Take It All Away

I sat on my bed, staring at the wall. I had the day off and it was 10 in the morning. I was confused.

It’s not like we’re dating. Sure we kissed and I agreed to go with him next month…. But then why was I so upset he had a girl leaving his room?

But hadn’t he said he wasn’t good with random girls? What if she wasn’t a random girl? What if she was a girl from his hometown that came to visit him?

I groaned and put my head in my hands. I had texted Gina 9-1-1 and she replied she’d come during her break. Right at one, someone knocked on my hotel door. I looked through the peep hole and sighed in relief when I saw her standing there with two coffees. I let her in and immediately closed the door behind her.

“What’s up?” she asked, sitting on one bed while I sat on the other.

“He had another woman in his room last night,” I blurted and she lifted a brow. “I got up to go to bed and she was coming out….”

“What was she wearing?” she asked and I thought.

“Jeans and a shirt,” I answered and Gina shook her head.

“Nothing to worry about,” she said immediately.

“But her hair was messy. And he looked really guilty….”

“Maybe you’re overreacting?” Gina suggested. “Try talking to him about it. That’s what you always told me in college.”

“That’s different.”

“How so?”

“I was the one giving advice,” I sighed and she laughed.

“Just talk to him tonight,” she said, looking at her clock phone. “I have to get back to work. Don’t forget, Jack will be here on Friday.”

I nodded distractedly. As she left, I tried to think of a plan. I could just go out there with a book I recently got from Amazon. If he wanted to talk he would, right? Or I could stay in my room tonight; make him wonder where I was.

I shook my head immediately. I wasn’t the type of woman to manipulate someone. I finally decided to go out with my book and mug. Around seven, my phone buzzed. I had been napping.

Adam Young: You going to be out there tonight?

I blinked a couple times, trying to wake up enough to answer.

How’d you get my number?

Adam Young: It was in your phone. So? Are you?

Yeah. I got a new book.

He didn’t answer so I put my phone down, closing my eyes again and hoping to fall back asleep. It was a lost cause, though, so at 10 I made my mug of tea, grabbed my blanket, and headed out to the lobby. Adam wasn’t there but I tried not to care. I got comfortable and began reading. I was so immersed in the book, I didn’t see him come in.

“Hi.”

I looked up. He was standing in front of me, looking uncomfortable. I patted the seat beside me and he sat down, watching while I marked my place in my book.

“Smooth move, putting your number in my phone,” I said lightly.

“I don’t know what you saw yesterday,” he said immediately, “but it’s not what you think.”

I sighed. “It’s none of my business who you spend your time with, Adam.”

I took a gulp of tea as he said, “Her name was Jennifer. She’s one of my friend’s girlfriends.”

I frowned. “Then why was she in your room?”

“She found out I was here and wanted to come by.” He glared at the coffee table, kicking a magazine off. “She tried to make a move so I kicked her out and called my friend.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

He didn’t say anything so I reached for my book but he took it.

“‘The City of Ember’,” he read. “I remember this book from high school.”

“Yeah. It was on sale on Amazon so I decided to enjoy a blast from the past.”

He handed it back. “Read it?”

“Out loud?” I asked and he nodded. It was then that I saw how tired he looked. “You okay?”

He shook his head, sinking further down the couch. “My friend is pissed.”

“At you?”

“I don’t know, to be honest.”

“It’s not your fault,” I said but he shrugged.

I watched him for a few minutes then handed him my tea. I put the blanket over his shoulders and opened the book open from where I was and began to read. After a while, he put his head on my shoulder. I glanced over to find that he had fallen asleep. I closed the book quietly and looked out the window while he snored gently, my mind a tangled mess of emotions.

-

I paced the back room, making sure everything was perfect. Jack would be arriving in ten minutes and everyone was uptight. It had been three years since we last saw him. I pushed a few boxes so they were straighter just as the door behind me opened.

“A little help,” a voice grunted and I turned.

A pile of boxes was wobbling in through the back door and I rushed to help lighten the load. Jack groaned and arched his back when we put the boxes down.

“What’s in them?” I asked.

“Coffee,” he sighed. He hugged me. “Good to see you again, Vi.”

“Likewise,” I said and led the way out to the main restaurant.

Gina was making a coffee but, when she saw Jack, she almost dropped it. Gina had been crushing on Jack since she started working there. I couldn’t blame her; he really was handsome. He was tall and muscular. His skin was tanned and he had green eyes and short brown hair. He looked around the restaurant with an appreciative nod.

“Looks like you’ve got everything buckled down out here,” he complimented and I smiled. He smiled at Gina. “It’s good to see you, Miss Carter.”

“Gina,” she whispered and shook his hand. “It’s good to see you again, also.”

I tried not to smirk at her and instead led him to the office to look over the books. Throughout the day, he kept glancing out the door. Annoyed, I looked and couldn’t hold in the laughter.

“Shut up,” he snapped, turning red.

“Just ask her out,” I said as Gina restocked the pastry display case. “She likes you, you know.”

“Too young,” he muttered but his eyes kept shooting to watch her.

“Are we going to work or are you going to pine for her?” I teased and he pushed me.

“What about you? Any lucky men?” he added when I looked confused.

I played with my pen. “I don’t know, to be honest,” I muttered.

“Why?”

Before I could answer, the coffee shop door opened and a large group of people came in.

“I’ll go help Gina,” I said and left him to look over everything.

It was all men around our age and, among them, was Adam. He smiled at me and I returned it. It took Gina and I all we had to fill in the ten orders; even Jack had to join us.

“These are my friends,” Adam explained when he came up to the counter.

“I thought they were in Minnesota.”

“Oy! Young! Stop flirting and get over here!” a man yelled and we both blushed.

“Your normal?” I asked and he laughed.

“Without the Jack.”

I smiled and put it into the computer.

“See you tonight,” he said in an undertone as I went to the back again.