Chapter 52
CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
KARMA
“Zayn.” I hear my name being called loud and high-pitched. God, it makes me want to gauge out my own fucking ears. How can someone have that high of a screeching voice to overcome the loudness of this shop?
“Zayn.” I look over my shoulder and see Rya standing with her hands on her hips. The bay quiets down while everyone stares between us.
Fuck, what now?
She has ruined my life in more ways than I can count. Never in my life have I regretted being friends with a person so much until her. That says a lot because I’ve known her since we were kids.
The day I broke things off with her, she threw a tantrum and stalked me at my job and even broke my phone.
I was trying so hard to keep it on the down low and hoping Violet wouldn’t stop by anytime Rya was here yelling at me for breaking things off.
I don’t know what she expected. She was an easy lay.
But then things started escalating, and I knew I had to end it.
I’m surprised she didn’t go off and tell Violet about everything; she has always been jealous of Vi.
I saw it all the time. I never wanted to get in the way of Violet and her, so I kept my thoughts to myself.
But, fuck every time all four of us were together, I sat on pins and needles watching her act out and thinking she was going to say something.
I could tell Violet and Ezra caught on to how weird she would be around us.
It’s like she was waiting for them to ask what was going on with her.
The thing that played on my side is that she and Ezra were having issues with her spending habits. So, it kept everyone focused on that.
I throw the wrench down on the ground, and the sharp metal clang doesn’t help the screeching of her voice. I let out a harsh breath and walk over to her. I grab her by the arm and lead her out of the bay so no one hears us. She jerks her arm out of my hand.
“What do you want now?” I snarl at her, my jaw tightening.
“I need money.”
I shake my head harshly, and try to make this make sense.
The dark circles under her eyes seem deeper today, and her eyes are glassy. Yeah, she’s drinking again. She drinks, and then she goes on these rampages and ends up at my job cussing me out.
“How is that my problem?”
“Because of you, I lost everything.”
“You’re the one who started it,” I yell, heat rising in my cheeks.
“No, I didn’t.”
I let out a harsh laugh. “Are you kidding me? At the club in Vegas, you kept telling me you’ve always wanted to be with me, and I was drunk and dumb enough to give in.”
“Yeah, but you continued it.” She crosses her arms and shifts her weight to one leg, making one of her hips rise higher than the other.
My nostrils flare. “We both continued it. And it’s the worst mistake I’ve ever made in my life.”
Her mouth falls open, and she raises her crossed arms higher onto her chest to accentuate her breasts, like she’s done way too many times here when she has her hissy fits. As if it’s going to make me crawl back to her.
“I have nowhere to live. My car got repoed. I lost my job. My mom kicked me out. I have nothing.” She stomps her foot and yells, “Nothing!”
“I still don’t know what that has to do with me.”
She throws her head back and screams.
“Hey, stop.” I glance behind me; the guys in the bay are staring. “You need to stop coming here.”
She steps forward, jabbing her finger in my chest. “You need to give me money.”
“You need to find a job and stop trying to live off of everyone,” I shoot back. “And stop drinking; it’s not a good look on you.” My lip curls up in disgust.
“Zayn. What is going on?”
I slam my eyes shut and sigh at the sound of my boss’s voice. “Fuck,” I whisper. I look over my shoulder. “She’s leaving.”
“She better be,” he says with a tight voice. “This needs to stop. She’s scaring my customers away.”
Her nostrils flare, and she steps closer—close enough that I can smell the alcohol on her breath. “You owe me, Zayn,” she hisses.
I plant a hand on her shoulder, stopping her from getting any closer to me. “I don’t owe you anything.”
“You used me,” she snaps, jabbing her finger into her own chest. “You made me believe we had something.”
“I never made you believe anything. You made up that fairytale in your head.”
That hits her like a slap in the face. Her lips press into a thin line, trembling. She looks away—blinking hard and jaw quivering. “You’re heartless,” she whispers.
I drag a hand down my face, feeling nothing but annoyance. “Tell me something I don’t already know.”
“Zayn.” I hear my name being yelled out by my boss again.
My stomach drops. I glance behind me, and the guys’ eyes shift towards us again, watching.
I step closer to Rya with my teeth grinding and my jaw aching. “Leave me the fuck alone,” I say in a low voice so no one hears me.
Her face cracks as she wipes her tears. “I just…I don’t have anyone else. I don’t know what else to do.”
“Get help. Get sober. Get a job. Fuck, there are a few ideas. Now stop making this my problem.”
“I gave everything up for you.”
“I never told you to.”
Her eyes harden again, like she’s choosing anger over hurt. “You’ll regret this,” she mutters.
“I already regret it.”
I walk back over to the bay, but before I can pick up my wrench, my boss says, “My office. Now!”
I nod and follow him to his office. As soon as we step in, he shuts the door behind us and drops heavily into his chair.
“You’re fired,” he says flatly, like it’s a casual thing to say.
“What!” I stand up straighter.
“What do you mean, what?” His brows lift. “How are you so surprised?”
“I’ve been here the longest. None of these guys can do what I do.”
“You got that right.” He laughs harshly.
My jaw tightens. “What do you mean by that?”
He leans forward, resting his arms on his desk. “First you started disappearing at random hours of the day, then that turned into you missing entire days of work. And now this bullshit keeps happening.”
I throw my hands up. “What bullshit?”
He jerks his chin toward the parking lot.
“That bullshit that just happened right outside. She has come here far too many times, starting arguments with you and scaring off my customers. I warned you months ago that I was going to let you go if you kept missing work. And now, this random girl keeps showing up. Not only her but then your friend Ezra came and beat the shit out of you. I’ve given you far too many warnings.
Plus, I thought you were married.” He stares at me hard.
“It’s not my fault she keeps showing up. And Ezra didn’t beat the shit out of me,” I say in frustration, my hands at my sides.
“But it is your fault for missing work.”
“I have been here since high school,” I say, stepping closer to his desk. “You can’t do this to me.”
He stands up, towering over his desk. “I should’ve fired you a long time ago. But because you have been one of my longest employees, I didn’t. Now you’re done.”
My chest heaves. Before I even register it happening, I spin and slam my fist into the wall beside the door. My hand goes right through the wall, sending a hot sting up my arm.
“That’s coming out of your paycheck,” he mutters, not even flinching.
I rip my hand free of the hole and storm out, my whole body fired up in anger.
As soon as I step outside, the sound of metal grinding against metal makes my stomach drop. I whip my head around just in time to see the semi that delivers our tires pulling forward after backing up. As it inches ahead, a horrible screeching noise erupts behind it, like metal being torn apart.
Once the truck finally clears the space, I throw my head back and groan. He backed straight into my truck, crushing the cab and shoving the front end into the cement wall. It looks like my truck is half the length it used to be.
Fuck my life.