Chapter 11
Rated "M"
XI - Treading Lightly and Marine Biology
There was one thing that was terribly awkward about this: the fact that I was following some girl into Roxanne's basement, and I had not a clue in hell where that woman was."Roxanne's just... different." She shrugged, looking at me as she walked backward down the hall. "She enjoys personal space, with the exception of living in New York City of all places, unusual things interest her, and Cleo's really the only thing that she has. Don't take that dog's presence for granted. She's literally Roxanne's whole world wrapped up in one living creature. Sometimes I think that she's the only thing that keeps Roxanne sane."
"Why do you say that?" I asked as Lily opened the door to the basement. It wasn't as much that Roxanne's basement was going to creep me out - it was exactly the same as the upstairs, except for elevation, but I was a little curious as to why Lily was leading me to the basement of all places, and what was down there.
"Roxanne's extremely intelligent. I'm not sure if you know that or not, but it's true. Roxanne isn't the one to vent out her feelings verbally. She keeps everything inside, and with her job, just the thought of it, it can't be easy. I mean what do you do after horrible cases?"
I thought about it. "Talking to people helps." I finally said, realizing what Lily was trying to explain.
"Exactly. Roxanne doesn't have people to talk to. She's too professional to give people the time of day to become friends. Which secludes her from a lot of things."
"How do you know Roxanne? You obviously aren't just some neighbor." Lily hesitated.
"I'm kind of exactly that. Before Roxanne moved away from the city, she lived in an apartment in Manhattan. At the time I was going through an arranged marriage and I had to live in the apartment next to her. Roxanne sort of helped me through it all."
"How?"
"She said that divorce would be the only way to get out of it without my parents hating me for it, and it would be best if I waited a year before announcing it. You're probably thinking that she told me that so I'd get half of his money, but that's not it at all. Roxanne was there through the whole divorce. I mean, she watched us sign the papers, explained everything in clear detail, hell, if she had the license she could of have been the attorney. She would've given me money if I needed it. That's how Roxanne works. She's generous and kind in all aspects other than her appearance. She has a heart, don't be fooled, she just doesn't care to show people."
"Then why did she tell of my colleague off when he asked her to come out for drinks?" I still couldn't help but wonder about Roxanne's reasons.
"Last night, right?" I nodded at Lily's question. "She was... with me. You're... NYPD, right?" I stopped walking. Did Roxanne tell her about that? "I saw your badge and gun, don't worry, Roxanne's not the one to spred rumors around like that." She smiled.
"Yeah, I am."
"Not to be rude, but you should give Roxanne a break. She didn't tell me anything, but I can tell that you have a hard time being in the same room as her. Not so much the same house, who wouldn't? Just look at this place, but you both don't see eye-to-eye. Not many people do."
"What are you getting at?"
"I can't tell you right now, but just to warn you. Tread lightly when you talk to her. She's not on pain killers like she should be." With that said, Lily opened the door and we walked into a room that could only be classified as a lab. A lab as in white counters, bar stools, microscopes, jars with labels, and needles. That kind of lab.
Roxanne was dressed in white, long lab coat as she sat in front of a microscope, her thick framed glasses sitting on the table next to her. She looked up us only to squint and blink, probably remembering that she needed her glasses to properly see. She slid them on and rose a brow upon looking at me.
"You want to explain why you are in this room, both of you?" She spoke and Lily just laughed, walking over and jumping up onto the island in the middle of the room. She smiled brightly at the blonde.
"Hey! You never told me that I couldn't come in here." Roxanne merely rolled her eyes at the nineteen-year-old's answer.
"Whatever. Just don't break anything. Either of you." Roxanne turned back to the microscope, writing down a few things as Lily began to fiddle with one of Roxanne's laptops on the island.
"Oh. My. God." She suddenly spoke, smiling and looking at Roxanne. "Alexander, get over here!" I walked over to Lily as she showed me the screen.
"Lily!" Roxanne said, not liking a bit of what we were looking at.
"Aw, come on Roxanne, don't be rude. We're only looking at your previous test scores..." So much for treading lightly.
"Previous test scores?" I said, looking back and forth from Roxanne to Lily.
"Yeah," Lily said, a smile on her face as she looked at me, "Roxanne's going to school."
"Wait, as in college?" I said. How the hell could Roxanne go to college at the same time as doing her job. Was it even possible?
"Why is everyone so curious about my own life? Yes, I'm going to college. And no, you can't experiment with the Tetraodontiformes." The last part was for Lily. She frowned at Roxanne's statement.
"Damn Marine Biologists." Lily stated. Marine Biologists? Was that what Roxanne was studying, marine biology?
