2 Alliance Square

"And I'll sue the shit out of them for slander," Ashley said.

It was nearly six thirty when Tiffany wearily pulled her Nissan up to the condo. Her mother had whined, wheedled, and even threatened as Tiffany gathered up her clothing and other belongings. Finally, her mother had snarled that Tiffany didn't need to come back.

"I bet that's Mommy, I bet that's Mommy," Ashley said, swinging the door of the condo open. "See? There she is. Say, 'Hi Mommy, I've been trying to help Ms. Ashley cook the chicken breasts.'"

"You have?" Tiffany smiled, rubbing the cat's head as Ashley held the purring beast. "And what have you been doing?"

"Little brat won't get off the counters," Ashley said, closing the door behind Tiffany.

"Oh. Yeah, she's pretty bad about that," Tiffany apologized.

"Come on. Room's up here," Ashley said.

Tiffany followed Ashley up the stairs. At the head, Ashley turned to the left. Tiffany looked to the right and noticed a door that was firmly shut.

"Your bedroom; Lady's already checked it all out," Ashley said.

"Oh my God! This is beautiful!" Tiffany said.

"And your bathroom's here," Ashley said, pointing to the second door. "Lady's other litter box is in here; be careful when you come in."

"Oh, this is nice," Tiffany enthused.

"Washer and dryer here," Ashley said, opening a bi-fold door. "Tell Lady there's nothing in here for her."

With that, Ashley turned and marched back down the stairs. Tiffany unloaded her car, making several trips up and down the stairs. Finally, she was finished and collapsed onto the couch.

"Supper's ready. It's just a chicken and rice dish," Ashley said. "If you don't want that, then, there's the stove, fix yourself whatever."

"Thank you," Tiffany said meekly.

"Welcome. Lady! What did I tell you? No!" Ashley said then fussed at the willful beast.

"Lady! No ma'am," Tiffany agreed, picking the cat up and setting it back onto the floor. "No ma'am, stay off the counters."

"I also got her a scratching post," Ashley said. "Of course? Hasn't paid it a bit of attention; could care less. But the box? She's all over that."

"Thank you, Ashley," Tiffany quietly said as they ate the simple but filling meal.

"Welcome," Ashley said. "But like I said, it's just chicken and rice."

"No, for uh, for letting me..." Tiffany said.

"I just cannot believe any mother would..." Ashley started, then stopped.

Ashley ate slowly, meticulously, putting her fork down after each bite. Every third bite was followed by a sip from her water glass.

"Why you do that?" Tiffany asked.

"Obesity runs in my family," Ashley said, not looking up. "Morbid obesity, diabetes, heart disease, bunch of other stuff."

"Huh," Tiffany said.

"Refuse be like that," Ashley said, sipping from her glass. "Refuse be like any of them God damned low life pieces of shit."

Tiffany wanted to pry a little deeper, wanted to dig into her hostess's past. Ashley Dunn was a mystery to most of the Prescott employees. But the staccato of Ashley's fork striking the plate. The heavy thump of Ashley's glass hitting the table let Tiffany know Ashley was in no mood to discuss anything more.

Tiffany finished her meal before Ashley. She sat, watching as Ashley ate.

"Lady, no, what did we tell you?" Tiffany said as Lady again leapt up onto the counter.

"She's a brat. I'm telling you, she's a brat," Ashley smiled.

"Uh huh," Tiffany agreed.

After cleaning the kitchen, Ashley showed Tiffany the den. She indicated the television, let Tiffany know they were on satellite dish, not cable, then bade Tiffany a good night.

The following day, Tiffany left at ten o'clock. She returned just after noon and approached Ashley's desk. Ashley was quietly meditating, enjoying her solitude, but did happen to glance at her mirror, did see Tiffany approaching.

"Look," Tiffany said happily, giving Ashley an exaggerated smile.

"Nice," Ashley smiled, looking at Tiffany's new tooth. "Oh. I picked up some Denta-Bites snacks for Lady last night."

"You going spoil her," Tiffany accused.

"Me? Oh no ma'am. That cat was well on her way to spoiled long before I ever met her," Ashley denied.

At the dinner table that evening, Tiffany complained that the nova Caine was beginning to wear off, her mouth ached. Ashley told her there was some yogurt in the refrigerator.

"Oh, by the way, how much you charging me?" Tiffany asked as she did look at the yogurt selection.

"Nothing. Don't know how long you plan to stay," Ashley said flatly.

"What? What's that mean?" Tiffany asked, shocked.

"Tiffany, that guy Glen, that's what? At least the fourth boyfriend you've had since you been at Prescott," Ashley said, finishing her meal.

"I'm not a slut," Tiffany hotly denied.

