by J.M. Cagle
Better to put him out of her mind completely.
Chapter Five
Tiffany finished serving a group of grumpy old ladies their drinks and headed back towards the kitchen. It was her second day of work. Her feet were aching, but it was going well. Jackie was holding her own as well, offering up grand smiles to anyone who gave her an attitude, which seemed to disarm them.
Tiffany was getting ready to serve a new table that had just sat down in the corner when Mr. Johnson pulled her to the side. He looked sort of like a weasel, the more Tiffany looked at him. His hair was balding and he had a bad comb-over, and his suit was a size too big. He was also constantly sweating, as if the pressure of dealing with rich people all day was too much for him.
“The table in the corner,” he said to her in a low voice, “Is filled with important people; do you understand?”
“I thought everyone here was special.” Tiffany quipped, echoing his words from yesterday when he’d been training her.
“More special,” he snapped, “Take good care of them.”
With that, she was ushered out into the dining room again. Tiffany headed over to the table and faltered slightly. Liam was there at the table with the same old guys as before. Great, she thought to herself as she walked over to the table, introducing herself.
There was no recognition in Liam’s face as he ordered his drink. For some reason, this irritated Tiffany. As she headed back to the kitchen, she tried to pinpoint why. What did she want him to do? Say hello? He was in a business meeting, after all.
When she came back to the table with everyone’s drinks, she placed Liam’s scotch in front of him. He sniffed and handed it back to her, avoiding her eyes.
“I didn’t want ice in this.”
Tiffany could have sworn that he had said he wanted ice in his scotch. But, with all the men staring at her, the last thing she was going to do was disagree with him. Liam still didn’t look at her.
“I’ll fix that for you, sir.” Tiffany said, taking the drink back to get another.
The rest of the lunch went on like this. The men handing everything back if there was even the smallest issue with it. Liam not looking at her, simply stating his issues with the food. Tiffany was feeling frazzled. It wouldn’t have been so bad if he had simply looked at her once, or even apologized for his curt tone. But he came off rude and cocky, as if Tiffany was too stupid to understand the easiest of orders.
“Are you new here?” One of the men finally asked her when she came back with a refill. “Usually, they know exactly what we want.”
“Yes, sir, I am new.”
“Make sure to review it with the boss next time, shall you?” The man said as he took his drink.
Tiffany wanted to slap him, but instead smiled. Liam laughed along with the table. She could feel her face flushing as she stalked off to find Mr. Johnson and demand to know why he hadn’t told her any of the special rules for the table. But he had left already for the day, stating he had a headache, and leaving Tiffany to wrap up the table on her own.
By the time they all left, Tiffany was relieved to see them go. Liam ignored her on the way out and soon they were out in the parking lot. As soon as they left, Jackie was by her arm, whispering.
“You look like you want to punch something.”
“Worst table ever,” Tiffany spat, “Bunch of jerks ordering me around like I’m too stupid to understand what they want.”
“Even Liam?”
“I told you,” Tiffany mumbled back as she turned around, “He’s just a rich jerk, too.”
***
Brad downed the shot and hooted, high-fiving Wayne and asking for another. It was Saturday night, and both Jackie and Tiffany had the night off. They were all downtown by the beach, bar crawling. Brad was quickly becoming drunk, with Wayne hot on his heels as they acted like fools. Jackie was sipping on a drink that tasted like a peach smoothie, but Tiffany was drinking water. She had somehow gotten stuck as the designated driver for the evening.
Tiffany had originally thought that the night out would help her darkening mood. With no modeling prospects on the horizon, she took comfort in the fact that she had a job. But the encounter with Liam four days ago was still rubbing her raw. No matter what she did, she kept replaying it in her head. How nice he was one second, and then mean the next. To make it worse, no matter how many times Tiffany told herself to forget about it, it was creeping into her head, again and again.
So a night filled with drinking and dancing had seemed like the perfect cure to her problem. But then she had been stuck as the designated driver and her plans came crumbling down around her.
