I sucked in my top lip and ran my bottom teeth along the flesh. Aiden watched this with a weird look in his eyes. A look I defined as interest.
“I, uh, God. I know I’m going to sound like a charity case but I was hoping I’d be able to find a job before the month is up and I would pay you.”
“And let’s say, you don’t manage to find a job, what then?”
Aiden’s questions were not rude or suggestive, they were genuine. Most guys would just say yes and wait until I came up with some excuse about rent and use that to do other things. Sadly, that was the way of the world. And I wondered whether or not I was above sleeping with my landlord just so he could let me stay here. Yeah I was that desperate to get away from my old life.
“I have a few electronics, I would have sold them and paid,” I said while staring into my mug paying close attention to the way the chocolate mixed with the foam. I knew this poor pitiful me act was convincing but I had no idea it would work that well.
Aiden blew out a breath. “Look, I don’t do this. Especially not for chicks, it’s a whole long story that I would probably not tell you for fear of losing my manly demeanour. However, I have a bar and grill, opposite the tech. Kingston. I stay open till around ten at night.”
I frowned not understanding where he was going with this. He must have seen the look on my face because he went on to explaining it to me.
“What I’m saying is that, after your day ends at the tech, you can come over to Kingston and pick up some waitressing duties or even bartending stuff. I’ll give you like a week to get accustomed to it and if you’re good, I’ll put you on permanent. That way you will get a salary that you can use for helping out with the stuff here and I will get a reliable employee. So what do you say?”
I stared at Aiden with my mouth hanging open, I thought he would just take me in, I didn’t expect the job offer too. “Why… why would you do this for me? You don’t even know me.”
Aiden smiled at me, a soft smile that lit up his face and made my heart stutter. “Because you know how to put a guy in his place and you play the victim well enough for me to fall for.”
I raised a brow at him. “So if you feel that I’m playing it. Why would you do this?”
“I believe in second chances. You gave me one by coming into the house after I practically called you a whore in a nice manner. I think I should give one for trying to guilt me into giving you a room here without rent.”
I grinned at Aiden, loving the flash of mischief in his bright blue eyes. “Look around you, Aiden, there was no trying.”
Aiden grinned at me with an odd look in his eyes. “Miss Scott, welcome to the Kingston household, I do pray you enjoy your stay.”
I tilted my head at him and raised my eyebrows. “Can I see the room now?”
Aiden shrugged. “Sure. Come on.”
I count the seventeen steps it takes to reach the second floor of the house. A door stood directly in front of the staircase.
“This is the bathroom. Sadly, we’re gonna have to share it, so…”
I gasped out in mock protest. “Oh no, does that mean I could accidentally walk in on you naked in the shower?”
Aiden put a thumb and forefinger on his chin. “Now there’s an idea.”
He let his gaze travel lazily down my body, taking in my tight jeans and the ripped tank I had over a tight fitting long-sleeve shirt. His eyes lingered on my breasts. I snapped my fingers twice causing him to look up at me. His blue eyes were hooded with lust.
“Not even in your dreams, Kingston.”
“We’ll see, Scott.”
Aiden opens the door to the bathroom and I take in the blue tiles, the claw-foot bathtub, the toilet to one side and the glass enclosed shower in the corner. It looked nice enough. He gestured to a door to the right that was closed. His room. He didn’t open it to show me around, not like he needed to or anything. Then he opened the door on the left.
My mouth dropped open as I took in the surroundings. It was large with huge windows letting in the white light from outside. A desk was set to the corner of the room and a huge bed dominated the centre of the room with a wrought iron frame. A chest of draws along with a cupboard lined the bare wall behind the door.
“This is amazing! Thank you,” I smiled at Aiden.
“No probs. Uh, about bedding…”
“Nah, it’s cool I managed to stuff some of my things in the suitcases,” I smiled again.
Aiden nodded and headed out the room obviously giving me time to set up and adjust. I was so grateful and really excited to start this new chapter in my life.
Life here was going to be interesting.
Chapter Two
Kingston was beyond anything I expected.
It looked like those vintage setups complete with the bar area on a wooden raised platform in the middle and various booths and tables surrounding it. A stage with a mike and a few instruments meant that Aiden probably booked bands and had a karaoke night. Everyone looked friendly enough. The bartender Lucas caught my gaze and winked at me. Before I could react, Aiden spoke.
“Don’t worry, he’s gay,” Aiden chuckled.
“With a chickie this gorgeous, I may consider giving up the pecker,” Lucas chuckled with a deep voice.
My eyes widened at what he said. Of course my reaction caused Aiden and Lucas to start laughing at me. Lucas was an African American with a gorgeous set of dark eyes and shaved head. He was muscular and had a face that invited you to talk but it also warned you that if you over-stepped your boundaries—there would be trouble.
“Don’t mind me sugar, I am harmless,” his voice was filled which mischief which made me think that if he wanted to, he could melt the panties of women.
“It’s not that I mind really, just cannot believe a guy as gorgeous as you isn’t available for a gal like me to test drive,” I leaned my chin in my palm and gave a dreamy sigh while Aiden and Lucas looked at each other with wide eyes. “Anyway, I’m Mia.”
