Save Riley(2)
He nodded, as he shoved half of his food back into the bag and got to his feet. He leaned down for his backpack and slung it over his shoulder.
“I’ll throw that stuff away for you,” he offered grabbing my plate and empty plastic cup.
“Thanks,” I said gratefully.
I ran off and put the magazines away before I made my way quickly back to the break room to drop my purse off. I went back to the customer service desk and punched in. I took a deep breath before I turned around to help the waiting customer when I laughed.
“How can I help you?” I asked my victim.
“If you had to recommend one book, any book in the store, what would it be?” he asked with a sexy grin.
I crossed my arms over my chest and stared at him for a moment. I couldn’t tell where he was from so that was a bargaining chip.
“Tell me where one comes from with such an accent and I’ll see what I can do,” I replied a little flirtatiously.
“New South Wales,” he replied with a laugh. “I’m Jaxton,” he said extending his hand.
I shook it quickly before I turned my attention to the computer to look up the bestselling books in the store.
“No, don’t be conventional,” he said after he leaned over to see what I was doing. “What would you read?”
I moved my hands away from the keyboard and motioned for him to follow me. We walked past the romance section, the fiction section, and the teen section, arriving in Sci-Fi.
“Take your pick,” I said, making a sweeping gesture with my arm.
He looked at the shelves before he turned his attention back to me, “You know what I think, Ms. Riley? I think you’re lying to me right now. I think you brought me to the Sci-Fi section because you think that I look like a Sci-Fi kind of person.”
The way his eyes became so serious and his voice became very quiet was unnerving. I don’t know why, but it was and I didn’t know what to do or say in that moment because he was right.
“Now, tell me the truth. What would you read?” he asked stepping a little closer to me.
“Riley are you okay?”
I glanced to my left and saw one of the managers standing there looking at us rather curiously. I nodded and she gave Jaxton a stern look before walking away and leaving us there.
“Riley dial 247 at your convenience please,” came the announcement over the PA system.
I reached for the phone that was in my side pocket and dialed my manager.
“Hey,” I said when she answered.
“If you need to get away from him you can come to my office. I’ve been watching you guys on the camera and something doesn’t seem right about him,” she said.
“Okay. Sure, I’ll be right there,” I replied. “Sorry, I’ve got to run. My manager needs me,” I said to Jaxton apologetically.
I watched a small smile start to crease his beautifully full lips. He knows I’m lying again.
“I’ll see you around then,” he said with a nod as he walked toward the registers to pay for his books.
Two
I was sitting at home in the dark, with only the television illuminating the living room. I was eating a tuna fish and mayonnaise sandwich while watching reruns of The Twilight Zone. My favorite episode was on; Nick of Time. Luckily I had all of the episodes on DVD so I could watch them whenever I wanted.
That was my simple night time routine. To sit in my one bedroom apartment, eat a sandwich of sorts and watch The Twilight Zone.
I glanced at the clock next to the couch and sighed. It was nine fifteen p.m. and I wasn’t tired yet. Not that I had to go to work the next day, it was my day off, I just knew that tonight would be one of those nights where I would struggle to go to sleep and I’d be tired all day tomorrow because of it.
I finished my sandwich and cleaned up the coffee table of crumbs and cup ring marks before I turned off of the TV and went into my bedroom. I climbed into my bed, rolled onto my side and pulled the sheet up over my waist, and closed my eyes.
I opened my eyes again when my cell phone started to ring loudly. Guess I forgot to shut that off, I thought with a loud sigh. I closed my eyes when it stopped and angrily threw my sheet off when it happened again.
I stomped into the living room and leaned over the couch to retrieve it.
“Hello?” I barked into the phone.
“Sleeping were you?”
It was Jaxton. Not caring how he got my phone number at that particular moment, I went back into my bedroom and lay down on my bed. His accent was absolutely delicious and I didn’t mind talking to him for a little while.
“Trying, but then my phone rang,” I replied with a loud yawn.
“Should I let you go?” he asked.
I honestly thought about saying yes, but the way he made me feel earlier that day was enough to make me say no.