Phillipe

by Becca Fanning

  “I know. I just wanted to say good night.” She stepped up to him and kissed him full on the lips, her arms snaking around his neck.

  Brigid parked in the back lot where half a dozen other cars sat and got out. Phillipe had sent her directions and said he’d be waiting for her in the lot. He wasn’t there. She was just pulling out her phone when the door opened. She looked up, but it wasn’t Phillipe.

  The man came over and tapped on her window. “You here for Phillipe?”

  She rolled down the window. “Yes, I am.”

  “The door there leads to the back room. It’s not locked. He’s just changing his jacket.”

  “Oh, thanks.” She smiled.

  She wasn’t sure how long he was going to be and honestly the back lot was a little spooky. He’d been complaining about thugs trying to hire him and she really didn’t want to run into them alone. She got out, locked the car, and jogged over to the door.

  The back room smelled of smoke and alcohol. There were a handful of people there, Phillipe included. He had his back to her and was pulling stuff out of a locker.

  A woman walked up to him, her black clothes snug on her lean, graceful body. She was wearing black knee-high boots and her make-up was smoky and alluring. “I just wanted to say good-night,” she said, and then she wrapped her arms around Phillipe’s neck and kissed him.

  He didn’t wait for the kiss to end.

  He grabbed her arms, pulled them free, not caring that he was gripping too tight, and then tossed her forcibly backwards.

  Her heeled boots caught the edge of the cheap rug and she went over backwards, landing on her ass an inch from the coffee table.

  “What the fuck are you doing?” he roared. “When did I ever give you permission to touch me? When did I ever give you the impression that I wanted you anywhere near me? You fucking bitch! I tried to be polite. I told you to back the fuck off. I’M NOT INTERESTED!!”

  A lean man in a suit appeared in the doorway. “Phillipe, what’s going on?”

  “He hit me,” Coraline said, her voice trembling. “I almost hit the coffee table.”

  “Phillipe?”

  “Tell him the truth,” Phillipe growled. “Tell Bastien the truth. You kissed me. You’ve been trying for me since you started here and you won’t take no for a fucking answer.” He pointed a finger at her but his eyes moved to Bastien. “If she’s working tomorrow, I’m not. If she’s working here, I’m not.”

  “She’s not on tomorrow,” Bastien said.

  “Good.”

  “Coraline, get your stuff.”

  “WHAT?” she yelled.

  “You heard me. Empty out your locker, give me your key.”

  “You can’t do this! You HAVE to give me notice. Or pay me out.”

  “No I don’t. You were harassing my employee. I don’t have to give you anything. Come by tomorrow before the place opens to collect your check, and then you’re done. Consider yourself unemployed. And if you’re not out in five, I have people who can remove you.”

  “Gladly,” Phillipe growled.

  Coraline scrambled to her feet and dashed to her locker which, lucky for her, was at the far end of the row, away from Phillipe’s. She grabbed everything, threw a key on the coffee table, and stalked towards the back door.

  “Good luck with him, he’s got a temper,” she said to Brigid, and then she was gone into the night.

  Phillipe watched her progress and as he turned around, he saw Brigid by the door. His heart dropped. “Brigid.”

  “Uh, hi. This guy told me which door to come in.”

  “Michael, yeah, he left just before the drama started.”

  “That was some drama,” she said.

  He nodded. “Uh, I have everything together so maybe we should leave.”

  She nodded and he could see she was just barely keeping it together. He scooped up his phone, slammed his locker shut, and joined her at the door. She side stepped his hand and went out ahead of him, hurrying to the car.

  He sighed and followed her. “You’re angry.”

  “Yes. And hurt and confused and I might be sick.”

  “Yeah, me too.”

  She stopped, the key in the ignition, ready to turn, and stared at him. “What?”

  “I was about an inch away from shifting. If Bastien hadn’t walked in, if he hadn’t believed me, I don’t know what would have happened.”

  She started the car and backed out. “Does this happen often?”

