Love Defined

Part 14

Chapter 13

"What do you mean?" I asked carefully, my words clipped and my eyes pulled into slits so tight I could have been mistaken for Asian rather than American.

He gulped and wrung his fingers with such force that I was sure he would pull his fingers right out their sockets at any moment. He kept his head down and stared at his feet that he constantly shuffled around. His shoulders were slumped and it made his tall structure shrink by at least two inches. He looked like a nervous five year old preparing for a scolding.

I would have laughed were I not so furious.

"Answer me!" I demanded. My voice was so loud that it scared me. I would have blushed and apologised for my outburst but it seemed my loud voice had served its purpose. His head shot up quickly and he stared at me with panicked blue eyes.

"I'm sorry," he whispered and then quickly threw his head back down to stare at the ground.

I ground my teeth as I willed my temper to cool. "Do not apologise. What I want right now is answers, an explanation to how the hell this even happened."

Javier stared at me apologetically and then said the words I never wanted to hear. "We were robbed. I'm so sorry chica. I had no idea this would happen. We were short staffed and we were behind schedule and I had no choice but to make the decision quickly. I should have checked, I always checked but I didn't want to let you down. I messed up chica and I am so sorry. Please forgive me. I will make it up to you."

I froze. He had finally stopped his panicked ramblings and stood in front of me with eyes scrunched with weary. "You know who did this?" I asked fiercely.

He nodded, "It was this new kid that called himself Mr. T. I should never have hired him but we needed staff because Ray was off sick for three weeks. He seemed like a good kid, just a bit down on his luck you know. I should have guessed that he was no good. He told me he had been in Juvie but I didn't think. He deserved a chance to prove himself and I thought I could give him the chance. Ah, chica, I really am sorry."

I couldn't breathe, I could taste the burn of bile as it road up my throat. I clamped my lips tight and tried to swallow the lump away. I fell against the nearest wall and let gravity pull me down to the ground. I dropped my head into my hands and rest it against my drawn up knees. The urge to cry was far too large but I had to be professional. I had to fix things.

"Can we prove it was him?" I asked Javier. He knelt down until he was eye to eye with me on the ground. He placed his hands on my knees and rubbed comforting circles on my jean covered flesh with his thumbs.

"I'm sorry chica; I don't know how we can. I know it must be him because there was no forced entry and my key is missing. He is the only man on my team who did not come to work."

I groaned aloud and threw my head back against the wall letting it thump hard. "What am I going to do Javier? He destroyed the walls with some horrible graffiti work and he stole the only appliances we had managed to install. Why would he even target my store, it isn't as though there is much to steal?"

"Do you have insurance?" He asked quietly.

I nodded, "Yes but it's going to set me back by at least a month. I already have orders coming in thanks to the Food and Bloom festival from Saturday. I need a bigger space if I'm going to actually continue to make money. I need to make money to survive. What am I going to do Javier? I was relying on my store opening next month but now that's never going to happen."

Javier remained quiet and instead sat beside me while I had my moment of panic. He continued to rub circles on my back and murmur words of comfort. It helped, I admit. His hands were soft and his presence was enough to make me feel secure. He smelled of wood and varnish and it made my gut clench as I remembered what had happened to my store. I wasn't sure how long we had sat there, me with my head in my hands as tears streamed down my face and my shoulders shaking with sobs. He hadn't left my side and I was extremely grateful.