Chapter 8 Jack
I KNOW HUNGOVER PEOPLE AREN’T famously renowned for their reliability and accurate recall of details, but I swear I’ve just seen a ghost.
Not the sheet-over-the-head kind, or the type that’ll drag chains down the hallway of the B I can’t say how long it’ll take for her to do it again. I don’t want to let people down by being fooled by Davenport again.
“How about I say I forgive you, and you leave town in the morning? I’ll even give you a ride to the station.”
She scoffs. “How about you let me do my thing and learn to play nicely with others?”
I scratch at the stubble on my jaw. The thought of playing with her is the last thing my mind needs right now. “I don’t trust your thing. That’s the problem. I know who you represent.”
There’s a flicker of hurt that lasts less than a second. I think back to what Tommy said about how I wasn’t my dad when I worked for him, and how she’s not necessarily hers.
“Then think of it as I’m representing myself.
Think about how much you care for Ms. Girard, and the dreams she wants to achieve, and the fact I want to help her do that if that’s what will make her happy.
” Bringing Flo into this is a low blow. Her hands land on her hips and she cocks her head.
“Or think about the fact you told me to come here. I don’t care. ”
“I was inebriated. I didn’t know what I was saying.” It’s a shitty excuse but it’s the only one I’ve got.
She smiles. “And you think I send emails full of typos to men late at night while sober?”
I shrug. “I don’t think about you, Clara. I don’t know what you do in your free time. I don’t care either.”
“Good,” she says cheerfully. “If you don’t care then you have no right to tell me what to do. I want to make Fraser Falls better, so just stay out of my way.”
“You clearly haven’t lived in a place like this before,” I say, trying not to laugh. “There is no staying out of someone’s way.”
“You better get used to looking at me then.”
I’m positive under normal circumstances, looking at Clara Davenport wouldn’t ever be a struggle. “I don’t want you to hurt my neighbors. I’ve already let them down by opening the door to Davenport once, and I don’t want to do it again.”
“I’m only here to help and I’ll prove that to you. Just like you asked me to.”
And with that, she pushes past me and through the door back into the meeting, leaving me standing in the cold, vowing to never drink again.