Running Away

by Jen Andrews

  It was obvious what they had been doing. I guess Jared had taken my advice. Good for him. I rolled my eyes and kept on walking.

  After I entered the break room, I said hi to my friends who were saving me a seat and went to the fridge to find my lunch. I searched it three times before I gave up. My lunch was gone, and I was so hungry I was ready to gnaw off my own arm.

  I went to Jackie and Nat, frustrated and on the verge of tears. “I’m leaving to get lunch because someone stole what I brought. I need to get the hell out of here, anyway.”

  Jackie and Nat gathered their lunches and followed me out the door to the cafeteria.

  Once I had made a salad, we sat down and I told them all about my missing lunch and what Jared had done.

  Several days later, when I arrived for my shift at work, I found a message taped to my locker asking me to come to the Human Resources Department at ten for a meeting. I wondered all morning about the meeting, but I couldn’t think of a reason for being summoned. I had a bad feeling about it though because I was still on my six-month probation.

  I was so nervous I pulled Jackie and Nat aside to tell them about my meeting. Both of them tried to say something positive, but the expressions on their faces told me I should be worried.

  At five minutes before ten, I was waiting in the HR office and at ten on the dot, a woman stepped through the door behind the receptionist’s desk and made eye contact with me.

  “Teagan Donnelly?” she asked, extending her hand.

  I stood and shook her hand. “Yes, I’m Teagan.”

  Introducing herself as Jan Edwards, she asked me to follow her into her office then shut the door behind us.

  “Please, have a seat,” she said motioning to the chairs in front of her desk. I sat, and she stepped around her desk and took a seat in her chair.

  She flipped a folder open on her desk and then folded her hands together, setting them on top of the folder. She leaned forward. “I’m sure you’re wondering why you were called in here today.”

  I nodded. “Yes, I am. Is there something wrong with my job performance?”

  “Not at all Teagan, that’s not why you’re here,” she said.

  Her assurance still didn’t calm my nerves.

  “As you know, you’re in a mandatory probation period as a new hire here at the hospital. Two recent accusations have been brought against you,” she said.

  I appreciated how she was being straight to the point because I hated it when people beat around the bush. “What am I being accused of?”

  “The first accusation is simply a minor issue with clocking in late, Teagan. It’s not that big of a deal. I verified that you made up the time by working late,” Jan stated. “The next accusation, however, cannot be taken lightly.”

  I nodded once. “Please, what else am I being accused of?” I was about to freak out.

  Jan pulled a few pieces of paper out of the folder and then set them side-by-side on the desk in front of me. I picked them up and looked them over. They were pictures someone had taken of Jared and me hugging in the ER.

  I swallowed hard and set the papers back on Jan’s desk. Shit. This is not good.

  “Are you having a romantic relationship with Jared Peterson, Teagan?” she asked.

  I knew the rules about the no fraternization policy when I’d started dating Jared. I had been trying to move past what had happened with Jeremy, honestly. But, I’d also known of several other people working at the hospital who were dating, so it didn’t seem like the rule was enforced. Apparently, I was wrong. Very, very wrong. I wasn’t a snitch, so I kept my mouth shut about the other couples who were dating.

  “I will admit I was previously dating Jared, but I broke it off,” I said quietly. I had messed up . . . bad. I was going to lose my job.

  “Can you explain these photos?”

  I nodded because I knew exactly when they were taken. “Yes, I can. They’re from a morning I came straight to work after visiting my grandmother. She suffered a stroke a few months back, and is the reason why I moved back here from Denver.”

  Jan paid close attention, made notes, and nodded as I talked.

  “I was upset after visiting her . . . she and I are very close. Jared was the first person I saw when I arrived at work and he could tell I was upset. He was comforting me. Nothing more,” I said. “We were just friends at the time, though.”

  Jan finished writing before she looked back across the desk at me.

