“Fuck, I slept the entire day.” I scramble out of bed, running over to my dresser to pull out a pair of sweats and a t-shirt. “I’m on my way.”
“I can’t believe you forgot me,” Cameron sighs softly.
“Get over it. I’m on my way.” Ending the call, I shove the phone into my pants pocket. Bounding down the stairs, I shove my feet into a pair of flip flops, grab the keys off the end table and bolt out the door. I’m never late for anything; not work, not appointments, not even when I’m having lunch with my grandmother am I ever late. The one thing I had to do today, one single thing, and I basically slept through it. Why is my life falling apart right now?
“Look, I’m real sorry,” I grovel while throwing Cameron’s humongous suitcase into the back of the truck.
“You better have a freaking fantastic excuse, too. I cut my vacation short to come home and help you deal with the store and you forget me at the airport.” Cameron’s tall pink stiletto heel clicks on the pavement as she walks over to climb in the cab. I would be irritated, too, if I ended my vacation early because someone destroyed the store I worked at.
“I’m sorry, Cameron. After everything that happened yesterday, my mind won’t stop spinning and the only relief I seem to get is when I am sleeping. So, I overslept.”
“You’re never late for anything. I can’t believe the one time it happens is when you are picking me up.”
“Cameron, I said I’m sorry,” I snap. Glancing in the mirrors, I pull out on the road while shaking my head. I love this girl sitting next to me, but for the love of all things good in this world, she needs to fucking back off.
“Someone’s still on edge,” Cameron mumbles under her breath.
“You realize you’re not that quiet, right?” Shooting her a glare, I focus back on the road ahead of us.
“Whatever, Greyson.” She rolls her eyes while grabbing the phone from her purse. “Did you notify the insurance company yesterday?”
“Yes, but I didn’t go into detail. I figured you or I would do that today.”
“What else didn’t you do?” Cameron’s voice grated on my nerves. I realize that her life is invested into this shop along with mine, but she didn’t need to cop that attitude with me.
“Seriously, Cameron? I had a hell of a hangover that I pretended I didn’t have yesterday morning all in sorts to get a girl to have lunch with me. Then I had to meet the contractors to finalize some of the remodel when I find out that the store had been broken into, vandalized, and a dead body left out on the sidewalk. I dealt with everything yesterday, on my own, because you were on vacation in Mexico. Now, I’m not chastising you for going, because who really thought we would be cleaning up blood from the sidewalk last night, but for fucks sake, can you cut me a little slack?”
“First, is the girl you took to lunch named Charlie? And second, did you really have to clean up the blood?” Cameron’s stunning green eyes are now huge on her small little face. The ice bitch tone has been erased from her voice, and her frame is no longer squared off to do battle with me.
“Yes, Cameron. I took Charlie out yesterday morning, and no it was not a date. Luckily, she was really cool yesterday afternoon and helped a lot with the processing of the shop.” I refused to tell Cameron that we left last night on shitty terms because of the piss poor attitude I had displayed.
“Wow. Okay. Um. I guess take me to the store? I’ll call the insurance company from there.” Cameron closes her cell phone and reaches over to pat my leg. I know she can be a bitch when things don’t go her way, but yesterday was a little out of our control.
Nodding my head in silence, I continue to drive in the direction of the store. My insides clench as we get closer into town, sending my already tense body into overdrive. I know what the store will look like when we pull up, but it’s not going to make looking at it any easier. “So, I hired a cleaning crew to clean up most of the mess last night. They removed all of the broken glass inside and outside of the shop, cleaned up and sterilized the blood stain on the blood in front of the store, and picked up the broken crap on the inside. They did not do anything with the graffiti on the walls, or removal of the larger damaged things.”
“I can’t believe this really happened,” Cameron sniffles, carefully bringing her hands up to wipe the wetness underneath her eyes.
