Please note I have added a new scene to the end of the previous chapter with Jay's Stepmother if you haven't read it, otherwise on with the story...
Jay
Funfairs came alive at night. They really transformed.
Everything was heightened by the lights and loud music. It was like they were laced with something a little edgier. The excitement and hint of danger that could any moment turn into something much more sinister.
Especially this fairground. It seemed to teeter along some invisible line. The banging techno music and screams from the waltzers seem to build to a frantic tempo pushing everything to the edge.
It was nothing like the county fairs we had back home. The majority of families that frequented the play areas were long gone, replaced by gangs of local kids and groups of holidaymakers.
The arcades were still busy, but with more experienced gamblers hanging around the slot machines. They stalked the inexperienced who were just playing for fun, waiting for them to fill up a machine with coins before they jumped on and pumped the cash back out again.
Eyes were everywhere. The sideshow hands scoped out potential punters. The opportunists trolled for the easy marks and of course the sexual undercurrent moved throughout, with both sexes blatantly circling each other.
Ren had said I needed to stick around the tourists as much as possible to be inconspicuous. I couldn't hang out with the locals, as they weren't open to outsiders and I couldn't go with her, because no one was likely to talk freely with the bosses daughter around.
In order to blend like a tourist though, I had to look the part. Apparently they dressed up a lot more as they were on holiday and usually went onto a bar or nightclub. Whilst the locals were much more casual.
Ren had picked out my outfit. She had chosen the tightest spray on jeans I owned and coupled them with the spiked high heels I never wore, unless at charity dinner with my dad, I was just far too tall to wear heels otherwise. The top she decided on, I only ever wore as underwear. It was a lacy camisole that was tight enough to go without a bra. I only agreed to it when she finally approved my little black cardigan with silver thread running through it, to wear over the top. I had stuck my hair back in a scruffy high poni and plastered on some strawberry lip gloss, that I was now practically biting off.
I couldn't hear anything over the techno music of the waltzer, so that area was a no go. After walking endless loops around the arcade, I couldn't see many staff in there either, apart from the big security guard at the front whose attention I'd already attracted. I probably looked suspicious, I was on my own and hadn't spent a dime so far. Not that any of these machines took dimes. It was time to venture back outside.
That's when I noticed several of Durov's entourage standing in front of the burger van.
One of them was talking to the very young girl behind the grill, whilst the others seemed to be waiting for orders, maybe it was their dinner break? The only thing was, the burger van was at the end of the dodgem track. On the one hand good, as I could see a couple of holidaymakers watching from the side within possible earshot of the van, but on the other hand bad, because they were quite clearly forming their own Parker Fan club.
The man himself was sat in the booth and from this distance, it seemed like he was trying to keep a low profile, even though he clearly had an audience. I spied a possible advantage point behind a pillar just to the side the girls, on the edge of the light thrown out from the burger van, yet still under the shadow of the dodgem canopy.
The girls were eating doughnuts, so I bought one, hoping to blend in a little more. I then tried to walk casually over, but the slight wobble of my heels made me speed up before I fell on my ass. How the hell had Olivia Newton-John managed to dance in them in the final carnival number in Grease?
As soon as I hit the rail, I felt Parker's eyes on me. So much for not drawing any attention. He looked kinda dazed, so I leaned into the pillar trying to fade out from view.
At least I was near enough to Durov's boys.
The smell of frying onions and sizzling burger grease filled the air. A couple of them were now eating and were even closer to my vantage point. They stood around the trashcan that was set out for the rubbish. They were definitely workers from the fair. I recognized one of them from my last trip to the yard.
They were also freely talking to each other, but unfortunately in Polish. Not my strong suit. I strained to hear and in the background could make out a few odd words of Russian. Someone was demanding more pickle and teasing about the extra side dishes on offer. I realized the guy talking to the girl at the grill was my best hope. Maybe when he had finished hitting on the fry cook, he might get back and chat to his buddies, hopefully in Russian, then this evening wouldn't be a complete bust.
I nibbled on the doughnut. It was still hot and the sugar stuck to my lip gloss, not exactly a glazed jelly from Dunkin doughnuts, boy I missed those. Even the jam ones at the supermarket here didn't hit the spot. From my listening post, I could also hear the two girls I was trying to blend in with at my left.
"Oh my god, he is seriously looking this way now. He is so unbelievably hot. Who do you think he looks more like, Colton Haynes or Dylan O'Brien?"
"It's the shaved head isn't it? What about Zac Efron from that movie when he's in the army?"
"What you mean The Lucky One? I wish. Nah, anyway his eyes are brown not blue"
"Whatever, I knew if we came back tonight he'd finally notice me."
"Notice you? Don't you mean us? Not being funny right? How can you say he's looking at you specifically? He is definitely looking our way and yesterday it was me who he spoke to."
What the? Parker spoke to these girls?
"Yeah, that's only because you caused that 10 car pileup. He had to talk to you."
"Listen, I don't care, whoever he goes for,the other one has to promise to be cool about it. Unless of course it's you, then perhaps we can talk him into a threesome" both the girls burst out giggling.
"Seriously, if you like his hair so much, you can take the top because I want his bottom!"
"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god he's coming this way!"
Is this what happened to Parker everyday? I was so spitting mad, how dare they objectify him? Sexism needed to be 86'd not just reversed.
Also he was definitely more a Theo James in Divergent than Efron. Well, perhaps I had more time to Google research over the last year to get it just right, but for crying out loud, none of their candidates were even British? In all my hypocritical indignation, I nearly missed the fact that he was obviously on the move and on his way over to me.
Instead of my usual blind panic, although I had no right, I felt strongly territorial and wanted to get the girls to back off. So when he hopped off a passing car and landed on the rail in front of me, this time I didn't back away.