  “Thank you for your honesty, Teagan. As I am sure you’re aware, we do have a three-strike policy here during your probationary period. You will have two strikes in your personnel file since you admitted to your actions. May I suggest you be extremely careful during the remainder of your probationary period? Your supervisor has nothing but good things to say about you, and we’d hate to lose you over infractions such as these.”

  I felt tears sting my eyes, and I tried desperately not to cry in front of Jan. I was embarrassed and scared I was going to lose my job.

  “I’m very sorry for causing problems, Ms. Edwards. I promise I will be extra careful about my behavior from here on out,” I said. “There won’t be any more accusations brought against me, I can assure you.”

  Jan stood and walked me to the door. “Thank you again, Teagan. I am sorry to put the tardiness in your file because you did make up the time, but rules are rules, and we must treat everyone equally, no matter how well they perform at their jobs. I’m sure you understand.”

  “Yes. I do. Thank you,” I said as Jan opened the door for me to leave. “Have a nice day, Ms. Edwards.”

  As soon as I left the HR department, I practically ran to the locker room. By the time I pushed through the door and ran into an empty bathroom stall I had tears rolling down my face. I backed up against the wall of the stall, and cried as loudly as I dared.

  Later that night when I got home, Shannen and I made our plans to go out and let loose.

  I knew just where to go. Dub’s Sports Bar, next Friday night. I needed an MMA fix . . . and some tequila. And if I happened to run in to Jeremy, I had a few words for him—and they weren’t going to be nice words.

  It had been weeks since I’d seen or talked to Teagan. To put it bluntly, it sucked. She hadn’t called or texted me to acknowledge my note or the flowers I’d sent her.

  Then on Monday, shit hit the fan at work when Jason opened the big, bay door in his work area to pull a car inside. The doors were kept closed during the August heat and each bay was kept cool by a portable A/C unit.

  “Oh shit! Andy!” Jason yelled from across the shop.

  I turned to see what was going on and saw he was jogging out the open bay door. We followed him outside to find a tow truck with what appeared to be Zoey’s old black Chevelle on it.

  “What the fuck?” Andy grumbled and went to speak to the tow truck driver. After arguing with the driver, he came back over to us. “I need to find a place to put that car before your sister sees it.” He held out an envelope to me.

  I snatched it from his hand. Inside was the pink slip to the car and a note.

  The note was from Rob’s parents, saying they were sorry for everything Rob had done to Zoey and they thought she should have her car back. They were also sorry for the condition in which Rob had left the car, but they’d signed the pink slip relinquishing all rights to the Chevelle.

  I walked over to the back of the tow truck and found that every body panel and piece of glass on the car was smashed to hell.

  “We can’t let Z see this.” I scrubbed my hands up my face and through my hair. Everyone agreed. “I’ll ask the driver to take it to my house and I’ll lock it in the garage. Andy, you tell Z about it later. She can go see it when she’s ready.”

  He nodded and pulled some money from his wallet and handed it to me. “It’s for the tow to your house. Thanks, mate, I really appreciate it.”

  I didn’t have any cash on me, so I thanked him and took the money. I had the tow truck driver follow me to my
new house and we locked the car in my garage.

  This was going to be a long week.

  The last of the renovations on my house were complete, and Zoey was now taking her time decorating. Just as we had done with the apartment above the shop when Andy moved to Sacramento, we worked on furnishing my house room by room. By the time escrow closed, we had a game plan in place, and we were sticking to it.

  She’d dragged my ass shopping nearly every night after work for the last two weeks. I never wanted to see another paint sample, comforter set, or accent pillow again. I didn’t even know what the fuck half the shit was she made me buy. And I really didn’t want to know either. If she said I needed it, it went into the shopping cart. I’ll admit my sister was a miracle worker. Wherever she put that crap in my house, it looked great.

  The three bedrooms had been done first, since they were the easiest. She’d found some kick-ass furniture for my living room, which wouldn’t be delivered until the following week, so the living room was being used as a storage area for all my moving boxes until then. Now she was working on the bathrooms and would work on the kitchen and dining room next.

