Tame Me If You Can

Chapter 26

Chapter 26

***

Time has never passed more slowly.

And though I'm drowning in Jake's sweatpants and a hoodie, I feel absolutely naked.

Meanwhile, his sister is skillfully shuffling the paperwork on the coffee table, discussing business with Jake. I'm just here prickling on a pile of needles, unacknowledged. The feeling of being small and vulnerable gnaws beneath the surface, like a ticking time bomb.

"How many hours did you work last week?" she asks Jake.

"Um...around sixty, give or take," Jake says, hands folded behind his head, making me wonder how in the world he's so relaxed with her intense attitude. 

Naomi quickly signs some checks, shoves them in white envelopes, slams them into a stack and hands it to him. "Make sure everyone gets it by Thursday."

Jake catches my observant stare. "Naomi handles payroll. She's in charge of any paperwork that goes through the company."

I nod, bored. I'm more curious about the practicality of her acrylic coffin nails. Like how she picks her boogers or wipes her butt.

"You want dessert? She made it herself." Jake smiles as he heads to the kitchen to grab some tupperware from the fridge.

I hide my grimace. Does he really expect me to accept food from someone that won't even make eye contact with me?

"Um, no, thanks. I don't really like sweets."

"What kind of a person doesn't like sweets?" She mutters while reading.

I focus on a grounding exercise to calm the looming panic.

Notice five objects around you, listen to four different sounds, touch three textures, observe the taste in your mouth.

"The kind that has me in their life," Jake replies as he comes back. "I'm already enough sugar." He kisses my head before sitting down. "So, what happened today?"

"Uh..." I rub my forehead. "Kayden and I went to rescue Molly. It's her birthday and Nat had a pretentious party that Molly didn't want to be a part of. So we showed up and... influenced her to let Molly go."

"Nice! I'm sure that means so much to her." He says and I sigh in relief that he's not holding it against me. He really is too kind.

"How do you know her?" Naomi asks him from under her lashes.

"I was observing therapy sessions when they came in to see Mia. Her mom is brutal."

"Hmph," She piles the papers in one corner. "Well, parenting isn't as easy as it seems."

"She's saying that cause I put her through hell when I was a kid," Jake teases, pointing his thumb at her. "She basically raised me when our parents worked all the time."

"You still are a kid." She retorts, but there's softness in her eyes when she looks at him, even the corners of her lips pull up. "You're just taller now and hairier, but still as annoying."

"Yeah, and you're fatter." He laughs when Naomi smacks him across the head. "I'm kidding. God, why are the women in my life so aggressive?" He looks at me when I snort. "This one here punched me when I tried to defend her!"

"That's great," she replies and gets up to go to the kitchen.

She turns the water on and grabs the dirty dessert containers, even though Jake tells her to leave them.