Can't decide whether I like this chapter or not...I kind of don't. Oh well.
Thanks to xsmile-todayx for providing the song for this chapter! It really does fit Nick and Shannon well.
Enjoy!
Chapter 63
Shannon’s P.O.V:
When I woke the next morning, the muscles in my arms were sore, but I had absolutely no idea why. I moaned as I sat up to stretch, the right side of my neck screaming in pain. I must have slept on it badly.
I gingerly rolled my shoulders and neck in circles to try and ease the stiffness. It didn’t work. So I swung my legs over the side of the bed, standing up while trying to move my neck as little as possible – not the easiest thing I’ve ever done.
It was in that instant that my day went from bad to ‘kill me now’. Yes, I stubbed my toe. Actually, I stubbed three toes. I don’t know how I did it – it will probably remain a mystery for the rest of my life. I was walking away from my bed, and nowhere near either end. So how did my foot suddenly slam into the bedpost at least a foot (no pun intended) and a half away?
I fell back onto the bed, clutching my foot in agony. I was glad nobody was around to hear the curses that fell out of my mouth. I’d never live it down.
When the pain had lessened to only an extremely painful throbbing, I attempted standing again. I limped my way to the door, my eyes fixed on the floor to avoid a repeat performance of my own idiocy.
If I scowled anymore, I’d probably have wrinkles within the hour. I couldn’t help it though; it was just one of those days. I also had the beginnings of a headache. One of the reasons I hadn’t drunk the night before was because I knew I had to work today, and I hadn’t wanted to have a freaking headache!
I felt those wrinkles deepen a little more.
All I wanted was some breakfast and some aspirin. I cursed again, halfway through the living room when I remembered that I’d given Nick all the aspirin when we got home the night before. I turned a glare on his closed door, slightly surprised that I didn’t instantly burn a hole in it. No way was I going to go fumbling through his dark room for a box of aspirin.
He was no doubt extremely hung over. I didn’t think we should be in the same room at that particular moment in time. It would be like simultaneously poking two sleeping bears, in the middle of winter. The fall out wouldn’t be pretty – I was sure of that.
As you can see, I had a lot of faith in our ability to be civil to each other. So I settled for glaring at his door, no doubt leaving me permanently squinty eyed – as well as wrinkled.
I stood there and glared until my stomach clenched in hunger. It was a hollow ache I couldn’t ignore.
I decided to treat myself to two chocolate Pop-Tarts. My mouth watered as I put them in the toaster.
“Nom” I said out loud, into the silence permeating the apartment. Great, now I was talking to myself.
Nick had bought a box for himself when he went shopping three days ago. This was my way of saying fuck you, while still getting to enjoy chocolaty goodness. He took my aspirin; I’ll take his Pop-Tarts. I ignored the fact that my thought process was completely irrational, and that I probably sounded like a crazy person – if someone were to read my mind at that moment.
I shook my head to clear my thoughts, feeling myself edging ever closer to insanity the more I focused on Nick. I needed calories; now.
I limped over to get a glass of water, my mouth and throat suddenly dry. Not only were my toes still throbbing, the balls of my feet felt swollen; the downside of wearing heels all night. A friend had once likened the feeling to having Play-Doh stuck to the bottom of your feet. I was inclined to agree.
Overall, I just felt like one giant bruise. And here I’d thought the day couldn’t possibly get any worse. I was going to find out just how mistaken I’d been.
I had to be in work in an hour. I had to work the lunch shift on a Sunday; when all the tourists would be out with their families, and their oversized cameras – couldn’t forget the cameras.
Frankly, the thought made me want to bang my head against a wall. The only upside was that Toby would be in. I knew Becky wasn’t working so I’d have to rely on him for all the gossip – I’d left far earlier than everyone else, and I definitely wasn’t going to rely on Jenny for information. I wrinkled my nose at the thought of having to see her today. I may not have to interact with her really, but she was still going to be there.
I flopped down on the couch with an overly dramatic sigh. I stretched out full-length on the couch and propped my feet up on the jacket I’d never put away when we got home last night.