“They’re going to be drunk soon, and we are only on the second bar.” Jackie said to her, glancing over at the two guys.
“Pretty much.”
“Well, at least we didn’t have to work today. I can’t believe how busy that place is all the time. It never slows down. I guess rich people don’t have much to do. Oh, hey, that reminds me, I forgot to tell you earlier.”
“Tell me what?”
“I got a call from a scout who wants to shoot some test shots with me. Said he got my contact information from Liam, so I guess he was true to his word.”
“Hey!” Tiffany exclaimed, “That’s great. I hope it goes okay.”
“I’m a little nervous, but it’s cool that he pulled through, isn’t it?”
Tiffany nodded, non-committal. She didn’t want to talk about Liam even though part of her was happy that he had kept his word about having someone call Jackie.
“I still think you should have told him you wanted to be a model, too.”
“Maybe, but I didn’t want to deal with him knowing that and my age.”
“I still think you’re overreacting about the age thing.”
Tiffany opened her mouth to reply, but it was at that point that Brad crashed over to their table. He reeked of booze already and his hat was on backwards. He leaned in and gave Tiffany a sloppy kiss.
“What’cha guys talking about?” He slurred.
“Just work.” Tiffany said quickly.
“Ah, sounds boring. Ready to go to the next place?”
Off they went to the next bar. By bar four, Tiffany found herself headed outside for some fresh air. The outside patio of the bar was crowded, but the beach was almost empty. There was a sharp breeze tonight that made it too cold to sit next to the water.
Tiffany plopped down into the sand, wishing she could snap out of the funk she was in. She drew lines in the sand, soaking up the cold air into her lungs. It felt good. The music from the bars was distant out here. The waves coming in touched the tips of her toes. She lowered her head in between her legs and breathed out slowly. There was no one near her. Just herself.
Tiffany stayed like that for a few minutes. When she looked up, a dark shape was heading in her direction. Alarmed, she stood up, ready to head back to the bar. The man was nearly on her as she turned around. His hand suddenly lashed out and yanked her back. Tiffany went to scream and the hand covered her mouth.
“Don’t move,” the man hissed, and the stench of booze was on his mouth, “Give me your wallet. All your cash.”
I’m being mugged! Tiffany’s one thought repeated over and over again as she stared at the dim lights of the bars ahead of her. No one would be able to see them. She was too far away. The noise she could have made would be carried on the wind, away from the bars.
“Where is your wallet?” The man hissed, and something dug into her back.
Tiffany’s heart stopped. It felt like a gun. She didn’t know. Her head swirled and she closed her eyes. The man’s hand was still roughly covering her mouth. She jerked her head to her purse next to their feet.
As the man lowered himself to pick it up, Tiffany turned around. She knew screaming would be useless. She could only watch as he lifted up her purse.
And she froze.
Behind the man, out of all the people in the entire universe, was Liam. It was as if h
e’d appeared out of a dream. Almost in slow motion, the man stood back up, staring at Tiffany. His face was in a shadow from the hoodie he wore. As he turned around, she didn’t stop him.
That was when Liam decked him in the face.
The man took a tumble and fell face-first into the sand. Quickly, Liam put his full weight on him and tossed Tiffany back her purse.
“Call the cops.” He said to her gruffly.
With shaking hands, Tiffany called the cops. Liam had the man pinned down. The mugger was struggling, but eventually stopped moving once he realized he was screwed over. The police came by five minutes later, already having been on the beach since it was a Saturday night.
The flashing lights brought attention to the beach. Some people crowded around to watch the mugger get pulled away in handcuffs. Another officer was asking Tiffany questions about what had happened when she heard her name being called.
Through the crowd, Jackie burst through. She had taken off her high heels and barreled towards Tiffany.
“What happened? Are you okay?!”
“I’m okay,” Tiffany said quickly, hugging her friend. “Almost got mugged, but Liam here took care of it.”
