She thought about that for a moment and a flutter of excitement twisted in her stomach at the prospect of seeing him again. The wings fluttered ever so slightly. “Sure,” she said. As he was about to head for the door she realized she was still clutching his jacket to her naked chest. “Your jacket,” she said.
“You can return it to me in the morning,” he smiled.
“But you’ll be cold.”
“I’ll be fine. It’ll give me something to look forward to.” Without waiting for a response he turned and left. Now she was alone in the living room, blushing to herself.
Chapter Twelve
Robert had not had a chance to get as far as the nearest intersection before his phone went off. It was Paul calling. He took a deep breath and hit the answer button. “Hey,” he said.
“Hey. Are you on your way? I’ve got everything set up here.”
“Yeah, about that.” What about that? He had no idea what to say to his brother. He needed an excuse and needed one fast. He decided plain old avoidance would do until he could think of a better one. “I went looking for her but couldn’t find her.”
A pause. “She wasn’t home?”
“Well, no. It’s not exactly her home. That is to say that she’s between places right now.” Damn. “She’s moving so she’s not at her old place, and I’m not sure where her new place is exactly.”
“Ah, Jesus. Well that’s lousy timing.”
“It is,” he agreed. “And I’m not sure where else to look.”
“Well, will you see her again soon?”
Robert’s mind wandered back to what he’d seen inside the little house that Chelle was squatting in and he answered, wistfully. “Most definitely.”
“Good. You get her to the emergency room as soon as you see her. The sooner the better.”
Robert smiled to himself. “Roger that. Don’t worry, Paul. Everything’s going to be just fine.”
“Well, for her sake I hope you’re right. By the way, practically everyone else who works for you tested positive for marijuana.”
He didn’t know if it was the shock of what he’d seen or the sheer absurdity of it all that caused him to react, but Robert doubled over with laughter behind the wheel. “No kidding?”
“Yeah. That’s funny?”
“It’s amazing,” he howled. Before Paul had a chance to respond he said, “I’ll call you back tomorrow,” and hit the disconnect button. It took another two streets before his laughter died down and alone in the car he was sure if someone he knew had spotted him they’d have assumed he’d lost his mind.
Robert drove around as he always did when he needed to think and by the time he pulled in his driveway it was close to midnight. He yawned with exhaustion but knew it would be a sleepless night, yet again. He had to talk to someone. He made his way through the house, avoiding all of the boxes and clutter that moving was causing him and lay down on his bed, scrolling through his contacts until he came to the number he wanted. Billie.
He was pissed at her for having fired Chelle. Obviously his serious talk with her the evening before had not been serious enough. He stared at the number for a moment, scowled at it and kept scrolling. When he realized nobody else would be up this late he lay his head on the pillow and stared up at the ceiling practically vibrating from excitement.
He knew a wonderful secret and had no choice but to keep it to himself. Then he thought himself selfish. It was a wonderful secret…for him. Obviously it had not been such a wonderful secret for Chelle. Thrown out, scarred, homeless. He hadn’t realized the pretty and sometimes mouthy young woman he’d hired had been so lost. He’d worked right beside her every day for the last three months and felt like only now, had he truly begun to see her.
The thought of her excited him in a way he couldn’t explain and he was even more excited that she’d agreed to have coffee with him. He had to know her. They had to be friends. Robert laughed at himself with that thought, realizing he was acting like a teenage girl. Truth be told he felt as giddy as one for some reason.
As he relaxed a bit his phone suddenly went off, scaring the daylights out of him. Billie’s name popped up on the screen and he clenched the phone tightly in his hand, trying to decide if now was the best time to answer it. At the last moment he decided it was.
“Hi, Billie,” he said.
“Robert. You ran out pretty fast tonight. I had to help Rick close down the bar.”
Robert could tell she was beyond irritated. Suddenly, so was he. “Well, that’s what happens when you fire the only waitress that’s working that shift. If you’re gonna send someone home you have to be prepared to pick up the slack.”
