Salty

Eighteen | Forgotten Mistake Soup

⚠️ Sexual Content

Eighteen | Ollie

Two feet of fresh snow, slippery roads, and frigid temperatures were supposed to keep the public in the safety of their own homes. Black Friday at Mulligan's was proving otherwise. The meteorologist's looped forecast had been playing in the background of my home while I listened to the restaurant fill below. As much as we needed the income of a day like today, I had no desire to leave the apartment.

I scanned the room, looking for another dirty dish, a lost article of clothing for the laundry, or some junk mail in need of being thrown into the already emptied trash. Useless. The place was as tidy as it had ever been. With an entire night filled with nightmares that left me with limited sleep and overthinking what had gone down in Sloan's kitchen yesterday, I had made myself useful by making the apartment spotless. Now, instead of avoiding sleep, I was avoiding the restaurant.

Two unneeded scenarios were awaiting me downstairs—neither being the crowd of shoppers that were looking to the restaurant as an escape from the day's nasty weather. One was my brother giving me shit about not attending Thanksgiving. The guilt trip was going to be laid on thick for missing a family holiday. I'd spent the day with Sloan... and that was the other problem.

I had rules, and I had broken not just one but multiple.

"Never the same girl twice." My head shook, muttering while taking a Clorox wipe to the stainless counters. "Never a student. Never an employee."

The only rule I kept on lock yesterday was no kissing. No kissing was important. That shit led to feelings, and feelings were off the table. I'd never make that mistake again. Feelings don't stop after the other person breaks your heart. They just get stronger when you can't have what you want. Employee and student were more than enough to put my head back on straight. Sloan was a widow. Had it even been a year since she'd lost her husband?

I wanted to know more about Steve. In fact, much of the night was spent wondering about his relationship with Sloan. They were spouses, but ones that didn't marry for ordinary circumstances. What if they were just pushed into something that was inevitable? She clearly loved him. Did Steve feel as strongly about Sloan as I once did about Shelby? Did he know ways to make her smile on her bad days? Did he know all the ways to piss her off? Did he enjoy her cooking? Were they playful? Did they make love after fighting? Did Steve enjoy the way Sloan's bangs always freed themselves and blocked her from seeing, and how cute she looked as she tried to blow them out of her face?

The only thing that kept me from scrubbing my way from the countertops to the floor was a knock at the door. I stopped, with eyes moving toward the tapping. It was a rare occurrence—most people didn't know there was an apartment above the restaurant. The staff feared me enough to mind their business and stay downstairs. Mikah couldn't be bothered to move his feet that far from the bar when he could send a text or call.

"Ollie," Shelby said from behind the door. "It's me."

I sighed, tossing the wipe to the trash. It missed completely and fell a good foot in front of the bin. To open the door or to not open the door, that was now the question. On payroll days, I loved seeing Shelby. I wanted to see her as much as possible, but it never failed to make me hurt just as badly. I already wanted to fall into old habits and scold her for driving here in a snowstorm. I knew her well, though. She'd likely been up since four in the morning, planning a day of shopping with her mom. They'd have maps and plans for what stores to shop. By now, I knew they had probably finished their Christmas shopping, and it wasn't even close to noon. Christmas gifts first, then break for coffee and breakfast, then spend the afternoon shopping for themselves. Shelby wouldn't stop until every bit of open credit was used. In the old days, my credit cards were also fair game. Shelby loved shopping, some days more than she loved me.