He could lay back and enjoy the process as she worked her way up to putting his cock in her mouth, while thinking about all the things he had to do that day.
It was going to be a busy one. He had a couple of new folders on Felicity’s possible whereabouts, and a phone number his private investigator had thought might lead somewhere. Not to mention a full day on the job.
He watched Not Felicity’s head bob as she stroked him with her mouth. She was doing it wrong, going too slow, not applying enough pressure. It was ok though, he wasn’t going the throw her across the room or leave any marks on her at all.
He was just going to smile and hold it all in until he had his hands on the person who really deserved his wrath.
“I mean, it’s just the boss and he is the, like, manager and owner I guess,” the stringy haired teenage boy continued to wipe down the grocery carts with a damp rag that he was halfheartedly dunking into pine scented water every few minutes. The boy’s resentful eyes cut towards her, as if wiping down the carts were torture enough without her asking him questions. “And I guess he takes taxes out on us. My check stub has a bunch of stuff about what they take out, but I don’t pay it much attention. All I’m really interested in is the number on the check, ya know?”
All she really wanted to know was if the owner was there, if he’d pay her under the table, and if she could talk to him. But it was harder to ask someone if they were legally paying their taxes than you’d think. In fact, she hadn’t been sure she could do it, or ask the owner if he would be willing to pay her under the table, but here she was talking to this weird teenager anyway because she had a kid at home so she had to suck it up and talk to people.
But not this guy anymore, trying to talk to him was almost actual torture. Fern wondered if she’d been quite so bad mannered and sullen as a teenager. She’d recently noticed that anyone under a certain age seemed to be a little… annoying, but she didn’t quite remember being such an… annoying person herself. Maybe it was just part of growing up. She smiled to herself, maybe finding teenagers unbearable was a rite of passage into adulthood.
“Well is he here, can I talk to him?” Fern asked.
“Who?” it seemed like in the moment she’d taken to contemplate his complete lack of human interaction skills the boy had forgotten what they’d been talking about.
“The manager, owner, or whatever. Your boss.”
“Oh yeah, he’s over there in the office. Just go through the Employees Only door and knock on the door that says manager.”
“But the door says Employees Only.” Fern pointed out, “and I am not an employee.”
He looked her up and down as if just realizing she wasn’t dressed in the lime green smock that everyone else working there was wearing.
“Oh right,” he said, his gaze going back to the work he’d been doing.
She waited a moment, “Well?”
“Well what.” This was ridiculous, this kid needed to lay off the pot.
“Get up,” Fern said, her voice firm like she used on Katy when she’d already told her twice, “Get up and go in there and tell your boss there is a woman who would like to speak to him. I will wait right there by the express check out. Come back out and wave to me when he says it’s ok for me to go back and see him.”
She’d chosen this little store because it wasn’t a chain. Or at least she hoped it wasn’t a chain. These days you never knew, some boutique chains were popping up that were designed specifically to look like little mom and pop stores all the while they were owned by some huge German corporation. She didn’t think it was though, because as hard as they tried those places never really quite got it right and this place screamed, ‘no marketing director.’
Also, no cost analysis person. What store ever used employee time to clean grocery carts by hand? In fact, she’d never even thought about carts getting washed, she’d bet there was an OCD owner behind that Employees Only door that just couldn’t stand the thought of having grimy carts. You couldn’t afford to be that picky at a chain story.
Fern leaned a hip against the empty conveyor belt to wait, there was only one lane open and it was on the opposite end of the store, near the produce.
The store didn’t seem busy, but it seemed steady, and for mid-day that was pretty good. She guessed. She knew absolutely zero about grocery stores or how busy they should be. She just hoped and prayed they could use another pair of hands around here because…
“Hey,” a deep voice called out, interrupting her prayer for employment.
She turned around to see who had startled her.
Oh no. It was the hot guy from the tattoo parlor. Dax. Her heart dropped down to the pit of her stomach. How is it she’d gone for so long never laying eyes on him and all of a sudden he shows up again in a matter of days?
“Um, hey,” she crossed her arms self-consciously over her chest and pulled her eyes off of him. It was hard though because no matter how embarrassed she felt, he was still hot as hell. She could probably stare at him all day and not find a part of him that didn’t look like perfection.
“I tried to call you a couple of times. You ran out of the shop so fast…”
“I know, I’m just… I didn’t know,” she laughed nervously, trying to cover up her embarrassment, she was only making things worse, “I mean…” she sighed, “I’m just kind of flaky, you’ll have to excuse me.”
Better to let him think her nuts than have to explain that she’d had a full blown panic attack. Because then there would be questions about why and that was one thing she wasn’t dredging up with a complete stranger.
He casually shrugged a shoulder and gave her a half smile that made her want to brush her thumb over his lips.
“Everyone is a little flaky right?” he said.
She looked away again. If she wasn’t careful he was going to be able to see the lust bouncing off of her in waves. She had to get rid of him quick.
She returned his smile, “Yeah I guess.”
