Chapter 8 #2
Barrett senses the lack of strength behind my words.
Probably because that’s the last thing I feel.
Having your apartment broken into, someone going through your things, stealing anything of value, and destroying the rest, feels violating in a way I’ve never experienced before.
The last thing I feel is strong and capable right now.
“Well, too bad. I’m going to,” he replies and looks down at Syd. “Why don’t you tape up some boxes, help your aunt go through everything, and pack whatever she can while I make some phone calls.”
“Okay,” Syd says and disappears out of the doorway.
Barrett and I stare at each other for a few beats. I’m having a hard time seeing the pity in his eyes. It’s not something I’m used to, and at this moment, it’s making me feel uncomfortable and even more powerless. I fucking hate it.
“What?” I ask with a bit of a bite to my tone.
“I need your landlord’s number.”
“I told you that you don’t have to do it.” I cross my arms over my chest. I can’t help what happened here, but I refuse to be the victim of this. To allow this type of violation to make me weak or incapable of handling my business.
Barrett tilts his head to the side, eyeing me. “Stop being fucking stubborn.”
Okay, not what I expected him to say.
“There’s a lot of shit that needs to be cleaned up and I’m getting hungry.
And you need a drink,” he says, the bite in his tone matching mine from moments ago.
“This is called divide and conquer. You pack, and I see about getting someone in here to haul away all the shit that obviously isn’t coming back to Shine. ”
“Fine,” I say and pull out my phone, sending him my landlord’s contact information. “But I’m paying for the haul-away service. I’m not going to be in your debt.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it, pup. Now the sooner you take care of this, the sooner I get a slice of pizza, and you get a glass of wine, or whatever it is you like.”
“This is going to call for more than wine. And that I will gladly let you pay for.” I give Barrett one of my sugary sweet smiles that holds zero kindness.
“Whatever you say, Cam.” Syd walks back in the room and looks between the two of us, obviously sensing the tension. “You guys get started, and I’ll be back to help,” he finishes.
Barrett walks out of my apartment and Syd sets the boxes next to me. “Are you sure you’re okay? Maybe you need a day or something.”
“I’m fine,” I sigh out, feeling better than I did when I first saw the state of my apartment. “Let’s get this done so we can head out of here. I’m making Barrett buy us dinner. And dessert,” I finish with, because why the hell not?
“Frozen hot chocolate?”
A smile spreads across my face. “Hell yeah.”
“Okay, this isn’t terrible,” Barrett begrudgingly admits as we’re walking along the sidewalk, and he’s shoveling spoonfuls of frozen hot chocolate into his mouth.
“And the slice?” Syd prods.
“Mmm, that was fucking delicious,” Barrett replies.
After our little tiff, Barrett came back into the apartment and helped us put boxes together and pack.
My landlord stopped by and took a look around the apartment.
Since no damage was really done to anything other than my things, he informed me I should be getting my security deposit back.
I told him to bill me for the haul-away service, and he nodded but didn’t ask for my new address.
Maybe he plans to call, but the nervous look he shared with Barrett tells me a conversation was had that no one was making me privy to.
I have no plans to let him get away with paying for anything for me, but I can recognize that it wasn’t the time or place for that particular argument.
There’s a certain melancholy I’m feeling about leaving the city, and it was definitely present when I handed my landlord the keys. But I stayed in that apartment to stay close to Syd, and I’m leaving for the same reason. That will never make me sad.
When everything was packed and ready to go, we stopped at the hotel and cabbed it to Georgio’s then Serendipity. Barrett is kind of treating this like our last hurrah in New York, and in a way, it is. Not saying we can’t ever visit again, but this is our last day as residents.
“Where to next, ladies?” Barrett asks.
“Record store?” Syd asks, looking at me. I have a feeling Shine doesn’t have any indie record stores where Syd and I have spent countless hours. Nothing they carry necessarily tickles my fancy, but Syd loves it, and I’m more than happy to hang out there if it puts a smile on her face.
“Sounds good,” I say, looking at Barrett. “It’s not far from here, and I promise I won’t let Syd spend the rest of our night there.”
Barrett smiles at me, then his daughter. “I don’t have anywhere else to be. You?”
I shake my head.
“Then I’m following your lead.” He tosses the empty to-go cup from his dessert in the trash as Syd starts rattling off the names of some of the band’s records she’s found in there.
