Saving Us

by Ashley Johnson

  Mrs. Horn walks away leaving us alone. I turn to look at Sybil with the scowl back on her face. “Well, you don’t seem to happy doll face, let’s get this over with then.”

  “Stop calling me that.” She hisses walking past me towards the books. Her shoulder brushes against my chest and I suck my breath in. This should be fun.

  I follow slowly behind her catching myself staring at her ass in those blue jeans. The way her hips sway when she walks, does something to me and I have to think about ponies and my grandma to put those thoughts away. Landon would kill me right now if he saw me.

  Sybil has already started pulling the history books off the shelf. She’s got five set on the ground when I walk up. She looks frustrated and I keep quiet to give her some space. The next book she grabs, she practically flings it off the shelf and it falls landing on her toes with a thud.

  “Shit!” she exclaims. She closes her eyes trying hard to deal with the pain and instinctively, I reach down and pick up the book.

  “Are you ok? I’m supposed to be helping you, you know?” I ask quietly.

  “I don’t need your help. I don’t need anyone’s help,” she says. I look into her eyes to see she’s fighting back tears, which tells me she’s stubborn as hell. I know it hurt, I heard it hit her foot. She’s wearing flip flops for crying out loud, so there was nothing to protect her.

  “I’m just trying to help you,” I lean in quietly placing the book on top of the others. “We’re supposed to be a team.”

  “There is no “we” Blaine. Why don’t you go see if there’s something else she needs you to do? I can handle this.” She tries to hurry and wipe a tear off her cheek, but I see it there and beat her to it. Her cheek is so soft, like puffy white clouds.

  She flinches back at my touch and stares at me. She tries to back up but almost loses her balance. I reach out to keep her from falling and when she catches her balance she jerks away from me. I seem to be blowing it constantly with her, I need to get it together. This has to go perfectly. I can’t let her get hurt.

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t want you to fall. I’m not leaving you though, this is my project too. You could have hurt yourself if I had walked off. Why don’t you sit on the ground to rest your foot and I’ll hand you these to set in your pile?”

  She looks like she’s contemplating my peace offering. She sits without saying another word and I begin to hand her book after book. This isn’t how I wanted this to pan out. I wanted to be able to hold a conversation with her and she surely isn’t speaking now. Once the final book is removed, I tell her I’m going in search of a feather duster to clean the shelf before we place the new books on it. She just shrugs her shoulders at me and I turn to walk off.

  Mrs. Horn gives me a feather duster and I grab a bottle of water. Who knew moving books off a shelf could work up such a thirst? I wait to open the water until after I’ve dusted the shelf. I’m careful to dust in the opposite direction of Sybil. I open the bottle and tilt my head back as I take a sip. I notice her watching me and I can’t tell what she’s thinking.

  “Do you want a sip?” I offer to her.

  “I’m not drinking after you.” She replies.

  “I don’t have cooties Sybil. It’s just water, I’m trying to be nice.”

  She dismisses me and proceeds to open the box of books. I shake my head smiling as I set the water on the ground. She begins to hand me book after book and I strategically set them where the others once were. Out of the corner of my eye, I see her trying to stand. Out of pure instinct, I reach out my hand to her. She stares at my hand like it’s the last thing on this earth she would ever touch and then reluctantly grabs it. I’ve held hands with many women, some hands small, some a little bigger, but none of them fit mine as perfectly as hers. With barely an ounce of energy, she is now standing beside me and she does nothing for a moment. Her hand remains in mine and I can feel a small smile tugging at the corner of my lips. She clears her throat before calmly pulling hers away. She didn’t yank it away this time. Wow.

  “Thank you. I don’t want to get in trouble for sitting if Mrs. Horn walks by.”

  “No problem. Can you hand me my water?” I ask coolly.

