Page 38 of Creep

The intensity of his gaze had my skin prickling with awareness. I felt clumsy and awkward and self-conscious under his scrutiny, nearly running into a chair and tripping over my own feet. My face flamed at that, wondering why he was being so persistent. Would he want someone more graceful, someone who had her life figured out and not working at a coffee shop simply because she didn’t know what to do? Someone… in his league.

Like Victoria?

The thought left a bitter taste behind, and I schooled my expression, hoping my disgust didn’t show.

No, not like Victoria. Because if he dated my friend, and I had to witness that…

Yeah, waterboarding sounded less painful.

I let out a small sigh of relief when he finally got up and threw his coffee away. He walked out the door, but not before glancing back, his eyes promising me he hadn’t given up. A part of me wished he would. The other part was kind of glad he hadn’t.

I hated the contradictory emotions I was feeling.

The rest of my shift went by much quicker now that Mael was no longer here and watching me. I was the first to be cut, and I all but ran out of there and straight to my car.

The air was chilly tonight, and I quickly started my car and turned on the heat. I let my eyes roam over the surroundings. I loved this coffee shop, mostly because of the location.

It was close enough to the city that we still got visitors here and there, but it was far away enough that most of the city lights didn’t penetrate through. I could see the stars from my front windshield, making me feel like I was sitting in a snow globe, safe from anything and everything bad in the world.

I didn’t have a bad childhood, but it was also one with a hurt brother I didn’t know how to help. Mostly, it left me feeling off-balance, and there was a part of me that craved to feel like this.

Like I was really in a snow globe, safe and sound from it all.

I shook my head at the thought. I didn’t even know why I was sounding so… fanciful.

Mael coming here had messed with me, I decided, leaving me feelingdisconcertedfor most of the day.

I grabbed my phone to turn on my music playlist when I realized the screen had turned dark.

The battery was dead.

And I didn’t have a charger with me.

Just my luck.

What kind of day was this?

I turned on the radio instead and pulled out of the parking lot, heading home.

I was only halfway there when I heard a bad sound.

A very bad sound that I had heard only once before in my life.

“Oh, no. No, no, no. This can’t be happening,” I muttered as I pulled the car to a stop on the side of the road in the middle of fucking nowhere, and the city lights all but a small distance I could see with my eyes.

I got out of the car and looked around it, finding the flat tire on my left rear wheel.

What kind of luck was this?

I bit on the inside of my cheek, trying hard not to scream. That wouldn’t do me any good.

I had options, didn’t I?

One, I could wait for a car to drive by and risk asking a complete stranger for help, not knowing if they would help or harm me.

Two, I could wait for some of the baristas at the coffee shop to be cut from their shift, drive this way back to the city, and ask them for help. But that could be hours from now.

Three, I could use the pay phone I passed just a minute ago and call the only number I have memorized by heart, aside from my own.

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