Stay: Odd Jobs #1

by Alexander, AJ

  In what can best be described as lightning speed, Vickie’s mouth latches onto mine like a viper. I don’t even have time to react as I hear the gasp coming from behind me.

  “If it isn’t the little mouse. Run along, the grown-ups are trying to have a little fun,” Vickie says.

  I spin around to see Addison’s retreating form heading back toward the front door.

  “Fuck!” How the hell did this even happen? I was sitting here waiting for Addy to come out of the bathroom when Vickie pushes up on me like a two-bit whore.

  I should’ve told Addy about this mess before, but I thought I could handle it. I figured Vickie would get it through her bleach blonde head that I wanted nothing to do with her anymore.

  “Come on, baby, you don’t need her when you have me.”

  “I have never wanted anything from you other than your Botox filled lips wrapped around my dick. Right now, that doesn’t even seem appealing.” I shove her off my lap and chase after Addison. I bump into Heather as she’s coming around the corner.

  “Hey, where’s the fire,” she asks. Before I can respond, she catches a glimpse of Vickie trying to get up off the floor.

  “Let me guess, my cousin went running out of here because of that wench.”

  I raise my arm, rubbing the back of my neck. “Basically.”

  “Isn’t that rich. Cole, I told you to get rid of her once and for all. She was going to ruin something for you and now look what happened. I gotta go do damage control. Please tell Wyatt I’m sorry.” She gives Wyatt one more longing look before turning and heading out the door after her cousin.

  I don’t know what I’m going to do to make this up to all three of them, but I have to think of something and fast. There’s no way that I’m going to let Vickie ruin probably that best thing that has ever happened to me, at least not without a fight.

  21

  ADDISON

  I can’t help but giggle as I put my phone away after my text conversation with Cole. Things have switched gears between the two of us tonight, without me even noticing, it even seems natural now.

  “How can you be laughing at a time like this! Does he think this is some joke or something?”

  “She speaks!” I approach Heather as if she’s a caged animal. You never know with her sometimes how things are going to go. We’ve been standing in the bathroom for almost 20 minutes. She has fixed her makeup, hair, and even scrolled through Facebook.

  “Bitch shut up! I needed time to process,” Heather snaps back.

  “Seriously, I know watching the latest cat video on Facebook counted as processing time. So, what gives?” I wrap my arm around her shoulder and wait patiently for her to answer.

  “I thought that tonight was special. That he finally noticed my feelings for him. Yea, I know it started out as us trying to get you to pull your head out of your ass but somehow it seemed to become more.” Heather lays her head on my shoulder.

  “I haven’t known Wyatt that long, but he seems pretty head over heels for you, he has bad luck. I mean really bad luck.” We both laugh a little remembering the events from tonight. “I think the biggest problem is you have spent so much time dreaming about the perfect date with him that no matter what he did, you were going to be let down.”

  “I’m such a bitch, aren’t I?” she asks.

  “No, you’re a girl whose dream guy finally had the balls to ask her out. Who wouldn’t have expectations? It’s normal – I never would’ve thought I’d put the word normal in a sentence to describe you,” I say as I wrap my arms around her, giving her a reassuring squeeze.

  “Honestly, he was in such a rush to get to you that he didn’t take the ten minutes to go upstairs and change or even text Cole to let him know to swing by and pick him up.” I see the tears begin to fill her eyes, she’s fighting not to let them fall. “He has thought of nothing but you this whole time, bringing you to Noble is because he knows you love it here. Now, we both know you come here all the time to stalk him.”

  “Shut it, bitch! I’m sure you aren’t suddenly waking up at 6 am and sitting at the window for your health. Now shut up before you make me ruin my make-up again.”

  “Now can we go? I’m starving and more importantly starting to lose my buzz,” I respond as I head toward the door. Honestly, I’m leaving with or without her. I need another damn drink, all this drama, it's worse than a freaking soap opera. She’s lucky I love her ass so much.

