Status: In college, but I'll update when I can!
Someone Get Me a Doctor, Someone Call the Nurse
Chapter Twenty Nine
(Maddie POV)
Our eyes locked as I came down the stairs, Jared’s piercing gaze making me feel nervous. What was he thinking? A soft smile broke across his face, and I felt my own join his. He stood up from the stool he had been occupying and stuck his hands in his pockets as he walked over to where I stood, never breaking eye contact.
“You ready?” Nodding, I followed him out the door, feeling every nerve straining as our arms brushed while he walked by. I locked the door and hopped down the steps, trying to keep my appearance calm while my insides were screaming at me to leap on Jared. Shuffling to the car, Jared held open the door and motioned me inside first. As I slid into the leather seat, Tomo hauled me into a hug and laughed.
“About time. What were you doing, playing dress-up?” Feeling a sudden wave of nervousness, I ducked my head and fiddled with my fingers.
“Sorta…I couldn’t decide on what to wear.” If only they knew…
“Well, you’re here now. Let’s go eat!” Shannon cut the engine on and all but peeled out of the driveway, barely giving Jared and me enough time to buckle in.
We arrived at the place in no time, and as I saw where we were, I let out a chuckle. The familiar blue, white, and red sign was so unexpected. I leaned over the center console and tilted my head up at Shannon.
“Ihop…really?” His response was a cheeky grin as he leaped out of the SUV.
“All you can eat pancakes…hell yeah!” Nodding my head in agreement, I wiggled my way out of the seat belt and joined the men outside the vehicle.
“True…” As I turned to follow the guys in, a familiar dirty-blonde male caught the corner of my eye and I froze in panic. No way in hell…I raced after the trio, praying he didn’t see me. Why did my luck have to be so horrible? As I fled into the building, Jared gave me a strange look and turned around. Obviously not understanding my freak-out, he shrugged and followed behind Shannon and Tomo through the door. The hostess told us that the wait would be around five minutes, and as we all sat down on the benches, my heart raced in panic. What if he came in? The door dinged open, making my body tense up.
“Maddie?” Wishing I could just crawl into a hole, I turned my eyes to the one person I hated most. Did he have to notice me and say something? Why couldn’t he just pretend he didn’t know me? Did he think I would appreciate talking to him? Fuck no! As I stood up to lessen my vulnerability, all three pairs of eyes watched me rise. Skin prickling, I addressed the buck-toothed bastard.
“Corey.” Ice filled my voice, freezing the atmosphere around us. I wondered if he noticed. Narrowing my gaze, I tried to get him to understand that he needed to leave…now.
“How’ve you been? I haven’t seen you in forever. You look well.” Dick. I hate him. My fist tightened next to my thigh as I tried to refrain from socking him in the teeth.
“Thanks. I have been. What are you doing here?” His vision shifted to a point somewhere over my left shoulder, and I felt a warm hand clamp onto said shoulder as the sound of rustling fabric reached my ears. Relief flooded me as I recognized the feel of Jared’s hand on me.
“Well, I was meeting some people for breakfast. They wanted to discuss a new project.” Already incredibly tense, I tried to draw the conversation to a close.
“Well that’s nice. I’m here with some friends…”
“Are you going to introduce us?” Jared took a step forward, standing a few inches taller than Corey. Glancing at him, I waved my arm vaguely at the dirty blonde.
“Corey, meet Jared. Jared, Corey.” Corey reached out a hand to shake Jared’s, and I watched as Jared put more force into his grip than necessary, making Corey wince slightly as he pulled back his hand.
“Nice to meet you, Jared. Um…I’d like to stay and chat, but I really should be meeting them soon.” He glanced at his watch, already stepping away. One of the hostesses asked his name and led him further into the restaurant. I sighed internally, attempting to remain normal.
“Berger, party of four.” Looking up, the hostess waved us along with her, taking us thankfully in the opposite direction. As I went to follow Shannon and Tomo, Jared’s hand gripped my wrist and held me in place.
“That was him, wasn’t it?” For the first time, I felt the strong urge to lie to Jared, but I knew that he already figured it out and sighed, wilting slightly.
