It’s been nearly a week since I’ve been back at College and I haven’t seen Jackson since he dropped me off, although he has been messaging me almost none stop.
Classes are going well and I even sat in a different seat in each class. I’m proud of myself for this achievement, it may seem like nothing to somebody else but to me it’s huge. Something that had been a pure accident has pulled me out of my routine and I’m amazed with how well I’m doing.
To top it off, I’ve mastered how to use the machines in the gym. So all in all, when Friday night comes rolling around, I’m pretty pleased with myself so when I start to get ready to meet Jackson at the bar, I decide to go all out.
Spending nearly two hours getting ready isn’t something that I usually do but by the time I’ve finished and I pull the dark purple dress out of my closet and over my head, I don’t recognize the person staring back at me.
My make-up is flawless, along with the intertwined braids on my head. It isn’t often, no, make that never, that I appreciate how I look but this time I do. I spritz some perfume on my neck and wrists and push my feet into my nude colored pumps just as I hear footsteps coming closer.
“Wowza.” Jess whistles when she walks past, stopping and leaning against the door frame. She appraises me from head to toe and whistles.
“Hey.” I smile, all of a sudden feeling self-conscious. “Haven’t seen you much lately,” I blurt out before I can stop myself.
I feel like I hardly see her anymore, we’ve become so distant with each other and I hate it. She’s my best friend and the apartment hasn’t felt the same since that night with Scott and Jackson.
“I know.” She blows out a breath and walks inside my room, flopping down on the bed. “Things with Scott are going sideways.”
“Really?” I ask, trying to keep the shock out of my voice. “What’s happened?”
“I was having second thoughts before...” she looks up at me and frowns. “What he did to you.” She shakes her head. “Now I’m having major doubts and I just don’t know what to do. He has influence you know?”
I make a noise in the back of my throat in agreement because I do know. Ever since I actually listened to what people are saying as I walk around on campus, I hear more gossip than I ever thought possible.
“Will it have that big of an impact if you break up with him?”
“Ugh.” She scrunches her face up and bangs her hands on the bed. “I don’t know but I swear, he’s turned into a complete asshole.”
I look around the room, trying to think of something to say. I’ve never been in a real relationship so I have no idea on how to advise her. Before Elena and Trevor, in my other life, I’d had flings but they were nothing more than a few kisses and nothing past second base.
“How about...” I sink my teeth into my bottom lip, not knowing how well this will go down. “You come to the bar with me?”
Her eyes spring open and she sits up. “You meeting Jackson?”
“Yeah,” I whisper.
She scans my room in the same way that I had and slowly nods her head. “You know what? Yeah.” She stands up and nods her head harder, her eyes lighting up in a way I haven’t seen for quite a while. “Yeah... I will come to the bar. Fuck it!”
I walk over to my desk where all my stuff is laid out and wave my hand. “Sit.” I point at the chair.
“Ooooh! Someone has turned bossy.” She raises her brows and smirks. “I like it!” Holding her hand in the air for a high five, I smack my palm against hers.
Chuckling, I grab some primer and start to apply it to her face and then step out of my pumps. If I’m going to do her hair and make-up, there’s no way I’ll be able to stand in those and then go out in them as well.
I give the cab driver the money and step out of the car after Jess. I don’t bother to wait in the growing line, instead I walk straight up to Hughie who’s stood on the door and smile in greeting.
I’ve been here that many times now that they all know who I am.
“Look at you,” Jess cackles. “You even know the hot men on the door.”
I chuckle and smile at her. It’s great to see her smile and laugh for a change. It’s been a while since I saw her like this and I’ve missed it.
“To the bar!” she shouts and extends her arm, pointing at the bar. Gripping on to my hand, she drags me forward and makes a beeline for where Jackson is stood behind it.
