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“This man,” Millie shouts while pointing a shaking finger at me. Oh, so I’m ‘this man’ now, huh? I have to give it to her. She could be an actress if the gymnast thing doesn’t work out in her favor. “He was being rude and then he got aggressive with me.”
Tony sidles close to me. He stands a head shorter than me. He’s almost as short as Seth, and lanky with a portly gut. I think at one point, he was on the track team at Aurora several years ago, and got this job after he graduated. His blonde hair is already receding and I believe he hasn’t even hit his thirties.
”Is that true?” Tony asks Amy.
So much for coming to my rescue. What the fuck took her so long? Her mouth gapes open as she looks between me and Millie. If she doesn’t say anything, I’m a goner. The girls on the treadmill will vouch for Millie, given they only saw the end of our heated discussion, and the boys won’t want to get involved.
Amy sighs as her gaze lands on me. There’s sorrow there. She and I both know I’m in deep shit. I didn’t even do anything. “Honestly, I didn’t see it.”
“You have to be fucking kidding me!” Millie shouts while throwing up her hands. She turns to the boys in the corner, already backing away, leaving their pile of dumbbells on the floor, of course. “You must have seen something.”
One of the guys holds up a hand while the others shake their hands. “We weren’t really paying attention.”
Well, that worked in my favor.
Mille turns to the girls on the treadmill, who have completely stopped and are watching us. “You must have heard something.”
One girl opens her mouth, but closes it promptly.
“What I saw was this customer,” Amy says while gesturing toward Millie, “was making Hunter uncomfortable.”
Millie scoffs. “How can you prove that?”
“She touched him multiple times,” Amy continues, her gaze hardening on Millie while she crossed her arms. “But I didn’t see Hunter touch her once.”
“I was threatened!” Millie goes to the girls, who are looking at the floor. “You girls saw! He threatened me!”
“He did not threaten you,” Amy says bitterly.
Tony groans and shakes his head. “I don’t have time for this bullshit. I have a pile of papers on my desk that need to be handled. Now. Hunter, this is your only warning.” He shakes a finger at me. “Next time, you’re gone.”
“Yes, sir,” I say meekly.
Millie flashes me a smug grin, which makes me feel even worse. I watch her saunter away toward the exit. Did she just come in to bother me? Fucking hell, that’s all she wanted? The door swings shut and I vaguely here Amy calling after Tony, “But he didn’t do anything.”
“Doesn’t matter!” Tony calls back. “Need to be on the safe side.”
My heart slams in my chest. Everything hurts. My vision blurs. I think I’m going to faint—a big guy like me fainting. That would be funny to see. Although, it’s hard for me to see the humor in it now. My breath comes to me in huffs and I waver on my feet, already feeling my world slipping from my grasp.
“Hunter, are you okay?” Amy asks while steadying me.
I blink in answer, unable to speak or move. Amy guides me toward a bench and I plop myself down on it, putting my head between my legs as I try to calm my breath. My hands won’t stop shaking, so I run them through my hair.
“Can I get you anything?”
“Water,” I rasp, remembering what Mike did for me the first time this happened, once again thanks to Millie.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Amy run toward the counter. Water is what I need, but it’s not what I crave. The darkness is surrounding me once again, and if I can’t have the drugs, then I want something else. I can smell the whiskey, practically taste the burn running down my throat. My fingers dig into my scalp and I shake my head, telling myself no. I don’t need it. It won’t help me at all. I will be fine. Tony gave me a warning. I still have my job.
But what about the next time? Millie now knows I work in the middle of the day. She will come back here. I need to change my schedule, but how? My classes are already locked in. I guess I can take the early morning shift, but waking up at five sounds brutal. Especially, since I don’t live on campus. It wouldn’t be so bad if I lived with Rachel and the bros.
Tears prickle my eyes as I think of Rachel and how much I want to be with her. I haven’t minded living with Dad. It’s really not that bad, but now with this whole Millie situation, I really wish I could go home to her, rest my head in her lap, and have her stroke my head and tell me everything will be okay. I reach for the phone in my pocket, wanting to call her and see if I can come over, but she’s in class. She won’t be able to pick up. However, if I don’t go to the bros, I don’t know if I can avoid the liquor store on my way home.
“Here, Hunter,” Amy says, waving a cool bottle of water in front of me. “Here’s your water.”
“Thanks,” I murmur, snatching it from her and quickly opening it. I guzzle it down, emptying the bottle in one large gulp. I have to hand it to Mike. He’s right. Water definitely helps.
“Are you going to be alright?”