“Yeah…” The muscle in his jaw clenched, twitching visibly. Jared made a move to follow after the bastard, his eyes blazing angrily. Not wanting him getting into a fight, I snatched his arm with both hands and dragged him to a halt. “Please don’t?” Rounding his glare on me, his voice dropped to a low whisper.
“He fucking hit you, Maddie. Do you really expect me to let him walk away like that?!” Heat rose to my face, and I felt like I was five inches tall as Jared leaned over me angrily. Sensing my discomfort, he straightened and stalked off after the rest of our troupe, perceptibly bristling with anger. Feeling my own irritation rising in place of shame, I trotted behind him. Last to reach the table, all eyes except Jared’s were on me as I slid into my seat. His remained on the menu, their blue depths hardened in rage.
“So…who was that?” Shannon’s dark eyes stared at me intently, slipping to peek at his brother for a split second before returning to me. Feeling like I was under a microscope, some of my irritation slipped through into my voice.
“No one you need to know.” Having snapped my reply, I buried my head in the menu, missing the look shared by Tomo and Shannon.
“Alrighty then…So, Tomo, know what you want?” Their voices faded into the background as I tried to get control of my ire. Jared was only concerned for me and wanted to do something about it. I just wish he hadn’t pushed the issue in such a snarky way and hadn’t stalked off after I tried to get him to let it go. Breathing deeply, I managed to recover my prior mood just as the waitress appeared and asked for our order.
“I’ll have the pancakes.”
“Me too!” Shannon almost jumped in his seat, making me smile. Jared didn’t even look up from the menu, still sulking.
“I’ll take scrambled eggs and a thing of grits, pancakes on the side.” Scribbling quickly, the waitress turned to me. Feeling a lump in my stomach still, I stuck to just a small stack of pancakes with blueberries on top. At last, blue eyes rose up to meet mine, and I sent the man a soft smile of appreciation to let him know I did value his caring for my sake. Cracking a small crooked smile of his own, the tension at the table eased, and we all slid into smooth conversation, ending it only when the food hit the table.
Our eyes locked as I came down the stairs, Jared’s piercing gaze making me feel nervous. What was he thinking? A soft smile broke across his face, and I felt my own join his. He stood up from the stool he had been occupying and stuck his hands in his pockets as he walked over to where I stood, never breaking eye contact.
“You ready?” Nodding, I followed him out the door, feeling every nerve straining as our arms brushed while he walked by. I locked the door and hopped down the steps, trying to keep my appearance calm while my insides were screaming at me to leap on Jared. Shuffling to the car, Jared held open the door and motioned me inside first. As I slid into the leather seat, Tomo hauled me into a hug and laughed.
“About time. What were you doing, playing dress-up?” Feeling a sudden wave of nervousness, I ducked my head and fiddled with my fingers.
“Sorta…I couldn’t decide on what to wear.” If only they knew…
“Well, you’re here now. Let’s go eat!” Shannon cut the engine on and all but peeled out of the driveway, barely giving Jared and me enough time to buckle in.
We arrived at the place in no time, and as I saw where we were, I let out a chuckle. The familiar blue, white, and red sign was so unexpected. I leaned over the center console and tilted my head up at Shannon.
“Ihop…really?” His response was a cheeky grin as he leaped out of the SUV.
“All you can eat pancakes…hell yeah!” Nodding my head in agreement, I wiggled my way out of the seat belt and joined the men outside the vehicle.
“True…” As I turned to follow the guys in, a familiar dirty-blonde male caught the corner of my eye and I froze in panic. No way in hell…I raced after the trio, praying he didn’t see me. Why did my luck have to be so horrible? As I fled into the building, Jared gave me a strange look and turned around. Obviously not understanding my freak-out, he shrugged and followed behind Shannon and Tomo through the door. The hostess told us that the wait would be around five minutes, and as we all sat down on the benches, my heart raced in panic. What if he came in? The door dinged open, making my body tense up.