I balanced my plate on my stomach as I flicked through the channels, finally settling on an old episode of Come Dine with Me. I’ll admit to a small obsession. I was just glad I had my Pop-Tarts in front of me. The worst thing to do was watch an episode while hungry. I turned up the volume as the opening music played and Dave Lamb began to speak.
Part of me was hoping the noise of the TV would wake Nick; just so he’d be irritated. No such luck though. Despite continually upping the volume in increments every five minutes or so (okay, maybe two), there was no sound of movement behind Nick’s door. Damn.
I put off moving until the last possible moment. I just wanted to go back to bed and hide from the world; and I didn’t know why. Eventually, I made my way to my room, slamming my door behind me. I pulled my work clothes on in my room and put on the bare minimum of makeup – I didn’t want to scare the customers away. Rick wouldn’t be happy.
Before leaving, I grabbed a thick pair of gloves and a matching, hand-knitted woollen scarf. Something told me the weather wouldn’t have picked up since last night.
I was going out prepared. I so should have been a Boy Scout.
I made it to work in record time. It started to rain when I’d made it halfway, each drop hitting my exposed skin like little pieces of ice. I ran from there – despite my still throbbing feet.
When I stepped inside, into the always warm café, I pushed down the urge to shake myself. I was soaking. I probably seriously resembled a wet dog at the moment.
I rounded the counter, pulling off my jacket scarf and gloves. The first thing I did was get a glass of water. I felt like I hadn’t had liquids in at least a week; despite drinking a pint of water with my breakfast.
Why the hell did I have all the symptoms of a hangover when I hadn’t even been drinking?
I sighed, nodding in greeting to Rick when he appeared out the door leading to the backroom, the shop phone pressed to his ear. He looked distracted and more frazzled than usual. I wasn’t going to ask why.
I pulled on my apron and surveyed the café, paying attention to my surroundings for the first time. The place was around half full; a few families dotted around, but mainly couples – both young and old. It could have been a lot worse.
I blew out a breath, pushing all thoughts of my various ailments from my mind. I frowned when I noticed Peter across the room, taking orders; a slight blush staining his cheeks. I smiled at the sight of him as I began to work.
I kept an eye on him the whole time; waiting for the first opportunity we had to talk for a moment. It took at least half an hour. There was a lull in the almost steady stream of customers coming through the door, and those still seated had been taken care of.
I sauntered over to where he was cleaning and leant my hip against the counter beside him. I was about to fold my arms across my chest and make some sort of sarcastic comment, but I didn’t get a chance. Before I knew what was happening, Peter had lifted me off my feet in a bear hug.
I just stared at his flushed face when he finally set me on my feet again. He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly; like he was surprised by what he’d just done. He probably was.
“Well” I smirked, “it’s nice to see you too, Peter. But are you sure Nevaeh would be alright with you just sweeping girls off their feet like that?”
His blush deepened; “that’s why I…well, I just wanted to thank you for that; introducing me to Nevaeh that is.”
My smile widened. “You’re welcome. She’s a nice girl.”
He nodded happily, “she is.”
Peter went back to cleaning. I cleared my throat – now that I had his attention, why not embarrass him a little? “So the two of you seemed to be having a good time; outside that is.”
Peter froze for so long that my hand actually reached out to poke him. His head whipped towards me and my arm fell back to my side. I stared at him curiously – I didn’t think I’d ever seen that shade of red in my life…it was almost purple now. My lips twitched.
“What did you just say?” He whispered.
“Just that you seemed very cosy.” I smiled innocently at him.
He looked like he was choking and I wondered if I should be worried. “You saw us?” He wheezed.
I nodded. He dropped the cloth onto the counter and turned to me, staring around us suspiciously. “Who else saw?”
I frowned, “just me. Why?” He exhaled, looking relieved. Then I remembered; “Sorry, my bad. Mark saw as well.”
He covered his face with his hands and did the last thing I ever expected; he cursed. My eyebrows flew up. “Jeez Peter; if I could take it back, I would. We saw by accident.”
