Page 74 of Shattered

“Mr. Brimley, please. I promise–”

“Seven days.” Mr. Brimley was more than upset.

She could tell he was absolutely pissed at how much of a disaster the night had been. Sam stole a quick look in Callum’s direction and in that moment realized that no matter what Mr. Brimley felt, he didn’t hold a candle to the amount of fury contorting Callum’s features just then.

“All your shifts are covered, andifI decide to let you come back, make sure you at least look like you’re trying.” Callum was breathing so hard she thought the buttons of his shirt might just burst open. “You looked like shit tonight–”

“That's enough, Mason,” Callum interjected as he stood to step between them.

Mr. Brimely looked up to Callum. “I’m sorry Mr. Barker, I should not have come in while you were working. I’ll take this to another room.”

Mr. Brimley stepped forward and forcibly grabbed Sam by the arm to yank her out of the office.

“Get your hands off her.” Callum all but threw the man backward as he pulled his hand from Sam’s arm. Mr. Brimley stumbled into the file cabinet behind him.

“Callum. Stop.” Sam reached up to place her hands on his chest, forcing him backward.

“Don’t ever fucking touch her again,” Callum seethed. His hands were already balled into fists, ready for the fight.

“Mr. Barker?” Mr. Brimley looked between them and then realization hit his features. Callum had pulled her into his arms, burying her face against his chest.

She couldn’t stop her chin from shaking. She wasn’t crying, thank God, but she felt as though her entire body was somehow detached from its current form.

“Go home, Mason. I’ll let you know when you can come back—ifI decide not to fire you.”

Mr. Brimley stood in that moment, shock and anger strewn across his face. “I didn’t take you for someone who slept with their employees,” he spat toward Callum and Sam knew that if he didn’t have her in his arms right then, Callum would have thrown Mr. Brimley to the ground.

“Get out!”Callum threw the venom-laced words at the man as he hurried from the room.

Callum clutched her tighter to his chest as if she was his anchor. She felt him lean down and bury his face within her curls and deeply breathe her in.

She didn’t know how long they stood there holding onto one another, but as the minutes ticked by, she felt a calmness encompass her. Even the email was momentarily forgotten as he rubbed her back.

“Did you just fire your main manager?” Sam asked incredulously as she finally pulled back to look up at him.

“I think so.” He raised his eyebrows.

“Callum! You can’t do that!” Sam gently pushed off of him and rubbed her hands across her face. They were friends and friends didn’t hold each other like that. “What are you going to do now?”

He shrugged. “I guess I'll be here a hell of a lot more until I find someone to replace him.”

“I can’t believe you just did that.” Sam stared at him in absolute shock.

“It was a long time coming.” He shook his head as he stepped closer to her and reached out a hand to brush away the curls that had fallen down from her bun. “I’m sorry if I scared you.” Callum rubbed a hand over his face, obviously distraught at the idea of causing her fear. “But when he put his hand on your arm, I just snapped.”

“You didn’t scare me.”

Callum swallowed and gave her a sad smile.

“You don’t have to tell me what happened, but I know something is up.”

“It’s nothing,” she lied.

He eyed her more directly. “You don’t have to tell me what happened,” he quickly repeated, “but I’m here for you if you need me.”

She buried her face in her hands then. Her muscles were tense as she tried to hold back the tears that were threatening to overflow. When he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in tight, the dam broke free.

Sam sobbed into his chest. This was now the second time she caused his shirt to become soaked at work. Third if you count their trip to Social. She couldn’t explain it, but in that moment, she felt nothing but safe and accepted in his arms. It took a few minutes for the tears to dry up, and by that point she had somehow ended up on his lap with her head on his shoulder. She peered over to the clock on the wall. It was now past 11 p.m., an hour after closing, and she assumed they were most likely the only ones left inside.

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