S.O.S/The Winner Takes It All

Chapter 10

Courtney's texting is italics
Shayne's texting is bold

A few days later....

I pull up in the carpark of Starbucks. It is now Wednesday, and I feel strangely excited. I get out of my car and enter the building. I decide to just order a Grande Caffè Latte. I glance around. It seems like Courtney and Chris haven't arrived yet. I settle down in at an empty table near the window, waiting for my coffee. After about ten minutes, I hear a young man call out. "A Grande Caffè Latte for Shayne!"
I rise from my seat, making my way over to the counter. I take the cup, and the man smiles at me. "Have a nice day."
"You too." I reply, walking back to my table. I glance down at the name written on the cup in black marker. 'Shane'.
"Every damn time." I say under my breath, sipping the hot beverage as I watch the traffic. I look up just in time to see Chris enter the café. I try to keep a low profile, making sure he doesn't see me. He sits down at a table not too far away, his back to me.
My attention is drawn away from Chris when my phone buzzes from my pocket.
I ease it out, looking down at the screen. A text from Courtney. I swipe it open.

'Are you here yet?'
'Yeah, where are you?'
'I'm outside in the parking lot. Is he here yet?'
'Yeah he is. I've got a great view of your table. You'll see him when you walk in.'
'K thx. Talk to you later :)'

I place my phone on the table, just as I see Courtney enter. We lock eyes immediately, and she looks away. Chris stands up, blocking my view of her. I'm already slightly annoyed at him, and I don't know why. I sip my latte again, staring at out the window as they hug and settle into their seats.

Courtney begins talking, and soon they're having a deep conversation.

I glance down at my watch after a while, my eyes widening as I see the time. We have to get to set. I take the last sip of my latte, standing up. I decide on casually seeing her as I walk past. I begin to stroll over, and Courtney stops talking, looking up at me, her expression slightly shocked.

"Oh, hey Courtney. We have to get to set, so we gotta go." I glance over at Chris, acknowledging him with a nod. He smiles back, but he seems slightly annoyed.
Courtney rises from her chair, hugging Chris before walking beside me. I push the door of the Starbucks open, and make my way to my car. I glance at Courtney. "See you at the office."
Courtney smiles and waves from the sidewalk. "See you soon, Shayne."
I stop as I draw my keys from my pocket. "Did you walk here? I can give you a ride."
She jogs over to me, grinning. "Yeah, I walked. I was already around here anyway."

We get into the car, and I reverse. Soon we are driving, both of us silent. Courtney is staring at her feet, as she has been for the past ten minutes.
I glance at her. "Courtney, are you okay?"
Her head snaps up, her eyes lock with mine. "Yeah, no, I'm fine. Just a lot on my mind."
I turn my eyes back to the road. "You don't have to lie to me. I know you. Is it Chris?"
Her body shifts to face me. "Do you have something against Chris?"
I place my right hand on the steering wheel, shrugging. "To be honest, I don't like him. He comes across as the kinda guy who pretends to love you, but when he gets what he wants, he'll leave. Listen Courtney, I want you to be happy, but I have a bad feeling about this guy. You can obviously tell he's the kind of person who gets jealous very easily. He was staring at me like I was trying to steal you from him."

She glances out at the passing cars. "Kristen was jealous. Why did you stay with her?"
"I didn't meet that side of her. Believe it or not, she was the sweetest girl I had ever met, until she showed me what she had been hiding. To be honest, I'm going to take a break from the whole 'relationship' thing for a while." I pull into the carpark of our office. "I've got you. And that's all I need right now."


She smiles, opening her car door. "Alright then. I'll have a think about Chris." 

I lock my car, and we walk to our building together. 

When we arrive at set, Noah runs up to us. "Shayne, Joe wants to talk to you about something." 

I nod, making my way to Joe's office. It is strangely silent as I walk through the halls. I am about to open his door, when a hand grabs my wrist. I look around, expecting it to be Joe. I soon realise it's not, when he slams me into the wall, my head smacking against it.


I find myself staring into light blue eyes, my head throbbing.


"Chris..." I say weakly. "What are you doing here?"