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PAPER FISH
ASA
“People are the worst,” Asa announced as he entered the upstairs lounge a week later.
“Uh-oh,” Nikki replied, moving aside so he could get to the coffee maker.
“Uh-oh is right.” Asa took off his jacket and tossed it over the back of a chair. “I am so screwed.”
He nodded good mornings to Johnny and Justin who sat on the couch with coffee already in hand.
The morning meeting at the studio was mostly routine. Sometimes they discussed what was on the docket for the day, but usually it was coffee and shooting the shit.
Asa had almost been late because he’d been busy finding out he’d been scammed out of his first and last month’s rent plus deposit on the only place he’d been able to afford.
The worst part was how stupid he felt. How had he fallen for such an obvious con? He was smarter than that!
Wasn’t he?
His brain had been a mess for seven days. Every other thought was about Zara. Why had she been in Chicago? What was going on with her album?
Why did she look so sad?
“Is this because of the apartment?” Nikki asked.
Asa grabbed the half and half from the fridge before answering her.
“There is no apartment. Well, the apartment exists. But the person who I gave all my money to doesn’t have the authority to rent it.” He got a cup off the shelf and added the cream.
“Oh no!” Nikki covered her mouth with a hand.
“Yep.” He let the word end in a pop.
“You can stay at the house for longer,” she said quickly.
Asa rubbed his fingers over his forehead. “No, Nik,” he said softly. “You have to finish your house. You have plans.”
“You can stay there until you have enough money to move out,” Nikki pressed.
“Nikki,” he said, pain radiating through his brain as he thought about the amount of money he’d lost that day. And it wasn’t even nine in the morning yet. “It was fifteen grand. It cleaned out my savings. That’ll take me months to recoup. Not to mention I have to buy a new bed.” He made a face as he poured coffee into the cup. It would take longer than Nikki realized because he hadn’ttold her he quit the Iggy and he’d been turning down extra jobs from Johnny. “Did you know how much mattresses go for these days? Because I didn’t.”
He squeezed his eyes shut and tried not to let the overwhelming feeling of dread take over.
“I’m gonna have to move back in with my dad and stepmom,” he croaked. “In theburbs.”
“No, that’s crazy,” Nikki argued. “You’re too punk rock for the suburbs. You’ll never survive. We’ll think of something.”
God, she was so optimistic.
Fuck he missed living with her.
But living with your friends forever wasn’t realistic.
Nikki married her soulmate and now they had a baby and she was the happiest he’d ever seen her.
Shit. Now he felt like crap for even thinking about how it used to be.
He really didn’t want to move in with his dad for two enormous reasons. First, he got along better with his retired police detective father when they didn’t see each other often. Second, Dad still had somewhat of a relationship with Shelby. Asa didn’t need to make it easier for Shelby to find him. Christmas Day had proved that. Again.