He seemed like he was waiting for her to say something else. She’d learned the easiest way to get rid of people was just not talking. People got uncomfortable in silence.
“So yeah, I hated to see you run out of there. If money was an issue we could have worked something out.”
“Well, you know,” she shrugged and looked away from him again. How many signals did she have to give him that he should go away?
“I mean, not to brag but that tattoo would be perfect on you and I was looking forward to doing it and I just can’t see putting it on someone else, it just wouldn’t be right.”
Fern had been trying to be polite but she was going to have to tell him to leave her alone. No matter how attractive, no matter how bad she wanted to run her hand up the back of that ridiculously well shaped arm, no matter how nice this guy seemed to be, she just could not get involved with anyone. And tattoo or no, she wasn’t going to be able to spend any amount of time with him without wanting him. She hadn’t thought she was a lustful person, but for whatever reason, this guy just made her crazy.
“Look – “she began but then the Employees Only door opened and she jumped as if that hadn’t been what she was waiting on.
An angry looking Asian man stood staring daggers at her.
“You the lady want talk to me?” the short man jabbed a finger at her.
She eyed Dax out of the corner of her eye, she wished she could just melt into the shiny floor. “Yes, I was coming to see about a job.”
“Yeah I know, I know what you want. You want to catch stupid foreigner breaking the law, you want for me to do something bad and lose my greencard.” The small man got closer to her and dropped the accent, “Look lady, I’ve been around here long enough to know that I’m not wanted, by the community, by the government, or by anyone else, but I’m here and I’m doing the best I can and you’re not going to trap me into breaking the law just so you can prove that I’m dirty. I’m not. Now get out.”
Fern was shocked, she didn’t know
what to say, all she wanted was a job, “No I, you don’t understand, I just –” Her eyes darted between Dax and the owner of the store.
“You just wanted to see if you could trick me into hiring you and paying you under the table, so that you could turn me in and have me deported. And you can save the fake tears, no white lady looking like you lives in this neighborhood much less wants a cashier job at the Frugal Farm.” He waved his hand around the little store. “You ain’t fooling no one sister.” He turned and slammed back into the Employees Only door before she could even respond.
She looked over at Dax, eyes wide. What exactly had just happened? “I just need a job,” she said, confused.
Dax looked a little shocked too but he shook his head. “Yeah, Vinny’s a little weird, you don’t want to work for him anyway. He’s had this store here for the last thirty years, but he’s convinced everyone hates him. I invited him to a neighborhood block party we threw a couple of years back and he told me no, and then went to the next city council meeting and asked them to ban all outdoors parties because they were a public nuisance.”
The teenager walked back out of the door and saw Fern, he put his eyes to the ground and tried to hustle before she had a chance to talk to him.
“Hey, what’d you say to him?” she asked, grabbing his sleeve before he could get away.
He lifted his hands in defeat, “All I said was that you wanted to talk to him and you’d asked about getting a job that paid under the table. That’s all I said. And he just freaked right the fuck out. Excuse my language lady, but it’s your fault anyway.”
“My fault?” she asked
“Yeah, your fault, if you’d just left me alone to do my job I wouldn’t have had to deal with this bullshit. And now I’ve got to go walk around the block looking for ‘spy vans’ that are listening in on his conversations.” He huffed and walked away.
Dax laughed, “Yeah he’s a little paranoid too.”
It was just ridiculous enough that she couldn’t decide whether to laugh or cry. Her natural reaction was probably to cry, but Dax looked so amused it was contagious. And, sure, she still didn’t have a job but she had managed to ruin that teenagers day, so maybe the day wasn’t a total loss.
“I can help with Vin if you want. He is crazy but if you really had your heart set on working here I can send Ma over to talk to him for you. She’s the only person he’s ever nice to. I think he’s got a thing for her.”
She’d almost forgotten about him witnessing the whole thing, which would have been a blessing, but he was still there trying to be helpful. Damn his beautiful face for being there. Well, he might as well see her being humiliated in public, it just lessened the chance that she’d find the courage to jump his bones.
“I do need a job but I’m not sure I want one from him.”
She watched a look come into his eyes that made her combination of lust, humiliation, and humor turn into a much worse combination: shame and anger. Because that look she was seeing on his face was pity, and pity was the last thing she wanted from anyone, including him. Her life was better than it had been in a long time.
“I can look around for you if you want me to and maybe…” he started, but she interrupted him.
“No that’s quite alright. I appreciate the thought but we’re not friends,” she said, her tone cold. She didn’t need him or any other man to do anything for her. She’d had enough of that to last a lifetime, she could do it on her own, and had been doing so for a while now. All she had to do was continue.
“It was nice seeing you again,” she said as she turned on her heal to walk away but he grabbed her arm.
“Hey, don’t run away, let someone help you,” he was looking at her like she was a little lost puppy he wanted to take in.
“Mr….” She realized she didn’t know his last name, “Dax, I assure you there is someone helping me. Myself. And that’s enough.” She jerked her arm out of his grasp and sailed through the door and out of his life.
