Tattoos and Scars | Rewritten Version

Chapter 15 || Manager

Adrian trails around behind me, almost like he's protecting me.

I smile to myself at how cute he is and continue to do my job. I have a good fifteen minutes until my shift is over and then I'm free of my fucking manager. He looks like he's in his mid-thirties.

"The bracelet looks cute on you," Adrian comments and I scoff.

"You mean tracker."

"Bracelet."

"No."

"Don't."

"No."

"Goddamn."

"No."

"Fuck you."

"No."

My manager walks by once more, narrowing his eyes at me. "Why aren't the books back where they belong by now?"

I don't know. Because you fucking harassed me? "I'm putting them away, sir," I grumble in the most professional manner possible. Adrian begins to play around with my hair. "Mr. Adrian, leave my hair alone," I growl.

"Are you going to buy a book?" My manager asks Adrian.

"No."

"Then please leave."

"I'm here for her."

"Well, she'll join you when her shift is over at seven."

"You said my shift ended at six!" I exclaim.

"I extended it."

"You can't do that!"

"I can."

"You are totally right," Adrian chimes in. He's agreeing with that asshole?! What the hell? "How about you and me talk a little while Bailey continues her work?"

"I'm glad you see things my way," My manager nods. Adrian and my manager walk away together, and I raise my eyebrows in disbelief. Oh, hell no. Adrian did not just do that. I notice them disappear towards the back of the store.

I shake away my disbelief and finish my work. Around six, Adrian returns, without the manager. "The woods are really peaceful during the summer."

"You were in the woods? Where's the asshole?"

"We're playing hide and seek. He's hiding in the woods, but I left him."

"Oh... wait," My eyes widen in horror. "You murdered him! You said you wouldn't worsen things!"

"Shh! We're in the bookstore for God's sake. I didn't worsen it. I ended it." I back away from him. He fucking killed him! He ended his life! "Let's go home."

"I'm not going anywhere with you," I reply, my voice shaking. He reaches his hand towards me, but I don't let him touch me. "You... you... how could you? He was at his worst when he did that to me. But that doesn't mean you kill him!"

"Do you know who that man was?"

"He was my fucking manager."

"His name was Kyle Hartford. He was at his fucking best when he touched you."

"His name was Kevin," I correct him.

"He's running from the damn police. He's been charged with twenty trafficking cases, and three rape cases. Two of the girls he raped were ten and twelve. You think the world would have benefitted from someone like him?"

"N-no. How do you know all this?"

"I have my ways. Now, did you want him as your manager, or did you want him six feet under?"

"Six feet under..." I mumble. The real question here is, how the fuck does he have so much intel? I just thought he killed people for money, but I didn't know he could dig through their criminal records and stuff.

Wait, can he dig through mine? "I swear, I didn't mean to shoplift that keychain! It got into my pocket by accident. Good Lord, I don't want to die yet!"

"Bailey, calm the hell down. I'm not going to kill you."

"You're not? Damn right you won't. I'm too rough and tough for that."

"You hug like a teddy bear."

"And your point is?"

"I really like it."

"Does that mean you like me?" I smirk.

"What... no... yes... fuck. No, it means I like your hugs."

"Aw, you cutie pie. Bring it in," I open my arms and he closes in on me, wrapping his strong arms around my body. He's such a great hugger. "I love feeling your muscles," I blurt out. "Fuck! Someone shut me up!"

"Kiss me," I blurt out again. "Wait no, don't do that."

He chuckles, unwrapping his arms from mine. "You crackhead. Let's go home. Wait, let's not do that, Anna and Blake are getting it on in there. Let's go to Blake's mansion."

"Adrian..." I start, scared to ask, but hoping he'd say yes. "Can we go visit Mr. and Mrs. Rodriguez. I miss them."

"Yes."

"I knew you were going to say no, but I'm not taking no for an answe- Wait what?"

"Yeah. I'm not going to keep you from visiting them. They mean a lot to you. I'll drop you off."

"Aw! Thank you so fucking much, I could kiss you! But I won't because I'm not crazy," I ramble. Ugh, I really need a filter on my mouth. "Let's go," I tell him as I walk towards the front door. I'm still slightly shaken by the fact that Adrian killed my manager, but it was for a good cause right?

"Adrian, if you killed my manager for a good cause, did you kill the other man that day for a good cause too?"

"Yes."

"What did he do?"

"He burnt his wife and children after starving them for days locked inside a room." How the fuck is he so casual about it? That's horrible! What kinds of people has Adrian killed so far?

I resist asking another question, because that's enough detail for now. I'm just excited that I'll get to see Mr. Rodriguez again.

A while later, Adrian pulls up to my old neighborhood and parks in front of the store. Not even five seconds has passed since I got out and Mr. Rodriguez tackles me into a hug.

"I missed you, kid."

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a/n: damn, addy-da... baddy. look at you. 🥰 did you like reading this chapter? i hope you did, because i'm supposed to be working on a project right now, but i wrote this 😌

did you like adrian in this chapter? what about bailey? did the manager dude deserve what he got? 

anyway, thanks for reading ♥️ love you!