Page 52 of She Likes It, Hey Micah
“You’re telling me you’re going to throw me out into the storm because I haven’t paid you?” he snarls.
“I’m telling you I don’t work here and you’re lucky your bus got stuck where it did or you would be freezing to death right now. If you don’t want a couch to sleep on tonight, that’s fine by me, but your other option is the floor. It’s your choice.”
“You’ll be lucky if you ever work here again,” he tells me, waving his phone in my face.
“Oh no. What will I do.”
“Fischer?” Micah comes up to my side, her eyebrows pulled low. “What seems to be the problem?”
Immediately, the man’s expression softens as he takes her in. “Your colleague seems confused about the sleeping arrangements,” he says without a trace of the animosity he was giving me.
Though she glances at me, Micah keeps most of her focus on my new friend. “I’m sorry to hear that. Is there a different couch that would suit you better? They’re all quite comfortable, and I would imagine anything is better than sleeping on a bus, right? Where were you heading before the storm sent you to us?”
He splutters, probably overwhelmed by her sweetness. “Uh, California. San Jose, for my mother’s eightieth birthday.”
“Oh no, you’re not going to miss it, are you? I wish we could do more than offer you some warmth while you’re stuck here. She must be so worried about you!”
He turns slightly red. “Uh, no, I have a couple of days before…” Then he turns and heads for his assigned couch, frowning at his feet.
I touch Micah’s arm. “Thanks. He was being…” My words fade away when she wanders off without looking at me. Did I do something wrong? I guess I could have been nicer. “Micah?”
I only make it two steps before a young woman steps in my path, her smile hesitant beneath her doe eyes. “Hey,” she says as she tucks some of her blonde hair behind her ear. “Thanks for all of this. I know you guys aren’t actually open, but we would have been dead if we stayed in the bus.”
“No problem.” Except it is a problem because every time I try to shift so I can keep an eye on Micah, who is now talking to a couple of men who look like they’re in their twenties and absolutely into her, the woman moves in my way. I’m too tired and too frazzled to deal with this right now. “Did you need something?”
Her smile changes into something flirtier, which immediately puts me even more on edge. “Oh, my friend and I just wanted to see if we could do anything to help. You look pretty stressed. I’m Alice, by the way.” She reaches out and runs her fingers down my forearm.
My body goes on high alert, and not in a good way. It feels like pins and needles running along my skin, spreading up my arm and into my chest until my heart rate kicks up higher. I tuck my arms behind my back, trying to rub the feel of her touch off on the polo I’m wearing. It isn’t working, and I dig my nails into my palms instead. “I think you’d be better off just setting up camp where you can,” I mumble and head in the opposite direction of Micah because it’s the only direction I can go.
Finding Kenny on one of the couches, I resist the urge to pace in front of him as I ask, “Was there anything else useful in the closet?”
He shakes his head. “I think everyone should be able to manage just fine.”
I’m rubbing my arm.Stop that. You’re fine.Stuffing my hands into my pants pockets, I search the room to see what I can do. I need a distraction.
Not that distraction. Micah is now talking to my admirer, both of them all smiles. If they become friends, there’s nothing to keep Alice from making another move and making my skin crawl. “What are you doing out here on a couch?” I ask Kenny without taking my eyes from Micah.
“Gave up my room. I figure some of these people need it more than I do.”
Good for him. There is no way I can sacrifice a bit of peace and solitude after all of this. Not if I want to be at all functional tomorrow.
A hand grabs my shoulder, and I flinch, nearly throwing a fist as I turn to face whichever nightmare wants my attention now. “Grant!” I croak.
He squints, probably hungover at this point. “What is going on here, Price?” Only, his language is a lot more colorful than that, with a few choice words thrown in there. He’s clearly livid and ready to start shouting, so I put a hand on his shoulder in return. The gesture is as foreign to him as it is to me, based on the way he frowns at my fingers, and that’s probably the only reason he listens when I explain.
“The storm got too bad for us to safely leave,” I tell him. “The power went out about half an hour ago, and a bus got stuck in the snow just down the road.”
Grunting, Grant shifts away from my hold and wavers a bit. Is he seriously still drunk? Just how much did he have? “I hope they’re prepared to pay for all of the cleanup this will entail.”
The people closest to us murmur too quietly for me to understand what they’re saying specifically, but they definitely aren’t impressed with my boss. If Grant isn’t careful, he’s going to sink this reopening before it even happens.
“Think of the publicity,” I say as quietly as I can. I can feel several pairs of ears listening, so I nudge Grant to the edge of the room. “You could be a hero who saved a few dozen lives tonight by charitably welcoming everyone into the lodge.”
He snorts. “A hero?”
Based on the smell of his breath, there’s a chance he had some alcohol on him somewhere and consumed it more recently than I would like. Something tells me he’s not even going to remember this conversation tomorrow.
“Let’s get you to bed,” I tell him and lead him back to the bedroom he was occupying earlier.
