Insolent

by T. L Smith

  “From here?”

  “Yes. I don’t need you here for them, you can call me if you find any discrepancies.”

  “I think I’d like to do that.”

  He laughs. “Good. Then you can start paying for that ridiculously expensive apartment Father insists you stay in.”

  “It has the best security,” we both mimic the words that he spoke when he bought it.

  “I didn’t choose it, I’m only here to appease him. I’d be happy in a small, one-bedroom apartment, you should know that.”

  “Yeah, I do. Well, it’s getting late.”

  It is late, or early morning, I don’t really know.

  “You and him a thing, yet?”

  “Who?”

  Barren groans into the phone. “You and that boss of yours. I see the way he watches you. It’s the same way I watch Claudia.”

  I’ve seen the way he watches her. To everyone but her, it’s obvious why he goes to see her every time she’s working.

  “No, it’s complicated. Neither of us want that.”

  “If you say so. Call me when you work that complication out.”

  He hangs up without me saying another word. Pulling my phone from my ear, I see a message from Darby telling me what time my shift starts tomorrow and nothing else.

  What more do I expect, though, we’re doing what we both talked about.

  No feelings.

  26

  Darby

  My hands touch the letter, a part of me wants to throw them out and never see them again. The other part also wants to know why. I got some answers from Cleo’s friends, but it’s just not enough. I need to know more, even if I really don’t want to find the answers.

  The sweet sound of Charles’s snore next to me puts me at ease. I turn my head to check on him, and the letter that sits unopened next to his crib, where it has been for way too long. No one will open that, it’s solely his, and we don’t need to know what it says because it’s for his eyes only.

  Mine, on the other hand, plays tricks with me. One voice screams at me to open it constantly. The other tells me to throw it in the bin and never fucking think about it again. Things are the way they should be, why fuck things up with a letter from a dead woman.

  I cringe at that thought. She isn’t just a dead girl, she’s Charles’s mother, and no matter what that will never change. My finger slices it open, and I carefully place the envelope on the rocking chair I’m sitting on and take a deep breath, telling myself I can do it. That this letter is just something I need to read to move on. Move on from what, though, I’m not sure. I was never with Cleo, we were never a thing. A one-night stand was the extent of our relationship that produced this beautiful boy.

  My name is the first thing I read, and as my eyes go to skim down the page, Charles wakes up, pulling me from the letter and taking me back to him.

  I slide it into my back pocket, pick him up and chalk it up to another day.

  Another time.

  Maybe.

  Olympia’s here when I arrive, her now normal-colored hair is the first thing I spot. She runs her hands through it, and I think to myself maybe she isn’t used to it yet. How long did she have the blue for? Definitely for as long as she’s been here, and that’s been a few months now. She turns and my heart skips a beat when her eyes lock onto mine. The bar is closed, and the place is about to open in a few minutes. For someone who comes from money and lots of it, she works damn hard, especially when she doesn’t have to. She’s been one of the most dedicated employees we’ve had for a long time. Olympia’s eyes glance up to mine then lock on while a small smile touches her lips, and she looks down again.

  I want her right now, I want her all the time. I like the way she makes butterflies fly in my belly, and the way when she’s near I want to be touching her.

  Lord fucking help me, I want to touch her.

  “Hey, big man, long time no see.” She winks at me jokingly, and I have to restrain myself from reaching over and grabbing her by the hair like a caveman.

  “I think you may be required to come to my office later, wouldn’t you say?”

  She nods her head and watches me. Her tongue darts out and licks her lips ever so slowly.

  Fuck it.

  Walking around to the opening of the bar, I stalk toward her fast. She stands still, knowing what I’m coming for, and there’s a hint of a smile. My hands stake a claim on her hips, pulling her to me. She giggles like a school girl, and I fucking love the sound when it leaves her lips.

  “You ran away the other night.”

