The loud banging on her front door startled Annabell awake. Groggily, she looked at the clock hanging on her wall. It was almost seven in the morning, normally little b would be awake already. She checked on her son before the loud banging began again. Annabelle felt the anger swell inside her, whoever was banging on her door so early was going to get an ear full. She ripped open her door, whisper yelling a frustrated "what" at the person on the other side of the door. Annabelle was a bit shocked to see Dax standing there, long hair pulled up into a bun on the top of his head and a scowl on his face.
'Dax?'
' Is that how you greet everyone or am I just special?'
'You were pounding on my door and my son is still sleeping asshole. It's rare that he sleeps in like this, don't ruin it for me.' Dax's scowl faded away, a sheepish look replacing it.
'Sorry. I forgot you had a little one,' Annabelle was surprised and her ager began to fade.' Look, I just stopped by because I wanted to say sorry for last night.'
'Ma smacked some sense into you didn't she.' Annabelle teased.
Dax rubbed at his beard covered jaw,' Yeah, something like that. She made some good points after you left, but it was really what you said last night that made me think.'
'Oh.'
"Look, I'm sure you don't want anyone prying into your business, but, if you need help or something.' Annabelle could tell Dax was struggling to find the right words to say.
'Dax, it's ok. Thanks for stopping by and apologizing. Can we agree to try to get along for your parents' sake? I promise you I'm not here to cause trouble and your parents were the miracle that I desperately needed. I owe them a lot.'
A small smile graced Dax lips. A real smile, not the smirk he had given her last night.
'Yeah we can do that.' he turned and walked over to his bike and swung his leg over. How had she not heard his bike in the early hours of the morning? Annabelle shrugged the thought off and watched as Dax gave her a nod and rode off.
'So out of your league Annabelle.' she whispered to herself. With a small pep in her step Annabelle went back inside to get ready for wher interview. She had a good feeling about today.
An hour later Annabelle was knocking on the Wilkins' door, ready to drop off little b before her interview. Ma opened the door and let mother and son in.
'Are you ready for today?' she asked, taking little b from annabelle.
'I think so. I have a good feeling about today.'
' Would it have anything to do with a certain stubborn blonde son of mine stopping by?' ma questioned with a knowing smirk.
'How did you know?' annabelle's surprise coloring her voice.
'Besides me beating some sense into him you mean?' ma said with a little laugh.' You are surprisingly happy this morning. I just put two and two together.'
'Well thank you for beating some sense into him, just next time, tell Dax to not pound on my door before the sun is up.'
'What did Dax do now?' an unfamiliar voice asked. Annabelle looked towards the voice and found an older man. He was a tall man, not as tall as Dax, but he was still an imposing looking man. His graying white hair was slicked back and the sides shaved down. His dark eyebrows were pinched together in a scowl and his tattooed arms were crossed over his chest. He looked like he was in his fifties, but still a good looking man. His muscles bulged with his arms being crossed over his chest and the navy blue shirt he wore clung nicly to his still in shape torso.
'Jack, I didn't know you were here this early.' Mrs. Wilkins said.
'Just stopped by to finish up some business. Who's this?' his eyes never once left Annabelle's while talking to Mrs. Wilkins.
'This is Annabelle. Annabelle this is Jack, a good friend of the family. He and my husband have been the best of friends since they were little ones. Speaking of little ones, Jack this is Annabelle's son.'
Jack looked over at Mrs. Wilkins and little b. 'Cute kid.' was all he said. 'So this is the girl Hemlock was giving shit to last night?' Jack asked, nodding in Annabelle's direction.
'Yes, but he showed up at my door early this morning and apologized.' Annabelle wasn't sure why she felt like she needed to make sure the Jack knew that. She got the feeling that Jack was an important man and if he wasn't happy no one was. Jack's eyes cut to her again, searching her face.
'You sure? He knows that's not how to treat a woman. I can always knock some sense into him for you.'
'Thanks, but Mrs. Wilkins beat you to it. Really Mr. Jack, it's fine now.' Annabelle rushed out, wanting the attention off of her. She could feel her face burning with how uncomfortable she was. She was not expecting a man that looked like Jack to laugh, but he let out a rough chuckle. It made Annabelle think that he didn't laugh much, if at all in his life.
