Ahead of the Darkness (12 page)

“You sure know how to ruin a girl’s fun.”

“The wee prick has been staring at ye the whole time.”

“He has?” I turned to look, and sure enough he was, with a bashful sort of grin on his face.

“Dinnae look! Ye’ll give him the wrong idea.”

“Which is?”

“That yer interested.” He said it as if it as if I were daft for asking.

“Oh, I’m not?” I kept a straight face, but I was laughing on the inside as Drew scowled at me.

“Ye cannae be serious. He’s a wee bairn.”

“Oh I don’t know, he could just look young for his age.” He had the face of a twelve year old, but I was too entertained by Drew to stop.

“I thought ye preferred—” He cleared his throat and continued, his voice sounding deeper. “—the more manly type.” It took everything I had to keep a straight face and not burst out laughing.

“I don’t know. What is it they say about the younger, the more eager to please?” I had to bite my lip this time as Drew’s eyes went wide, but before he could respond our wee waiter was back.

“Can I get you anything else?” He directed the question at me, and me alone.
Uh-oh.

“No,
merci
.” I smiled a little too sweetly and Drew’s expression darken.

“Aye, I’m fine, too.” The waiter didn’t notice Drew’s scorn, and walked off with a big smile on his face.

“Don’t be an arse. It’s not his fault he finds me irresistible.” I couldn’t help but laugh.

Drew mumbled something incoherent to himself, looking less than pleased, and dug into his lunch. I inspected my baguette to find it was full of brie and took a huge bite, moaning in pure bliss. It was heaven. Drew quirked his lip as he watched me devoured half of my baguette before he took one bite.

“Can you stop watching me eat? It’s ... off-putting.”

“Ye seem to be doing alright. It’s good, aye?” I nodded, continuing to devour it. “It’s nice to see ye eating, even if it is less than ladylike, but don’t stop. Ye’ll put off the wee lad.” I frowned and slowed down. I hadn’t been eating that fast. “So, ye do fancy the boy?”

“What?”
Ohhh
. “Do you think I really turned him off?”

Drew grumbled some more. “No. He’s still got that daft look on his face.”

A devious plan came to mind.

“Will you give him this for me?” I scrounged through my bag to find a piece of paper and pen. Drew watched, desperately trying to read the note I quickly scribbled out. I folded it up and handed it to him. “Here, pretend you’re going to the bathroom. Don’t be obvious.”

Drew’s eyes widened as looked at me incredulously, but after a pause, took the note without a word and left the table. I schooled my expression when he turned back to me with an odd expression on his face. He looked almost ... hurt? I chewed on my bottom lip.

My brilliant plan seemed to be about to blow up in my face. I had been counting on Drew reading the note, and not giving it to the boy. What I hadn’t counted on was Drew being a gentleman and handing him the note.
Oh God!
Drew continued on to the bathroom after he paused to slip the waiter my note. I felt like a complete twat, and had no idea how to recover from this.

I held my breath, waiting for Drew to head back to the table. I couldn’t look at either of them for fear of what I would find. My heart raced at a mile a minute.
Shit!

“I couldnae do it.” I jumped as Drew reappeared.

“What do you mean?”

Drew slipped me the piece of paper I had written on. I looked at Drew’s forlorn expression. I was dumbfounded, but recovered quickly to laugh. I didn’t know what else to do. I slid Drew the piece of paper as he looked at me like I’d just gone mad.

“Read it.” He frowned at me, but took the note and opened it.

You’re an idiot. I don’t want the boy.

He looked at me a little confused, but his eyes were smiling. I was forgiven.

“Wait, what did you slip him?”

He looked at me sheepishly. “I tipped him ... and ... thanked him for being so nice to my girl.”

My mouth dropped open in shock.
He didn’t?
He did. “You’re crazy.”

“Aye, pot.”

“Pot?”

“Aye. Pot calling the kettle black. Ye know ye’re crazy, too.”

“I was just having a little fun. You’re always scaring me, or laughing at me.” I shrugged. It was well and truly my turn.

“Fair call. Ye ready?” I looked at my empty plate. I hadn’t even realised I’d eaten it all.

“I’m not going to be able to move after that. It’s possibly not the best idea to go to the gym. I’d be likely to puke.”