  She shakes her head. “I had places to be, and if I stayed, we both would’ve never left.” My eyes scan her face down to her perfect lips, to the soft edges of her jawline that I want to lick all the way to her neck. “Now, if you keep looking at me like that…” Her hands cup my face, lift my head to eye level, and she leans in kissing me. She taste like sugar, it’s her lip gloss, but I don’t give a fuck because it’s her and any part of her I’m touching is a good thing.

  She pulls away, her forehead touching mine. “What are we doing?” she asks in a breathless whisper.

  “Kissing,” I answer. But I know there’s a real question behind her words, I just don’t acknowledge it.

  “That’s not what we’re really doing.”

  I nod pulling away.

  “Blue,” Falcon yells as he walks over.

  She straightens her stance and plasters on a smile as she turns to face him.

  “Can you honestly still call her blue?” I ask him seriously as she doesn’t have blue hair anymore.

  “Yes, I can, can’t I, blue?”

  We both see Olympia shrug her shoulders, and she goes back to work, not paying Falcon any more attention, because seriously, he’s like a dog with a bone—you give him one single inch and he will take a fucking mile.

  “You’re into her, aren’t you?” Falcon asks as we start to walk away.

  Olympia can’t hear what we say as we round the stairs, walking up to where our offices are located.

  “Yes, I think so.”

  “I know so.” His shoulders raise when I glance at him. “You don’t look at any woman the way you look at her. And you sure as shit don’t go back on your word unless it seems to be for her.”

  He’s right, I’m fucked.

  If she were anyone else she wouldn’t be here today. She would be fired. Fuck, she would have been from the first day. But like an alcoholic, I just keep going back and back for more.

  My hand goes to my back pocket where I left the letter, the one that’s from Cleo. What was she to me? It sounds hurtful to say that, but unfortunately, she was nothing more than Charles’s mother. I didn’t want anything from her, and in the end, I did feel sorry for her, sorry that she was going to miss all Charles would become. Like listening to his first laugh, watching his first smile, hearing the pitter patter of his footsteps. That’s what I feel sorry about, but I’m not sorry I get to watch it all. Cleo gave me a gift bigger and better than anyone could have ever given me, and I’ll forever be thankful to her for that fact.

  “He’s right, you know. I think you’re in love,” Echo says shaking his head as he walks past us.

  Falcon laughs. “I was trying to ease him into it, you dick, not just drop the bombshell.” They walk off together, leaving me standing there watching after them.

  “It’s not as scary as it seems.” I turn to see Creed standing there, his arms crossed over his chest. “Love. Actually no… it is.” He turns and walks back into his office, leaving me alone to contemplate what they’ve just said to me.

  My hand reaches for the letter again, this time wanting to get it over and done with. I need to read it to see what she has to say. Not to move on from her because we were never a thing, but because I need answers that only a dead woman can now give me.

  My hand comes back empty. I gaze at the floor then follow my footsteps back to where I walked in. No fucking sign of it. What the fuck did I do with it? Looking up on
ce, I walk to my office door, look down and see Olympia with a letter in her hand, her eyes skimming the pages as she reads it. My feet carry me fast down the stairs. I lean over the bar and snatch it from her hands, almost tearing it in the process. Wild eyes look up to me, her hand covers her mouth.

  “I didn’t know what it was.” She shakes her head.

  “Who the fuck do you think you are reading someone else’s shit?”

  She shakes her head again. “I didn’t know, I swear.” Her hands are up in the air now in surrender. Turning and walking away from her, I don’t look back. The letter that no one has read has now been read by someone who didn’t have the right to. My anger is at an all-new high, and if I didn’t walk away from her right now I’m not sure what I would have said or done. Slamming my office door shut, I start to pace back and forth, the letter getting so hot in my hand I scrunch it up. How can something so small make me so angry? It’s private, that’s why, and I’m clearly not good at sharing—actually, I suck at it.