“Maddie?” Wishing I could just crawl into a hole, I turned my eyes to the one person I hated most. Did he have to notice me and say something? Why couldn’t he just pretend he didn’t know me? Did he think I would appreciate talking to him? Fuck no! As I stood up to lessen my vulnerability, all three pairs of eyes watched me rise. Skin prickling, I addressed the buck-toothed bastard.
“Corey.” Ice filled my voice, freezing the atmosphere around us. I wondered if he noticed. Narrowing my gaze, I tried to get him to understand that he needed to leave…now.
“How’ve you been? I haven’t seen you in forever. You look well.” Dick. I hate him. My fist tightened next to my thigh as I tried to refrain from socking him in the teeth.
“Thanks. I have been. What are you doing here?” His vision shifted to a point somewhere over my left shoulder, and I felt a warm hand clamp onto said shoulder as the sound of rustling fabric reached my ears. Relief flooded me as I recognized the feel of Jared’s hand on me.
“Well, I was meeting some people for breakfast. They wanted to discuss a new project.” Already incredibly tense, I tried to draw the conversation to a close.
“Well that’s nice. I’m here with some friends…”
“Are you going to introduce us?” Jared took a step forward, standing a few inches taller than Corey. Glancing at him, I waved my arm vaguely at the dirty blonde.
“Corey, meet Jared. Jared, Corey.” Corey reached out a hand to shake Jared’s, and I watched as Jared put more force into his grip than necessary, making Corey wince slightly as he pulled back his hand.
“Nice to meet you, Jared. Um…I’d like to stay and chat, but I really should be meeting them soon.” He glanced at his watch, already stepping away. One of the hostesses asked his name and led him further into the restaurant. I sighed internally, attempting to remain normal.
“Berger, party of four.” Looking up, the hostess waved us along with her, taking us thankfully in the opposite direction. As I went to follow Shannon and Tomo, Jared’s hand gripped my wrist and held me in place.
“That was him, wasn’t it?” For the first time, I felt the strong urge to lie to Jared, but I knew that he already figured it out and sighed, wilting slightly.
“Yeah…” The muscle in his jaw clenched, twitching visibly. Jared made a move to follow after the bastard, his eyes blazing angrily. Not wanting him getting into a fight, I snatched his arm with both hands and dragged him to a halt. “Please don’t?” Rounding his glare on me, his voice dropped to a low whisper.
“He fucking hit you, Maddie. Do you really expect me to let him walk away like that?!” Heat rose to my face, and I felt like I was five inches tall as Jared leaned over me angrily. Sensing my discomfort, he straightened and stalked off after the rest of our troupe, perceptibly bristling with anger. Feeling my own irritation rising in place of shame, I trotted behind him. Last to reach the table, all eyes except Jared’s were on me as I slid into my seat. His remained on the menu, their blue depths hardened in rage.
“So…who was that?” Shannon’s dark eyes stared at me intently, slipping to peek at his brother for a split second before returning to me. Feeling like I was under a microscope, some of my irritation slipped through into my voice.
“No one you need to know.” Having snapped my reply, I buried my head in the menu, missing the look shared by Tomo and Shannon.
“Alrighty then…So, Tomo, know what you want?” Their voices faded into the background as I tried to get control of my ire. Jared was only concerned for me and wanted to do something about it. I just wish he hadn’t pushed the issue in such a snarky way and hadn’t stalked off after I tried to get him to let it go. Breathing deeply, I managed to recover my prior mood just as the waitress appeared and asked for our order.
“I’ll have the pancakes.”
“Me too!” Shannon almost jumped in his seat, making me smile. Jared didn’t even look up from the menu, still sulking.
“I’ll take scrambled eggs and a thing of grits, pancakes on the side.” Scribbling quickly, the waitress turned to me. Feeling a lump in my stomach still, I stuck to just a small stack of pancakes with blueberries on top. At last, blue eyes rose up to meet mine, and I sent the man a soft smile of appreciation to let him know I did value his caring for my sake. Cracking a small crooked smile of his own, the tension at the table eased, and we all slid into smooth conversation, ending it only when the food hit the table.
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Filler chapter. Sorry!