Annihilate Me (Vol. 3) (The Annihilate Me Series) by Christina Ross

they might as well have been a world apart when it came to the weather
conditions in September.
    Mitch stepped out of the car, I grabbed my
bag, and he shielded me as we walked across the busy sidewalk into the lobby.
    “Thank you,” I said to him when we were
safely inside.
    “Nothing will happen to you under my
watch, ma’am.”
    “Please call me Jennifer.   I mean it, OK?   It’s Jennifer.”
    He hesitated for a moment, and then his
stoic face softened.   “All
right.   But I’m not supposed to.”
    “I know you’re not, so it’ll remain
between us.   And I refuse to call
you Tank.”
    “I actually kind of like it.”
    I couldn’t help but smile at him.   Men will be boys.   “If that’s the case, then Tank it
is.   At least when it’s just
us.   Otherwise, it’s Mitch and
ma’am, I guess.   I don’t want you
getting into trouble because of me.”
    “Fair enough.”
    “So I’ll see you at six-fifteen?”
    He nodded.   “I’ll collect you right here.   Don’t wait outside.”
    “No worries there.”
    When I stepped into my apartment, Lisa
stood just beyond the door.   Her
blonde hair was hanging loosely around her shoulders and she wore no
makeup—not that she needed any.   Lisa was one of the lucky ones—her skin just seemed to glow.  
    “I heard the elevator,” she said when she
hugged me.   “I thought it was
you.   I’ve missed you terribly.”
    “Have we ever been apart for two days?” I
asked in her ear.
    “I think maybe in sixth grade.   One of us got sick or something and we
were quarantined from each other.   It was awful.”
    We parted and screwed our faces up at each
other.
    “How could our parents have done that to
us?” I asked.
    “Heartless.”
    “Let’s not let it happen again anytime
soon.”
    “You must be exhausted.   Come inside.   Let me take your bag.   You can take a nap and then we can talk, or we can talk and you can go
to bed early.   Whichever you like,
but you need your rest.”
    “Which won’t be happening tonight.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “I’m going to a dinner party tonight at
Peachy Van Prout’s.”   I saw a look
of humor cross her face so I held up a hand.   “Don’t laugh.   If you get me laughing about her name, I’m only going to laugh
inappropriately when I meet her.”
    “All right, but it’s still a stupid name.”
    “Agreed.”
    “Imagine being Peachy all the time.”
    “Lisa—”
    “Look at me being all Peachy.   Look at the sun shining out of my
ass.   Oh, look—I’m a
unicorn.”
    “Stop!”
    “OK.”   She hesitated.   “I think I’ll have the Peachy cobbler!”
    “Oh, my God….   I’m not going to be able to face this woman.”
    We walked into the living room.   Everywhere I looked, I was reminded of
Alex.   He created this space for
us.   Just being here again was
moving.
    “I’ll be good,” Lisa said.   “What’s tonight about?”
    “Henri Dufort has invited me to come as
his guest.   He’s the guy I told you
about who owns Streamed.”
    “You’re going alone?”
    “I’m going with Tank.”
    “What’s a Tank?”
    “A giant of a man, former Marine, very
kind.   He’s going with me to
protect me.   His real name is
Mitch, but he prefers to be called Tank, which makes me like him even
more.   I took to him instantly.”
    “Is he hot?”
    “Ummm, yeah.   You could definitely say that Tank is hot.”
    “How hot?”
    “You could fry an egg on his ass.”
    “How old is he?” Lisa asked.   “Is he single?”
    We both sat on the living room sofa.   My right hip was sore, so I maneuvered
myself so that I wasn’t sitting on it.  
    “I’d say he’s somewhere around thirty.”
    “Perfect.”
    “No idea about whether he’s single.”
    “Unacceptable.”
    “That said, when you’re thirtyish and look
like Tank, I think you pretty much enjoy yourself until you decide that you
want something more in life.   Like
a girlfriend.”   I shrugged.