Lynn and Leif Forevermore Ch. 13

***

He decided to head Matthew's advice. He wasn't going anywhere near that club. If she was so fickle, and so childish and immature that she was afraid of her own growing attraction to him, and maybe even love, as she screamed out when she came, she was going to need to grow up and get over it. He cared for Lynne a lot already, but he wasn't just going to sit around forever until he was old and gray, playing with himself to satisfy fantasies of her, and praying that she'd pay attention to him and talk to him.

Life moved on. As much as he wanted his life to move on...with her involved...if she didn't come around soon, he was moving on without her!

He didn't even want to play at that damn club next door to her's anymore. Couldn't stand the thought of running into the sweet creature. Next month they would book clear across town.

He had to get that scent, that flavor, and that sweet tan skin out of his mind. Couldn't think of anything but running his fingers through her soft ethnic hair. Gently caressing those damp coarse curls between her thighs. The damp musky heat on his finger tips. That urban accent moaning that she loved him. Even that cute little snort.

Damn. Just Damn. Why was it, that the only woman he'd ever wanted, was scared to death to get close to him. He'd never hurt her. But, he was frustrated and didn't know how to convince her that he was harmless. He didn't know what else he could do to convince her that he cared, and wasn't a ski mask wearing monster. He simply wanted to get to know her. He felt so angry he started to delete her number from his phone.

Then, one day, about a week and a half later, he got a cryptic text message from Lynne. Though he tried to stifle it, all those familiar warm feelings rose up in his heart again. Quickly though, he got them in check.

Little Miss Faucet, she had some damn nerve ignoring him for almost a week and then texting him again. She was a little tease, and she'd been cold last week, now his little Miss Faucet was running hot again for him.

He grinned. He couldn't wait to see what she wrote. He was still smitten. Delighted that the text proved he still had a chance.

Maybe he should give her a dose of her own medicine for her to see what she was losing. Teach her a good lesson. And then, after she apologized, they could resume getting to know each other. He'd even lovingly try to convince her that..he felt serious about her...once he told her about herself.

But she had to stop acting like a such a crazy ass woman. Hot one day and cold the next. Every time she did it, she hurt his feelings. And it wasn't fair. He had half a mind to hurt her feelings too, just so she knew what it felt like, and then, they could start afresh together.

If she came clean, he could admit...he thought what he was feeling, for her cute little crazy ass was love. Then maybe she'd stop acting so ridiculously frightened of him. Why was he falling for the crazy girl scared to death of all her feelings? Just his luck, the first woman he'd ever really felt like he could love was crazy as shit.

***

Lynne heard it in the cupboards as soon as she woke up in the morning, scratching, squeaking and sounding as though it was chewing through paper.

Shit!

She thought that living on the sixth floor would have shielded her from mice. She did pretty well to live alone, compared to the way she was when she lived at home. She'd been terrified of bugs. But she got over that. She had no problem killing spiders, and the few creepy crawlers that made it up to the six floor. But this mouse shit was on another level.

She knew it was a mouse, because her parents occasionally got a mouse in their huge palatial Brooklyn Heights row house. She and her mother made so much noise and did so much squawking that her father either promptly trapped it, or got an exterminator to do so.

Now that she was living on her own, she knew what she had to do. Try to get that damn mouse herself before nightfall.

She got up, took the rollers out of her hair, and pulled on a turtle neck and a decent pair of jeans.

When she walked into the kitchen she saw him scamper across the living room floor.

"Oh my God, Oh My God!" she screamed.

He was big, and grey. The damn thing almost looked like a rat he was so big.

She was petrified. She ran out of the house without even lacing up her timberland boots, slamming the door behind her.

She bit her knuckle.

"I gotta kill that god damn mouse!" she shouted aloud then looked around to see if anyone heard her talking to herself.

She tried calling her super on his cellphone. He was an old Jewish guy, and even though the lease didn't require him to do certain things, he was kind and would help single women with certain tasks. Lynne had made sure to give him a nice card with money over Christmas and he'd appreciated it.

She told him about the mouse, but unfortunately he couldn't come, he had to deal with plumbing issues in one of his buildings on the other side of town. When she couldn't get her landlord, she called her father.

"We're having a Bible Study tonight, and potluck afterwards. And I've got business with the Taxi company in the city today...If you can make it to bible study, I'll see about your mouse," he said.

"But daddy, why can't you just come after the potluck, I don't care how late it is. And you can spend the night. I'll cook for you in the morning. Get me some shrimp and I'll do Grandma's Gumbo," said Lynne.

"Lynne you know, the church comes first. You know you can come home anytime you want to get back to the church...then you don't have to worry about Mice and such. There are plenty of young men who are interested in you that would be happy to kill a mouse for you. Put you in a fine home too, and not that overpriced Brooklyn apartment," said her father.

"Daddy. Please. Stop it," sighed Lynne.

"I'm just saying. Call the super. Sometimes they help single women like you, especially if you offer them money," said her father.

