a matter-of-fact tone. “Come on, let's bring you an ice pack for that forehead before it swells anymore, and I will have the guys in the rear get the pallet in the pickup for you.”

“Fuck man, I knew it was gonna be a bunch of shit” MJ said as the two of them walked toward the small kitchen to grab some ice.

When MJ was done letting Beth fuss over her, she went back out to the truck and there sat a large Styrofoam barrier now stuffed in the bed of Lou’s old truck. There were two individuals standing at the rear of the truck smoking and joking with each other. “Thanks guys” MJ hollered as she waved at them. “Sure thing” one of them hollered back “oh, by the way, it's packed in ice, so don't worry about time” the other one mumbled through his lit cigarette.

MJ nodded and climbed behind the driver side of the beat up old truck and drove back to Lou’s store.

When she pulled into the joint parking lot sandwiched between Lou's shop and a tailor who worked in the next building, Mj’s heart skipped a little. She knew Beth was probably right that Lou wouldn't really be upset enough to fire her, she had punched out rude ass customers before. She even once slapped a woman with a nice T bone when she told MJ she smelled like unwanted gutter trash. And Lou just laughed it off and instructed her to get back to work.

MJ took a deep breath and climbed out of the truck. She opened the side door and yelled, “Hay Lou! I got all the fuckin meat you ordered but I don't know where the fuck we are supposed to put it all, you could feed an army with all these cutlets”. MJ started to unlatch the bed of the truck when she heard footsteps behind her.

She leaned into the bed to unfasten one of the tie straps, so they could unload the pallet in sections instead of trying to pull it out of the rig in one go. “Hey Lou, look I'm sorry about earlier, but that asshat just really pissed me off, you know? I mean yea I was bent over when he opened the door, but does that seriously give him the right to shout disgusting shit like that?” She had now climbed mostly into the rear of the pickup and was struggling with one of the straps. MJ was on her knees yanking on a knot that had been tied in the strap for god only knows what reason. “Fuck!” she exclaimed in irritation. “Hey Lou, this god-damn strap is all knotted to hell and back, can you come help me untie it?”

She knew the old man was standing there, and she heard him walk out.

“Dammit, Lou” MJ gritted her teeth as she gave one last pull out of annoyance. All of a sudden the harness broke at the knot and MJ flew backward, she tried to catch herself, but that made things worse she only launched herself backward and stumbled into a hard almost immovable statue like figure. The figure reached forward and wrapped his arms around her, and MJ knew then it wasn't Lou. The man was huge, sure, but he was very squishy in the middle and this being behind her was anything but.

MJ tried to wriggle free, but the large fleshy restraints that held her did not give. She managed to wiggle around and see the face of the person she had assumed was Lou.

Mjs body went numb. Her legs went limp, and she inhaled so much air she thought she might choke on it if she didn't exhale slowly. “An asshat hu”? The low delicious voice hummed, MJ was horrified the guy from earlier was still here. And to make matters worse, he was now holding her! “Get the fuck off me, you creep” MJ hollered as she tried her best to get free.

The olive toned god of a man holding her did not put her down nor did he fall prey to any of her jabs or headbutts, and now he was grinning. “Now in all fairness kitten” he purred “you fell into my arms, I just didn't want to hurt those tender peaches of yours”.

The words rolled off his tongue like velvet, and it made MJ blush.