Page 20 of 2204 Hunter Lane
He laughed and shook my hand, keeping one half of his body outside the doorway while the other half leaned in.
“Cramer,” he smiled, retreating to his standard position. “So you’re goin’ to be helping out around here?”
I nodded a yes before clearing my throat. “That’s the plan. But I’m going to be doing more behind the scenes work, I think. Advertisements and stuff, you know, garnering notice for the store.”
He tilted his head in bewilderment, looking me up and down with a curious stare. “Alright, where’d you come from?”
I let out a chuckle. “What do you mean?”
“Like, where you from, Marley? Cause it sure doesn’t look like you’re from around here.”
I glanced down at my silk white dress shirt and pearl necklace, playing with the golden ring on my pointer from Piaget. It was my grandmother’s before she passed away and all her stuff came with a hefty price tag. But no matter how much money I needed, I couldn’t bring myself to selling the possessions she left behind. She was more a parental figure to me than my actual mother, and I was going to remember her as such.
“What gave it away?” I teased, knowing damn well it was my choice in attire.
One thing I’ve come to learn about Nebraska was the difference in style. It wasn’t a bad thing at all. In fact, I admired the way people didn’t care much about what designer bag to wear on their Sunday strolls. I just always felt a little out of place walking around with my NYC getup, but in a way, my clothes were a little piece of home.
Todd travelled a lot when he won the million dollar jackpot three years ago so he never really spent time here by choice after the fact. That was up until he decided to sexually fraternize with his ex-girlfriend.Yet another man I’d feed to an apex predator with no remorse.
“You uh,” Cramer voice pulled me back into reality. “You okay there? Lookin’ a little flustered.”
I felt my cheeks heat at the realization of my harboured anger, something I truly had to deal with. I’d purposely left my phone at Payton’s to avoid any incoming messages from Todd. That man was the reason I was in this freaking –No, no stop it Marley. If you want to turn your life around, you have to stop blaming other people. Take a deep breath.
“Yeah, I’m all good. Sorry.”
He curved his lips upward, running his fingers through the black locks of hair that hovered just above his cocoa coloured eyes.
“So you’re from…”
“New York,” I chimed. “The Big Apple. Very, very different from here.”
“Got that right. Can I ask how you ended up in Aurora? I mean, not exactly the ideal vacation spot.”
How much did I want to tell this guy? I mean, I’d known him for a total of ten minutes and I’d already dumped so much emotional damage on people I barely knew. But at the same time, if I was truly planning on staying here to help Payton with her business, then it might do me well to make some friends.
“It really is a long story, and I feel like I have to do some work for Payton and all. But, I’m sure in the next coming weeks of us working together, I’ll definitely tell you all about it.”
He smiled ardently and rapped the door frame. “Or I can take you out for drinks tonight and we don’t need to waste any work hours?”
Drinks… I didn’t even know where I was staying. That was something I definitely needed to sort out before anything else. Plus, where the hell was Payton? How long did it take to get wrenches? Ugh,fuck.
“Erhm…”
“C’mon Big Apple, you can even do a background check on me if you’re worried.”
What the hell was up with Nebraska people and their nicknames?
“You could’ve falsified the records,” I quipped, stalling the urge to jump at this opportunity and branch out.
“Ha,” he bubbled, stretching a grin across his face. “I can assure you I ain’t that smart.”
I couldn’t help but smile back. This exchange was so…normal. And honestly, I wasn’t even sure what normal meant anymore. My entire life was dictated by people trying to steer me in different directions while I ran them off the road. I didn’t want that anymore, I didn’t want to be that person. I needed some stability, something to keep me grounded while I couldn’t do it myself.
Could I go for some drinks? Did I want to go with him?I mean, it would definitely benefit me to speak with someone who didn’t know my situation, or anything about the train wreck my life has become.
It was in that moment that I remembered a specific someone who happened to also be going out for drinks tonight. Someone who didn’t want me anywhere near them. And someone who I so desperately wanted to anger with every fiber of my being.
Yes,thatis what I needed. A thrill, some excitement. A distraction to get me out of my heavy head because that’s where I lived ninety percent of the time and I was exhausted. I didn’t want to think about Todd, my parents, or my non-existent living situation. Not right now.