  “I’ll be right behind you. I need to make an entrance you know,” Heather says as she starts scrolling through her phone again. All I can do is shake my head as I pull the bathroom door open. Heather has always had a flair for the dramatic, but this takes the cake.

  I spot Cole and Wyatt as soon as I turn the corner to head into the dining room, as I get closer, I notice they have two ladies draped all over them. What knocks the wind right out of me is the perfect blonde with her lips molded to Cole’s. I cover my mouth to stop the gasp that escapes. She detaches her lips from his and fixes her icy blue stare on me.

  “If it isn’t a little mouse. Run along, the grown-ups are trying to have a little fun.”

  I don’t stay around to hear anything else, I turn and head for the door. I vaguely hear Cole calling my name, but I don’t want to hear his excuses. I knew this was a mistake, I never should’ve let my guard down and let him in. Once again, a man has come into my life and used me for some kind of gain. I can only guess that Cole was looking for sex and he got it, now time to move on to bigger and better things, I guess. I push hard on the front door, once outside I take a lung full of fresh air. My tears begin to run like rivers, who would’ve thought that in such a short amount of time that he would come to mean so much to me.

  A few moments later Heather grabs me by the hand. “Come on, we are getting the fuck out of here.” We head directly toward a waiting car sitting at the curb, she must have called an Uber before she left the restaurant. We both pile into the car.

  Heather doesn’t say a word as she wraps me in her arms, pulling me tight to her chest as the tears continue to fall. “I’m so sorry, Addy, but things are not always what they look like on the surface.”

  I shake my head against her chest. “Don’t you dare! His stupidity isn’t your fault, I don’t even know why I’m this upset in the first place.”

  “Because you like him, stupid. We both know this, shit even he knew it, but sometimes he lets his lower brain do the thinking tonight.”

  “Whatever brain he was thinking with, I was the last thing he was thinking about tonight.” I bury myself deeper into her embrace.

  “You know what this calls for? Gangster rap and ice cream!” Heather says as she lifts my chin.

  “You think gangster rap solves everything, which it doesn’t. However, I’ll partake in copious amounts of ice cream.”

  “I like the way you think.” Heather gives me a wink.

  We remain silent through the rest of the ride. I can’t help but smile, Heather is always there when I need her. I can’t say that my heart is broken, but it’s a little bruised. I saw a future with Cole, the future of my dreams, but that’s all gone now.

  22

  COLE

  After Heather follows Addison out of Noble, I head back toward the table to grab Wyatt. For some reason, Vickie hasn’t gotten the hint and is still sitting there. Wyatt is being his usual awkward self, as he attempts to look anywhere but at Vickie. I pin Vickie with my stare.

  “You have two seconds to get out of my sight,” I growl.

  “You and I’ll never be over, Cole,” she says.

  “Yes, we are. I’m filing a restraining order first thing in the morning, I’m done playing games with you.” The shocked look on her face is enough to guarantee that I won’t be seeing her around any longer. She lets out an audible sigh before slinking off to where ever she came from. She has probably cost me the most important thing in the world. I will not let it happen again.

  Wyatt lets out a sigh of relief. “Man, I thought s
he’d never leave. I’m glad the girls didn’t come out of the bathroom and see her here. That would’ve caused nothing but drama.”

  “Are you fucking kidding me right now! Have you not been paying attention the last fifteen minutes? I’m sure everyone else in the restaurant saw Heather and Addy hightail it out of here as if we set them on fire,” I say as I throw some money on the table for our drinks and head toward the door.

  “Fuck, are you serious? I was trying so hard to look anywhere but at Vickie that I must have missed it,” Wyatt responds right on my heels. “You need to get to Addison and explain this shit storm. Once she has calmed down, she’ll see reason, everything will be alright.” Maybe if I hear that enough, I’ll start to believe it.

