by Sam Mariano
Julie blinked at him.
"Hi, Emma," he added belatedly, glancing over Julie's shoulder. "Now, are you ready?" he asked, taking the suitcase out of Julie's grasp and wheeling it out of the house.
"But… I just told you I wasn't going to do the whole…whatever it is you and Matt arranged. I'm a big girl, I'll take care of myself."
He glanced up at her. "You have somewhere else to go?"
Her shoulders sagged just slightly. "Not…exactly."
Rolling his eyes, he said, "Then don't be an idiot. Come on."
"You're very bossy," she stated, reluctantly following him. "And you have my stuff."
"I am trying to be nice," he stated. "Would you like to carry it yourself? I won't beg."
Julie frowned at the back of his head, not really able to make out what his hair looked like because it was so dark.
"What was your name again?" she asked, wanting a name to associate with the grumpy brother.
"Aaron," he said, opening up his trunk and pushing the handle of her suitcase down, picking it up and putting it in his trunk. "Do you want your other bags back here?" he asked.
Uncertainly, she shook her head no.
He slammed the trunk shut and went up to the driver's side of the car, sliding into it and starting the car.
Then he looked up at Julie impatiently. "Are you getting in?"
“I don’t know, this could be a trick; you’re not going to murder me and dump my body in a ditch somewhere, are you? I’ve seen things just like this on the ID channel.”
A corner of his mouth tugged upward. “Nope, not that kind of fixer, and definitely not fond enough of my brother to kill for him.”
“You’re sure?”
“I wouldn’t even kill a spider for him,” Aaron assured her.
Sighing, Julie reluctantly admitted to herself that she really didn't have anywhere else to go except back to Jack, and she could always swallow her pride and call him the next day, after she had gotten some sleep and gotten over the shock of the whole evening.
"I guess so," she said, opening up the passenger side door and hesitating for just a moment, glancing back at the door, for some reason expecting to see Matt watching her leave.
But there was no one there.
Just a cold, unwelcoming door.
Swallowing the imaginary lump in her throat, Julie slid into the passenger seat, situating her bags in the floor between her feet and pulling the door shut.
Then, glancing over at Aaron's grumpy looking profile, still shadowed in the darkness, she wondered whether or not she would be better off going with the devil she knew.
Chapter Nine-
As it turned out, Aaron's apartment really was in the nice part of town, in walking distance to The Magnificent Mile and all the great shops.
When they got there after a long, silent ride, Aaron got out of his car and popped the trunk, wordlessly removing her suitcase and extending the handle.
There was a doorman standing at the entrance, and Aaron nodded at him as he walked inside, Julie trailing along behind him.
"Did my brother explain anything about what part I'm supposed to be playing in this little drama you guys are having?" Aaron asked her as he pushed the elevator button.
Fighting the instinct to scowl at the man who was opening his home to her, she said, "Sort of."
"Like…?" he said, raising one black eyebrow.
In the well-lit building, Julie was getting her first real look at Aaron, and she concluded that while the personality in that family was sorely lacking, she had to grudgingly admit that when it came to physical traits, she should just about be guaranteed an absolutely adorable kid.
At roughly 5’11”Aaron was shorter than Matt by a couple inches, and instead of the business-like outfits that Matt usually favored, Aaron was wearing a pair of worn black jeans and a black hoodie. They looked close in age, and Julie wondered vaguely which one was older. Aaron had nice brown eyes with thick lashes, and jet black hair, but his complexion was a little lighter than Matt's. Matt had a more olive skin tone, whereas Aaron's was lightly tanned, but not as dark as his brother.
She wondered if she would ever see him smile. If so, she would be able to see his teeth, and see if he got Matt's endearingly crooked front teeth.
So far, it wasn’t looking good.
Matt was certainly the friendlier of the two, even if he was a lying jerk.
But, objectively, she thought Aaron might be more physically attractive.
"Hello?" he said impatiently, bringing Julie out of her mental comparison and stepping inside the elevator.
"Oh…He just said I could stay here for a little while and… I think he said something about you getting me a job, but you don't have to do that. I'm sure I can find something, I just… didn't have anywhere to go tonight, as my eviction was pretty immediate."
"Sleeping with a woman's husband doesn't usually make her agreeable to keeping you under her roof," he said reasonably.
Julie looked down, feeling a little shitty when he worded it like that.
"And Emma was already such a friendly, welcoming woman," he added sarcastically.
"Oh yeah, that's Emma," she responded just as sarcastically.
The elevator doors opened, and Aaron stepped out, Julie following behind him.
"I really hate to impose like this," Julie said. "I normally wouldn’t, but I just really don’t have anywhere else to go right now. My only other option was… worse than going home with a stranger, believe it or not. I'm going to see if I can make other arrangements tomorrow," she told him.
He shook his head. "Don't do that. Matt asked me to keep you, and I intend on following through with my part. Just don't worry about it and stay here until you guys get everything figured out."