  She hands me the water but holds it to where our hands don’t touch. I wonder if she felt the same thing I did when I helped her up. I tilt my head back once again letting the cool water slide down my throat. I even made sure not to let my lips touch the bottle. She’s watching me again so out of habit I thrust the bottle in her direction. She studies it for a minute. I know she doesn’t trust me but I need her to. This could be the small step to help me earn it.

  After analyzing the bottle for a minute or two, she finally grabs it from me and takes a sip. Her lips don’t touch the bottle either, but her lips open perfectly to invite the water in. Ponies and grandma. Ponies and grandma. She hands the bottle back and bends down to grab a few more books. I tell myself I won’t look at her ass, but I fail miserably, turning my head just in time so she doesn’t catch me.

  We continue to work in silence, but I feel triumphant that I’ve gained just a slight bit of her trust. If I have to lie to Landon, I will. I’ll make this last as long as I can. I’ll buy all the time in the world, if I need to.

  ***

  Sybil

  Blaine surprised me today. A lot. I didn’t want him to. I’m so mad at myself for letting him touch me. What in the world did he think he was doing by touching my cheek like that? I’m capable of wiping my own damn tears. It was my fault for not wearing more sturdy shoes but in my defense, I didn’t think I would have dropped a heavy history book right on it. I wish he would stop being so nice to me, I don’t want him being my friend and like I told him, I don’t need his help. He doesn’t listen though, he’s a typical man. I feel like such an idiot for drinking the water he handed me and I hate the way his blue eyes pierced thru me.

  I’m standing beside him handing him books and I’m relieved to see there are only about five books left. Then, I can finally escape him and hopefully Mrs. Horn will place me somewhere away from him. He’s messing with my head and I can’t handle it. I hand him the last book and I smile that we’re finally done.

  “How’s your foot? Do you think you can walk?” He asks carefully. Good question. I’m not sure of the answer.

  I decide to take a step and test the waters. My first step is shaky but I manage to walk without falling. I turn around and flash him a grin. “I’m good. Thanks for your help.”

  “You’re welcome.” He begins to put the old books in the box the new ones just came out of and he places it in the corner. “Let’s go see what else we need to do for the day.”

  His grin is contagious and I try not to smile back but I can’t help it. I’m grinning like a damn fool. He walks in front of me and I can see the muscles in his back bulging out of his shirt. Trouble. That’s all he is and that’s what I keep telling myself. I can play nice at work but once I leave these doors, I will pretend I have no idea who he is. He won’t get to me.

  Mrs. Horn finally makes all my wishes come true when she tells him he can leave. She asks me to stay back for a minute and leads me back to her office. I walk in and take a seat across from her desk. She smiles warmly before clearing her throat. “Sybil, thank you for all your help. You’re probably one of the hardest workers I’ve had in a while. If you’d like to take tomorrow off, you can.”

  “Take tomorrow off? Are you sure Mrs. Horn? I just started yesterday.” I’m confused.

  “I know you’re an education major, so if you need to handle anything for your classes, I can give you one day a week off or more if you need.”

  Makes sense now. I do need to get into a school and complete my hours. I smile warmly at her and reply, “Thank you so much. I actually do have to complete some hours at a local school. One day a week should be more than fine for me to take care of it.” I want to hug her for getting me away from Blaine, for at least one day a week. She doesn’t realize just what a god send she is.

/>   She thanks me again before telling me bye. I clock out, grabbing my backpack ready to head to the truck. I have enough time to go home and change before I head to Megan and Cory’s. The fresh air hits me and I breathe it in smiling. One day a week without Blaine. Hallelujah!

  I check my phone to see a text from Megan telling me she’s making gumbo. Then, I get a text from Cory saying she’s lying, he’s really making it. I laugh out loud not meaning to, earning me a few looks from other students walking past me.

  “What’s so funny Sybil?”

  I turn to find Blaine standing beside me. Wonderful. “Nothing. Just a message from my friend.”

  He walks step for step with me and I’m not sure how I feel about it. I wasn’t anticipating seeing him again today, but I guess I can be nice for right now. “I just wanted to check on you one more time.”