  A knock on the door makes me stop pacing. My hand clenches as the door is pushed open and in pops Olympia. She doesn’t look down when I stare at her, instead she stares me straight in the eye.

  “I didn’t read it.”

  I scoff at her. “I didn’t think of you as a liar, Olympia.”

  She throws her hands up in the air. “I got to Dearest Darby, this is Cleo. As you may already know, your dead baby mama, if you’re reading this…” she says in a high voice. “I knew I had to stop right there.”

  “Would you have, though? I did rip it away from you.”

  She nods. “Of course, I would have. I wouldn’t do that. That isn’t mine to read. Why are you always so quick to jump to the bad, Darby? Why don’t you just believe me for once?”

  “Why are you scared of the dark?”

  She freezes, her body locks tight. “W-What…” she stammers.

  “You heard me. Why are you afraid of the dark?”

  She shakes her head. “I told you why.”

  “No. No, you didn’t.”

  She takes a step back, her hand falls to her heart. “Don’t make me talk about it, not here.” She checks around with her eyes, and I walk behind her and shut the door, blocking the view from her.

  “Tell me, since you like people’s private lives so much. Tell me!”

  “No, p-please…” she hiccups, “… I didn’t mean to. I stopped. Please, Darby.” Her eyes bounce around frantically.

  “If I were to turn off the light right now, how would that make you feel?” My hand goes to the light switch. She jumps at me, her hand coming into contact with mine on the switch and knocking it off herself. She whimpers as if she’s in real pain and hands slap at the wall until the light finally switches back on. She has tears streaming down her face as she stands tall and looks me in the eye.

  “I killed my baby in the dark, and you want me to relive it? What kind of man are you?” She pushes me out of the way until she has the door open and walks out.

  The guys are standing there watching her go then spin to me.

  “That was cruel, even for you. Fuck!” Falcon says shaking his head.

  “We could hear how upset she was from the other side of the door,” Echo states shaking his blond hair as he walks away to his own office.

  Creed doesn’t say a word just heads off to his office as well.

  Falcon, on the other hand, crosses his arms over his chest and watches me. “You’ve royally fucked it now. And over what?”

  The letter in my hand scrunches as I turn back around.

  27

  Olympia

  I had to fix my face before I could go back, I had no idea he could be so mean. Who’s that mean? I should have gone home, but Johnny is back in a few days, then I plan to actually leave, and this time I won’t tell him about it. I’ll just become a distant memory for him.

  Wiping my face, I try not to check the door each time I hear it open. Unfortunately, little tears have been slipping free all night. I don’t think I will ever stop crying for her, no matter how much time has passed me by. She was a part of me and having that rubbed in my face as an ugly reminder isn’t nice.

  “Olympia…” Darby’s voice comes from the end of the bar. I don’t turn to him—it’s way too hard. I usually give in when his chocolate eyes lock onto mine, and I become putty in his hands, but not today and not after that.

  I didn’t read his stinking letter, I read as much as I said I did because I found it on the floor and wondered who it belonged to. Once I’d read that much, I stopped, realizing it wasn’t for my eyes—but he didn’t even give me the chance to explain myself. What, does he think I stole it, too? Shaking away those thoughts, I reach for my bag as Creed steps into view.

  “Olympia…”

  I look at Creed but keep walking.

  Thankfully he doesn’t stop me.

  I contemplate ringing my brother to tell him I’ll take the job offer earlier, but I hold off knowing he’ll grill me, which will turn into a fight with him wanting me to come home. Which I know is something I don’t want to do, despite everything, right here is where I want to be. It has new reminders, not constant painful reminders, of what I’ve been through, and nothing in this life could be worse than what I went through.

  A knock on my door makes me jump. My hand goes to my heart, and I contemplate not opening it. Only one person would come this late, and that person I absolutely do not want to talk to right now.

  The knock comes again.

  “Girl, I know you’re awake, let me in.” I smile at the sound of Johnny’s voice.

