Ally and Karma

When she apologizes

Ally

We have been working on Karmas house for about two days now and not once has she directly talked to me. I think I might have creeped her out worse than I thought on our first day together. I guess first impressions do really matter. But I keep telling myself that it doesn’t matter since I can’t do anything with her anyway. I just have to do my work and we’ll separate in peace.

The only question is why the f**k can’t I keep my eyes off her and her hot as f**k office clothes. She smiles and greets everyone on my team except for me and I’m not gonna lie it pisses me the f**k off. Even though I have no right. Matt has been making jokes about how she hates me because I made her lose a few hours of work because I was late. They laughed it off but it’s been bugging the s**t out of me because what’s if it’s true. I might be an asshole but I don’t want to create a hostile environment for me and my client so I’ve decided to apologise to her today. Usually on my lunch break I go to be with mom but I’ll talk to her before I leave today. Make peace and what not.

She moves elegantly passing us and giving everyone a smile and a small ‘hey’. Before she disappears. I run after her not giving a f**k that the other guys hoot and holler at me while they laugh. I’m a woman on a mission and I feel a strong urge to fix things with karma.

“Hey ah good afternoon”

“Oh. Hey do you need something?” She asks tentatively.

“No I don’t need anything.. well okay I guess I need to talk to you about something.” I let out a nervous laugh “s**t why is this so hard. I want to apologise for being late the other day I want you to know I take my job very seriously and I wouldn’t do anything like that on purpose. Sorry if I got you in trouble at work”

“You already apologized so it’s fine. I was not in trouble at work” she flicks her hand.

“Okay so you were just ignoring me then” I bluntly ask.

“Wha..no. I didn’t think we had anything to discuss”

“You waited until I went to the toilet before you came and offered everyone beverages. Twice” I emphasise my point by sticking two of my fingers up.

“Okay I shouldn’t have done that it won’t happen again. Now can I leave” she turns not waiting for me to answer.

“No.” I shake my head “You know one might think you’re trying to hide something by the way you want to bolt out of here”

“Maybe I don’t like your face”

“What? My face is so likeable. Everyone likes it” it’s very good for sitting. I almost add.

“Especially you” she lifts one perfectly kept eyebrow at me

“Can’t be helped it’s a very beautiful face”

“Cockiness is not sexy Ally” she rolls her eyes but smiles wildly.

“Hey at least you agree that I have a beautiful face”

“Now you’re just fishing for compliments”

I shrug not disagreeing. It won’t hurt to be complemented by a beautiful woman like her.

“I wanted to ask before but didn’t get a chance, umm do you like work for someone or.. .”

“No I work for myself I guess. I brought everyone together so that we can make things easier for ourselves. We flip houses. When one of us buys a property we work to get in good shape for free then they can either sell it or rent it out. We also work with houses like yours and share the profits. It works for us we are able to make a living out of it.”

“That’s so smart with everything so expensive it must not be easy. How long has you been doing it you don’t seem that much old”

“What now you’re calling me a kid” I tease “I started 3 years ago and I found the guys as I went”

It was a hard time for me. Daniel was in one of his moods and he wanted to use me as a punching bag to cool off but I didn’t let him. I fought back even though he still managed to beat me up

he was angry I had the guts to punch back so he chased me out of his house. I didn’t go to college after high school because he wouldn’t pay for me and I didn’t want to leave my mom alone with him anyway.

When he chased me out though I knew I had to do something if not for me then for my mother so I grovelled. I asked him to let me back inside the house which he did after realising he hated taking care of my mom then when I asked for money for the start up of my business he agreed but only if I payed it back with interest. After he has chased me out I had found a job working for a small company called Johnson Contractors. It is owned by a sleezbag who hated seeing women doing “manly” jobs.

Dude’s a d**k.

He was a complete douche so much so I had to quit even though his son had begged me not to. I was good at what I was doing and they were paying me peanuts so he didn’t want to lose me.

Now we are kinda competitors in a way which makes the Johnson gang pretty mad. I obviously don’t give a f**k. I do honest work and I’m proud of what I have achieved so far.

I’m pulled out of my thoughts when Karma says “I might be older than you”

“There you go calling me a baby again. I will have you know I am very matured” I stick out my tongue at her.

