His face scrunches up moments before he lunges for me. His fist flies but it’s the sloppiest shit I’ve ever seen. I grab his wrist and with one quick flick, I twist him and jam his arm up behind his back before slamming his face into the wall. “You see,” I tell him. “I was being kind, allowing you a chance to get your shit, now, you’ve just pissed me off.”
“Let me go,” he demands while trying to spit at me.
I keep my hand on his back while I dig my other into his shoulder. I pull him off the wall and Cami scrambles to get out of the way while I push the dirty bastard towards the door.
He tries to wriggle himself out of my hold, but he hasn’t got a chance in hell.
I get to the door and with one easy push, the fucker goes flying out before slamming into the wall of the hallway. He turns around to scowl at me but I stand here, begging him to try again. I see him going over all his options before deciding it isn’t worth it and finally walking away.
I reach down to the splintered door that still lays on the floor and lift it back into place. It just balances there and the second I leave here, I know I’ll be down at the hardware store getting her a new one.
I turn back to Cami to check she’s alright but she’s not paying me any attention. Her eyes are busily scanning the place that used to feel like home. Right now, it’s nothing but a dump.
I take Isabella out of her hands as I watch her eyes jump from corner to corner of the room. I place my hand on her shoulder and flinch at the way her back stiffens with my touch. “Are you ok?” I ask quietly as the feel of her shoulder under my skin burns right through me.
She doesn’t respond, just silently shakes her head.
I let out a breath. “Why don’t you come back to my place? You can crash there until this gets sorted.
At that, she shrugs off my hand and steps away from my touch. “Thanks for making him leave, but I’m all good here now. You can go.”
The need to fight her dismissal is strong within me but from the torn look in her eye, I let it go. “I’ll get your door fixed,” I tell her.
She looks away. “Don’t bother. I’ll call someone now.”
I hate that I can’t be her knight in shining armor. I want to take care of this for her, it’s like my natural reaction to her. With one more lingering look into those beautiful eyes, it’s clear she just wants to be alone, and despite my better judgment, I let out a breath and walk away.
Chapter 3
Cami
Jace walks out the broken door and I don’t even have the energy to watch him leave.
The second he disappears, I allow my heart to break. Today has been the worst day by far. I thought having him leave after being with me was the worst, but seeing him moved on with a baby. That excruciating. I’ve never felt pain like it.
What’s worse is how damn happy he looked with that baby. It’s as though he’s finally gotten everything he’s ever wanted, and I guess that means that I was not it.
My home has always been my pride and joy. It was mine to build as my own. It’s the place I could come after a big day and unwind. It’s the place where I would come and cry after Jace had broken me again. It’s where I rebuilt myself each time and I guess it’s where I’ll be rebuilding myself now.
This place has been my sanctuary and is filled with countless memories, some good and some bad. It’s where I learned to be independent. It’s where I gained the confidence to build my store. It where Jace and I finally…
Damn. Today really does suck.
I let out a breath as I allow myself to look around the place properly. I see all my things but the feeling within the apartment is tainted. It’s suddenly not my sanctuary anymore. It’s dirty and foreign.
It all looks like mine, but no longer feels it.
My couch is destroyed with beer stains and cigarette holes. My kitchen looks like a bomb hit it. The draws are all open and stuck on angels, the cupboard doors are broken, there’s shit all over the floor, and the counter is covered in all sorts of sticky crap.
Not to mention, the whole apartment stinks. It’s absolutely foul. I mean, how can somebody live like this? I have never met another human being in my life who has such disrespect for the place they live, let alone blatant disrespect for someone else’s home.
My blood boils and add that to the mix of jetlag, wild emotions from seeing Jace with a baby, and the disgust in myself for being such a shitty friend to Rylee, I crumble to the ground in tears.
The tears flow from my eyes and run down my face, by this stage, my eyes are hurting. I don’t think I’ve ever cried so much in my life..
How the hell did I ever get so unlucky? Am I being punished for something I did in another life? I mean, I’m a good girl. I work hard. My bills are always paid on time. I even visit my parents as much as I can. Sure, I have a bit of a potty mouth, but that’s it. I swear.
I try to wipe the tears on the back of my arm but it’s useless, the second they go, more appear and all it does is make me feel weak. I’m usually a strong woman. I don’t let shit like this get me down. I pride myself on getting in and getting shit done, but right now, I just can’t pull myself together.
There’s a knock on the door that has me hastily wiping as much of the wetness off my face before turning around to find my neighbor, Kelly, sticking her head through the gap in the broken door. “Hey,” she says as her eyes scan the room. She cringes at the state of the place before bringing her eyes back to mine. “I just wanted to check you were alright, but I’m assuming by the way you’re crying on the floor, you could use some help.”
My bottom lip pouts out at her kindness and it brings on another wave of tears. “Thank you,” I cry as she shuffles the door to the side and steps into my tainted apartment with my suitcase dragging behind her.
She comes over to me and helps me to my feet before pulling her phone from her back pocket. “No need to cry,” she tells me. “I’ll call the door guy while you start cleaning. We’ll have this place put back together in no time.”
