Thirty

Safety patrol, as I was now calling my friends, was keeping me on a short leash. Erik was able to get me a job at the Draught. So between work, the studying, pep talks, and Natalie’s relentless beauty treatments, I wasn’t able to see Harry. Which was probably a good thing, but in a weird way, I missed him. When I was with Harry, nothing mattered. It was like I could take my heart and momentarily put it on the shelf. There was no pain, only pleasure, and it was lovely. He texted me often, and I replied somewhat honestly, saying that I was failing and needed to get back on track. I knew I couldn’t ignore him forever. But I hoped I could.

So when I went out the back door of the Draught to throw away the garbage and saw Harry standing there, I felt like I had seen a ghost. A ghost that was making me feel incredibly nervous. The last time I saw him, I was stripping and tangled in his arms, our tongues practically knotted together.

“How did you know I was here?”

“Facebook. You changed your employment from piano teacher to barista queen.”

“Oh… yeah.” Stupid Facebook. I had only posted that to avoid people asking me if I was available for piano lessons. Having officially been fired by Mr. Russel and not being able to make eye contact with him, I didn’t even argue. I just apologized and took my punishment with as much grace as I could. Brit told me I should have been pissed at Harry, but he didn’t hold a gun to my head. I made every choice with my own free will. And seeing him now, I realized exactly why I had made those choices.

“I saw you through the window tying up the garbage. I figured I’d meet you out back. You must be almost done with your shift.”

“Not until ten.” I glanced at by watch it was five past nine.

“Can we hang out after?”

I didn’t answer. I really wanted to hang out with him, but I didn’t see how I could. I didn’t even have my car here. I had carpooled with Erik.

“Look…” He stepped closer to me, backing me up against the dumpster. “I know how we got together was a little weird, and I am sorry that you have to work here now instead of—”

“I don’t mind working here. Brit and Erik work here. It’s like hanging out with my friends and getting paid for it.” Harry gave me a look; he didn’t believe my lie any more than I did.

“Yeah, well, I know music is where your passion lies, not in serving people pie. My point is, I’m really sorry for what happened last week. I was hoping maybe we could start over?”

“Start over?” Did I want to start over, or did I want to go back in and pour coffee where it was safe? Every time I looked at the stage I wanted to puke because that’s where David had stood for over two years. Who knew what I wanted.

“Yeah,” Harry said softly as he placed his hands on my hips and leaned in.

His lips were so close to mine. Say no, Kristen. Say no. Pull away. You need to find the strength not to tongue wrestle with this guy. Your back is against a dumpster for crying out loud, this is not even remotely sexy. I could smell a faint trace of whiskey on Harry’s breath. Wait… I pulled my head back from his. “Have you been drinking?”

Harry winced but didn’t answer.

“Kris, you okay?” a male voice asked out of the darkness.

“Erik!” I jumped, startled, pushing Harry away in the process. “You scared me.”

“I told you not to take the garbage out. It’s way too dark back here, any creep could take advantage of you.” He glared at Harry, who only shook his head and smiled as he backed away from me.

“Erik, I was fine.” I sighed. He had told me not to take out the garbage, and I had, of course, ignored him, wanting to believe I could take care of myself. But here I was being seduced by the dark side.

“It’s okay, I can tell when I’m not wanted.” Harry turned to Erik. “Thanks for looking out for her, man.”

Erik had his arms crossed, and boy did he look pissed. I had never seen that expression on him before. He was always so happy and Zen. “Yeah well, I’m not just looking out for her, David is my friend.”

Did he really just go there?

Harry looked agitated. “And he’s my blood. What’s your point?”

“My point is you should know better. C’mon, Kristen. Let’s go back inside.”

“I think she can make her own decisions.” Harry’s tone made me nervous. I was positive he had been drinking, and who knew if he had taken anything else. But Erik remained calm despite Harry’s venom.

“Look, buddy, she already got fired from one place because of you. Don’t mess this up for her, too.”

I looked at both of them, but I had to admit in that moment, Erik was right. My parents paid for my tuition, but I covered the other stuff. I needed this job to pay for my rent, phone, and car. Not to mention credit card bills.

I took a step toward Erik, but Harry grabbed my wrist. “Forget him, Kris. You could pour coffee anywhere.”

“I said back off, buddy.” Erik had a fiery look in his eyes. I contemplated running in and asking the cook for help but was too scared to leave either of these two alone. Harry smiled and let go of my wrist, and I exhaled the breath I had been holding in.

I gave Harry one last look, then turned to walk back in with Erik behind me, one protective hand on my back, shielding me from the poison that was Harry.

“Tell Brit I said hi,” Harry snarled.

I felt Erik stiffen beside me. “Just keep walking. He’s trying to get a rise out of you,” I said, praying they’d both just walk away. But Harry wasn’t done. In fact he was only getting started.

“Yeah, I miss seeing her pretty little face around my apartment. She looks like she knows how to have a good time. Shit, she looks like she needs to have a good time. I could fix that.”

Oh shit.

Erik swung around, fingers curled into a fist, and slammed his knuckles square into Harry’s jaw.

Harry stumbled back, holding onto the side of his face. “You fucking idiot!”

“Come on, come at me. Only takes one person to call the cops. I can pass a drug test, can you?” I had never seen Erik so enraged before. It was a whole new side of him.

“He’s a goddamn animal. Is this who you call your friends, Kris?”

