by T A. McKay
“You’re doing great. Honestly, Makenzie, you’ve made my job so much easier, so as long as you don't burn the place down then your job is quite safe.”
It’s nice to hear Matt say that. It has really set me at ease, especially after the morning I’ve had. Note to self, though. Don't burn the pool down, you know, just if I want to keep my job.
Chapter Three
Thankfully the rest of my day passed by without any more problems and I was ready to leave on time at 1pm, when the late shift receptionist, Lucy, arrived. She is older than me but not by much and she seems really nice. She has blonde hair and a very infectious laugh, the people that come to the pool must love her.
Once we’ve completed the hand over and say goodbye, I leave through the main doors, dreaming of the taste of a proper caramel mocha with lots of added whipped cream from the local coffee shop. I think I'm entitled to indulge in a reward for having made it through my entire first day, especially after the way that it started out. I haven’t splurged on a proper cup of coffee recently, but today I definitely think I deserve to treat myself.
I’m walking down the next street over and suddenly I become aware of someone walking very close behind me. Way too close for comfort. This person obviously hasn’t ever heard of giving people their personal space. I turn around¸ ready to tell the person to move back, but pause in my tracks when I come face to face with that gorgeous smile that I’m getting so used to seeing. I’m pretty sure that I could gaze at his smile all day long, though at the moment I’m still fuming about the Matt thing so I turn away from him and continue walking down the street.
“Hey, wait up! Am I not even gonna get a hello?” He asks and breaks into a jog until he catches up to me.
“A hello? You’re lucky you’re not getting a punch in the nose at this moment in time.” I answer him with a deceptively calm voice.
“Wait. Why are you mad at me this time?” Rocco asks in an annoyingly innocent voice. Does he honestly think that I don't know what he did? I stop in the middle of the pavement, which makes him still as well and I look back at him.
“I had a chat with Matt. A chat where your name just so happened to come up in the conversation.”
“Oh.” At least he has the decency to look a little bit ashamed. He’s looking down at his feet and I’m trying so hard not to giggle at him. He looks like a kid who just got caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
“Yes, oh! I mean, you didn't think that I’d been through enough today already without you thinking it would be the funniest thing in the world for my boss to pretend to be angry with me?”
“I swear I didn't tell him to do it ... Okay, well, maybe I did in an around about way. But I promise that after I did I told him not to as you’d had a bad enough day.” He pleads with me as I begin to walk away from him and towards the coffee shop, but I can hear he’s still following behind me. Reaching the entrance door and pulling it open, I look back at him and see that he’s throwing me his best puppy dog eyes. I need to stay strong. I’m not letting him get away with it that easily. I step inside and join the queue, pretending to be too engrossed in the menu on the wall to say anything else. He steps closer behind me, so close that I can feel the heat radiating from his body as he whispers in my ear,
“Let me buy your coffee. Let me say I’m sorry.” Goosebumps begin to appear all over my body as his breath slides over my ear and neck. I quickly close my eyes in an attempt to hide the effect he’s having on me.
How can his closeness make me feel like this? He hasn't even touched me but I feel as though he’s just run his hot hands all over my body. I’m so aware of him presence, though I’m not sure if I want to step closer to him or move further away.
“Are you going to order today, love?” The lady behind the counter bellows down the line at me. Or I should say, where the line was before I retreated into my daydream about having Rocco’s hands on me.
“Um, yeah. I’ll have a large caramel mocha with whipped cream to take away, please.” I’m trying to act as though I didn't just make a fool of myself in front of Rocco ... again. Standing off to the side a little so that Rocco can give his order to the girl, I desperately try not to look at him.
“I’ll have an iced tea with no added sugar to go, please. I’ll pay for both.” Rocco tells the lady behind the counter. When I look up at him, I see that he’s smiling right back at me.
“Please let me pay? I really want to say that I’m sorry. Maybe we can take them over to the park and sit and talk. I feel like I know you, but I really don't.”