“Obviously”

“It’s perfect for sitting too just so you know” I finally say and I wink, a flush makes it’s way up to her neck and the tips of her ears. She avoids eye contact looking everywhere but me. I laugh because I like this, I really like this. I know I shouldn’t be making s****l jokes like this but I really can’t help my self when it comes to Karma. She has this air around her that makes me feel excepted and comfortable. I wish that after this gig is done we can still be friends even if don’t end up up in each other’s beds.

“I have to go check on my mom but I’ll be back in an hour.”

“What do you mean check on her?”

I hesitate to tell her. what if she judges me for the decisions I’ve made regarding my mother. I’ve let her stay with that asshole Daniel only because he pays the hospital bills that I cannot afford right now. If I were to pay my mothers bills with the money I get from the work I do I would not afford to pay for the house that I’m planning on buying. It’s one or the other and having Daniel pay the hospital is better than risking him being in one of his moods which might make him chase us out and we have no where to go. I already suffered through that I can’t let my mom deal with it too. Karma takes my hesitation as a sign that I don’t want to talk about it saying.

“I’m sorry I shouldn’t have asked about something personal, that was rude”

“No it wasn’t. My mom is sick so I help take care of her.”

A panic look washes over her face but I like that she doesn’t immediately think to pity me.“Oh I’m sorry to hear that, I shouldn’t have asked”

“It’s okay Karma. I don’t mind talking about my mom”

“Well I’m gonna let you go then I wanted to go get something from my bedroom anyway”

“See you” I watch her as she leaves for a few seconds then I walk to my car.

I drive home my mind replaying the conversation I just had with Karma. The way she looked at me as she listened to what I was saying, no judgment in her eyes. The way she bit her lips when I made that stupid joke. I need to get my mind on straight because if I keep going like this I might end up doing something dumb like kissing her senseless in both her vertical and horizontal lips.

I’m so in my mind that I don’t notice Daniels car until I’m inside the house which doesn’t leave me enough time to prepare myself to deal with him.

Rookie mistake Ally.

Karma is already messing with my mind and I haven’t even touched her yet.

I decide to ignore Daniel moving towards my moms room with pure determination. But of course he’ll stop me because he wouldn’t be Daniel McDumbass without making me want to rip out his spine and choke him with it.

“Haven’t seen you these past few days” the statement has a question somewhere there so I decide to answer it as such.

“I’m working on a new project”

“I’ll be getting the rest of my money soon then” Another statement posed as a question.

“You’ll get all your money. I’ve been paying you like I promised”

“Don’t disappoint me like you always do Allison. Your mother’s life depends on it” he takes a sip from his glass “Lord knows you’ve both disappointed me enough as is”

I want to laugh at his f****d up logic. We are the ones who should be disappointed in him. He is the one who has to begged to take care of his family, the one who is a wife beater and a child abuser but of course we are the ones who make him sneer with shame. f*****g d**k. I want to lash out, tell him how horrible of a person he is but that won’t help me. I don’t need my body being sore just when I start getting in my zone with the renovations I’m doing. I wouldn’t be able to take pity that everyone seems to give me when they see me from Karma. I don’t want her to see that side of me.

“Okay” I say instead of putting a fuss then I calmly walk away. He doesn’t stop me this time which is good because my mom is awake and I don’t want to see the look of helplessness after our ‘session’. She tries to gives me a smile but it ends up looking more like a grimace. My smile is in place though. I’ll smile for both of us.

I don’t want to make her feel bad. “Hey beautiful lady” I give her a hug then I kiss her forehead.

“You sound happy” her voice is small when she says it that I almost don’t hear.

“I was until that dickhead Daniel rained on my parade” she makes a struggles sound at the back of her throat and I instantly regret saying anything. Today is not a good day for her and that just puts a damper on my mood. “It’s nothing mom you know I can handle him”

She still has a pained look on her face so I try to take her mind of things by reading to her, her favorite book and I put on movie for us. By the time it’s over she’s asleep and she looks a little bit more relaxed. I choose to stay in her room for a bit more so that I can avoid having another conversation with Daniel. I just end up falling asleep on the couch until the next day.