“Two-”
“I got it.” Jackson nods and walks away, bringing back a bottle of my usual fruity cocktail, non-alcoholic of course, and then places a glass in front of Jess. Whatever it is, she doesn’t mind because she takes it with a smile and gulps almost half of it down in one long swallow.
“Lil’ sis,” Jackson says, leaning over the bar and planting a kiss on my head.
I know he won’t be able to talk much until his break and then after that not until the bar closes so I wait until a couple of bar stools become free and hop up onto one of them, saving the other one for Jess who is currently waving her arms in the air on the dance floor.
She tried to get me to go up there but there was no way in hell I’ll be doing that. I’d rather sit here and watch her having fun. Besides, I have two left feet and there’s no doubt in my mind that I’d have fell over in point two of a second.
When a bunch of loud guys come into the bar, my eyes zone in on them, thinking it’s Scott and his buddies. I search for where Jackson is stood at the bar, taking somebody’s order only a couple of feet away.
My heart beat speeds up when I see them walk straight to him.
“Time’s up!” One of them shouts over the music. My breaths come faster as I watch them exchange words and then Jackson’s eyes meet mine and he drops his head.
“Jackson?” I ask, impressed that my voice doesn’t sound like the scared mouse I thought it was going to. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” he groans, looking at me and then back to the guy stood in the middle. “Preston, this is Ava. Ava, Preston.”
I frown at him and move my eyes to this Preston guy, not having a clue what is going on. “Erm... Hi?”
“Well, hey there, darlin’.” He holds his hand out to me but I just look down at it and then back up to his sleazy eyes as he moves closer to me. “Nice to finally meet Jackson’s little sister.”
“I’m not-” I go to correct him but don’t have chance as Jackson interrupts me.
“That’s enough, Preston.” Jackson barks, his eyes swirling with anger.
“Whoa! Sorry, Cap, just wanted to see if this elusive sister of yours was actually real.” His face goes deathly pale at the look Jackson gives him, a clear warning that they all listen to, and I to try extra hard to cover my growing smirk.
“So you’re his teammates?” I ask, leaning on the bar and looking at all of them. This is going to be interesting, I’ve been dying to know more about Jackson and I have a feeling I’m about to learn more. A lot more.
“Yeah,” another guy answers, holding his hand out to me in the same way that Preston just had. “Wyatt.”
“Nice to meet you all.” I smile at him and pretend I didn’t see his hand.
“Well, hello there,” Jess coos, moving over to Wyatt. I didn’t even see her move off the dance floor.
“Jess, these are Jackson’s baseball teammates.”
“Oh.” She raises a brow at me and smirks. “What do you say we get a booth and you can tell me some interesting stories about Jackson?”
“Jess-”
“Come on, Ava! Let’s live a little, have some fun!”
My eyes move to Jackson and he winks, leaning forward on the bar and saying, “You’ll be fine, they’re harmless. Plus, they know I’ll be watching.”
“You sure?” I ask, looking over at where they’ve all sat down, Jess right in the middle of all of them.
Looks like it doesn’t take much to distract her from Scott. I’m glad though because I was starting to wonder if there was something more to it than just what h
e’d done to me.
“Yeah, I’ll bring some drinks over. You’ll be fine, I promise.” He plants a kiss on my head and walks away, getting the drinks ready.
I don’t move for several seconds, just taking it all in, watching them.
I worry my lip and take a deep breath.
One, two, three. I can do this. Four, five, six. Its fine, they’re Jackson’s friends. Seven, eight, nine.
I push off the stool and walk straight over to them, not giving myself any longer to talk myself out of it.
“Yay!” Jess squeals when I sit on a small stool at the edge of the booth, not wanting to be closed in.
I smile at her and watch as she laughs at something one of them says. I try to answer any questions that they ask me but my answers are stilted. Yes, it means that I can take another post-it note down off my wall but it doesn’t mean my interaction will be fantastic straight away.
All they want to know is how I became Jacksons ‘new sister’ and I don’t want to tell them; I don’t want to tell anyone.