“That’s an unusual way of speaking, where are you form, sugar?”
“She’s from South Africa,” Aiden answered absently as he flipped through a file.
Lucas raised his brows. “That is a big move of place.”
“It was needed,” I answered and looked around. “So what does this place offer?”
The pool tables where situated towards the back of the bar with a large wall of glass cutting it off from the rest of the bar.
“Why do you have the glass there?” I asked no one in particular.
“Oh, I guess when patrons get drunk I don’t want them stumbling onto a pool game. The guys that come here to play pool usually take it very seriously. They even have tournaments,” Aiden smiled at me. “I just want to reduce the amount of trouble.”
I nodded slowly finally understanding. I noticed the high tech vents on the ceiling. My guess was that those were the new vents most bars had which sucked up cigarette smoke. Nice.
“So how come this place is empty?” I asked as I sat on one of the barstools and watched Lucas shine a few glasses.
“That is because we’re not open yet,” Lucas grinned. “We open in an hour. Besides the girls haven’t gotten here yet.”
“Girls?”
“The waitresses, we don’t let the customers get their food themselves you know,” Lucas said in mock astonishment.
I rolled my eyes at him. “I hear ya.”
Aiden strolled in with a case of ciders which Lucas immediately began loading into a fridge. He turned around and looked at me. That bright blue gaze on my dark green ones made me shiver. Thankfully I knew how to hide my physical reactions.
“What?”
Aiden shook his head and then slid a stack of papers my way. I looked at him with what must have been horror.
“Legal stuff. You need to full those out so you can get a work permit and etcetera. Besides if I have any officials coming in to oversee Kingston then I need to make sure I have all legal documentation,” he shrugged ap
ologetically.
“No, I understand. In fact I actually already applied for a permit. I should receive it soon enough.”
“Thought you only got here yesterday,” Aiden said while setting up the cash register.
“You’d be surprised at how many things you can do over email and telephone,” I laughed.
“The only time I will be even a little bit impressed with technology is when I can download food,” Lucas hollered.
“You’re all about the food, aren’t you, big guy?” came the flirty voice of a woman.
I turned around to find a red-headed girl with the brightest green eyes possible. She was curvy and had a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved red shirt with a black t-shirt over it. The black t-shirt had the red Kingston logo on it. She looked disturbingly familiar.
In fact all six girls that strolled in looked familiar.
“Well hello there,” the red-head held out her hand with a genuine smile. “My name is Dianna.”
“Not like the princess, at all,” was the reply from a blonde with blue-eyes. “I’m Lena.”
The others that followed with their greetings were all beautiful in some way or another. Whether it was the petite form of Abigail, the exotic beauty of the twins; Jennifer and Veronica, or the scornful gaze of Rebecca; they were all beautiful.
“Wait,” I realised something. “Veronica?”
Veronica chuckled her dark eyes seemed to twinkle with humour. “Yeah, I’m the one who sent you to Aiden.”
“A warning would’ve been nice,” I mumbled.
“I heard that,” Aiden growled form behind me. Before I could say anything else, Aiden continued. “Girls, this is Mia. She just got in from SA and she will be joining us here.”
“SA? Like as in San Antonio?” Lena asked.
“No, as in South Africa,” I smiled at her.
Suddenly all six girls stared at me as if I was a science experiment. “Uh…”
“Okay, don’t make the chick uncomfortable. Don’t worry, boss man, you can go back to your regular goings-on we will take good care of her and show her the ropes,” Dianna grinned.
“Well, I can’t. My section always gets busy. So you all can be burdened with that,” Rebecca scoffed and walked away.
Jennifer giggled. “Always gets busy?”
“Yeah, only because she purposely wears the bar t-shirt a size too small and doesn’t bother with a jacket just so her nipples can poke through,” Lena rolled her eyes.
“She cannot waitress for shit, but she does bring in the customers,” Abigail shrugged.
“She or her nipples?” I wondered aloud.
The girls all laughed and Dianna patted me on the back. “Doll, you are going to fit right in here.”
Chapter Three
It turned out that I did fit in. the entire day Dianna, Abigail, Jennifer and Veronica all helped me get the hang of waitressing. Lucas had gone over the drinks list and showed me how to make them. Aiden explained the shifts and the days I would get off. I didn’t have to start until next week. Aiden said he was giving me time to settle in.
I felt so at home already.
I pulled out my extra phone and saw the tons of messages left by my mother. Guilt assaulted my happiness and soon I was dialling her number, forgetting that although it was morning here it might be night tine there. I think. I hadn’t checked out the time differences.
“Hello?” my mother sounded fast asleep.
“Hi mom,”
“So you carved out time form your new life for the woman who sacrificed everything for you?” I could hear the venom in her tone.
I closed my eyes and breathed in, counting to four. “Yes, mom, how are you doing?”
“Like you care? You are off in some new country with new people and living your life while I am stuck here all alone!” she spat.
I blew out another breath. “Has Bria come by to see you?”