I sniffle as I pull myself together. “You don’t need to do this,” I tell her. I mean, I hardly know the woman. She’s been living next door to me as long as I can remember, but we’ve only ever had a ‘smile and wave in the hallway’ kind of relationship.
“Don’t be silly,” she says. “I want to. Now, I’m assuming you’re going to want to burn all your sheets and towels, so you can crash at my place until you get a chance to go shopping.”
“Are you serious?” I question with wide, hopeful eyes.
“Of course,” she says. “I know I don’t know you very well, but I get the feeling you’d do the same for me.”
“I really would,” I say as my bottom lip begins to wobble again.
“Cut that shit out,” she laughs before holding her phone up. “I’m going to go get all my cleaning products while I call the door guy.”
“Ok,” I smile while trying my hardest to hold back the tears.
She turns and heads back to the door before stopping and looking back at me. “Was that guy wearing a silk robe?”
“Yes,” I laugh. “That was mine.”
“Ugh,” she groans. “Luckily you own that clothing store because you’re going to need to burn all your clothes too.”
“Believe me,” I tell her. “I’ve already added it to my list of things to do.”
With that, she disappears down the hallway and I find myself finally starting to feel like a regular human being. I’ve had my moment of freaking out. I’ve got my home back and now I need to put it back together. Hell, I think I’m going to bleach every little piece of this place. It just sucks that I blew all my money on the so called holiday as now I have none left to replace the furniture, get repairs done, and buy new clothes and sheets.
I’ve so far dealt with Jace for the time being so I can put off talking to him for a little while longer, but Rylee, I’m going to have to go see her as soon as I get this shit fixed up.
Kelly returns a moment
later and lets me know the door guy will be here in an hour. She carts along every cleaning product she could possibly find while I dive under the sink in the kitchen and haul out all of mine.
“Alright,” she says. “You start in the kitchen and I’ll do the living room.”
“Deal,” I say.
“What do you think? Should we just make a massive garbage pile?” she asks as she plugs her phone into the speakers by my TV. “Sorry, I can’t possibly clean without listening to my playlist, it’s a must.”
“I agree,” I smile. “But yes, just throw shit onto the couch. I’m going to get rid of that too.”
“Good plan,” she says as she looks it over and cringes at the foul state it’s in.
“If you happen to find a phone, tablet, or my car keys in the process, let me know.”
Desperately needing to sleep with this awful case of jetlag, I dive straight into it cleaning and get it done as quickly as possible while Kelly and I chat and get to know each other. She asks all about my trip and the store and I listen as she tells me about the guy she’s dating, though, she doesn’t think it’s going to last much longer.
Three hours later, my apartment has a new door and is sparkling clean, apart from the couch which is overflowing with shit. I feel much better, but I think I’m still going to hire a cleaner to come through and give it a second scrub down.
Kelly and I stand in my bedroom, staring down at the stripped mattress in disgust. “I think you’re going to need a new one of those too,” she tells me.
“Damn,” I sigh. “I haven’t slept in my own bed in over seven months. I was really looking forward to it.”
“I bet,” she says as she kneels down and puts her hand on the very edge. “R.I.P mattress. I hope you and Cami had some good times together.”
I can’t help but grin. “We really did,” I tell her as she pushes herself back up to her feet. In fact, we had some great times. The thought has me thinking back to the very last time I slept in this bed. Jace had been here with me, holding me until the sun came up. It was magical until the fucker had to go and ruin it. Now, he’s moved on and that will never happen again.
“Come on,” Kelly says. “We’ll order pizza and you can crash in my guest room. You look exhausted.”
“Thanks,” I say as we walk out of the bedroom and into the living room. I grab my new house keys off the clean coffee table and my handbag from the entryway table. “Let’s go.”
We get over to her place and I collapse down into her couch. “Thank you so much for this,” I tell her. “You’ve been a godsend. I owe you big time.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” she laughs. “Just make sure to come over with a bottle of wine so we can get crazy.”
“You’ve got yourself a deal,” I laugh as I look at the woman who has very quickly becoming a great friend.
----------
The sun comes streaming in through the window and my eyes peel themselves open. I lay in Kelly’s guest bed, and I swear, the last time I slept this good, I was in Jace’s arms.
I wake feeling completely refreshed and stretch both arms up above my head as I let out a satisfied groan. I throw the blanket back and get myself up. After all, I have a friend who needs me to grovel at her feet while begging for the ultimate forgiveness.
I trudge out of the bedroom and smile at Kelly who’s dressed and ready for the day. “Good afternoon,” she says with a grin. “I was starting to get worried about you.”
My eyebrows furrow as I watch her. “How do you mean?” I question.
“It’s past one in the afternoon. You’ve been asleep for a solid fifteen hours.”
My eyes widen as I search her kitchen for a clock. I find the time across the front of her microwave and gawk at it. “Holy crap,” I grunt. “Are you kidding me? Half the day is gone.”
“I know,” she laughs. “I was going to start vacuuming so I could wake you up and pretend it was an accident.”
I can’t help but laugh at my new friend as I go around and find the few things I brought over here last night. “I better run,” I tell her. “I’ve slept half my day and I have a lot to get done.”
