Usually, Tanvi was proficient in lying. She rarely ever got caught out, so committed she was to her own false narratives that her older sister had once scoffed and labelled it ‘pathological’. As a teenager, she was used to fibbing her way out of punishment, citing that she definitely had been home before curfew, and she’d even managed to lie her way into a job with Grace after claiming that she most certainly knew her way around an ExCel spreadsheet. Of course, she’d given up the ghost a few weeks later when her boss had rounded the corner to see Tanvi irritatedly smacking the top of her computer, but a crash course with the center’s IT specialist had sort of cleared that one up for her.
Hell, even when she had been dating Mark, she’d managed to convince him that he’d made her finish every time he pulled out of her and then fixed his puppy-dog eyes on her to seek her approval.
Suffice to say, Tanvi was particularly good at spinning a yarn, yet she was floundering right now. And it irritated her to the nth degree to turn and see her horrendously attractive neighbour leering at her in amusement, as if nothing delighted him more than the idea of catching her out. How he had managed to see right through her, she didn’t know. She thought she had been her usual brand of extremely convincing.
All eyes seemed to be on her as the superintendent walked in her direction. She hadn’t been in the building long, and so she had yet to find the time to charm everyone yet. There had been a few run-ins with some of her neighbours in the elevator where she had bypassed small talk in favour of complimenting their outfits or adorable grandchildren or, in one instance, a potted plant that she knew would die immediately if left in her care. Tanvi knew how to talk her way into people’s good favour, but as the superintendent walked over, alabaster brow set heavily in a frown as he glared at her, she knew this one might be more of a challenge
Of course, Mr Charisma by her side seemed to think he was qualified to take the reins. She shot an annoyed glare his way when he plastered a smile on his face and greeted the other man like they were old friends. Tanvi hadn’t even been aware his name was Sal.
More annoying was the idea that Tanvi couldn’t style her hair without burning the building down. She narrowed her eyes at once.
“My curls are natural, thank you,” she shot back. “And it wasn’t because I was curling my hair, it was because I was cooking lunch.”
The admission, which was as good of a confession as any, fell from her mouth without her permission. Immediately, her cheeks darkened and she let out a quiet huff.
“I mean…”
She looked helplessly, and perhaps a little apologetically at Sal, whose frown only deepened. The idea of a man frowning so much at a woman making one little mistake when she was sure his life was comprised of many, many more was enough to raise her hackles and she stood as tall as she could.
“But I put it out by myself. It was already out by the time he and his team showed up!” she said, pointing an accusing finger at the firefighter who had, so far, stood there and said nothing.
The man, helmet on with his visor flipped up and the name ‘McQueen’ plastered on his turn-outs lifted his shoulder in a small shrug.
“I’ll give her that. It was out,” he said quietly.
Tanvi let out a ha! of victory, smugness creeping into her tone as she turned to Sal and her neighbour.
“See!”
Garrett barked out a laugh of genuine amusement at the beautiful woman’s retort. He didn’t much care if her curls were natural or not – his only immediate thought had been the image of letting his fingers tangle in them as he’d fucked her upstairs later, but he’d let that dream die. The admission that it was her terrible culinary skills that had led to them being evacuated, after spending the past five minutes loudly and openly joining in as they all berated the mystery culprit, was just too good to be true. She’d stood amongst a crowd of neighbours and strangers alike and lied through her teeth, all just to bat her lashes Garrett’s way and try to charm him.
Admittedly, it had almost worked, but that was before he’d known the truth.
Of course, he didn’t totally blame her for lying. Who would ever want to admit to being the reason a whole building full of people were now standing outside in the cold, wintry breeze, most of them half-dressed or in their pyjamas, disgruntled and confused? He didn’t envy her, that was for sure, but he didn’t feel a whole lot of sympathy either. What grown woman in their right mind didn’t know how to cook a basic lunch without it being a safety hazard?
“Oh yeah? Y’know, I don’t think Flamin’ Hot Cheetos qualify as cooking lunch, but nice try,” Garrett grinned. He could feel the superintendent's glare even without looking, and the firefighter across from them looked sheepish in the face of his joke. Whatever, he knew that shit would land with his nieces, nephews and Felix if nobody else appreciated the shitty pun.
The three of them – and a few nosy neighbours – watched her with curious eyes as she fumbled and floundered over her words, desperately trying to explain away the obvious confession that she’d handed them. It was amusing, really. Garrett knew Sal wasn’t likely to do much about the disturbance, particularly if there was no real damage done to the apartment, but he hoped the older man would at least let her sweat for a little longer. It seemed unreasonable that the only punishment she’d get would be the frustrated glares of her neighbours who would inevitably forget about her in a day or two.
“Aw, well la-di-da, would y’look at that? She put on her big girl pants and put it out by herself,” Garrett announced, giving the woman next to him a slow, dramatic clap. His elbow shot out to give Graham a quick nudge in the side, as he noticed his buddy appear at the side. “Y’hear that everyone? She’s a regular superhero.”
He was having way too much fun with teasing her, releasing another loud, unbearable chuckle as the firefighter across from them looked hopelessly around him, as though searching for an escape of his own. The poor bastard was just doing his job, and now he was face-to-face with the world’s first cartoon villain come to life.
Rolling his eyes, Garrett propped both hands on his hips and released a sigh.
“Am I allowed to get back to my shower now, or are we all supposed to stick around for a little longer while Princess over here explains the merits of microwave dinners?” he arched a brow her way, smirking.
