“God, are you serious? No. Absolutely not,” I said, resolute. “I’ve had liars in my life before, Joe. No. I can’t. I’m going home.”
He visibly sagged.
“Sucks that you’re having issues being the jerk in this situation. But that’s not my problem.”
No response.
“Excuse me. I need to go to the bathroom.” Time to go splash some water on my face. Pull myself together. Only when I pushed back in my seat and stood, the whole world whited out, spinning in dizzy circles. My muscles weakened and suddenly gravity was not my friend.
“Shit. Alex.”
A strong hand gripped my arm, keeping me from keeling over. Already up and out of his chair, Joe guided me back down into my seat. Maybe going nowhere was best. Yeah, I’d just hang. No doubt this would all pass in a minute.
“You’re gray,” said Joe, kneeling at my feet.
“Actually, I don’t feel particularly great.” In fact, if there’d been anything in my stomach, I’d have probably thrown up all over him. Ha. What a statement that would have made. Only then, I’d feel bad because he was being so sweet and all.
Coffee cups clattered on the table.
“Is she okay?” the waitress asked Joe.
“You mind grabbing her some water, Jess?”
“Sure.”
I heard swift footsteps. The growl of a motorcycle passing by outside.
“Maybe I caught some bug on the plane yesterday,” I said, pondering my shit condition. The only swooning women I knew came out of Georgette Heyer novels. I wasn’t the fainting type. “This seems a bit worse than a stuffy nose.”
“You nearly passed out just now. You can’t fly in this condition.”
“Shit.” I groaned on the inside. “I guess not. Perhaps I’ll see if I can extend my stay at the hotel.”
“And who’s going to look after you?” he asked.
“I don’t need someone looking after me.”
“Hey,” he said, forehead furrowed all stern-like. “You could have fallen and seriously hurt yourself just now. Hit your head or something.”
“Joe…”
A glass of ice water was thrust in front of me.
“Thanks,” I mumbled to the waitress.
“Jess, we’ll take it all to go,” ordered the man before turning back to me. “I better stick with you.”
Oh, hell no.
“Please don’t take this the wrong way, because you’re being very kind. But one polite attempt at breakfast isn’t about to undo months of betrayal. Anyway, I don’t think I could relax with you watching me in a small hotel room, friend or not.” I blew my nose and thought deep thoughts. Or as deep a thought as my muddled, hurting head would allow. “Some cold and flu drugs and I’ll be fine. I’ll just sleep it off. By tomorrow it’ll probably be gone.”
“I’ll take you back to the hotel, then I’ll go get whatever you want from the pharmacy,” he said, as if the decision had been made. “I won’t be hovering over you, promise.”
I winced. “Joe…”
“Alex, you’re sick.”
“Really? I hadn’t noticed. Thanks so much for pointing that out.”
“And in a bad mood. But fair enough, you’ve got reason to be.” He placed his warm hand atop mine, gently stroking with the side of his thumb. Trying to lull me into submission or something. I didn’t have the energy to care.
“I pulled some crap with you that was wrong,” he said. “But right now, you look terrible. You should be in bed. Why don’t you crash and allow me to go get whatever you need from the drugstore then drop it back at the hotel? I can leave it at the front desk. You won’t even have to see me.”
“That’s a really kind offer, but—”
“But nothing,” he said. “C’mon, I’m here. I want to help. Give me a chance to show you I’m not a total asshole.”
His offer did sound good. Extremely good. I didn’t even care that he’d dissed my mood and said I looked like crap. The word bed floated before me like a beautiful, impossible dream.
“You’ve got time?” I sniffed. “You don’t have to be at work or something?”
“No.” He shook his head. “It’s all good. And later if you decide you need anything else or want to go to the doctor I can organize that, no problem. You could just text me or something.”
Heavy sigh. “Are you sure?”
His beard framed a confident smile. “I’m sure.”
Even heavier sigh. “Okay.”
“Good.”
“I’m only staying for one more night, though,” I clarified.
“Okay.”
I managed a feeble smile.
Maybe he wasn’t such a bad guy, despite all the lying. It didn’t matter. I’d given this thing between us a chance and it had blown up in my face. Whatever kind of man Joe Collins might be, tomorrow I was going home where all was safe and sound. Home where I belonged.
CHAPTER FOUR
Message received five months ago:
Hi Alex,
Thanks for your reply and sorry about the silence. My trip to Seattle’s off for now, but it’d be great to keep in touch. How’s your graphic design business doing? I see you’re interested in renovation. Been doing some work stripping parts of the restaurant back to original fittings and raw brick lately while also trying to maintain some of the original 70’s/80’s fixtures. Not much else happening right now. Seen any good bands lately? Live music scene here dies off in winter but the summer’s really active. My best to your squirrel friend Marty. I’d add some joke about keeping nuts warm, but it’d probably just make things awkward. We don’t know each other nearly well enough for that.;)
Eric
Message sent:
Shit. I probably shouldn’t have added that nuts bit. Hope I haven’t offended you.
Eric
Message sent:
Hahaha. No worries, Eric. I’m not that delicate a petal. Would love to keep in touch. Your renovation project sounds awesome, can you shoot me some photos when you get a chance? How old is the building you’re working on? Business has been crazy busy which is great. Lots of branding for new businesses mostly, business cards etc. No plans to head out but I just downloaded the Soviet X-Ray Record Club’s latest. Enjoying that. I’ll be sure to pass on your regards to Marty and his nuts next time I see him.
Alex
Someone had called Thor.
It was the only explanation my befuddled mind could come up with for the almighty pounding upon my door. Thor and his mighty hammer. Goddamn god of thunder. I’d been fast asleep, completely unconscious.
I struggled to sit up. And I do mean struggled.
Upon returning to the hotel, Joe had pretty much taken over. My booties and coat were removed from my body and I was put to bed. The man took my tucking-in seriously. He’d fixed the top sheet and blanket across me so tightly, I almost needed the Jaws of Life to escape. Almost.
“Coming,” I attempted to bellow when the hammering continued. What came out, however, was more of a wheeze, as if I’d been involved in an amateur sword swallowing contest. My throat was annihilated and my head didn’t feel much better. Oddly enough, the room was dark. Completely dark. No sunlight snuck around the curtain edges or anything. Only the dim line of light from the hallway showed beneath the door.