Erik jumped in front of me like a human shield. “No! You don’t have the right to speak to her anymore. You don't even have the right to look at her anymore. Now get out of here before we really have a problem.”

Harry spit on the ground. It was hard to tell in the dark, but I think it was blood. This wasn’t happening. This was not really happening.

The two men stared at each other, daring the other to move. I pulled Erik by the arm. “Come on. The last thing I need on my plate is you getting fired.”

“So it’s like that?” Harry asked, his voice pleading.

I shook my head. “Harry, I don’t know what it’s like,” I said sadly. “I just know we all need to part ways. Now.”

Harry cursed and walked away in a huff. Erik leaned over and gave his hand a shake. Idiot! If he broke any of his fingers, Brit would kill me. Stupid artist needed his stupid fingers.

We went into the kitchen, and I grabbed a clean dish towel and filled it with ice for Erik’s hand. His knuckles were already puffing up. “Did you really have to hit him that hard?”

“Yes, I did.” He looked disgusted.

“Geez, I can’t imagine if a guy really said something racy to Brit. You’d probably snap his neck.”

Erik exhaled, long and slow. He was still seething with anger. “I didn’t just hit him because of Brit. You’re one of my closet friends, Kristen. I can’t see you in this much pain.”

I placed the ice on his knuckles and kissed his forehead. “You relax, I got your tables.”

“You just want my tips,” Erik joked.

“You know it. I almost have enough to buy coffee from Starbucks!” I winked, knowing my little jest would kill him. He took such pride in this little coffee shop.

When I went back into the main room, I saw many customers were looking around, the tables obviously neglected. I didn’t know where to start first. I wasn’t exactly the best waitress they had on staff. But I started in the corner and worked my way around, determined not to make any customer unhappy tonight. The last thing I needed was more drama.

Brit took a break, and as she hopped off the stage, she made a beeline in my direction. Great. Time to tell her what had gone down. She looked around the room, searching for her knight. “Where’s Erik?”

“In the kitchen.” I pointed to the back. “He needed to put ice on his hand.”

“Ice? Why? Did he burn himself?”

“No, because he punched Harry in the face out back,” I said with a fake smile.

“What?” she shrieked and darted to the back before I could stop her. I was so happy my manager had gone home early. Way too many emotions going on at the coffee shop tonight. It was like a freaking soap opera. I’m sure Brit and Erik would have amazing sex later where she gushed about how heroic he was and gave him a blow job to ease his pain. Ugh.

I was right. Brit drove and dropped me off at home. Only me. “You’re not staying?” I don’t know why I asked. I already knew the answer. The horny express had just pulled into their station.

Brit shook her head, her gaze focused momentarily on Erik before she turned to me. “No, but will you be okay?”

No. No, I won’t be okay. “Yeah, fine. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Have a good night.” She leaned over and kissed my cheek. I got out of the car and said a quick, “night” before shutting the door.

In a way, I was happy she was not staying at the house tonight. It meant no one would be able to stop me when I went over to Harry’s later. Erik had tried to help, but all he had done was make matters worse. This was my mess, and I needed to be a big girl and clean it up.

I took a shower, needing to wash the sugary scent out of my hair, convinced smelling all the butter from the pastries was going to make me gain weight at this job. Funny, I never noticed it before. When I was just a customer, the Draught smelled like coffee and incense.

Quickly, I blow dried my hair and got dressed in a flowery blouse and skinny jeans. I added a coat of lip gloss and stuck on my heels. After being in flat sneakers all day, it felt good to be in my stilettos. I laughed thinking how I was probably the opposite of every other woman in the world. Maybe Brit was right, maybe I was poison in pumps.

I thought I had escaped free and clear, but just when I opened the door to leave, I walked in on Natalie in the midst of a good night kiss with her new boyfriend.

“Hey,” Natalie said blushing. “Kris, this is Enzo.” She pointed at the dark-haired man with matching brown eyes. “Enzo, this is Kristen, one of my closest friends.” Enzo offered me a smile.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” He offered me his hand to shake, and boy was he strong.

“Nice to meet you, too.” I let go of his hand, not sure what else to say. I was hoping to slip out undetected.

Natalie gave me a once over. “You look pretty. Where are you off to?”

“Out.”

“Obviously, but where to, silly?”

I didn’t have the strength to lie. So I just gave her a look.

“No! Kristen, you can’t.”

“Look, stuff happened tonight. I’ll catch you up tomorrow. I need to go over there. I have to fix this.” I walked over to my car, but Natalie chased after me.

“No. You need to fix you. You can’t go to his place. Not tonight.”

“It has to be tonight. I love how everyone is watching out for me, but you can’t hover over me forever.” I searched her eyes. I know she cared so much, but I needed to finally give Harry the closure he deserved. “I’m not going to do anything stupid. I promise.”

Natalie crossed her arms, trying to figure out how to hold me here. “But, does Brit know?”

“Brit is not my warden!”

Natalie shrunk back. “I’ll take that as a no.”

“Brit is at Erik’s and not thinking about me. You need to finish whatever you were about to do here with Enzo, and I need to go.”

I got in, closed the door and started the engine, avoiding the look of disappointment I saw in Natalie’s eyes when I glanced in the rearview mirror. Without looking back, I headed toward Harry’s. I had no clue what I was going to say to him, but the two of us needed to have a serious talk.