"Never said you were," Ashley said, putting her dish into the dishwasher. "Just pointing out the obvious. Sooner or later, you going find some other guy, some controlling, domineering asshole thinks he owns you and you going move in with him. So, why bother charging you rent when I have no idea how long you'll be around?"

Tiffany slammed the door of the refrigerator shut and stormed up the stairs. Lady looked passively at Ashley. Ashley shrugged her shoulders.

The next evening, Tiffany's emotions had cooled. Over their lamb chops, Tiffany told Ashley about her visit to Dr. Ormond's office.

"Oh! Oh, forgot tell you, Dr. Ormond's daughter? Sasha? She's six, well, maybe seven? Anyway, she was off school yesterday, and was working at the receptionist's counter. Cutest thing you ever seen, said 'hi, welcome to Dr. Ormond's; do you have an appointment?'" Tiffany gushed.

"Please, Tiffany, please stop," Ashley begged, quickly getting to her feet.

"What?" Tiffany asked as Ashley rushed to the half-bath.

"Just, stop. No more about Dr. Ormond's kid, all right?" Ashley barked, closing the door of the bathroom.

A moment later, the toilet flushed. Then Ashley stepped out of the small room, face again composed.

"That uh, that swimming pool," Tiffany said.

"Open to all that live here," Ashley said. And, it's one of those salt water ones; don't have worry about it turning your hair all green."

"Awe. Some," Tiffany said, smiling. "You use it?"

"Used it o. God, haven't been in it in, been couple months," Ashley said.

"Think, I'm pretty sure, yeah, I'm pretty sure I packed my bathing suit," Tiffany mused as she finished her dinner.

While Ashley slowly, methodically ate her dinner, Tiffany trooped up the stairs. Seeing that Ashley would not be giving her any treats, Lady followed Tiffany up the stairs.

"Go ahead, brat," Ashley said to the cat's retreating tail.

Tiffany found her bikini and paused. Ralph had picked it out for her; the bikini was little more than two red postage stamps over her light pink areolae and a Band-Aid covering her crotch. Tiffany had to do some major landscaping in order to wear this bikini when Ralph had taken her to his grandmother's house in Waveland, Mississippi.

Apparently, her recent bikini wax and shaping, when she'd had her blonde pubes trimmed into a heart shape for Glen was sufficient; no errant hairs showed. Tiffany slipped on a tee shirt and jammed her feet into her flip flops.

In the linen closet, Tiffany grabbed one of Ashley's thick, fluffy towels. With a bit of a gasp, Tiffany realized that she owned no towels of her own. With Ernie, she'd used his mother's cast-off towels.

"Four corners held together by holes," Tiffany remembered.

Terry had two towels. Two face cloths. And two hand towels. And got upset the first time Tiffany had stayed the night; she'd used both towels. She had wrapped one around her body, the other around her hair.

Marcus would have been happy using paper towels to dry himself. After seeing the towels he'd bought at a garage sale, Tiffany would have been happy using paper towels to dry off.

Ralph also used his mother's cast-offs; four corners held together by holes. He had one good towel; a Houston Texans towel.

(When that relationship had failed because Ralph had found another woman, Tiffany had snuck into Ralph's bathroom, dropped a turd into the towel, then neatly folded it and stuck it back into the vanity.)

Glen had beautiful, plush towels. The rose color of those towels contrasted beautifully with his stark white bathroom. Glen was fastidious about how the towels were to be folded, how the face cloths were to be folded, how the hand towels were to be folded. Tiffany had stared at Glen in shock when he had jerked the towels out of her hands and screamed at her for folding the towels wrong.

Now, standing in Ashley's guest bathroom, looking at the beautiful pink towels with yellow trim, Tiffany felt almost empty. She was twenty three, almost twenty four years old, and was again living under someone else's roof, using someone else's towels, their bedsheets, their blankets.

"And eating her food," Tiffany said aloud. "Don't forget that. Eating her food.

At least Ashley Dunn was a better cook than Ralph. If it wasn't fried, Ralph had no idea what to do. Marcus hadn't been much better; he liked to joke that he used the smoke detector as a timer.

The second time Tiffany had tried to choke down chicken that had been cooked to a crisp, Tiffany wasn't laughing.

"And who's stopping you from learning how cook?" Tiffany asked herself as she slowly made her way down the stairs.

"Found it?" Ashley asked, toweling her pan dry before hanging it on the hook.

"I don't even have my own dishes," Tiffany thought as she nodded.

"Can go right through the gate there," Ashley pointed toward her rear door.

"Okay," Tiffany said.

Ashley watched Tiffany's delectable rear end peeking from the bottom of the tee shirt. She quickly averted her eyes when Tiffany turned just before opening the door.

There was a couple lounging on some chaise lounges. They looked over at Tiffany in obvious curiosity as she stepped through Ashley's gate and walked toward the pool.

"Uh, hi there, neighbor," Adam Bergeron said, subtly thrusting his crotch toward the blonde beauty.

