Page 27 of The Playboy and the Waitress

“She…she was such a little thing compared to me, delicately framed and meek in manor. Mother spared no expense in making her into the perfect pawn. She just used me as another tool in her advancement. My sister Clarise was a vision of grace, and kindness…then one day she was gone. She married a man of great standing, several years older than she was. My mother had pushed this man on her since she was a teenager. She was never allowed to date or do anything other girls her age did. She had to remain untainted, pure, and innocent. Two days after she turned eighteen, she was married and then a week later they found her dead at the foot of the stairway of her new home.

“I had gone back to college after the wedding and had only met the man she married a few times before that, but he had this evil aura about him. Similar to the guys who smashed your car up. She had bruises all over her body when they found her. No one questioned it, they marked her death as unfortunate circumstances, and then she was simply washed under the rug to never be spoken of again. She didn’t have a violent bone in her body, and I can only imagine the horrors she must have gone through before her tragic ending. I still wonder if she was thrown down those stairs by someone else or if she did it herself to escape, but I’ll never know. We were not particularly close. Mother wouldn’t allow it as our lives and training were going in opposite directions.

“For a time, I escaped my mother's managing if you will…but then once Clarise was gone, I became the next thing she was determined to…break. That’s what it felt like in my mind anyway. Don’t get me wrong, I have had opportunities that most can only dream of, but it’s all granted or taken away at her will. Mother controls every aspect of life, from my wealth, my career and now she even wants to control my personal life. This is where we come full circle back to the parade of girls every week.”

I have been running my hands through his hair this whole time. I'm appalled by what this woman has done to her kids, but I don’t know if Dage really understands how much she is still controlling him. “Dage, I’m sorry about your sister, she was way too young to have her life snuffed out like that, especially so violently. Honey, I know in your mind your mother is all-powerful, but she isn’t you. She may have a huge influence on the opportunities around you, but you are the one doing the work. You went to college, not her. You are the one designing these country clubs, not her. You are the one with the skills, you are smart, extremely handsome, and you have a fabulous personality. She may have laid the foundation, but you built the man you are today, not her. If you only had you, I think you would be surprised at the achievements you could achieve without her influence.

“I’m not saying you shouldn’t be grateful, or even love her for the things she has done for you, but you don’t owe her anything. She took a little boy out of a bad situation and made you more, but she still isn’t responsible for who you are. That’s a personal choice each of us makes daily.”

He lifts up off my lap only to pull me down beside him, so we are laying together on the couch. He runs his hand down my back and tucks my head into his chest under his chin. Listening to the beat of his heart I think about what all he has just told me. I start feeling myself getting sleepy and even though I sure am comfortable I know I need to go.

“As comfortable as you are, city boy. I have to head out. I have to open in the morning.”

“I wish you would stay with me. Can’t you call off?”

“No, not on such a short notice. Not all of us own the places we work for, Stud,” I say teasingly. “Come on, get up and walk me to my car.” I stretch my arms out and yawn when I finally get to my feet. I reach down to pull him up when he yanks me back down and into his arms. I'm sure you can hear my laughter a block away. His lips find mine and I melt in his arms, that man is dangerously talented when it comes to making my toes curl. I know, I'm getting to the point of no return as my body aches for his, but one of us has to be an adult and I have to work.

I push back away from him practically panting, “Ok, Playboy… that’s not fair.”

“I was trying to convince you to stay with me.”

“Can I get a rain check? As tempting as you are, this country girl still has a long drive home and an early shift in the morning.”

“What do you usually make in a day? I’ll give it to you if you call off.”

I push away from him only to end up on the floor. It only takes me a second to scramble to my feet. “What the Hell did you just say to me? Did you really just offer to pay my measly wages to get me to stay here? What the fuck Dage? Maybe I don’t know who you are after all.”

I can see a million things going across his face, but before he can say a word I’m already at the front door. I yank it open only for him to close it right back.

“Jenna, you know that’s not what I meant by that, please don’t leave like this.”

I open my mouth to tell him to go to hell until I see the tears in his eyes. “I’ll give you this one on the house Playboy, but there won’t be a number two, do you understand?”

When he pulls me back into his arms, I can’t help but stiffen up. He kisses me on the forehead, and I can tell he is desperately trying to find something to say to fix this.

I turn away, practically running down the steps towards my yellow glow monster. “I’ll text you when I get home.” I don’t even let myself look back at him as I pull off. I swipe a random tear off my cheek a few miles down the road and then silently cuss myself for putting myself out there like that anyway. “We were doomed before it ever started,” I say out loud.

CHAPTER12

Dage texts me practically nonstop this evening and I simply refuse to open them. I know my mind isn’t in the right place and I will only do more harm than good if I try to talk to him now. At one point, I get so tired of hearing the phone ding, I shut it off. I can’t sleep either because my mind won’t shut down. When I finally drifted off to sleep, I am plagued with nightmares of people pointing and laughing at me.

The alarm goes off and I throw the covers off me, aggravated. This is going to be one of those days where I don’t even like myself. This is the reason why I don’t date. All men do is bring chaos into your world, and there isn’t a dick in this world worth this shit.

Because of my restless night, I have plenty of time to think. I finally decide when I get home from work this evening, I’m going to call Dage and tell him it’s over. I have too much on me to handle now as it is, let alone the weight of his world too. I’m not going to put myself through this constant turmoil for any man. I need a good old country boy, not some city slicker who doesn’t know a hoe from a shovel.

When I finally turn my phone back on I have missed fifty-four texts and seven phone calls.What the hell is he, twelve?I almost simply erase the whole thing, but an odd number stops me.

There are three voicemails from Dage that I skip over, but the other one practically makes my heart stop when I hit play.

Ms. Grey…this is your parent's attorney Mr. Geisinger. I need to talk to you. There have been some discrepancies in the paperwork and filing of your parents’ estate. I need you to come to the office as soon as possible.

Omg,is the first thing that hits my mind. I am pretty sure I have already paid for their final expenses, and I could have sworn I turned in their death certificates to everyone who asked for them. If I lose this farm, I might as well lose my parents all over again.

The phone rings again and I don’t even look at the number. I simply answer it in zombie mode. “Hello.”

“Jenna, please don’t hang up. I have been worried to death. Are you ok?... Jenna?”

“What? Yeah, I’m fine, Dage…look I don’t have time to talk, something important has come up, and…I’ll call you in a few days.”

---