Page 22 of Muted

“It’s not fucking rocket science,” Cliff mutters under his breath. “She takes the bus every day.”

My head whips over to my partner, surprised he knows my employee is leaving the bar in the middle of the night to take a bus across town.Fuck, that’s so goddamn dangerous.

“You know she’s riding the bus at 2 a.m.?”

I swear to God, if he rolls his eyes at me one more time, I’m going to explode. “The transit system is there for a reason, Chester. Lots ofpeopleuse it.” The way he says ‘people’ irks me. He says it like they’re lower than dirt rather than those that can’t afford a vehicle.

When I twist my head back to where Susu is standing, I find the doorway empty. “Fuck,” I mumble, pushing away from my desk to go find her. There’s no way in hell I’m going to let her take the bus home when I can easily give her a ride. She’s saved my ass so many times since she showed up; I owe her at least this.

Before I walk out of the office, I stop next to Cliff’s desk, lean down and point my finger in his face. “You and I? We’renotdone talking about this shit.”

“You’re not my boss, Chester. We’re partners.” His voice is cold, emotionless, and all I can do is blink at him. The callous disregard for the way he’s fucking us, and this bar, is baffling me. Maybe a drive is what I need to get my head straight.

Without a word, I stand straight, tug my shirt down and leave him behind, clicking at nothing on his computer screen.

The sign on our front door which leads to the street is swaying gently, so I know that she’s already walked out. Hurrying after her, I see a flash of her hair just as she turns the corner. The bus stop is about five blocks away, which is another thing that sets my teeth on edge. She walks past alleys and dark entryways late at night.Anythingcould happen to her.

Picking up my pace, I catch her within a minute, only to have her wrench her body away from me when I grab her elbow. I’m not insulted by the way she flies away from me. It’s clear I’ve startled her. It’s how her body slams against the brick wall that has concern building in my chest.

I hold my hands up and take a step away from her. “Sorry for scaring you. You left before I had the chance to offer you a ride home. Taking the bus is unnecessary.”

She shakes her head quickly, holding up her bus pass once more. Glaring at the worn slip of cheap, laminated paper, I fight the urge to tug it from her fingers and stomp on it.

“You can’t take the bus. It’s late and so fucking dangerous. Just let me drive you home. I insist.”

Dropping her head so her hair covers her face, she moves her bag in front of her and begins digging through it. When she pulls out her phone, I brace myself for an argument I refuse to let her win.

‘You’re busy and I’m perfectly happy to use it.’

I refuse to take her phone when she offers it for me to read; instead, I scan the words quickly and start shaking my head before I even finish.

“I’m not too busy. Please, Susu. Let me drive you home. You’ll be doing me a favor.” It’s not a lie. I truly do need to get out of the office before I strangle my partner.

My eyes drop to the white of her teeth as she digs them into the bottom of her lip, thinking it over. This time, I am slightly insulted when her shoulders droop in defeat and she nods once. I don’t comment on it, preferring not to have her change her mind.

I walk next to her as we make our way to my car. Opening the passenger door, I hold it for her, then slam it shut once she slides onto the seat. At least I have this one small win for today.

Susu

Well, this isn’t fucking awkward or anything.

Lies.

Dirty, filthy lies.

I’ll continue to lie to myself until I can escape this enclosed space with a man twice my size, suffocating me with his fury as he grips the steering wheel. His promise that I’d be doing him a favor by allowing him to drive me home feel untrue. He only seems annoyed.

Blowing out a breath, I stare out my window as we pass slowly through town toward my rented room.

Today has been all backwards and I remind myself that change is a good thing. Vance had something planned for the evening, so instead of practicing in the afternoon, he had me meet him at Sonority at 9 a.m. The tired and ornery looking bear man jerked the door open, and I slithered past him.

I felt his eyes following me as I made my way over to the stage where Vance was already waiting. After the brief text exchange with him, I’ve felt a tad ashamed of how excited I was to actually have a conversation with him. The moment he found out my age, he shut me down so fast.

It’s not like I could have controlled when my parents fucked each other. Sort of out of my hands, along with so many other aspects of my life.

Then I spent the rest of the day until it grew dark, working through the finances. I’m not an expert in running a business, but Idoknow numbers. And what I’m seeing is that the bar is literally bleeding money from every exposed avenue.

It’s not my place to correct them, but hopefully they’ll figure something out because honestly, I really enjoy this job. I’m worried they won’t be able to pay me for much longer.

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