Hero » l.p. au

Chapter 12

"What are you doing here?"

I jumped, scared at first but as I turned around to face my boss's son, I felt nothing but anger. Temporary, I hope.

"I work here, the hell do you think?" I grumbled, still trying to tie my apron from behind.

"But..." Jesse started again, making me want to punch him. "Aren't you supposed to babysit that kid?"

I looked up at him slowly, wide-eyed. "It's a bit early for drugs, don't you think?" I said sarcastically, causing him to roll his eyes.

"I'm serious," He said, making me even more confused. "Your mother called."

"Alright, Jess, you're not entertaining anymo-"

"I'm serious!" He repeated, louder this time. "She called an hour ago. Apparently some woman asked her if you were okay with babysitting, and she said yes."

I looked at him again, more ready to punch him than I'd been in months. "Are you kidding me right now?" I nearly shouted, thinking of every person whose kid my mum would want me to babysit.

"No!" He shouted back, and then let out a frustrated sigh. "Listen, I didn't take my happy pills today because I thought I wouldn't have to deal with you again. Can you just leave?"

I rolled my eyes, feeling a little bad for being rude like that. I knew he was struggling with anger issues, and it's like I had to piss him off. But hey, how could I've known that he didn't take his happy pills?

Wow, that's a lame excuse...

"Fine," I mumbled, untying my apron and throwing it on one of the chairs, not even bothering to fold it. I put on my coat and picked up my backpack, almost bumping into him on my way out; something I did all the time, but now I decided not to push his buttons any further.

"Hey, Jess?" I called when I was at the door. He was already doing something behind the counter by then, and at first he ignored me, but then looked up with an expression that resembled ice.

"I'm sorry," I nearly asked, giving him a hopeful look. Jesse sighed, and looked down, pretending to ignore me again. But when he looked up again, he had a small smile on his face.

"Just get out of here," He mumbled through a chuckle, shaking his head. I grinned for a few short seconds, and walked out of the shop quickly.

When I did, my smile immediately disappeared; mid November in Wolverhampton. Never a good thing for people that aren't fond of the snow.

I gripped the collars of the coat with one hand, holding it closer to my face as I dialed my mum's number with my other one. After I pressed it against my ear, I decided to never do it again; the screen was downright freezing. I was surprised it hadn't already cra-

"Hello?" I was a little startled to hear my mum pick up so quickly. Usually it would take her ages because of customers, and sometimes I'd even have to call her more than once.

"Um, mum?" I said, still a little confused.

"Hey, Sal, how are you?" Ugh, she was using that overly sweet voice of hers. Whoever's baby it is that I was supposed to babysit, was surely not someone I liked.

"Mum, did you call Jesse and told him I'm babysitting a kid?" I asked loudly, the wind that was blowing making it harder for me to talk.

Her mumbling and lack of an appropriate answer was the only answer I needed.

"Mum?" I said louder, almost shouting in the middle of the street.

"Alright, alright," She sighed. "Look... I was talking to Karen yesterday, and-"