'Mr. Jack huh.' Jack teased.
Annabelle opened her mouth to apologize but Jack dismissed it with a wave of his hand. 'It's cute, I like it. Your the only one who gets to call me Mr. Jack or just Jack when your comfortable, got it?' Annabelle mutely nodded her head, too shocked to speak. She thought for sure a man like Jack would put her in her place, instead he had laughed and teased her like he knew her. Thankfully, Mrs. Wilkins saved Annabelle any more embarrassment and walked over to Annabelle, holding her hands out to take little b.
'You should probably get going now Annabelle. Don't want to be late to your job interview."
'Oh shit!' Annabelle handed over her son to Mrs. Wilkins, looking at the clock mounted on the wall behind her. Realizing what she said, Annabelle cast a sheepish glance at Mr and Mrs. Wilkins. "Sorry.' The older couple waved off her apology. 'Trust me, I've heard worse.' Mrs. Wilkins said. Sending her husband and Jack a teasing glare. Annabelle giggled and thanked Mrs. Wilkins once again for watching little b while she went to her interview. Annabelle climbed into her car and drove off to her interview. Even though she could feel here nerves throughout her whole body, she felt like today was going to be a good day. Things were finally starting to go in her favor.
Thankfully, Annabelle made it to her interview with plenty of time to spare. She wandered up and down the streets of the small town center. The buildings were made to look old fashioned, a bit western. Annabelle found herself becoming fond of the small town and hoped that the interview went well. When the time got closer to her interview she walked over to the preschool and knocked. She didn't have to wait long before she was let in by a slightly older women.
'Hi, you must be Annabelle. My name is Macy, I am the director and owner of the preschool.' Annabelle felt her nerves melt away. There was a calming and genuine feeling she got just from meeting Macy. Annabelle reminded herself that it was a part of Macy's job to be nice so people would want to work for her, but there was another part of Annabelle that was hoped she had finally found a real genuine place to work. She wanted to love her job and the people she worked with.
Macy continued to be warm and welcoming throughout the whole interview and Annabelle's need and want to work at the preschool continued to strengthen. She felt like she was connecting with Macy and the program that she had created.
Annabelle's smile was big and bright when she climbed into her car to go home. She glanced at the clock on her dashboard and her eyes widened in surprise. Her interview had lasted for hours. She knew that Macy was being through in her questions, wanting to see if Annabelle was someone to take a chance on, but two hours; Annabelle didn't know if that was a good thing or not. She decided to not let it bother her, her focus was on getting home. She had been gone longer than anticipated and she was hopeful that the Wilkins would not be upset.
Her older white SUV pulled into the driveway and she quickly hopped out and jogged to the front door of her landlords. The door opened and Annabelle was ready to start apologizing but was stopped short when a smiling Mrs. Wilkins opened the door and waved off any apologies Annabelle was ready to give.
'Come in dear. How did the interview go? It must have been a good interview if it went longer than expected.'
'I'm so sorry Mrs. Wilkins. I feel horrible. I really hope he was no trouble for you.' Once again Mrs. Wilkins waved off Annabelle's apology. 'He was a perfect angel. He did get a little fussy, but I think I found the perfect solution.' Annabelle gave the older women a puzzled look. A suddenly excited Mrs. Wilkins pulled on Annabelle's arm and ushered her down the hall. Once they were standing outside of a slightly open door, Mrs. Wilkins put her finger up to her lips, silently asking Annabelle to be quite. Annabelle nodded her head in understanding and Mrs. Wilkins pushed the door open. Both women tensing when the door made a creaking noise. With the door open, Mrs. Wilkins stood back and gestured for Annabelle to walk into the room.
The sight that came into view nearly knocked Annabelle over with emotion.The room, obviously a guest room, had a queen bed in the middle of the room. It was what, or rather who was on the bed that had emotions surging through Annabelle. A shirtless Dax was lying on the bed sleeping and had Annabelle's sleeping son on his chest. A few of the pillows had been moved to create a barrier incase the baby woke up. The thoughtfulness touched Annabelle's heart, not even little b's own father had been so thoughtful of his own son. She glanced behind her when she heard feet shoveling behind her. Mrs. Wilkins entered the room with a small smile on her face, watching the two sleeping persons on her guest bed.