A silence filled the phone line for a few moments as Billie realized she couldn’t argue that point. “Where did you go? You went to see, Chelle, didn’t you?” Her tone was nothing short of icy.
“As a matter of fact I did.”
“Oh? And what did you…do?”
For a moment Robert was actually confused. “I talked to her. Everything’s fine. She still works for me, I hope.”
“Oh yeah? And when you talked to her tonight was her belt on, or off?”
Robert rubbed his forehead, finally realizing what Billie was insinuating. “Oh my god, Billie. Really?”
“Really!” she practically yelled into the other end. “On or off? If you’re going to cheat on me before we’re married I think I have a right to know.”
“I’m not cheating on you.” Now he was yelling too.
“Then explain to me why you had her belt in your desk.”
“Because I picked it up off the floor.”
“After you fucked her? That was nice of you. You’ve always been a gentleman.”
“I don’t have to listen to this, Billie. I’ve never cheated on you. I never would.”
“Robert if you’re not going to be honest with me we’re going to have to call off the wedding, or at least postpone it until you can get your head back on straight.”
Robert was gritting his teeth and had the phone wrapped so tightly in his hand that he’d be surprised if he didn’t crush it. “You know what? That’s a good idea. And maybe we should postpone it until you learn that you do not fire my employees. Cole’s is my business and I run it. Not you!”
He could tell by the long silence he’d wounded her. “Fine,” she said quietly. The soft clicking noise let him know she’d hung up.
“Fuck!” he said to himself, dropping the phone on the bed. Stumbling into the bathroom he ran the cold water, splashing himself in the face. Did I just break up with my fiancé?
He stared at himself in the mirror for a long time and concluded, surprisingly, that the answer was yes. More surprisingly, he was actually relieved. He smiled at himself, strolled to the bedroom window and opened it. As the cold winter air poured in he inhaled deeply, feeling as if a horrible weight he hadn’t even known was there had been lifted. He was lighter and freer than he’d felt in months.
When he’d finally had enough air he shut the window against the cold and crawled into bed, but not before setting his alarm. He definitely didn’t want to miss seeing Chelle in the morning. After the lights went out he lay staring at the ceiling and expecting to be kept awake by the multitude of thoughts that were rolling around in his head. To his surprise, Robert Cole slept like a baby.
Chapter Thirteen
Chelle lowered herself into her usual chair at the coffee shop and prepared herself for a long wait. It was six a.m. and she was sure Robert wouldn’t be here any time before nine. He never was. She, on the other hand, had no other place to go and routinely sat there as a means of keeping out of the cold. Usually the coffee warmed her, as did the little electric fireplace. Not today. Her hands were like ice and the only time that happened was when she was nervous.
Holding fast to her cup she huddled there, her fingers trembling. This was going to be a long three hours. She looked at Robert’s jacket, neatly folded on the seat next to her, and contemplated wrapping hers
elf up in it. It was certainly warmer than her own. It was thick and leathery and smelled of him.
After she’d cleaned up last night she had taken the jacket down into the basement with her and had actually, to her embarrassment, contemplated sleeping with it. She had way too much self-respect to do that however, and so ended up simply staring at it from across the room as she lay there in her sleeping bag. It taunted her, calling to her to come get it, but she refused. She told herself she’d be glad when it was back in his possession, but deep down knew that was a lie.
She forced herself to look away from it and dug her paperback out of her backpack, hoping to distract herself for a while. It was the first time that she could remember that she couldn’t get lost in a book. Reading had been the only thing keeping her sane for quite some time, but today, for some reason, she couldn’t even do that. My god, she thought. Do I actually have a crush on my boss?
