"Maybe just a little, sweetheart. Let it rest for a while. I'm sure he'll get back to you as soon as he can. I might have been drunk that night, but I still noticed how smitten that guy was with you. He's not going anywhere by choice." Kay grinned at me, almost mockingly.
"Don't tease. I'm vulnerable right now." I pouted, contemplating just how good of an idea lunch had been anyway.
"You just worry too much. Relax. We can always go drinking again. That seemed to have worked last time."
"Didn't I just tell you not to tease? You're evil, woman." I flicked a piece of bread her way.
"So that's how it is. I'm over here trying to help, and you're insulting me. Is that any way to treat your friends?"
"Probably not," I answered. "But you treat me way worse, and I still call you a friend. It's something to think about."
Kay opened her mouth, once, then a second time, but then she snapped it shut and huffed, crossing her arms in front of her.
*~*~*
"Hey, Michael. I was just calling to ask if you might know where Adam is. I can't seem to reach him on his phone," I said as soon as he answered.
"I'm not sure. I'm on weeklong educational seminar for work. But I know Zach's been working like crazy and leaving Archer with Gabriel. I'm sure he's fine wherever he is," he reassured me.
"Thanks. I've been getting worried."
"No problem. But I have to go now. I went out to take the call. We'll talk when I get back, I promise. We haven't seen you in ages," M said in what seemed like just one breath.
"Sure. Take care," I managed just before he hung up on me.
Yet another dead end, but once again, it helped. If nothing else, I at least knew something had happened and Adam was unavailable. If he was sick or something I was sure Michael would have known.
But despite the self-assurances, I still dreamed that night and falling into old patterns seemed almost as easy as breathing.
I was frightened as I headed home from school. My bag's strap clutched in my hand, I kept glancing around, hoping to see the danger before it was too late.
I hadn't seen Billy today, and at least once during school hours, he liked to remind me he existed. I preferred a spilled drink, or when he tripped me, to some of his more creative solutions. So I watched and fretted only for my predictions to come true, as a hand pulled me around the corner into a dark alley.
Losing my breath as I hit my back against the wall, I could barely gasp before Billy was in my face, grinning like the sadist I knew he was.
"All alone and neglected, little Helen," he crooned, his gaze mean and unforgiving.
"Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about you today, I just wanted it to be special." He pulled me off the wall only to slam me against it even harder.
"God, why don't you just leave me alone?" I groaned trying to loosen his hands from my shirt.
"But I would miss you." He pinched my chest until I yelped and fought harder.
"Don't worry, it'll all be over soon," he reassured me before dragging me forward and toward what I saw was a dumpster. That was a new one, but honestly not unexpected. I was already humiliated, knowing it would be only worse once I managed to get myself out of it. He would probably take pictures, too. And then everyone would know about it, and mention it tomorrow in school. It was unavoidable like a curse and so fucking unfair, that I had to go through shit like this day in and out.
Only this time, even as I hissed when my shoulder blades connected with the round metal, it felt like something broke in me. It was enough, too much, not worth it. I deserved better. And instead of my usual defensive and mostly half-hearted struggle, I used everything I had and slammed my foot against his.
Billy howled as he crouched down to the ground and I wasted no time in pushing him away, retrieving my bag and running home. I didn't deserve to be thrown in the dumpster, to be belittled and humiliated. I was a person, too.
I woke up covered in sweat and gasping. That wasn't how that particular day had gone. I did end up in the dumpster and there were pictures of it all over the school the next day. But I could have fought and the dream was right, I did deserve better. It might have gone worse for me the next day, but I still would have done something.
I got up and splashed water on my face. I looked pale and exhausted, far from boyfriend material. But there was something Adam still liked about me, and just like in the dream against the bully, it was time that I fought for something I deserved.
*~*~*
"Bar Down Tattoo, how may I help you?" Someone not Jill spoke as soon as the line connected.
