milkshakes.
And sitting out on his back deck, just the two of us, three if you count Judy, eating fast food and laughing is the absolute perfect way to end the night for me. I don’t need anything fancy or extravagant, I just want a man who loves me… and lucky for me, that’s what I got.
Chapter 16
Izzy
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Jesse asks me before I even have a chance to clock in. It feels like it’s been forever since I’ve been here, but in reality, it’s only been a few days.
I wiggle my fingers, the slight bruising still visible. “I’m fine. It’s a little sore, but nothing compared to when it first happened.”
“What did happen?”
“I got into a fight with my brother because he and Damien went after each other.”
She raises a manicured eyebrow. “Really?”
“Yeah. I was furious because Damien came home with a couple of scrapes and bruises, so I went over to my brother’s to lay into him, and when I hit him, or tried to, my hand paid the price.”
“That sucks.”
“It does. But everything is okay now.”
She reaches for her water bottle. “I answered when Damien called, and he sounded so… sure. Like he just gives off this confidence or something, like you were this precious little thing and he had to protect you. I bet he took really good care of you.”
The phone rings, and we give each other a hard smile because we only opened about thirty seconds ago, and somebody is already calling.
And like always, we suddenly get swamped. Hours later, we finally get a moment to breathe, and I answer her earlier question. “What you asked about Damien? Yes. He did. He does take such good care of me. He’s literally perfect.”
She stares at me wide-eyed and then giggles. “Well, so are you, so it makes sense you guys would end up together.”
“Isabel!” Dr. Rickman shouts my name, and I turn to find him holding the door to the treatment area open.
“Yes, Dr. Rickman.”
“I need a moment of your time. Now.”
He turns around and storms away. “Geez, you haven’t even been here. What could you have possibly done?”
“No clue.”
I reluctantly follow him to his office and close the door behind me. And then he lays into me. Apparently, a report I did at the end of the shift last week was wrong. I was off thirty dollars or something.
As I stand here getting reprimanded like a child caught stealing cookies, I’m about to lose it. Really, truly lose my shit.
But then I realize I don’t have to put up with him anymore, and I can in fact, tell him what I think of him. I rejoice in the comfort that I actually can walk out of here. Damien told me so. When I left this morning, he specifically said if Rickman messed with me that I should just walk out. He’d take care of me, and we’d figure things out.
So that’s what I do. “I quit.” I interrupt him.
Dickman’s face blanches and he stutters, “You can’t quit.”
“Actually. Yes, I can. I’ll finish up today, but then I’m done. Unless you want me to go now.” As I turn around to leave, he grabs my arm, and I twist out of his grasp. “Do not ever put your hands on me again.”
“You can’t quit,” he repeats.
I laugh at him. “Watch me.”
“I don’t have the time to find someone to replace you.”
“That’s not my problem. Maybe if you weren’t such an asshole and a chauvinistic pig, you wouldn’t have to worry about replacing me. Now, do you want me to finish out the day or not?”
His neck is all red and splotchy. “Yes.”
“Fine.” When I walk out of his office, I do it with a little pep in my step already lighter with the knowledge I’m done after today. I get back to the front, and Jesse hands a receipt to a client and then turns to me. “Why are you smiling?”
“I just quit.”
Her bottom jaw unhinges. “What?”
“Yep. I’m done with this place. With him. I have Damien now, and we’re living together, so I don’t have to put up with Dickman’s shit.”
She shakes her head. “Damn. This sucks.”
“I know, I’m sorry. I told him I’d stay and finish out my shift, but I don’t think I’ll be able to make it that long. Why don’t you go take a long ass lunch, and then when you come back, I’m gonna split.”
“Yeah, sure.” She grabs her keys from the back and walks away.
If she’s