Chapter 8
Jax
I felt a lot better walking into work today than I did walking out the last time. “Is Betty here?” I asked Cammie as soon as I walked in.
Cammie rolled her eyes. “She’s in the back with her spawn, teaching her how to do her whole fucking job that she’s completely unqualified for.”
I cackled at her explanation, but made a mental note to have a personal conversation with her about my departure. I didn’t want to be added to the list of people who had disappointed her recently.
“I need to talk to Betty. Think you can keep things under control out here for a few minutes?” I asked her.
Cammie saluted me. “You’ve got it, boss.”
I shook my head at her as I walked away and headed right to Betty’s office in the back of the cafe. The door was closed, so I knocked lightly.
“Coming!” Betty shouted from the other side. When she opened the door, her smile grew. “Jax! It’s great to see you. How is Carter doing?”
I shrugged. “She’s okay. Carter is the strongest person I know, so she will get through this like a champ.”
Movement on the other side of the office caught my attention, and I looked over to see Ailany standing in the corner of the office, sinking back against the wall as if she was trying to hide from me. I waved at her and forced the most sincere smile I could. “Hey! Nice to see you again.”
Ailany gave me the slightest smile before looking toward the ground. I wanted to say something else to her so she knew she didn’t have to feel uncomfortable around me, but before I could think of anything, Betty spoke again.
“Is there something I can do for you, Jax?”
“I just need to talk to you.” I looked from Betty to Ailany. “In private, if that’s okay.”
When Ailany brought her eyes to mine, she looked like a deer caught in the headlights (or maybe a middle schooler about to get in trouble with the principal).
“Yes. Of course. Of course. I’m sorry.” She pointed toward the door.
“I’ll just be, um, right out there.” She closed her eyes and dropped her head.
“Not listening or anything. Just waiting. I promise.”
I chuckled, because I couldn’t help myself. I was one of the least scary people in the whole world and this girl was terrified of me. “All good. I didn’t take you as a spy. I promise.”
Ailany’s lips parted into a small smile once again, but she quickly walked out of the room, shutting the door quietly behind her.
Betty sat on the edge of her desk and pointed to the seat in front of it. “What’s on your mind?”
The question seemed so nonchalant for someone who had just given a position I had rightfully earned to someone with no qualifications. Now wasn’t the time to get mad though. I should actually be thanking Betty. This might have opened a door that was better than owning Serenity Sips.
I stood close to the chair but didn’t sit down. “I really hate to do this after all of this time, but I am here to give my two week notice.”
Betty’s relaxed expression was immediately replaced by one of horror. “Two week notice? This is quite the surprise. I thought you were happy here.”
“I was.” I shook my head. I loved this place, and that didn’t change just because of Betty’s unexpected news. “I am.”
Betty stood up and paced across the room.
“I know this is about my niece. I’m sure that came as a shock to you, but I’d like to ask you to please reconsider.
It was nothing personal. This was a family matter.
I wish I could give you more details than that, but it’s not my information to share.
As much as I wish I could sell Serenity Sips to you, I need to do this for my niece.
I know your dream is to have your own cafe, but do you think you could stick around until that happens? ”
I had to hold back a laugh, because that was essentially what I was doing.
I didn’t need to go into all of those details with Betty though.
“I understand doing things for your family, which is why I’m asking you to please respect my decision.
You hired your niece to help your family.
I am leaving Serenity Sips to help mine. ”
“Do you mind me asking what your plans are?”
Actually, I do. I was too nice to say that though, so I gave Betty the condensed version. “Carter’s grandmother can’t take care of herself, so we are moving to Maryland to help her.”
“Maryland.” Betty let out a long, low whistle. “That’s a far cry from New York.”
I shrugged. Maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing. “That’s what I keep hearing.”
Betty sighed and ran her hand along the desk. “Well, we are certainly going to miss you here. If I’m being completely honest, I’m not sure how my niece is going to pull this off without your help. Then again, I’m not sure what I was thinking by asking you to help after what I pulled.”
You’re telling me. “All good. No hard feelings.” I held my hand out toward Betty. “It’s been a pleasure working for you.”