“Ok, I think I can do that. But I’m not forgiving you … yet.” I answer, earning another smile from him as he hands the money over, paying for the drinks. He moves to stand beside me as we wait for our drinks to be made. He seems to be really happy with himself. He looks devilishly handsome when he smiles. I catch myself before I begin to daydream again and turn away to watch my mocha being made.
“Don't you find that stuff sweet and sickly and gross?” I throw him a questioning look, there is no way he can be talking about my coffee.
“Shhhhh...Don’t talk like that in front of the mocha. It’ll get all upset and cry. And, no. No I don't find it too sweet, ‘Mr no added sugar!’”
“Ha ha! Upset the mocha? Really? I think maybe someone has a slight problem with her love for a certain drink.” He’s having too much fun teasing me and I know it’s not the most grown up approach to an argument, but I stick my tongue out at him anyway. This just makes him laugh harder, and with a slight blush warming me cheeks I turn towards the serving counter again. Thankfully my mocha is ready, so I grab it from the counter and make my way over to the door. I hear him chuckling behind me as I walk back into the street and head over to the park without waiting for him. Serves him right for making fun of me.
I’m already sitting on the park bench relaxing by the time he catches up with me. I notice that he actually looks surprised to see me here as he takes a seat beside me. We’re sitting in the shade of the trees and it’s another hot day. I’ll take any relief I can before heading home to the oven that is my apartment. We sit together in silence for a few moments, I'm not sure what to say to him now that we’re here.
“I didn’t think you’d be here. Do you realise you’re always mad at me?”
“You just bought me a coffee, so I’m keeping to my side of the deal. And, I’m not always mad at you. A little miffed maybe, but that’s because you’re always laughing at me. Well, either that or scaring me.” It’s only now I realise that through the limited time that I’ve known him, he has probably scared me more than anyone else before. Maybe it’s because I never seem to be able to relax when I’m around him. I’m being unfair to him though, I know I am. It’s not his fault that he brings out all of these feelings in me whenever he gets close. The type of feelings that seem to make me lose the ability to think and to speak.
“So, ‘Mr no added sugar’, tell me about yourself. What makes Rocco … Rocco?”
“There really isn't much to tell,” he shrugs his shoulders as he begins to answer me. “I’m twenty eight years old and I run a company that supplies and fits custom made parts for motorbikes. We have a garage around here, but I’m the suit of the company. I don't like getting my hands dirty.” He winks at me when he says the last few words, so I know he’s pulling my leg again, but I realise in the few times I’ve seen him he has never been in a suit. Like now, for example. He’s wearing knee length black cargo pants and a long sleeved white shirt. I’m not saying that he doesn’t look good, it’s just that he doesn’t look like a business man, that’s all.
“So you get to wear a suit all day while the grease monkeys do your bidding?” I tease.
“Ha! Yeah. I suppose you could say that. But someone has to go along to the meetings and make the deals. My business partner, Mason, just doesn't do the whole need to be sensible and act like a grown up thing. So, I deal with that part of it all and he deals with the actual running of the garages. It seems to wor
k well for us.”
“Do you work at the garage much yourself?” He seems to spend a lot of time at the pool training and now he’s sitting here and having a coffee with me in the middle of the afternoon. Not that I am complaining having him sit here and have coffee with me, but I would think that his garages would run normal business hours, so I’m just assuming he doesn’t go in very often.
“I go in every now and again, just to see how things are going. I’m just getting back into the swing of things after … um, after a break from the company. So, tell me what brings a lovely girl like you to this neck of the woods.”
I immediately notice his not so subtle subject change. Being someone who has mastered the art myself since my split with Carl, I can spot them from a mile away. The amount of times I had to avoid questions from well meaning ‘friends, I should now considered a master subject changer. I let him make the change though, because there’s obviously something that he doesn’t want to openly talk about with me.