"I already did. Daddy please. You and mommy can spend the night. I'll cook for you. You never even have seen the apartment," said Lynne trying to put brightness in her voice.

"I....I'm not sure if I'm missing much if you have mice," teased her father.

"You had mice too sometimes!" shouted Lynne.

"Now now. Don't get upset. Church comes first. If you can make it to church, I have time for you mouse. If you can't, well, this is what happens when you get out there on your own and don't do thing God's way," said her father.

"Thanks a lot dad," said Lynne. She hung up the phone.

So that was how it was now. If she didn't do their church, they didn't want to help her, visit her, or sometimes she wondered, even love her. It hurt so much.

There was nothing else she could do, she had to figure out a way to get that damn mouse out of the house by herself.

***

At the hardware store, they'd suggested these glue traps. Actually two older black men. They were near her father's age and they were salivating. One offered to help her trap the mouse for free, if she'd go out for drinks with him later.

Lynne always felt weird about accepting offers from strangers, and letting them know where she lived, she hadn't gotten that desperate.

She stayed out, had lunch, went window shopping, just anything to avoid the unpleasant task of laying down the glue traps. As it got toward dusk, she lay down the glue traps.

Then she heard the most blood curdling screeching, and crawling noise now..

Perhaps the trap had gotten the mouse.

Oh God, she couldn't stand the noise. She put on her iPhone and turned the volume up really loud.

She listened to an entire Ella Fitzgerald CD, hoping that when she removed the buds, the mouse would have died.

But now she heard that screeching and running sound.

It was now getting dark outside.

She had to turn on the light in the living room that led to the kitchen to see anything.

When she looked on the kitchen floor she saw streaks of blood and noticed that the mouse only had one foot on the glue trap. Shit, shit, shit, it hadn't gotten him. He was still running around.

Holy shit.

"Oh god please somebody help me!" screamed Lynne.

Lynne lay across the bed with her bat for about two hours, hoping that the mouse might find another glue trap that would slow him down. But he still kept running through he kitchen, leaving a bloody trail, one of his feet must have gotten damaged as he was running on the glue trap.

Gross. Damn it! She'd asked those dumb old bozos at the store if they were sure about glue traps.

She did what she always did at this point, short on ideas.

Called her best friend.

"Girl you know I love you, but I'm as scared of mice as you are. Besides, Will is over, and we're you know..."

"But...I thought that was over. I thought you felt that he wasn't socially aware," said Lynne.

"Girl he isn't. But that man knows how to lay down the pipe. It's a casual thing. I'm a little different than you, I've been around and know the score. Good loving is hard to come by," said Janelle.

Lynne chuckled.

"I know, I know this sounds....really desperate, but do you think you and will could come over. And Will can kill the mouse," said Lynne hopefully.

Janelle guffawed.

"No, I don't think that'll be happening girl. There was a mouse in the movie theater once, and that joker almost wet his pants. Girl he dropped the popcorn on my lap and stood up in the damn seat!" said Janelle.

Lynne howled.

"You're lying," said Lynne.

"No I wish I was. The only thing that boy is good for is Vitamin D. Anyway. You're welcome to sleep on my couch tonight but you might want to bring earplugs," laughed Janelle.

"I wouldn't dream of crowding in your space like that with a man over Mama, I'll talk to you tomorrow," said Lynne.

"I sure hope you get the mouse. If you don't have him by tomorrow, I promise to try and help you. I'll be over early in the morning. I'll work on my blog from your house and we'll trap him together," said Janelle.

Lynne couldn't sleep in the house with that mouse scurrying about with the glue trap on his foot.

So she pursued the only option that she thought was left. Leif. Maybe he could help her. He was kind and she trusted him. Maybe he wouldn't mind helping her, even at this hour.

What if he had a girl over? Her stomach twisted in jealous knots at the thought. And yet, she was giving up her claim to him by being aloof because she was afraid that he was a smooth talking player who thought she was a silly little girl, proclaiming love to the first man who gave her pleasure.

Should she even go through with this idea?

When she heard more blood curdling noises she pulled out her iPhone.

***

"Are you afraid of Mice," read Lynne's text.

She hadn't texted him anything but responses for the last week and she was texting him about a damn mouse.

She was crazy. Hot and crazy.

He decided to play along. Maybe it was related to the faucet he'd sent earlier.

"Hell no. I told you I grew up on a farm. Why?" he texted back.

"There is a mouse in my apartment. And I'm scared. You are my last hope. I've called everyone else I can think of," she texted.

"So you didn't want to go out to dinner, a nice dinner with me last weekend, but now you have a mouse and you want me to save your pretty little ass. Really Lynne?" he texted.

"Leif I'll pay you," she wrote.

"I don't want you to pay me. You are a little crazy. But you're also cute. I can't stand to think of you in there all by yourself, and scared. I'll be over as soon as I can," said Leif.

***