Phenomenal X
Page 40
“Maybe I already found him and let him go. Jorge wouldn’t have treated me like this. Maybe coming out here was a mistake.”
Quinn comes over and sits next to me—the air mattress sinking a little beneath her weight. She brushes my hair away from my face, and a sad smile plays on her lips.
“I know you don’t mean that. Don’t let being hurt by a man make you doubt your decision to be here. You came here to experience an unsheltered life, and while I don’t promise life here won’t come with its bumps and unexpected turns, I do promise it’ll be an amazing and freeing ride. Promise me you won’t let what X did make you throw away that chance to find yourself. Don’t go running back to Jorge just because it’s the ‘safe’ thing to do.”
There’s no mistaking the look of compassion in her eyes. If I turn tail and run back home, I would not only be letting myself down, but Quinn as well. And I don’t want to do that. Besides, she’s right. Deep down, I know she is. I need to take this as a lesson and learn from it while I stick it out here.
“I promise.”
“Good.” Quinn hugs me against her. “Our fun together is just getting started and I would hate it if you left now.”
I smile at her. “We do need to hang out more. I’m sorry I’ve been so occupied lately. Xavier is a pretty consuming man.”
“We’re going to change that.” Quinn pushes herself off the mattress and snuggles back down in her own bed. “Tomorrow night you and I are going out. Now that Mr. X is out of the picture, we’ll start having girl’s nights out.”
In the silence of the room, my thoughts drift back to Xavier, and the events of the evening. The oddity of it all still puzzles me. Why doesn’t he stay at his own house? Why a hotel? None of it makes any sense to me. I wish I could just stop thinking about him, but I can’t. It would make forgetting him a whole lot easier.
“Quinn, can ask your opinion about something?” I ask.
“Shoot,” she answers simply.
I go right for the one question that keeps lingering on my mind. “Do you think Xavier is married or something?”
She quiet for a moment as though she’s contemplating her reply. “He better not be or, seriously, I will shank him. What makes you think he is?”
I shrug. “Tonight he said he has a house here in Detroit, but that he never stays there—that he actually pays people to take care of it while he stays at a hotel. Don’t you think that’s strange? Why wouldn’t someone stay in their own home if they could?”
She nods and her eyes drift up to the ceiling like she’s searching for answers. “Yes, but I don’t think he’s hiding a family or anything. There would be some trace of it on the Internet if he was.”
“True. I just can’t make any sense of it.”
“Don’t waste your time thinking about him anymore, Anna.” She leans over and flips off the light. “He doesn’t deserve it.”
She’s right—I know that—but how can I tune Xavier out when he’s weaseled his way into my heart? Getting over him and his betrayal will take time. I can’t stop thinking about him just because he’s a big jerk.
I roll over and sigh, hoping a good night’s sleep will help erase some of the good memories I have of Xavier, so I can start completely hating him and move on with my new life.
Being slammed at Larry’s is a welcomed distraction. There’s not much time to wallow in the fact that I’ll never see Xavier again or mope about ending things on such a horrible note. As much as I want to hate him, I can’t. It’s not in me. Besides, he wasn’t mine, so it wasn’t like I had some sort of claim on him. I allowed things to get out of hand in my own head, believing there was more going on between us than the friendship we’d officially established.
“Something wrong, Anna?” Tyler asks as he slides table four’s order over to me through the window.
I shake my head, breaking myself out of my own thoughts. “No, I’m great. Just a little tired, that’s all.”
He nods and a blond curl falls across his forehead. “Does your knee hurt?”
“My knee?” I glance down and remember falling with the tray yesterday. That feels like a lifetime ago. All my personal drama has steered my mind away from my little mishap at work yesterday. “Oh, no, it’s fine. That’s very sweet of you to ask.”
Tyler smiles shyly. “Just wanted to make sure you’re okay.”
“I honestly don’t see why you men fawn all over her. It was just a little fall,” Alice says while sliding in next to me to enter her order into the computer. “She only got a damn scratch.”
“Don’t be a jealous bitch, Alice,” Quinn warns, flanking my side. “I know it was you that tripped her yesterday. There’s nothing else there that she could’ve tripped on.”
Alice narrows her green eyes and shoves her red hair over her shoulder. “Prove it.”
Quinn glares at her. “One of these days you’re going to get fired, and I hope I’m there to laugh my ass off when you do.”
Alice crosses her arms over her chest. “We’ll see which one of us gets fired first.”
I don’t miss the ice in her voice as I detect her threat. I know Alice holds a lot of power around here, but would Andy seriously fire Quinn because Alice told him to? I hoped not, but like Quinn said, men seem to do almost anything for her.
