Aaron smiled and wiped the salad dressing from the sides of his mouth with a napkin before he spoke.
“Aw man, you know it was on the level. I took this girl home with me last night and whew…” He shook his head and grinned.
Josh heard a groan, and he looked to see Paula roll her eyes. “Are you really going to talk about your pathetic sex life?” she complained.
Derek frowned. “That’s what we do. We eat a huge lunch and listen to Aaron tell us about his pathetic sex life. You didn’t have to come you know.”
Derek was slightly shorter than Josh, but built similar to him in muscle mass. Derek had black wavy hair and dark blue eyes. Derek didn’t have a problem getting women as well, but unlike Aaron, he wasn’t trying to make it a career.
“Paula, I told you it wasn’t a good idea that you come, but you wanted to, so this is what you get,” Josh told her and then looked at Aaron.
“Seriously, Aaron, I can’t understand how you can go out as much as you do and still manage to get to work,” Josh said.
“It’s a skill, Jay, it’s a skill.” Michael grunted and Paula rolled her eyes. “Hey, you’re new in town. You’ve been working nonstop. Why don’t you come with us one night?”
Paula looked frantically. “You don’t want to go out with these clowns do you? I mean, I can only imagine what type of women they meet.”
Amused Josh shook his head. “I think I might actually.”
Aaron leaned forward, “Man, I tell you, Jay, there are so many hot chicks dying for a man to fuck them senseless, it’s unreal.”
“So I guess you leave them high and dry so there should be more for us then,” Michael said.
“Ha–Ha, very funny. I tell you I’ve had no complaints where the bedroom is concerned. Just ask Lynette from Marketing.” The shocked looks from Derek, Michael and even Paula had Josh wanting to ask about Lynette, but he didn’t and Aaron added, “Anyway, Jay, you’ll have a great time with us, trust me. You’ll be able to just take your pick.”
Paula stabbed at her salad while Josh stifled a laugh. Aaron and Michael started to talk more about the different women they have met and what Josh could expect the girls to be like around town. They ended up making plans for this Saturday night, and Aaron told him he’d text him where to be on Saturday.
Josh felt his phone vibrate on his hip, and it was a call he’d been waiting to receive.
He excused himself from the table and replied into the phone, “It’s about fucking time. I left you a message, hours ago.”
“Yeah, I know, I couldn’t get away… I can now, which is why I’m calling you. What’s up?” the caller replied.
“I need you to look into someone for me,” Josh responded and looked at Paula.
“All right. Shoot,” the caller said, and as Josh turned his back from Paula he explained exactly what he needed.
Paula watched the men talk animatedly about hanging out, and just as she was about to say something else, an idea popped in her head and she smiled. She looked at Josh. There was no way she was going to let any skank bitch take what’s hers. You’re mine, Joshua Cooper. You’re mine.
Chapter 4
Kenya
Friday night I sat in front of my television not really looking at the baseball game. Actually, it was watching me. I was sipping on my third shot of tequila, trying to relax my nerves. Today was rough for me all around. I had a nightmare in the middle of the day, something that never happens to me, when I took a nap before my shift at Finn’s. Therefore, when I got to work, I was on edge. It seemed every time I turned around, I felt unsafe. I was so paranoid and nervous that Milo sent me packing early.
Since I’ve been home, I’ve been sitting here trying to understand what’s going on with me, and I’ve come to one conclusion: Josh. I threw my head back, accepting the brown liquid, and letting the burn hit my esophagus and poured more. It seemed that lying to myself had become a thing. I sought to convince myself that I was bad news for Josh.
I knew for a fact I couldn’t forget about him though, and there lies my problem. I couldn’t put a finger on it, but there was something about him that brought my thoughts to him every second of every day. It was weird, and maybe I needed my head examined, but I wanted to find out what was drawing me to him… if only I could bury the fear.