Jackie looked over in surprise at Liam. The officer was asking him questions now. Jackie looked back at Tiffany.
“Did you know he was here?”
She gave a shake of her head, “No, he just appeared. Like out of a movie.”
There was another cry of her name. This time, it was slurred. Brad and Wayne broke through the small crowd. Wayne toppled into Jackie, who held him upright as Brad asked Tiffany what had happened.
Tiffany recapped it quickly, although she couldn’t help but feel irritated. Brad was already quite drunk. Yes, she had gone down to the beach on her own and couldn’t blame him for not coming with her – although it wasn’t as if he’d offered once to come with her. Instead, another guy had come along and saved her.
As Brad’s drunken mind attempted to catch up with the story that she was telling him, Tiffany couldn’t help but remember their conversation when she’d broached the possibility of their living together. Brad had looked at her as if she had had five heads and they were all speaking in different languages.
“Hey, you know, I thought this was casual.”
“Casual?” Tiffany had repeated to him, slightly baffled. “We’ve been dating since I moved here a year ago. I was thinking we were getting serious.”
But Brad had balked, stating that they both weren’t ready for such a big change. He’d said he’d help her move and help her find a new job. Since then, things between the two of them had felt oddly stilted and thrown off balance. Their easy conversations that Tiffany had used to enjoy seemed to grind to a halt. Now being around him felt like a task.
And now, staring at Brad as he slurred about how glad he was she was safe, Tiffany couldn’t help but glance back at Liam. He was still talking to the police officer. He was wearing casual clothes, as if he had been just taking a stroll along the beach. Tiffany looked around to see if she saw Beth anywhere, but it seemed like Liam was alone.
For the first time, Tiffany noticed the quick beating of her heart when she looked at him.
Chapter Six
By the time everything had quieted down, it was almost an hour later. The crowd had left, having lost interest once it was clear the mugger was arrested and there would be no more excitement.
Brad and Wayne started heading off towards the car, eager to get home, mostly because they were so drunk. Jackie glanced over at Tiffany as she walked away, clearly giving her space to talk to Liam.
Finally alone, she turned around to face Liam. He looked almost sheepish after the scene that had just unfolded.
“I want to say thank you, but that doesn’t seem like it really means anything after what you did. Saving me from that mugger.”
“I didn’t know it was you at first. I just saw this figure looming over a woman on the beach. I come out here sometimes to jog or just take a long walk to unwind. And when I saw the flash of the gun, I knew I needed to do something fast.”
“Well, it was amazing. It was like you just appeared. And the punch you gave him!”
“I’m just glad you’re okay.” He said in a soft voice.
Tiffany shifted her weight, suddenly feeling shy. Now that she was aware of her quickening heartbeat, she couldn’t seem to meet his eyes. That strange twisted feeling in her stomach hadn’t been something she had eaten. She understood it now.
“Well, thank you.” She repeated, unsure of what to say.
Liam smiled a little, a lopsided smile, “I actually should apologize.”
“What, why?”
“For the lunch the other day. I know I didn’t treat you very well.”
Tiffany had forgotten she had been mad at him. It seemed silly to still be angry with him after he had saved her from being mugged. She waved her hand.
“It’s fine.”
“It isn’t,” he said, and took a step closer to her, “I have to explain myself. What I do…I deal with a lot of jerks. It’s a boys club, and one big, giant pissing contest. Everyone wants to impress everyone else. The business has gone international and has investors now. I have to please them all the time.”
“So, what, you show a weakness and they lunge, wanting blood?” Tiffany replied, half-jokingly.
“Yes, basically,” Liam replied, completely serious, “I try to shield people from my life. What it includes. What I have to deal with. And I should have been kinder to you. It’s difficult, juggling different hats to wear depending on the situation.”
Tiffany thought about herself, about how she had to lie about her age and wanted to be a model, and the different masks she put on depending on where she was, and understood. It still smarted to have been treated like an idiot, but it made a little more sense now.
