Fade To Black

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I walk into my apartment that night... Well, actually I can't even call it my apartment. One of my, now former, coworkers at the diner rents this apartment and she was so gracious to let me live on her couch. I have to pay rent, of course. And buy the groceries and make sure the place is kept clean. Reasonable requests since she is doing me a favor I guess.

Luckily for me, though, most of the time, she is never home. Her boyfriend is much older than her and owns his own law firm. So, why should she stay in her tiny grungy apartment when she can be living like a queen in his apartment in the city?

I sit on the couch and kick off my tennis shoes. My feet are tender as I massage them with my fingers. My last ten-hour shift, done. I will never return there again. Well, except for tomorrow when I need to return my stupid ugly forest green shirts with the diner's name on them. Just another reason I am happy to part with that place. At least while I still have my dignity.

Grabbing my purse from off the floor, I fumble through it trying to find my lip balm. My hand freezes mid-shuffle when something familiar grazing my hand. I pull out the crisp hundred-dollar bill I had thrown into my bag before Paul graced me with his presence. I had almost forgotten about Jacob. But, the memory of him seems soiled now. Replaced by one so repulsive.

I don't dare turn over the bill to look at the number. I don't want to have it accidentally get etched into my mind. Allowing the little voice in my head to convince me to call him.

Instead, I pull out my wallet and shove the money inside. I'll save it for a rainy day. It could buy me a nice dinner or a manicure. But not a date with him.

As I toss my wallet back into my bag, I lay on the couch and try my best to erase Jacob from my conscious mind. I am successful. However, as my body succumbs to sleep I can't fight off the images of him. And he consumes my dreams.

***

It is painful. Literally painful to walk through the streets the following morning to the diner. If it were up to me, I would have burned the damn uniforms. But, knowing Paul he will probably send me a bill for them, one I cannot afford.

As I walk through the streets of downtown, bumping into other pedestrians, skin burning under the heat of the midmorning sun, I hope that Paul won't be at the dinner today.

Oh, who am I kidding, of course he's going to be there. Will he bring up our encounter last night? Or ignore me like he has for the past six years. I prefer the latter. 

As I turn the corner to the diner my breath catches in my throat. I skid to a halt. My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth and I can't seem to form a single word as he lifts his hand to wave at me.

"Sloane," Jacob says with a smile, dropping his hand to his side and then shoves it into the pocket of his slacks.

"You," I stammer out. I shake my head quickly, taking a step closer to him. "Jacob, right?" I ask, trying my best to remain cool and collected under his intense stare. But, his expression is light. The intensity comes from his bright green eyes with flecks of honey around the pupils.

I drop my eyes to my feet when I realize I'm staring at him and a pool of drool forms in the corner of my mouth.

"So, you never called me huh?"

And here I am. Having a perfectly normal conversation with a man and squeezing my thighs together. Am I so sexually deprived that I can't carry on this talk without thinking about what he may feel like on top of me? No, I can't. Especially when he looks like that.

"One of your coworkers didn't swipe your tip, right?" He says with a grin.

On a breath, I move my legs apart, coming back down to Earth after being sucked into the heavenly green fields of his eyes. Allowing my sexual desires to drift away with the warm breeze.