Page 9 of Tempting Sebastian

“Thanks, Bailey. Keep my number, ok?”

I could hear her cheer up, “Okay! Bagelsaurus soon, all right?”

Soon. “Yeah, okay. Bye, Bailes.”

“Bye, Jack.”

My friendship with Bailey haunted me. When you have almost no one, you kind of cling to that person that’s steady. I think Bailey and I relied on each other for stability until she didn’t need to rely on me anymore. But I still needed her, needed someone, and she was the only one who truly knew me.

When the call ended, I shoved my phone into my jeans pocket, pulled out a hoodie and tossed it over my head. It was getting chilly, and the terminal hadn’t switched from air to heat yet. It was going to be a long night. Whenever I stayed in the terminal, my naps were minutes long because I was always afraid that I’d wake up to someone in my face.

The bus terminal was huge. When you walk in the front sliding doors, you're first greeted with seats and then the ticketing windows. Bathrooms and more seats to the left of the windows and then a bunch of seating to the right. I opted for a corner to the back of the terminal that had seating up against a huge pillar. It made me feel a little tucked away and protected. Anyway, it was warmer in the back because the doors constantly sliding open near the front brought in the cold air, where it mostly stayed.

My bag made a nice pillow, so I tucked it under my head, laid down and tried to get comfortable across several seats. I pulled my hoodie over my head, shoved my hands in the front pockets to keep warm, and prayed for an easy night.

Chapter 9

Sebastian

It had been a long day, and it wasn’t over yet. Ian and I were scheduled to meet so we could discuss Jackson’s situation and the overall safety of our staff. Staring out of my office window, I couldn’t stop replaying my conversation with Jackson. I thought about him sleeping at the bus terminal because he missed the bus to get to the shelter in time to secure a sleeping bed and it made me angry all over again. We had to do a better job.

Ian knocked, “Knock, knock! You in here?”

His knock snapped me out of my thought, “Yeah, come on in. Shut the door behind you, please.” He shut the door, sat down across from my desk, laced his fingers over his stomach, and threw his right ankle on top of his other knee. My back was to the windows.

“What’s up?” Ian asked casually.

He was always casual but that day it bugged me. I needed him to be serious, so I began with a serious tone. “I mentionedthe new policy to you. Did you talk to human resources?” I had a sneaking suspicion he hadn’t yet.

He shook his head, “No, I meant to do it first thing this morning, but the day got away from me.”

Just as I thought. “This is important, Ian. I want us to be more mindful about getting staff out of here on time at the end of the day. I want a new policy in place. If we need staff to work late, then one of us needs to be here with them and we’ll ensure they have a ride to wherever they’re going.”

Ian looked a little shocked. “I’m sorry, man. Where is this coming from? That could happen a lot in this work. Jackson does a lot of after-hours visits to check things out for a potential buy for us.”

My voice raised, “That’s exactly why one of us will accompany him or anyone else.” I shook my head. “Listen. What we say here, stays in this office.” I took a drink of my water and then said, “Prior to Jackson staying with me, he was living in a men’s shelter.”

“What?” Ian sat up, straight as a board.

I nodded my head. “Yeah. He was the last one to leave here one night and I think he thought everyone was gone. I was outside and saw him catch the city bus. Did you know he rode the city bus?”

He shook his head. “No, but it’s not unusual. There are plenty of people who don’t have their own cars.”

“Right. But have we factored in the additional time it takes someone to get to their destination because they’re using public transportation? It adds time.”

He looked confused. “I’m not sure what that has to do with anything. I’m not following.”

I stood up and paced before turning and looking out the window. “When Jackson would stay here late and then have to catch a ride back to the shelter, he needed to be there by a certaintime in order to secure a bed at night. If he didn’t make it by their curfew, he couldn’t sleep there.” I turned to look at Ian with my arms folded. I could feel the tension in my brow. “No bed to sleep in, Ian. Which means he slept on the street or at a bus depot.”

He dropped his head and then leaned forward, his elbows on his knees and his hands together. “I didn’t know. Why is he staying with you?”

Clearing my throat, I said, “The night he worked late and caught the bus, I followed him. That’s how I discovered he was staying at the men’s shelter. I went home and tried to do an internet search and find something on him because we don’t know anything about him. My search came up empty. Just surface level shit, where he went to high school, very general.” I sat down and continued. “I tried to sleep that night, and I couldn’t. It was off and on. Finally, at about four am I decided to go and sit outside of the shelter and just make sure he was ok. When I pulled up, I saw him getting his ass beat in the alley by two guys. They stole his money from his backpack. Apparently, he had been saving and kept all his money on him.”

Ian huffed, “Why would he keep his money on him? Does he not have a bank account? How the hell do we pay him?”

“I looked into that too. He opted to pick up his check from finance. I’m guessing he just goes to the bank that it’s drawn on and cashes it. I actually took his most recent check home to give him. He just put it in his wallet and said nothing else. I don’t even think he’s cashed it yet.” I dragged both of my hands down my face. I was tired. “I don’t know if he doesn’t know how to do this stuff or what. Anyway, I got there just in time because they really beat the shit out of him. I picked him up and took him to the hospital. He’s been healing up ever since, but at dinner last night, he told me that he would sometimes sleep on the streets if he didn’t get to the shelter on time. I NEVER want any ofour staff to encounter hardships because of the job. Do I love what we do? Of course. But it’s just a job. Their safety is more important.”

“Yeah, yeah, of course. I agree. Shit, man. I’m sorry. I didn’t know.” Ian looked sad.

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