Ever since our breakfast date on Saturday I’ve seen him. He stopped by Sara’s to get coffee after his run, and I even sat with him for a little while and talked to him. Every time I saw his face I couldn’t help but light up, and that was freaking me out.
I was so messed up. My life was in disarray and unstable. I was constantly freaking out, wondering if this will be the day my past catches up with me. My life wasn’t safe, and I had no right bringing anyone into my messed up world. I shouldn’t have gotten close to the people I’d met already, I know, but I couldn’t help it… with Josh though, I can.
I heard a knock on my front door, and I stretched from my couch to see outside my window. I’m located on the first floor of my building, and my living room window faced the front. One great security feature about this building was you had to get through two doors in order to enter into the building before you could even get to my apartment door. The windows are high up from the ground floor, which is another added security feature. You really have to be tall in order to get into my windows. My apartment building was a three story structure with six total units; two on each level. They are about the same size with hardwood floors throughout the apartments.
I smiled at the sight of Joy and sauntered, or stumbled, to the front of the building to let her in.
“Hey you… Missing this place already?” I asked her.
She just recently moved into another building and was no longer my cross–the–hall neighbor.
Joy kissed my cheek and walked past me.
“Did you get a new neighbor yet?”
I shook my head as I locked the doors behind her.
“Nope not yet… What are you doing here, by the way?”
Joy walked into my apartment and went straight to my kitchen and grabbed herself a glass and a bag of Tostitos Restaurant Style chips and a jar of salsa from my cabinet.
“Well, I’m coming to check on you. Milo said he sent you home tonight…”
I grunted and plopped down on my couch. “Really? He called you on your day off so you could come all this way to check on me?”
Joy poured some Tequila in her glass and sat next to me.
“Well, it seems he made the right decision. You only drink Tequila when something is bothering you. So yes, he called me because he’s worried. So chica, what’s up?”
I shrugged. “Nothing, I’m fine…”
It was Joy’s turn to grunt. “Yeah, save that for someone else. I know you girl, so spill…”
I took a deep breath, took my glass to the head and I finally told her about Josh, how we met, what he looks like, which I spent a lot of time on, and the fact that he asked me out and I’m beginning to have second thoughts. Joy remained quiet while I talked. She just double dipped in the salsa and drank her tequila. Even when I was done and I looked at her expectantly and she didn’t say a word, she just stared at me…
“Are you going to say something?” I asked her, feeling really uneasy under her scrutiny.
“First, I’m pissed at you that you held that from me for this long. And…” her voice grew softer, “you’re still having those awful nightmares.”
I shook my head. “I didn’t say I was having nightmares.”
She looked at me incredulously. “Come on, Summer, I was your neighbor, remember? I know once you wake up from one of your nightmares, you can’t go back to sleep. And I bet when you went running, it was right after the sun kissed the sky.”
I didn’t reply, and she honestly didn’t need me to.
Joy has witnessed my frights of night terrors on multiple occasions. There were times she would hear me scream through the walls I was so loud and wouldn’t stop banging on my door until I opened it. She would barge in my apartment with her nine millimeter in hand checking my apartment. She did it every single time she would hear me for fear if one day she didn’t that would be the day… I even gave her a key to my apartment because I feared the same thing.
“Summer, I think it’s great you are getting out there,” she told me.
I shook my head. “That’s just it, I don’t think I can. My world is crazy right now, and I don’t think it’s fair for me to bring Josh into this. Don’t you think?”
She watched me closely for a minute and then reached for more chips.
She said to me, “I want to hold off on my opinion for a minute. If you don’t want to see him again or he isn’t what you want, why don’t you tell him?”
“I can’t. I’m too afraid to,” I said to her.
She narrowed her eyes at me. “Why are you scared of him? Did he do something to you; threaten you?”
I shook my head, “Oh no… nothing like that, Joy, seriously. I don’t mean he scares me like that. It’s…” I wracked my brain trying to figure out the best way to explain it without sounding like a complete idiot. I was okay with sounding like a semi–idiot but a total and complete one was crossing the line.