Quinn comes over and sits next to me—the air mattress sinking a little beneath her weight. She brushes my hair away from my face, and a sad smile plays on her lips.
“I know you don’t mean that. Don’t let being hurt by a man make you doubt your decision to be here. You came here to experience an unsheltered life, and while I don’t promise life here won’t come with its bumps and unexpected turns, I do promise it’ll be an amazing and freeing ride. Promise me you won’t let what X did make you throw away that chance to find yourself. Don’t go running back to Jorge just because it’s the ‘safe’ thing to do.”
There’s no mistaking the look of compassion in her eyes. If I turn tail and run back home, I would not only be letting myself down, but Quinn as well. And I don’t want to do that. Besides, she’s right. Deep down, I know she is. I need to take this as a lesson and learn from it while I stick it out here.
“I promise.”
“Good.” Quinn hugs me against her. “Our fun together is just getting started and I would hate it if you left now.”
I smile at her. “We do need to hang out more. I’m sorry I’ve been so occupied lately. Xavier is a pretty consuming man.”
“We’re going to change that.” Quinn pushes herself off the mattress and snuggles back down in her own bed. “Tomorrow night you and I are going out. Now that Mr. X is out of the picture, we’ll start having girl’s nights out.”
In the silence of the room, my thoughts drift back to Xavier, and the events of the evening. The oddity of it all still puzzles me. Why doesn’t he stay at his own house? Why a hotel? None of it makes any sense to me. I wish I could just stop thinking about him, but I can’t. It would make forgetting him a whole lot easier.
“Quinn, can ask your opinion about something?” I ask.
“Shoot,” she answers simply.
I go right for the one question that keeps lingering on my mind. “Do you think Xavier is married or something?”
She quiet for a moment as though she’s contemplating her reply. “He better not be or, seriously, I will shank him. What makes you think he is?”
I shrug. “Tonight he said he has a house here in Detroit, but that he never stays there—that he actually pays people to take care of it while he stays at a hotel. Don’t you think that’s strange? Why wouldn’t someone stay in their own home if they could?”
She nods and her eyes drift up to the ceiling like she’s searching for answers. “Yes, but I don’t think he’s hiding a family or anything. There would be some trace of it on the Internet if he was.”
“True. I just can’t make any sense of it.”
“Don’t waste your time thinking about him anymore, Anna.” She leans over and flips off the light. “He doesn’t deserve it.”
She’s right—I know that—but how can I tune Xavier out when he’s weaseled his way into my heart? Getting over him and his betrayal will take time. I can’t stop thinking about him just because he’s a big jerk.
I roll over and sigh, hoping a good night’s sleep will help erase some of the good memories I have of Xavier, so I can start completely hating him and move on with my new life.
Being slammed at Larry’s is a welcomed distraction. There’s not much time to wallow in the fact that I’ll never see Xavier again or mope about ending things on such a horrible note. As much as I want to hate him, I can’t. It’s not in me. Besides, he wasn’t mine, so it wasn’t like I had some sort of claim on him. I allowed things to get out of hand in my own head, believing there was more going on between us than the friendship we’d officially established.
“Something wrong, Anna?” Tyler asks as he slides table four’s order over to me through the window.
I shake my head, breaking myself out of my own thoughts. “No, I’m great. Just a little tired, that’s all.”
He nods and a blond curl falls across his forehead. “Does your knee hurt?”
“My knee?” I glance down and remember falling with the tray yesterday. That feels like a lifetime ago. All my personal drama has steered my mind away from my little mishap at work yesterday. “Oh, no, it’s fine. That’s very sweet of you to ask.”
Tyler smiles shyly. “Just wanted to make sure you’re okay.”
“I honestly don’t see why you men fawn all over her. It was just a little fall,” Alice says while sliding in next to me to enter her order into the computer. “She only got a damn scratch.”
“Don’t be a jealous bitch, Alice,” Quinn warns, flanking my side. “I know it was you that tripped her yesterday. There’s nothing else there that she could’ve tripped on.”
Alice narrows her green eyes and shoves her red hair over her shoulder. “Prove it.”
Quinn glares at her. “One of these days you’re going to get fired, and I hope I’m there to laugh my ass off when you do.”
Alice crosses her arms over her chest. “We’ll see which one of us gets fired first.”
I don’t miss the ice in her voice as I detect her threat. I know Alice holds a lot of power around here, but would Andy seriously fire Quinn because Alice told him to? I hoped not, but like Quinn said, men seem to do almost anything for her.