“Yes. She cares at least. Unlike you! The one who stayed with me from birth is the one that gave me so much of grief! I did so much for you! This is the thanks I get?” she shouted. “You should have let me die. You don’t care about me.”
“I hope you take care of yourself. I will call again soon.”
I hung up with a tap of my finger on the screen. “I love you, mom,” I said into the darkness around me. I had long since learned to push all the hurtful things she would say to me in the back of my mind. I never forgot her harsh words but I didn’t dwell on it much. How could I? Where would it get me? I knew who I was and who I wanted to be, and it wasn’t her or my father, it was a brand new person.
***
Eight Years Earlier…
Autumn Harvest Wine, a green bottle with cream label and white liquid. According to Google and the library this happened to be one of the most deadly wines in SA. I remember flipping through one of teen magazines and finding an article about it. They say that usually wine should be drunken one glass a day in moderation; my mother downed a litre within an hour.
Mom felt invincible after she drank at least three glasses. I would watch as her words would slowly slur, she would take longer than necessary to blink, she would put the volume on the TV all the way up, the trip down memory lane, the fights she would pick and of course the words she slew my way.
“You are just like her!” my mother shrieked one day.
“Who?” I asked in a small voice.
“Like that bitch that broke up our home. You are a bitch just like her,” my mother spat and proceeded to slap me across the face.
I was a tiny child and that slap had me spinning at least once before I knocked my head against a wall and fell. I knew it wouldn’t be over though. I started to cry.
She yanked me up my long beautiful hair and looked into my eyes. Hers were bloodshot while mine were blurry.
“Do you want me to give you a fucking reason to cry?”
I shook my head. Obviously that didn’t make much of a difference, she let me go and slapped me again. Her long nails raked across my cheek.
There was nothing I could do. She was stronger than me. My body was slowly getting used to this, after all, it had been happening for the last month. Those scratches on my cheek were additions to the scratches on my arms, the bruises on my back and the throbbing in my head when she would pull it.
She doesn’t know what she’s doing, I would tell my thirteen year old self, and she has no idea. It would be fine in the morning. I was sure of it.
Dad doesn’t respond to my texts. He says that everything will get better. I asked him to please speak to mom but he keeps saying I need to give her time. I’m young so I don’t understand what she is going through.
I wish he took a bit of time to understand what I was going through.
***
Present Day…
The next morning, I walked down the hall to the bathroom and stepped into the shower. The water was hot and had these multiple showerheads that seemed to work out my sore muscles. I stay in there long enough for steam to fill the bathroom. I step out and wrap my fluffy pink towel around me. I sit on the edge of the tub and take out my shaving creams and razors. I know, its perpetually snowing and raining here in Michigan and I’d probably never wear shorts again but who knows what might happen.
I should have really taken that last statement as a sign because all of a sudden the bathroom door opens and a shirtless Aiden stumbles in. He looks at me and mumbles “morning” and goes to pee in the toilet.
Now, here’s the thing, I know that we all need to pee and do the basic hygienic necessities but Holy Hell, I never expected to be sitting on a bathtub with just a towel while my hot as sin roommate pees in the toilet. I concentrate on shaving my legs and Aiden continues doing whatever he’s doing.
He’s at the mirror washing his face when he finally notices me. “What the…?”
“Morning, roomie,” I grinned.
Aide watches with me with his mouth dropped open, his eyes trail down my towel clad body setting my skin on fire.
“Uh, Hey. I’m sorry I…”
I wave him off with my razor. “I’m covered up. It’s cool.”
Aiden turned around and leaned against the sink. “You are different.”
“Good different or bad different?” I asked even though I really didn’t care about the answer.
“Jury is still out on that. Most girls would freak if a guy walked in here while they were shaving, let alone continue shaving while he offloaded in the toilet.”
I laughed. “I have this weird habit of having to remind people that I am not most girls.”
I rinsed of the excess cream and moisture and grab my stuff, before walking out the bathroom I leaned in and stared into his bright blue beautiful eyes. “I am different.”
Hair styled in loose waves, eye-liner thick enough to bring out my green eyes, lips raspberry red and clothes; long-sleeved printed t-shirt, tight jeans, black leather jacket and flat-boots. I was ready for my first day of college.
Chapter Four
Michigan Tech looked beautiful. I had fallen in love with it while searching the net for places to go. I knew there were so many other cities or countries I could have chosen. There was just something about a town so far away from SA and continuously drenched in snow and cold weather that appealed to me. No, I’m not secretly a vampire.
I had enough credits from highschool and from a one year computer course in a college campus that allowed me to enrol for their marketing and information systems programme. I quickly figured out that they hosted each of their faculties in separate buildings, ironically mine happened to be a quick walk away from Kingston.
According to a very bubbly blonde there were thirteen fraternities and eight sororities. I was approached twice for rush. It seemed so surreal to me because back in SA we didn’t have things like that. Well, not that I’ve seen. Everyone dreamt of the kind of life you saw on Gossip Girl. You didn’t exactly experience it. Although, living in that small town back in SA made me question how much like a soap opera the town was.
Worthy of Me Page 2
