Never Have I Ever

Chapter 24

Instead of answering him I just said, "I'm here, Chris." That seemed to be enough because a minute later he was playing with the toys Lucy had bought him, completely back to his normal, smiling self. I was jealous of him. I wished it could be enough for me. My lips were still pressed together, trembling slightly. 

I was happy before my mom came back with that man and blew everything to hell again. Sure, I was working too much, I had forgotten the meaning of a good night's sleep, and Nash wasn't talking to me. But there was a sense of freedom I'd never had before. I felt like I could finally breathe. That I had my life back and she couldn't hold me down because I'd always be worried about her, about Chris. I hadn't felt chained to our house anymore. But now she was back, and I didn't know how long it would be until she figured out where Chris was, and that she could take him away at any moment in time. 

I wouldn't let that happen, I thought to myself firmly as I left Lucy's house after saying goodbye to Chris and promising I'd play with him soon. I thanked Lucy profusely as I always did, but she waved me off, smiling at me with a hint of worry in her eyes as she stared at me. 

I opened my front door, peeking in. It was empty. It looked empty at least. I walked slowly through the house, wondering if they were going to pop out on me. My phone buzzed in my pocket and I sighed heavily, fishing for it and hoping that it wasn't Anna or Scott.

"Hello?" 

"Can I see you?" Nash asked in a low voice and my whole body tingled slightly. 

"I have work," I whispered, wondering why I was whispering. I chewed on my bottom lip, hoping that he'd offer to pick me up afterwards.

"Then can I pick you up?" I tried not to grin, but failed. "We can go somewhere."

"...Like on a date?" I asked him, hoping that he wouldn't detect the excitement I was trying to hide. I kept smiling as I found my work uniform, struggling to pull on the black pants I was required to wear. I held the phone between the crook of my neck and ear, worried now that I'd just scared him off. I barely contained a groan. Great, Aria. Great job.

"What else would it be?" he asked me, slightly confused. I clutched my work shirt to my chest, finally feeling like a teenager for once, my eyes filled with happiness and a stupid grin on my face.

"Okay," I whispered. "Sure. I'll see you then."

"See you," he said, sounding almost excited which of course made me even more excited. 

Throughout work I was grinning and smiling and I didn't snap at anyone once. Artie, my boss, looked at me approvingly. 

"Got those anger management issues under control, eh?" he grunted in his usual gruff voice, shifting his eyes over to stare at me. 

I bit my lip to keep from laughing. "Yes sir," I said politely.

"Good. I don't need a repeat of... the incident." I groaned, nodding and getting my ass out of there before he thought about it more and fired me. The 'incident' was when a customer was unnecessarily rude to me and  slapped my ass when I walked away from him. I nearly threw scalding hot soup on them. One of the waiters had pulled me back before it could actually be thrown out of my hands. To say the guy was slightly scared of coming here ever again would be an understatement.

Artie had been pissed. No, furious. His face was a color of red I'd never seen before. I smiled in amusement just thinking about it. Even though I could've gotten fired, seeing him turn all sorts of colors was kind of worth it.

I worked a six hour shift and I was exhausted afterwards. Artie nodded for me to go and be done for the day and I waved over my shoulder. I was slightly put out that our first date would be after I just worked my ass off and was sweaty and tired. I frowned. I should have thought this through better. I waited outside, crossing my arms over my chest to keep myself slightly warmer.