talk to him when I filed a complaint. I was told to change my number, block him on social media, and not respond to any of his emails. Their actual suggestion was to change my email. I’m a small business and can’t just change everything because of one person.
Closing my laptop and making sure everything is put up, I head into the living room to watch some mindless TV. At this point, I won’t even be able to concentrate on reading a book. That’s the shittiest part of this whole situation. Plus, I want to call Fox and have him come home. Then I’ll have to explain everything to him. I don’t want him to know what happened in the past and that Rusty’s back once more. This is my burden to bear since he’s got so much to do at the clubhouse or for members of the club. Plus, he fills in at the different businesses whenever he’s needed.
My phone rings as I sit down, and I jump out of my skin. Looking down, my hands are shaking, and my heart is racing. This is how I always am whenever Rusty has any contact with me. I look at my screen and answer Fox’s call just before it goes to voicemail.
“Hey, babe,” I say into the phone. “How are things going?”
“I’m ready to come home and be with you. How’s your day?” he asks as I hear him typing away in the background.
“Um, it’s going okay. I just stopped working for a while. Hopefully, I can get back to it in a little bit,” I answer him, not being able to keep the tremor from my voice.
“What’s wrong?” Fox questions, immediately on alert.
“Nothing. It’s nothing. Just can’t concentrate on work today,” I respond, evading his question.
“Are you sure that’s all it is?” he asks me, not believing a word I tell him.
“Yeah. You sound busy,” I deflect.
“Workin’ on gettin’ things set up for the new business,” he responds. “Slim wants to open up another garage that’s strictly for bike customizations.”
“That will be good for you guys. I’ll let you get back to work. Anything you want for dinner tonight?”
“No. I’m good with whatever. You know this baby,” he responds. “I love you and I’ll see you soon.”
“I love you too,” I respond hanging up the phone.
Fuck! Fox doesn’t believe me. That only means one thing; he’s going to search everything until he figures out what’s making me nervous and jumpy. Thankfully, he only called and didn’t come home to see me a nervous wreck. Setting my phone down again, I turn my attention toward the TV and try to get lost in whatever program is on. It’s my default coping mechanism. It doesn’t always work, but here’s to hoping it does today.
Fox
It’s taking everything in me not to dig into Kim’s records to find out what’s going on. She’s not telling me the truth about why she sounds jumpy even over the phone. I’m literally forcing myself to sit here and work on pulling up the records for possible locations around town for the new bike shop. I’ve been working for two days trying to find the perfect spot for what we want.
For the next few hours, I look at what different realtors have available. I print off the details for all the locations I believe will work for us. Once I’ve got them all together, I shut my system down and make my way to Slim. Hell, I don’t even know if he’s still here. If he’s not, I’ll just leave the papers on his desk to look over when he gets back to the clubhouse.
Knocking on his office door, I hear him tell me to come in.
“Fox, what’s up?” he asks, sitting back to relax in his chair while pushing his own paperwork aside.
“Got the listings for you,” I respond, handing them over. “If you don’t need anythin’ else, I’m headin’ home. Somethin’ is goin’ on with Kim.”
“What?” he deadpans, looking up at me.
“I don’t know. She says it’s nothin’, but I heard a tremor in her voice. She’s not tellin’ me what’s wrong. I need to see her and try to talk to her,” I answer him.
“Get home to your woman. When you gonna claim her ass?” he asks me, as I turn to walk out the door.
“I’ve got her rag sittin’ here in my closet. Just waitin’ on things to settle down.”
“That may never happen. Just pick your spot and claim her ass already,” he