For good this time, she hoped. He was far too disconcerting to continue to bump into, her resolve would break one day and then there would be a mess. And if there was one thing she didn’t need in her life right now, it was another mess.
He watched as she walked out of the grocery store’s automatic sliding doors and made the split decision to follow her.
It was probably not the best decision he’d ever made and sure, if she spotted him, it would be weird. And embarrassing. And from her perspective creepy as hell.
Intellectually, he knew if his sister were in the same situation and some asshole started following her, especially some big burly tattooed dude like him, he’d want her to call 911 and then kick him in the balls.
But the woman walking determinedly down the street just ahead of him wasn’t his sister, and he was thankful for it because the thoughts he had been having about her were anything but brotherly.
Not that that would matter to Sandy. He winced at the thought. He wasn’t going to think about that. Now or, hopefully, ever. Instead he was going to concentrate on not letting the woman get out of sight.
She was surprisingly fast for such a small person, he didn’t even have to slow his own pace down much so he wouldn’t overtake her. He was used to walking at a snail’s pace beside anyone except for Dex because he was just so much taller than everyone.
Fern didn’t even quite make it to his shoulder but that was alright, he’d stopped feeling like so much of a freak a while ago and accepted his fate as the person who always got called to get down the stuff on the top shelf.
Fern ducked into a beauty shop, one that very few white women had ever gone inside, and he leaned against a building across the street far enough down that her eyes wouldn’t automatically be drawn when she exited. He tried to blend in.
She was probably asking about a job, knowing full well she wasn’t going to have the knowledge to do the work. But desperation built the kind of bravery that very few other things did. He knew.
She emerged a few moments later. He couldn’t make out the expression on her face but her pace seemed to have slowed down.
He could only imagine what they’d said to her. Dax’s heart went out to her, he knew that feeling too. He wasn’t sure why he wanted to help her so much. Maybe it was the slight tinge of hopeless determination he could see clinging to her. Maybe it was because she just seemed so vulnerable. He wasn’t sure, all he knew was he felt that familiar tug that he’d felt when he’d found each of his siblings. And when Ma had found him.
She paused and looked up at a little shop sign, contemplating. It was a nightclub, a topless night club. A really low rent place where the employees made most of their money in the little alley behind the club and not serving the watered down drinks for sell inside.
He held his breath and waited as she seemed to weigh her options. He wanted to scream at her not to go in, but he couldn’t stop her. Not only was it her life with which she could do as she pleased, but you don’t always turn to your creepy stalker as a credible source of life choices.
She stood there a little longer, shifting her weight from one foot to the other.
She’d be really popular. She’d been covered from stern to stem every time he’d seen her but some things you just can’t hide and it was more than apparent that she had a great body.
Add that to the big sad green eyes, the porcelain white skin, and the long waves of light auburn hair. Yeah, she’d do more than all right in a club like that.
But she didn’t have to, he wanted to help her. Not because she was beautiful, though she was, but because he knew the feeling. The feeling of being just around the corner from disaster and trying any way you can to avoid it. He knew the feeling and he wished he didn’t, and if he could help someone else get out of the same kinds of situations he’d grown up in, then he’d do whatever he could to do it.
He breathed a sigh of relief as she seemed to make up her mind and continued walking. He let out a breath of relief, he was glad she’d
decided not to go in. Once you get in that kind of lifestyle, it was really hard to get out. He’d seen the process first hand.
But she was adamant that she didn’t want his help and he couldn’t figure out why.
Probably a natural distrust of men. He couldn’t blame her for that, he didn’t know how it was for women in the higher social circles of life, but for women down at the bottom, where he’d grown up, it was rough.
And yet, every woman he’d ever known had been able to get over the abuse they’d suffered at the hands of men and still open their hearts. Ma was a prime example, and remembering the life she’d lived was one of the reasons he’d been so relieved when Fern hadn’t walked through the club doors.
Bruises were common. On hands and wrists, peaking out of her blouse, small bruises the size of grasping fingers trailing down her legs, and even occasionally big blossoming bruises across her face.
She’d rarely talked about them, dismissing every question as it being part of the job, but the rage inside Dax at each marred area of aging skin had eaten away inside of him. Until he’d been able to tell her she never had to work again.
And that hadn’t come any too soon. People weren’t kind to aging whores, especially the men who used them.
Lost in thought Dax had almost lost the sight of Fern’s mass of swinging hair and looked around frantically, scared he’d over taken her and she’d see him. But after a few tense moments he spotted her, she’d just paused to stare at the children playing in the little run down park that seemed always full.
A smile Dax could only describe as serene drifted over her face as she leaned against a light pole and crossed her arms.
Dax settled against a building, ready to wait until she finished enjoying the sight of the little kids playing on the aging playground equipment, blissfully ignoring all the obscene words and phrases scattered across them. But he didn’t have to wait long.
Fern’s smile widened as a little girl bounded across the dying brown grass and jumped into her arms.
Out of the Ashes (Marked as His Book 1) Page 7