I paused for a moment, unsure what to ask before going with, "Hello. May I speak to Adam, please?"
"I'm sorry, Adam is unavailable at the moment," she said but it sounded like she was already ready to hang up.
"Well do you know when he'll be available?" I persisted.
"I'm sorry, I don't have that kind of information. Do you have an appointment? I can possibly reschedule you." She was unsure even about that.
"No, I don't have an appointment. If Adam isn't there, could I maybe speak to Zach?" I tried again, now just unwilling to give up.
"Um… He's here but I'm unsure if he's started with a client already. If it's urgent I could check." She was obviously reluctant to interrupt him, but I needed to know what had happened with Adam at this point.
"Yes, please. If he's available I would like to speak with him." I must have sounded relieved because she barely said, "Just a moment, please." And I could hear her putting the receiver against a hard surface.
It was minutes later that Zach's familiar voice sounded on the other side. "Hello?"
"Hi, Zach, this is Troy if you remember me?" Hesitantly I hoped I wouldn't have to explain to him when exactly he'd met me.
"Oh, hey Troy. Sure I remember. How can I help you, we're having a bit of a crowd here." He sounded absent, as if he was doing three other things while he was speaking to me. What the hell was going on?
"I'm just calling to ask about Adam. The last time he called me his phone disconnected and I haven't been able to reach him since. Michael doesn't know what's up and short of coming down to the shop, I have no idea who else to call." Rushing to put as many words out there before he too had to go I sincerely hoped he had a good answer for me.
"He dropped his phone in the toilet if you can believe it. He must have been speaking to you. Anyway, his mother broke something and he had to leave for home for two weeks to help out. I don't think he's fixed his phone yet, and if he's anything like me, he doesn't know any of the numbers off the top of his head. I'm sure he's gonna contact you as soon as he can or when he comes back at the latest. We're expecting him next Monday morning. I'll tell him you called." Zach's words were easy, almost casual but they lifted a huge weight off my heart.
"Thank you, I really appreciate it. At least I now know not to worry," I told him with a relieved smile.
"It's no trouble. I have to get back to work now, it's been crazy around here without him," Zach said and soon after hung up.
I was still worried, but it was far from the familiar fear of rejection and abandonment. This time I worried about his mother and was even a little bit selfish, thinking how his time would now be divided and who knows when we would be able to see each other again.
Now that the worst of it was behind me, I missed the man, recalling how easy simple conversation was with him and how he tended to reassure me as soon as I wasn't too stubborn to let him in on the problem. Adam was new, intriguing and essentially a really nice person. I suppose I would eventually get used to his good looks as well. I snorted to myself as I opened the program on my computer. Another week would pass soon enough, and I could always bury myself in my work again. That seemed to make time fly. Now all I had to do was avoid Kay until she forgot there was anything wrong with me in the first place. There was no way I would be able to handle her seemingly innocent ribbing and another drunken night of her trying to extract information.
Chapte
r Twelve
Adam
Your phone is broken you take it to the shop; they fix it; problem solved. That's what you would think happens, right? Unfortunately that's nothing but an ugly lie. The repair shop took the phone apart, pronounced it beyond repair, then tested my SIM card which of course didn't work. Usually they handle water better than the phones do, but I guess it was exposed for too long, they explained patiently while I was pretty much seething even when the guy wasn't to blame. In the end I was forced to buy a new one and was assured that whatever contacts I had on the card would still be there, but it would take the company a couple of days to activate it and transfer the numbers.
The rest should have been easy so naturally it wasn't. With it all said and done, it was already Wednesday by the time the card was on and I had a functional phone. I would be home in a few days but I still wanted to hear Troy's voice and reassure myself that he got the message and wasn't angry with me. Flipping through the contacts I realized hardly a quarter of them were there and panicked, I yelled for Hayley, "Sis, can you come? Something's wrong with this piece of shit."