  “I don’t think so man, you didn’t see the hurt and betrayal in Addy’s eyes. Heather did say sorry for bailing on you, but family comes first,” I sigh as I unlock my car.

  “What the hell is wrong with you! Why are you giving up so easily? If I can’t give up on Heather, you can’t give up on Addy.”

  “I’m not giving up, asshole. I just need a plan. This is serious, not some flowers and saying ‘sorry’ kind of situation. Groveling will be involved for sure.”

  Wyatt gives me a serious stare over the car. “I’ll do anything I can to help. I’ve got your back bro.”

  With a nod, we both climb into the car. I rev the engine as Wyatt shuts the door then head directly toward Heather’s place. The usual fifteen-minute drive feels like an eternity as we pull up to the house, all the lights are off.

  “Maybe no one is home,” Wyatt says.

  I shake my head in response as I climb out of the car. Man, he can be a dumbass. There’s no way that we beat the girls here. As I near the house I can hear the gangster rap blasting from inside.

  “Well, Heather must be helping Addy work through her anger with gangster rap, so there may be some hope.” Wyatt’s voice startles me from behind.

  “Fucker make some noise or something! Sneaking up on me like that could get you junk punched,” I yell before continuing toward the house. I bang on the door a few times with no response. I reach over and frantically begin to ring the doorbell, I don’t know if they can even hear us over the pounding beats of DMX, but I have to do something to get them to come to the door.

  “Hey, man, don’t you have a key or something?”

  “Yes, I do, but it’s for picking up the dog in the mornings. I don’t think this constitutes a work-related reason to open the door.”

  “Fuck work related! This is an emergency, open the damn door,” Wyatt says as he reaches for my keys hanging out of my pocket.

  I think for a moment, and I did say it was going to take something drastic to get the girls attention, maybe a little breaking and entering is just what we need.

  “This is breaking and entering you know. If the cops come, I’m too pretty to go to jail,” I say as I put the key in the lock.

  “It’s only breaking and entering if we didn’t have a key, think of this as entering,” Wyatt says as I put the key into the door.

  As I push the door open alarms start blaring immediately. I pull Wyatt’s ass through the door and slam it shut, quickly going for the security alarm. It’s never set when I come here in the morning, but luckily, I have the code. I finish punching in the code, and the alarm shuts off.

  “It was his idea, I told him this was breaking and entering,” Wyatt shouts to someone. Spinning around, I see Addison standing at the top of the stairs.

  “What the hell are the two of you even doing here?”

  “I need to talk to you and explain what happened,” I say taking a step closer to the stairs.

  “Please don’t. I have nothing to say to you. I should’ve known better than to trust someone like you. All you want is sex, well you got what you want already, so just leave me alone.

  The pain in her voice has me gripping my chest, how could something so innocent hurt so badly. Just as I open my mouth to respond, Heather comes down the hall “Heather, please tell her it was all a mistake.” I plead with my best friend for support. She knows that it was Vickie set on ruining my life once again.

  “Addy, you should hear him out. It was all … “

  “NO! I don’t want to hear any more. I won’t be fooled, not again.” I can see the tears beginning to stream down her cheeks. I desperately want to run up the stairs and wipe them away, pulling her into my arms but I know that won’t be happening tonight. There’s something else going on that I’m not aware of. “You’re supposed to be on my side! Chicks before dicks, remember?”

  “Addy let me explain, please,” I plead. I’d get down on my knees and beg if I thought it’d help. I reach up toward her, but she turns heading deeper into the house.

  “So, that’s it. No chance to explain, nothing. You’re going to let her run away? Heather, you know this is all a big mistake! I would never do anything to hurt her.”

  “Cole, I can’t make her listen until she’s ready. I’m sorry.”

  I have always been the one chasing Addy, no matter what I do she keeps running. Is she scared? Scared of how amazing we could be together. I know that I have a shit reputation, but people change. I’m sure that this one mistake can’t wipe out everything that I have been doing over the last few weeks. Maybe it’s time for me to let her come to me. No more chasing and grand gestures, I need to know she’s all in. That at the first sign of trouble she isn’t going to jump ship on me.

