Chapter 10
I woke-up with the annoying sound of my alarm clock. The main song from the movie Mission: Impossible playing over and over again on my cell phone.
I looked beside me but it wasn't there. I sat up trying to look where it was, or where the sound was coming from.
I got off the bed but I had some trouble with my footing and focus. Still half asleep but I just had to find my phone and turn off that annoying sound. I started to pay attention and found it was coming from my jeans that were on the floor.
I picked up my jeans and took out my phone from my back pocket and turned off my alarm.
Standing butt naked and cold in Blake's room, I wanted to go back under the covers. Knowing I'd just fall back asleep, I knew I couldn’t do that since there wasn’t much free time.
I put my clothes back on except for my underwear. I didn't have a clean pair with me so I decided to go commando and place my underwear in my purse. I could smell the diner's grease on my clothes but mostly on my shirt and I didn't want to put it back on.
I went to Blake's closet and picked out a shirt that wouldn't scream 'I spent the night at a guy's house' when I saw my dad, that would be too weird and awkward.
I grabbed a blue t-shirt and put it on.
I had never done that before but also, when I'd spend the night I wasn't here at this time in the morning either.
I did his bed since it was made when I came into the room last night. When I was done I slowly unlocked the bedroom door.
Trying to be as quiet as I could, I slowly walked toward the bathroom while Blake was still passed out on the couch.
The blanket wasn't covering him completely, his chest was exposed and so was one of his legs.
Damn, that man is...yum.
I focused on what I was doing and walked to the bathroom closing the door once I was inside. After using the bathroom and washing my hands, I splashed some water in my face, hoping it would wake me up. When I got out of the bathroom, Blake was now sitting but very much half asleep.
I walked towards him and sat down next to him. I rested my head on his naked shoulder and I heard him chuckle.
"Hey." I said.
"Hi, you're still here." He said his voice full of sleep.
"Of course, you're my ride." I said laughing a bit.
"Ah...but still, it's a first." He said.
"True… Did I wake you up?" I asked.
"No, your alarm did. I just didn't want to get up yet. Then I heard you in the room and the bathroom door..."
"Sorry." I said.
"Don't be." He said turning his head and finally looking at me. "Are you wearing my shirt?" He asked, focusing completely on his shirt I was wearing.
I bit my lip, the last thing I wanted was to make him angry. "Is it okay? My shirt from last night smells like the grease from the diner. I know I smell like it too but... I'll wash it tonight and I'll give it back, I swear..." I said as fast as I could.
I found men scary in general but angry men...now that terrified me.
"It's fine. My clothes look good on you, I like it." He said with half a smile.
"I swear I'll wash it and give it back to you next time I see you." I told him.
"You make it sound like I'm angry. I'm not."
Looking at the floor, all I could do was nod my head.
"I'm not angry." He repeated.
Slowly I raised my eyes off the floor and found myself looking into his eyes.
"Are you scared of me?" He whispered but I could hear the concern in his voice.
"I'm not...good with angry men. Men in general but...angry..." I tried to say but the words just couldn't come out.
"Okay." He said. Knowing he didn't understand but he kept his word, he didn't push to get answers from me. If I froze or my words wouldn't come out, he would stop and change the subject to make me feel more comfortable.
"Are you hungry?" He asked.
"A little bit." I confessed.
"Well, go take a look around the kitchen, if you find something to eat... I'll go take a quick shower, eat then prepare my lunch and then we can leave. Is that good with you?" He asked.
I smiled, how could he be so nice? I asked myself.
"Sounds like a plan." I answered.
We both smiled looking at each other. He got up and made his way to the bathroom.
I watched him go, he was only wearing his black boxers and I couldn't take my eyes away from him. I'd look at his back, the way his muscles moved as he walked, but his bum had my full attention.
Yum...I thought again.
"Get your mind out of the gutter Miss Gibson." He said without even looking at me.
"How did you know?!" I said a bit too loud.
"Because I know…and I pay attention. I don't need to look at you to know what you’re thinking." He said. When he got to the bathroom he turned and finally looked at me. "But it only works sometimes. You, me and sex, I know. Other than that, you are a mystery." He said smiling.
I smiled a bit knowing it was true. We both knew each other well on that subject, everything else not so much. We were starting to know more about each other but I wanted to fast forward that process a bit.
During the ride to the garage, it would be a perfect time to know him a bit more, I told myself.