“Oh, you know. Age-old situation. Fell in love with a guy, got engaged to him, and then I found out that he's a complete douchebag. And when I found out, your whole world falls apart.” I say it with a smile, trying to look as though it doesn't really bother me. I don’t need him to know that it still hurts, that simply talking about it can make my heart feel like its breaking again. I don’t need Rocco to feel sorry for me, or worse, thinking I’m still pining over my ex. Because no matter how much it still pains me to think of it, there is no way that I want my ex back.
“Wow. Ok, well compared to yours, my life sounds really boring now. Care to explain a little further? Only if you want to, though. I wouldn’t want to overstep the mark or anything.” I smile back at him. He really seems like a sweet guy. It has been such a long time since I just spoke to someone about all this, especially someone who is willing to listen to it and not judge. All my friends had chosen sides after my split with Carl, and it hadn’t worked out in my favour, leaving me with very few people to talk to.
“It’s nothing, really. I was engaged to my boss after we’d dated for a few years. Everything was great up until I found out that he was also sleeping with his PA, Rose. I think the only reason I found out about her was because she fell pregnant with his baby. So, he left me for her because he has always wanted kids. I lost my fiancé and had to leave my job, as it got really awkward. He got to keep the house we lived in because it was all in his name, even though we bought it together … so, anyway. Here I am. In a city that I know hardly anything about, with no friends and living in an apartment that would have fitted into my last closet.” I turn to face him now that I’ve finished the rant about my life and see that his mouth is hanging open and there’s shock filtering into his widened eyes. I find the face he’s pulling really funny and even though I try my hardest not to burst into laughter, I fail. Sadly, the sound leaving my lips isn’t a little lady like giggle. I have tears running down my cheeks and I let out what has to be the loudest snort possible. He’s looking at me as though I’m from another planet, which only sets me off again. I honestly can't remember the last time I laughed like this and I have to admit that it feels really good to just let go. I try to stop but every time I look at him, I begin to laugh some more. I’m beginning to think that I may have just completely lost my mind.
“I know what you need.” Rocco says, the sound of his voice bringing me out from my hysteria. Trying to control both my breathing, and myself I lift my hand up to wipe the tears away from my cheek, but a strong hand beats me to it. Rocco runs his thumb under my eye, catching the tears that are still lying there. As I look into his eyes, a shiver runs through my entire body. It’s as though his skin is connected to an electrical circuit, and as he touches me I can feel a current running through from his body and into mine.
“Oh, and what is it you think I need?” I ask with a breathy voice that I can't manage to control.
“A night out. We’ll take you and show you what the nightlife this area has to offer. Maybe make you a few new friends along the way, what do you say?” We? Does that mean he has a girlfriend? This is just so typical. The first guy I happen to like since douchebag, and he’s taken. I really shouldn’t be surprised. Guys who look like him aren’t ever going to be single for long. The feeling of disappointment that works its way through me shocks me a little, I obviously was hoping for something a little more with him. He bumps me on the arm with his elbow, bringing me away from my thoughts, and I realise that he has still been talking to me.
“Sorry, I zoned out there for a minute,” I turn to face him while giving him an apologetic smile. “What were you saying?”
“I was saying that, if you want to, we could meet up at one of the local bars first and then maybe head onto a club or something. It would give you a chance to meet Mason before it gets too loud. How does that sound?”
“So, it would just be the three of us?” I just can’t help myself. I need to know if he’s seeing anyone.
“Yeah at the bar it will be, but once we reach the club, I can guarantee to you that Mason will hook up with someone and then it’ll just be the two of us. If that’s ok with you? I mean, I won't abandon you if that’s what you’re thinking.” He’s looking at me eagerly and waiting for me to answer him. It’s been such a long time since I went and had some fun dancing. Carl really wasn't the type of guy who would go to a nightclub. He was more of a go to a wine bar dressed in a suit and discuss the country’s economy type of a guy. I think this would be a really good night out, and it would also give me a chance to get to know Rocco a little bit more.
“You know what? That’s sounds like a lot of fun. When were you thinking?”