  “I’m fine, I told you that inside. Thank you though.”

  “Want to grab some coffee or something and talk?” He asks.

  “That’s really sweet of you, but I have somewhere I need to be.” I’m not lying to him, but he looks at me like he doesn’t believe me.

  He looks like he’s about to speak and his phone rings. He looks at the screen and groans before hitting the ignore button. “Is your girlfriend calling you?” I tease.

  “Not quite doll face. I don’t have a girlfriend. If I did, I wouldn’t be talking to you. I’m not that kinda guy.” He says with the most serious look on his face.

  I want to tell him again not to call me doll face, but his phone rings again and he looks purely irritated now. “Looks like someone is trying to get ahold of you, so I’ll see you around.”

  He stares at the screen and then gives me a sympathetic look before saying, “Yeah, see you around Sybil.”

  I turn and walk off and realize he didn’t call me doll face this time. Whoever was calling him seemed to change his mood, and I wonder who it could be. He said he didn’t have a girlfriend and I suddenly catch myself wondering why I even care whether he does or not.

  Chapter 7

  Blaine

  “Hello?” I answer out of breath and mostly agitated.

  “What’s your progress Blaine?” Landon asks with a monotone voice. That’s the voice that scares me the most.

  “I’m getting there Landon, I can’t rush this.”

  “Why not? Dante would have already sealed the deal and taken care of business. He doesn’t play around, should I have sent him?”

  The thought of Dante anywhere near Sybil makes my stomach churn and I can feel the bile rising in my throat. Dante is a monster, standing 6’3 and weighing at least 300lbs. He’s pure muscle and scary as hell. I swear, even Landon is scared of him at times. He could hurt her by just touching her hand and I’ll be damned if I let that happen.

  “Look, I need some time, but I will make this happen. You’ll get what’s yours back. I just need time.”

  The call goes silent for a moment and I am about to my truck when I hear him begin to breathe into the phone. “How much time do you need?”

  I let out a sigh relieved he’s agreeing. “I’m not sure, but I need more than two days.”

  “I’ll tell you how much time you have. You have a month tops to either get the money or bring her to me and I’ll take care of it. If I have to take care of it, nothing good will come of this. You should already know that. I don’t give a shit what you have to do to get it. Play fucking prince charming if you have to. Fuck her until she can’t see straight and promise her the world. Just get my money back.”

  His words hit me and that bile continues to sit in my throat almost begging to come up. I can’t do that to her, but I have to. I have to somehow seduce her and get into her good graces so I can complete my job and maybe, just maybe I can live my life without thinking about her again. I doubt it, she looks like the kind who sticks with you forever. Those eyes would be forever haunting me from when I fucked her over.

  “I can do it Landon. Thank you, you won’t regret this.” I try to assure him.

  “Don’t make me. I’d hate to lose you Blaine. You can be vital but right now, I’d swear you were pussy-whipped. Get it together. Remember, one month at the most.” End of call.

  Beads of sweat line my forehead as I reach my truck. I wanted to tell him I’m not pussy-whipped. I’m Blaine Williams. I can handle anything, especially Sybil Hayes. I can’t get Landon’s words out of my mind though. I hate myself for having accepted this assignment. I should have gotten out of the business last year when I had the chance, but no, I stayed and now something tells me I will deeply regret that decision.

  I come to a dead stop before I can open my truck door to get in and I lean over and empty the contents of my stomach. I stand there dry heaving for a few minutes before I’m certain I’m finished. It’s times like this, I really wish Landon were dead. If he was, I could pretend none of this ever happened and then maybe, I could honestly show her that I can be her real life prince charming and not her worst nightmare.

  ***

  Sybil

  I’ve never been more excited to see the inside of my apartment. Today was awkward and I’m not sure what else to call it. I let Blaine begin to get to me and broke my main rule when it comes to him. I change into a pair of jeans and a light blue scoop neck blouse as I get ready for dinner. My eyes roam to my foot and I notice a small bruise forming where the book landed earlier. Great. The decision to keep my sandals on seems to be the easiest decision I’ve made. I’m grabbing my purse and getting ready to lock the door when my phone rings.

