Page 31 of Falling for Nicole
“Well, ring technical support. I’m on a date, Dec.”
“I have, they’re not answering.”
“Well, you’re going to have to figure it out.”
“You don’t think I’ve tried?” He’s probably right. I can’t imagine he’d willingly ask for my help on anything.
“For fuck’s sake. You’re demanding I come look at it, aren’t you?”
“Or just tell me what to try over the phone,” he suggests, but I’m sure he knows just as well as I do that I don’t know the till well enough for that.
“Ugh, I’ll be there soon.”
I make use of my time in the toilet and when I’m washing my hands, my reflection catches my eye. I look up at myself, angry that my time with Chris has been nothing short of a disaster. Maybe it’s karma for thinking we weren’t clicking.
“I’m really sorry,” I say to Chris as I approach our table. “I’ve been called into work.”
His face drops a little but I can see he’s not all that disappointed.
“Here.” I hand him a couple of notes that should hopefully cover my half of the meal. He goes to argue and refuses to take them so I just place them on the table, thank him, and leave. There’s no point dragging out the pain of me abandoning him.
I jump in my car and focus on where I’m going to attempt to keep my frustration at bay. It’s bubbling just under the surface, threatening to break.
I pull the hand break, jolting the car to a stop behind the shack and jump out. In seconds I’m pulling the door open and marching past the customers, towards the till.
Ethan looks up as I approach and his face shows his surprise. “Nicole, what are you doing here? ”
Ignoring his question, I go straight for the issue at hand. “What’s up with the till?”
“Uh…nothing. It’s working fine for me.” To prove his point, he presses a button and the cash drawer pops out like it should.
“What the fuck?” I mutter to myself, but a thought slams into my head. “Is Declan here?”
“Yeah, I think he’s in the office.”
Anger races through me. I grind my teeth as I consider my options. The longer I think, the more my heart pounds. Each bang in my chest escalates my anger that little bit more.
“Give me a shot,” I bark at Ethan.
“Of what?”
“Whatever is closest.”
I watch him grab the bottle of vodka and begin pouring. “Keep going.” When he hands me the glass, there must be at least four shots in there.
The alcohol burns as it goes down and it only adds to my fire.
I slam the glass down on the bar. “Another.”
With the vodka warming my belly, I hop off the bar stool and march towards the office.
The door crashes back against the wall as I step in. Dec’s head flies up from whatever he was doing but he doesn’t look all that surprised to see me standing there. I slam the door shut once again, cutting us off from prying eyes out in the bar.
“What. The. Fuck?”
He doesn’t even have the fucking decency to look slightly guilty about dragging me here for no fucking reason.
“There’s nothing wrong with the fucking till,” I shout as I make my way towards him. I’m fairly sure he doesn’t hear a word of it because his eyes drop from mine and slowly take in my entire body. I feel his gaze burn a trail into me and it fucking pisses me off that all he does is sit there and ogle me.
