to prove? I sounded desperate, and she’d noticed. She frowned at me, as if she were about to call me out on it.
“You already bought me coffee,” she said instead, as if I was an idiot.
“That was different.”
“You don’t have to take me out to dinner.”
“I know, but I want to.”
“Why?”
Because I wanted to make it up to her. I couldn’t leave it like that, God only knew what she must think of me. I needed to salvage this. I needed to prove to her that I wasn’t the asshole she probably thought I was, despite what she said to my face.
None of this came out of my mouth, though.
“You apologised, I accepted,” she said tersely. “Let’s just leave it at that, okay?”
I didn’t want to leave it at that, but she didn’t give me much choice. She walked over to her car and left me standing there, watching her. She placed both cups of coffee on the roof of her car, then opened the door and loaded them into the centre console. Helpless to stop her, I watched her drive out of the parking lot and out onto the main road.
Chapter Eight
“It’s only in uncertainty that we’re naked and alive.”
– Peter Gabriel
Callum
I went to the diner every morning for the rest of the week, at the same time, but not once did I bump into Sass again. I convinced myself that she was avoiding me, and I couldn’t blame her for that, but I wasn’t quite ready to give up yet either. It wasn’t the first time my mouth had gotten me into trouble, and I doubted it would be the last. If I had to live in the dog-house, at least I was familiar with the décor.
Regardless, I was desperate to redeem myself. It was true, I had a big mouth, I drank too much and I wasn’t averse to throwing a punch if I thought the situation warranted it. I was a lot of things, but I wasn’t the kind of asshole who would say something stupid like that and then walk away, never to see her again. I didn’t have a lot in the way of self-respect, but I was determined to keep the little I did have, if I could help it.
My stubborn streak usually worked against me, but this time I was determined that it could work in my favour instead.
Friday night found me at Jack and Ally’s place, as usual. It was opening night at The Church. Possibly my chance to make things right with Sass. Possibly the night I would crash and burn at her feet. Only the universe would know which one it was going to be.
I sat in the living room with Jack, while Ally helped Maggie with some kind of wardrobe malfunction in the bedroom. I’d never understood a woman’s obsession with clothes. Throw on a shirt and some jeans and be done with it. But no, apparently this was a ‘crisis’, to use Maggie’s word. Didn’t look like a crisis to me – looked like a shirt with a stain on the front of it. Apparently, I was ‘clueless’. It’d been fifteen minutes, and we were still waiting.
Jack handed me another beer and fell back into the couch across from me.
“They still in there?” he asked, indicating the bedroom with his bottle.
“Yep.”
“What the hell, dude?”
“No freakin’ idea.”
“Hey!” he called behind him. “Put a shirt on and let’s get out of here! We’re gonna miss happy hour!”
I had to admire his tact.
“Five minutes!” Ally called through the closed door. “And we’re not missing anything, don’t panic!”
“Jesus,” I mumbled.
“Tell me about it.”
I took a swig of beer and got comfortable. Five minutes in chick speak was half an hour. Everyone knew that.
“So, what’s new?” Jack asked.
“Nothin’. All work and no play makes for a crappy Facebook status.”
“You need to take a break from work then. Take a few days off.”
Yeah, like that’d happen. We were busy enough with one mechanic down, I sure as hell wasn’t going to ask for time off. Bill would have another heart attack, and as much as he was driving me crazy lately, I didn’t want to be responsible for that.
“I know, I know.
“You already bought me coffee,” she said instead, as if I was an idiot.
“That was different.”
“You don’t have to take me out to dinner.”
“I know, but I want to.”
“Why?”
Because I wanted to make it up to her. I couldn’t leave it like that, God only knew what she must think of me. I needed to salvage this. I needed to prove to her that I wasn’t the asshole she probably thought I was, despite what she said to my face.
None of this came out of my mouth, though.
“You apologised, I accepted,” she said tersely. “Let’s just leave it at that, okay?”
I didn’t want to leave it at that, but she didn’t give me much choice. She walked over to her car and left me standing there, watching her. She placed both cups of coffee on the roof of her car, then opened the door and loaded them into the centre console. Helpless to stop her, I watched her drive out of the parking lot and out onto the main road.
Chapter Eight
“It’s only in uncertainty that we’re naked and alive.”
– Peter Gabriel
Callum
I went to the diner every morning for the rest of the week, at the same time, but not once did I bump into Sass again. I convinced myself that she was avoiding me, and I couldn’t blame her for that, but I wasn’t quite ready to give up yet either. It wasn’t the first time my mouth had gotten me into trouble, and I doubted it would be the last. If I had to live in the dog-house, at least I was familiar with the décor.
Regardless, I was desperate to redeem myself. It was true, I had a big mouth, I drank too much and I wasn’t averse to throwing a punch if I thought the situation warranted it. I was a lot of things, but I wasn’t the kind of asshole who would say something stupid like that and then walk away, never to see her again. I didn’t have a lot in the way of self-respect, but I was determined to keep the little I did have, if I could help it.
My stubborn streak usually worked against me, but this time I was determined that it could work in my favour instead.
Friday night found me at Jack and Ally’s place, as usual. It was opening night at The Church. Possibly my chance to make things right with Sass. Possibly the night I would crash and burn at her feet. Only the universe would know which one it was going to be.
I sat in the living room with Jack, while Ally helped Maggie with some kind of wardrobe malfunction in the bedroom. I’d never understood a woman’s obsession with clothes. Throw on a shirt and some jeans and be done with it. But no, apparently this was a ‘crisis’, to use Maggie’s word. Didn’t look like a crisis to me – looked like a shirt with a stain on the front of it. Apparently, I was ‘clueless’. It’d been fifteen minutes, and we were still waiting.
Jack handed me another beer and fell back into the couch across from me.
“They still in there?” he asked, indicating the bedroom with his bottle.
“Yep.”
“What the hell, dude?”
“No freakin’ idea.”
“Hey!” he called behind him. “Put a shirt on and let’s get out of here! We’re gonna miss happy hour!”
I had to admire his tact.
“Five minutes!” Ally called through the closed door. “And we’re not missing anything, don’t panic!”
“Jesus,” I mumbled.
“Tell me about it.”
I took a swig of beer and got comfortable. Five minutes in chick speak was half an hour. Everyone knew that.
“So, what’s new?” Jack asked.
“Nothin’. All work and no play makes for a crappy Facebook status.”
“You need to take a break from work then. Take a few days off.”
Yeah, like that’d happen. We were busy enough with one mechanic down, I sure as hell wasn’t going to ask for time off. Bill would have another heart attack, and as much as he was driving me crazy lately, I didn’t want to be responsible for that.
“I know, I know.
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