Wiping her hands, she came from the kitchen before throwing the cloth over her shoulder and reaching for the phone. "Give it here. What's the trouble?"
"I can't find half my numbers." I peeked at the screen over her shoulder.
"Well did you save them on the phone or on the card?" She looked at me like I was the world's biggest idiot.
Intelligently, I said, "Huh?"
"When you bought your last phone, did you set it up so it saved all your contact numbers on your card?" Hayley said somewhat impatiently. "Never mind, I can tell just by your expression you have no idea what I'm talking about." She gave me back my phone. "Basically, you only have the contacts you had before you bought your last phone, everything you've added after pretty much died with the device."
"Are you kidding me?" I asked somewhere between shocked and furious.
"Nope. Shit happens," she said, shrugging her shoulders then deftly caught my wrist as I moved to throw the fucking phone against the wall. "Give it here. I'll make it so everything you add from now on will go on your card."
I let her take it then just moved to the armchair, barely restraining myself from hitting it. "So I'm pretty much in the same position as before. I have Zach's and Noah's number, but no twins and no Troy. I won't even go into how many work related numbers were on there." I took hold of my skull as I leaned over my knees. It was a fucking disaster.
"Nothing you can do about it. Wait until you're home and you'll probably have some of them in the waivers at the shop." She pushed the phone my way and patted my shoulder.
"You're right. I just can't call Troy again. It's pissing me off." I looked at her.
"I doubt a few more days will make a difference. Besides, he might call you. Come, we have work to do." She squeezed then moved back to the kitchen while I reluctantly followed.
*~*~*
By the time I was back, the situation with my mom was handled. We'd even managed to find a nurse, but my head was so full of crap I still had to do, I didn't even go home. I just headed straight for Zach and Noah's so that I could at least have some idea what was happening with my shop. Bone tired after the long flight and emotionally exhausted after spending two weeks with my mother, I pretty much just wanted to crash on my bed and sleep for two days. Unfortunately that wasn't going to happen.
"Adam. Zach wasn't expecting you until tomorrow morning." Noah opened the door and let me in.
"Yeah, well, I have to talk to him first, see what the major issues are at the moment without clients waiting on either of us. Besides, if I'll be able to handle it without him, I was thinking of just having him work a few hours tomorrow." He pulled out a chair for me in the kitchen, which I gratefully took.
"Do you want something to drink?" Noah opened the fridge and looked at me.
"Just water if you have it. Where are Archer and Zach?" I caught the bottle and opened it.
"Archer is asleep and Zach just went to the store like ten minutes ago. I'm away tomorrow and he figured he wouldn't have time to buy shit for the house." Noah sat down, too.
"I really picked the right moment." I rubbed against the short hairs on my head. I was going back to the full beard and hair how things were going.
"He'll be back soon enough. You know Zach hates wasting time." Noah smiled.
"I've been meaning to ask you, but honestly didn't even remember to call you again. Did you get in contact with Troy?" I looked at him and just by his expression I knew he didn't.
"Shit, man, I completely forgot." And I must have blanched because his next words were, "Are you all right?"
"I haven't spoken to him in over two weeks. We'd just gotten together and solved our differences and fucking misunderstandings. I might as well be at the beginning again. That is, if he'll even give me another chance." I stood up, lost as to what I should even do.
"I'm sure it'll be all right. Two weeks is not forever." Noah tried, but I wouldn't let him continue. "You can't know that. I haven't told him I would be gone, he has no idea why I just stopped calling or why my phone was disconnected. I'll be lucky if he ever speaks to me again. Shit." I swung my arm through the air in frustration.
"Maybe you could call the twins for his number?"
"Their numbers were on my phone which died, besides I doubt a simple phone call could fix this. I have to see him," I mumbled as I pressed my knuckles against my stubble.
"I'll send you their number right now. Give me a second." Noah started tapping on his phone and in moments I got it on my phone. I should have just called Noah again once I bought my new phone and asked for their number then. But there was no use crying now.
