“Boots would be better.”
The girl wandered off, chatting away. I wasn’t sure if she actually expected us to respond because she didn’t stop talking. I couldn’t hear her over the music in the store anyway.
She gathered a pile of stuff in her arms. Even though the place was pricey, I didn’t think O’Malley would actually go online to buy anything himself so we might as well get everything we needed.
“You’ll need to try the jeans on,” she said.
“I’m sure they’ll fit,” O’Malley replied.
“No, you’ll have to try these on. You can’t just buy jeans on the off-chance they’ll be okay.”
She threw a few pairs at him and motioned to the change room. I sat down on a seat outside with all my stuff piled on my knee.
“I’ll take that to the register,” she said.
Even though she worked in a wanky store, she seemed okay. At least she wasn’t one of those shop girls who constantly asked questions about your weekend and what you were doing.
O’Malley came out of the change room.
“These are fine,” he said. “I’ll just get them.”
He did look a lot better in clothes that fit him than those random clothes he’d had on. When he turned around – whoa, I could see why the girl had wanted him to try them on. That butt!
He turned back to us.
“No wait, turn back. I need to check something,” the girl said. She winked at me and I tried not to laugh.
“Just get the girl to cut the tags off and I’ll wear them.”
I rolled my eyes. The girl stood right beside him. He could’ve asked her himself.
“We’ll take them in black as well,” I said. I figured O’Malley didn’t have the sense to think of that himself.
The girl grabbed some scissors and cut the tags off for O’Malley.
A weird look came on his face, as though he’d eaten something gassy. I was about to make a stupid comment on it when O’Malley jerked away from the girl and stormed out of the store, knocking over a display of handbags in his rush to get out of there. I had no idea what was going on but I couldn’t follow him. I had all the clothes to pay for.
She looked at me questioningly. “What’s up with him?” she asked.
I shrugged. “He’s weird.”
I tapped the card on the counter, waiting for her to ring up the clothes. I’d have to find O’Malley and god knows where he’d gone. I wanted her to hurry up but she seemed intent on chatting.
“I love this song,” she said. “It’s an oldie but still got something, don’t you think?”
Then I actually listened. That song was so familiar. It was the one O’Malley had kept listening to.
CHAPTER EIGHT
I’d given up on finding O’Malley after hours of searching along the street and looking into various shops. I had no idea where he’d go.
The shopping bags dug into my hands, cutting off the circulation to my fingers. People knocked into me and, when I went into a café to get a coffee, the place was full of feral teenagers so I walked out again.
My feet hurt, my brain couldn’t function and I thought my ears would bleed from the cacophony of tinny music and screaming children.
Anyway, someone had to be home when the furniture was delivered. I got some food for my lunch and flagged down a cab.
I got back to the studio only to find O’Malley was already there. Jerk. He could’ve called me. Except he didn’t have a phone. That was being delivered with the furniture.
“What happened to you?” I asked.
“I walked back.”
I nodded then realised that was a helluva long way for him to walk. I sat on the floor and ate my sandwich. I didn’t offer him any because, if he’d wanted food, he could’ve bought some for himself instead of storming off. He hadn’t even apologised for making me endure that hell. If I’d not been looking for him, we could’ve both got lunch. I hadn’t wanted to go in the first place.
He kept shooting me sideways looks as though he wanted something. It would not be my sandwich. He could keep his eyes off it.
“Thank you,” he finally said in a tiny voice.
“Huh?” Did he just say what I thought he said? No way.
“You saved my life. Thank you.”
“Oh that. Well, I could hardly let you burn to death in your bed, now, could I? That’d be totally shit of me. Although, dude. Really. You could wear some clothes to bed if you intend to burn your house down.”
Again, that crooked smile seemed to bloom almost as though it was fighting his facial muscles. The wonkiness of it made me feel a little weird inside.
“Do you want a bite of my sandwich?” I said. Damn my weak nature. I so had not meant to say that.
“Nah, you have it all.”
“Seriously, you look half-starved. And you ran off so fast, we didn’t get to buy groceries. We have nothing else.”
“We could order pizza. If your phone is still charged?”
“Hell yeah. I can charge my phone in two secs. There are power points in this place, right?”
He rolled his eyes at me.
“It’s a recording studio. What, you think we just played acoustics in here or something?”
Der, me. Of course. I found the plug and put my phone on to charge.
“Meat lovers with BBQ sauce?” That was my favourite. I had it as a preset on the website of my favourite pizza place. With extra cheese and pineapple. But I didn’t tell him that because sometimes people thought it was weird.
“With extra cheese and pineapple?” Tex asked.
“Damn straight.”
Wow, it was like he read my mind. I handed him half of my sandwich to keep him going until the pizza arrived, since the pizza shop wasn’t even open yet. I preordered and tried to ignore my rumbling stomach.
First though, the furniture delivery turned up.
I went out to direct the guys. One of them looked around, shaking his head.
“What happened here?”
I hated people asking stupid questions like that. What the hell did it look like? I wanted to tell him we’d offered up the last delivery driver who asked stupid questions as a human sacrifice on a funeral pyre. Instead, I put on my sweetest expression.
