Noah Flynn

The Wait

Aurora caught Lee on his way out of the bathroom. When he saw her his face lit up. "Hey. How'd you manage the booth the five minutes I was gone? Anything on fire?" he mocked.

It didn't take Lee long to notice she was anguished. He could tell because of her face. He knew that face too well. Her eyes flickered everywhere as if she couldn't concentrate. Her hair got sort of messy, which meant she was stressed. And she bit her lip gently, and then it quivered. She was nervous. "Something wrong?"

"Uh, nothing. The booth was amazing, you and Elle did a great job. My shift's over though, I'm kinda tired of making out with half the carnival." Lee laughed. "But get this... so many people came to your booth that I even ended up kissing Noah!" Aurora faked a laugh.

Lee froze. "What?" he asked, his voice serious.

"Yeah, I know. Crazy right?" She tried to act as if it hadn't mattered, as if it were just a funny joke and both of them should laugh and shake it off. But she knew, deep inside, that it was more than a kiss. And it was definitely not a joking matter. She also knew that no way in hell was Lee going to laugh.

"What?" he asked again, realizing it wasn't a joke. Aurora had indeed kissed his brother.

"You were the one who told me to get up there. He was a client, and I had to do my job. It's really no big deal. Besides, it's for charity right?"

"Yeah," Lee said after a long silence. Then he closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and shook his head slowly. "I guess so. Just don't end up shacking up with my brother or I literally won't ever talk to you again." Then he laughed. It was a soft and nervous laugh, and it released all of his held up anguish.

She laughed back. "Yeah, no worries. No shacking up with Noah, promise."

When the carnival was over and it was time to go home, Aurora found herself walking with a guy named Charles. He was dead hot and really sweet too, but most important of all he had an English accent.

"So, do you need a lift home?" he asked, looking into her eyes. "If so I'd love to be of assistance, and maybe as pay, I could get your phone number?"

"Hm," Aurora smiled. "Sounds good to me. But my little sister needs a ride too. You mind?"

He shook his head. "Not at all. The only problem is, I've got the car full, my friends need a ride too. I don't believe two more fit."

"Crap. That's all right, I can walk home. And if you promise to get my sister home safely I'll give you my number. Maybe we can hang out some other time."

Charles smiled a gorgeous smile. "I'd like that. And I swear on my life your sister will get home safely."

"In that case-" Aurora pulled out a pen and wrote her number on the palm of his hand, "here you go. And thanks."

After making sure Elle was in the car, and giving Charles a kiss goodbye (on the cheek, no make out yet, he was a sophisticated, elegant guy after all), Aurora started making her way home.

Five minutes walking on the road and it started raining. "Shit," she muttered to herself. She didn't care that her outfit was going to be ruined, or that her hair was going to get all frizzy like Frankenstein. What bothered her was that she was going to have to walk home in the cold of the night, with wet clothes, and then she would probably wake up sick the next day.

The rumbling of a motorcycle brought her back from her daze, and her hand instantly crept to her pocket where she kept pepper spray. Every time she walked on the streets some creep in a vehicle pulled up and offered her a ride. Every damn time. She wasn't going to let this creep offer her a ride while she was all alone in the middle of nowhere. Rapist alert!