Page 3 of Served
CRASH
“Watch it!” Jason barked at me as his bus tray went flying.
“Well shit, you’re right by the ladies’ room. Did it occur toyouto watch out?” I snipped. I looked down at the tray on the floor and realized glass had shattered everywhere.
“Just,” he tossed his head back and grumbled, “don’t move. The last thing I need is to haul you off to the ER because you got glass in your foot.”
I stood as instructed. Not because he told me to, really, but because I had on sandals and didn’t want a shard of glass jammed in my foot.
Jason came back with a broom and dustpan and in my drunken stupor I reached out to help.
“I got it, just stay put,” he snapped at me. I rolled my eyes but stood still as he swept around me. When he finally cleaned up the glass, I started to walk away but he grabbed my arm, and I whipped my head around fast to demand that he release me, but he spoke up first thanks to my slow reaction time.
“Just wait, you’re not walking alone in that state,” he said gruffly.
It was a serious demand, but I didn’t care for his tone. However, I was pretty wobbly, and I was certain he could outrun me, so I waited where I was and nodded in agreement. I made sure to exude major attitude while I did, though. He let me go and quickly walked to the kitchen, slamming the door open as he flew threw it.
I heard Jaz yell she was out for the night, and Jason yelled from the kitchen back to her to be safe. She looked back as I poked my head around the corner and she smiled at me, so I waved awkwardly. I then realized Jason and I were the last two people in the building once she walked out. But almost on cue, as Jaz walked out, he came barging from the kitchen with keys in his hand and his Brave’s baseball cap on. He rushed past me, but the hat and my excessive alcohol content made me briefly forget he was such a jerk and I stood there imagining how his stocky frame would feel hovering over me. He turned halfway to the door and waved me to the front with an annoyed look on his face.There it was.The lapse in judgement had passed so I walked through the empty club and out the door.
I stood on the sidewalk as he locked up then he started walking in the direction of my apartment, so I followed.
“Do you live this way?” I asked. I was curious why he was insistent on walking me but figured it wasn’t out of his way.
“I live around here. But I know where your apartment is because Amy invited me over a while back. Not that you noticed”
What the hell?
“What is your problem exactly?” He didn’t answer and had walked ahead so I caught up to him to rant. “You know, I can walk myself so if you don’t need to be in this direction you can go. Damn.” Why did he have to be so, just, ugh all the time?
“I’m walking you home and that’s not a request,” he said without looking over at me.
It was quiet besides a few cars driving past occasionally and the lack of noise was driving me insane.
“So, do you have a girlfriend,” I paused and considered not asking the next part, but my drunk brain decided to go for it, “or maybe a boyfriend?”
He chuckled a little but didn’t seem offended, at least not about the boyfriend question.
“So now you want to know about me?” He asked. He didn’t answer my question, though. I let out a huge obvious sigh. I had never met a more stubborn mule than this man. I decided against any further chatting since he clearly wasn’t interested in talking to me.
After the longest ten-minute walk of my entire adult life, we made it to my apartment, and I pulled my keys from my bag. Of course, as I did, the music for the audition came flying out and started blowing away. I let out a dramatic ‘nooooooooo’ and stood frozen watching in horror since I had no way to print more. But while my legs were firmly planted and it all seemed to be happening in slow motion as I watched the papers swirl down the sidewalk, Jason was chasing them, waving his arms like a kid trying to catch bubbles.
He successfully grabbed most of the pages, but one flew down the sidewalk and landed so he trotted down and grabbed it. In the commotion his hat had flown off his head near me, so once I saw he rescued the pages and my body was no longer in freeze mode, I reached down and grabbed it. As I pulled it close, I couldn’t help but notice the scent on his hat. It was a mix of bar smells, sweat, but also a rugged manly scent like tobacco with vanilla notes. I’d never been close enough to smell him, but damn if it wasn’t enjoyable and matched his demeanor.
I may have been making a fool of myself, but I was too drunk to care, so once I was upright again, I held the hat up to my face and took a whiff. The combination of smells as I watched him walking back to me with my music firm in his grasp made me suddenly jealous of the papers.
“Thanks for grabbing my hat. Here,” he said as he quickly reached for his hat and shoved my papers at me. I was imagining one of those large hands with my shirt in a ball while the other was pulling me against him.
“Well, I assume you can find your way up now. See ya at the club tomorrow.” He started to walk away. I looked around and realized we were at my building.
“Wait, you want me to come see you tomorrow?” I asked with a school-girl hope in my voice.
He stopped for a minute then turned and walked back toward me. My heart started racing and I found myself backed against the building as he walked up close. Close enough to smell his cologne which was much stronger on him than his hat. I knew he was hot, but it was a new level of hot this close and he seemed even bigger than I always thought as he towered over me. He came in closer, and I found I couldn’t back up anymore as I felt his body heat and was breathing in his scent. He leaned against the building with his arm straight and his palm next to my head against the building.
He was staring down at me with a different look on his face. Not his normal scowl, but still intense. I held my breath unsure of what he was about to say, or do. His eyes were beautiful up close, dark but with flecks of gold. They seemed softer than usual as he looked down at me. My heart was fluttering. He was just inches from me and suddenly I felt my lips barely fall open in anticipation…of what I wasn’t sure. Okay that was a lie, I wanted to know what his lips felt like on mine.
“You’re coming for your audition tomorrow, and I work there,” he said casually.
I stomped my foot with a loud huff-and-puff as I pushed him out of the way. As I turned to go into the apartment complex, he followed me and grabbed my arm.
