by S J Crabb
Chapter Sixteen
The next day I get up early and sneak out before anyone is awake. I need to keep my distance from my father before the fight. All he needs to do is grab hold of me and he would know in an instant what I am planning.
I know that the bar will be closed but luckily I know where there is a spare key so I let myself in. It feels strange to be here alone, with everything shut up and turned off. I need this time to put my plan in action. Making myself a coffee I head off to the office and turn on the computer and settle down for a fact finding marathon. I can't do this at home in case my father finds out what I have been looking at.
The first job is to research all of my father's companies. This takes a considerable amount of time as it appears that he has quite an empire. I memorise every one that will be beneficial to my purpose and have soon got the information that I need. The next part of the plan is to Insure this building. If I'm right they are going to need some cover and fast. I am careful to choose one that has absolutely no connection to my father and fill out the form online.
When it comes to the payment I carefully enter the information from a book that Dylan keeps in his desk. He won't know anything about it until it is too late. I don't feel bad about going behind their backs. This is something I have to keep to myself for all our sakes.
Suddenly I hear a noise in the bar and quickly delete my browsing history. With any luck the Insurance certificate will come through after the fight, but just in case I will make sure that I check the post before I give it to him.
The door opens and Drake comes in looking surprised to see me. He rushes over looking concerned. "Scarlett are you ok? You're not here this early normally has something happened?" I jump up and smile gently at him. "No, I just couldn't sleep and thought I'd lend a hand here. I don't seem to be able to keep away from here for some reason."
He smiles sexily and pulls me towards him. "Well if you're not tired maybe I can help wear you out." He kisses me deeply and I can feel the love flowing through me from him. He is all that I want, the light in my otherwise extremely dark heart. I would do anything for him and I will."
After a while he pulls back and looks at me with a grin. "Seeing as how we're early how about me taking my girl for a coffee in town?" Grinning at him I pull him along after me. "Come on, we'll take the bike."
As we set off I enjoy feeling him close behind me on the bike. This is what the summer should have been about. I enjoy working with the two of them but we also need some down time.
We park up and Drake takes me by the hand and leads me into the coffee shop that I was in the other day. He orders us two coffees and muffins and we sit here feeding each other bits of muffin and kissing the crumbs from each of our lips. Suddenly we hear laughing and a group of guys jump into the seats opposite and next to us.
"Hey man, that's disgusting." With interest I see that the guy who spoke is a good looking guy about our age. He has sandy coloured hair that is long surfer style and like his friends he is casually dressed in shorts and a T Shirt with Babewatch emblazoned across it.
Drake grins and holding my hand says, "Scarlett meet the gang. I won't even tell you their names coz they're not staying." The guy laughs and holds out his hand. "The name's Cruz, I don't think we've met before, in fact I know we haven't otherwise I would remember."
I hold out my hand and say, "Scarlett. It's good to meet a friend of Drakes."
Drake laughs. "I've made sure I've kept you away from these guys. You're not safe around them and I want you all to myself." Cruz and the others laugh and then another guy says, "Bitch alert- incoming."
We all look and see a group of girls pushing their way in through the doors. They see us all sitting here and come over. I can tell that they are all friends and am interested to see a couple of the girls move over and sit on what must be their boyfriend's laps. The others pull up chairs and I see them looking at me curiously.
One girl in particular looks at me with so much animosity that I wonder if I've offended her unknowingly. She is beautiful with dark straight hair and flashing grey eyes. She is slim and despite the frown on her face I can tell that she is stunning. I can feel Drake tense up and he looks ruefully at me before saying, "Hi Taylor, you ok?" Now I know why she hates me so much.
She wrinkles up her nose and looks at me disdainfully. "I don't think we've met your friend Drake." Drake puts his arm around me which only makes her narrow her eyes even more. "This is Scarlett my girlfriend. Scarlett these are all my friends from school." I smile and say hi and a few of the girls smile at me shyly. Taylor looks amazed. "Your girlfriend. Goodness me Drake I didn't think you had time for anything other than working this Summer. When on earth did you find the time to date anyone?"
Drake smiles. "Scarlett works with me so it's easy really. We spend all day and most of the night together so it's perfect." Taylor looks at me curiously. "So where do you come from then?" I smile sweetly at her despite her cold behaviour. "I'm here for the summer visiting my father. He arranged the job for me where I met Drake."
Taylor suddenly smiles looking happier. "Oh, so you're going home soon then. So tell me where is that exactly?" I can sense her relief and say brightly, "Rivercreek Falls." Taylor snorts loudly. "I didn't have you down as a country hick. This must be quite different for you here; I mean do they even have shops in Rivercreek Falls?"
I can feel my anger rising but push it down inside. I am not going to make a scene; she is doing a good enough job of making herself look stupid. "Oh yes they do as a matter of fact. Actually it's not much different to here. You know, usual things, coffee shops, bars, hot guys oh and bitchy high school cliques."
There is a sudden silence as everyone looks at me with a stunned expression. Then the guys roar with laughter and some of the girls too. Cruz grins. "Welcome Scarlett, I can see what Drake sees in you. He always did love a girl with attitude." Drake grins and pulls me to my feet. "Well unlike you lot we have jobs to go to."
As we make our way to the door Cruz shouts, "You playing tonight dude?"
Drake grins. "Yes, why you coming over?"
Cruz laughs. "You try stopping us bro; I want to get to know your new lady a bit better. Who knows she might wake up to the fact that you're a total loser and then I'll be in there like a shot."
We leave laughing but not before I see Taylor glaring at me. Oh well one more enemy to add to the pile.