I rattle off my number as she enters it into her phone and we both stand to leave. As soon as I get home, I’ll write hers in my diary, just to make sure I have it and can never lose it.
We walk over to the cashier, and I feel completely mortified by the fact Shayne is buying my lunch. “We were that table,” Shayne says as she turns to indicate the booth we were sitting at.
“Oh, your check was taken care of,” the cheery young girl says.
Ice chills my blood, the hair on the arms instantly rise and I feel like I’m about to lose what I’ve eaten. Trent knows and he paid the bill, it’s his way of saying I’m in so much trouble. My heart is beating so fast, and I feel a tightness across my chest. Damn it, damn it, damn it.
“What? Who paid?” Shayne asks, but I already know the answer. I’m in for it tonight. He’s going to be so mad at me. He’s going to accuse me of stealing from his wallet, and he’s going to punish me.
“He didn’t say his name,” the girl replies. Her answer is even more frightening. Trent wants me to worry, and to anticipate what I’m going to cop when I get home. “But I gotta say, he was kinda cute.” Oh my God, Trent’s going to kill me. Not figuratively speaking, but actually kill me. “I could tell he was nervous, because he stuttered when he was talking to me.”
Wait.
Trent doesn’t know?
“How nice of him to pay for us. I wonder who he is, it would be nice to say thank you,” Shayne says. She pops a twenty in the tip jar, and winks at the girl.
And I’m left standing beside her, suddenly not nervous anymore. The giant rock tumbling around in my tummy disappears, and the barrage of explosive panic completely settles.
“He was sitting over there, in that corner, on his own. And he got up, looked over toward you two ladies and smiled. He then handed me a fifty, paid for himself and your check, and told me to keep the change. Really nice-looking guy, too.” She slightly blushes.
“Wow,” I say, taken aback by someone else’s generosity.
“Yeah, wow. And cool,” Shayne adds. “Come on, you’ve got to get back to work.” She goes to the door and I retreat the few steps back to the waitress.
“Did you say he stuttered?”
“Yeah, he did.”
I walk out of the café trying to understand why someone would do something so charitable and not want anything in return.
“How cool, never had someone buy my lunch before. Drinks, yeah, all the time when I go to clubs, but never a whole meal. Not like that.” She throws her thumb over her shoulder to indicate the café.
“Me either,” I reply honestly.
“Okay, well, you need to get to work and I have a husband who’s due home in two hours. Call me, Lily. And don’t wait to call me, call me tomorrow.” She hugs me, “I love you.” She kisses my cheek then whispers, “Pretty cool about lunch. Wish I knew who it was though.”
I hug her back and promise to call her.
For the rest of the night at work, I’m in a daze. A man, a mostly perfect stranger, paid for my meal.
But he’s not completely unknown.
He’s Max.
“Wake up!” Trent yells, then I feel something wet hit on my face. “Wake up!”
I sit up in bed and my face and some of my hair is drenched from the water Trent just threw on me. “I’m awake.” I wipe my face and get out of bed.
“We need to leave, the drive is going to be hectic.”
I look over at my alarm to see the time, and see it’s minutes before four in the morning. “I’m getting up now, Trent.”
“Get changed, and get my clothes ready while I go make myself a coffee.” He walks out of our bedroom and I hear him rattling around in the kitchen.
Going into the bathroom, I do my morning routine, and get changed. I get Trent’s clothes ready, and when I finish I go out to our tiny kitchen. Trent’s sitting at the head of the table stirring his coffee.
“Come here, babe,” he says grabbing me around the waist and sitting me on his lap. He pulls the sleeve of my sweater up and starts drawing circles on my bare skin. “Your skin is pretty.” He leans in to nuzzle my neck. “Really pretty.” He nips at the skin and then sucks it into his mouth. This is the most affection he’s shown me in a long time. I can’t remember the last time he’s been so attentive toward me. Closing my eyes, I relax into his frame and enjoy the small amount of attention he’s lavishing on me.
Suddenly, there’s a burning sensation on my arm, where Trent had pushed my sleeve up. He starts laughing against my throat and I try to move my arm away. Screaming, I open my eyes and try harder to yank my arm away. But Trent is holding my arm down with one of his big paws, and has the spoon from his coffee cup pressing into my skin.