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“Can you stay longer and work a double?” He puffed out his breath, annoyed. “Clara hasn’t turned up.”
“It’s always her calling out. Maybe you should put that hiring sign back up in the window.” I didn’t want to say negative things about her, but seriously she was never on time. Always calling out. There was no reason for it. She was single with no kids. I just didn’t get it.
“Yes, yes, I know. But can you work tonight?”
“Yeah, I can. It’s not like I have anything else going on.”
Ted shot me a sad look. “You need to get out there and date.”
“Nope,” I pop my p loudly. I wouldn’t get out there if I were the last woman on Earth. Those men fucked me up for life.
Sometimes, I’d run my bath and wish I could just end it all. But if I did, that would let them win, which would just let down my dad who’d raised me to be stronger than that.
It hadn’t gotten that bad. Not yet. I could endure a little longer. But I couldn’t shake the feeling that the worst had yet to come.
Fuck it. Whatever storm was coming my way, I’d curse the lightning and dance in the rain anyway. I always did.
???
AFTER MY DOUBLE SHIFT, I didn’t want to sit at home in my lonely apartment. Dark thoughts happened in the silence, and those thoughts were something I couldn’t afford to have.
Maybe I would go out.
I ran home and showered. Usually, I’d be stuck hanging out with Megan’s dumb ass. I was only allowed to go out on the town with other members of the club, and they preferred Megan keep an eye on me, fucking tattletale that she was. That’s because she’d make sure everyone knew I was owned by the club, and if I so much as even looked at another guy, she’d be letting the president know. But her and Josh had plans tonight.
And as I looked at the small burn on my face in the bath- room mirror, I felt like being reckless.
Fuck it. I figured I’d do something to comfort myself and hope I didn’t get caught going out. I’d hit up a neighboring city where there weren’t so many eyes. That should be easy enough. Go out, have a drink, come home.
I didn’t put on anything too special, just a little red number I’d stolen from Megan when we were on better terms. I’d known the bitch since we were kids as we were both MC brats, but I’d never really liked her. Then my father died when I was sixteen, and the club forced me to live with her and her family until I was of age.
But then the 18th birthday party happened, and that was it. Life ruined.
With my black pumps in the backseat of my piece of shit car with the broken window, I threw on some slip-on ballet shoes, hopped in the car, and sped out. I couldn’t drive in heels to save my life anyway.
I turned off my phone so I couldn’t be tracked. “Oops! Forgot to charge it,” I whispered to myself.
I heard a rumble of thunder and prayed it wouldn’t rain.
Forty minutes later and a city away, I pulled up to a cozy- looking bar just before the drizzle turned into a full downpour. Thank goodness I’d kept my hair natural. I didn’t have to worry about my straightened hair trying to revert to a curly, frizzy mess.
“What can I get you?” The bartender asked as soon as I plopped my ass into a stool.
I tried to brush off the drops of moisture from my purse. “Do you know how to make a Black Sunday?” It was the one drink he wouldn’t let me drink, and I was feeling rebellious tonight.
The bartender’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “You sure sweetheart?”
“Yes, I am.” I was not in the mood tonight for male bullshit. “Do you know how to make it or not?”
“Pretty simple. An ounce of bourbon, an ounce of Everclear, and a splash of black cherry soda. Got that right?”
I nodded then spun around to check out the rest of the bar.
There were a ton of people and my shoulders dropped. I didn’t really want company. At least the DJ was eclectic. They had beats dropped from popular rap and slowed down to some racy R&B before they threw in an alt song I hadn’t heard since I was still wearing crop tops and baggy pants.
The bartender sat my drink down in front of me on a napkin and put a straw in it. The smell threw me back in time. One I didn’t care to remember.
“MEGAN, I don’t want to go,” I whined.
