Page 9 of To Go
I can tell he’s scribbling something in a notebook, though I can’t see what it is. He only looks up to nod at me when I put his coffee down in front of him. When I try to sneak a peek over his shoulder, he snaps it shut, setting it aside to grab his drink. Embarrassed at being caught, I run away and make myself as busy as possible.
I’m able to get through most of my shift without thinking about him or looking at him, and I definitely didn’t try to smell him when I had to walk past him earlier.
Right before we’re about to close for the flip from café to bar, Nessa strolls in to start her shift, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, not a hint of the hangover she must have had after last night.
“Hey there, cutie!” she singsongs to me. She waves as she saunters over to the only person left here, the one I haven’t beenable to get rid of somehow. “Hey, Stella! Did I ever introduce you to my brother? This is James, he was on drums last night, not sure if you remember since you disappeared…” She gives me a teasing look which only serves to dose me with a quick shot of anxiety, even though she clearly doesn’t know about what happened.
“Oh yeah! I forgot about that, nice to meet you, James.” I smile at him blandly, removing my apron and grabbing the key to my bike lock.
James gives a vague grunt in acknowledgement before Nessa cuts him off.
“I told you this was a great place to chill, right James?” She barely lets him respond before she turns on me. “Did you bike here, Stell? It’s November, how are you still biking to work? You must be freezing!”
“It’s good exercise!” I argue, “Besides, owning a car sounds expensive, I can get by just fine with the subway and my bike.”
“Oh, fuck that, James can give you a ride home,” Nessa says offhandedly, “Right, James?”
“Nessie, I don’t think your friend wants a ride from a stranger,” he starts, and despite the fact that I was going to decline anyway, the rejection stings a little.
“But you’re not a stranger, you’re my brother! Plus, Stella, if he drives you, you can bring the leftovers by the shelter and not freeze to death.” She has a point there. James is already shrugging, and it does sound better than getting wind burn in this weather. I nod, giving her a strained smile.
“Let’s go, sunshine,” he says, already walking towards the door.
“Sunshine?” Nessa mouths to me. I shrug my shoulders, but I can feel how pink my face is.
“See you tomorrow, Nessa. Try not to burn the place down, yeah?” I give her a quick hug, then hustle out the door afterJames. My bike is locked up in the back. I don’t mind leaving it overnight just this once. I see him walking down the street, presumably to where he’s parked, and I’m huffing as I catch up to him, my arms laden with leftover baked goods.
“Slow down! Not everyone has crazy long legs like you.” I don’t have any remorse about giving him a bit of lip.
“Not my problem, sunshine. Keep up.” He’s pointedly not looking at me, making me a little pissed off.
“Okay, rude.” I mutter.
“Just get in the car,” he says as the lights flash on an old, blue Toyota Rav-4. The seats are chilled, and I huddle in on myself for warmth.
“Thanks for the ride,” I say once I’ve put the address for the shelter into the navigation system and we’ve pulled away from the curb, heat blasting. “I wasn’t super looking forward to biking in the snow, honestly. You may have saved me a few toes.” He remains silent, looking straight out the windshield, not biting at my attempted joke. “How long have you been in the city?”
Silence.
“Nessa said you moved here not too long ago? Me too! It’s nice being in the city, I grew up in a small town. Where were you before here?” The muscles in his sharp, square jaw twitch and clench while I wait, but he eventually sighs.
“Touring.”
“Oh, how descriptive and exciting,” I snap back, “Are you always this abrupt with women whose mouths you’ve had your tongue in?” He fixes me with a sour look, and triumph swells within me. I settle back into my seat and accept that this will be the most silent ride of my life.
He grunts when he pulls up outside the shelter, idling while I run in with the bag of goodies for the women. The lead volunteer gives me a huge hug when she sees me. Typically, I’ll come in once or twice a week, either with goodies or to help out. I love ithere, how much they come together to create a community for women in all sorts of situations. It makes me proud to be a part of it. I wish I could stay longer, but I tell her I can’t stay long and hop right back out to the car where James has pulled out his notebook again.
I punch in my address without so much as a word and he takes off. The drive is short, realistically, but it’s dragged on like an eternity by the time he pulls up in front of my building, glaring at my front door.
“You shouldn’t live here.” He grunts out, some of the only words he’s spoken to me this whole time.
“Thanks for the hot tip, have a nice night!” I’m throwing myself out of the car when he grabs my arm and I snap my head around to yell at him, only to come face to face with deep, soulful eyes that I’ve been trying aggressively not to look into.
He has the same, captivating green eyes as Nessa, if not a bit darker. They’re like a deep, dense forest, something to be explored, revered, and possibly feared. I almost miss the way they flicker down to my lips, but I don’t miss the flash of lust, the way his breath quickens. He leans a little closer and I hold my breath, waiting to see what he’ll do.
“It’s not a safe neighbourhood. You don’t have a car. You should consider moving.” He speaks so seriously and with such authority, I’m sure he was an army general or someone who professionally didn’t laugh in a past life.
“Again, thank you for your concern. I hope I don’t need to remind you that I’m nineteen. I’m an adult. I’ll be fine.” His face loses some colour.