“Also, Mark came over last night and helped me board up the windows, since the large store front one had been shattered along with the bottom of the entry door.” Turning down the road for the shop, I hold my breath and wait for Cameron’s reaction to seeing the aftermath. It’s not like it looks horrible anymore, but seeing the place you have called your own, where you have put all your hard work for the last few years into, having it all boarded up looking like that basically makes your heart hurt.
I park in front of the shop and Cameron lets out a little gasp. “Sucks, huh?” The knuckles on my hand are starting to turn white, as my grip on the steering wheel tightens. Stupid kids ruined everything.
“I can’t believe they got it all cleaned up yesterday,” Cameron babbles, slowly reaching for the door handle to climb out.
“They were good. But, wait until you see the bill.” Slamming the truck door closed, I rotate the keys around on my keychain for the shop key.
“So he died out here?” Cameron circles the small sidewalk in front of the large boarded up window, looking at the cement for any fragment of remains.
“Yeah. What Officer Bacca said is that the kids went through the window and probably bled out.” Pulling the key out of the lock, I hold open the door for Cameron.
“And there were more than one here?”
“They think it was a group of four or five kids. Older teenagers actually.” Flicking on the light, I go to punch in the code to the alarm system, but stop when I remember it hadn’t been set last night.
“Why wouldn’t they help their friend?” Cameron questions, tentatively taking a couple steps into the gutted waiting area. The glass front desk area had been smashed to pieces, and the remaining large leather sofa we were keeping had most of its stuffing cleaned up last night. Leaving it a sad, cut up, deflated piece of leather.
“Because they were assholes,” I shrug. Why did they break into the place to start off with? Punk ass little kids looking for some fun.
“Wow. Have you spoken with the contractors?”
“Yep. But, maybe you should call them today and talk about the future. Obviously, the drywall and paint is going to have to be redone in here, along with the window and door replacement.
“Did they do much to the back? I know we had basically everything gutted but……………” Cameron’s heels clack on the floor as she starts flipping on lights while walking back into the break room and offices. I didn’t go back there yesterday, but I knew from the look on Charlie’s face after retrieving the brooms and dust pan that it was trashed, too.
“Fucking little pricks,” Cameron yells back out to me.
I scoff while pulling out my cell phone. I haven’t heard from Charlie all morning and afternoon. Not that I expected her to call while working, and well, since we ended last night on bad terms. But, for some reason I secretly had hope to see her name flash across the screen in a text or something.
“Okay, well.” Cameron comes back around the corner with her hands on her hips. “I’ll start with the insurance company, and then catch up with the remodel. Do we know if the police need anything more from us?”
“Officer Bacca said that they would call me if they needed anything else.” I am still frozen in the entry way of the shop. Like a scared little kid, I can’t seem to bring myself to leave the security of the front door, knowing that further back in the store things get worse and worse.
“Okay then. Are you working tonight?”
“No. I took some time off,” I reply dryly. Sure, I wasn’t a total mess like yesterday, but apparently I still couldn’t be a man and deal with the situation at hand.
“I’m just going to
clear off a space in your office and work then. Hopefully I can get the insurance adjusters out here before this evening, that way I can know when to reschedule the construction company and how far out we are from reopening.” Cameron rambles a couple other words softly to herself, then disappears back down the hallway.
Leaning up against the entry door wall, I shuffle my feet against the worn tile floor. Things were going perfectly until this shit happened. Now, I have a closed business that needs more work than we had planned for in the remodel, all my shifts covered for the week at the bar, Cameron who is now balls deep in cleanup for the gigantic mess, and me standing here doing absolutely nothing to help. I know this is why I have Cameron in charge of the shop, but I feel completely useless. Normally, I do everything myself. But when it comes to this place, I have to remember it’s her baby, too.
“Need me to do anything?” I yell. Cameron has already gone into business woman mode, sweeping into action, cleaning up the mess that was made yesterday.
“Can you grab us something to eat? I’m starving,” she yells back.