“How about Saturday? It’ll give you enough time to recover from your first week at work. We can’t have you tired and wanting to go home early.” He’s wearing a cheeky grin as he answers my question. I can’t have him thinking that I’ll be a party pooper, can I?
“We can do Friday night if you prefer? I’m sure I’ll have the energy to cope with anything you guys can throw at me.” I smile sweetly and flutter my eyelashes at him. He laughs at my best attempt of trying to look innocent. I’ve been told a few times before that it’s not very convincing, so I’m not surprised by his reaction in the least.
“No, Saturday night would be better for me. I have a meeting in the morning which I really can’t afford to be hung-over for, and Mason always seems to be able to get me even more intoxicated than I ever intend to be.”
“So, it’s not me that won’t be able to handle the pressure? And you tried to blame it all on me. Saturday sounds perfect, and I’m looking forward to meeting Mason and finding out how you both show a lady a good time.” It’s my turn to wink at him, and I manage it just before I begin to laugh again. We sit and talk in the shade a little longer, neither of us seeming eager to leave. I notice how easy it is to talk to him and I can feel myself beginning to relax around him.
Chapter Four
The rest of my working week flew by so so quickly, that I can’t believe it’s Saturday already. The week seemed to go really well once I’d finally gotten myself settled in. Luckily, everyone has stopped laughing at me about the alarm incident and I have even managed not to evacuate the pool since.
All the people who use the pool seem nice enough and they like to stop by the desk for a while and chat, especially the guys from the swim team which only makes my day better. Matt seems really happy with how quickly I’ve picked up everything and he has even started to give me other jobs to do, such as the billing and invoicing. I think this actually helps to take the slack off of him a little and considering once this was my area of expertise, no training has been needed.
Right now I’m standing in front of my closet and trying to decide on what to wear. My main problem is that I have no idea what the girls around here wear to the clubs. Short, long, revealing or casual? Why didn’t I think to ask someone? I never even thought to ask Lucy before I left work today, I was just so eager to get home and ge
t ready to go out.
I’d originally started by styling my hair so it was sitting around my shoulders in soft waves, but then I decided to put it up instead. I hate the feeling of it sticking to my back when I’m dancing and sweating, and I plan on dancing a lot tonight. So after using pins to style it on the top of my head, with a few curls falling around my face and my fringe swept over to the side, I’m happy with how it looks and I'm pretty sure it should survive for the night.
I recheck the little makeup that I applied earlier, to make sure that it isn’t smudged, and then reapply some nude gloss and a little more eyeliner. I‘ve never been overly keen on wearing a lot of makeup. I prefer to just highlight my eyes and lips. I have always been told they are my two best features, so I want them to look their best tonight. Now all that’s left for me to do is decide on which dress I’m going to wear.
Red or black? … Red or black?
I decide on the black dress. It’s a halter style dress with a skirt that flares out around the knees. It looks flirty, without appearing cheap. The main reason I love it is because it shows the tattoo at the top of my back, and I love my tattoo. It is a series of black swirls travelling up over the centre of my spine, and at my shoulders is a set of angel wings. Carl had always hated it, but I didn't care and to be perfectly honest, it really doesn’t matter to me who does or doesn’t. All that matters is I love it. I’d gotten it on the day of my eighteenth birthday, as a memory of my little sister Cassie who’d died in a pool accident when she was seven years old. I was twelve at the time and obviously hadn't handled it very well since I still had a fear of water. She’d been swimming in one of our local public pools and her hair had gotten caught in one of the drains. The pool had been so busy that no one had noticed her until I’d started shouting out for her. The lifeguard’s heard me and cleared the entire pool to do a head count, but it had been too late. They found her at the bottom and weren’t able to resuscitate her in time. I haven't been able to go near a pool since that day because the memories just won't allow me to. The guilt of her dying when I was supposed to be watching her will haunt me for the rest of my life. This is why I’m not so keen to get any closer to the pool at work, though the job itself has been okay so far. My area is the reception and that where I plan on staying.