Tornado

I was still getting icing off my face by the time I got to my apartment, my cupcake and picture in my hands. I highly doubted Ryder knew about my old house but he probably was told when I left.

My door was unlocked which didn’t surprise me too much. If Lisa did have something planned, she had a key to my apartment. I opened the door and flipped the light on.

“Surprise!”

Lisa, Jennifer, and the line cooks all jumped up. There was a happy birthday banner hanging from the ceiling and several pizzas, cake, soda, and other party favors. I laughed and hugged them all.

“You should be at the restaurant,” I said, accepting a cup of soda.

“We’re on a temporary break,” Lisa said. “We’ll go back in an hour.”

“Thanks for this, guys.”

From the line cooks I got a box of the complete David Bowie collection, earning them all a huge hug and the promise of a possible raise. As I expected, Lisa and Jennifer got me something incredibly embarrassing. I shook my head, my face flaming and pushed the box back.

“But it has a remote!” Jennifer laughed but took the vibrator back.

“You guys are sweet,” I said sarcastically.

“What’s on your shirt?” Lisa asked and I told them about Zachary’s stunt with the cake. They all laughed and Lisa lifted her cup. “To the best boss on the planet.”

They echoed her and we drank.

“Okay, this boss is telling you to go back to work,” I said half an hour later. “Take the pizza with you; that’s too much for me to eat myself.”

I saw them all out and sighed once I was alone. I stretched and got into the shower. This had been the best birthday I had in a while. Matt kept calling me during the party and I was tempted to report him to the police. When I got out of the shower, I had two more missed calls and a text begging me to call him. Finally, I relented.

“You’ve got two minutes,” I said when he answered the phone.

“I just wanted to wish you a happy birthday,” he said quickly and I rolled my eyes. “Also…. You up to seeing a movie this weekend?”

“With you? No.”

He sighed. “Look, how many times do I need to apologize?”

“You have no idea the damage you caused, Matt,” I said quietly. “She was my mother.”

“But you barely had a relationship with her!”

“That doesn’t change anything,” I snapped. “It was her funeral!”

“You needed something to make you smile. Besides, you have to admit it was fun.”

“Oh, you’re disgusting,” I snarled. “Don’t call me again.”

I hung up and tossed my phone on my bed, plugging it into the charger. I climbed in without bothering to put on pajamas. Tomorrow was my day off and I planned to spend it in the house. I looked at the picture I got for my birthday and sighed. I missed my house so much. I got money from my insurance company but there are a lot of things money can’t replace.

I closed my eyes, drifting into sleep.

--

It was raining and I was sitting on my couch dressed in flannel pants and a black tank top. I was watching TV and stuffing my face with popcorn when someone knocked on my door. I sighed and stood, stretching. Figuring it was Lisa, I opened the door, my mouth still full of food.

“Um, hi,” Ryder said, shyly and I nearly choked as I tried to swallow my food.

“Hey,” I gasped when the food was down my throat. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t expecting anybody.”

He rubbed the back of his neck, looking embarrassed. “I hope it’s okay I came by. It’s just, Zachary sent me home early and, since I don’t know my way around Downtown, I was hoping you could show me.”

I blushed, fully aware he was asking me on a date. I looked at my outfit and cringed.

“Yeah, sure,” I said and he looked relieved. “Just let me change. I’ll freeze if I go out there like this. Come on in.” He stepped in and looked around while I hurried to my room to get into something warmer. After pulling on a pair of blue jeans, a fitted long sleeve shirt, and a pair of tennis shoes, I let Lisa know what was happening. “Are you ready?”

He was looking out my window curiously.

“This is a nice view,” he said and I smiled.

“Yeah,” I nodded. “I was lucky to get it at the price I did.”

We left the apartment and I locked the door as my phone buzzed. Ryder was walking ahead of me so I checked it.

Use protection!

I rolled my eyes and shoved it back in my pocket.

“What do you want to see first?” I asked.