“I’m going to lock you in. Do you have your keys?” Pushing the door open, I wait for Cameron’s response.
“In my purse. Hurry back.” I lock the shop behind me and head over to the truck. I know where I want to go, but at the same time I know I really should just swing through the McDonalds drive-thru. Bothering Charlie at work, to try and apologize for my asshole nature isn’t something she needs to deal with while serving customers.
I back out of the parking spot and head east. Fuck it. I don’t think the day can get any worse.
Chapter 17
Charlie
I’ve been in a foul mood since last night. Insomnia hit me hard once I got home, leaving me to play out the entire event of yesterday, over and over again. Why had I been so cold and sharp with Greyson, when all he did was ask a rather pointed question? My people skills are really lacking, and even though I managed to hide the awkwardness yesterday, the total shut down and minor freak out at the pizza place just proves the fact that even though I claim I’m trying, I’m really not getting anywhere.
After running my heart out on the beach, sweating all my feelings out, and letting my body beg for mercy, I force myself to turn around and get back to my uncle’s place.
“Are you avoiding me?” a familiar voice comes from behind me on the sidewalk.
Glancing over my shoulder, I recognize Will’s smiling face walking toward me. I knew he wanted to get together, but I haven’t really found the time, nor the actual desire to do so lately. “No, of course not. I’ve just been busy.”
“Please don’t tell me someone has swept you off those dazzling feet of yours already.” Will’s pearly white smile mesmerizes me as he talks. Everything about this man is the exact opposite of who I used to be attracted to. Well, then again, anyone who doesn’t do drugs, dress like a thugs, and have somewhat decent manners is really a step up from the others.
“Nope. No one has carried me off into my happily ever after yet,” I say with an easy smile. My insides did tug a bit when I mentioned no one, considering the person I am having these erratic feelings about was the reason I woke up so pissed off.
“Well then, I do believe you should have coffee with me this morning. I’m free from teaching all morning so all of my attention can be devoted to you, my fair maiden.” Will grandly gestures his right hand out to mine in an old fashion sense, bending slightly at the knee.
“Get up,” I giggle, shaking my head at the craziness of his offer. Men don’t fawn over me, and especially a man like Will. “I have to be to work at eleven, but coffee sounds great.”
A large smile spreads across Will’s face as he offers the crook of his arm for me to take. My heart starts to race at the thought of us touching. It’s just his arm, I silently remind myself. Gently hooking my arm with his, my body begins to clench as we walk down the sidewalk attached to one another.
“So, what have you been up to these last couple days?” Will makes the conversation topic very open, thus eliminating any conversation pieces I want to steer free from.
“Just been working at the bar. Finally starting to get the hang of things around there. How about you?” Our steps are slow as we stroll down the sidewalk to the small coffee shop on the corner.
“Just trying to get this first semester under way. I’ve been doing a lot of office hours for students lately.”
“Interesting.” I fake a smile upward at him. Truthfully, it’s amazing that he is already teaching on a college level, but working with students really doesn’t seem very fascinating. Maybe it’s because I really dislike people around my age.
“Wow, that was forced,” Will laughs. I sheepishly shrug as he calls me on my bluff. Normally, I’m way better at lying than that.
“Sorry. It’s been a weird couple of days. My friend Greyson’s shop got broken into yesterday, and I spent all day helping him pick up the pieces.” My heart starts to flutter the moment I admit to being friends with Greyson. After last night and this morning I would have sworn we are forever enemies, but that little admission to Will just slipped out.
“Yeah, I heard.” Will’s normal cheerful tone seemed clipped, and his relaxed demur became a little ridged. Holding the door open for me, Will gestures for me to go inside, following closely behind me.
“What would you like?” His tone starts to soften, as I force myself to look at the menu above the counter and not directly at him. Why did he suddenly turn cold with the mentioning of Greyson’s misfortune?
“Peppermint mocha, please.” I smile at the older lady behind the counter, taking a small side step as Will steps closer to the counter.