“Nothing. Why?”
“Err… no reason.”
But I could see the guy rolling his eyes at his workmate. Whatever. So long as he shut up and did the job he was paid for, he could think what he liked.
“Where do you want the stuff, love?” he asked.
“Tex, can you come here and help?”
There was no answer. I went into the studio and looked for him but he was nowhere around. That was strange. I hadn’t seen him come out and there was nowhere for him to go anyway.
I told the delivery guys where to put stuff, figuring the smaller front room would be best for the “kitchen” area while the recording room would work for bedroom.
We’d gotten a long folding table, which I set up under the window. I put the microwave on top of that and set up our bowls and plates beside it, along with a large plastic bowl we’d bought that could be used for washing dishes and other sink-like activities. The small bar fridge fit under the table.
We’d also bought another table, a smaller café-style one. I got them to sit that against the wall. With the two chairs around it, it’d be a squeeze to get through the door to the bedroom but we could work around that. If we got rid of all O’Malley’s boxes of junk then we’d have more room.
I wasn’t sure where to put the beds. It was a big room and I figured Tex and I needed some space from each other. For all I knew, he snored like a chainsaw. It was kind of embarrassing getting them to set up the two beds in there.
The door and the window into the sound booth ran along one wall so the beds should be against the other long wall.
I got them to put my bed in the left corner and Tex’s on the right. I didn’t like having that creepy window where someone could sneak in and watch us but no mat
ter where the beds were, you couldn’t escape it.
“We normally just deliver the stuff. We don’t set up the beds.”
I gave the guy a death stare.
“You got paid good money for this delivery so I think you can spare a few minutes of your time. I can’t put the bed together on my own.” I probably could but I didn’t want to. As much as I wanted these guys out of the place, I didn’t want to be lugging mattresses around on my own.
I threw the stuff I’d gotten O’Malley at the clothes store in his corner and went to my side.
I wondered if I could make some kind of barrier between us. Maybe hang a curtain? But the ceilings in the studio were so high, it’d be difficult. The whole room had been set up for acoustics, not comfortable sleeping.
They finished putting my bed together and started on Tex’s, so I gathered up all the rubbish – bits of plastic and packing tape and other crap – that they’d left sitting around the floor. Then I got out the bed linen and made my bed.
I’d gotten a portable wardrobe thing, with a hanging rack and some shelves. I sat that between my bed and Tex’s so that I’d have at least the bare minimum of privacy. But, with my lack of things to hang, it really was bare minimum.
I sat on my bed and it hit me. I’d only intended staying around for a day or two until O’Malley had gotten his shit together enough to realise how damn stupid he was. Now I had furniture and a whole little home set up. What had he done to me?
It wasn’t too late to escape though. I could send the furniture back to the shop maybe. On the one hand, I had to live in close quarters with the grumpiest man alive in a rebooted music studio. But, on the other hand, if I left, I’d be back at square one – no job, nowhere to live and no future. Maybe I could stick around at least until I found something else or O’Malley moved on.
The guys wanted me to sign for the delivery. I noticed they’d done the beds but the bookshelf and the other stuff still sat in boxes. I didn’t say anything though because their presence was beginning to annoy me. As I saw them off, the pizza delivery guy arrived.
“Is that the pizza?”
“Where were you?”
He thumbed at the toilet.
“For all that time? More like you were hiding out. Do you have a girlie magazine in there?” The possibilities were not ones I wanted to think about.
He shook his head.
“You’re strange.”
“So are you,” he replied, opening the pizza box and helping himself to a big slice. Man, that pizza smelt good. We’d make short work of it.
We ate without talking and when we’d done, I really wanted a nap. I’d not slept that well and all that shopping had exhausted me. It was just far too much time being around random strangers. If I suggested it though, Tex would think I was trying to avoid unpacking the rest of the stuff. I looked at the boxes though and wondered if I had it in me to get everything set up.
“We really need to get this stuff sorted out, don’t we?” Tex said, looking at the boxes. “It seems kinda exhausting. I really need a bit of a rest first.”
Phew. I didn’t look slack because he’d suggested it. Although I’m not sure why he needed a rest. I’d done all the work. I grinned at him. Suited me fine.
Only…
I wasn’t used to sleeping with someone else so close to me. Not that we were exactly spooning but his bed was in the same room. I could hear him breathing. I knew he wasn’t asleep and I wondered what was going on in his mind. He’d been almost friendly but maybe, when we woke up, he’d be back to being a crusty old grouch. I pulled my blanket up to my neck. It was like being at school camp or something hideous like that. If only he’d go to sleep first, I could probably sleep.
I must’ve drifted off because I woke to Tex’s screams. I jumped up, freaking out that someone had broken in. How secure was this place anyway?
As my eyes adjusted, I realised no one was there but us. Tex was having a nightmare. I took a deep breath to keep my heart from leaping out of my chest. What the hell? I couldn’t blame the guy for being freaked but he’d scared the crap out of me.