"Hi," Samantha Bergeron echoed.

"Hello," Tiffany agreed, slipping tee shirt up and off.

She put towel and tee shirt onto a wicker chair, then dove into the pool. The water was warm and Tiffany slashed through the water. She'd been on her High School Swim Team and now demonstrated to the Bergerons why her coach had tried to get her a scholarship to Connelly College.

Tiffany felt a presence next to her and redoubled her efforts. She swam furiously, but was unable to shake her partner. In fact, the other swimmer was edging past her as she twisted under to push off for the opposite wall.

"How are you with the back stroke?" Ashley asked Tiffany when Tiffany reached the other wall.

"Ash?" Tiffany gasped, breathing hard.

"St. Andrew's Swim Team; won State my senior year," Ashley said and began a vigorous back stroke.

"I wasn't ready!" Tiffany complained.

"Oh, all right, big baby," Ashley said and returned to the wall.

"One, two, three," Tiffany said. "Go!"

At first, they were neck and neck. Just before the wall, Ashley edged ahead and her turn was smooth as she twisted to return.

"Wow," Tiffany panted. "Oh! Wait a minute! Wait a stinking minute! Ashley Dunn! Oh my God; you were what? One or two years behind me; there was all kind of talk about you breaking my records."

"Mm hmm; I did," Ashley smiled. "Beat your free-style by nine seconds."

They swam, enjoying the warm water. They didn't talk as they paddled leisurely now, just swam.

"Hey, uh, uh, oh damn, Ashley, hey Ashley, going introduce us to your friend?" Adam leered when both women got out of the pool.

"She's got a voice. She wants to introduce herself to you, she will," Ashley snapped as she grabbed a large beach towel from a wicker chair.

"Samantha Bergeron," Samantha said and patted Adam's upper thigh, very close to his bulging crotch. "And this handsome devil is my husband, Adam."

"Hi," Tiffany nodded as she grabbed her own towel. "Tiffany."

"Got a last name, Tiffany?" Adam asked after a long moment.

"Mm hmm," Tiffany said, now pulling her tee shirt on again. "Good night."

Ashley smirked at Samantha's discomforted look and Adam's dark scowl. She casually draped her towel over her shoulder and followed Tiffany to her gate.

Inside the condo, now shivering from the air conditioning, Tiffany screwed up her face. Ashley edged past Tiffany.

"Oh my God; are they always so ew, so slimy?" Tiffany asked.

"Oh. So it's not just me," Ashley said. "They ARE slimy."

"Very, extremely, unbelievably slimy," Tiffany said, following Ashley up the stairs.

She had not noticed; she'd not paid any attention when they'd been swimming, but now, Tiffany was looking at Ashley's very firm buttocks. Ashley's swim suit was very similar to Tiffany's in that there was very little material to it. Where Tiffany's suit was red, Ashley's was black.

"Got a brush?" Ashley asked as she reached the top of the stairs.

"I, what kind of brush?" Tiffany asked.

"Hair brush," Ashley verified.

"Yeah, it's in my purse," Tiffany said. "Oh, wait, no, I put it on my, your sink in here."

"Tiffany, long as you're here? That's YOUR sink, not mine," Ashley said, draping her wet towel over the guard rail of the stairs.

Tiffany smiled a silent thanks and entered her bathroom. She looped her towel over the shower rod, then grabbed her hair brush. Exiting the bathroom, she handed the brush to Ashley.

"When we would finish our swimming?" Ashley said, taking Tiffany's left hand into her right hand and pulling Tiffany into the guest bedroom. "Penny would take one, and I'd take the other and we'd sit on the beds and..."

Ashley sat on the bed opposite of the bed Tiffany slept on. Tiffany allowed herself to be pulled to sit between Ashley's spread legs.

"Then we'd..." Ashley said and began brushing Tiffany's long hair. "Of course, had to make sure we wouldn't get the same one twice. Then they'd think we had a favorite. Twins are like that."

Tiffany sat docilely while Ashley brushed her hair. There was an odd whirring and buzzing in her head at this almost bizarre action. Softly, gently, Ashley ran the brush through Ashley's hair in silence.

Tiffany felt the bed shaking softly, almost imperceptibly and chanced a glance over her shoulder. She almost cried out as she saw that Ashley was sobbing, large silent sobs.

Realizing that Tiffany had seen her, had witnessed her tears, Ashley scrambled off the bed and fled the room. Tiffany sat, unsure of what to do. Finally, she grabbed the abandoned brush and finished brushing her hair.

In the morning, Tiffany readied for the work day ahead. She avoided coming out of her bedroom until she was sure Ashley was downstairs. Then, when she heard the door of the condo close, Tiffany left the safety of her room.

"You, you be good," Tiffany told Lady.