  “No. We always have a female bartender, it’s good for business, and in the past a few have made a play for me and I turned them down politely and they moved on. No big deal. But she wouldn’t let it go. I was avoiding her. I thought she’d get the picture and move on.”

  “She did it because of me.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “She saw me walk in but I was behind you. She probably thought I’d dump you and then you’d have no excuse to turn her down.”

  “Are you going to dump me?”

  “I’m really hurt, I won’t lie. First the girls in line, and now the bartender.”

  “It won’t happen again.”

  “You don’t know that.”

  “I do know that. I’m going to talk to Bastien tomorrow and I’m telling him it won’t happen again. He’ll want to replace her with a new girl, and that’s fine, it’s his business, but I’m going to make sure he tells whomever he hires that I’m off limits and that it will cost her job if she pushes me.”

  “Will he really do that?”

  “Bastien likes me, a lot. He likes the work I do. He fired her on the spot because he could see how angry I was and he knows I don’t lose my head over anything, and I’ve seen some shit at his place. He’ll do it or I’ll walk.”

  “Well, that’s good, I guess.”

  “I’m not really turning out to be a good boyfriend, am I?”

  “None of his thas really been your fault.”

  “That doesn’t mean you’re happy with me.”

  “No, no it doesn’t.”

  He sighed. “How can I make this up to you?”

  “I don’t know yet, Phillipe. I’m sorry. I’m not trying to be a bitch or anything. I just feel really … hurt.”

  “Okay. I understand. Look, the new moon is on a Friday, right?”

  “Yeah, it’s coming up, why?”

  “You always have a pack meeting, right?”

  She nodded.

  “I’ll pick you up at the pack hall after the meeting and we’ll go do something, okay?”

  “It’ll be hard to hide from Patrick.”

  “I know. But I want to take you out. We’ll spend some time together and see how it goes.”

  “All right. No, wait.”

  “What?”

  “This month the new 0moon is a Thursday. The new moon in January is a Friday.”

  “Shoot, and I work Thursday. That’s why I was hoping it was Friday.”

  “Can you switch?”

  “No, I switched to Thursday to help one of the other bouncers out of a jam.”

  “Well, we’ll see each other a little over the holidays, and we’ll go out next new moon.”

  “Thanks.”

  “For what?” she asked.

  “For giving me a chance.”

  Chapter 8

  There was always a big online game challenge for Christmas Eve and it was one of those rare nights when the club was actually closed, so Phillipe stayed up until the wee hours of the morning gaming with some of his online buddies from across the country. Patrick wasn’t online but there were enough guys around that he’d played with before to make the evening enjoyable. He devoured a pizza and a bottle of pop over the course of the evening, won more matches than he lost, and went to bed happy.

  He woke up to the phone ringing and reached for it, answering it blindly. “Hello.”

  “Merry Christmas,” said a cheerful female voice.

  He shut his eyes and stifled a groan. “Merry Christmas
, Mom.”

  “You weren’t working last night, were you? I hope I didn’t wake you.”

  She’d be able to go online and check the club’s hours if she thought he was lying, but he was still tempted to lie to her. “No, I wasn’t, yes, you did.”

  “I’m sorry. It’s already ten o’clock. I thought you’d be up. Are you busy today?”

  “I’m not coming over for Christmas, Mom.”

  “I have something here for you, and I’m making a turkey. Your dad’s parents arrived two days ago. They’re asking about you.”

  “Tell them you finally chased me off.”

  “I’m sure they’d love to see you.”

  “No, I’m sure they’d rather skip the drama. I know I would.”

  “I don’t want you to be alone for the holidays.”

  “Good bye.” He hung up. And then he turned the phone off. And then he rolled over and went back to sleep.

  Brigid woke up early Christmas morning and got a whole page of math work done before her mom called everyone to breakfast. It was semester break and she had time to get it done but things were always so busy over Christmas and the math helped her stay focused, especially since she was running low again. She took one this morning because she didn’t need her parents worrying about her behavior and her mood swings over the holidays.