“That’s right. You have to crawl up your friend’s ass and hope she’ll take you back.”
“Fingers crossed,” I say. “But if I plan on getting all my shopping done and check in on Style me Crazy as well, I need to scram.”
“Alright,” she laughs. “Good luck.”
I pull my handbag up over my shoulder. “Thank you so much for letting me crash here. I promise, I’ll come around and we can have a bottle of wine together.”
“Deal,” she grins.
With that, I hurry out the door and get my ass back over to my place. I shower and rummage through my suitcase for something to wear as I don’t trust any of the clothes in my closet right now.
I head down to the parking garage, pleased that after the big clean up, I managed to find my car keys. My phone, however, is long gone. I stop by the apple store on my way to Style me Crazy and purchase a new phone before getting my ass down to my store.
I push through the door of Style me Crazy and grin at the reactions of my shop assistants, Bec and Lilly. “Oh, my God,” Bec squeals as she runs around the counter and crashes into me. “Where the hell have you been? We’ve missed you.”
Bec pulls back only to be shoved out of the way by Lilly who squeezes the life out of me. “Are you back for good?” Lilly questions.
“Yes,” I tell them with a smile, glad that at least a few people around here are pleased to see me. “I’m back for good. How are things going here?”
The girls instantly jump straight into a rundown of how everything over the past few months has been going and I’m proud to say that they have been doing an incredible job. They’ve maintained the same numbers that I had the store running at and even managed to increase the profit a few of the months.
“I hope it’s ok,” Bec says with a slight cringe, “But without you, we were struggling a bit for the weekends, so we’ve hired a casual girl who comes in every now and then.”
“Oh,” I say a little surprised, but I guess I shouldn’t be. It’s expected when someone disappears for so long that the position would need to be replaced.
“Her name is Kim. She’s really nice and has her head screwed on. You’ll really like her.”
“Ok,” I say with a nod. “I’ll need to meet with her, but seeing as though everything is running really well here, we should be able to keep her on. Besides, I had a bit of time to fiddle around with some of my clothing designs and I’d like to keep going with that. Hopefully, sell them in store if they turn out alright, so having Kim around would free up some of my time.”
“Awesome,” Lilly says in relief. “I didn’t know you were a designer.”
“Yeah,” I say. “It’s more of a hobby at the moment, but I’d like to get a little more serious about it.”
“Can you show me some of your designs?” she asks excitedly as Bec nods her head in agreement.
“Alright,” I say before digging into my bag and pulling out the box with my new phone inside. “Can you guys set up my new phone while I go over a bit of paperwork, then I can show you my stuff.”
“Sure thing,” Lilly says as she takes the phone out of my hand.
I get stuck into my paperwork and double check everything has been done properly in my absence, and sure enough, it has. I quickly show the girls a few of my designs and their positivity goes a long way to encourage me to keep up with it.
I look up at the clock and realize I have about two hours left before the shops start closing and get a move on. Though, there’s a furniture store just down the road that, I’m sure with a bit of eyelash batting, they will be happy to make a delivery tonight.
After dashing around Style Me Crazy and grabbing a few things to add to my wardrobe, I say goodbye to the girls and promise I’ll be back in tomorrow.
I hurry down to the furniture the store and quickly pick out a fe
w things before giving my trusty credit card a workout. Just as I thought, after a little flirting with the owner of the store, they manage to squeeze in the delivery to my place tonight, so at least I can sleep in my new bed.
With all my chores out of the way, it’s time I got down to The Dark Room to do a little groveling.
Chapter 4
Cami
I walk through the door of The Dark Room knowing that she’ll be here. It’s only six in the evening and the doors don’t open for the public for another few hours, but I’m certain Rylee is here.
Apart from Cole, The Dark Room is Rylee’s life and I can assure anybody who asks that she has been here since about two in the afternoon, working her ass off, only to stay right through till closing tonight.
She’s so dedicated to this place and it shows with how packed it is every night. I mean, the place is incredible and has maintained the label of being the top club in the city since she opened it over six years ago.
Rylee is the kind of woman who can do anything she puts her mind to, so when she wants to hold a grudge, she does a great job at it. I just hope it isn’t too bad. I mean, she has to forgive me, right? She’ll understand that I just needed some me time.
I look around the club but I don’t look too hard, something in my gut tells me she’ll be in her office sorting through orders or working on the staff rosters. Her work is never done here, but that’s just the way she likes it.
I walk down the hallway that leads to her office and bypasses the kitchen. I give a quick wave to some of the guys in there who are busy preparing for the night, just like they should be. They all give me welcoming smiles before I continue on to Rylee office.
The closer I get, the more the nerves begin to unsettle within me. Before all the shit that happened with Jace, I worked here and I absolutely loved it. I considered myself a bit of a big deal when it came to mixing drinks and working behind the bar, but then I left without any warning, and I’m sure for Rylee, that meant some last minute fuck arounds while she tried to get all my shifts covered. She probably had to hire a new bartender on short notice which probably would have pissed her off.
Jace: Rebels Advocate (Book 4) Page 3
