Page 6 of Heartbeats and Hashtags
Five minutes later, the three of us are outside recounting it all while Chuck dramatizes the story.
“It was freakin’ awesome, man! You were like, ‘You talking shit?’ And he was like, ‘Yeah, I’m talking shit!’ Then you said, ‘Only way you’re getting out of this is punching me.’”
“I did not egg him on to punch me,” I interrupt Chuck’s wild embellishment.
“Po-tay-to, po-tah-to,” he brushes off my objection.
Fin emerges from the nearby store with an ice cream tub. He shrugs – no frozen peas, so this was the best cold compress substitute. I thank him and hold it to my throbbing cheek, hoping to reduce the swelling. Fuck, I need to reduce this swelling as much as possible. Not that I particularly care, but personal security looking beat up doesn’t exactly instill confidence in clients, I think grimly. Not that I currently have a client after my last job ended. Just as I think that, fate intervenes.
My phone buzzes. It’s my boss’s boss, Mr. Park. He never calls us guards directly.
“Shit, I gotta take this guys. It's my boss,” I tell them before answering the call that sets me on a new course I could have never imagined.
EVERLY
Inearly spit out my drink laughing at some of the messages Tanya and Daisy had written to guys I’d matched with on dating apps. I’m beginning to question my decision to give them free rein over the app while I went to get our coffees this morning.
Kirra glances over, her lips pursed in confusion.
“Oh my God, this one must’ve been Tanya.” I clear my throat, putting on a sultry voice. “‘Sir, did you know that the human body is 70% water?’” I pause and waggle my brow. “‘And,well, I’m pretty thirsty right now.’”
I burst out laughing, imagining Tanya grinning while writing it.
Kirra lets out a small huff of air, clearly not finding this as amusing as I did.
“And what did he reply?” she prompts, not looking up from her laptop.
“You can drink me any time you like, beautiful.” I put on a masculine voice.
Kirra scrunches up her nose. “Ew.”
I laugh again.
“It's kinda sweet. I mean, the poor guy didn’t have much to work with.” Staying glued to my phone, I switch to my social media account and sigh.
“You alright?” Kirra asks, concern laces in her voice.
“Yeah, just another message from this freakin weirdo.” I groan. I wave off my concern with a humorless laugh to mask the lingering unease. “Internet weirdos come with the influencer gig unfortunately. This one's probably just some sad keyboard Casanova lacking boundaries.”
“Oh yeah?” she asks distractedly.
“Yeah, they keep calling me beautiful and say that I’m theirs eternally,” I over-exaggerate a shiver. “Plus, I don’t know what EvBear means that they keep signing the messages with.”
“It’s kinda sweet,” Kirra comments.
I snort. “Yeah, sweet in a sort of back the hell away from me, you weirdo, way.”
“Yeah, in a weird way, obviously,” she agrees.
She viciously stabs her salad greens. Yikes. I wouldn’t want to be on the other end of that fork. I choose to ignore her. She’s been acting off today anyway. She has days like this when she is justdifferent. I caught her earlier staring into space for fifteen minutes straight, and then when she arrived she snapped at me for forgetting to post a photo of myself with a protein shaker. It took about five seconds to rectify, and the brand didn’t even care that it was an hour later than I’d said.
We fall into a steady pattern of work, Kirra on the sofa today while I’m busy editing at the desk. Looking up to suggest a coffee break, the words evaporate as I take in my friend’s demeanor.
Shoulders slumped inward, Kirra stares right through her laptop screen. Her bloodshot eyes are glazed and unfocussed.Did she have bloodshot eyes this morning?The upward quirk of her lips has flattened into a single narrow line. Her phone lights up with a notification, but instead of immediately checking it Kirra just blinks slowly at the flashing screen until it goes dark. Frown lines etch on her forehead.
“Kirra?” I ask hesitantly, slowly standing. “Are you okay?”
At the sound of her name, Kirra jumps a little. Her eyes snap to mine, but nothing of my bright, positive assistant stares back. A hollow gaze reflects instead.