"Adam?" Gabriel answered after two rings sounding surprised.
"Yeah, sorry for calling at this hour, but with all the stuff with my mom and my phone I don't have Troy's number anymore and I need to let him know I'm still here."
"No problem. I'll give it to you right away. Michael said he'd spoken to him. Troy called while M was on a seminar so he had no idea what was up with you. I figured you'd spoken since then." Gabriel rattled out the number while I absentmindedly got a hold of a pen and a piece of paper. I felt even worse knowing that Troy had tried to reach me, but ended up calling the one person who wasn't in the loop. It was just our luck. I had to ask Gabriel to repeat the number when it occurred to me that I should just go there and handle this in person.
"Do you by any chance know his address?" I asked hopeful again. I was sure I could fix things with Troy when face to face.
"Give me a second." Gabriel ruffled through some papers before saying, "Here it is." He had me write it down.
"Thanks man. You're saving me here." I sighed with relief.
"No problem, any time. Go get him, Adam." Gabriel laughed at me before hanging up.
"I'll just go there now," I told Noah while getting up.
"It's kind of late." Noah pushed his hands in his pockets as he stood.
"I don't really care. I have to handle work tomorrow, and if I do see him it will most likely be at the same hour."
Noah just nodded while I rushed toward the door. "I'm catching a cab, and I'll just leave my things with you. Can you ask Zach to bring them to work? Looks like we'll just have to handle the business tomorrow anyway." I sighed, but my mind was already rushing through all the things I could say to Troy to make him forgive me.
"It's all right. Just go. And I'm sorry again for screwing up." Noah gripped my shoulder and leaned into me before pushing me toward the door.
"Fingers crossed, man," I said before dialing a cab company. That fucking number had stayed on my card, of course it had.
*~*~*
My knee was hopping in place during the whole ride there and by the time the cab dropped me off, my heart was going insane, and I could barely swallow, my throat was so dry.
Troy lived in a small three-story building and I couldn't see a light in any of the windows but it
was already 10:30 p.m. I hoped he would answer his door despite the hour. So I gathered some of my courage and climbed to the second floor where I rang the doorbell and waited, holding my breath with every second passed.
When Troy finally opened the door, his dark hair was mussed, sticking out on one side and he was yawning. Until he realized who stood at his door. His eyes widened and he started smoothing out his hair. I couldn't resist a smile and just took the rest of him in. His robe was just thrown on, barely tied and slipping off one shoulder, showing off the wife beater underneath. He had wide striped cotton sleeping pants on that covered his bare feet so only his toes were showing. I loved the sight of him.
"Adam?" Troy eventually uttered, after God knows how long I'd just stood there, looking at him.
I took a step forward, still staying at the open doorway before I flooded him with apologetic words. "I'm so sorry for not calling you for so long. I dropped my phone in the toilet just as I was calling you to tell you my mom had broken her leg and I had to leave. I didn't have time to fix it, and when I finally did go to the shop I had to buy a new phone and they had to reactive my card and by then it was the middle of this past week. I still would have called, but my sister said something about numbers being on my phone instead of the card and I only had Zach and Noah's number. I'm so sorry for not getting in touch. I'd asked Noah to tell the twins, but he had interviews and concerts and forgot. I just found out when I went to their place. Can you please forgive me?" I took a deep breath, somewhat panting and waiting expectantly.
Troy just smiled, surprising me, and crossed the distance between us so that he could cup my hairy cheek. "I called the shop, Adam; talked to Zach. It's okay."
My relief was visible as I dropped my shoulders and head, still looking at him. "So we're okay?" I asked.
Troy smiled. "We're better than okay."
By that point I just couldn't control myself anymore. I reached for him, pulling at his robe until he was flush against me, and until his lips were a mere breath away. I waited for that one second of uncertainty which never came, then I leaned down and kissed him.
Good Together Page 8