“I heard something about a canal ride?”

“Yep. The Bricktown Canal. It’s this way,” I added, gesturing with my head to the right. We walked in silence for a little while. I could tell Ryder was nervous and part of me wondered if Zachary had something to do with this. “So, Ryder Vance, where are you from?”

“Born and raised in Las Vegas,” he answered, a small smile on his lips as he remembered his home.

“Wow. And I thought I lived in a big town! What’s it like there?”

“Not like everyone thinks,” he said. “It’s really warm, though. We don’t have humidity like you guys do here; it’s just dry heat. Unfortunately, we only get snow about once every three years.”

“Is it true there are slot machines in the gas stations?”

He laughed. “Yeah, in some of them there are.”

“That’s insane!”

“That’s Vegas.”

“Do you have any siblings?” He sighed and I knew immediately I hit a soft spot. “I had a dog once. Are you a dog person?” I asked, quickly trying to change the subject.

He looked relieved. “Actually, I like cats more. They’re pretty low maintenance and I have one at home that’s pretty lovable.”

We had reached the canal and I paid for two people, ignoring his insistence to pay for it.

“You can just buy me dinner,” I said, smiling at him as we took our seats.

“What’s that smell?” he asked, adjusting his jacket and I laughed.

“That’s the canal. I’m not sure when they clean it, but it’s obvious that it’s not very often.”

As the boat puttered along, the tour guide pointed out things of interest and I looked at Ryder while he took everything in. He was about a head and a half taller than me. Now that I was closer, I saw that his hair was closer to black than dark brown. But those eyes…. They were like pools of dark chocolate. When he caught me staring, he smirked and I cleared my throat, looking forward.

“Do you like barbecue?” I asked when the tour was over. He nodded. “Good. There’s a barbecue joint right here that has the best food.”

For the rest of the afternoon we strolled through Bricktown. I learned a little about him but nothing about his family. I wondered why it was such a tender subject but I figured I’d find out sooner or later. Clouds were rolling in and the air was smelling of rain.

Then a siren went off and I froze, my eyes wide.

“What’s wrong?” Ryder asked and I looked around frantically.

People were rushing into buildings and I grabbed his hand, pulling him into the ice cream parlor next to the theater.

“Down this way,” the manager was saying and we followed him to the safe place.

I couldn’t speak; I was too terrified. I sat down and put my head between my knees. Ryder put his hand on my back.

“Juniper, what’s wrong?”

I held my finger up to tell him to give me some time and he seemed to understand. He sat down against the wall and put his arm around me. I was shaking and trying not to have another panic attack. We all sat in silence, waiting.

“It’s clear,” the manager yelled to us and I let out a long sigh of relief.

Ryder helped me to my feet and led me back outside. I took some deep breaths to steady my heart just as it started raining. We hailed a taxi and I shivered.

“Why does he have the air conditioning on?” I asked, shivering violently.

“What was that back there?”

“It was a tornado warning,” I mumbled. “It’s spring time; we get a lot this time of the year.”

“Remember the one that tore through here two years ago?” the driver said and I glared at him. “Man, that one was bad.”

“Can you turn the a/c off, please?”

“Nope. We’re here.”

I rolled my eyes and got out of the taxi as Ryder paid the fare. He walked me into the building and I suddenly felt exhausted.

“Are you okay?” Ryder asked, looking me in the eyes.

I knew I looked a mess.

“Yeah. I just have a thing about tornadoes…. Do you want to come in for some hot cocoa or something?”

He looked at his watch. “I’d really like to but I need to head back to my place. Zachary wants me in there early tomorrow.”

“Okay.”

He smiled at me. “Thanks for showing me the sights.”

I nibbled my lower lip. “There’s a lot more, if you have time,” I whispered and his smile grew.

“Yeah, I can make some time.” He kissed my cheek. “Good night, Juniper.”

“Good night,” I breathed and hurried into my apartment, grinning like an idiot.