Page 53 of Puck Drop
I stare at her and chew on my bottom lip, scared to death of life and everything it entails.
“What’s next?”
She sighs and stands up from her chair, then waits for me until I do the same.
“I need you turn in your badge,” she tells me. “If you have any personal effects here, please feel free to take them home. Any property of the Aces organization will need to be returned.”
With shaky hands, I bend down to open my bottom desk drawer and pull out my bag. It takes me a couple of times but I finally manage to unzip it so I can pull out the badge I was happy to scan in only minutes before. I place it on the desk, then wait.
“Do you have anything else that would need to be returned?” Jennifer asks in a gentle tone.
I shake my head, unable to speak.
She takes a deep breath and turns to walk out. “I have to escort you outside to your car,” she tells me. “I will try to make it as painless as possible.”
I step into the hallway to follow her, and it feels like the walk of shame despite the fact that we only run into a couple of people. I feel self-conscious and like everyone is aware of what’s going on right now. By the time we make it to my car, I am about to pass out.
Jennifer stops me when I pull the door open. “Are you okay driving?”
I jump back a little, not wanting to deal with her kindness anymore. It suddenly feels fake to me, and I can’t handle it.
“Yes,” I tell her.
I get in the car and slam the door, maybe with a bit too much force. When I glance to the side and see that Jennifer is still standing by my car, I feel bad for being such a bitch.
Rolling my window down, I give her what I am assuming to be a weak smile. “Thank you for not embarrassing me in there…”
She reaches inside the car and pats me on the shoulder, causing me to jump in place.
“Elizabeth,” she says, “I know it feels like the end of the world now, but you will be okay. I promise.”
I nod at her, just like I did before, but words escape me. I’m done talking, so I turn the engine on and put the car into gear. I give her a weak wave before taking off.
As I pull out of the driveway at the arena for possibly the last time, I take a deep breath in, then let it all out. One thing is clear. I’m screwed.
SEVENTEEN
Logan
I feellike such an asshole for earlier this morning when Elizabeth realized what time it was. There’s also a little bit of guilt, knowing that had I not started anything with her when I woke up, she might’ve had a chance to get to work on time.
“Fuck,” I say to myself as I look around her bedroom. It needs to be picked up, but I don’t even know what to do first. Maybe clean her sheets. Does she even have a washer and a dryer in here? The place might be too small for that.
Sighing like I got the weight of the world on my shoulders, I run a towel over my wet hair. I just took a shower, and I have to say that I love the way Elizabeth’s soap smells on me. It’s like she’s right here with me.
“Okay, what the hell should I start with?” I look around one more time.
I decide that putting some clothes on first sounds like a good idea. Unfortunately, I don’t have my bag with me, so I don’t have any clean underwear to put on, and I don’t want to re-wear what I already took off.
I lean down to grab the dress pants from last night and put them on but forgo the shirt. I grab the key fob to my car, planning on grabbing the travel bag out of my trunk really quick. Since it’s a workday, not very many people should be out there right now. Besides, it’s Texas, where it’s hotter than hell for longer than where I came from. Me not having a shirt on shouldn’t be anything out of the ordinary, despite of also being barefoot.
With thoughts of Elizabeth still on my mind, I rush out the door and high step it to my car where I quickly find the bag containing a change of clean clothes for me. The pavement is hot under my feet, causing me to skip back to the stairs that lead to Elizabeth’s apartment.
To my surprise, when I get there, I find myself locked outside. I didn’t think of checking her lock to make sure it wouldn’t automatically close on me.
I drop the bag to the ground and stick my fingers in my hair, pushing it back. “Ah, fuck my life.”
Unsure of what to do next, I lean against the door and look around. I don’t even know what time it is, because my phone is inside the apartment, but I’m pretty sure there are a lot of hours before Elizabeth gets out of work.