How pathetic would that be? He was rich, he was good looking, but he was also engaged to a rotten excuse for a human being who was a spoiled teenage brat in a grown woman’s body. No way could she ever have a crush on him. It was totally unreasonable. Twenty-five year old women didn’t get crushes…did they? If they did they shouldn’t. Even the word itself was childish. Crush. That was something a person drank if they were thirsty, not something in reference to what a perfectly reasonable and responsible adult woman felt toward the man who employed her.
For every bit of reasoning she attempted, she stared at the jacket, and thought of him. He’d held her hand, he’d said nice things. Things nobody had ever said to her. He knew her secret.
He knows…
This thought became real to her for the first time and she found herself frightened suddenly. What if he’s on his way here with the cops…or someone else? Someone worse? What if he just pretended to be nice so that he could have me arrested? All manner of crazy thoughts danced around in her head now as the events from last night played out in her imagination again.
She felt so stupid. He didn’t really want to see her again, not because he was her friend or because he liked her, but probably because he felt she needed to be contained, to be examined. To be enclosed somewhere she’d never do any harm.
Chelle grabbed her backpack with plans to hightail it out of there. It was only eight o’clock so she should have plenty of time to make her exit. No such luck. As she stood up at her table there he was. Robert Cole in all his glory. He’d trimmed his beard this morning, she could tell, and was freshly showered. He shined up like a new penny. She on the other hand was wearing the same jeans as last night. She’d showered to get rid of the blood and put on one of the last shirts she owned, which was rumpled. Suddenly she didn’t feel good enough to even be in the same room with him, let alone sit at the same table over coffee. What if someone saw them together? Surely he’d be embarrassed.
He spotted her from across the way and waved, coming directly over. “Hey,” he smiled wide. “I hope you weren’t leaving.”
She was stuck now. “No, of course not.”
He gestured toward the coffee cup. “What are you drinking?”
“Your jacket,” she said, still with the jacket on the brain. “Oh, I mean there’s your jacket,” she pointed to the chair. “Drinking hazelnut latte.”
“I’ll get you another one,” he said as he stood to go to the counter.
“No, no. I’ve had two already. If I have another I might vibrate myself right out of here.”
He laughed. “No doubt that you could.”
He sat down and she followed suit, nervously tucking a strand of hair behind her ear as she retook her seat. “How are you this morning?” he said. “I mean. Is everything ok after…last night?”
He seemed to be looking her over as best as he could for injuries without actually touching her. “Yeah. Little sore that’s all.” She decided to leave it at that, hoping he’d let it drop. It had taken twice as long to talk the wings into submission and by the end of it she felt as though she’d pulled every muscle in her back. He didn’t need to know that though. There was no reason to make him think she was any more of a freak than he already knew her to be.
“You look a little tired.”
Chelle rolled her eyes at the statement. “Thanks.”
“Well, no I mean, you still look great. I mean, that is to say, you look fine. You look good, very good.” If she didn’t know any better she would have sworn he was nervous. But Robert Cole didn’t get nervous. Robert Cole was always calm, confident, in charge. Some people are born leaders and he most definitely was one. Her stomach rumbled just then and raised his eyebrows in surprise. She covered it with her hand, embarrassed. “Cripes. Doesn’t sound like you’ve eaten in a while.”
She hadn’t. “No, I guess not. Just coffee this morning.” The wings always made her need extra sleep and extra food. This morning she’d had neither. “I should grab a muffin or something.”
Robert’s face lit up. “Hey. Let me take you to breakfast. There’s nothing here other than breakfast pastries. You look like you could use something a little more substantial.”
“No, Robert really, I’m fine.”
Her stomach rumbled again as if angry at her refusal. “I think we better go eat something before you cause an earthquake. This is my favorite coffee place. I’d hate to see it come crashing down around us. Our coffee at Cole’s isn’t exactly up to par.”
Chelle smiled in spite of herself. She wanted to be stubborn and refuse. She could take care of herself and had been for over a decade now, but he was looking at her in a way that made her curious. Almost as if he’d be disappointed if she refused. “Alright,” she said.