  Since she spent so much time at my house while continuing to work part time, she’d turned the empty dining room into a space for Hannah, complete with one of those play pen things to keep her corralled. She’d brought over so much baby stuff the house looked like a baby actually lived there. I didn’t mind though. If it kept Sweet Pea happy while we worked on the house, then so be it.

  Since the living room furniture wouldn’t be here until next week, I could put off the unpacking until the weekend. After checking that Zoey didn’t need my help at the moment with anything inside the house, I went to work on the front and back yards, setting up the new gas grill and patio furniture I’d bought. I cleaned the pool. Given the August heat, I couldn’t wait to use it.

  Now, Thursday night had arrived, and my buddies, John, Eric, and Sonny, were coming over to help me arrange the garage. I called to have a few pizzas delivered then iced down a case of beer in a cooler and set it on the back patio in the shade. Since I needed to find my stash of paper plates and napkins for the pizza, I found some boxes labeled “kitchen” and moved them to the countertop and began unpacking.

  I’d only made it through one box when someone went ape-shit ringing the doorbell. It could only be one person. John. I went and opened the door and found all three of my friends standing on my front porch.

  “Hello suburbia! Jeremy James has gone to the fucking dark side!” John bellowed and clapped me hard on the chest with the palm of his hand.

  I tripped him as he walked past. “Thanks a lot, dickhead. Glad you came by.”

  Eric and Sonny came through the door behind him. “We brought housewarming drinks!” Sonny called out, raising a paper bag in the air. I could only imagine what was in it. Eric was carrying a case of Sierra Nevada.

  “Dude, you said ‘housewarming,’” John said to Sonny. “Are you going to the dark side with this idiot?” John pointed at me with a smirk on his face then shook his head in what appeared to be disbelief.

  John was the ultimate bachelor of our group with Eric coming in a close second, and neither of them would consider settling down any time soon. Sonny was picky with women, but he had a lot of female friends. He was the guy who could hang out with anyone, and everyone liked him.

  For me, settling down was a priority, and I wouldn’t let my friends deter me no matter what. When I glanced at Sonny, he stood at the end of my kitchen island staring down into the bag he’d brought with him. He was gripping the edges of the countertop so tightly his knuckles were white.

  “You good, man?” I asked, because something was definitely going on in his mind. He’d been acting a bit off lately, but I’d been so busy with getting the house ready I hadn’t had a chance to hang out with him as much.

  When I bumped his elbow with mine to get his attention, his head jerked up.

  “Yeah. Just got a lot on my mind, that’s all,” he said, his voice unsteady and quiet.

  “You know you can talk to me, right?”

  He gave me a quick, awkward nod then pulled two bottles of silver Patrón tequila from the bag he’d brought.

  “Okay, enough with the gay, male-bonding shit you two have going on over there,” John muttered to Sonny and me. “Let’s get this party started.”

  Sonny stormed across the kitchen, shoved John against the counter, and fisted his hand in the front of John’s T-shirt. “Shut up!” he growled, his face just inches from John’s.

  Eric stood in shock watching the exchange, his bottle of beer halfway to his open mouth.

  John’s hands shot up in surrender and his face distorted in shock and confusion. “Easy man, it was just a joke.”

  “It wasn’t funny.”

  Sonny released John’s shirt and took a step back. He seemed just as surprised at his outburst as the rest of us were. He returned to stand next to me and pulled the cork from the Patrón bottle. “Shot glasses?” He pointed questioningly to various cabinets.

  I shook my head because I had no idea where they were and my brain was still reeling from what had just taken place between John and Sonny.

  “We can’t drink this if we don’t have shot glasses,” Sonny said, his voice back to normal. Apparently, whatever had been on his mind was forgotten and he was ready to drink.

  “Help me unpack these boxes so we can find them faster. We’re looking for paper plates and napkins too. Once the pizza gets here, we’re set,” I said.

  Twenty minutes later, the doorbell rang again, and I went to pay for the pizzas.