So I just shrug and say it’s a mysterious secret and even though they laugh, I can still see the curiosity in their gazes.
I try to get comfortable around them but after an hour, I still don’t feel it so I grab my bag and tell Jess I’m going to sit at the bar, she acknowledges me with a wave of her hand just before she goes back onto the dance floor.
For the first few nights, I sit and watch how the place works; not letting anyone know who I am. I stay in the office most of the night and go over all the paperwork making sure I know everything that I need to.
Delivery dates, what we have delivered and the quantities, how many people we have coming through the doors on particular nights, when the slow nights are and then going over J’s ideas for those slow nights.
J has said that I should introduce myself to the staff but I wanted to leave it a few nights. I want to see how the place works without them trying to impress the mysterious owner. I haven’t been out there yet tonight, fully intending to go out once they were cleaning up for the night so that we can get the ball rolling and introduce myself.
“We’re just closing up,” J says, popping her head around the door. “Time to get this show on the road.” I chuckle at the excitement on her face and follow her down the back hallway that’s for staff only and out into the bar area.
I scan everyone, taking note of how many staff are here and what they’re doing.
“Everybody!” J claps her hands, getting their attention. “Gather around.”
They all listen to her, something else that I mentally take note of. They respect her which is something that I think is critical in running a place like this. I know I won’t be around all the time, my job just doesn’t allow it, so knowing they listen to J has me at ease.
“So, you all may be aware that the person who owns this place was away.” She raises her brows as she turns to me. “He’s back now for a little while and wants to meet you all. Everybody, this is Corey Anderson.” She waves her hand dramatically like I’m on one of those games shows and I can’t stop the smirk that grows on my face.
All eyes swivel to me and for the first time since I was a pimple faced teenager, I feel nervous.
What the hell am I meant to say now?
“Hey,” I croak and cringe at how I sound.
“Will he be running the place now?” one guy asks, leaning against the bar with his face void of any emotion.
“Erm...” J turns to me, her face telling me to answer the question that even she doesn’t know the answer to.
“No, J will still be running the place. But I’ll be popping in every now and again, getting a feel for how everything runs. I’ll be here for the next couple of weeks at least.” I hoped. “Why don’t you all introduce yourself?” I say, sitting down on a bar stool and waiting for someone to speak up.
They all introduce themselves, almost all of them are seniors at the local college. Once they finish, J spins around in a circle and scans the whole place looking for someone.
“Where’s Jax?”
“He’s putting some chick in a cab,” a girl replies with a roll of her eyes. “The one who came with his new sister.”
J huffs, walking behind the bar and grabbing a bottle of beer. “That kid is gonna be the death of me,” she moans, leaning against the bar.
“Hey! Has anyone seen A-” I look up to the voice that bounces off the walls as he comes through the door, my eyes going wide. How the hell did I not know he worked here?
“Corey? What you doing here?”
“Jax, this is... wait-”
“Yeah,” he says, a smirk on his face. “I know who he is.” He swaggers towards me, his arms wide.
This kid will be the death of her, had I have known he worked here I would have made my presence known sooner.
“Jackson.” I smirk, wrapping my arms around him.
“What you doin’ here?”
“As I was trying to say,” J huffs, causing Jackson to swing his head her way. “Corey owns this place.”
“You do?” Jackson pulls back, his eyes wide. “Shit, man. How did I not know this?”
“I’m sorry.” J leans closer to us. “Do you two know each other.”
“Hell yeah, we do.” Jackson laughs. “He’s practically family.”
“Yeah?” One of the guys’ mocks. “Then how did you not know he was your boss?”
I turn to him and trail my eyes over him. He’s one of those guys, you know the kind who think they’re hot shit when really there just a little boy?
Yeah... I’ll have to keep an eye out for that one.
“None of your business,” I growl, I’m not here to answer to anyone. I’m their boss and that’s all there is to it.