He sighed and dropped his hands. “Did you tell anyone?”
I shook my head. “What about Mark?” he insisted.
“I’m not sure. If he did, he’d only have told Jay and Nick.”
“Great” he sighed; “three people that don’t like me.”
I wasn’t going to bother arguing about that. “I don’t understand why you’re so upset.” Okay, so it probably wasn’t nice to find out that people had seen you in a compromising position, but still…
He stepped closer, looking around us again. “Nevaeh has a boyfriend.”
My mouth dropped open; “what?”
He shushed me; “not so loud.”
“What the hell do you mean she has a boyfriend?”
He stared over my shoulder. “She was going to break up with him today anyway.”
A group of three people had stepped through the door while we were talking, and Peter stepped over to take care of them - and any other customers who needed it. I stayed behind the counter.
I was surprised; Peter hadn’t struck me as the type to do something like that - and neither had Nevaeh actually. I hadn’t even known she’d had a boyfriend. Though, admittedly I’d never really talked to her before.
Through my anger at Peter, I hoped that she wasn’t just playing him. It just seemed very convenient that she hooked up with Peter the night before she was planning on breaking up with her boyfriend. Maybe that was the truth though, I didn’t know. I just hoped Peter didn’t get hurt. I was half worried for him, and half pissed that he’d do something like that.
When he came back over, I glared at Peter. “I don’t condone cheating Peter. You shouldn’t have done that.”
“I know, but I really like her.”
“That’s not the point” I shot back. “If she was going to break up with her boyfriend today anyway, could you not just have waited?”
He rubbed the back of his neck again. “I may have been drunk.”
My eyes narrowed. Stupid drink, I thought. “Who is her boyfriend?” I asked.
He shrugged; “I don’t know. Somebody called John I think.”
Well, that didn’t exactly narrow it down. I glared at him some more.
“This has really pissed you off, hasn’t it?” I nodded once. “Have you ever been…?” He didn’t need to finish his sentence.
“It’s complicated” I told him through clenched teeth.
He seemed to deflate in front of me. “Who?”
I turned away from him slightly; glancing around the café to make sure nobody needed anything before I answered him. “Nick.”
“You mean-” He didn’t get to finish what he’d been about to say, because Rick’s head popped around the door that led to the backroom, the phone pressed to his shoulder like he was trying to muffle conversation.
“Shannon” he gestured to me almost impatiently. Somebody isn’t in a good mood today, I thought as I turned my attention to my boss. “Toby’s here. I want you to help him and then take an inventory. Peter can take over you tables.”
I frowned slightly, but nodded. It was a tough job, especially during this particular shift, but I wasn’t going to argue; though it was unusual that Rick would leave only one person in charge – especially Peter, who didn’t have that much experience yet. That reminded me…
I glanced at Peter over my shoulder as Rick disappeared again. “Why are you working actually? I thought Jenny was in today?”
Peter grimaced as he resumed cleaning the counter until it practically sparkled. “She called in sick earlier, said she couldn’t make it. So I agreed to come in.”
I snorted; “sick, yeah right. More like still drunk in some random guy’s bed.”
I was startled by Peter’s sudden burst of laughter. My eyes widened and my astonishment took over any anger I felt towards him; had I just made him laugh…by being a bitch? A red letter day indeed.
I walked through to the back without another word, looking around for Toby. I whistled under my breath when I spotted him. He did not look good. In fact, he looked so bad that he almost made me feel better about the crappy day I’d been having.
When he saw, he dragged himself over, barely smiling. With a yawn, he immediately leaned on me, using my shoulder as a pillow. “Nap time” he murmured, yawning again.
“Jesus, you’re heavy” I wheezed, struggling to keep myself upright with his weight bearing down on me.
“Shh…I’m sleeping.”
I rolled my eyes, pushing him off. “Come on Toby, the sooner we get this done, the sooner you can go home.”
He immediately perked up. “Good point, Batman.”
