Chapter 25
CHAPTER 25
AXL
“ I know that I’m the last person you want to talk to,” she said, “but I made a good pot of coffee and you look like a man who could use a cup.”
“Angel, I’m not in the mood.”
“Axl, just sit down and talk to me,” she said, nodding to a booth.
I glanced into the kitchen to see Alfie raise his eyebrows at me. I didn’t want him to see me acting like a dick, so I sunk into the booth and extended my hand.
“There you go,” Angel said. She placed two mugs on the table. She poured me a cup and pushed it toward me before pouring one for herself.
I took a sip while Angel opened four creamers and two packs of raw sugar.
“Can you even taste your coffee?” I asked, managing a smile.
“You know I can’t handle anything bitter.”
“I know,” I said, smiling at her.
Angel’s long red hair was pulled into a ponytail that trailed down the front of her shirt. She didn’t have on her regular smokey eye liner, and her lips were missing their trademark red pout. She wore a long-sleeved, black T-shirt under her green apron, making her look a bit like a Starbucks barista. She looked different, that was for sure. She tossed her hair aside, revealing a name tag.
“So, you’re official,” I said.
She laughed, and leaned forward. “Alfie made it for me. He is quite the little techie, and he makes a mean omelette.”
“Angel, please tell me you are not fucking Mason’s son.” I sighed and rubbed my forehead.
“No,” she said. “I mean, he does have a wicked crush on me, but can you blame him?”
“You are a beautiful woman,” I said, taking a sip of coffee.
“He whipped this up on a 3D printer he has at the house. I mean it’s not official official, but I’m staying.”
My eyes widened, and I looked down at the surface of my coffee. It glistened like an oil field. “Wow, that would be a big change for you.”
“I am ready for a change,” she said, hands on the table. Her long fingers were manicured with red polish.
“What about your business?” I asked.
“Angelic Homewares can run without me for a while,” she said. “In fact, the company has been on rails for two years. You know I built that myself, before Barry and I got married.”
“I know,” I said. “You told me a few times.”
“I started that after my first divorce,” she said. Picking up a spoon, she opened another packet of sugar and poured it into her coffee. “You know it was just me in my apartment, packing up fluffy blankets and slippers … ”
“I know, Angel. You worked hard.”
“And Barry.” She sighed and looked at the ceiling, a crooked smile on her face. “I have to tell you that I knew something was going to happen between us the first time I saw you.”
“We’re old news, baby,” I said, taking a sip of the bitter coffee. “You saw me on the tarmac in Lauderdale.”
“No,” she said, her voice soft. “I saw you before.”
I looked up. This was new; I wasn’t used to being surprised by Angel. “Oh, yeah? ”
“Yeah.” She bit her lip. “Barry and I were in Lauderdale for business. His, not mine. He was buying up a bunch of post-hurricane vehicles for re-sale.”
“What a prince,” I muttered.
“Look, I know you don’t like Barry.”
“Do you like Barry?” I asked.
“He’s my husband.”
“Which you could have told me earlier.”
“Would you just stop with all your broody jabs for a hot second and listen. I’m trying to make something right.”
“Oh,” I said. “Carry on then.” I didn’t know how Angel could make us right or fix the mess that was her marriage or my personal life, but it was now pouring outside, and I wasn’t about to say no to staying warm and dry for a moment. The rain pattered against the window, filling the cafe with a white noise punctuated by the sound of pots and glassware moving in the kitchen.
“Barry and I were at the Decker’s the week before we went to Lauderdale,” she said. “I went to the back patio alone. I was so bored. Barry was meeting with old man Decker. Did you know they went to college together?”
“You mentioned that once.”
“Well, what I didn’t tell you was that I saw you on the beach throwing the ball for Cam.” She smiled. “You had one of those chuck-it things, and that dog would not stop. She knelt at your feet, you threw the ball, and she came right back.”
“Angel, what is the point of all this?”
“The point is, I saw a kind and beautiful man with his dog — and I wanted you,” she said. “So I asked one of the Decker boys who you were. Beau, the youngest one, was there. He mentioned you were usually in the Bahamas but were in town until you flew back.”
“So, you charmed him into stalking me?”
“I don’t stalk people,” she said. “Don’t be ridiculous. I found out who you were, and when Miles Decker arranged for us all to go to the Islands, I made sure you were the pilot.”
“I thought you were a last-minute guest on that flight. ”
“I was a last minute add to the manifest, but I knew I was going on that flight with you.”
“Angel,” I said, looking across the table into her green eyes. “You played me.”
“No,” she said. “You wanted to be played, Axl. And you know it. I showed up on that flight.”
“No ring,” I said, crossing my arms.
“You’re right. No ring. And we flirted, and you chatted me up before we boarded, and you made sure the crew treated me right, and I knew the best place for tacos and rice and beans.”
“I did give you some excellent food tips,” I said, remembering.
“You did, but Axl, you didn’t touch me,” she said, her right eyebrow spiking. “Do you remember how it all went down?”