"I can’t," she said, shaking her head. "The conditions of Matt asking you to 'keep me' are not…. He thinks he gets to dictate what I do and he’s in for a rude awakening, because I'm not on board with his plan, and since you’re his brother, I assume you’re on his side.”
“I don’t even know what ‘his side’ is, but without knowing, I’m guessing that I’m not.”
“He wants me to get an abortion, and I don't want to do it, so…"
"Look, I really don't care about your situation or your power struggle with Matt," he said bluntly. "When he asked me to take you in, he didn't even say anything about that, so I don't think it was a contingency. Either way, the arrangements are already made, so just go with it for now, okay?" he suggested, extracting a key from his pocket and sticking it in the door he stopped in front of.
Julie stared at the back of his head as he opened the door and wondered if he realized how stubborn and condescending he sounded.
"Now, I don't know if my brother explained to you that I had absolutely no notice about this happening. I literally left work and as I was pulling into my apartment he called me to tell me he had a problem and needed my help. I had no time to prepare for your arrival. I have a bathroom full of dirty clothes; just kick them out of the way. I'm sure that the cupboards need stocked, but I know there's some Sprite and bottled water in the fridge if you're thirsty. Um, I would have gotten you an air mattress or something, but as I said, I didn't know you were coming, so… for tonight unless you've got issues with it and would rather try to sleep on the couch, we'll have to platonically share my bed. It's a queen sized bed, so we'll both fit comfortably on opposite sides."
She wanted to object to sleeping with a stranger, but the way he worded it made her feel like she would come off as silly or ridiculous if she told him she didn't want to.
Also, she didn’t want to sleep on a couch.
He was certainly more dominant than Matt.
"Any questions?" he asked, locking the door behind him.
"Are you the older or the younger brother?" she asked.
He blinked, then sighed a little as if inconvenienced by her inane question. "Younger by a year. Anything else?"
"If you're the youn
ger brother, why are you helping the older brother out of his mess?"
A tight smile crossed his lips then, but not a genuine enough smile that she saw teeth. "Good question," he stated, then he shrugged. "I was returning a favor. He helped me out with something, so how could I refuse to help him out?"
"He scratched your back so you scratch his," she concluded.
"Something like that," he said with a slight nod. "Anyway, I'm exhausted. I'm sure that you need to…do whatever girls do," he said. "Uh, towels are in the cabinet. Shampoo…I just have the cheap stuff, so if you want any special kind… put it on a list or something, I'll try to pick up some groceries and stuff tomorrow."
Glancing at her cell phone, she saw that it wasn't even ten o'clock. "Okay. I actually have some studying to do, so… I'll probably shower first so my hair isn't wet when I come to bed. Are you going straight to bed or…?"
He nodded. "Yeah, I have to be up early in the morning. About the job, you did want it, right?"
"I don't even know what you're talking about, honestly. Matt didn't explain that part."
"A waitressing job at the restaurant. I open tomorrow; I wanted to see if you wanted to come in for a few hours and train."
"Sure," she said. "I could do that. What time?"
"Do you have anything going on? You said you study, are you in college?"
She nodded. "Yes, I have class until 10:45 tomorrow, but that class usually lets out a little early."
"You want to come by 11 to 3 then?"
"If I can get there and get changed by 11," she said.
He nodded. "All right. The uniform is pretty basic, just a pair of jeans and a white T-shirt. Non-slip shoes so you don't fall."
"Okay, I can do that," she said. "I didn't fill out an application or anything though…"
"Don't worry about it, we'll take care of everything tomorrow." He yawned then, stretching and expelling a little sigh. "All right, I'm going to bed. I'm sure by the time you get there I'll be asleep, so I'll just say good night now."
"Shouldn't you tell me where this restaurant is?" she asked.
"I'll leave directions on the counter," he stated.
"Okay," she said, watching as he made his way down the hall and opened a white door, going inside and closing it.
Just like that, she was alone.
However, she had a place to sleep for the night—even though it was in a stranger's bed—and apparently she even had a job, so things could certainly be worse. As she opened up her suitcase to find a conservative pair of pajamas, she wondered if Aaron was a manager or something, and that was how he could just get her a job without the boss even meeting her. Perhaps they had been hiring, and Aaron was trusted enough that his word was good enough.
Or maybe they just weren't selective about who should wait tables. That probably made the most sense.
Shrugging, she yawned a little herself and wandered down the hall to find the bathroom.
That night Julie cleaned up her old non-slip sneakers from when she worked at Pizza Hut, she picked out a white button down shirt and a pair of jeans and got her outfit all planned out for her first day on the new job. She figured to save time she would just wear the outfit to school, that way she would be ready to work when she showed up at the restaurant.
---
The following morning when she woke up, Aaron was already gone, and there was a hastily written and very to the point note sitting on the counter telling her how to get to The Lofthouse Café. He added as a P.S. that he would give her a house key when she got done with her shift so she could get back in.
Julie went to her class, but she was distracted throughout the whole thing and ended up taking atrocious notes.
