Carrie and Keith 6

Keith rushed home from work so he would be inside when Carrie came by. He got out of the car, grabbed his mail and got in the door before he saw her coming around the corner. He sat down at the kitchen table and waited for her picking at the edge of the plastic flowered placemat.

Although he was expecting her, the knock at the door made his heart skip a beat.

"C'mon in.," he called. There was a moments hesitation and then the door swung open. "To your right." Carrie walked in with a handful of papers.

"Hi," she said, smiling.

"Hey."

"Here's the next installment," she said and set the chapters down on the table.

Keith took a deep breath. "Do you want to sit?" He kept his eyes lowered.

"Sure," Carrie said quietly. She pulled out the chair next to him and seated herself so that she was facing him. Keith raised his eyes and watched her remove her hat and scarf. Her skin was very pale, but she had a smattering of light freckles across the tops of her cheeks and over her nose. Her eyelashes were very dark against her skin. She wore little gold hoops in her ears. She ran her fingers through her brown, shoulder-length hair and it curled damply around her face.
Keith noticed her blush when she realized he was watching her. She looked around the kitchen.

"Do you live here alone?" she asked.

"Yeah," Keith said and looked away from her. He felt his stomach knot. Now I do, he thought.

"That was the wrong question, wasn't it?" Carrie asked and laid her hand over his. "I'm sorry."

Keith gritted his teeth and released them. "That's OK." he said. Keith forced himself to talk so she wouldn't leave. "I saw you go to one of the houses down there. Is that where you live?"

Carrie nodded. "I moved in with my friend, Kim, about three months ago."

For the next twenty minutes, they talked. Keith found out that she was a massage therapist and he told her that he was in advertising. She asked what his hobbies were and he told her about his band, Caltrops, and about his drawing. Carrie's eyes lit up as they talked a little about her writing. Her hands were always in motion, punctuating her words or reaching out and touching him.

There was a knock at the door and the sound of someone walking in. Carrie pulled her hands away and folded them in her lap.

"Hey, Keith," Justin called from the doorway.

"In the kitchen," Keith called back. Carrie turned in her chair to look at who was coming in.

"Hey, you wanna..." Justin stopped in his tracks. His eyes moved slowly from Carrie to Keith. He winced at Justin's dumbfounded expression but Justin recovered quickly.

"Sorry, I didn't know you had company,"

"Carrie, this is my friend Justin Terry," Keith introduced them.

"Hi," Carrie said and stood up and offered her hand.

"Nice to meet you," Justin said with a smile as he shook her hand.

Carrie turned back to Keith and put her finger on the back of his hand. "I need to go. I'll see you tomorrow."

"OK" Keith said.

"It was nice to meet you," Carrie said to Justin and proceeded to cover her face and head with her scarf and hat.

Justin nodded and smiled at her.

"Bye," Carrie said with a wave after she put on her gloves and she walked from the kitchen. Justin turned to watch her leave. Keith heard the door close behind her. Justin turned slowly back to Keith, grinning.

"What?" Keith asked, defensively.

"Welcome back to the land of the living," Justin's smile threatened to split his face in two. "Unless she's a vampire," he teased.

"Shut up," Keith said and looked out the window. "She's allergic to the sun."

Justin sat down in the seat vacated by Carrie.

"Where did she come from?"

"Down the street," he said, trying to sound like she was an old recliner someone had left out on the corner.

"Yeah?" Justin asked and raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah, what?" Keith shot back and looked at him again.

"Oh, come on. I haven't seen you talk to a woman in two years. What's different about this one?"

Keith opened his mouth and shut it. "I don't know." he said. Justin smiled in reply. "Knock that shit off."

"OK, OK." Justin said, raising his hands in surrender. "I wanted to see if you wanted to grab a bite to eat before practice tonight."

"Sure. Wherever is fine." Keith said and slowly got to his feet.