“Can I do a cinnamon dolce latte, please, Rose?” Will smiles at the woman, and I literally see her melt behind the counter. Does he have this effect on everyone but me? I mean, he does make me nervous, and I was kind of excited to see him, but everyone else seems to fawn all over this man.
“Why don’t you two have a seat, and I’ll bring them right out?” Rose beams at Will then shoots me a wink.
“Thank you, Darling.” Will places his hand on the small of my back and leads me to a far circle table at the back of the shop. Grabbing my chair, he pulls it out and waits for me to have a seat.
“Thanks,” I mumble, completely thrown off by this gesture. Normally, my dates were either too stoned to move or we splurged on whatever money we had left after buying alcohol and drugs on the drive thru at Taco Bell. Did I just call this a date?
“So, have you made any new plans since we last talked?” Will asks as he takes the seat across from me.
“No, just work,” I shrug uncomfortably. Why do I all of a sudden feel so trapped?
“Well that’s good. Have you ever thought about college?”
“Not really. I’m just trying to get back on my feet.” My fingers start to pick at my scars once again, a sure sign of being uncomfortable.
“Well, as much as I’m all for a college education, I’m glad you are still undecided. Makes it easier for you to say yes when I ask you out for Friday night.” Will’s smooth voice came attached to a smile that makes it hard to resist. Even though I don’t date, the way he slides in the offer makes me actually consider it.
“I’ll have to check my schedule at work.” The words pop out of my mouth before I can even mull it over in my brain.
“So, then it’s a yes?” Rose brings over our drinks and winks at me again. Does everyone think that Will is the best catch in the entire world or something?
“If I’m not busy, yes.” Stupid, stupid mouth of mine. Now what have I gotten myself into.
“I’m really thankful you are not a student at the college, Charlie. Now, we have the opportunity to see where this attraction goes.” Will leans back on the wooden chair. Bringing the drink to his lips, his eyes never leave mine as he sips the hot liquid.
“Great,” I manage to murmur before shoving my cup into my face. How did I end up in this situation ag
ain?
Conversation with Will came easy. He knew what direction to steer our conversations without getting too deep into my past. Anytime I started to feel uncomfortable, he somehow knew and changed the topic effortlessly. His people skills are amazing, and I probably should have been taking notes. Halfway through a discussion on late nineties pop music debacle, I realized that if I didn’t leave right then, I would have been late for work.
With only a couple minutes to spare, I barrel into the back parking lot, throw my car into park, and bolt to the back door. Fumbling with the damn code on the door, I finally yank it open and sprint to my uncle’s office.
“I’m so sorry,” I ramble, resting my hands on my knees to catch my breath. For someone who runs at least four miles a day, I really have no stamina when things like this happen.
Uncle Mike looks up from some paperwork and laughs. “Did you run a little too long this morning?”
“No. I went for a run this morning, then got stopped by Will and somehow ended up going for coffee with him.” Ripping my pony tail off the top of my head, I try and finger comb the rats nest I have been sporting all morning.
“Will?”
“Um……yeah….Will. I don’t have his last name,” I say with embarrassment. How have I not gotten his last name? I mean, the man asked me out on a kind of date thing and I have no clue other than his name, he runs early in the morning, and he apparently teaches at the college. For all I know those things could be a lie and maybe he is a serial killer just waiting for his next victim. “He works at the college,” I add quickly.
“William Chambers?” My uncle’s eyebrows raise with question, tossing me a funny look.
“Sure, if that’s the guy that works at the college.”
“Have you told Greyson about him?” Uncle Mark’s voice flattens as he mentions Greyson.
“Well, Will came into the bar when Greyson was here.” I shrug. What is the deal behind those two? When I mentioned Will to Greyson, the automatic response I got was a scowl. Flip it the other way and it’s basically the same reaction. Obviously they know each other, and I’m not really going out on a limb by saying I doubt they like each other.
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