just dropping me off?”
“Yeah, I have to be at work at eleven thirty. And I think Jay wants me putting in a few hours at the bar after I’m done at the garage.”
“Okay.” I get up and rinse my bowl in the sink. I rush to the bathroom to straighten myself up a bit and grab my shoes from the room. Eventually, we make it out the door after ten minutes, and I’m glad to sit down again. My headache calmed down slightly after I ate, but it’s slowly building back up again. I close my eyes most of the ride to Jaylen’s house.
Malcolm keeps the conversation light by just telling me that he’s going to pick me up from Jaylen’s house after work. He also tells me that Jaylen won’t be off till six tonight, but then has to go pick up Angela. So I should have plenty of time to shower, take a nap, and leave before the both of them get home.
“I’m going to get you once I finish up at the garage. I’ll pick you up around four,” he explains for what seems like the hundredth time.
“Okay.” I hope Jaylen has some aspirin.
We pull up to Jaylen’s apartment, and I say good-bye to Malcolm, when I hear a jingle. “You’re gonna need these,” Malcolm says, jingling Jaylen’s spare key.
Smiling, I take the key, thank him, and head toward the building. Malcolm doesn’t pull away until I’m completely inside, and once I am he speeds off toward the freeway. When I reach his apartment door on the second floor, I stick the key in. I close the front door behind me and turn on the lights. The living room is messier than I left it last night, and I consider cleaning it before I remember that touching one thing will give Angela the incentive she needs to start sniffing around.
I walk straight to the guest room I stayed in. The room is exactly how I left it last night except my clothes are nicely stacked on top of the bed ready to be packed up, thanks to Jaylen. I shove all my old clothes in my duffle bag, including the ones I’m wearing, and leave out a clean pair of blue jeans shorts, underwear, and a white tank top. I leave those clothes on the bed and walk across the hallway to the shower. I’m already naked at this point, so I just turn the water on and get in. I let the shower be an antidote for my headache, and I instantly start to feel better. Maybe it’s the steam or the massaging beats of water pounding my aching body, but whatever it is it’s lifting my spirits.
I stay in the shower another forty-five minutes before dragging myself out. I wrap myself in a towel preparing to dry off in my room, when the doorbell rings. My towel falls, and I have to bend over to pick it up. That’s when I notice how badly my hands are shaking. Who the hell is at the door? I think about my cell phone in the bedroom and wonder if someone called to warn me they were coming home early or if Malcolm needed something. I run out of the bathroom and back into my room and shut the door. The doorbell rings again. I figure I can at least peek through the peephole. It can’t be Jaylen or Angela because they would have a key. I’m thinking it could be Malcolm, because I couldn’t hear my phone from the shower if he had called. I take a deep breath and get dressed fast.
I’m about to open the door, when the visitor starts banging like it’s raining hellfire. I want to swing the door open and yell at the person to stop, but I don’t know who it is. I stretch up on my toes and look through the peephole. My heart stops. I should have known it was Chris.
PART TWO
Jaylen
Chapter 11
I’m sitting at my desk in the back office of my bar and have just finished my financial reports for the week, when my phone rings.
“Yo, what’s up?” I ask Malcolm.
He sounds out of breath. “Hey, man. I’m tied up with this car that’s got this leaking problem I’m trying to fix. I might not be done in time. You might need to scoop Jess up early and drop her off at my place for me before you go get Angela from work.”
“Damn
“Yeah, I have to be at work at eleven thirty. And I think Jay wants me putting in a few hours at the bar after I’m done at the garage.”
“Okay.” I get up and rinse my bowl in the sink. I rush to the bathroom to straighten myself up a bit and grab my shoes from the room. Eventually, we make it out the door after ten minutes, and I’m glad to sit down again. My headache calmed down slightly after I ate, but it’s slowly building back up again. I close my eyes most of the ride to Jaylen’s house.
Malcolm keeps the conversation light by just telling me that he’s going to pick me up from Jaylen’s house after work. He also tells me that Jaylen won’t be off till six tonight, but then has to go pick up Angela. So I should have plenty of time to shower, take a nap, and leave before the both of them get home.
“I’m going to get you once I finish up at the garage. I’ll pick you up around four,” he explains for what seems like the hundredth time.
“Okay.” I hope Jaylen has some aspirin.
We pull up to Jaylen’s apartment, and I say good-bye to Malcolm, when I hear a jingle. “You’re gonna need these,” Malcolm says, jingling Jaylen’s spare key.
Smiling, I take the key, thank him, and head toward the building. Malcolm doesn’t pull away until I’m completely inside, and once I am he speeds off toward the freeway. When I reach his apartment door on the second floor, I stick the key in. I close the front door behind me and turn on the lights. The living room is messier than I left it last night, and I consider cleaning it before I remember that touching one thing will give Angela the incentive she needs to start sniffing around.
I walk straight to the guest room I stayed in. The room is exactly how I left it last night except my clothes are nicely stacked on top of the bed ready to be packed up, thanks to Jaylen. I shove all my old clothes in my duffle bag, including the ones I’m wearing, and leave out a clean pair of blue jeans shorts, underwear, and a white tank top. I leave those clothes on the bed and walk across the hallway to the shower. I’m already naked at this point, so I just turn the water on and get in. I let the shower be an antidote for my headache, and I instantly start to feel better. Maybe it’s the steam or the massaging beats of water pounding my aching body, but whatever it is it’s lifting my spirits.
I stay in the shower another forty-five minutes before dragging myself out. I wrap myself in a towel preparing to dry off in my room, when the doorbell rings. My towel falls, and I have to bend over to pick it up. That’s when I notice how badly my hands are shaking. Who the hell is at the door? I think about my cell phone in the bedroom and wonder if someone called to warn me they were coming home early or if Malcolm needed something. I run out of the bathroom and back into my room and shut the door. The doorbell rings again. I figure I can at least peek through the peephole. It can’t be Jaylen or Angela because they would have a key. I’m thinking it could be Malcolm, because I couldn’t hear my phone from the shower if he had called. I take a deep breath and get dressed fast.
I’m about to open the door, when the visitor starts banging like it’s raining hellfire. I want to swing the door open and yell at the person to stop, but I don’t know who it is. I stretch up on my toes and look through the peephole. My heart stops. I should have known it was Chris.
PART TWO
Jaylen
Chapter 11
I’m sitting at my desk in the back office of my bar and have just finished my financial reports for the week, when my phone rings.
“Yo, what’s up?” I ask Malcolm.
He sounds out of breath. “Hey, man. I’m tied up with this car that’s got this leaking problem I’m trying to fix. I might not be done in time. You might need to scoop Jess up early and drop her off at my place for me before you go get Angela from work.”
“Damn
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