Subway Girl Ch. 05

"Well, that's better than my parents, who kept my room exactly like it was. An 'Alicia Museum.' It's like they don't think I can make it and they are ready for me to fail at any moment and move back home." Alicia shifted onto her side and turned her head and closed her eyes again and her face was dangerously close to my crotch. I tried keeping my cool about it, but it was way too arousing having this pretty girl with her face right in my lap. I started doing math problems in my head so I wouldn't get busted with a hard on.

"I should probably get going soon, Ray," she said after I had divided seven hundred twenty two by three. Of course she had to study again. She wasn't kidding about studying all the time, but I wasn't going to show my disappointment. I was glad to get to spend a few hours with her and now I could walk her home.

We talked about the upcoming week and I wanted to take her somewhere that would be very Manhattan but not too expensive, then I got an idea. "Hey, have you ever been to the Carnegie Deli?"

"No! But I've always wanted to go there! That is like a total icon of New York and I've wanted to go there for months!" She answered in a very animated way.

"Well, what day are you free? You can get off the subway at the 57^th Street station and I'll meet you there."

"I don't have to meet with my study group on Wednesday!" She seemed genuinely excited and I was happy about that.

"Perfect. But I'll still try to meet you at the subway tomorrow, if you don't mind."

"I'd love that." Her face was beaming and I felt like my chest was swelling because my heart was growing. It made me smile back at her and we were now standing on her stairs smiling at each other until she got self-conscious and looked away. Even though it was still daylight, I wanted to kiss her right there on the stoop.

She was on the step above me with her hands on my shoulders as mine were on her hips. I pulled her whole body close to me and kissed her lips, gently at first, then hungrily as she responded to my kiss. I finally let myself kiss her the way I'd wanted to since the day I met her. Full body contact, gently parting her lips with my tongue, gently dipping in and making contact with hers as she responded in kind. I felt her hand move to the back of my neck as we alternated between gentle and deeper kisses. I could have kissed her like that forever, but some jerk came down the stairs and muttered the cliché, "Get a room." Alicia just laughed and came in for one more kiss. I really liked kissing her.

"Bye, Ray. I'll see you tomorrow," she walked up the stoop and turned and waved before going through the door.

* * * * *

On Monday I showed up at the penthouse to work on the kitchen remodel. The new cabinets had arrived and Lenny was teaching me how to install them. Mostly he showed me what he was doing while I held things in place or handed things to him since these were extremely expensive cabinets.

Don made a trip down to the truck and when he came back he said, "Hey, Lenny, check out Ray. Notice he's wearing work boots now?"

I explained, "I noticed you and Lenny wear them, so I figured I should too."

"Hear that, Lenny? He noticed we were wearin' 'em. You notice we got our own tools, eh, Ray?"

"Yeah, I noticed that too."

Lenny said in a hushed voice, "Don't let him bust your balls, Ray. I know for a fact he ain't paying you enough for you to start buyin' tools."

"I heard that, Lenny. Don't worry, I was just thinking about offering Ray more money. Don't go talking a bunch a shit and starting up a mutiny."

"I'll take it," I said.

"Take what?" Don asked.

"Your offer. More money. I'll take it."

Don laughed and said, "I ain't even made an offer yet. Ain't you gonna negotiate?"

"No," I answered, "I like working with you guys and anything more is better than what I'm getting now."

Don laughed and said, "You hear that, Lenny? The kid likes workin' with us. Kid, you are something else. You gotta learn not to be so trusting or you're gonna get taken advantage of."

I thought about what he said; it was just like something my dad would say and it was true in some cases. Sometimes I trusted the wrong people like Thomas and Jeff, but I didn't think Don was like that. He had been more than fair to me so far.

It took all day, but we finished the kitchen and it came out amazing, like something out of a magazine. I took some photos of it with my phone and sent them to my dad. Don told me he wanted to talk to me for a minute while Lenny was outside and that is when he offered me a new pay rate and told me I would have to go on payroll and start getting taxes taken out. I thanked him but asked if I could still get paid cash this week because I had a few bills to catch up on and he said, "Good negotiating, Ray."

Then he gave me a used motorized drill and told me I needed to keep track of it and keep it charged up. He told me to put my initials on it because sometimes they disappear from the jobsite. Since I walk or take the subway, he offered to keep it in the locked tool box on the truck, but I told him I wanted to take it home and practice drilling holes.

"What? You want to practice drilling?"

"Yeah," I answered, "I wanna get fast like Lenny." I noticed Lenny could put in about five screws in the time it took me to do one and I wanted to practice. Lenny was walking up to us and Don said, "You hear that, Lenny? The kid wants to take his drill home and practice. Good lord almighty, where the hell did this kid come from!"

