Poison - Chapter 4

IV

With Zak working on figuring the whole paper and name thing out, I decided to get some lunch, since breakfast - which should've been hours before - had been a bust. So I decided to go to my favorite restaurant around the corner. And to my luck, I got to go with Summer Dwight, one of the only women in the office - besides Roxanne, but she didn't exactly count.
Summer was in charge of the bodies. Cleaning up the crime scene, getting the body to the morgue - after the autopsy if it was actually a murder - and a million other things along that line. She was... nice and kind, but a little crazy. Most women were when they were in love with me. With exception to Roxanne. She was just crazy.
"So... any good murders while I was, you know, out." I asked after we ordered. She shrugged and bit her lip in a girly way and smiled.
"Well... there were a few, but they were quite boring." There was a short pause. "To me, that is. To everyone else it was a tragedy. I... didn't get much to do other than inspect a few bullet wounds to the heart."
"Uh, that's... interesting." I said, clueless as to how to respond. She giggled and I almost instantaneously regretted my decision to go to lunch with her. Unfortunately, I couldn't leave now. But maybe after I ate. As soon as I ate.
"Yeah..." She looked away, most likely attempting to spark a conversation as she looked at everyone else in the restaurant. "Hey, isn't that the new girl over there? The blonde."
I looked over and sure enough it was Roxanne. With a salad. Typing on her laptop.
"Um... yeah, it is." I said, looking away. I knew Summer too well - it was confusing to tell why, but I did - so there was no doubt in my mind that she'd see Roxanne as competition. Which meant that whenever I was around Summer, she'd find a way to exclude Roxanne from everything. Which in my case was pretty damn good seeing I hated the girl. And vice versa.
"What's her story, anyway? Modeling didn't work out, or what?" I almost laughed at Summer's question.
"I thought the same thing..." I muttered. "But I have no clue. She's not particularly fond of me or anyone else I'm aware of."
"Oh... I thought that you two were kinda..." She didn't finish her sentence but we both heard it. Dating.
"Hell no!" I spoke a little to loudly. A few people from the other tables looked over, but I ignored them. "Uh, no. It's nothing like that. She's my new partner. Not exactly partner material, but still my partner."
"Do you like her?" Her voice seemed a little... broken as she spoke and I couldn't help but feel bad for her. Summer was a sweet girl, just not my type. It wasn't her physical appearance, her red hair and green eyes and freckles all over, it was just that we didn't seem to hit it off. You can't blame me for not liking her in that way.
"No. In fact it's the exact opposite. We kind of have this hate relationship going on, so..."
"Oh, I was way off. Sorry..."
"There's no need to apologize. We all have different opinions and observations. Though Roxanne would find some way to mess you up and say something completely different." I shook my head imagining the damage Roxanne could and would do if she were there. Well, at our table, I mean. She already was there.
"Why do you call her Roxanne and not Miss..."
"Winston. It's... complicated. She's younger than me, so maybe that's it."
"I'm younger than you, and you call me Miss Dwight." I could already see the competition in her eyes. Damn Roxanne. She could mess with everyone by just being present.
"Um..." I hesitated, not sure what to say. "That is a very good point... Summer." She blushed at the sound of her name and I felt it to be awkward for the first time in a long time. I guess I just hadn't imagined I'd ever do something so... interesting just to make someone feel better. And to make another woman jealous. Or attempt to, as I'd find out sooner or later seeing that Roxanne really did, truly hate me.
We ate and talked for a short period of time before Summer basically told me that she had to run off and get back to work. She dug through her purse for a few minutes, racking up the money she needed to pay, all in cash - since using a card would just lead to more time, time she didn't have and so I laughed.
"I'll pay. Don't worry, Mi- Summer." I corrected myself. She thanked me quickly and left with no hesitation, which I knew was not her at all. Summer was one to wait until further options were given. She was the one not to make moves or date anyone just because. She waited. And waited. And waited. Which explained some of her problems, but not all. So being around me was just another opportunity to hesitate, even if her job was at stake. Which made the odds not in her own favor.
She was out of the building in no time and I felt the need to take a deep breath and relax now that she was gone. But relaxation wasn't number one on my list quite yet when I looked through the window and saw one of the craziest, most unnatural things I had ever seen before.
Stopped on the sidewalk was Roxanne. The woman talking to her, Summer. The red-head seemed so confident as she spoke to the blonde, even with the fact that she was an introvert and Roxanne was mentally and physically stronger than her - and that Roxanne had that personality that when people pissed her off, she'd get physical. But none of that bothered the red-head as she attempted to tear through Roxanne's brain like an onion.
But like normal, Roxanne was not affected. She was gone before either of us knew it, and noting the pure look of confusion plastered on Summer's face, I was able to deduce at least one thing. Roxanne told her off. In the most complex of ways. One of her signature, annoying, confusing analogies. And those, even Summer seemed to hate.

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