Drowning

Chapter 33:

The next day I woke up with a pounding headache. I had stayed up most of the night thinking about what Ezra said about me not being his type.

What did that even mean?

Ezra called me beautiful one second, tells me how sexy I am the next, and then proceeds to insult me by saying I'm a charity case. If I was not the kind of girl he wanted, then why did he keep coming back for more?

More importantly, why did I keep letting him?

I had only known Ezra for a short time, but he had invaded my world. He lived with my brother. If I went over there, there's no way I could avoid him. I couldn't even visit JD at work without the possibility of running into him. To top off the whole situation, my parents seemed to like him and he was coming to dinner on Wednesday. I couldn't seem to get myself away from him even if I tried. Deep down, I knew I didn't want him to stay away.

I pulled myself out of bed and went to my bathroom to get a bottle of aspirin. I had to shake this headache to get through work today. I looked at the clock and it was 9:00 AM. I had to be at work for the morning shift prep in an hour.

I turned on the shower and felt the temperature. Once it was hot enough, I took off my pajamas and climbed in under the water. It was hot and refreshing, the massaging head working out the tension in my neck and shoulders. I poured some of my favorite shampoo out in my hand and began to work it through the wet curls. The pressure felt good and it started to take some of the sting of my headache away.

Once I washed and rinsed the soap suds completely off, I got out and wrapped a towel around my head and one over my body. I grabbed my bottle of lotion and applied it to my skin. The waxing I got last Friday was holding up well. I was glad I didn't have to worry about shaving anytime soon. I might have to go back again in a couple of weeks.

I pulled on my work khakis and uniform polo. My hair was still wet, but I decided just to pull it up and slip it through the hole in the back of the hat. Pizzas, here I come.

I drove to work and changed the songs multiple times. Every song was about finding love and losing it. It was all too heavy for me. It wasn't like I thought Ezra and I were in love. I just knew I wanted him in the worst way. Every inch of me craved him and I found myself fantasizing about seeing him again, letting him touch me while calling me a 'good girl'.

I fiddled for a few more minutes and finally found something on the radio that was upbeat and surprisingly not about love. I was thankful for the song, even if it was just a cliché girl power song.

I pulled up as my manager was unlocking the door. He turned and waved at me. When I got close to him, he said he liked my hair. I thanked him and followed him inside.

He assigned me to prep the vegetables. I had to cut them and then put them in the slicer. Onions are vegetables. I always ended up with the onions. I had gotten so used to it that I didn't even tear up when I cut them anymore.

I was in the middle of prepping when I heard the bell on the front door chime. Someone had come into the store. We weren't open for another half an hour, so I peeked my head from the back to see Brynn standing at the counter.

"Hey girlie, you hiding from me?" She smiled at me.

"I was at JD's most of the weekend. We saw Camo in concert on Saturday. How's it been with your mom?" I asked her trying to change the subject. She took the bait and started rattling off how her mom said she would never leave her again for the boyfriend and then the following day she said she was going to go on a cruise with him for a week. He must be rich, her mom wasn't working anymore and neither was Brynn. Someone had to be paying their bills and paying for these trips.