Page 77 of Jake Forever
Chapter 28
An hour later, I was down in the lobby, waiting for my brothers. With Jake gone on such a sour note, I couldn’t stomach the thought of eating alone. So I'd called for pizza, and for my brothers, hoping for a distraction from my murky thoughts.
Stubbornly, I'd refused to look at the picture. And, after five more calls from Rango, I'd started refusing to answer my phone. But there was one thing I wasn't refusing – and that was to face reality.
The way it looked, Rango hadmorethan a dozen phones, which led me to a sad realization. Probably, it would be me – not him – who needed a new phone number.
Tomorrow, in fact, I'd be hitting the cell phone store, looking to make a switch. But in order to do that, I'd need money. Already, I'd gone through my last paycheck, as meager as it was, in order to pay some outstanding bills.
It was true, Ididhave a credit card, but I hated the thought of using it, mostly because I was already pushing the limit.
The pizza, I could afford. A new cell phone contract? Not so much. I paused – unless, maybe I could roll over the old one? Just change the number or something?
I was still pondering this when, through the lobby's front windows, I saw my brothers' truck zoom past the building, heading toward the attached parking garage. In that garage, Jake had a few extra spots, including one where my own car would go, assuming I ever bought one.
That spot was where my brothers parked whenever they visited. Looking to meet them there, I ducked out the side door that led to the garage, only to stop dead in my tracks at the sight of a familiar figure, blocking my path.
It was the same guy who'd hustled me out of the convention center the previous night. Confused, I glanced around. Where on Earth had he come from?
And more to the point, why was he standing in my way?
Surprised, I blurted out, "What are you doing here?" And then, realizing how rude I sounded, I forced a smile and said, "Sorry, you just surprised me. That's all." I tried to remember his name. "Um, Marshall, right?"
He didn't move, and he didn't smile back. In a low monotone, he said, "That's right."
My own smile faltered. Mister Personality strikes again. He'd been like this last night, too – all business, zero charm.
I tried again. "If you're here to see Jake–"
"I'm not."
"Oh." I paused as several possibilities ran through my brain. Did he live here? Doubtful. Was he here to see someone else? Unlikely. Was he a random garage-lurker, hanging out for kicks? That was too ludicrous for words.
That left only one possibility, and it wasn't one I liked. I squinted up at him. "So whyareyou here?"
"Working."
"Right." And it didn't take a genius to figure out his current job-description.Stop Luna from going anywhere.
Talk about humiliating.
Looking to test my theory, I sidestepped to go around him. As I moved, he moved. Again, we were standing chest to chest. Or, more accurately, we were standing head to chest, since he was at least a foot taller than I was.
Waiting for some sort of explanation, I crossed my arms and glared up at him.
No explanation came. Instead, he reached into the inside front pocket of his jacket and pulled out a cell phone. He started tapping at the screen. Texting, obviously.
I made a sound of annoyance. "What are you doing?"
"Reporting in."
"With Jake? Well, don't bother. Because there's nothing to report. I'm not going anywhere."
"Uh-huh." He was still tapping. "Except you're heading toward your car."
"I don'thavea car," I snapped.
Admittedly, it wasn't my finest hour. On some level, I did realize that the guy was just doing his job. But at the moment, I was too irritated to care.
