How Not to Fall In Love

Chapter 33

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Cole followed me to Downtown Mall, making sure I got to Coffee Oasis without any problems from Taylor and her friends. I tried to tell him I'd be okay because once I entered work, she couldn't say or do anything to me. But he wouldn't listen and insisted on following me anyway. On the walk to Coffee Oasis, Cole hinted numerous times that Sophie was meeting him for coffee. We were a couple of feet away from the entrance when we heard someone calling after us, and we knew exactly who it was without having to turn around. We both paused, turning to one another, smiling while waiting for Sophie to catch up. 

"Thanks," She said between gasps of air, trying to catch her breath. 

"I've got to get inside before I'm late on my first day. I'll see you two later." I smiled and headed toward the entrance. I took a deep breath and opened the door, knowing Taylor and her friends would be sitting in their usual corner booth toward the back. 

"You've got some nerve coming in here after what you did to Austin today," Taylor said from the corner booth. "He'll come back to me." 

"Taylor, stop harassing the employees, or you won't be allowed to come in here," Madison said, walking around the counter. 

"What? I didn't say anything to you." She motioned for her friend to let her out. "So, I think you owe me an apology, or I'll have to talk to your manager." She walked over to us. 

"You're harassing Rylee. Do I need to tell Ashlynn that you won't stop harassing the employees because you know what she said the last time you harassed one of the girls?" Madison stepped in closer to Taylor, not backing down. 

"Rylee works here? Yeah, right." She laughed.

"Ashlynn!" Madison hollered, turning her head slightly, not taking her eyes off Taylor. 

Taylor's smirk disappeared, and she took a step back, starting to turn to walk away when Ashlynn walked around the corner. 

"Taylor, do I need to ban you from here?" Ashlynn said, placing her hands on the counter. "I'm tired of you harassing my girls in here. If you can't come in here without doing that, then maybe you need to find another place to get your coffee?" She flipped her ponytail over her shoulder. 

Taylor's eyes flashed over to me, burning a hole through my skull. "This isn't over." She turned and walked back over to Blair and the rest of her minions. 

"You let me know if she bothers you again," Ashlynn said, peering over at Taylor and her friends. "I'm going to have you fill out some papers real quick, then you can clock in, and Madison will start training you." Ashlynn motioned me to follow her around the corner. 

"Paperwork usually takes fifteen minutes, but I'll keep you back here a little longer, so Taylor and her friends will be gone by the time you go back out there. She doesn't stay long once I get onto her." She laughed, walking behind her desk. She cleared a spot in front of her desk, disappeared out the door, and was back five minutes later with a chair. "Normally, I have everyone fill out paperwork at one of the tables, but I won't put you through that." She winked, setting the chair down in front of her desk. 

"Thanks." I smiled, sitting down. I sat there and started filling out the papers, hoping I was filling them out right since I'd never had a job before, so I had no idea what I was doing. I was hoping Ashlynn would offer to help me, but I knew she probably wasn't allowed to do that. 

                                                                                  *****

I peeked around the corner to see if Taylor and her friends were still lurking in the back booth. Madison was at the booth wiping it down, so I figured it was safe to walk out. "Sorry it took me so long." I walked over to the booth. 

"No worries." Madison smiled. "I knew she was going to keep you back there for a while until Taylor and her friends left. They left ten minutes ago to go terrorize the rest of Downtown Mall." She rolled her eyes. Madison looked around the building, then walked back behind the counter, motioning me to follow her. "Can I ask you something, Rylee?" She turned her head toward the door to see if anyone was walking up toward the counter. 

"Sure." I knew exactly what she wanted to ask me because it was the day's hot topic.

"What happened in the cafeteria today? Why did you break up with Austin?" She started cleaning up around the machines. 

"Austin and I were kidding ourselves in thinking it would work between us, that's all. I saved myself from heartache later." I shrugged my shoulders. 

She stood there looking at me with shock at what I had just said. No one understood why I did what I did, and honestly, I was also beginning to question my own motives as well. Austin hadn't done anything wrong to make me question why he wanted to be with me. Maybe I couldn't take the constant harassment from Taylor and Blake. A tiny part of me felt somewhat bad for Blake because everyone knew Taylor was using him, yet he remained utterly clueless about the fact. Then again, maybe he did know and didn't care that she was using him to get Austin back. If that were the case, Blake's a bigger idiot than anyone imagined

"You probably think I'm stupid for dumping him." I lowered my head. 

"No, I don't think you're stupid. However, I do believe you're letting other people come between the two of you. Don't let Taylor win. Instead, fight for Austin, especially if you think he's worth fighting for." She smiled and kept cleaning the machine. 

"I think it's for the best this way," I said, listening to the words come out of my mouth. I glanced over at Madison, who peeked over at me, nodding as she continued cleaning. I looked toward the door, then back to Madison, wondering if I was trying to convince myself more than her, and she knew it. Then, out of nowhere, I heard Taylor's voice echo in the back of my mind, repeating what she said earlier to me about Austin going back to her. I walked around the counter and sat down at one of the tables, placing my head in my hands. 

"Rylee, are you okay?" Madison asked, pulling a chair out next to me. 

I raised my head as tears started to stream down my face. "What have I done? I've chased Austin back into Taylor's arms." I buried my head in my hands. 

"What? Who said that? Austin would never go back to Taylor." 

"How do you know?" I raised my head again, sniffling. 

Madison got up, walked over to the counter, and grabbed a napkin. "Here you go." She handed me the napkin. "How do I know? Because he sees what kind of a bitch she truly is now. Trust me; you don't have to worry about him going back to Taylor." She walked back behind the counter. 

I dabbed the tears under my eyes, got up, and walked around the counter. "Sorry about that." I dabbed under my eyes again, then threw away the napkin.