AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Twenty.”
“She’s twenty. You killed her dad, and you almost kissed.”
When she phrases it like that, it sounds so messed up.
“I love you, Jamie. You saved me more times than I can count when we were kids. From Mom. From her boyfriends. From the jerks in school. But somewhere along the way, I don’t know. It’s like I stopped knowing who you are. What you did…”
Her voice breaks.
“How could you do that?”
I did it for you.
“I love you, Kylie,” I say, then hang up the phone.
I launch straight into a workout, calisthenics, the sort of stuff a man can do in a cell.
Tomorrow, I will hit the streets and walk into every business I see. Restaurants, warehouses, whatever, it doesn’t matter. I need cash. I need to work to have self-respect. Most of all, I need to forget about Lucy.
CHAPTERFOUR
Lucy
I’m carrying a tower of trays, plates, and glasses across the restaurant, somehow balancing them and ignoring the sweat sliding down my back. I have to focus harder than usual since my thoughts keep straying to yesterday, the hallway, the near kiss.
I wonder what the lunchtime customers would say if I told themI almost kissed the man who killed my dad.
My boss, Dirk, scowls at me when I walk into the kitchen. He’s only a few years older than me, twenty-five, but he’s the owner’s son and was promoted to general manager a few weeks ago. Since then, Dirk the Jerk has more than earned his nickname.
He taps a pen against his clipboard, making the innocent gesture aggressive. He’s tall and wide and has a preppy football douche look. I’m surprised he’s not wearing his letterman jacket. He’s nothing compared to Jamie, but then, really, I need to stop comparing people to Jamie.
“Does that seem safe, Lucy?” he says condescendingly.
I grit my teeth. The kitchen staff stays busy, and the atmosphere is oppressive. Everybody knows Dirk the Jerk enjoys picking at people for the sheer fun of it.
“Hello?” he snaps, less than a second later, before I’ve had a chance to respond.
“I was just trying to be efficient,” I tell him. “There are two tables that need my attention.”
It’s the lunchtime rush, but he blocks the path between me and the door, tapping the pen against the clipboard.Tap, tap, tap. It’s one of his favorite things to do.
“You need to be more careful, okay, kiddo? You could’ve dropped something.”
I say nothing, glaring at him. I think this is one reason he keeps coming at me. Thekiddois new, an attempt to get a reaction out of me. That’s it. I never give him the response he wants, so he’ll keep chipping away, over and over, until I’ve exploded. Classic bully, but I need this job. Aunt Lila paid off much of the house before she passed, so the mortgage payments aren’t impossible to meet, but it’s still tough. It’s still a struggle. He huffs when I walk past him.
For a while, I lose myself in the work. It’s not a fun job, but I make the best of it by being friendly to the customers, making small talk if they’re receptive. Soon, the lunchtime rush is over. I wipe down tables, knowing better than to stand around with Dirk on the lookout for any excuse to jerk out fully.
When the bell above the door rings, I look up, meaning to smile at the customer like I always do, but I can’t smile. I’m frozen, just like yesterday in the hallway, like when we almost kissed. It’s Jamie, holding a few printed sheets of paper.
He’s dressed more stylishly than yesterday, with a pale blue shirt that hugs onto his muscles and does the impossible. It makes me jealous of ashirt. His pants are sharp, and his shoes are shiny. His eyes glint with something fierce when he sees me standing here.
“I’m not paying you to gawk at the customers,” Dirk snaps, walking right by me. “Get your act together.”
Jamie moves his gaze from me to Dirk. Something terrible comes over his face, making me wonder if he looked like this the day he killed Dad. It’s like all the rage a person feels is rising in him.
“Oh,” Dirk says, stopping and noticing Jamie. “I’m sorry, sir, I didn’t see you there. Can I help?”
I shake my head at Jamie urgently. It’s strange how we can communicate like this. Wordlessly, as though we’ve got some intimacy when we definitely shouldnot, he looks like he’s about to chew Dirk out for how he just spoke to me. I can’t let him put my job at risk. Anyway, why would he want to defend me?
