9 Slippery when we (2/2)
Russ jumped up from the sofa and answered the door. ”Sup?”
Xavier was standing at the door, sunglasses on, cell phone in hand. ”Um… Is Joslyn here? She left her phone.”
Russ moved to completely block the doorway, ”No sorry she went down the road to buy tampons, hard to tell when she'll be back. Here, I'll give it to her when she gets back.” Russ held his hand out, waiting impatiently for Xavier to place the phone in his hand.
Xavier placed the phone in the other man's hand and took a minute to look Russ over. ”You look surprisingly well for someone who was so sick earlier.” He waited for Russ to respond; but Russ, instead, slammed the door in his face.
Russ shut the door, locked the bolt, and came back to the sofa. He started scrolling through Joslyn's phone. ”What are you doing?” Raven asked as she watched him hit several different buttons.
”Deleting that bastard's number from her phone.” He didn't look up but continued flipping through her phone as he continued, sensing Raven's eyes still on him. ”I don't like him. He smells weird.” When he was satisfied with his work he flung the phone down on the coffee table. Then he looked over at Raven before adding, ”He's not human.”
Raven shrugged her shoulders, ”Not surprising, but neither are we. You can hardly fault him for it.” Raven glanced over at him, ”So she's out buying tampons? Really?! That was the best you could do?” She laughed lightly as she leaned back against the sofa to continue searching Netflix. ”Maybe you should go check on her. I have more gum over on the bar if you think you may need it.” She winked at Russ.
”Do you really think I should?” Russ asked running his hand through his hair.
Raven looked over at him again, ”Yes, I do. Reassure her you guys are still ok, that you don't hold any of this against her. While you're at it, you may want to stop and have a talk with your sister.” She gave him one of those 'mother knows best' looks before she turned back and selected a documentary.
”Ah, actually…” He ran his hand through his hair again, ”I was kind of hoping you would talk to her.”
Raven gave him a really irritated look before saying, ”Yea…. NO! Your mess, you fix it!”
Russ groaned as he got up off the sofa. He looked down at her as he moved past her, ”This should be fun. She's probably going to take it worse than Joslyn did.”
”Hah, yeah you're probably right!” she answered without taking her eyes off the TV. Shock brought her attention back to Russ as he leaned down and gave her a quick hug. He whispered, ”Thanks, Ray. It means a lot that you always support me no matter what.”
She ruffled his hair before shoving him away. ”Not gonna work this time sweetness, go talk to them. You'll feel better and I'll be able to enjoy the last few hours of my day off.”
Russ shrugged his shoulders, ”It was worth a try…” he looked back down at her more serious this time, ”But seriously thanks.”
”No problem, now go away.” She didn't look up from the TV as he slowly made his way down the hallway, hesitance evident in his stride.