Chapter 4

June 25^th, 2020

Four days later, the calendar claimed it was a Saturday, but at that point, Andy wasn’t sure any of them really knew. During the evening after dinner every day for the past three days, Lily and Eric had retreated to Eric’s room immediately as soon as dishes were in the dishwasher, and Andy and Aisling were in Andy’s room not long after.

The walls between the two bedrooms were thankfully fairly thick, and each room was generating enough noise to drown the other out if there had been any spillover.

If anything, Andy actually felt a little sore. Aisling hadn’t been lying about fucking him thin. Each day had been a new and interesting work out, and she’d been true to her word – he hadn’t gone to sleep without giving her at least one load for the day.

They’d also spent a bunch of time all getting to know one another. Andy knew within just a day that Lily was a good match for Eric – she knew exactly how much to push him around and how much to let him get his way. Aisling also seemed an ideal match for Andy, and they’d spent much of the Saturday upstairs just in bed, cuddled up watching movies on the television in his room. They had, however, made a handful of FaceTime calls, introducing Ash to his brother, his best friend Xander and his mom, as well as Ash introducing him to some of her family, although the time difference made that a little more complicated. Dermot had had as many questions about the books as Ash had promised, and she’d had to cut him off when Dermot had begun complaining that Andy deserved more than one Hugo award, while Andy insisted he was happy enough with just the one.

Late in the afternoon, Andy had started making dinner for the four of them when a knock came at the door. Aisling was in the living room talking with Lily, while Eric was helping him by chopping vegetables. “Who is it, Ash?”

Aisling picked through the peephole then opened the door. “Looks like you should make that for five,” she called back.

“Delivery for Andrew Rook?” a man inside a bio-hazard suit said, holding out a tablet. A very tall woman – taller than the man she was standing next to – waited next to him, dressed much as Aisling and Lily had been when they’d showed up.

“I’m Aisling Blake, his partner,” she said. “It okay if I sign?”

The man glanced down at his tablet, frowned at it, clicked a few things, then his frown faded and he nodded. “Sure, looks like that’s okay. Sign here.”

Aisling took her fingertip and scrawled her name on it, as the woman moved into the room and started heading up the stairs, carrying her little roller suitcase with her. “The door on the left!” Aisling called up. “I’ll be up in just a second!” She turned back to the man with a broad smile. “Anything else?”

“Nah, I’ll be back again soon enough,” he said, and Aisling closed the door behind him, turning the deadbolt to lock it.

They’d known it was coming, so it wasn’t a surprise so much as it was that they hadn’t known what sort of timing to expect with it. Also, Aisling and Lily had been delivered before noon, and it was nearly seven in the evening. Andy idly wondered if there was a third to arrive if she’d show up in the middle of the night, just to keep things interesting.

“I’m going to go up and talk to her a bit first, Andy,” Ash said to them from the edge of the kitchen, “so just hang out for a bit down here, okay?”

“I’m cooking anyway, Ash. It’s fine.” Andy hadn’t even gotten a glance at the new woman, but his curiosity was certainly getting the better of him. Still, he also found himself more than a little nervous. Not only did he have to worry if he and the new woman got along, he also had to worry if Ash and the new woman got along, and he felt like he and Ash still had loads to learn about each other.

The redhead darted upstairs and then a few seconds later he heard his bedroom door open and close again.

“You’ve been kicked out of your own room again,” Eric kidded.

“Meh, it’s not even my room anymore.”

“Oh, get over yourself,” Lily said. They all knew she was joking, even as dry as her humor was.

Ten minutes later, dinner was close to done, and Andy was tempted to call upstairs to her when Aisling came down the stairs alone. “Is she not joining us?” Andy asked.

Aisling shook her head, and Andy could hear the shower turning on in his bathroom. “She’s already eaten, so she’s going to take a shower and destress a little. After dinner, I’ll bring you up to the room.”

“What’s her name?”

“Lauren,” Aisling said.

“You going to tell me anything else about her?”

“Nah,” Aisling grinned.

“So how’s the new girl?” Lily said as Aisling moved to sit at the table while Andy went to dish out his cooking – a spicy chili over rice – into four bowls before putting the fifth bowl back into the cupboard.

“New,” Aisling said cheerily, an evasive smile on her face.

“Oh, come on, Ash,” Eric said. “Surely you can tell us more than that.”

“Of course I can, but I’m not gonna, and don’t call me Shirley.” For the next few minutes, Lily and Eric peppered her with questions, but Aisling dodged them before she finally just rolled her eyes and stared at them. “You can make your own mind up about her tomorrow, alright? Let her tell you about her rather than me. Now can we talk about something else?”