Chapter 6
CHAPTER
SIX
Sawyer
It’s been two weeks of me working at Blackheart Ink on my own, and I’m still Team Damien King is an Asshole.
I’d hoped to be proven wrong by now, but nevertheless, I haven’t been.
Our interactions over the past couple weeks have still been far and few in between. I tell him when his appointments are here—he rarely takes walk-ins—and the rest of the time, he basically bosses me around to clean up the shop, do the inventory, and whatever other busy work he can come up with.
At least he says please and thank you now.
He also barely ever looks at me when he does order me around, which pisses me off more than anything.
Fuck the power of invisibility. I don’t want it anymore.
Still, I’ve had way worse bosses in the past. I guess if I look at the entire situation as a whole, he’s actually a pretty good boss. He’s treated me better than most, but for some reason I’m still constantly frustrated by him.
I think that maybe I want him to like me?
Fuck, even thinking it sounds wrong.
I’ve never cared about being liked or, frankly, what people think of me at all, but for some reason, I care with him. I don’t even understand why.
The day goes by slowly, the phone hardly ringing. It’s almost six p.m., and I’m essentially sitting around reorganizing a file cabinet for the third time when I hear the door open. I look up from my desk, seeing Demi and Logan walk in with two kids following behind them.
I recognize them from the barbecue and the pictures I’ve stolen a few glances at in King’s room, but even if I didn’t, I’d know that they’re his kids. They both look so much like him, especially the older one.
“Hey, Sawyer.” Demi smiles wide, dropping the large box she’s carrying onto the coffee table in the lobby.
“Hey,” I say, smiling back. “Shopping day?” I ask, nodding toward the bags and boxes they all have.
Logan has what looks like a bag full of clothes, the older child has a large bag with what looks like it has multiple records in it, the younger is holding a huge bag of candy, and Demi has a bag of clothes plus whatever the hell is in that big box of hers.
“Yeah, long shopping day.” Logan laughs lightly. “Have you met King’s kids yet?” she asks me.
“Not officially.” I look at the two of them.
“Do you like candy?” the younger of the two asks before I can introduce myself.
“I do,” I say cautiously.
“What’s your favorite?” she asks, her eyes wide.
“Sour Patch Watermelon, obviously,” I say, and a wide smile spreads across her face.
“See?” she yells at Logan.
“I just don’t like sour candy,” Logan says sheepishly.
“But they’re simply the best candy to exist. Sweet and sour goodness all the way.” I grin.
“Exactly.” She nods, satisfied with my response. “You’re my new favorite,” she tells me.
“I’m honored.” I laugh.
“You should be. Also, I’m Willow,” she says. “That’s Ellie.” She points to her sister, who’s now sitting on the couch with headphones over her ears. “She probably won’t introduce herself, she’s not a people person.” She shrugs.
“Relatable.” I laugh under my breath. “I’m Sawyer,” I tell her.
“I know.” She nods. “I think you annoy my dad,” she says.
“Oh, do I now?” I ask, amused. “Tell me more.” I smirk at her.
“Well, he said?—”
“Okay, Willow, let’s go say hi to your uncle Kade.” Logan cuts her off, grabbing her hand and pulling her toward the hallway.
“Sorry about that,” Demi says. “You know kids, I’m sure Willow was just confused, and you don’t actually annoy him.”
“Oh, no, it’s okay. I definitely do.” I shrug, and she lets out a loud laugh.
“To be fair, I’m pretty sure most people annoy him. He’s a bit like that one over there. Not a people person.” She subtly nods toward Ellie.
“Hey, beautiful.” Asher beams at his wife as he walks into the lobby. “I saw Logan and Willow walk by, so I figured you were somewhere around here.”
She throws her arms around him, pushing onto her tiptoes to press a kiss against his lips. He pulls her in closer, kissing her back for only a second before pulling away and pressing a second kiss against her forehead.
“Hey, Sawyer.” Asher turns his head toward me. “How’s it going?”
“It’s good.” I smile at him.
“Hey Ells-Bells,” Asher says, but it’s clear the music in her headphones is loud enough that she doesn’t hear him.
“Earth to Ellie,” he says as he pulls her headphones down and ruffles her hair with his hand.
“Seriously?” she grunts, swiping her hair down to fix it.
“What? You become a high schooler and are suddenly too cool for me?” Asher nudges her playfully.
“Please, I’ve always been too cool for you.” She grins at him, and he lets out a loud laugh.
“You wish,” he says.
“I think it’s obvious that I’m cooler than both of you.” Demi flips her hair behind her dramatically.
“You insisted on not only going into Build-A-Bear but fully making a bear, kissing the heart, naming it, and clothing it.” Ellie chuckles. “I don’t think you have many cool points to your name right now.”
“Is that what’s in that huge box?” I ask, trying to hold in my laughter.
“Aw, cool. You made a bear? I wanna see,” Asher says at the same time.
“Yes, I made a bear,” Demi says confidently. “An adorable pink bear named Bearnadette, thank you very much. And for the record, it’s for my unborn child, which makes me a cool mom, if you ask me.”
“The coolest mom.” Asher nods his head, agreeing with her.
“You two are perfect for each other.” Ellie shakes her head, an amused look on her face.
“I know, right?” Demi smiles wide.
“Come on, we can put Bearnadette in my room for now.” Asher picks up the box with one hand, holding Demi’s hand with the other. “You wanna come, Ells?”
“I’m good here,” she says, already slipping her headphones back on.
