“Do you want me to vacuum right now?”
“You can do it whenever,” I tell her as I twist the cap off the water bottle. “It’s fairly warm out today… I think I’ll write on the back deck.”
“Okay,” is all she says as she starts loading the dishwasher with the huge pile of plates and silverware I’ve accumulated.
I wait for her to say something more but she doesn’t, soundly ignoring me as I stand there. I don’t like it, and I don’t know what to do about it because I suck at normal conversation. When it’s clear that she’s not going to give me the time of day, I give a silent sigh and head back toward the stairs to grab my laptop.
Just as I hit the bottom step, I’m struck with inspiration and turn toward her. “I’d like to hire you for the full day tomorrow.”
Savannah jumps in surprise and turns to face me. “I’m sorry… I can’t. I have two houses plus a photo shoot to attend.”
“Cancel them,” I tell her. “I’ll pay you more than whatever they’re paying you.”
She huffs at my demand and turns back to the dishwasher. “Sorry, Gavin, but I can’t cancel. That would be unprofessional.”
“Who cares?” I throw out. “I’m paying you more than they would.”
“And, I’d probably lose those jobs for good, so that’s still not going to work for me,” she says with exasperation as she closes the dishwasher.
“Then I’ll hire you full time,” I say… maybe a tad too desperately.
She turns back to me with a bit of a softer look. “Um… no thanks. But what is it you needed me for tomorrow? Can it wait until Thursday as I can swing it that day?”
My brain fuzzes for a minute, because I have no clue why I’m hiring her. I don’t need a damn thing.
Think, Cooke. Think.
Finally, I blurt out, “I need to go to Raleigh to pick up a car I’m buying. I want you to drive me so I can work the entire time.”
F-u-u-u-ck.
Looks like I’m buying a damn car so I can spend a few hours with this woman.
“Seriously?” she asks. “Why can’t you just buy a car here?”
Fuck, oh fuck.
“Um… because they don’t sell the type of car that I want in this area. The closest dealership is Raleigh.”
I hope to God there’s a dealership that has foreign imports or something unusual in Raleigh, because I am so fucking flying by the seat of my pants at this point.
“Well, if you can do it Thursday, I’ll be glad to drive you,” she says and then starts scrubbing the counters.
“That works for me,” I tell her. “I’ll just go up now and call them to let them know I’ll be there Thursday instead.”
“Cool,” she says, never lifting her head to look up at me again.
Her indifference to me is pushing all my buttons, and I feel the insane need to get her attention. Except, the way that I want to get it is by stalking up to her and kissing her hard… maybe with my hand between her legs. But that won’t do, because it will send her scurrying like a frightened mouse, and I’m not ready to send her totally packing just yet.
So for now, I’ll have to bide my time and play according to the rules she’s silently laying out.
After I get back into my office, I quickly do a Google search and find there’s a Maserati and a Rolls Royce dealership in Raleigh, breathing a quick sigh of relief my impromptu trip didn’t get cancelled before it started. I unplug my laptop to take it outside to do some writing when my phone rings.
Pulling it out of my pocket, I see it’s my father calling and as much as I don’t want to talk to him, I know it’s probably important, so I answer.
“Hi, Dad,” I say as I connect.
“Gavin,” he says cautiously and I cringe, because his pain is my pain and I’ve had enough of both for now. “How have you been?”
“Fine. Good. Settled in and writing nicely. You?”
“I’m good,” he says, but his voice is sad. “We’re doing the best we can.”
I close my eyes against hurt and take a deep breath. “So, what’s up?”
My dad is silent for a moment, and then he clears his throat. “Listen… you got an offer on the house. It’s way more than what you’re asking for, so I accepted it.”
Pressure squeezes my chest, strangling every nerve, muscle, vein, and artery within. I open my mouth to tell my dad, That’s great. Awesome.
But not a fucking sound comes out.
“It will all be settled within the next month,” he continues, and I feel dizzy so I sit down in the squeaky office chair I haven’t been able to replace yet.