I rolled my eyes, deciding not to bother saying anything.
We talked while we worked. Toby told me all about his night, making me laugh at his antics. It seemed everyone had had a great time. Apparently it had gone on until the early hours of the morning too. I quickly cut him off though, when he began to tell me that his night hadn’t ended there. I didn’t really want details on just why Toby was still so tired, even though it was early afternoon. From the little but he told me before I managed to shut him up, it seemed he hadn’t yet been to bed – or his own anyway.
We were almost finished when Peter walked through the door. The smile on my face dropped when I saw his expression. “What’s wrong?”
I forgot about everything that had happened earlier. He wouldn’t meet my gaze. He looked embarrassed, nervous, and…hurt? “Peter?” I prompted.
Toby stepped away from us, trying to be as unobtrusive as possible. I was grateful for that.
“I need you to come serve some customers” he finally said, his voice quiet.
I frowned; “are there too many? Is that it?” I knew how swamped it could get with two people working. I’d imagine it would be impossible by yourself if the place was busy enough. But still, I couldn’t imagine the café being full eliciting this sort of reaction in him.
He shook his head. Now I was confused. “You’ve been requested.”
“Requested?” I echoed.
“Specifically” he nodded, before turning and heading back through the door.
I quickly followed him, concerned by the way he was acting.
As soon as I stepped through the door, my gaze was drawn to a table in the centre of the café. I immediately knew who had ‘requested’ me. My jaw clenched as anger rose up inside me. I whirled around to face Peter. He wouldn’t look at me, just kept his gaze firmly on the floor. “What happened?”
He shook his head; “nothing.”
“Peter” I said, my tone dangerously low. “What. Happened.”
“I went over to serve them, but they refused…they said they’d only talk to you. I mean I knew they didn’t like me; I’m not stupid, but…” he trailed off, the hurt in his expression becoming more evident.
I closed my eyes and counted to ten - nothing. Twenty…still nothing. I cursed. “I’m going to kill him” I muttered eventually.
Peter’s gaze flew up to my face; “Shannon…”
“No.” I reached out to squeeze his hand. “Let me take care of this. You just keep an eye on the other customers.” He must have seen something in my face because he kept his mouth shut. Good.
I grabbed my notepad and pen. They’d requested me? Fine, but I wasn’t going to be polite.
Three pairs of eyes watched as I stalked over to their table. Mark and Jay averted their gazes, something like embarrassment crossing their faces. Mark even slid down a couple of inches in his seat. I ignored them; they weren’t the one I was annoyed with. They weren’t the ones behind this little stunt, and they hadn’t made me so angry I was practically seeing red.
I had eyes for only one person. The bastard actually had the gall to smirk as I came to a stop at their table. “What the fuck is your problem?” I spoke directly to Nick.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about” was all he said, that self-satisfied smirk still on his lips.
I wanted to slap him, I really did. “I want to know why you requested me. What was wrong with Peter’s service? Because if you genuinely have a complaint, you should take it up with the manager; don’t just sit here acting like you own the place.”
I could see both Mark and Jay shifting uncomfortably in their seats but I continued to ignore them. Nick just shrugged, like he was completely unaffected by my words. “We didn’t find his service adequate.” His lips curled up in a horrible smile.
“We?” I hissed; my tone scathing. “Don’t drag them into this Nick” I said, jerking my thumb in Mark and Jay’s direction.
“And definitely don’t drag an innocent bystander like Peter into this” I fumed. “If you’re going to be a dick, don’t lie about it. This is about you; you and your jealousy, and your petty hatred. You can’t treat people like this.”
It looked like a thundercloud passed over his face as he glared up at me. I placed my hands flat on the table and leaned in close until my lips brushed against ear. I felt him tense.
“I’m only going to say this once Nick. You ever pull something like this again, and I swear to God I’m moving out. I don’t care that there’s still a couple of months left of college.” I pulled back in time to see him stare at me with a stricken look on his face.
“You wouldn’t” he sounded strangled.
