Addiction

Chapter 28-4

FEBRUARY 2013

The weeks passed, and Sophie found herself getting better and better at forgetting Champagne Chimp ever existed. This was partly due to how busy she was in her job, which she found easier than she'd thought to do on her own in this lovely coastal town – a lot of people wanted their homes redesigned for all the dinner parties and barbeque's they’d be having this summer – and a lot of it was down to how frantic she was becoming to find her own place.

She’d compromised on her city living plan, realizing it wasn’t very compatible with her career for the moment. She had to have an ‘in’ with the city agencies unless she wanted to start her own design business, but to do something like that in the city required a lot more training in business organization than she'd had. She was more of a ‘oh look, this would be pretty if...’ person. So instead of moving to the city, she settled for trawling through various newspapers and letting agencies.

Most of the apartments were quite simply awful, and the rest were too small or too expensive. Logan said she was welcome to stay as long as she needed to, but she knew for a fact that she was putting a damper on his personal life by now. She knew he hadn’t had a woman back since she’d landed on his doorstep in the middle of the night three weeks previous. She also knew he’d been on a date with the bathroom bimbo – as Sophie began referring to her in secret – and could tell by his pained expression lately that if he didn’t get to spend some serious private time with her, he’d explode.

She supposed that was the whole reason she’d agreed when Blaise had asked her out on a date for tonight. That, and his really hot body. He was the lead guitarist in the band Logan had brought her to see – the Somersville Saints. On one particular night last week – the bathroom bimbo had inserted herself into the booth between her and Logan, and Sophie had escaped for some fresh air away from the rising hormones – she’d met him in the shady area underneath the eaves and they’d struck up a conversation.

He wasn’t as bright as she’d thought – and she’d not thought he was too bright to begin with – but he was easy to look at, and God knows after Taylor she needed to feel wanted, so when he’d asked her if she wanted to get together she’d said yes, thinking of Logan and the bathroom bimbo lost in conversation inside. Logan had seemed uncomfortable with her presence at the table when said bimbo placed her hand on his thigh and asked him why he hadn’t called. She’d actually mewled at him, making Sophie feel irritated. When she’d excused herself, Logan seemed to relax a bit, so she’d spent the entire half hour interval between sets talking to Blaise about Nirvana and Pearl Jam. He didn’t know his right from his left, but the boy could play, and he shared her love of Grunge artists.

Slipping her stiletto shoes on, she trotted into the living room and gave Logan a twirl. “What do you think? Does it say 'take me out' or 'bring me home'?”

Logan looked up from his pile of papers with a raised eyebrow and a partially open mouth. “You couldn’t afford the rest of the skirt, huh? I can give you a loan of money if you need, you know.”

“Shut it,” she laughed, tugging on the hemline of her extremely short, extremely tight skirt. “It’s not my fault you don’t appreciate style.” Twirling again, giving him a second viewing of her outfit, which included a deep purple halter and a pair of killer purple leather stilettos, she asked, “too much?”

“Too little.” He closed his mouth as Sophie laughed again. “And I appreciate style. I really appreciate it. But, you’re my sister and I’m not supposed to appreciate it on you.”

“Oh, whatever.” He was turning into a grumpy old man. Hopefully that would change when she gave him some time alone. “Aren’t you getting ready for your own date?”

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