Lenny smacked me on the back and said, "Ray, it'll take you two decades to get as good as me and by then I'll be retired." Both guys were laughing but I didn't mind. It was the best workday ever, and I still had time to make it to Alicia's subway if I put my drill in the backpack and ran.

* * * * *

Alicia looked upset. Her face was all puffy which made me think she had been crying, but her eyes were normal. Her expression was different though. She walked up and gave me a hug and I backed her up and held her shoulders and asked, "What's wrong?"

"I got a B on my test."

"Oh, is that all? You had me worried for a second."

"Is that all?! Ray, you don't understand! I studied really hard for that test. Now I have to earn a 95% on my next test to keep my A in the class! Do you know how hard that will be?"

"No, I don't, really. What would happen if you got a B?"

"I don't get B's!" she snapped.

I couldn't believe how upset she was. She started to turn and walk so I walked alongside her. I wanted to tell her I got a raise and my own drill, but it didn't seem like the right time. No B's. That was intense. She was right: I didn't understand, but I could tell she was really bothered.

"I feel like Sisyphus, pushing that heavy, huge rock up the hill. I work so hard, Ray." She sounded like a sad little girl, like she might cry.

"I know you do, Alicia." I didn't know what else to say, so I figured I'd better just agree with her. She was quiet now, and I was hoping she wasn't thinking I distracted her too much from her studying. I took her hand and she let me. It was a long quiet walk through a noisy city.

When we got to her place, she said, "Thanks for not taking my bad mood personally. Seeing you was the best part of my day. I was really glad to see you at the station."

I lifted her hand to my mouth and kissed it. The back side was covered in scratches and some of them had scabbed over, so I asked, "What happened to your hand?"

"I don't know." She pulled her hand away. "Don't forget we have a date on Wednesday," she said, changing the subject.

"How could I forget?" I laughed. Then she apologized that she had to go study and of course I didn't want her to feel bad about that, and I almost made a joke about having homework myself, but drilling holes would sound pretty stupid compared to accounting so I just said I had stuff to do too and kissed her goodbye.

It was a quick kiss and I watched her walk inside, feeling kind of sorry for her that she felt that much pressure to get A's. I never put that kind of pressure on myself. She was right. I didn't understand. It seemed like soon she would realize I'm a slacker and get sick of me. Well, at least I am a well-read slacker. Time to go see my man William.

* * * * *

My favorite thing about the Mid-Manhattan Library is the ceiling. As I was stood waiting for William to quit talking to two middle-aged women, I passed the time staring at the ornate ceiling with painted clouds. I didn't notice he was free until he said, "Tell me, Ray, how did I fare? Were the books to your liking?"

"Let the Great World Spin was great. I'm still reading Adventures of Cavalier and Clay."

"Did you have a favorite story in the collection?"

"Yeah, probably the one about the preacher, but they were all good. I don't usually go for short stories, but the way they were all tied together was really cool."

William rubbed his chin as if he had a beard, but he was clean shaven and very well groomed. He raised one eyebrow at me. I wish I could do that. It made him look very intellectual. "Are you prepared to enjoy another Manhattan adventure?"

"Not yet, since I still have the other one, plus I picked up some used books. I actually came looking for something else," I said.

"And what, pray tell, might that be?"

"Maslow. And Sisyphus. I remember learning about Sisyphus but can't remember the story and I want to know what they are about."

"Well, Ray, choosing literature is my forte, but please satisfy my curiosity and tell me what sparked your interest in Psychology and Greek Mythology?"

"A girl," I admitted and William laughed, knowingly. I went on, "I never went to college but I'm seeing this girl and.... I just don't want to seem ignorant. Can you give me some advice on some stuff I should read? Things that most people would know if they went to college?"

William laughed and said, "I respect the hedonic nature of your motivation. I respond well to hedonic motivation myself. Listen, Ray, I am going to print out a synopsis explaining the contributions of both Maslow and Sisyphus. Then I am going to give you a calendar which shows educational events conducted here at the library and circle those I consider worthwhile."

"Cool. My girl is usually busy studying at night and I don't have a TV, so that would be good."

"Ray, did I just hear you say you don't own a television? It attests to my staunch heterosexual nature that I did not kiss you just now."

"Whoa! Down, boy! I'm no intellectual. Just broke."

Just then two women walked by and whispered, "Hi, William!" in unison. He nodded towards them and said, "Ladies." Right behind them was a woman dressed in black with thigh-high boots. She looked like Laura Croft and I couldn't take my eyes off her, but she didn't even notice me. She kept her eyes fixed on William and she said, "Help me find a book, William," in a sultry voice.

"Yes, ma'am," he answered and handed me a few sheets of paper, which I knew was my cue to leave. I felt my phone buzzing anyway and said, "See ya later, man."

It was a text from Alicia that said, "Goodnight, Ray. Try not to think about me too much."

I texted her back, "I got an F on that assignment."