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It hadn’t been until she’d risen from her bus seat that she realized she’d never put her shoes back on before she’d left Daniel’s apartment. Luckily, she’d had a spare pair of sneakers in her bag, the flat, cloth type. They had been white, but it was impossible to skirt around all the forming puddles in the darkening night.
The rain had slowed to a drizzle, but her hair still straggled around her face and clung to her neck, at least the strands that escaped her ponytail. She looked like what she was, a homeless person down on her luck. Especially with her twelve-year-old duffel bag on her shoulder. It was probably why the local vagrants hadn’t given her any trouble on her nighttime walk.
There was no use delaying it any longer, she told herself, forcing her feet forward. A glance at the hours posted next to the door made her realize it was almost closing time. Malcolm would be worried.
The interior was quieter than it had sounded over the phone, though maybe that crowd had already cleared out. There were a couple of tables still being used, and one lone businessman at the bar. Behind that wooden counter, her cousin stood with his back to her.
Malcolm hadn’t changed much. He still kept his black, curly hair on the long side, pulled back in a bun at the back of his head while he was working. He’d worn it that way since they were teenagers, and she’d admitted to her own superstition behind her long hair.
She crossed to the bar, placing her duffel bag between her and the businessman before taking the seat directly behind Malcolm.
“I’m here,” Celia said.
Malcolm pivoted. “So you are. It’s good to see you.” His hands jerked on his rag, as if he wanted to reach out to her, but he knew she wasn’t a hugger. “I was getting worried. I tried to call again.”
“Sorry.” She dug her phone out of her pocket, placing it on the bar with the black screen facing up. “My phone died.”
He slid it off the bar. “I’ll take care of that. I keep a charger back here.” Bending, he fiddled with something, likely plugging the cord in. As he straightened, his eyes swept over her. “Not surprising it died, I guess. You’ve been up since the early hours to catch that first flight, haven’t you?”
“Yeah,” Celia said. Fatigue had dragged at her during that last leg.
He bent again, tossing a clean bar towel her way. “You got caught in the rain too.”
She wasn’t sure how much a towel like that would do for her, but it felt good to wipe the dampness off her face. She wasn’t much of a makeup person, thank goodness, or there’d be black streaks and running colors, too.
Malcolm leaned his arms on the bar, his forearms bare from where he’d folded up the sleeves. He waited, but he knew her well enough to realize she wasn’t going to start. “So, what happened?”
Celia sighed. “It was a mistake, that’s all.”
He didn’t point out the obvious. That maybe she should have realized that before she quit her job, sold all her stuff, and flew to a whole different city that she hated. “That’s all, huh?” Malcolm frowned. “And how did you come to that conclusion before even a full day passed with that fiancé of yours?”
Celia bit her lip. Somehow, admitting that Daniel had been cheating on her felt worse. “Does it matter?”
“Just trying to figure out if I need to go mess up that face of his.” Malcolm straightened again, but there was no smile on his face.
Celia shook her head. “Honestly, I’m glad I found out sooner rather than later. I would have felt like more of an idiot weeks from now.”
Malcolm reached out, batting at her soggy ponytail. “That’s a good attitude. What can I do to help? You need money?”
“I’ve got a little.” Celia didn’t want to tell him how little that was. “But I was hoping I could crash in the extra room you have here, just until I figure out my next steps.”
Malcolm hesitated, surprising her. “About that, you see—”
On the second floor, a loud crash sounded, making Celia jump and Malcolm sigh.
“Hold that thought,” Malcom said, lifting the slat of the bar to exit and hurry up the clanging metal stairs.
Celia frowned at the stairs. She’d forgotten the room was on the second floor.
A wave of air started up above her. She looked at the air vent with a shiver. It was summer. The AC made complete sense. Only the fact that her clothes were soaked through made her feel cold. Sitting was also causing her adrenaline to crash. As she huddled into herself a little, her shoes squelched on the first rung of the bar chair.
The businessman farther down the bar cleared his throat as he rose from his chair. She glanced toward him, surprised to see him shrugging out of his suit jacket as he approached.
She tried to shake her head at him, but it wasn’t very convincing with her teeth chattering.
The businessman draped his jacket over her shoulders. The sudden heat made her straighten. It was as if the man were a furnace. As warmth slid down her spine, loosening her tension, she clutched at the edges, still knowing she should push the cloth away.
“Look, this is very kind, but I have a fiancé.” Well, not anymore, but the lie was the easiest way she could see to make her position clear. The last thing she needed to do was pick up some guy in her cousin’s bar.
