NFH 02 Perfection by R.L. Mathewson

looking up from his phone.
    "Why not?"
    "Because they won't deliver here if a
guy calls up," Brad said, leaning further back so Jason could reach
past him to check the empty bowls on the end tables. "It has to be
a woman."
    "Look, you either go ask Zoe to order
food or I'm going to start getting cranky," Jason
snapped.
    "Getting?" Brad repeated,
chuckling.
    "Shut up, damn it! I need
food!"
    "Anything to get you to stop whining,"
Trevor said, getting to his feet. Truth be told he was getting a
little cranky. Zoe knew he was having the guys over and should have
already ordered them food a couple of hours ago. She was usually on
top of these things. He knew she hadn't forgotten that he was
having the guys over since she'd filled his counters with junk food
and his fridge with beer and soda.
    Speaking of junk food....
    After she ordered them food she was
going to have to run out and grab some more junk food and maybe
after that he'd have her run out and hit the barbeque place over on
Fourth Street and get them a couple buckets of ribs. His stomach
growled at the idea even as he gave himself another pat on the
back. Hiring Zoe really was the best thing he'd ever
done.
    Too bad she didn't cook, otherwise
he'd have her cook him breakfast in bed. That would have made this
arrangement perfect, but he'd settle for her running out tomorrow
morning and picking him up a fresh coffee cake from Mary Lou's. Of
course she'd have to head over there before seven otherwise they'd
sell out quickly. He hadn't had Mary Lou's coffee cake in three
years since they started making it only on Saturday morning and he
was usually too damn exhausted and lazy to get his ass out of bed
and go get it, but he no longer had to worry about that problem
thanks to his little tenant.
    He walked out into the hallway, not
bothering to close his door and rapt once on her door before
opening it only to find his entrance suddenly blocked.
    "Hi, Trevor," Zoe said brightly as she
tried to close the door another inch.
    "What's going on?" he asked, curious
since she never denied him entrance. Since they set up their little
arrangement neither one of them bothered locking their doors.
Leaving the doors unlocked made it easier for him when he needed a
favor or grab his lunch and for her to clean his apartment and run
his errands.
    "Nothing," Zoe said even as she tried
to close the door a little more. With a tired sigh he reached out
and placed his hand on her door, easily stopping her. "Is there
something I can help you with?" she asked with a nervous smile, he
noted. She shifted to block his view into her apartment, well she
tried, but since he towered over her she kind of failed.
    "Well," he said, looking past her into
her tidy apartment, "I was wondering if you could order us some
food."
    She suddenly looked over her shoulder
and noticeably started.
    "Is something wrong?" he asked,
frowning as he leaned in to see what was going on only to find
himself shoved back as Zoe swiftly stepped out of her apartment and
closed the door before he could see what the hell was going
on.
    "No, no, nothing is wrong," she said
brightly, a little too brightly for his comfort, but he was willing
to let it go as long as the house wasn't burning down and she got
his damn food.
    "Can you order some food for us?" He
sighed, gesturing towards his apartment. "And make sure you double
the amount, because-"
    "Triple it! I'm starving," Jason piped
in from the apartment.
    "I already ordered the food," she said
and rushed to add, "and Haley already called me to let me know
Jason was coming over so I tripled the order," before Jason could
bitch.
    "That's because my wife adores me,"
Jason said, sounding smug.
    "No, that's because you're a pig,"
Brad pointed out.
    "Shut up, you bastard!"
    "The order should be here soon," Zoe
said, ignoring Jason's rant. "So, if there's nothing else I'm going
to-" she started only to be cut by a loud crash in her
apartment.
    "What the hell was that?" Trevor
asked, moving to