Page 20 of Shattered Veil

When I finally caught him slinking back into his chair at his desk, I removed my earbuds, stood, and made my way over. I leaned against the entrance to his cubicle with my right shoulder and crossed my ankles.

“Long lunch, Brooks.”

He looked at me, offering me a small, bitter smile. “Paula.”

“How is she?”

“Well,” Shawn inhaled a long breath and, upon exhalation, rambled out, “her oldest daughter has been studying for finals—she’s a sophomore in high school. The middle one just got her first girlfriend and boy, let me tell you, Paula is opinionated about her coming out as a lesbian.” He rolled his eyes heavily. “I wasn’t about to debate with Paula, so I smiled and nodded and held my tongue, but damn, she’s a bigot.”

I shook my head, sardonically noting, “That sounds entertaining.”

“Oh, I’m not done,” he continued with a grimace, now leaning back in his chair and speaking to the ceiling. “Her youngest, the boy—is starting middle school. He’s into theater, and she called him a fuckin’ dandy.” I cringed at the word and, without even seeing my face, he replied, “I know. It went on for hours. Anyway—I’m gonna work on filling out some paperwork with the state—county—whoever the hell I need to fill it out with. Get the process started to adopt her kids.”

He said it offhandedly, and I laughed at his sarcasm. “I don’t think that’s how that works.”

“I’ll find a loophole somewhere.”

“Mhm. That’ll be great—three teenagers.” I joked, “They’ll call you Daddy Brooks.”

Shawn glanced my way, still leaning back as he smiled wide. “There he is. I knew your usual sassy ass would be back at some point.”

“Uh huh. So—you’ve been jumping in front of social-related bullets for me all day.”

Shawn shrugged. “You requested quiet time. I delivered.”

“Very chivalrous of you.”

“You seem better,” he remarked.

I wasn’t operating at 100% capacity, of course, but I was better. And because that was partially due to his interference throughout the day—and because he legitimately seemed to care about my headspace as of late—I felt my hardened exterior soften even further.

“Mhm,” I hummed. “You wanna get a drink later?”

“I was joking about the payment, you know,” Shawn noted with a wry grin. “This bullet was free of charge.”

I knew that already, so I simply replied, “Regardless.”

Shawn nodded. “Where are you thinking?”

On an afternoon like this one—what should have been a run-of-the-mill Wednesday—I would typically relax at home after work. Henry’s was great. I loved the bar, I did, and Wednesday was a day that Luke and Claire typically had off. It was common that they would frequent their place of employment on said day to enjoy the atmosphere when they weren’t behind the counter—oftentimes with Liam and Zoey and, by default, Cassie. I did join them occasionally, but I had grown to appreciate my own space, as well. My own whiskey, if I were so inclined. The comforting sound of whatever music I desired to listen to, me placing a half-drank glass back on the side table as I lounged on my couch, and…nothing else. Maybe I would cook dinner; maybe I would order something in—it didn’t matter. All that did matter was that I was within my own beautiful, quiet isolation.

This most definitely was not a run-of-the-mill Wednesday, though, and a visit to the bar was ripe on my mind. The quiet of the day had allowed me to take pause, and I itched to talk to Cassie—to apologize, know that we were…okay…and to force her out from under my skin. I had no issue with Shawn joining me on my excursion. Actually, the more that I thought about it, his presence could be a delightful buffer from all things Cassie after I got my apology to her out of the way. However, the knowledge that he had—not only of Cassie’s work but of my feelings for her—couldn’t be shared.

“Mind driving to Salem?”

“Salem?” he asked. “For what?”

“My brother and his girlfriend bartend down the road from my apartment complex,” I explained. “They’re normally off on Wednesdays. I figured I could grab a drink with them while they aren’t serving me, for once.”

His eyes widened, and he nearly flashed me all of his teeth. “Are you introducing me to your family?!”

I laughed. “I couldn’t keep you a secret forever, baby. The bromance is too real.” Shawn chuckled, and I added, “But I do have a condition.”

“Conditional love,” he murmured. “I knew it. Throw it on me; what’s the condition?”

I stood up straight then, crossing my arms as I stated:

“You need to keep your goddamn mouth shut.”

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