“Try me” I snapped before whirling on the other two. I glared at them both until they fidgeted in their seats.
“You should know better” was all I said, but they looked like they’d been struck. I glared at Mark again for extra measure before smoothing out my notepad and holding my pen poised over the slightly crumpled paper. “Now, what do you want? I was extremely busy before you three had the nerve to order me out her to serve you.” My tone was dripping with sarcasm.
I hadn’t been this mad in a long time, not even when I saw Natalie walking out of Nick’s room. Then, I’d been so hurt that I hadn’t spared much time for being angry. Not so much now.
I was more annoyed with Mark than Jay because he was the only one who knew about Nevaeh. I didn’t care that Peter didn’t want people to know about them. This whole situation could have been easily avoided.
I’d known that at least part of Nick hadn’t believed me when I said there was nothing between me and Peter. I’d even told Mark that, and he’d seen Peter and Nevaeh outside. He knew that I’d pretty much set them up. But he hadn’t thought to tell Nick that, though he knew how jealous his friend could get and knew how much he disliked Peter.
But my annoyance with Mark was nothing compared to the rage I felt when I thought of Nick. He only cared about himself.
When I finally got their damned orders, I stormed back over to Peter who watched wide-eyed from behind the counter. I was aware of the curious stares from other customers, but I couldn’t make myself care. I knew Rick would kill me if he’d seen my little altercation with three guys, who were ostensibly just regular customers with no ties to me.
I handed Peter their order. “When it’s ready, let me know and I’ll carry it over to their lordships” I said. “And they damn well better tip” I muttered as an afterthought.
Peter just stared at me, something close to admiration in his eyes. I didn’t deserve it.
To an outsider it might have looked, I don’t know; brave of me to go stand up to them. Though he knew we were friends, I doubted Peter realised just how easy it was for me to manipulate the situation. Mark and Jay were never really an issue, and all I had to do was threaten to move out, for Nick to immediately back off. Something told me it would never get to that point – Nick wouldn’t let go that easily; and neither would I.
I reached up to press a kiss to Peter’s cheek. “You can have their tip. You deserve it.”
I left him staring after me, a blush turning his cheeks a deep crimson. When I shut the door behind me, I immediately walked over to Toby and leaned against him, wrapping my arms tightly around his waist.
His arms came up around me and I was instantly soothed. “Bad day?” he asked lightly.
I nodded against his chest. He didn’t know the half of it.
I helped Toby as much as I could before Peter popped his head around the door. Toby grinned, clapping me on the back; “good luck.”
I stuck my tongue out at him before walking as slowly as I possibly could, over to the door. “I’ll be back in a minute to finish that last box.”
More and more customers seemed to be coming in, so when I’d served the idiots (silently), I took the time to help Peter out a bit. He sent me a grateful smile as he raced around.
I finally stepped into the backroom, and burst out laughing. Toby was curled up asleep in the centre of the floor beside the last box. He didn’t wake, despite my loud laughter.
I knelt beside him and shook him until he woke. I wasn’t sure where Rick was; I hadn’t seen him in at least an hour, but I knew he wouldn’t be happy if he caught Toby sleeping on the job.
He woke with a start, muttering incoherently as he blinked up at me. I covered my mouth with a hand to hide my smile. When he finally seemed to realise what was going on, he groaned.
“Come on. We’ll be finished in five minutes” I told him, trying my best to pull him up.
He finally acceded. It didn’t take long and soon Toby was stumbling outside. Something told me he was going straight to bed when he got home. It made me extra glad I hadn’t been drinking – the thought of having to work while hung over made me shudder.
I made sure everything was in place before heading back to help Peter. My eyes were drawn to that table in the centre of the café. I was surprised to see Nick sitting alone, his head bent.
“I think he wants to talk to you” Peter’s voice whispered as he walked past. I checked my watch – I only had an hour left before I could go home. I sighed, I didn’t want to talk to Nick, but I really had to clear the table.
I told myself that I’d go over, clear the table, but ignore Nick…yeah, because I really believed that. I was the queen of denial. I took a deep breath, grabbing a tray and cloth.