I know if I did that, he would want to know more about me, it would only be fair but it also freaked me out. My session with Emily was coming up soon and I didn't want to see her and not know much about Blake. I really liked hanging out with him and he was fun to be around. I didn't think he would be so intriguing but I wanted to learn more about him. Mostly because I wanted to know but also, a bit was for Emily.
.........................
Sitting in Blake's car on our way to the garage. I had butterflies in my stomach and I was so nervous. I had wanted to ask him questions about his life, his childhood but all I could think about was my father.
I told Blake to drive all the way to the garage, I didn't want to be dropped off a couple blocks away to pretend Blake and I didn't arrive together.
I thought if I did that, he would probably think I'm ashamed of him. I wasn’t fully ready for my father to know we were friends or in a relationship...whatever Blake and I were but it was important for me that he knew I wasn't ashamed and that whatever the outcome or what my father thought, our friendship would remain.
Blake seemed really happy to hear that. He kept smiling which was making me laugh.
When we pulled over into the employee parking lot of the garage, I kept taking deep breaths. I kept trying to calm myself down and to slow down my heart rate...it was out of control.
"You okay?" Blake asked. All I could do was nod my head.
He parked his car and we both got out. Immediately I saw Justin looking our way as he was entering the garage. He looked confused but had this smirk on his face. He was close enough to see us clearly but to far away to speak normally unless he wanted to attract attention.
Crap...I knew that face...he was going to tease me about this for a long time.
"Justin's your Uncle right?" Blake asked, looking back and forth between Justin and me.
"Yup and it’s pretty easy to read his mind right now." I said to Blake, keeping my voice down.
"Okay...what's he thinking?"
"That he is very proud to know something my dad doesn't and if my dad doesn't know...he's going to tease me until it comes out." I said.
Blake just laughed.
"What's so funny?" I asked him.
"We’re screwed." He answered.
I smiled and nodded my head. "Yes indeed we are, except I think you will get it worse." I said, being honest.
"What do you mean?" He asked and I could hear in his voice how nervous he now was.
"You work with them...all day long. Me, it's my family...I can tell them to shove it...you can't." I said laughing.
He was quiet for a few seconds when he said, "Well, a day at a time, worse come to worst a minute at a time." He said giving me a small smile.
Sometimes he could be so sweet and so nice that I wondered, what the heck was he doing with me?
We both entered the garage when I spotted my dad.
"Ready?" I asked quickly.
"Absolutely." He said while I took a deep breath.
"Hi dad." I said, loud enough so he could hear me over the noise.
Some people were already working so the noise was pretty loud at times.
"Hey honey, how are you?" He said walking towards us.
"I'm good and you?"
"Couldn't be better." He said with a big smile. He looked over at Blake and was a little confused.
"Blake...did you meet my daughter?" My father asked.
"Yes I did." Blake answered.
"To be honest dad, I've known him for awhile now." I said.
I knew I lied to him the other day, well sort of… I wasn't completely truthful but I kept telling myself that the relationship between my dad and me was base on honesty. I didn’t want to keep lying or even if it was just a little bit. If this was going to work, being fully honest was the only way to go.
My dad looked back and forth between Blake and me.
"Huh?" He said.
I took a deep breath, "I've known Blake for a little while now." I said to my father, never taking my eyes away from his.
"Huh." He said again but this time it wasn't a question.
The three of us weren't moving so I decided to change the subject.
"How's my car?" I asked him.
After a few seconds of an extremely awkward silent moment my dad finally said something.
"Um...yeah. I managed to do it last night so now you're good to go." He said, again looking back and forth between Blake and me.
I looked at Blake, "Give me a minute?" I asked him. He nodded his head and went to his work station and I walked towards my dad.
"You okay?" I asked him once I was standing in front of him.
"With you and Blake?" He asked, still in shock. I didn't answer and I didn't move, just kept my eyes on his.
"Is he the homework?" He asked.
That’s when I broke eye contact and looked at the floor. Hoping it would swallow me whole so I wouldn't have to answer questions...from anyone.
"Yeah...but he doesn't know...about anything." I said making sure he understood very clearly.
"Why didn't you tell me? Or why didn't he but mostly...you." He asked.
"Because I didn't know how and I didn't know what to say. You told me once that he was a good guy. I didn't know him then and I didn't know him after either... It's still new I guess."
"You guess?" He asked.