“Great. I know a place that serves nothing but breakfast. You’ll love it.”
They stood and Chelle slipped on her jacket, wincing slightly as she did. Robert registered a look of concern but quickly wiped it away with a smile, grabbing her bag for her. “Wow. Heavy.”
It was and putting it on her back right now was impossible. Having had two run-ins with the wings in less than a week left her having to carry it by the handle. Her entire life was in that bag, which wasn’t saying much, but he held it in his hands.
They made their way to his car, Chelle walking slowly and Robert keeping pace with her. She had to give him credit. He could see she was in pain today but sensed that now wasn’t the time to ask about it and so acted like he didn’t notice. He came around to the passenger side, carefully placed the bag in the backseat and attempted to open the door for her. She got to the handle at the last second, preventing him from opening it. “It’s fine,” she said.
He gave no other response but to nod, smile, and get in the car himself.
***
She was obviously in pain. As Robert slipped behind the wheel he watched her fumble with the seatbelt, drawing it over her and gritting her teeth as she put the buckle in place. It was holding her back against the seat as it should, but was causing her a good amount of discomfort. She obviously needed to eat, and sleep and surmised that the pain was probably being made worse by the absence of those two things. He could at least take care of one of those needs for her.
“It’s only about a ten minute drive.”
She forced a smile. “Cool.”
He had Tylenol in the glove compartment and it was taking everything in him not to offer her some. She obviously didn’t want to acknowledge the pain she was in and he feared the offer might insult her. He definitely didn’t want that. He drove as quickly as he could but morning rush hour was still not over and what should have been a ten minute drive turned into twenty. By the time they pulled into the parking lot Chelle couldn’t get the seatbelt off fast enough.
As she opened the door and slid out she grabbed her backpack. “You can leave it in the car if you want. I’m gonna lock it. I’m sure nobody will take it.”
After hesitating for a moment she decided to leave it there. Probably because it simply would have been too painful to carry it. After what he could
tell was an agonising walk to the door and ascent up the stairs they were finally settled in a booth at the brightly lit restaurant on Dresden Row. As they looked at the menu she seemed to finally relax a little. “What are you hungry for?” he asked, trying simply to make conversation.
“I don’t know. Maybe I’ll just have some toast.”
Toast wasn’t going to cut it for her this morning, he knew that, but before he could say anything a very loud, very wide, fortyish waitress stood over them, pen and pad fired up and ready to go. “Is this together or separate?”
“Separate,” Chelle spat out without looking up from the menu. She’d obviously been ready for that one.
“No, it’s together. I insist.”
Chelle was silent for a moment. He was ready for her to be angry like he’d insulted her, instead she just looked hurt. “Robert,” she said lowering her voice. “I pay my own way.”
The impatient waitress, whose nametag said, SUNSHINE, probably ironically, rolled her eyes and sighed. “Which is it?”
“Together,” he said before Chelle had a chance to answer again. Then turning back to her. “It’s the least I can do. Let me make up for last night.”
She sighed and gave an annoyed nod. “Together? Great,” Sunshine said without any enthusiasm at all. “What are we having?”
Robert scanned the menu over quickly one last time. “Truckers breakfast. Eggs over easy and extra bacon. Large orange juice.”
Sunshine scribbled furiously. “You?”
Chelle snapped the menu shut and handed it to Sunshine, giving a one word answer to the one word question. “Same,” she said. Sunshine gathered up the menus and turned without another word. No pleasantries there. “Woman is well named isn’t she?”
Robert chuckled under his breath. “I was thinking the same thing. I wonder how much of a tip it would take to get her to smile.”
“A Richard Branson sized one would be my guess. Yikes.”
Both of them were laughing now and he noticed some of the color come back into her cheeks. She’d looked wearily pale so far this morning. Silence followed the laughter and both of them sat, avoiding eye contact during the awkward pause. “So, they only serve breakfast here huh? No lunch? Dinner? That’s unusual.”
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