We didn’t actually speak as I cleaned; I was just very aware of his eyes on me as I stacked plates. It was only after I’d wiped down the table, that he reached out and grabbed my hand. I tried to pull out of his grasp but he wouldn’t let me. “You lied to me.”
I frowned. Okay, so it wasn’t exactly what I’d been expecting him to say. “Excuse me?”
“You lied to me” he repeated. “You told me last night that you’d be home today.”
Again, not what I’d expected him to say; “Nick, you were drunk.”
“That’s not the point” he insisted.
I stared at him; confused. He seemed, almost upset.
“Was everything else you said a lie too?”
I racked my brains, trying to remember our conversation from the night before. Nothing sprung to mind. “Nick, I would have said anything to make you go to sleep; you were really drunk. It’s not a big deal.”
His shoulders slumped and he dropped my hand. “Maybe not to you.” He pushed his chair back.
“Nick, I don’t know what-”
“It doesn’t matter. I’ll see you at home.” He leaned forward and kissed me on the cheek.
He pressed a small, hard object into my hand before standing up and heading for the door; his hands stuffed deep in his pockets. I stared after him. What the hell was that all about?
The headache that had been simmering all day went up a notch or two, and I pinched the bridge of my nose. I just wanted to go home. Only fifty minutes to go.
When Nick had disappeared out of sight, I glanced down to see he’d given me my camera. I’d forgotten about that. I tucked it into my pocket and went back to work with a sigh.
An hour or so later, I let myself into the apartment. When I was leaving work, Peter had pulled me into a short, but tight hug. He’d whispered his thanks before pushing me towards the door. I wasn’t exactly sure what he was thanking me for.
I was still kind of annoyed with him because of Nevaeh, but I figured I couldn’t do anything about it now and it wasn’t any of my business. He’d told me that she’d texted and they were going on a date in a couple of days.
Guess she hadn’t been lying about breaking up with her boyfriend. I just felt sorry for him; whoever he was.
As I walked home, I’d looked through the numerous photos Mark had taken with my camera. There were some really good ones, and some really random ones – not that I was surprised considering who the photographer was.
I’d laughed when I saw a photo of me being carried away by Toby, and been glad at the same time to see that I hadn’t really flashed anything. There was also a photo of Nick and I – it made me feel slightly pathetic to see it. We both looked so needy.
I pushed all thoughts of work and photos from my mind. What I really wanted was a long, hot shower.
The apartment was dark and cold when I stepped inside. I sighed; it wasn’t what I wanted to come home to. Not that I expected Nick to be sitting waiting for me – he had his own life after all – but it would still be nice every once in a while to come home and find somebody else there - especially when I’d just had the day from hell.
I walked back into the living room, rubbing a towel through my wet hair. I’d changed into my comfiest clothes, but I really didn’t feel well. Not so much like I had a cold, or like I was going to get sick. I just didn’t feel well; it was the strangest feeling – almost like I was sick with nerves or something.
I sat down on the couch, my hand pressing against my forehead as if that could ease the tension in my body.
I glanced over at my phone, thrown at the other end of the couch. I had a sudden urge to pick it up and call Nick. I didn’t know why. I’d been talking to him less than two hours ago and he’d been royally pissing me off.
So why did I suddenly want to hear his voice?
I fidgeted, trying to make myself calm down, my heart beating faster than it should be. I rubbed my suddenly clammy palms against my trousers; jumping like a gun had gone off when my phone started to ring.
My whole body tensed as I stared at it, my heart beating even faster from being startled. Maybe it was Nick?
I reached over and answered the phone.
My whole world came crashing down around me, and I couldn’t do anything to stop it.
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Hey everyone, I’m sorry for the delay…life got in the way :)
I haven’t written much of the next chapter, but I’ll try get it up as soon as I can. Excited for Nick’s P.O.V?
Anyway, let me know what you think, and thanks again for all the birthday wishes. It meant a lot :)
Kaz xoxo