“Ye’ll be fine. We can work on weights instead of running.”
What?
He got up and headed to the register.

“What, where are you going? Drew, you’re not paying, here.” I tried to hand him my share, but he shooed me off.

“My girl cannae pay. What kind of man would I be?” He winked, and walked off.

“The kind that isn’t mine,” I muttered to no one in particular.

“
Merci, au revoir
,” I said goodbye to our waiter as Drew finished paying and walked up, putting his arm around my shoulders.

“Aye, thanks mate.”

I put my hand around his waist and pinched his sided as we walked out. “You’re such a shit.”

He chuckled. “That’s going to leave a mark.”

I elbowed him, ducking out from under his arm. “You could have at least given the boy some false hope. Wouldn’t the
what if
be better than disappointment?”

“I dinnae know. Do you do the
what if
a lot?” He looked at me intently, and I bit my lip in thought.

“I stopped living in the past a long time ago.
What if
is just that, I guess: living in the past, because you wished your future could have been different.”

It seemed to be human nature to want what you couldn’t have, to dream about what it could have been like, but
what if
only ever hurt more than the truth. I looked at Drew from the corner of my eye to see him also deep in thought, and we walked back to the car in a heavy silence.

It seemed neither one of us really felt like going to the gym after that. I made some poor excuse about needing to buy some food before the shops closed, and Drew didn’t protest.

“We can sort out the cocktail list later. Wednesday night, aye?”

“Okay.” We pulled up out the front of Drew’s apartment building and exited the car. “Thank you for lunch. It was ... delicious.”
And weird.

“Aye, anytime.” And with that, we parted ways, Drew heading up to his apartment, and I headed off down the street. I turned back to find Drew watching me with a strange expression on his face but it was gone in an instant, replace by a small smile as he entered the building.

I spent the next few hours wandering around the supermarket aimlessly, wondering what all of that was about, more confused than ever.

––––––––

I
didn’t go to the gym the next day, or for the rest of the week. It was stupid, I know but I really didn’t want to bump into Drew, and it would have been just my luck that I would. But I was already restless ...

“What’s troubling you, dear?” I looked up from the bowl of cereal I’d been pushing around for the past twenty minutes.

“I guess I’m not hungry.” I got up from the table and dumped the soggy mess into the bin.

“Tea, dear?”

“Please.” Anne turned on the kettle, and I sat watching her prepare the cups.

“Not working today?”

“How did you know I had a job?”

“I ran into an old friend of my late husband, Angus?”
Ahhh.
“He was telling me all about how this lovely new girl had wowed the locals with her impressive cocktail-making at this bar called ...

“... Cascade’s.”

“Yes, that’s it. Gave the young man who owns the place a run for his money, he said. Angus was very taken with you, dear.”
Oh¸ joy.
Anne sounded like that wasn’t an easy feat.

“Does everyone know everyone here?” I couldn’t help thinking the town was becoming smaller every day. So much for blending in.

“Well, no. There are a few different circles. You just happened to have involved yourself in the biggest one. How are you liking the job?”

“It’s okay. There isn’t a lot of choice around here, and I’ve worked in bar before, so it’s easy enough.”

“That is true, not a lot of choice for someone your age. What do you have planned for today, then?” Anne places my tea in front of me, and seated herself on the other side of the island bench.

“I’m not really sure. What does one do here?” I hadn’t seen anything of interest other than the gym, which I currently couldn’t attend.

“When the weather isn’t so bleak, the water is rather pleasant.”
Pass.
I wrinkled my nose and she smiled. “There is a local picture theatre at the other end of town, and also a library if you like to read.” I smiled and finished off my tea. “How about I drop you off on my way?”

“Oh. I can walk, the fresh air will do me some good, I think. Thank you for the tea.” I smiled, and left Anne to finish hers.

––––––––

T
he library became my new favourite place to waste away the day. It wasn’t very big, but I’d found a little corner I could occupy for a few hours undisturbed. There was also a cosy coffee shop a few doors down. It wasn’t as good as Maria’s, but I was less likely to run into Drew, and that made it infinitesimally better. I spent most of, if not all, my free time there over the week as I continued to avoid Drew outside of work and, consequently, the gym.