Betty accepted my handshake and returned it firmly. “Oh, sweetie, please believe me when I say the pleasure is all mine. This place really won’t be the same without you.”
I thought of Betty’s niece waiting on the other side of the door and figured I shouldn’t prolong our conversation any more. “I better get back to work.”
“Sounds great. Thank you for everything. I hope you know that I’m very, very proud of the woman you’ve become.”
I was pretty sure I was supposed to be mad at Betty, but I couldn’t be when she said stuff like that. Betty had always been like a mother figure to me, and although things hadn’t gone the way I hoped, she meant a lot to me. That would never change.
I didn’t say anything before leaving the office, because I worried I might start to cry, and the last thing I needed was to return to work with puffy eyes.
As soon as I got to the register, Cammie sidled up beside me. She bumped her hip against mine. “So? What did you want to talk about?”
Might as well rip off the band-aid. “Please don’t hate me, but I just put in my two week notice.”
Much to my surprise, Cammie cackled. “Fuck yeah. Stick it to the man… or in this case, woman. This is exactly what Betty deserves after the shit she pulled.”
I told her that I wasn’t doing this to spite Betty, then explained about Carter’s grandma and our plan to move to Maryland.
“Damn. I thought you’d at least stop by here once in a while. Now I feel like I’m never going to see you again.”
“I’ll be back to visit. Don’t worry. Plus, you have my number. Call or text whenever you miss me.”
“Or whenever I need to complain about my new boss?” Cammie rolled her eyes.
I patted her shoulder. “Take it easy on her. I have a feeling she wants this position just as little as you want her to have it.”
“I guess only time will tell.”
“Yes. Time will tell…” My voice trailed off. I was no longer talking about Ailany. I was now thinking about this move to Maryland and wondering how it would be. I really hoped it went well so Carter didn’t think I was being irrational by suggesting it.
***
Three weeks later, Carter and I were ready for our big move.
Carter had spent two of those weeks working from home so she could start packing for us.
We had decided to keep all of the furniture in our apartment since her grandma already had all of that.
We mostly packed clothes and other valuables that were important to have with us (i.e. , sex toys).
After staying up late to have a goodbye party with all of our friends, I was dragging the morning of the move. When I yawned for what had to be at least the tenth time, Carter laughed at me.
“Too many shots last night?”
I groaned and grabbed my stomach. That was the last thing I wanted to think about right now. My friends were such bad influences. “It wasn’t my best decision.”
Carter shrugged. “Why not? Those are the friends who have been by your side for years now. You deserved to get a little crazy while you were saying goodbye.”
“You didn’t get crazy saying goodbye to your friends.” Carter had made a handful of really good friends during her time in New York and they were all in attendance at our party, yet she didn’t look like she was on the verge of throwing up this morning.
Carter booped me on the nose and wrinkled her own. “That’s because I’m the smart one.”
I swatted her hand away and tried my best to make an annoyed face, although it was hard to even pretend to be annoyed at Carter. “Not nice.”
Carter wrapped her arms around me. “I can only say that because it’s obviously not true. You are very smart. You just don’t always think things through.”
I smirked at Carter. “Let me guess. Before the party, you made a list of the pros and cons of taking shots.”
Carter shoved me away from her. “Look who’s not being very nice now.” She smiled at me. “I didn’t make a pros and cons list. I wrote out how long it would take me to do everything this morning and figured out how much sleep I would get depending on what time I went to bed.”
God, I really did love this woman so much.
She was perfect. That also made my impending proposal continue to get pushed back.
It needed to be just as perfect as her. I needed a plan, and I definitely didn’t have one.
The problem was that the woman who always helped me plan couldn’t in this case.
“Have I told you lately how much I love you?”
Carter tapped her chin and looked toward the ceiling. “I believe you said it while I was going down on you this morning, but it’s nice to hear it when I’m not in the middle of pleasuring you.”
The reminder of this morning in bed had my body tingling all over again. I knew Carter had a schedule she wanted to stick to, but what I wanted was to get her back in that bedroom and—
“Absolutely not,” Carter said, interrupting my beautiful, dirty thoughts.
“I didn’t say anything.”