And three hours later, after we’ve left the record store, and Barrett has bought her three new records without once complaining that it was taking forever for her to decide, they’re both wearing bright smiles.
There’s a soft knock on the door dividing Barrett’s hotel room from mine and Syd’s.
I set my book to the side and look over at Syd, whose soft snores fill the otherwise silent space.
The girl is wiped out from everything we did today.
I’m exhausted as well, but my brain hasn’t turned off yet.
I was hoping reading would help, but after today, getting lost in another world is easier said than done.
I get out of bed and pad over to the door, opening it a few inches.
“Hey,” Barrett says and holds up a small bottle of wine. “Did you know they have wine in the rooms? Seems like an opportunity we shouldn’t waste.”
My head tilts toward the bottle. “That probably cost thirty dollars just to take it out.”
Barrett’s eyes widen, and he looks from the wine to me then shrugs. “Better drink up, then.”
A huff of laughter escapes me as I push the door open and step inside. I close it quietly behind me and head for the small couch. Barrett pours the red liquid into a glass and hands it to me before I sit.
“You doing okay after today?” he asks.
The question surprises me. Through all the changes and hustle of the last couple weeks, this is the first time Barrett has asked if I’m alright. He’s asked about Syd, but never me.
“Exhausted,” I say, leaning back and taking a sip of wine. “Scared, excited…unmoored.”
Barrett tilts his head to the side as he studies me. “Unmoored?”
“I mean, I don’t have a job, and I don’t have my apartment anymore. The only thing I have in Shine is Sydney. Not that it isn’t enough for me. I don’t regret staying in Shine with her,” I rush to add.
“I talked to Ozzy before we left. You have a bartending job waiting for you when we get home. Jude also texted me and offered to name his son after me for getting Lucy off her feet and away from anything that can be used as a weapon against our customers.”
I bark out a laugh. “You could have told me that earlier.”
“I did tell you I’d handle it.”
“I’m not used to anyone handling anything for me. I just assumed you’d mention it to Ozzy.”
Barrett’s mouth tilts into a self-satisfied grin. “Nope. It’s a done deal. So now you have a job, and you have a house in Shine.”
“You have a house in Shine,” I say, tilting my glass toward him.
“We have a house, Cam. Like Tanya said, it’s unconventional, but we’re a family. You, me, and Syd. We’re a trifecta.”
I chuckle and swipe a hand over my face.
“What are you talking about? We fight all the time. Even today, when I saw what a mess my apartment was and was freaking out on the inside, you picked a fight with me…” My eyes narrow as I pin Barrett with my gaze.
“Why did you pick a fight?” Now that I think about it, things have been pretty cordial between us since we moved into the house.
Barrett holds up two hands as though he’s weighing something in each. “Feel helpless over the situation.” He holds one hand in the air. “Or get mad at me and not feel like shit about it.” He holds the other hand up. “I know which I prefer.”
“You’d rather fight with me than see me sad?”
Barrett crosses his ankles and leans back on the bed, taking a sip of the beer he’s holding.
“When you’re pissed, there’s a fire in your eyes, like you’re ready to take on the world.
When you saw your apartment, that fire wasn’t there.
I wanted to bring it back. Even if it was directed at me.
” He shrugs as though what he said is absolutely no big deal.
I stare at the man in front of me for a few beats. We’ve veered into territory I am not prepared to process. The idea that Barrett wasn’t just being an ass and was trying to make the situation more tolerable for me never crossed my mind, and I don’t know what to do with that.
“You don’t even like me,” I say lamely. We’ve been nice because it’s what’s best for Syd.
“Correction. I didn’t like you. I thought you were like the rest of your family and thought your last name meant you could swing your dick around, for lack of a better term.”
“That’s my father, not me,” I say.
Barrett nods. “I get that now. I’ve seen you with Syd. Seen how the most important thing to you is making sure she’s okay, not winning a fight with me, or even your father. Hell, you’re moving all your stuff to Shine so you can be there for her.”
“It’s…it’s what I’ve always done,” I say.
“But you shouldn’t have had to. At least not while Samantha was alive.” Barrett’s jaw clenches and he takes a sip of his beer. “I don’t fucking understand why she didn’t try to contact me all these years.”
“You know how she was,” I say with a shrug.
He shakes his head. “I really don’t. From what I remember, she was kind of a brat. You both were, if I’m being honest.”
A surprised laugh escapes me. “I just didn’t like you or your friends.”