"My trust issues... I'm learning as I go. He's nice and believe it or not, he can actually make me laugh." I said. I knew me saying that was a big deal. My dad knew not many people could do that.
My father's eyes looking in my identical eyes. He was making me feel like he was trying to 'read' me.
"He can make you laugh?" He asked and I just smiled and nodded my head.
I noticed he relaxed after that. I know he just wanted me happy but mostly he wanted me safe.
"Then...I'll let you do your homework and figure it out with Emily. At work, he seems like a nice guy but...it's at work. I don't know him other than here. You come to me if you ever need me, day or night. Do you understand me?" He asked.
I smiled again, "Yes dad, I understand." I said and gave him a hug.
I didn't want him to be angry but mostly I didn't want to leave and hearing from Blake or my dad that they had an argument after I left.
"But you need let me deal with this okay. My life..." I said still hugging him.
He took a deep breath and finally hugged me back and said, "Your life but my daughter." He said, making me chuckle.
I nodded my head and he said, "Just make sure...pepper spray bottle in your purse at all times."
"Dad!" I said pulling back to look at him.
His eyes told me he was worried.
"Promise me... We didn't see it coming... So please promise me... I couldn't lose you." He said with watery eyes.
"I promise dad. It won't leave my purse." I said making sure he knew I was saying the truth.
He nodded his head and gave me a small smile.
I knew my mom and I had issues but I hadn't really thought of my dad's. It must have been really hard on him too. Yeah my mother and I had went through a lot but so had my dad, it was just different.
"So I changed the oil, I filled your windshield washer fluid, I checked the pressure in the tires and I filled your gas tank. Driving I noticed your brakes were noisy so I'll check them next time in case they need to be changed." He said.
"But I won't die while driving it, right?" I asked, half joking and half making sure.
He gave me an 'are you seriously look' and I laughed.
"I just wanted to make sure." I said putting my hands up.
"Do you really think I'd let you drive it if it wasn't safe?" He asked.
"I know, it just the way you said the brake thing, 'I'll check them next time in case they need to be changed', I was just a little worried." I said with a big smile trying my best not to laugh by the way he was looking at me.
He shook his head and started to walk towards his station so I followed.
I saw him grab my keys and turned towards me.
He gave me my keys, "Thanks dad." I said smiling.
"No problem and before I forget…" He said but brought his voice lower so only I could hear. "Your mom spoke to me...about Anne."
My eyes went big, he had my full attention.
"And?"
"Like I told your mom I didn't see him much, maybe twice during those 5 years. During that time, I avoided everything and everyone I could. When I saw him, he didn't mention anything other than your mom and he wasn't with other people. I can't be positive...I'm not sure." He said. I could tell by his voice, his eyes and facial expression he felt awful about not remembering more.
"Thanks dad. I know even thinking about it is... How's mom?" I asked.
"Worried, she's having a hard time sleeping but, she's focusing on other things which help. How are you?" He asked.
"Pushing it aside, trying not to think. I know Emily wouldn't be happy about that, she always says to 'feel the emotions' and crap like that. That if I don't face it, it's only going to get worse." I said.
"She's a smart woman." He said.
I laughed, "Yeah, don't tell her that." I said.
"What time are you working today?"
"Afternoon." I said.
"Well...have a good day, stay safe. I love you." He said.
I took the two steps that were keeping us apart and gave him a hug.
"Love you too dad and also have a good day." I said and pulled away.
He smiled at me and looked towards Blake's work station.
"Be nice, don't kill him." I told him.
He shook his head and rolled his eyes. "Bye." He said.
I laughed, "I'm serious." I said.
"I know, bye." He said again.
I nodded and left his side. I walked back the same way I went in. I knew I'd pass by Blake on my way out.
When I saw him and went closer to him so he could hear me.
"I'm going." I told him.
"Everything's good?" He asked.
I smiled. "Yeah, don't worry. He'll let you live."
His eyes went big which made me laugh.
"You should be fine. He's just protective." I told him. Slowly he started to nod his head.
"Well, I hope I'll see you soon Miss Gibson." He said smirking at me.
I laughed. "Bye Blake. Have a nice day." I said with a huge smile.
I left the garage and I was happy to be going home and not straight to work.
I found my car pretty easily since my dad always left my car in almost the same spot.
I drove home feeling happy about Blake and how things were going between us, nervous about my dad and worried about my mom.
That’s when I made a big decision. I just hoped I wasn’t going to regret it.
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