Somehow, in about 48 hours, she had gone from living with her lover –and his wife— to living with some stranger. She went from a nanny job with a sweet little girl that she adored to a waitressing job in a restaurant she had never heard of. She went from having a ten-year-plan (with kids near the end of it) to a positive pregnancy test, and impending single parenthood in approximately nine months.
And she had no health insurance, so she didn't know how the hell she was going to pay for the first doctor's appointment.
How did she get so screwed?
Oh, right. She left her shitty boyfriend for a married man who would apparently put her aside at his wife's request.
She left Butcher Boy for Jan.
And apparently she had been wrong when she thought that was actually the thing to do.
She made such good choices in life. What a wonderful role model she would be for her poor unsuspecting child.
After class (where she paid little attention) she hustled as quickly as she could to make it to the café. She wasn't altogether sure how that job was going to work out, seeing as she was working a four hour shift and she didn't really know how lucrative the waitressing business was.
Surprisingly, she did show up on time. Lofthouse Café was actually a cute little restaurant with a Main Street-looking storefront, large windows so people could see in as they walked by, and a large decal across the window that read, "The Lofthouse Café."
Glancing through the words on the decal, she saw Aaron standing at a table where an old man was sitting alone and holding a cup of coffee, and for the first time, she saw that he was smiling.
He had a nice smile, she conceded. From so far away she couldn't tell if he had crooked teeth or not, but instead of wasting any more time spying on him from outside, she glanced at the clock on her cell phone and saw that she only had three minutes, so she went inside.
Aaron spotted her immediately, and his smile waned into a tight little line of disappointment, as if he had been hoping she wouldn't show or something.
"Nice to see you too," she muttered under her breath, walking uncertainly in his direction.
Aaron said something to the customer and then walked over to her, his gaze dropping immediately to her hips. "Do you have an apron?" he asked without preamble.
"Um… no."
Sighing a little, he said, "I'll see if I can find you one in the back. Go clock in," he said. "Your code is 170."
With that, he swiftly walked away, leaving Julie to wonder where exactly she was supposed to clock in.
A cute girl with glasses and a brunette pony tail came walking over. "Aaron didn't even tell you where to clock in, did he?"
Julie shook her head.
"He overlooks these things sometimes," the girl said, smiling reassuringly. "My name's Leigh, I will show you where to go."
"Thank you," Julie said gratefully, following Leigh over to what must be the time clock on the wall.
Leigh looked at the cards, going down the line until she found Julie's. "He already put your name on it, so just go ahead and slide it, put in your code, and then I'll show you where to put your coat."
Aaron was back with a little black apron in just a couple minutes, at which point Leigh had already instructed Julie to just follow her until Aaron came back and told her what to do.
"Grilled cheese is up," Aaron said to Leigh as he handed Julie the black apron.
Leigh smiled at him. "My favorite flavor of Lifesaver."
Aaron cracked a half-smile at that. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, just go get your food."
As she passed, Leigh placed a hand on Aaron's arm and said, "Try not to scare her off the first day, hm?"
Shooting the girl a playful glare, he watched her with a slight shake of his head until she disappeared into the kitchen, then he turned his attention back to Julie.
She shifted a bit awkwardly as she smoothed down the apron.
"All right, have you ever waitressed before?" he asked.
Julie shook her head. "No, I have not."
"What kind of work experience do you have?" he asked.
"Food service—the fast food variety—and a nanny job. Shouldn't I fill out an application?"
"No, just wait. I'll give you one to fill out when you go home. If you survive today, maybe you can com
e in for a few hours in the morning and see how we open."
"Okay," she said, although she wasn’t at all excited about the prospect of getting up that early.
Leigh was walking back out of the kitchen with a tray of food, and Aaron spotted her and said, "All right, Julie, you can shadow Leigh through lunch, and at about one o'clock I'm going to have you wrap silverware. I'll have Leigh show you how you stock up when your shift is over, because she leaves at two and you'll need to know how. Then for the last hour I'll see how you're doing and tell you what to do accordingly."
After being given her marching orders, Julie trailed after Leigh for the next hour, trying to keep up as the restaurant got a major lunch rush.
Since Leigh was busy and the only people waiting tables were her, Julie and Aaron –and Aaron didn't wait on very many people—Julie tried to carry her own weight, trying to remember who got what to drink, bringing the call-in orders up front to the register, which she had no clue how to use, and having Aaron brusquely push her out of the way and do it himself.
She was beyond relieved when lunch was winding down and there were only two stray tables occupied, one by a college student munching on fries and reading a textbook, one by a lecherous-looking man who sat there nursing a cup of coffee and smiling at Julie every time she walked by.
Julie was trying to find the coffee filters to make a new pot of coffee when she was startled by a big clanking noise behind her and she turned around to see Aaron had just parked a big tub of silverware on the table. He handed her a soft brown package, which she stared at with bewilderment, then she looked up at him questioningly.
"Napkins," he stated. Then, pointing to the tub he said, "Silverware. Make up sets, roll them up and put them on the tables once Leigh and I get them all cleared and clean."
Nodding, Julie tore open the brown package of napkins. "I can do that."