Work.
I wished I didn’t have to go to the stupid club and considered getting a new job, only briefly. The nights had been uneventful so I put up with having to see Drew every night. Funnily enough, Mac seemed to leave me alone, mostly, and I couldn’t help but wonder if it was because Drew did the same thing. He was always polite, of course, but that in itself I felt was out of character and frustrated me more. He didn’t seem to go out of his way to avoid me, he just hadn’t been his normally playful self—not with me, at least. Jules, on the other hand, took it upon himself to make up for it, going out of his way to try and make me laugh. He seemed more than willing to make up for Drew’s lack of presence around the club, but he fell short. The end of the week came and he still hadn’t managed to make me laugh, only eliciting the occasional eye roll.

“Mi, you need a little fun. Say, what are ya up to the morrow then?”

“I, ah, what?” I was a little thrown.

“A few of us are going to the beach. Ya should come?”

“Tomorrow? Won’t it be too cold” I couldn’t swim, but I wasn’t about to tell Jules that.

“Nah, it'll be twenty-three tomorrow, that's almost summer weather.” He laughed. “Well, at the moment it's just my sister, Georgie, and her boyfriend. We could make it a double date.” He wiggled his eyebrows at me.

Drew inadvertently saved me. “What's this, then? Ye all going to the beach without me?” We turned to see Drew standing in the doorway of his office, and I couldn’t help but wonder how long he’d been watching the exchange between Jules and I.

“Like you'd let me get Mia half naked without ya. I was just waiting for you. Keen, then?” Drew looked at me with a raise of his eyebrow.
What did that mean?

––––––––

“I
t's settled. See ya all after lunch. Oh, and bring some bevvies.” He walked off, muttering about needing a date. I turned in time to catch Drew's smirk of satisfaction and frowned at him.

“Right, best get the cozzy out, then.”

“What was that about?”

“I’ve nae idea what ye’re talking about.”

“Don’t play daft. It doesn’t suit you.” He chuckled lightly.

“He fancies ye, like.”

“Jules? No he doesn’t, he’s just friendly. Friendlier than most.” He didn’t seem to notice the implication.

“Aye, too friendly. He knows the policy, mind.”

“Your policy?”

“Aye, well, no. The club’s policy.”

“Oh, so it’s the club’s policy now? So, by the club’s policy, Jules can’t be friendly with me, but you can take me to lunch, which ended up being completely non work-related, and pretend I was your ‘girl’?”
Not to mention the shower/towel incident, not that I’d been thinking about that all week
...

“Aye, that was for the wee lad’s benefit. Ye were getting his hopes up for naught.”

“You’re barking mad. That’s some hypocrisy, right there.”

“I’m the boss.” He shrugged as if to say
what are you going to do about it?
“I’ll pick ye up around noon, then?”

“What? Why?”

“For the beach. Ye cannae back out now. Jules will be right disappointed.” I couldn’t work out why he was being so, busy.

“I’m not going.”

“Ye just told Jules you were.”

“I did no such thing. I don’t even own any bathers, and your double standards are giving me whiplash. I’ll be in no fit state to swim.”

“What do ye mean, ye don't own any?”

“I lived inland. I didn't swim.”
Much. At all. Ever ...

“Ye cannae swim?”

“Yes. Well, no.”
Damn it.

“Aye, well, we’ll have to do something about that, then.”

“I'll just sit on the beach and, ah, sunbathe. Wait, I’m not going.”

“Aye, ye could, but Jules would pick ye up and throw ye in, fully-clothed and all. The wee prick.”

“Even more reason not to go.”

“I’ll pick ye up and take you early, teach ye how to swim. It's not hard, like. Just wear shorts and a T-shirt. Then, I'll drop ye off so ye can shop for some swimmers. Problem solved.”

“I’m not going.”

“Aye, ye are. I cannae go by myself now.”

“We can’t go together.”
What the hell?

“I’m just picking ye up. Ye don’t drive, remember?”

“No, I’ll just meet you there.”

“No, I’ll pick ye up. Ye do remember yer address, aye?”
Son of a ...

“Real funny. What time, Drew?”

“Let's see, ye’ll need some beauty sleep, so how bout eight o'clock?”
I might just drown him
.