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.Archie came up behind me and put a hand on my back, “Why don’t you take a break, grab yourself a cup of coffee and take a seat at the counter." He winked and started sweeping up the fragments into a dustpan and disposing of them in the back.I took a deep breath and let it all out.No matter how good my life was now, I could never ever get rid of the gruesome memories of my past.I did what was suggested and plopped myself down on one of the barstools and placed my head in my hands.I couldn’t quit, accepting defeat wasn’t an option.Pate wouldn’t win.I had almost everything I needed here.I was getting my life in order and soon it would be complete.I had Mike, but what the hell were we? He was without a doubt my best friend, but I longed for more.Sometimes I would think that I would see little glimpses of hope for the two of us, but I didn’t know if the feeling was mutually reciprocated.I heard a set of bags being sat down beside me and the relentless chatter of a male and female.I knew that females voice.I perked up to see Tessa Monroe sitting next to me.“Sheridan, I was hoping you would be here! I caught wind from Brock that you worked here now." She had just started ignoring the guy who was with her, which I hadn’t recalled ever seeing.But evidently he wasn’t one to be ignored.“Ahem," he said stepping in between Tessa and myself and extending his hand in my direction.“Excuse, Tessa sometimes I think she was born in a barn," which earned him a shove in the shoulder and a scoff coming from Tessa.He rolled his eyes in her direction and continued on, “I’m Toby Morgan, and you are absolutely gorgeous."I instantly felt the color rise in my cheeks at his abrupt forwardness.“Oh, Toby get a grip." Tessa looked at me, “Don’t worry he wasn’t hitting on you, he’s gay.And besides," she focused her attention to Toby, “even if you weren’t, she’s with Mike."“I’m not with Mike, I just sleep with him.No, I meant I sleep in his spare bedroom at his house." I just needed to quit before I kept digging my hole even deeper.“Uh huh.Don’t be ashamed of it girl.If I had a big bad secretive man like Mike, I would be telling everyone that I met on the streets.That boy is fine," Toby quipped.My first impression of him was that he seemed like such a diva.I could almost imagine him snapping his fingers and bobbing his head.“Oh, I almost forgot," Tessa retrieved one of the plastic sacks from the floor and pulled out a cake mix box and plopped it on the counter in front of me.“Look!"I looked at Toby and then back at Tessa.Was I missing something here?“Um yeah, it’s a cake mix." I started looking the other way, and then at my imaginary watch, I was thinking that it was almost time for me to be getting back to work.“No, silly.Its cupcake mix! When Emmalynne had her baby, I tried and tried to find cupcake mix so I could make some cupcakes while she was in the hospital.Everyone freaking looked at me like I was stupid because I didn’t realize that I needed cake mix.Well boom! Now what! I found cupcake mix!" She shouted as if she were super proud of herself.I didn’t know what to think.“Right! I’m so happy for you," I tried not to let my sarcasm show, but it was a lost cause.Toby grabbed me by my shoulder and gave me a half hug, “I like you, you need to hang with us sometime.Or better yet, I need to get the band together and put on a show at Emmy Lou’s.Say you’ll come if I do! It’s been so long since The Nation’s Capital has performed, I’m sure Mike is itching to play again."I faintly remembered Mike stating that he played drums for a band, but he never really talked about it much.It sounded like fun to me, seeing Mike beat on a drum kit with his sticks.There I went with my sexual innuendos.Oh boy.“Sure! I’d love to come!"Toby jumped up and down clapping his hands, “Oh, yay! I’ll get everything situated.Come along Tessa, let’s not keep Sheridan from her work anymore." He said it almost like chop chop.Wow, there were some fun characters around here.It was finally seven pm and I was done for the day.Mike had texted me earlier saying that he would be at the garage working on my car so I thought it would be nice to bring him a plate of meatloaf from The Diner that he loved so much.I walked out of The Diner and into the cool summer night air.It was dark enough to see the red neon lights illuminating in the night and the sky was clear enough to see every single star.It was breathtaking.I never really had the time to stop and look at the stars, there were an infinite amount and could be seen for miles.I wish life would always be this simple.The first thing I did was take down the pins that held up my hair, freeing it from the tight confines of the twist that it was styled in.I ran my fingers through it separating my now curly locks.Taking my time walking the couple minutes to the garage, I wondered what it would really be like if I was with Mike.He had been attentive and caring already, I just think he would end up stepping it up a notch.I really longed to feel his lips pressed against mine, I bet I would even see fireworks.Oh, but all the wishing and hoping in the world couldn’t change the ultimate outcome.Mike and I couldn’t be together plain and simple, it just wouldn’t work out.We both wanted different things in life.I walked into the brightly lit garage which heavily smelled of grease and hard work.Justin Timberlake’s newest single “Not A Bad Thing" was currently playing on the old boom box.I walked past my car, trailing my hand down it as I went to search for Mike.I didn’t have to look too hard, he was currently bent over under the hood of my Monte Carlo with a droplight hanging from the edge of the hood so it would be easier for him to see.He looked so sexy deep in thought with his old hat perched on top of his head.“Hey," I softly said.I didn’t want to startle him, he was so fixated on what he was working on that he hadn’t even heard me approach.He let out a brief sigh and pushed himself up off of the front of my car and started getting things ready so he could close the hood.“Hey Sheridan, I was getting ready to pack up for the night."“Well, I knew that you said that you’d be working here for a while so I brought you meatloaf from The Diner." I held up the white sack so he could see.He took the sack containing his to go box and sat it on top of the rolling toolbox that was stationed right next to him.He leaned against it and crossed his arms.“Thanks, what’s wrong?"I had no idea how he could tell anything was wrong, but I couldn’t really keep it from him since he knew about my past with Pate.I scooted myself to where I was sitting on the hood of my car, my legs dangling off the edge.“My hand gave out on me this morning, dropping an entire plate of pancakes all over the floor.I was brought back into the kitchen with Pate hoping that he wouldn’t be mad, but knowing that he was fuming inside.Wanda and Archie had to calm me down.I was so embarrassed." I looked down to my hands where I was fiddling with my fingers, “When will it end? When will I finally not feel trapped by him?"I could feel the tears wanting to well up in my eyes again and I tried so hard to will them away.I felt Mike’s fingertips on my knees as he spread my legs apart so he could step in between them.I could feel my entire body hum at the anticipation of his gentle touches.He took a hand and placed it underneath my chin and raised my head which caused me to look up into his eyes.The tenderness that was gleaming in his eyes made my heart skip a beat.He took his free hand and gently brushed back the unruly tendrils of hair that wanted to hang in my face.“Sheridan, you have to give it time.You’ll get there, I promise.And I promise that you are undoubtedly safe with me, always [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]