Page 5 of Valentine Dare

3

Brent

Trent was just aboutto finish his shift and wait for me. I had one hour to complete, and we only had the use of one car. I was out in the garden serving when Craig, the son of the owner of the club, pulled me over to the side. He was a jerk, like all of the rich snobs, and had a job here - to make our lives miserable. He was working here not by choice but some deal he had with his dad. I didn’t know the details but then again, I didn’t fucking care.

“Look, tell her to leave. She’s scaring the guests!” he blurted out as he waved in the direction of Jenny.

Scaring the guests? How?

“She’s just on the phone. I wouldn’t exactly call that scaring the guests.”

He pulled me closer to him, and I jerked my arm out of his grasp.

“I told you, don’t touch me!”

It wasn’t the first time that he’d manhandled me. He may be the owner’s son, but it didn’t mean I had to take shit from him.

“Well, if you know what's good for you and want to keep this job, get rid of her!” he barked, and before I could respond he moved his oversized body from me. There was nothing attractive about Craig, from his love handles - which I never knew men could possess - to his pizza face, he had so many zits. As for his breath, why the fuck did it always stink of garlic? He complained his weight stopped him from attracting women, but it was the fact that he was as ugly on the outside as he was in the inside.

I sighed as I moved toward Jenny and saw her crying once again. Damn, she had enough tears today to fill up a damn swimming pool. Then again, who could blame her? Having her dad arrested, photos of her online which clearly were taken privately and her mom walking out on her - to say she had a shit day was a bit of an understatement.

She looked up as I approached her.

“Here. Here’s your phone.”

I shook my head. “No, it’s Trent’s. I’m Brent.”

She nodded. “Sure, of course. Sorry, I thought you were your brother.”

A mix up which happens all the time, which is why I tended to wear my hair longer and sometimes mom called me the hippy of the family. Trent wore it short and Prent was in between.

“Sorry,” she apologized again.

My eyes darted across the garden to make sure Craig was nowhere in sight. I hated the guy, but there was no denying I needed the job at least until the summer was over then I’ll be out of here just like Trent. Prent operates a little bit more on principles. He hates the country club and all it represents, so he prefered flipping burgers at Wendy’s and being in the kitchen. Also, he said he loved working and serving real people, as he elegantly put it.

“Stop apologizing. You’ve had a rough day.”

I pulled up a chair next to her and sat down.

“What happened?”

“Well, when I spoke to my aunt, she told me she didn’t want the press or anyone else hassling her, and then she hung up. She didn’t even wait for me to explain that I had no where to live. She just wasn’t interested, at all.”

That was rough. Not only had Kurt dumped her, but it seemed like everyone else had too. I remembered Trent told me there was an uncle as well.

“And your uncle?”

She sighed. “He said call him back in two days and we’ll talk. He is not even in the country. He said he couldn’t do anything till he got back.”

“Where is he?”

“Barbados. He’s my dad’s brother so I don’t know if he’ll help. My aunt is my mom’s sister, and as you saw, along with everyone else, how my mom reacted, it’s not exactly a surprise her sister would do the same.”

I just couldn’t understand it all.

“Did you tell them you couldn’t go home and you had nowhere to stay?”

This time she said nothing as her lips were firmly shut and she simply nodded.

“Right, Trent’s right then. You’ll have to come stay with us.”

“What?”

“Jenny, you have nowhere to stay, no money, and I’m kinda disgusted about the way your family and even your boyfriend’s treating you so there’s no two ways around it. Trent finishes his shift soon, so you can go and wait by our car. It’s the …”

“Red station wagon. I know.”

I hesitated for a minute, wondering how she knew which car we drove. Sure, it wasn’t a secret, but just weird she would take note of such things. She stood up, just in time for Creepy Craig, as the girls like to call him, to make an appearance. He nodded and showed off his yellow teeth; he really needed to get them cleaned. I didn’t return his smile as Jenny handed me Trent’s phone and walked to the parking lot. I had to fill my brother in and tell him I’d agreed with him about letting Jenny stay. He would probably be happy that for once, just once, I actually agreed with him.

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