His Choice - Rafe Cameron

6. Walking Alone

I'm sitting cross-legged on the lounge while staring down closely at my phone screen. I've been searching for jobs in the area. All of them require a resume with professional references, or pre-experience. Both of which I do not have. 

JJ walks into the room and is putting his hoodie on. He pulls down the hem and runs his hands through his hair to brush it to the side before slipping on a baseball cap. 

"Your wifi is shit."

"Use your cellular."

"I used it up already." It renews at the end of the month which is in 3 days, so I've been using JJ's wifi which has terrible connection due to our location. He grabs a carton of beers from the fridge and places them in an esky. "Where are you going?"

"John B's. You coming?"

I shake my head. "No, I'll stay in. I want to keep looking for a job."

"How's it going, found anything? I'll talk to Percy during my shift tomorrow about hiring you at the Yacht Club."

I lay down on the sofa and stretch my arms in the air while letting out a yawn. "It's going terrible. How are you supposed to get a job when it requires experience? You cant get experience without experience."

He looks up at me from the esky with a raised eyebrow. "What?"

I let out a dramatic sigh. "I am so over this."

"Then come see John B and Sarah and have a break."

"It's fine, I won't be good company anyway."

JJ picks up the esky and carries it to the front door. "Alright then, take care of yourself." He opens the door before stopping midway walking through it. "Wait, what are you going to eat for dinner?"

I forgot that we don't have a cupboard full of food. I wonder if I could borrow Maria from the Cameron's. 

"I can go to the store to get some groceries. I'll cook us a nice breakfast tomorrow morning."

"We can go in the morning. I'd rather you didn't walk around here at night on your own."

"I'll take the Curran's Creek route."

JJ shakes his head. "No, that way isn't safe anymore. Go the Shoreman's Road route, there's lots of houses there. It's more residential and has street lights."

"Alright, I will. Any requests while I'm heading to the store?"

JJ reaches into his pocket but pulls out nothing. "I have money in my sock draw, find the pink flamingo socks."

"Pink flamingo socks?" I say mockingly while laughing. 

He points his finger at me. "Don't judge my pink flamingo socks." He drops his hand back down his side and thinks to himself for a moment. "You know what, please don't go to the store by yourself. In the day it's fine but in the night it's just too risky. You never know who could be passing by."

"I'll be fine JJ."

"I'll go with you tomorrow morning, alright? Call me if you need me. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye, enjoy yourself. Tell the others I said hi."

JJ holds his hand up at me to wave goodbye before walking out the door. He kicks it closes behind him. A minute later, I hear the sound of his bike engine and a minute after that, he takes off down the street. 

I go back to looking at my phone and hope for a miracle. I never knew how hard it would be to find a job in the Outerbanks. 

*