He nods at her before pulling Demi down the hallway with him.
“See you later, Sawyer,” Demi calls out behind her.
“See ya,” I say back before turning my attention toward Ellie.
Her head is leaning back against the couch, her eyes closed. She almost looks like she could be asleep except for the rhythmic tapping of her finger against her thigh.
Curiosity getting the best of me, I stand from behind the desk and walk over to the couch where she’s sitting. She doesn’t notice me at first as I bend down, peeping inside her shopping bag to see the records she got.
There are two inside: one is a Dermot Kennedy album, and the other is a Labrinth one.
“What are you doing?” she asks, her tone defensive.
“Admiring your music taste,” I say, putting the bag down and plopping down onto the couch next to her. “You have some good stuff in there.”
“I know,” she says skeptically.
“Why vinyl?” I ask her. “You’re listening to music on your phone now.”
“Yeah, and it’s good, but vinyl’s different. It’s richer, warmer. I can’t really explain it, the songs just have more depth,” she explains.
“That makes sense.” I nod to myself. “I’ve never listened to music on vinyl before,” I tell her, and her eyes widen, her body angling to give me her full attention.
“Really?” she asks, surprise evident in her voice.
“Really.” I nod, a light laugh falling from my lips.
“Well, you should try,” she says. “What’s your name again?” she asks, since she clearly wasn’t listening earlier.
“Sawyer.” I smile at her.
“Oh, yeah, Darla told me about you.”
“She did?” I ask.
“Yeah, the day after she met you when you got fired,” she says casually.
“She told you I got fired?” I ask, surprised.
“Mm-hmm. Don’t worry, I won’t tell my dad.” She smirks at me. “She said she knew then that you were just the right amount of stubborn to deal with him.”
“To deal with your dad?” I ask, confused. If anything, I figured I should be avoiding conflict with Damien considering he’s my boss and controls whether or not I have a job.
“Yeah, I don’t know. That’s just what she said,” Ellie says.
“Interesting,” I mumble.
“I guess.” She leans further back into the couch. “Anyway, Darla liked you, so I guess that makes you decent.”
“Hey, I’m better than fucking decent.” I nudge her with my shoulder, and a small smile forms on her face.
“Cursing in front of my kid, huh?” King’s deep voice jerks my attention toward where he’s now standing at the front of the hallway that connects to the lobby.
I open my mouth to say something, although I’m not sure what. To apologize? Fuck knows I don’t want to do that. Luckily, Ellie speaks for me before I have to.
“Leave her alone. The word fuck comes out of your mouth a minimum of fifteen times a day, and that’s not including when you’re at work away from me.” She rolls her eyes at him.
“Doesn’t mean you can say it,” he scolds her, but there’s no actual anger in his voice.
“Okay, Dad.” She laughs, clearly not taking him seriously. She stands from the couch, walking over to her dad, who pulls her in for a hug. It takes her a second before she gives in, hugging him back.
“Good day?” he asks her.
“Yeah, it was fine.” She nods up at him. “I got more vinyls.”
“Good, you can add them to your collection.” He smiles down at her, and it’s the first time I’ve seen a genuine smile on his face.
He looks at Ellie like she’s his entire world. I can’t help the feeling of my heart swelling in my chest at the sight.
I force myself to look away, walking back behind my desk.
“I’m gonna go find Willow,” Ellie says to him before turning toward me. “I’ll see you around, Sawyer,” she says.
“I hope so.” I smile at her, and I mean it. There’s something about both her and her sister that I like.
I haven’t been around kids too much in my life. There was a woman who lived a few trailers down from us growing up, Mags, who had kids, and I would babysit them sometimes when she was in a bind, but that’s the extent of my experience with them.
I’ve never not liked them, but I can’t say I ever thought about having any of my own either. With a stellar example of a mother like mine, how could I?
But Ellie and Willow seem cool to hang around for as far as kids go.
“So, you met my girls?” King asks, leaning against the wall and crossing his arms over his chest.
“I did,” I say, sitting back down in my chair, pretending to organize the papers in front of me simply so I have something to occupy my hands.
“Ellie seems to like you,” he says, his voice steady, not giving anything away as to how he’s feeling.
“Willow said I’m her new favorite, so it looks like I won them both over.” I joke.
He lets out a low chuckle, and my eyes snap up to meet his at the sound. There’s a sort of glimmer in his eyes as he thinks about his daughter.
“That sounds like Willow.” He nods to himself, and I just watch him, unsure what to say as silence lingers between us.
“Well, I’m done for the night, so I’m going to take my kids home.” He clears his throat. “Kade will be here for the rest of the night, so he can help you close up.”
“Okay, sounds good,” I say.
“Okay,” he says, his stare lingering on me for only a second before he turns around and walks back down the hallway to wherever his daughters disappeared to.
I watch him go, feeling more confused than ever. Every time I think I have Damien King figured out, I feel like I’m thrown for a loop.
How can he be an asshole when he’s clearly a pretty great dad to Ellie and Willow? He can’t be. But then why the cold shoulder and ignoring me? That gives off asshole vibes.
And don’t even get me started on when we first met with the way he condescendingly called me sweetheart after he made me spill my drink.
He’s like a puzzle, and for some reason, I’m desperate to put the pieces together. I want to know more about him. I feel like I need to know more.
Fuck, Sawyer.
No, I don’t. He’s my boss. He’s possibly a dick, so I’ll continue doing my job, and that’s it. No digging. I’m just going to drop it.
I’m also a shit liar.