Page 231 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol. 9
“Okay. But don’t you dare watch Project Runway without me. And I’ll pick up some more Ben and Jerry’s on the way home.”
Thank you, bestie.I curled into a ball in my bed, holding my knees against my chest. She even closed the blinds for me before she left our apartment. As soon as she was gone, I closed my eyes again. I pictured the hue of my lifeguard’s irises. Exactly the same color as the ocean. I thought I could get lost in them. Instead, I felt like I was drowning.
I was never going to let my guard down again. My heart couldn’t take it anymore. I hugged my knees closer to my chest. When would it stop hurting?
Those Summer Nights - Chapter 6
Friday
I had hibernated in my room for the past week pretending I was sick. Kristen kept threatening to pull me outside in my pajamas like some sort of monster, but then we’d end up binge watching TV instead. It turned out she wasn’t a monster at all. Her threats were empty. If anything, she catered to my awful behavior by refilling the freezer with ice cream and helping me eat all the baked goods I started making. Depression now gave me a sweet tooth, whereas in Cali my depression had made it impossible to eat. And I couldn’t eat everything alone. So in reality, Kristen was an angel.
If it was up to me, I’d still be hiding out. But my bosses apparently needed me. The girl who I usually worked with had taken the day off. Plus, if I took any more days off, I wouldn't be able to afford to eat. Which was a huge problem because cooking was one of the only things I still enjoyed doing. At this rate, instead of getting my act together this summer, I’d gain 100 pounds.
Fridays were my least favorite day to work because they were busier than Mondays and Wednesdays. But today it was good to have the distraction. I was training a new girl, which gave me even less time to think about my disastrous date. Or lack thereof. I hadn't had that much to drink in awhile. And I had never held my alcohol well, which I knew for a fact after margarita night when I’d first told Kristen about my crush in the first place. For the life of me, I wasn’t sure why I’d allowed myself to have morethan one drink with my lifeguard or Kristen. Alcohol led to bad decisions and bad behavior.Shame on me.
My thoughts wandered back to my date-pocalypse, which I was now calling it. I wasn't sure if it was meant to be a date or not, but it really didn't matter. Either way, I’d come to the conclusion that I’d acted insane. And he’d acted like a complete jerk. Hopefully avoiding him for the last week would have given him enough time to forget about me. Hell, he probably hadn't thought about me since. After all…he was labeled as a jerk in my mind for a reason.
I showed the new girl how to ring up a customer on the cash register. We didn't have a button for the different sizes, we just had to memorize all the prices. At night everyone had their own small credit card readers since there were so many people. I was supposed to teach her how to use that as well, but we were never overly busy during the day. I always just used the credit card reader on the cash register and had quickly forgotten how to use my small one. If Keira and Rory ever called me in for a night shift I wouldn't be much help.
The new girl, Becca, was still in high school. For some reason her optimism about this job was annoying me. Also the fact that Becca was short for Rebecca didn’t help. It just reminded me that Aiden had left me for someone he deemed better. A Rebecca with bigger tits than me and new girl Becca combined.
All I wanted to do was go to the beach. I had worn my bathing suit underneath my clothes and was planning on a quick escape. I hadn't felt the sand beneath my feet since I ran away from my lifeguard.My lifeguard.I shook my head. I was so ridiculous. And technically I had felt the sand recently. It was still in my bedbecause I was a crazy nester who hadn’t washed her sheets in weeks.
Becca needed to practice handling the customers, so I hung back and observed her. She was so bubbly. She was perfect for this job. Hopefully Keira and Rory hadn't hired her to replace me. I shook my head. I doubted that they’d fire me. My two bosses were amazing. Although, I wouldn’t be surprised if they’d paired me with Becca to punish me for calling in sick for a week. But that was my own fault. Maybe I deserved to be punished for my pile of lies.
I looked down at my phone. I’d gotten in the habit of doing that ever since I’d called my ex last week. He hadn't called me back. I never expected him to. We hadn't talked since he broke up with me.