It doesn’t matter why I haven’t been here yet or why only J knows about this place.
“What the hell?” A girl squeals as something moves in one of the booths. “Jax, think this one belongs to you.”
“Ah shit!” He jogs over to the booth, helping up whoever is there and sits down next to them. I look over to J who’s watching the scene with interest and a look in her eyes that I can’t explain or put my finger on.
“I don’t know why you let her to stay here while we’re closing, she doesn’t work here.” One of the girls’ sniffs, her face turning sour as she watches them with disgust.
“Like I keep telling you,” J turns to her. “She helps out every night when she stays. She does more work than you do.”
“What?” she gasps, turning around to look at everyone, obviously hoping someone will back her up but when they all stay silent, she says. “I can’t believe-”
“Shut it!” J thunders, her voice taking on an authoritative tone. “You’re already on your last warning, I suggest you get to cleaning up the place.” She looks around at the everyone and then says, “All of you.”
I raise my brows, impressed with the way she handles them. I definitely don’t want to be on the wrong side of her, that’s for sure.
“Erm... J!” Jackson calls out. “I think there’s something wrong with her.”
“What?” She walks around the bar, coming to a stop in front of the couple.
“She’s not responding. I don’t know what’s happened. Shit!”
“Let me see,” she says, leaning over Jackson to get to whoever is there. “Has she drank tonight?”
“No.” He shakes his head. “She never drinks; she doesn’t like not having any control.”
“Hmm, have you been pouring her drinks?” she asks, pulling back.
“Yeah but she hasn’t been sat at the bar all night, she was in a booth for a while but I made sure I was handing her drinks to her.” I lift up off the stool, seeing just how panicked he is. “Has she been...” He leaves the word hanging in the air and I frown, not liking where this is going.
She’s probably just had too much to drink, like most of the people in here tonight.
“You sure she’s not drunk?” I ask, walking
closer.
“No.” Jackson shakes his head and turns to face me, a mixture of annoyance, anger and worry on his face. “You know she doesn’t drink.”
“What? How would I know?” I point to my chest as my brow arches high on my forehead, what the hell is he talking about?
He raises a brow back at me as I get closer and moves over so I can see who it is.
My heart hammers in my chest as my stomach bottoms out. What the hell is she doing here?
Then it makes sense, she did say that she meets Jackson at work so if Jackson works here that means she lives close by.
“Ava?” I manage to get out. Licking my lips, I move closer, placing my hand on her head. “She’s burning up.” Pulling one of her eyelids open, I check her pupils but they’re fine.
“You know her?” J asks.
I stare at Ava, her body so small and delicate, her face so innocent and I can’t bear to see her like this.
“Yeah,” I reply solemnly, not moving my eyes off Ava. “You remember I told you about Birdie?”
“Yeah...” Her eyes go wide when she makes the connection.
“She’s Birdie.” I tilt my head to Ava.
“Oh snap,” she gasps, looking back down at Ava and then to me. “Did you know she comes here?”
Shaking my head, I place my hands on my hips and blow out a deep breath. I can’t believe that I didn’t know she was this close to the bar all this time. Had I have known, I would have had J check on her for me.
Why the hell didn’t I think to find out where she lived while I was away?
I sit at the bar alone, when I start to feel a scratch in my throat and my head starts to feel a little fuzzy.
Looking around, I see that they’re about to close up so I go over to a booth and lean back, seeing Jess still dancing long after the floor is empty and the music has been turned down.
My eyes start to flutter closed as I drift down to a half lying, half sitting position. Just five minutes, I’ll close my eyes for five minutes and then I’ll go home. I really hope I’m not getting sick because I’m the worst sick person, ever.
His eyes draw me to him, telling me to come closer as he grins and runs his hands down the stubble on his face. I’m dreaming about him, again. It’s happened almost every night since last week at the lake.
Flying Free Page 10