  I open the door, and his arms circle around me, pulling me to him in a hug that I didn’t know I needed. When he pulls back, he checks me over. “I knew you would have just finished at the club… it’s late, I know.” He waves me off and looks around. He’s been here before. “I really do want to move in with you, but I feel this place may be too small,” he jokes. This place is anything but small. He sits at the bar and reaches for a bottle of tequila, pouring himself and me a shot. “So fill me in, what’s happening?”

  I walk over downing the first shot. “Trust me, you don’t want to know.”

  He pours another. “Oh, trust me, I do. Especially if it has to do with any of the boys from that place. They’re like walking, talking, sex machines. You can see why their business thrives.”

  I nod my head. “And assholes,” I say sitting up on the stool next to him.

  “That’s right… you and Darby. What’s happening there? Tell me more.”

  “Nothing to tell. Now you’re back, I guess I don’t have to see him again.”

  He shakes his head. “Oh, no you don’t, you can’t hold back from me like that.”

  “I’m going to stay in the city, though, run some accounts for my father from here,” I say changing the subject.

  He claps his hands excitedly and pours another drink. “Now that’s awesome news, but I know what you’re doing. So tell me what’s really happening.”

  I shrug my shoulders. “Nothing. I won’t see him again.”

  He leans in close, his face inches from mine. “What really happened?”

  “He was cruel, so fucking cruel,” I blurt out. Taking the bottle, I drink straight from it. The strong, clear liquid will help me, right?

  “What did he do?”

  “He tried to lock me in the dark.”

  His eyes go wild. “He knows?”

  I shake my head. “Pieces, but still… he knows I’m afraid of the dark.”

  “That fucking bastard, where’s your phone?”

  I point to where it is but then say, “Hold on, why?”

  “Because someone needs to tell him off for his actions, he can’t go around doing that.” He unlocks my phone and starts keying in the number before I can stop him.

  “Don’t Johnny, it will just make matters worse.”

  He sucks in his bottom lip in deep thought as he types fast, his fingers sliding against the keypad of my phone
. I get up when he doesn’t respond and reach for my phone. I hear the obvious sound of a message sent. He hands it to me and walks back to the bar. I put it in my pocket, not even caring what he’s sent, then my phone starts ringing. We both freeze, and my hand hovers over it in my pocket.

  “Maybe you shouldn’t answer that.”

  “What did you send?”

  He bites his lip hard and looks down. “Just that he should jump from the closest cliff.”

  “And…” I know there is more.

  He reaches for the bottle as the phone stops and starts again. “Tequila?” he asks before he takes a sip for himself.

  The ringing dies off, and then my phone bings, letting me know I have a message, then another message. Then it rings again.

  “Oh fuck, turn it off or something.”

  I pass him the phone that won’t shut up, and he does just that, placing it on the countertop before he finishes off the bottle of tequila.

  A loud bang pulls me from my sleep. The lights are still on, and my head is on the wooden flooring with drool coming from my mouth.

  Shit! Did I pass out?

  I sit up and see Johnny is in no better position, not even moving to the noise of the banging. Gosh, he would be of no help if we were to be home invaded right now.

  “Olympia…” I jump on the spot where I sit on the floor, checking around for my phone. I spot it not far from me. Reaching for it, I see it’s off. Quickly I turn it on in case I need to call for security and a message starts to appear.

  Then I remember Johnny sent him a message.

  Scrolling up I see it.

  My heart skips a beat.

  Me: You lowlife piece of scum. Who do you think you are? Don’t ever talk to me again you piece of shit.

  I didn’t send that.

  Fuck.

  Fuck.

  That’s mean, I didn’t say that.

  He repeats my name at the door again, while banging on it, and I cringe. I should kick Johnny awake, but he lies in his spot snoring, blissfully unaware as to what’s going on around him. I attempt to stand, my head hurts, and I regret the action the minute I do it.