He’d woken himself up as well and he sat upright in bed looking terrified. If I was one of those comforting people, I’d rush over and hold him or something but that seemed awfully personal. Instead, I threw my pillow at him.
“Are you okay?”
He jerked awake, staring at me for a moment as though he had no idea where he was.
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
The moment grew awkward, as though I’d seen him naked. Which I had but this was emotional nakedness, which was so much worse.
CHAPTER NINE
I wasn’t sure what Tex did with his days, even living so close to him. He spent a lot of time in the sound booth playing around with things. It seemed to suit him fine, with all that soundproofing.
Once the inspection on the house had been completed, I found myself having to deal with all the work crew clearing the site. It was so not what I’d signed on for. I’d wanted to hide away from the world, not spend my days with a bunch of burly men who needed me to make a heap of decisions. Tex was no help with that whatsoever. Maybe he’d be a bit more invested when they started rebuilding but he just hid away from the whole clearing process as though he could pretend it wasn’t happening.
It was easier living with him than I’d thought though. He’d lost his crotchetiness about me being around, maybe because he had no choice in it or maybe because he was used to me.
I asked him what he planned to do with the rebuild. Did he want to do something new or recreate the house that had been there?
He just shrugged.
“Come on. It’s your house. You have to live there. You can’t not care about that.”
“It’s probably a good thing it burnt down. It wasn’t a happy house,” he said.
Wow, he sure was Mr Emo Angsty-Pants. I didn’t want to probe any more into those murky waters. Not that I got a chance. He put down his plate, his dinner only half-eaten, and went back into the sound booth.
I couldn’t fathom him. His lack of caring was beyond weird. I could understand him being upset because of the fire but he had to some interest in the process. I sure as hell wasn’t having it all land on my plate. I had no investment in the house. I’d tell the builder to build a Swiss chalet or an igloo for all I cared. It’d serve him right if I did that. Maybe a hobbit hole.
I got out my laptop to start work.
When I looked up, Tex was still in the booth but he was totally looking at me. I tried to ignore him but I prickled from his gaze on me. I could actually feel it on my skin. Without even thinking, my hand came up to touch my hair. What was he doing, looking at me like that? It was creepy and weird.
I looked down at what I was typing but instead of being usable code, it just said, “Tex keeps looking at me.” Oh dear. I couldn’t deal with this. I turned around so he wasn’t in my line of sight but then I just kept wondering if he was still looking and I couldn’t see him.
***
The next morning, Tex looked all excited.
“Look what I ordered.”
He held up his phone to show me a web page.
“It’s a camping shower. It’ll be perfect.”
But it was for cold water only. He said it was solar heated but it was the middle of winter. There would be no sun to heat it.
“Are you sure it’s going to work?” I said.
“Absolutely. It’ll be fine.”
“Where will we put it?”
The main problem with living in the recording studio was showering. The toilet had a small sink so we had hot water but no shower. I’d wanted Tex to call a plumber and get one put into the studio. I mean, how hard could that be? But he refused. He was bad enough with the workmen being on site all day, I don’t think he wanted them invading his territory.
“In the toilet.” He frowned at me like it was the most logical idea ever.
“There’s nowhere for the water to drain in ther
e.”
He so hadn’t thought of that. I didn’t want to be a killjoy but I think he wasn’t getting the whole “middle of winter” thing. Surely it wouldn’t be that hard to get a shower put in. Not that I knew much about plumbing or any of that stuff.
He really didn’t seem to mind living in the studio and, apart from the shower thing, I’d gotten used to it. Sure, I hated dealing with the workman, who’d come knocking on the studio door at any time of the day without warning and I’d have to stop what I was doing to get up and talk to them. That was totally annoying and would break my concentration. The rest of the time though, things were pretty damn sweet.
There was one other thing that disturbed me about living there. Well, not so much disturbed as distracted… O’Malley.
“We could set it up in a corner of the porch.”
I looked up in surprise. I’d forgotten about the camping shower because I’d been thinking of other things. Things I should not think.
He looked really enthusiastic about it though.
“Seriously, Ruby, I could build a screen around the end of the porch. With a drainage system. Well, it could run off into the garden… and I could run the water through from the sink taps.”
“I’d have to walk outside to the shower though. With the workmen here…”
“I’ll sort it out. Anything is better than nothing, right?”
Then he grinned at me and I agreed to test it out, although I had little faith in his handyman skills and really did think he should just get a professional to do it.
***
Most nights, I’d settle in to watch an old movie or some program that I’d downloaded. That night, Tex decided he’d join me. He didn’t come right out and say it, he just hovered by my bed.
“What are you watching?” he asked, looking at the computer screen over my shoulder.
I took out my headphones.
“Do you want to watch too?” I asked. I figured that would be better than having him hover around. Hovering annoyed me more than just about anything.
I’d meant for him to grab a chair or something but instead he sat on the edge of the bed beside me.
I shuffled over, worried about him being so close to me. I sat the laptop on the bed between us, propping it up on some pillows so we could both see it.
Rock You (Fallen Star Book 1) Page 7