I didn’t speak. I looked at her, remembering the good parts of us. We had sat outside on the deck above one of those stupid pools filled with stingrays. I drank whiskey; Angel drank Lemon Drops. The moment we met on the plane, she told me she required everything around her to be drenched in sugar.
“I wanted to fuck you so that night, Axl,” she said. “We talked, and I told you about starting my company, about growing up in Cocoa Beach, and how I knew I wanted to build a brand for myself.”
“You didn’t mention you were married,” I said.
“No, I didn’t,” she gave me a crooked smile, “but I did the next night. And that’s when you kissed me.”
I shook my head. “No, that’s not how I remember it.”
“That’s how it happened, and you know I’m right,” Angel said. “You liked me. Hell, I’m beautiful, I’m successful, and I’m super fun.”
“Fun like a fun house.”
“Oh, shut up,” she said. “I am fun, and I’m also married, and once you realized that I couldn’t be with you, not for real, that’s when things lit up.”
“Come on, Angel,” I muttered, wanting to challenge her
“You remember in the rain? I told you about Barrie. I told you that I wasn’t happy. I needed to leave him. That’s when you kissed me because you are drawn to women you can’t have. ”
“Angel,” I looked up at her, “maybe this is true. Fuck. It is true. I didn’t know about Barrie, and I remember liking you, and then I was pissed at you for keeping it from me.”
“Bullshit. You were not pissed enough to leave.”
“But I did leave,” I said.
“You left when I told you I wanted to leave Barrie,” she whispered.
I let that sink in.
“I left because we weren’t right together, and I was burned out on work and sunshine in Florida.”
“And you left because even your flawed and fucked-up heart wants to do the right thing.” She sighed. “You felt like you could get a fresh start in Smoke River. I get it. And maybe you’ve rubbed off on me.”
“Angel, after we hooked up on that first trip to the Bahamas, I regretted it. I ended it.”
“But I wasn’t done with you.”
“Nope, but we’re done now.”
“I know,” she whispered, running her fingers over the table. “I’m sorry I pushed you the way I did. I am sorry I played with your emotions. I knew you couldn’t resist me once you realized I was forbidden.”
“I don’t need you to analyze me,” I said. “We fucked. It was fun. It was also a mistake.”
“It was all those things, but something is different with you,” she said. She pointed to me and drew a little circle in the air. “If I’m going to stay here, we need to figure out how to be friends.”
“What do you mean you’re staying?”
“I am leaving Barry,” she said.
“Right,” I said.
“Look, this isn’t a play for you. In fact, I know it doesn’t matter to you what I do, but I like it here in Smoke River. You brought me out here for the weekend, and I don’t want to leave.”
“Ah, so it’s Smoke River you want to keep, not me.”
“I hope that doesn’t hurt your feelings,” she said.
“Not at all. ”
“So,” Angel said.
“So.”
“Does this mean we’re friends?”
“I don’t know, Angel. I’m actually packing up soon. I’m going to head back to Lauderdale. I’ll be gone for a few months.”
“But what about Billie? You aren’t just leaving her high and dry are you?”
“No need to. She left after she talked to you.”
She bit her lip. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be,” I muttered. “You told her the truth. That’s on me.”
“I just blurt things out. I wasn’t trying to mess things up for you,” she said. “Well, maybe I was a little, but I’m becoming a better person.”
“Well, she thinks I’m a lying piece of shit.”
“I’m the lying piece of shit,” Angel said.
I laughed out loud, and she joined me.
“I like her for you,” Angel said. “I don’t know what’s going on with me, Axl. Maybe I’m looking at forty coming down the pike and asking myself, what do I want to be happy.”
“You’re taking stock. That’s a good thing to do.”
“Yeah,” she said, “and I’ve learned that love it here. I love this café, and I think I’m going to buy one of those places on the river.”
“I’m happy for you, Angel,” I said.
“Did you tell Billie anything about yourself that was real?” she asked.
“I can’t fix it,” I said. “She’s gone, and she’s better off without me.”
“You don’t know that,” she said.
I stood up and drained my coffee. Angel reached for my hand. “Hey, I know that meeting me fucked you up a bit, and I’m to blame for some of it.”
“Yeah.”
“Not all of it,” she said, squeezing my hand. “I can tell that you’re a different man. That woman changed you. You are not the same asshole who left me in the parking lot.”
“Oh, my God. You had a ride. ”
“I did,” she said, rolling her eyes. “But still, that was a little mean.”
“It was a little mean,” I finally agreed.
“You deserve to be happy, Axl. You need to know that. I wanted to tell you.”
“Thanks.”
“And I hope you’re not pissed as hell that I’m staying in your town.”
“No,” I said, exhaling and zipping up my coat. “It’s not my town. I’m leaving this week. It’s your town now. No hard feelings.”
Angel bit her lip and nodded at me, arms crossed.
I walked outside, resolved to pack up and leave town. It was time to go back to Florida and the blue skies above. I didn’t belong with my feet on the ground too long anywhere.