“Well,” she replied, “At least you have Beth, right? To be yourself around?”
A strange expression crossed Liam’s face. It was so quick that Tiffany wondered if it was just the shifting of the clouds over the moon. But in a second, it was gone and his face was back to normal.
“Yes, Beth is great.” He said evenly.
“Tiffany, hurry up! We want to go home!” Brad’s voice came across the beach.
Tiffany looked behind her to see that Brad had lumbered back from the parking lot. Even from here, she could see he was swaying.
“Who is that?” Liam asked her.
“My boyfriend,” Tiffany mumbled, suddenly feeling embarrassed by his behavior, “I should get going.”
She turned back to him. Liam nodded at her as Brad shouted for her again. Tiffany wanted to say more. The words were on the tip of her tongue. But instead, she gave him a small wave and jogged across the beach to get to Brad and the others.
In spite of herself, Tiffany glanced behind her shoulder to get one last look at Liam. He had turned now, facing the ocean, a solitary figure that she couldn’t quite figure out.
***
Tiffany plopped down into her bed almost as soon as they got home. Jackie trailed after her. She knew she was going to ask her a bunch of questions, but Tiffany didn’t know if she felt like answering any of them. She rolled over to face the wall.
“Don’t pretend you’re asleep already.” Her friend said, coming into her room.
Tiffany rolled back around, “Okay, okay.”
“You just had a really scary experience. Do you want to talk about it?”
It was the first time since it had happened that Tiffany let herself fully think about it. It had been terrifying to have someone attack her. She could still feel the gun against her, and shuddered at the memory.
“Just scary,” She finally said to Jackie, “I shouldn’t have gone down to the beach by myself.”
“No, you should be able to go on the beach and not be afraid of getting mugged.” Jackie said quickly, defending her.
Tiffany offered her a wan smile, “I guess so. The bar was just
so crowded and hot. Needed some fresh air.”
“I should have gone with you. I got too caught up in making sure Wayne wasn’t going to start a bar fight or something stupid.”
“It’s okay. You did enough just making sure Brad stopped hounding me in the car.”
Jackie laid next to her on the bed with a sigh. “What a jerk. He’s such a prick when he drinks. Coming after you like that, asking why you wandered off to hang out with a guy. I mean, Liam saved you!”
“He’s just drunk.”
“Still. Absurd. I don’t even want to think what could have happened if Liam hadn’t shown up.”
“Yeah, me too.” Tiffany replied, and then fell silent.
Some part of her didn’t want to talk about Liam anymore. She didn’t like the way it made her stomach feel, all twisted and odd. She didn’t like the way her heart started to beat faster. It just made things complicated.
“You’d think a billionaire wouldn’t walk around the beach with us commoners.” Jackie joked as she got up off the bed.
Tiffany gave a small laugh and Jackie wished her good-night. Tiffany didn’t even bother getting out of her clothes. She turned on her side, pulled the covers around her, and fell asleep.
***
The sound of someone banging against the front door was what jostled Tiffany wide awake in seconds. Still terrified from the mugging of the night before, she rolled off the bed, as if she could hide behind it. Jackie had left earlier for her morning shift at the country club, leaving Tiffany alone.
It took her a few seconds to catch her breath and realize no one was breaking down the front door to get to her. Tiffany stood up as she heard the banging against the front door again. She smoothed out her wrinkled clothes, wondering if it could be the police. Would they come by the next day to follow up with her? She wasn’t sure how the procedures went.
Yet, when Tiffany opened the door, it was the last person she’d expected to see. Liam’s girlfriend, Beth, stood in the doorway. She was dressed in long black pants and a white blouse. Her hair was pulled up in a tight bun, and she was wearing Chanel sunglasses. Her face was a mask of disapproval. Even though Tiffany couldn’t see her eyes, she could feel Beth scanning her wrinkled clothes with a sniff of disapproval.