  She came out of her room smiling and joined her family at the table for breakfast. When she was small they did stockings first, before anything else. In fact, they’d been allowed to open stockings as soon as they were out of bed, no waiting for their parents to get up, but now they had to wait for her older siblings to join them before they started on gifts, so they had breakfast first.

  Katherine had made pancakes, eggs, and bacon, and a fresh jug of orange juice from one of those frozen packages, and a pot of coffee. There was a bowl of oranges on the table and a bowl of mixed nuts in the living room. Brigid knew the chocolate would come out the second the breakfast dishes were done. Talk around the table was light, talking about the snow squall that had swept over most of the northeast corner of the country and the wild fires in California. They ate until they were stuffed since they’d only get one other meal today, and then set about tidying up.

  It wasn’t long before the doorbell rang. Before anyone could actually go to answer the door, it opened and Ian, the eldest brother, came in with his wife, Sam. They hung up their sweaters, unloaded gifts beneath the tree, and hugged everyone. The second son, Brian, wasn’t far behind, with his husband Nate, and another armload of gifts for under the tree.

  Katherine put on Christmas carols and everyone dug into the snacks while they passed out gifts. Brigid relaxed. Everything was going smoothly, even Patrick was smiling and laughing with his brothers. Katherine darted in and out as she refilled cups and checked on the turkey. It was pointless to tell her to sit. She loved this part of the holidays.

  When the presents were opened, everyone sat back to relax and visit until the food was ready. Sam nudged Ian and said, “We should tell them now.”

  “Okay, okay. I knew you wouldn’t be able to wait.”

  “Tell us what?” Katherine said. From the kitchen a timer started beeping. “Hold that thought.” She hurried off.

  “How’s the pack?” Brian asked.

  “We’re doing well,” Christopher said.

  Michelle and Brigid exchanged a glance.

  “What?” Brian asked. “I saw that.”

  “Oh, well, you know. There’s always little squabbles between members,” Brigid said. “It’s nothing big.”

  “I didn’t know you were having problems with anyone,” Christopher said.

  “No, not me. Just someone I know. But Louis already knows about it. He’ll handle it. He always does.”

  “And what about you? I thought there was a new apartment on the horizon?”

  Michelle shrugged. “They rented it out to someone else. We’re still looking, though.”

  Katherine bustled in. “Okay, I’m back. What’s this big news?”

  “Sam and I are expecting a baby,” Ian said. His grin reached from ear to ear.

  The room exploded with excitement. Sam was pulled off the couch so that everyone could hug her. Brian shook his older brother’s hand.

  “Congratulations. I’m going to spoil that kid stupid.”

  Ian laughed. “I’ve been warned.”

  “At least no one is going to ask us when we’re expecting,” Nate said with a chuckle. “Congrats. This is great.”

  Patrick kept the smile plastered to his face but tried to stay in the background. He was happy for his brother and sister-in-law, of course, but he knew what was coming next. Since no one was looking at him, he slipped downstairs and called Phillipe to commiserate. There was no answer. He sighed and dropped the phone back on the table and trudged back upstairs. Dinner would be ready soon and he didn’t need to make matters worse by disappearing during a family function.

  Phillipe finally crawled out of bed midafternoon and went for a long, hot shower. He texted the members of his clan, wishing them a Merry Christmas and noticed one missed call from Patrick. He dialed Patrick’s cell and got the voicemail.

  “Hey, sorry I missed your call, I turned off my phone because of my mother. I hope things haven’t blown up in your face over there. I’ll leave the phone on. If you need me, call.”

  With nothing else planned for the day, he put on his sweater and went for a long jog, then cooked himself some chicken, potatoes, and corn, and ate in front of the television. Tomorrow he’d go to Brock’s and celebrate with the clan, but today was all about relaxing.

