Page 6 of Absolute Certainty
Maybe that was what Jay liked most about Sahar. When she spoke to him, she had a way of making him feel like he was the only person in the room. And the only other person who made him feel like he mattered in this world was his daughter. His kid, whom he missed too much when she was in Philadelphia with her mother. His kid, who was the one reason he kept going.
But hell,he gathered that Sahar was like that with everyone, and her boyfriend was the luckiest bastard on the planet. Jaywondered if he was also an actor. Was he inMidnights at Pemberley?Sam Butler, he knew, was married to Priya Sharma. And Declan McNair, if he remembered correctly, was also married. Could she have been with Christian, maybe? He seemed close to both Sahar and Willa, but Jay also presumed that if he were Sahar’s boyfriend, she would’ve referred to him by name. Maybe he wasn’t even an actor.
You’re not entitled to know who her boyfriend is, man.True. He had no business knowing any of this. The point was that Sahar had a boyfriend.
She was off-limits.
Plus, she was too lively and warm to be tangled with someone like him.
Dahlia broke him out of his thoughts as he finally stepped out of the breakroom. “Jay, have you already sent out the supply orders?”
“Yesterday. Did you forget something?”
“We only have one bottle of the Irish Cream syrup left,” she answered.
He nodded. “Yeah, I noticed and added it.”
“Oh, great. Never mind then.”
He blew out a low breath. Supply orders. Rowdy customers. This damn street. He loved New York City and hated Times Square, yet he couldn’t afford to dive fully into film, because every seemingly big break was either cut short or not nearly enough to live off. He initially started working here because his sister, Alex, needed him nearby, but he stayed because the promotion to management came with a surprisingly hefty raise.
Sometimes, he wished he could chase a different dream. If he only had the brains for medicine. Who knows, maybe he could’ve been an accountant, an attorney, an architect, a real estate agent. At least he’d have the income to live more comfortably. Though, scratch out the real estate part. He’d rather die agruesome death than go into the same business as his piece of shit sperm donor.
He’d happily stay at this damn shop for the rest of his life so he wouldn’t witness John Fucking Callahan gloat with the satisfaction of getting what he’d always wanted.
Now,thatwould destroy Jay quicker than anything else.
It’d been a long,longday. A slow, frustrating shift at the coffee shop, an unexpected delay at Penn Station, and an overly long train ride with his mind refusing to let up for two seconds. He couldn’t even nap to pass the time quicker.
The only shining part of the awful day was the few minutes he got to spend with Sahar. It kept him going. Raking his fingers through his wet hair, he thought of how he’d recognized her voice seeping into his mind before he looked up to find her standing beside him. She owed him nothing, and yet… The look in her eyes when she’d said,I want to know what’s inside that brain of yours.The dawning realization that her kindness ran deeper than the occasional conversations they would have every time she’d come into Amanda’s while he was there.
Except everything was too fucking bleak right now to believe in anything.
Sitting at the edge of his bed, he glanced at the clock on his phone’s lock screen atop the photo of Eloise’s big, goofy grin at her recent birthday party.
It was almost nine-thirty now, and Maya, his co-parent, still hadn’t called as part of their daily routine. He usually waited for her to do it while tucking Eloise in, but considering it was past her school day bedtime, he called instead.
Maya picked up after three rings. “Hey, I was just about to call you. We had aday.”
“Is everything okay? How’s Ellie?”
Blowing out a sigh, Maya said, “She’s fine, but she yelled at her art teacher today, and now she refuses to go back. It’s been a whole thing.”
Eloise was a spunky little thing, but she was mostly well-behaved. What possessed her to yell at a teacher? “That doesn’t sound like her.”
Maya laughed. “She’s your kid in that regard, Jay. Apparently, one student was picking on another, and Ellie stood up for them. But when the teacher stopped her, she asked whyhewasn’t the one doing anything about it. She basically told him how to do his job. She’s been super cranky during the last few lessons, so this was the icing on the cake.”
A low huff slipped out of him. She was his kid, alright. “Let me talk to her.”
“Donotenable this, please.”
“I won’t. But I’m proud as hell that she stood up for someone, aren’t you?”
“Of course I am. But I don’t want her yelling at teachers. There’s a time and place.” He could hear Maya opening a door. “Your dad’s on the phone.”
“Hi, Dad,” came her clipped, small voice.
“Hey, kid. Your mom just filled me in. I’m glad you stood up for your classmate, but you know that yelling at your teachers isn’t the way to go about things, right?”
