Fire and Freedom - Book One of the Café Latte Trilogy

Chapter Eighteen - Ross

Chapter Eighteen – Ross

I awoke to the sound of someone trying to single-handedly destroy my intercom buzzer. I groaned, sleepily stumbling to the intercom, and loudly asked, "WHAT?" into it.

"Let me up, I need to talk to you," Harper's voice flooded back through the intercom.

"This better be important," I growled and buzzed him in, sending the elevator for him. While I waited, I poured myself a smoothie, and sat at the table waiting for him. I heard the lift doors ping open and some angry-sounding footsteps approach me.

"In here," I called.

Harper stormed around the corner in an angry fashion and came to a halt next to my table, eyeing me sat there innocently with my smoothie.

"You selfish bastard," he greeted me.

I raised my smoothie to him. "Nice to see you, too."

"You know, I've seen you do some ridiculous things in the past," Harper told me, pacing back and forth. "And sure, I've let a lot of them slide because it was funny, or you were drunk-"

"Or you were doing them with me," I raised my eyebrows.

"Exactly," Harper replied. "But this is getting ridiculous now, Ross. You're nearing thirty and you have the emotional maturity of a twelve-year-old."

"Rude," I commented.

"No, you're right, that's rude to twelve-year-olds," Harper shot me 'the look', that meant there was no way I was going to joke my way out of this one.

"As glad as I am that I buzzed you in," I said wearily, putting my glass down. "I'm kind of at a loss here, Harper. What on earth could I have possibly done? I've been awake for three minutes."

"Jasper is handling this with more finesse than you," Harper snapped, and I realised with a groan what this was about. Jasper. I'd completely forgotten about him and his parents. Fuck. 

"He's been dealing with them for three days - the arguments, the jabs, he's stayed at mine for two nights just to get away from them. All he could use is maybe one teeny, tiny encouragement from you, and you're too selfish to even do that."

"Harper," I tried to interrupt.

"He's a nice person, you know?" Harper told me. "He's fun to spend time with, he's sweet, he's talented, he's basically perfect for you - and he's happy with a casual arrangement with you. Why are you screwing this up?"

"Harper," I tried again. "I've been really preoccupied-"

"God Ross," he said, walking up and down the length of my kitchen. "This is ridiculous, even for you. I mean, I know you don't like to let people see you vulnerable – we've all known that for years. You make it pretty damn clear you're not willing to improve yourself there."

"I was going to call him," I tried again. "But something happened-"

"Like hell you did," he snapped, and then fixed me with a glare. "Look, I like that you live your life the way you want to, but when you screw someone, and then tell them you want them in your life more, you have a responsibility to check in with them when their world starts exploding around them. Stop being such a dick."

I sighed. "Harper, can I please just tell you what happened?"

He folded his arms across his chest haughtily. "Fine."

"Raven called me about ten minutes before Jasper did," I said. "My father had a heart attack."

"I... what?" Harper asked, deflating immediately. "Are you okay? Is Raven okay?"