The Fear Of Faith [2]

36. Cal

'Hey, man,' Charlie greeted, as I entered the shop on a very frosty Monday morning. He eyed me nervously and I immediately relaxed upon seeing that Tori wasn't in yet.

'Morning,' I said, clearing my throat as I hung up my coat. 'How was Friday?'

'Not bad,' Charlie replied. 'You didn't miss much.'

'Great,' I said, sitting down at the desk to take a look at my templates for today's clients.

'Tori is running a little late,' he told me.

'She can not turn in at all for all I care,' I mumbled.

'Yeah, about that,' Charlie sighed. 'She's really torn up. I mean like...she was literally sobbing on Friday when you didn't come in.'

'Do you know why?' I asked him.

'Yeah, she told me,' he answered.

'Well then,' I said. 'Do you blame me for losing it?'

'I guess not,' he replied. 'However, I believe her when she says she didn't mean it that way.'

'You're kidding, right?' I said, turning in my chair and frowning at him.

'Dude, she wouldn't do that,' he said. 'Not in that way, not when she knows everything that's happening. All she has done is be there for you.'

'I'm not going to get into this,' I sighed, turning back around. 'Honestly, I don't give a shit about it anyway.'

'I just don't want a shitty atmosphere amongst us all,' he said. 'We're good friends and we work together.'

'Friends don't kiss friends when they've just got out of a relationship and are feeling like shit about it,' I told him.

'Fair one,' he sighed. 'At least hear her out when she gets here.'

'She can say whatever she wants,' I replied. 'Doesn't mean I'll be the same with her as I was before.'

'Oh, dude, shes here,' he said, quickly, moving back across the room to his station as if we'd been up to no good.

'Good morning,' Tori said, her voice sounding weak from the doorway behind me. I kept my back turned and didn't reply.

'Hey,' Charlie replied.

There was silence, only disturbed by the sound of them both moving around and setting up. It went on for a while and I kept my back turned as I organised my work, ignoring the awkward tension. Charlie was right to not want an atmosphere in here, it was a shitty feeling. I had to remind myself that I was the owner of this shop and I didn't want the place I worked to feel this way. I had to remind myself too, that I was Tori's boss and it wasn't professional to be giving her the cold shoulder over a personal matter.

Turning around in my chair, I saw Charlie setting up his station as Tori glanced through some mail and they both looked up at me, waiting for something to be said.

'Nothing is to be mentioned about last week,' I said, looking between both of them. 'We forget about it, we move on, we work as normal. Business comes first and we need to be getting along, okay?'

'Yes...definitely,' Tori said, nodding slowly as she eyed me. Her facial expression told me that she was feeling uncomfortable and embarrassed so I tried my best not to make eye contact.

'It can't just be completely ignored,' Charlie said. 'Business may come first but friendship is just as important.'

'Matter of opinion,' I said with a shrug, getting to my feet and heading to my station. 'First client is here.'