"Hey baby, you okay?" I purred. I mean seriously, me purring? It seemed to momentarily stun Parker as well.
"I'm fine thanks" he said cautiously "but more to the point how are you? What are you doing here?" He didn't seem very happy to see me.
Now what? Think Jay, you dummy,think.
By now I could sense the guys behind me shifting. It seemed Parker's approach had also piqued their interest and now finally the fourth guy had joined them and they were speaking in Russian.
Basically something along the lines of "Parker is very popular with the pussy and maybe even this one can break his slump."
The girls to my left had their mouths hanging open and so really my only opportunity to blend, was to pretend to be part of the Fan club. Not that it was that much of a stretch, I was clearly as gaga for him as everyone else.
"I came to see you." I offered
"Why? Are you in trouble?" He was clearly confused and I inwardly cringed.
"No, I just wanted hang out. Watch you work. I promise I won't be in the way." I added, desperate that he wouldn't completely shoot me down in front of an audience.
His eyes softened and he gave me a crooked smile. My heart expanded.
"It's not that I'm not pleased to see you, it's just..." he looked over my shoulder at the guys behind me. I couldn't see what they were doing but I heard them erupt into laughter and I could see the moment his eyes turn flinty.
Just then, several of the cars got snagged up right in front of us and a couple of the drivers, females of course, hollered out for help.
"Look, don't move, just stay right there" he hissed before going off to the rescue.
More Russian chatter, although this time mainly about the length of my legs and what I could wrap them around.
Just when I thought it couldn't get any more complicated, I felt someone else approach from my right.
"You know if you're planning on saving that bit of doughnut on your chin for later, I could always lick the sugar off your face?"
Taylor. Great.
"Seriously, she's pulled another one. What has she got I haven't? I mean come on, she hasn't even got any tits."
Ouch, that was a low blow, the skanks on my left were seriously bringing out the bitch guns.
Taylor's arrival hadn't gone unnoticed by the gang behind me either. There were rabbiting away now, something about Ren and Durov, and how he should know that Taylor was on his patch. They were arguing about who was going to be the one to tell him, especially now, seeing as he was so uptight lately. Something about a new shipment arriving and the old man not knowing. This was more like it, a shipment the old man didn't know about? I tried hard to concentrate.
"Seriously Jay I have no effect on you at all? I'm all up in your face offering you my own special cleanup services and not even a hello?"
"Sorry Taylor I was distracted. Do I really have doughnut on my face?" I licked my chin and felt a crumb dislodge. Oh no. Had that been there the whole time Parker had been speaking to me?
How embarrassing.
Of course he chose that moment to return. Staring at my tongue he spoke to Taylor "hey geezer, glad you stopped by. I need someone to take Jay home."
His rejection stung. He couldn't make it any clearer he didn't want me around.
I pulled my cardigan tighter around myself and met his disapproving scowl head on. "I don't need a babysitter Parker. I'm 18. On this side of the pond I'm legal for practically everything, officially all grown up, so quit babying me."
I was wound up tight. Parker managed to push all of my buttons. I was sick of the whole push pull thing, all I was left with was whiplash.
Parker
Taylor suppressed a grin and I flexed my hand, just itching to punch him.
Here I was trying to do the right thing by keeping her safe and he was all ready to play good guy. The last thing I wanted was to send her home with him.
Especially after I saw the way he touched her face. With all that damn sugar sprinkled over her lips, she was literally edible.
Yet somehow she was mad at me? We were practically toe to toe as those bloody sexy high heels and endless long legs made her almost my height. I was instantly hard as rock.
The dickheads behind her kept up their lewd gestures. Now she was on their radar, leaving her alone for just one minute wasn't an option. I had over an hour of work left at least and it was the busiest time of year. No way would I be able to bunk off early.
Part of me was impressed she had stood up to me. That I had got a reaction from her. For weeks now I had watched her watch her feet. Now here she was, throwing out the fact that she was legal, as if I needed reminding she was an adult. That rocking body wrapped up in that outfit flaunted the fact.
"Look its over an hour before I clock off. It's not that you can't take care of yourself, it's just that you don't wanna stand out here on your own all night."
"Oh so now you're the expert on what I want? Poor Jay hasn't got a clue. She needs to be told what to do, she can't figure it out for herself."
Woah, where did that come from? I didn't want to touch that.
Taylor broke the stand-off "Wow, you two do have it bad. Ren was right. Speaking of trouble, that's the reason for my visit. She said you'd be here Jay and that it probably wasn't such a good idea after all. I offered to come get you, you know, only if you want to."
Wait, Ren knew she was going to be here?
Why would she encourage that, she knew how dangerous it was? Christ, she'd been keeping her new friend under wraps for weeks now, hiding her from Durov and daddy. Why would she encourage her now? Unless she was setting her up with me? Oh, but now it's not such a good idea? That hurt. It shouldn't have, but it did.
Right in the moment I realized I shouldn't have her, I wanted her more than ever.
It was like a physical punch to the gut.
Shit.
Needing people never worked out well for me. This all had to stop before it got out of hand.
"Yeah, you and me Jay, definitely not a good idea. I don't date tourists ever and whatever category you fall into, I can't cope with the summer crazies. Perhaps you should consider Taylor's offer after all?"
I jumped back on the first car that passed and made my way back to the booth. I didn't need to see them leave together.
Hope you enjoyed the chapter guys, please vote or comment and let me know if it's working for you? It's dedicated to @NektariaMarkakis who absolutely rocks as a writer and the biggest supporter of new authors on Wattpad I know. She recently interviewed me on her blog: https://neksworldofwords.wordpress.com/2015/05/04/qa-with-wattpad-author-sarah-nixy/