The cat regarded her with unreadable eyes. Tiffany found the bag of treats and dropped a few to the floor and Lady leapt for the small bites.

At work, Tiffany and Ashley just gave one another small head nods. At twelve thirty, Tiffany clocked out and went upstairs to the lunch room. Seeing Nina Crowder, Tiffany made a bee-line for Nina's table.

"I talk to you? In private?" Tiffany asked.

"I uh, yeah, sure, I guess," the diminutive red head said, looking around.

"What is the deal with Ashley?" Tiffany asked, digging her chicken salad sandwich out of her bag.

"I uh, what do you mean?" Nina asked.

Tiffany told her of Ashley's behavior last night. Nina's face screwed up in sympathy as Tiffany talked. Finally, Tiffany stopped talking.

"Okay, you know she's gay, right?" Nina said, voice low.

"I uh, I mean, yeah, I've heard..." Tiffany stammered.

"Anyway, she and, uh, this other woman; I don't want say who, but this other woman and Ashley, they uh, they started talking, and uh, the other woman decided she was going come out of the closet," Nina continued her tale.

"Okay," Tiffany said, swallowing her mouthful of sandwich.

"They moved into that condo; by the way, it as pretty as everyone says it is?" Nina said.

"Actually? Place is gorgeous," Tiffany said. "I mean, looks like it's out of a magazine, I swear."

"And the other woman had her two girls with her. Prettiest little girls; they're what? About six or seven, no, six," Nina went on.

"Uh, Amelia and Amanda?" Tiffany guessed. "Found some towels, had 'A is for Amelia' and 'A is for Amanda' embroidered on them. They're so cute!"

"Yeah, Mealy and Mandy," Nina agreed, finishing her lunch. "Anyway, God, I've never seen Ashley like that before. Smiling, laughing, once actually heard her singing some stupid kid's song to herself. No, no, it was that stupid Brick's Pizza commercial."

"Oh God, hate that commercial!" Tiffany agreed.

"Uh huh, but you remember Brick's Pizza, don't you?" Nina agreed. "Anyway, Pen... The other woman's husband says he's going tell the court they're molesting them girls, making them do stuff. And, rather than taking the chance of losing the girls, she goes back to her husband."

"And just leaves Ashley to deal with it," Tiffany deduced.

"Oh my God, really thought she was going commit suicide," Nina said. "I mean, I know it wasn't true. You want something from Ashley? Tell her it's for a kid. She will literally give you her last penny."

"Or for a cat," Tiffany murmured.

Nina scurried from the room, already three minutes late. Tiffany shook her head, knowing the elevator would take at least five minutes to reach the fifth floor, then another three, four minutes to drop to the second floor.

After completing her own lunch, Tiffany used the stairs. She entered the call center and walked toward her desk. At the last moment, she walked to where Ashley was seated, typing rapidly on her keyboard.

Tiffany put a gentle hand on Ashley's shoulder. When Ashley peered over her shoulder, Tiffany gave Ashley a smile and a gentle squeeze.

"W. T. F?" Ashley asked as Tiffany sat at her own desk and clocked back in. "What was that all about?"

"Don't know," Nina said. "Hmm. Maybe she likes you? Maybe she doesn't think you're the meanest woman she's ever met?"

"Keep it up, I will go to HR," Ashley threatened.

"Oh B. U. double L shit," Nina said. "Wait a minute. Thought you already dealt with Tim Sullivan?"

"Did. Evicted him, what? On the sixth, no, no, the seventh. Why?" Ashley asked, leaning over to peer at Nina's computer screen.

"Public Utilities; two months behind, power's been cut off, but he still owes two hundred forty seven," Nina read aloud.

Calling Tim's cell phone told Nina that the voice mailbox was full and could not accept any new messages. A text message sent to the same number went through and Nina made a notation in his file.

At five o'clock, Ashley gave Tiffany's shoulder a soft touch, then left the room. As Ashley disappeared from sight, Elizabeth Herd leaned over and gave Tiffany a knowing smirk.

Tiffany flamed hotly, then grew angry with herself. What did it matter to her what Elizabeth Herd thought? She knew that there was nothing inappropriate between her and Ashley. And even if there was something beyond roommates going on, it was none of Elizabeth's business.

Tiffany busied herself with her next call, ignoring Elizabeth. At five thirty, she sent in her log, and clocked out.

"Whew," Tiffany said and left the call center.

"There's Mommy," Ashley said when Tiffany entered the condo. "Mm hmm, there's Mommy. Go on. Tell Mommy what a bad girl you've been."

"Oh no, what'd you do?" Tiffany asked Lady.

"Oh, just scratching up my couch," Ashley answered as she stirred a teaspoon of minced garlic into the cast iron skillet.

"Oh! Oh Ashley! Oh my God, oh, I am so sorry!" Tiffany gasped, truly horrified.