AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I was trying to defend you!”
“I don’t want you to defend me by strangling someone to death!”
“He’s fine.”
“I didn’t even recognize you. That was terrifying!”
“Stop being so dramatic.”
Lava pooled in my stomach. Dramatic? I dug into my purse and pulled out two ten-dollar bills. I crumpled them in my fist and tossed them at him. “Here’s your money back. Worst fucking twenty dollars I’ve ever spent!”
I whirled around and marched to my car.
“Did you just curse?” Mallory asked, sounding amused.
I swung open the door. “Go get him so we can leave.” I couldn’t let him drive drunk, but I was too mad to even look at him.
Mallory sighed. “I am too drunk for this.” Then she shuffled across the parking lot.
Five
Charlotte
Tanner tried to contact me the remainder of the weekend, so much that I had to shut off my phone. By Monday morning, I had thirty-seven combined missed calls and texts from him. I deleted without reading or listening to any of them and rolled out of bed. Today was the grand opening of the new bakery.
I stepped into my black yoga pants and pulled the white T-shirt over my head. I stared at the shirt’s teal lettering in the mirror, and then at the picture of my mother framed on my dresser. I looked at her every morning and made a wish that she were still here. I knew it was silly, and would never come true—but I did it, anyway. It was like making a wish on your birthday candles. Pointless, yet somehow necessary. I pulled my pony tail through the back of the matching white hat and walked out of my bedroom.
Mallory beat me to the bakery. She bounced over to me, entirely too chipper for my dreadful mood. “I love that I get to wear a T-shirt and a hat to work!”
I forced a smile. “Are you ready for your first day?”
“I am. Have you spoken to Tanner?”
“Who?”
“Oh, that’s cold, girl.” She giggled as we walked inside.
I inhaled deeply. The air was filled with the familiar sugary aroma of delicious baked treats—a sign that my father had been here since the break of dawn.
“Wow. Your father made all of these?” Mallory knelt down, peering into the glass display case.
“He did. He’ll give you a doggy bag to take home at the end of the night.” I handed Mallory an apron, and tied mine around my waist.
“What should I do first?”
“Start making coffee. Then, I’ll show you how to use the computer for the register.”
She angled her phone overhead and scooted next to me. “Let’s take a selfie on our first day at work!”
I backed away, waving my hands. “No. I don’t want any pictures of me floating around social media.”
“My page is private, you freak. Come on! We look so cute!”
“You swear your page is private?”
“Yes, duh.”
I reluctantly leaned in and smiled for at least seven pictures, none of which satisfied Mallory.