  I set the plates and napkins that John had located on top of the pizza boxes, and the guys brought the shot glasses and one of the bottles of tequila out to the patio. We piled our plates with slices of greasy pepperoni pizza and downed a couple tequila shots.

  When we started working on the garage after eating, I was glad I had left my Caddy parked outside on the driveway. With Zoey’s Chevelle taking half the space in the two-car garage, we needed the extra room to move around my toolbox, cabinets, and shelves.

  At least with the Chevelle smashed to shit, it wouldn’t hurt if anything fell on it. Every time I looked at the car, I got pissed off again at what Rob had done to it. Zoey had not taken the news about the condition of her car well. Still, she refused to go inside the garage to look at it. I didn’t blame her really. But as soon as my garage was set up, and I was settled into my house, I planned to fix the car in my spare time.

  The tequila flowed as we worked on the garage and soon, I forgot how I wanted to arrange everything. I hoped that when I looked at the garage tomorrow, everything would be in one piece and in the right place. After I went outside and pulled my car forward into the garage for the night, we went back to the patio.

  Sonny thought it would be funny to jump in the pool fully clothed. John and Eric followed shortly, but were smart enough to take everything out of their pockets first. Sonny had drowned his cell phone and his wallet. The air was warm and muggy outside, so I emptied my pockets, stripped down to only my shorts, and hurled myself off the low diving board into the deep end of the pool.

  We each floated on air mattresses and finished off the rest of the beer and a bottle of tequila before we got out of the pool and sprawled ourselves on the patio to dry off. The guys were too drunk to go home, so everyone decided to crash at my place.

  The next morning, I woke up outside on my patio. Fortunately, I’d taken my air mattress from the pool to lie on. Unfortunately, the air mattress had completely deflated overnight, so I had slept on the concrete.

  Sonny was sleeping on the hammock. Lucky bastard. I glanced down at the man I’d known since I was eight years old and wondered what had gone through his mind the previous night when he’d shoved John. I gave him a push to wake him up and it startled him so badly he almost flipped the hammock over, but I grabbed it just in time.

  “Shit! Sorry, man. I wasn’t trying to dump you on
the ground,” I said with a laugh.

  Sonny laughed and carefully stood without tipping the hammock over. “It’s all good,” he replied. “No harm, no foul.”

  “Thanks for coming to help last night, Sonny.” I wanted him to know that we were solid. Whatever he had going on in his head, he would bring up eventually.

  “Sorry about that incident with John last night.” His brows furrowed and he swallowed hard, but never broke eye contact with me. He opened his mouth to say something else then quickly closed it. After another few seconds, he said, “I gotta go.”

  “Look, man, John was being a dick last night, okay? He shouldn’t have said what he did. I’ve known him my entire life and I know how he is. He’s just pissed because I’ve decided to settle down and he’ll never grow up.”

  Sonny nodded in agreement. “Don’t tell him, but I think I’m heading that direction too, Jer. I need to get my mind right first, though.” He reached out to shake my hand and we clapped each other on the back before he left.

  Once he was gone, I wandered around the house and found all of John’s wet clothes in a heap on my kitchen counter. I picked them up and took them with me while I searched for him and Eric.

  I found Eric on the bathroom floor and woke him up.

  John was sprawled facedown across my fucking bed.

  Buck-ass-naked.

  “Dick!” I hollered at John as I chucked his wet clothes at him. “Get your dick off my bed!”

  John groaned and rolled over. Thank God I turned away when he did. I had already seen his bare ass, and I didn’t need to see any more of him.

  “Now I’m gonna have to wash my comforter again!”

  “Dude, you just said ‘comforter,’” John joked as he pulled his shirt over his head. “You’re turning in to a pussy. Did you grow a vagina in the last month too?”

  “Fuck you,” I muttered. Damn, he is really taking this shit personally.

  I glanced over at my alarm clock. It was after nine in the morning, and I was over an hour late to work. I located my cell and found I’d missed two calls from the shop. I called the office, and prayed Z would answer, and not my mom.