'Like I had mentioned earlier, he was an angel the whole time, but then he started getting fussy and nothing would settle him. We tried everything, food, diaper changes, toys. My husband even tried walking around the house while bouncing him around. Well Dax showed up to help me fix some things around the house and Little B was still going. Dax just took over and it took a minute, but Little B warmed up to him real quick. They spent the last few hours together and I found them like this just a little while ago. She paused and took a moment to look at Annabelle.
'Are you upset dear? I know you and Dax have not had the best of times since meeting each other.'
'Um, no. I guess I'm more touched and little confused to be honest. Why would he take the time to help?'
'Dax is one of the good guys. There is nothing that could make Dax do what he didn't want to do. Been that way since he was a boy.' Annabelle didn't know what to say to Mrs. Wilkins. She was confused even more by Dax and there were other emotions that were trying to pop up. She really didn't want to look into those other emotions. Her only concern was her son, she didn't have time for anything else. She couldn't be selfish like that. Annabellle noticed the diaper bag and walked over to it, picking it up and going through it, making sure everything was inside. Thankful for the distraction.
'Dax, wake up.' was heard behind Annabelle. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Mrs. Wilkins gently shaking Dax's shoulder. He slowly woke up, his arm coming up to his face and rubbing it.
'Hey ma.' Annabelle forced her attention back to the diaper bag. She continued to shove the rest Little B's items inside the bag. Trying and failing to push the image of Dax waking up. She found him rather adorable when waking up. Not to mention the deep gravelly voice had other parts taking notice of him. Too lost inside her own head, Annabelle didn't hear Dax getting out of the bed, or him walking over to her. When he held her son's favorite stuffy out to her she startled. A small gasp escaping her lips and she spun herself to face Dax. Her mouth opening to scold him for leaving her sleeping baby one the bed unattended. Her eyes darted to the bed, he had put the pillow he was using on the other side of her son. He would not be able to roll off the bed. Her eyes went back to Dax. His eyebrow raised like he knew what she was going to say. She closed her mouth and tried to come up with something to say to him.
'Thanks.' Really, that's all you could think to say? The voice inside her head scolded her.
The corner of Dax's mouth curled into his signature smirk. He knew exactly what she was going to say and get off on one upping her.
'I uh, really mean it. Thank you for taking care of Little B. Even if it was just to help your parents, I still really appreciate it.' Dax's smirk had fallen and in it place was a confused hurt look. It made Annabelle's cheeks burn. She wasn't sure what she said that seemed to upset him, but it did make her uncomfortable. She took the toy from Dax and added it to the diaper bag. An awkward silence taking over the room. Annabelle caught Dax walking over to the door from the corner of her eye, but not before he checked on the sleeping baby on the bed. He paused, just before his hand touched the doorknob. ' I didn't help just because of my parents. Yeah, dad needed the help with the little guy, but I stepped in and helped out because he obviously needed something that he wasn't getting. I didn't even know if he was going to responded to anything I tried, but he did and I'm glad. It helped my parents out, but more importantly it helped the little guy out more.
Annabelle's head dropped. She was used to feeling shame that was not hers, but this time, the shame was all hers. She had obviously hurt Dax when she said he only helped for his parents' sake. One of her biggest pet peeves is when someone judged her without knowing everything or without giving her the chance to explain herself. Know she had done the same thing to Dax. There was obviously more to Dax than meets the eye. Annabelle knew she should catch up to him and apologize to him, but there was a part of her that really hoped that he was already gone and she wouldn't have to deal with it. She stood there for several minutes fighting with herself about what she knew was right. In the end the sounds of her son starting to wake up saved Annabelle from having to make the choice herself. She knew she was being childish and running from the situation, but she just couldn't make herself seek out Dax to apologize. There were so many 'what-ifs' running through her head. She had learned from her ex-husband that saying sorry doesn't mean anything.
