she opened her mouth and said, “You weren’t kidding when you said your biker was hot! Does he have any friends my age?”
“Oh, Lord!” I cried, and laughed slightly. “I guess I missed him?”
“Only just,” she said. “Couldn’t have been even two minutes. He left you a note.” She held out a folded piece of paper to me that was off one of our scratch pads. I traded her the drink she’d ordered for it and opened it, eagerly.
Hey, sorry I missed you. I got some things to tell you. I’ll see you at your place at eight, pizza and beers riding shotgun. Try to have a good rest of your day. – Fen.
I nodded and creased the note along it’s already folded line and tucked it in my purse.
“I’m going to grab this bite in the office,” I said and Amber grinned at me around her green straw.
“Have fun,” she said, and I smiled.
“You’re insufferable,” I said.
“I’m also closing tonight so you can leave early if you want,” she called over her shoulder. I turned back before slipping through the curtain to the storeroom and kiln room and gave her a curious look.
“See what a good employee I am?” she asked.
“What happened between you and Ian?” I asked and arched a brow.
“He cheated, I dumped him.” She shrugged. “Good riddance to bad rubbish.”
I smiled in spite of the seriousness of what she’d said. Her parting shot such a funny and old-fashioned thing for her to say at her age.
“Indeed,” I said. “I’m sorry he did that to you.”
She rolled her eyes. “We’re teenagers, it’s expected. It’s nothing,” she declared and the all too familiar lines of worry pinched her equally too young face as she looked at me.
I glanced away and said, “I’ll take the phone if it rings.”
“’Kay,” she said, and I slipped through the office door, which was honestly more of a closet with a desk and a lone filing cabinet. I sat down to snarf the salad and afternoon iced coffee I’d bought for my late lunch and let my eyes roam invoices and schedules, calendars and a myriad of other business-related things, though none of it seemed to really stick. I had nothing for an attention span anymore and the memory of a goldfish.
I slogged through the rest of my day and finally, finally, I could let myself go home. Fenris was already parked and waiting in front of my house when I got there. He looked up from his phone as I pulled past his truck and into my usual spot in front of my mom’s house.
The way the houses in the majority of Tacoma were built, the driveways weren’t on the street. Rather, they were behind the house – alleyways leading through to each person’s parking in what was either the side of their house or their backyard.
My mom’s car was still out back, and I still didn’t feel right parking mine there. I mean, I never did. I was a visitor, a guest. I still didn’t feel like I belonged here. I didn’t belong here.
I guess… I guess, I didn’t really belong anywhere anymore.
An abrupt knock on my driver’s side window made me jump and shriek. Shaking, I looked up at Fenris who wore an expression of compassion mixed with empathy. I shut off the ignition, and he reached for my door handle and tried it. My car was locked. It automatically locked when I started driving. I unlatched the door from the inside and the locks popped on all of my doors and my back hatch.
“Hi,” he said gently, a saran-wrapped take-and-bake pizza balanced on one arm. I stared up at him and blinked stupidly, tired from the long day and echoed the greeting back at him, “Hi.”
“You okay?” he asked, and I started to nod and then decided I just didn’t have the energy to lie about it and shook my head.
“No,” I said, taking in a slow deep breath.
“What can I do to help?” he asked gently, and I swallowed the threatening tears.
“You’re already doing it just by being here,” I said truthfully. I didn’t want to be alone.
“Got anything you need to bring in?” he asked.
“Just my purse and briefcase,” I said, twisting in my seat to grab them from the passenger side.
“Gimme the briefcase, I’ll carry it for you.”
“It’s okay, I’ve got it.” I appreciated the fact that he didn’t argue with me, that he simply lifted a shoulder slightly in a shrug and instead held my