I had made so many ridiculous choices last Thursday night. Well, ever since Thursday. Being holed up in my apartment and ignoring Kristen’s pleas for me to see the light of day again, hadn’t exactly been healthy. At least when she left me to my own devices I read instead of watching Project Runway without her. I definitely never did that. Well, maybe one season. But I didn’t mind watching it again. I’d be just as excited the second time around. I didn’t care if Tim Gunn was gay or if Swatch was a dog. They were the only men for me.
Besides, after reading book after book after book, I’d run out of them. The only book I hadn't read wasMade of Steel. I’d even removed the bookmark so I wouldn’t be tempted to pick up where I’d last left off. I didn't want to read a romance anymore. It was good but I wasn't in the mood. It had made me realize that I still had dozens of books that I had left in my ex's apartment. Iwanted them back. Getting a piece of my dignity back wouldn’t hurt either. I’d made a fool out of myself by calling him last week. There’d be no more tomfoolery from me. Just poised confidence.
I took a deep breath and clicked on his name in my phone. It rang twice and then went to voicemail. I hadn't expected it to go to voicemail so fast. He must have seen me calling and rejected it. He was screening my calls. The answering machine beeped.
"Hey ba..." I coughed.Did I seriously almost call him babe?I coughed again. "Hey, Aiden. Sorry about the call the other night. Too much partying out here." I paused, knowing he’d probably just think I was trying to sound okay when I wasn’t.I’m not okay.I hadn’t been okay since I found him in bed with someone else. I cleared my throat. "I was just thinking about all those books I left at your place. Could you mail them to me? I can PayPal you the money for shipping if you want. Just let me know what it costs." I quickly gave him my new address and then repeated it. "And you know, if there's anything else that's mine. Actually, there was this sweater and a dress I really liked that I left...well, anything that's mine. Ship everything. I hope you're having a good summer." I felt my throat catch. "Thanks, Aiden." I quickly hung up. I shouldn't have called him again. I'd just buy new books and a new sweater and a new dress.
"How do you open the cash register?" Becca asked. She seemed distraught.
I laughed and walked over to her.
***
My shift was almost over. I was showing Becca how to make the cleaning solution for the counters when I saw my lifeguard coming off the beach and toward the ice cream shop. At least, it looked like he was coming this way. I wasn’t about to stand here and find out.
"And that's it,” I said as I poured in one more tablespoon of the awful lemon scented cleaning solution. I grabbed a washcloth and wrung it out. "I'll be in the back room for a sec cleaning up. Call me if you need help."
I dropped the washcloth on the table, sat down on one of the stools in the back room, and took a deep breath. Why was he coming here? I guess it was possible that I was wrong. He was probably just walking by after work to get to his apartment. That was it. I sighed with relief after a few minutes had gone by. There was no way he'd still be out there. I got up and wiped down the table.
"Are we allowed to do a bunch of little scoops of different flavors that in the end make up one normal sized scoop? And then just charge them for a single scoop?" Becca was standing by the doorway.
What the hell?"No."
"There's this guy that is insisting that he wants like a million different flavors. I don't know what to do."
"Sometimes customers are the worst. I'll try to talk to him." Our mantra was to always give the customers whatever they wanted. But some people were just horrible. I wish our mantra was, “Go away and just let me stand here doing nothing and make minimum wage.” That would be amazing. The thought made me sigh. I still remembered how the ice cream counter girl stared at me after Aiden dumped me. She thought I was diseased or something. One of the reasons I took this job was so that I could make people’s days better by having a smile on my face. I plastered one on, even though it felt super fake. Just because I was having a bad day, it didn’t mean I needed to spread the frownies around.
I walked out of the back room. My lifeguard was standing by the counter. He smiled at me. Of course it was him being obnoxious. He had probably just been flirting with Becca. Ass. Face.
"No, you can't have a million different flavors and only pay for one scoop,” I said. “That's ridiculous." I knew I was being rude, but I was pissed. He had no right to come here and antagonize me and my co-workers.