  “Hello?”

  “Hey Sybil, I know we’re a day late but we wanted to see how school was going?” Caleb’s mom Lillian asks. For the past five months, she’s called at least once a week to talk with me. I treasure every conversation and pray she never stops.

  “Hey! It’s ok so far. I have a few volunteer hours at an elementary school to complete for one of my education classes, but that’s probably the worst of it. I started working in the bookstore, that’s not bad either.” I say twirling my keys around my finger.

  “I really wish you would have let us help you so you can focus on school. Caleb would have –“

  I interrupt her not trying to sound rude at all, “I need to do this for myself. I know what he would have wanted, but he would also be proud of me right?”

  “He would most certainly be proud of you Sybil. I know we are.”

  I smile at her words and let my breath out. “Thank you, that means a lot to me. Listen, I hate to cut our chat short, but I was just on my way out to Cory and Megan’s for dinner.”

  “Oh, no problem dear. I was just calling to see if you wanted to come have Sunday lunch with us at the house. I’m sorry we had to reschedule last week. I just wasn’t feeling well.”

  “I will definitely be there. I love ya’ll.”

  “We love you too sweet girl.” We hang up the phone shortly after and I smile.

  I once thought it would be awkward to continue to go to Caleb’s house after everything. I even thought that his parent’s would eventually disown me but they seemed to love me more and that meant everything to me.

  ***

  I’m pretty sure I ate my weight in gumbo just now and then Megan had to shove brownies in front of my face. I’m definitely being a pig tonight. Cory leans over to kiss Megan so tenderly on the cheek and I feel a pang of jealousy hit me. I want to be kissed on the cheek. I want to remember what it feels like to have someone want you the way Caleb wanted me. I miss that more than anything. I smile though and they never see that anything is wrong.

  “It’s almost here, are you ready? You can get ready here with us and I’ll have your leg warmers out!” Megan is a little too pumped. Cory rolls his eyes and laughs.

  “You two are a damn mess.” He says.

  “But you love me.” She pouts.

  “I do love you.” He states and she smiles sweetly back at him.

  She links their fingers together and sets their hands in her
lap. Moments later, Cory excuses himself to go do what he does best, clean the kitchen. He’s so domesticated and Megan didn’t even have to train him. He has a wonderful mama who made him every girls dream.

  Megan smiles at him watching him saunter his way into the kitchen and when he’s out of hearing range, she turns her full attention to me. “So, any encounters with bookstore boy today?”

  My face turns beet red and I want to face palm myself for having mentioned this to her yesterday. I should have just kept this quiet. It’s not like anything is going to come of it. She studies me, looking for any cracks she can in my foundation, and now, I know I just have to start talking.

  “Well, we kinda had to work together today and I dropped a stupid textbook on my foot. See the bruise?” I show her the light green bruise before continuing, “Of course it hurt like hell and I tried hard not to cry but a tear fell. Megan,” I look around making sure Cory isn’t near, “he wiped the tear off my cheek. He touched me!”

  Her eyes turn huge and she leans in, ever intrigued. “Did you like him touching you?”

  “What?!” I ask shocked that she would even say something like that.

  “You heard me,” she smiles mischievously. “Did you like him touching you?”

  “I, I, don’t…I don’t know. I mean no! I absolutely did not.” I try to answer without screwing it up but she totally sees straight through me.

  “You liked it. You said you didn’t know which means you thought about whether you did or not and if you didn’t, then you wouldn’t have had to think about it.”

  “I hate you.” I glare at her.

  “You do not. You know I’m right. Well, what else happened?” She’s sitting up on the couch leaning forward like I’m telling her fairy tales, but my life is far from a fairy tale. My happily ever after went away.