Annabelle finished packing everything up before gathering her son from the bed. 'Hi baby boy. Did you have fun with the Wilkins?' she cooed to her son. She recieved happy baby babbel in response. She walked down the hall, listening to her son babbel away, hoping that Dax was gone. She heard Mr. Wilkins talking to someone, she hoped it was his wife. She wanted to thank them again before leaving. When she rounded the corner she found the Wilkins talking with their son. Dax noticed her before his parents did. The guarded expression she had come to associate with him turned stony and almost hateful. Annabelle dropped her gaze to the ground. She deserved Dax's hate. They were not friends and she couldn't even bring herself to apologize to him. He probably likes women that an abundance of confidence and knew what they wanted.
'I just wanted to say thank you again and sorry for being longer than expected.' Annabelle gave them a tight smile. She was uncomfortable and wanted to leave.
'Of course dear. We are here whenever you need us.' Mr. Wilkins said, giving his son a pointed look. Annabelle nodded her head in understanding and then left as quickly as she could without it looking like she was trying to run.
Hours later Annabelle had finally gotten Little B down for bed. He had put up a really good fight this time. She glanced out her window and saw Dax's bike was still in his parent's driveway. At the thought of Dax and the way he looked at her before she left today left a heavy feeling in her chest. She tried to occupy her mind by cooking dinner for herself, however, she found that her mind continuously strayed to thoughts of Dax and her unwillingness to apologize to him. She glanced out the window once again, hoping to get a look at Dax before he left. Luck must have been on her side. This time when she looked out the window she watched as Dax hugged his parents goodbye before walking to his bike.
Annabelle fought with herself for what seemed like several minutes, but in reality it was only a split second. She briskly walked down the hall and peeked in on her son before walking back to her front door and out into the crisp night.
With every step towards the giant man sitting on his bike Annabelle had an internal struggle. She had no idea what she was going to say to him and if he would even want to talk to her. He probably had somewhere to be. He was on his phone, maybe making plans with someone, maybe another women? The thought stirred emotions she didn't want to acknowledge. Annabelle had stopped a few steps away from Dax, trying to make up her mind once and for all. So caught up in her own head, she didn't hear the heavy steps of Dax walking to her. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. As she exhaled, she opened her eyes, intent on going over to Dax and apologizing, even if he didn't accept it. She was however, not expecting to open her eyes and come face to face with his chest.
'Do you do that alot?' Daz asked.
'What?' a puzzled Annabelle asked.
Dax gave her a small smirk, not his usual one. This one seemed more rueful. 'Be inside your head. Have internal battles with yourself.'
'How do you know that is what I was doing? Maybe I was just thinking about something and got distracted.' Dax gave her a look that told her he didn't believe her and rolled his eyes.
'I do it a lot too. I know what it looks like.'
Annabelle took a deep breath, 'Yeah, it's something I have always done, but it's gotten really bad in the last year or so. There has been a lot to think about lately.' Dax didn't say anything and Annabelle couldn't read his face. 'Anyways, I just came out here to um, apologize to you. For um, what I said at your parents house. I hate when people assume and I did it to you, so I'm sorry.' Annabelle's eyes dropped down and her toes kicked at the ground. Dax closed the distance between the two of them. Reaching out with his hand, he gently lifted her head up. Even with her head raised up, her eyes refused to meet his.
'Fucking a, you need to stop that. I think I have seen the top of your head more than your eyes. So,'Annabaelle's head fell down again and Dax was right there to raise it up again,' Stop. Please. I happen to like your eyes, they're different.' Annabelle raised her eyes to meet Dax's when he told her to stop hiding her eyes. She wanted to be brave, be the women that had no fear of what others thought. A woman who was proud of who she was.
'Sorry.' she said again, dropping her eyes. It was a habit, not something that could she could just stop doing. She heard him sigh and drop his hand down to his side.
'Guess you should be getting inside, i'm sure you need to get back to your son.' Dax started walking back over to his bike. Annabelle knew there was no reason for her to feel disappointment, but she did. She had been hoping that they could start over and become friends, maybe more? It was probably for the best, she didn't need to get herself involved with any kind of relationship. With a heavy sigh Annabelle went back to her home. For a moment she felt utterly alone. Noone to talk about how she was feeling. Noone to talk about her day with. Noone to gush about her son with. Annabelle tried to reason that she had her son and Wilkins, but deep down she knew that's not the type of connection she was longing for. Pushing aside her own wants, she went to get ready for bed. Excited to start her new job. Excited to start the new chapter of her life.