Page 22 of Base Block

“It did. It itched, too. And I couldn’t bend over because it showed my entire butt, and I had to tape my boobs into it.”

“You taped your boobs?”

“Yes, but you saw how that didn’t work and one fell out,” I reminded him.

“Yeah, I saw.” He sounded neutral about it now, although I remembered the look on his face when he’d stared at my left tit. He had been disgusted and I also remembered wondering why.

Now I knew. Callum just wasn’t the type of guy to take advantage of a woman in a bad situation. He wouldn’t ogle, fondle, or hold you down and cover your mouth so no one could hear you screaming. I had been afraid of him back then but I had been very wrong.

“What are you doing?” he asked sleepily.

I had leaned over and rested my cheek on his back, but I sat up again. “Nothing.” I kept massaging and eventually, he did drift off. I let my hands rest on him as I looked into the darkness, thinking back about the night we’d met and thinking ahead about the future.

He had asked what we were going to do if the outcome of his tryout wasn’t what we both wanted. I felt myself smile. We would figure it out together.

Chapter 5

“Parties after hours. Drinking on the job. Drug paraphernalia. No-shows. Theft.” The man frowned at me. “Security breaches!”

I didn’t know what kind of security breach could happen at a warehouse store, but people could probably cause problems anywhere. “I wouldn’t get involved with any of that stuff,” I promised solemnly.

“How about faking a slip-and-fall for an insurance payout? What about pretending that you were scared to go to your car in the parking lot and then you got ‘kidnapped?’” He used finger-quotes around the last word and rolled his eyes as he said it.

“Wait a minute, did someone actually get kidnapped from the parking lot here?” I asked.

Despite the way he scoffed at my question, I had apparently done ok in the rest of the interview. He hadn’t actually asked me a lot else about myself, because he was mostly complaining about the woman who had held the position until very recently and describing the bad stuff she had done. But they had kept her on until she had quit and apparently, I had emailed him at exactly the right time. They suddenly needed someone desperately, starting immediately. I would be stocking on the third shift, nine PM to six AM, which would work out because I would take the car and bring it back to the motel at times when Callum didn’t need it.

I thought he would be thrilled.

“Do you really want to work there?” he asked when I called him with my news. “I don’t know about that.”

“Why? I don’t think that anyone actually got kidnapped.” I probably shouldn’t have told him that part of the story, and I was glad I’d kept back the rest. “This is a safe area.” It was much, much safer than the place I’d lived in Los Angeles, before moving into Damian’s rented residence.

“It only takes one person to make it unsafe for you. I—” There was yelling in the background. “They’re making fun of my phone and I have to go, anyway. Let’s talk about this tonight, ok?” He said something else but there was more yelling and I couldn’t quite make it out.

“Ok, I’ll talk to you later!” I said loudly and I definitely heard him answer “bye.” I had called to discuss the job offer, which I had been pretty excited about. This was the first real possibility I’d had, because before (if I’d even gotten a response), they had wanted to ask me about work experience. Then they’d found out that I had none and our contact had ceased.

It was hard to explain how I’d reached the age of twenty-three and had nothing to show for it, no prior references or previous places of employment to write down—at least, none that would lead people to hire me. Saying that I was part of an entourage didn’t mean anything, especially because I was reluctant to explain what my actual duties had been. When I looked back on the years since I’d left home, they seemed like a blur. I’d shown up in California just after my twentieth birthday and then what had I done? Scenes from parties filled my mind. I heard loud voices and music, and I imagined swallowing pills and drinks. There had been good parts but there was so much more that I wasn’t going to think about.

And that was ok, because I didn’t have to! The past was over and done. I could forget it all, like it never even happened…except when potential employers were asking me about what I had accomplished in the five years since high school. Then I was forced to admit that I had nothing to show for it, no savings, no bank account, no credit card, no clothes, no friends, no family. I was starting from scratch.

I walked to the nearest bus stop and sat on the bench under the little roof. The weather was beautiful here but I’d already heard from several people about how I was going to hate it in the winter. I didn’t believe them. Eastern Washington wasn’t known for its warm, sunny Januarys either, and if Callum was playing for the Woodsmen? Then every day was going to be like Hawaii, or what I assumed Hawaii must have been. Damian had often talked about taking us there, but it had never happened. He had said a lot of stuff and made a lot of promises, and at first, I had believed him. It had taken a while to understand that he was full of it, because he put on a pretty good show. It had reminded me of my aunt, Simone, who had also done a lot of untrustworthy stuff. When someone lied all the time, it was hard to pick out the truth.

My phone started to ring and that only happened when Callum called—but I didn’t recognize this number. It was local and I got excited, because it could have been about a different job that I’d applied for.

It wasn’t, but it was also good. “Hi, is this Rainey?”

“Yes?”

“My name’s Victoria and we met the other day,” she started, and I broke in.

“Yes, thank you so much for helping Callum! Is everything ok with his per diem? We went and set up a bank account for him yesterday.” It had been the first time he’d been able to get over there during business hours. “He can receive direct deposits via ACH transfers,” I continued. It wasn’t just football vocab that I’d learned lately.

“Yes, his money will go to his new account now. When I talked to him again, he gave me your number and said it was ok if I contacted you. He also said to call because it’s better to talk, rather than writing.”

“I know he feels that way,” I answered. “He hates texting because he has a flip phone, so it takes him too long to do it. Can I help you with something?”

She wanted to talk about a topic that surprised me. “I told him that I had been watching the videos you two made and he was really happy. He says you’ve been working hard on those.”