"I'm not a Marine Biologist." Roxanne said, standing up and closing the computer in Lily's hands. She set the laptop in a black bag as Lily spoke.
"You're studying to be a Marine Biologist at Harvard. If any of us give a damn about details, it would be you."
"Wait, Harvard?" Roxanne rolled her eyes at my inquiry. I had not expected Roxanne to be going to college, let alone at one of the best schools in the country. Then again, I hadn't expected a lot of things from Roxanne.
"Yes, Harvard. Now can we please get off this topic?" Roxanne took off her lab coat and hung it in a closet by the door. Per usual - usual being almost every time I had seen Roxanne out of her work clothes - she was wearing dark skinny jeans. Even with the cold whether, I hadn't expected her to be wearing a thin, loose sweatshirt. She was wearing flat ankle boots that matched the champagne color of her sweater, and her hair was in a low ponytail, her choppy-like long bangs not pinned back like usual.
Lily shrugged when I looked at her. Why was Roxanne so stiff about us finding out she was going to school? Harvard of all places.
I followed Lily out of the room, my skeptical self wanting to gather more Intel on Roxanne by talking to Lily. Roxanne turned off the lights behind us as we went upstairs.
"So is this what you do every time you come over? Cook for Roxanne?" I asked as Lily prepared a completely "Vegan" meal for Roxanne and a Japanese dish for us. Lily frowned as she looked over her shoulder at me.
"You make it sound like we're married. You know the whole one person works, the other cooks and cleans?"
"Sorry, I didn't mean for it to come out that way." I apologized. Lily laughed.
"Nah, it's fine, really. I try to cook for Roxanne whenever I can. Some days she's fine. The days she works like... this, it's a pain to drag her away from whatever the hell she's doing just to eat."
"What happened last night? You said earlier that Roxanne needed pain medication."
"I was supposed to go to an AA meeting last night. Roxanne was the one taking me, the one supporting me. But before that a few things happened and I got stuck in an alley with a bunch of drunks. Roxanne found me, but before she could pull out a gun or whatever, she... got stabbed in the side."
"She got stabbed? Why the hell isn't she at the hospital?"
"They let her go. It was a stab wound. A few stitches, a bandage, and she could go. And she did."
"Then why doesn't she have a medication? If she went to the hospital, they'd give her something."
"I don't know half of what the doctor's know about Roxanne's past trips to the ER. But when I asked them about medication, all they said was that even if they gave her something - anything - her body would refuse the drugs. It's better not to prescribe her anything, and she knew that."
"When did this happen? Around what time?"
"Around six, I think. The sun was setting at that point in time."
"Did Roxanne take any days off because of this." Zak had said that she had taken off that Thursday and Friday, but I didn't know when she had requested it.
"She took time off before to go to an art fair with me, but that's about it. It's tomorrow, Saturday, and Sunday."
"Where's Cleopatra?" I asked, suddenly aware that the Shepherd had neither bothered me all morning, nor had I seen her since the night before.
"Uh... she's probably with Roxanne. She probably senses the pain."
"Ah. Makes sense."
"Can I ask you a question?" Lily suddenly said, turning the stove off before turning to me. I nodded. "I said earlier that you have a hard time being in the same room as her. That's true, right?"
"Yeah, most of the time..."
"But you also can't leave her alone. She intrigues you, she's like a puzzle that has yet to be put together. You feel obliged to figure her out."
I just stared at her. What the hell was she talking about? What was she getting at?
"Is this..." She spoke, "Is that what love feels like? You can't stand someone and yet you can't get yourself to leave them alone?"
I froze. Love? Me? In love with Roxanne? This girl looked more confused than ever? That must've been a sign of her arranged marriage. I swallowed.
"I don't know. I wouldn't know. It's different for everyone, isn't it?"
"I guess. I was just... never mind." Lily turned back around quietly and I thought hard. Love. I was not in love with Roxanne. But Lily thought that. How could she think that? There were no possible signs of me being infatuated with that... attractive blonde. Attractive? I could think someone was attractive and not love them, right? That was a thing?
So where did Lily get the idea? I didn't know. Did Roxanne see the same thing? She saw right through Zak, but he was just plain crazy when he fell for someone. Then why-
I stopped my thought process when I saw Roxanne again. She was carrying a bunch of books, all titled with the same subject of Marine Biology. I felt the need to help her. She was in pain, and those books weren't helping. But would that make her think that I was in love with her? Is that what Lily and Roxanne would see if I did that.
I swallowed. Tread lightly. That must be the key. Tread lightly when around Roxanne. That was what I was going to have to do. And I hoped to God I wouldn't screw it up too early in this partnership.
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