  “Okay, Addison, you win. I’m leaving but know this, I’m not coming back. If you want to fix this, you have to come to me.” She stops moving so I know she can hear me. “This is the last time I’ll talk about this. Nothing happened, it was a mistake from my past that I should’ve taken care of a long time ago, because of that I feel like I have lost you forever. I believe in us, Addy. What we could be if you would give us a chance, but you have to believe in us as well. You know where I’ll be when you’re ready. Goodbye, Addison.”

  Without another glance, I turn on my heels and head out the door. I’m assuming Wyatt follows me, but I’m not sure. I make my way toward the car, trying to pretend like my heart hasn’t broken into a thousand pieces. I don’t know what I’m going to do to get her to talk to me, but I need to think of something to win her back. My happiness depends on it.

  23

  ADDISON

  To say I was prepared to see Cole so soon was an understatement. I honestly didn’t think he would give me a second thought after having his new piece to keep him company for the evening, but here he was begging me to listen.

  I flop down on my bed and wait for Heather to come in. I haven’t eaten nearly enough ice cream yet.

  “You should’ve really listened to him you know,” Heather says before flopping down next to me and grabbing the carton off the end table.

  “What was there to listen to? He was with another chick, plain and simple. I get that he’s a manwhore, but he tried to make me think he changed. That he was different, that he cared about me.” I grab the other spoon and take a huge scoop out of the carton.

  “He’s not Preston. You need to stop making every man pay for his mistakes.” Heather steals the spoon from me and puts the lid on the carton.

  “Hey! I wasn’t finished with that yet.” I try to reach over and grab it, but she has longer arms than mine. The only way for me to get it is to stand up, but after everything that has happened today, the ice cream really isn’t that important.

  “No, you need to get some sleep and pull your head out of your ass. If you go through the rest of your life blaming every man that comes into your life for Preston and even your father’s mistakes, you’re going to end up alone and with a million cats.”

  “But I like cats,” I mumble under my breath.

  “You’re hopeless.” Heather comes over and gives me a hug before leaving my room, along with the ice cream. Having nothing better to do at this point, I climb into bed in hopes of forgetting that this night ever happened.

 
* * *

  I finished my coffee after a horrible night’s sleep and hear the doorbell ring. Getting up from my few moments of peace, I head for the door.

  “Hello, can I help you?” I ask the delivery boy at the door.

  “Courier delivery for Addison Montgomery.”

  “That’s me, thanks.”

  The boy holds out a signature pad for me to sign and hands over a large padded envelope. “Thank you and have a nice day,” he says with a smile before leaving.

  “You’re welcome and to you as well.” I look at the envelope. No return address or any implication of where it may have come from. I close the door and head toward my room to drop off the envelope, this can wait till later. I already must contend with seeing Cole this morning. One thing at a time.

  I drop the envelope on my bed and turn to leave, but there’s just something bothering me about it. Sitting down, I rip it open to find a ton of pictures. First, there are pictures of Heather and I. Pictures of us shopping, going out for coffee, having dinner at Noble. Picture after picture of the time I have spent here in California.

  I soon notice there are also pictures from the night Cole met Heather and I at Noble. Remembering that night makes my heart ache. Spilling the remaining contents onto my bed, I’m met with picture after picture of Cole and the bimbo he had with him on Friday night. Hanging all over him in different stages of undress, kissing him, coming in and out of his apartment at different times of the day. Pictures speak a thousand words, there’s no way that it was an accident she was with him at Noble the other night. It was accidental that I caught him in the act, my anger is coming back all over again.

  Before I even have a chance to process all the information, the doorbell rings again. Looking down at my watch, I know it must be Cole. Looks like I don’t have to wait any longer to give him a piece of my mind.