  Brigid was happy but exhausted. Maybe it was the turkey or the fact that she’d eaten enough for three people, or maybe it was the hours of family time. Either way she was more than ready for her older brothers to say good-bye. They got presents packed up and loaded into the proper cars and everyone hugged. The dishwasher was chugging along in the kitchen, the roaster was soaking in the sink, and Katherine finally turned off the Christmas carols.

  Brigid flopped on the couch. “Do we have to do it all again tomorrow?”

  “We’ll go spend a few hours with my parents,” Katherine said. Her grandfather, Katherine’s father, had been a werebear, but he passed away years earlier, a massive stroke. Her grandmother, a human, had remarried. They lived just across the city and visited often.

  “Are your siblings going to be there?”

  “No, I think they’re coming the next day. They both married into large families.”

  “So a small group then, that’s not so bad. They’re going to explode when they find out about Ian and Sam.”

  “Yes they are. I’m going to be a grandmother, can you believe it?” She sighed, a big smile on her face. “That may be the best Christmas present I’ve ever received.”

  Brigid laughed a little. “I think you said that when Ian proposed to Sam. And when Nate proposed to Brian.”

  “This is better.”

  “Oh, I think I’m going to hide for a bit,” Brigid said. “There’s leftovers in the fridge, right?”

  “A little, why?”

  “It was an early dinner. I may be back for more.”

  “I’m not surprised.”

  The back door opened and Patrick came in. “Something knocked the garbage over,” he grumped. “It’s cleaned up now.”

  Brigid retreated to her room. She dialed Phillipe’s number and flopped on the bed.

  “Hey,” he said.

  She smiled at the sound of his voice. “Hi.”

  “Family stuff over?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I guess Patrick will be calling soon, too. Merry Christmas.”

  “Merry Christmas.”

  “I have something for you.”

  “You didn’t have to do that.”

  “I know. I don’t have a lot of people to buy for though, so it was kind of fun.”

  “Aw, well thanks. I don’t know when I’ll see you though. I’ve got family stuf
f tomorrow.”

  “I’ve got clan stuff tomorrow.”

  “New Years?” she wondered.

  “Working. It’s a HUGE night at the club, all hands on deck.”

  “Makes sense. Well, we’ve got a whole week, we’ll find time.”

  “Yes, we will.”

  “We got some good news today.”

  “Oh?”

  “My older brother and his wife are going to have a baby.”

  “I bet your mother is walking on air.”

  “Oh yeah, big time.”

  “Is she going to start hounding you to get married now?”

  “Nah, she’ll go after Michelle next. I’m pretty much safe until I’m done school. Why, are you planning to propose?”

  “Not yet. Is that a bad thing?”

  “No. I don’t think we’re ready for something like that yet.”

  “I’m glad you agree. Sorry, this isn’t really holiday cheerful, is it?”

  “No, but it’s honest.” She sighed. “I like that about you. I can be honest with you.”

  “Yeah, I know how you feel.”

  From down the hall Brigid could hear raised voices. “Sounds like the holiday spirit has already worn off around here,” she said. “I’ll text you my schedule for the next few days and we’ll find a few hours to slip off together.”

  “Sounds like a plan. I’ll see you soon.”

  “Yeah.”

  Phillipe hung up, sat back, and waited. Sure enough, within ten minutes his phone was ringing again. He answered on the second ring and said, “Merry Christmas, man. You get that game I sent you?”

  “Yeah. Sweet deal. Thanks.” But Patrick’s excitement sounded forced.

  “So, I take it the family has gone home and someone has started comparing you to your brothers?”

  “My family is now predictably messed up, wonderful.”

  “What is it this time? Did Nate have a sharper hair cut than you?”

  “You kidding me? He grew a beard. No, it’s worse than that. Ian and Sam are having a baby. They have great jobs and a nice house. They had a huge wedding and they never fight and now they’re having a baby.”

  “I’m sure they fight.”

  “They don’t admit to it. Fuck. Can this get any worse?”