He should stop calling me that. I’ll get used to it and expect to hear it from everyone, I thought wryly.
How is your morning going Mr. Jaxton?
Jax is fine. Better now.
Good.
No response. He wound up staying quiet for the better part of the day and I wound up lounging on my couch happily being lazy for that same amount of time. When he did finally respond it was with a request.
Ms. Riley, I’d like a picture of you please.
I raised an eyebrow and didn’t respond right away. That was starting to cross into weird territory again. I decided to be witty and see if he would go for it.
I’m pretty sure you can Google one.
It wouldn’t be the same silly girl.
As I read that message I realized that I couldn’t remember the last time besides my mother that someone wanted a picture of me, so I got up and went to the bedroom and stood in front of my full length mirror. I was wearing a white camisole top and black panties. As I stared at my reflection for a moment, I wondered if it would be crossing the line to send him a picture dressed like I was, but before I could ponder it any further I held up the phone, snapped the picture, and hit send.
To say I was nervous about his response would be an understatement. If anything, I really just wanted to throw the phone in the trash can and never look at it again, but my curiosity wouldn’t let me. Instead, I sat on the bed and stared at my messages like a woman obsessed wondering what he had to say.
But he didn’t respond. For the rest of the day and even when I went to bed, the phone never blinked again.
I woke up the next morning and took a shower before getting dressed for work. I wanted to scrub the “stupid” off of me for sending him that damn picture, but unfortunately I couldn’t. The only thing I could do was pray that that picture wouldn’t end up online somewhere.
I went into my room after I dried off and grabbed a loose light blue top and my black slacks. I slid on a pair of black ankle socks then reached under my bed for my light blue Mary Jane heels with bows on the side and gave myself a once over in the mirror. I ran my hands quickly through my hair and walked into the living room to grab my purse. Locking the door, I walked away from my apartment oblivious to the knowledge that my life was going to change forever.
Four
Work was fairly uneventful. I got stuck at the registers for my shift and spent most of my time looking up books on the computer. I had an evening shift and I didn’t realize it until I had arrived about six hours early, so I decided to go window shopping since I knew I didn’t have any money to spend. Then I went to eat some lunch, then I window shopped some more, then I came back to work.
I yawned and leaned against the shelves behind me as I waited for a customer, any customer, to bring something to the front so I could do something worthwhile. Instead, I saw one of my managers approaching the front with a very serious look on her face.
“Riley, come with me. Nancy is going to cover the rest of your shift,” Anya said.
I’m fired. I’m so fired.
Those were the only thoughts that ran through my head as I followed her back to the break room and into the manager’s office where she closed the door.
“Sit down,” she said softly.
I sat nervously on the edge of the seat across from her and started to wring my hands.
“Did I do something wrong?” I asked, my voice breaking.
“No. Riley, your mother called. Your grandmother just passed away,” she said gently.
I stared at her for a moment. Your grandmother just passed away. Did she really just say that?
“But ... She wasn’t sick,” I stammered.
“She had a heart attack.”
My body went numb as I tried to grasp onto the fact that my grandmother, one of my favorite people in the world, was dead.
“I have to go,” I said getting shakily to my feet.
“Of course,” Anya said. “Take some time off and let me know when you’re ready to come back. Your job will be waiting for you.”
I nodded and opened the door to the office. I went over to my purse and picked it up with shaky hands. Because I hadn’t zipped it I could see the light flashing inside. I fumbled for it and left the break room with tears blurring my vision.
I was hoping it was my mother but it turned out to be Jaxton.
Beautiful picture, Ms. Riley. I apologize for the delayed response.
I didn’t bother texting a response. I hit the small phone icon next to his name and listened to the phone ring. Once, twice, until he finally answered.
“Miss me did you?” he asked with a laugh.
“My grandmother just died,” I replied in a shaky voice as I pushed the doors open and walked out into the night air.
“What? Where are you?” he asked in concern.