Page 48 of Dirty Money
Aullie ended the call without so much as a goodbye. Her mind was elsewhere. On one hand, she thought her friend was moving way too fast. One the other, she wondered why she held back so much.
With a tickle to Bruce’s ear, she mumbled, “I’m a mess, kitty.”
He meowed and she was unsure if he was agreeing with her or trying to tell her she wasn’t such a mess. But she knew, deep inside, that she was. And Weston had tried to have an adult conversation with her about kids and she had laughed.
Like a child too young to understand adult relationships, she’d laughed when the man she loved tried to have a real conversation with her about what he wanted in his life.
What the hell was wrong with her?
“Peach, I have a meeting out of town. I’ll be gone for the night,” Weston told her over the phone as she made her way into work. She noticed a brand new Nissan Sentra in the employee parking area and figured it must belong to Brittany.
“Oh, okay. That’s alright, I have early classes tomorrow, anyway. I’ll miss you,” she told him. “And when we get together on Sunday I want to talk about that baby thing we were talking about last night. I’ve been thinking about all of that.”
“You do?” he sounded happy and more than a bit surprised. “I can’t wait!”
Odd sensations ran through her with his obvious excitement. “Want to tell me where you’re going?”
“I can’t. More of that business that it’s better you don’t know a thing about.”
“Are you a spy, West?” she asked with a giggle.
His silence had her giggle stopping. “Aulora of course, I’m not a spy. I just have to try to settle something. I’ll call you tomorrow when I get back.”
“And where is it you’re going?” she asked, beginning to feel odd about all his secrecy. Surely, she could know the town he was going to.
“Los Angeles,” he said. “I’ll call you tomorrow. Love you, peach.”
“Love you too,” she said then ended the call.
Something about it all was unsettling. What was in L.A. and why did it come up all of a sudden?
Brittany met her at the door and pointed out her new car. “Did you see it, Aullie?”
“I did,” she said as she gave her a smile. “It’s a great looking car. And I’m sure you enjoyed the heat that your old car didn’t have.”
“Boy, did I!” she said as she gazed out at her new car then closed the door. “Julio took mine in trade. That POS is history.”
“And now you have payments, huh?” Aullie asked as she made her way to the back area to take off her bulky coat and put on her waitress gear.
She nodded. “They’re really low, though. I can afford them. Not that I have to. Julio said he’ll pay them for me.”
“And the full coverage insurance too?” Aullie asked, feeling that green monster rising inside of her.
“You seem kind of, oh what’s the word, bitchy! Yeah, that’s it. Bitchy!” Brittany turned on her heel and walked away from Aullie.
Aullie stopped and thought about running after her and apologizing for her behavior. She knew she was wrong to be taking her own petty jealousies out on her friend.
Weston had offered her a car to use. She’s the one who turned it down. He’d offered her to come live in his mansion. She was solely responsible for turning that down too. So, why was she mad that her friend didn’t take the road she had?
Going into the back, she heard Eric’s annoying voice talking on the phone to corporate, she supposed. He was using words like bottom line and costs of inventory. She was quiet when she put her things away but somehow, he’d heard her.
When he got off the phone, he called out to her.
“I need you to come here, Aullie.”
With a silent sigh, she put on her apron and went to see what the little troll could possibly want. “Yes, Eric?” She stepped into his office.
He looked at her for a moment then said. “I’m making you an assistant manager. Corporate is pleased with your work and they told me to give you the position. It means you’ll be on salary and I’ll need you to be here more hours than you usually are. Starting tomorrow, you’ll be coming in at four and staying until one. I’ll be here until eight then the bar will be yours to handle. Great, huh?”
