6. Chapter Five
Chapter Five
Ali
Wednesday came and went without anything out of the ordinary. There was no feeling of someone watching me, and I was able to push Professor Ass to the back of my mind. After working my shift at the diner, I made enough that, when combined with the tips from my night at the bar, I was able to pay the deposit to get the gas turned on. Their only open time slot was Thursday morning between eight and eleven, meaning I would miss most of my classes. I debated heading to class and asking someone to let the company in, but I haven’t gotten to know any of my neighbors. So, I emailed my professors apologizing and telling them one of my boys was sick. I attached all my homework to the email and promised to get the notes I missed. I received a reply from each one of them, but Professor Black.
I try not to let that bother me as I spend the morning with Caleb and Jacob. We spend the morning playing and reading the books we borrowed from the library. Every time an hour passes, I get more upset that no one is showing up. Finally, at eleven-forty, I call the gas company. It turns out that they never needed to come inside my apartment. They were able to do everything at the side of the building, which means that I missed class for nothing. Pissed, I hung up on the customer service representative without saying anything else.
After a quick lunch of box mac-n-cheese for the boys and toast for myself, I pack their bag and grab my backpack. I need to go talk to the financial aid office and let them know I’d decided to drop a class. I did the math over and over last night. Every time, the end result was the same. There is no way I can pay the balance. Yesterday morning, Carol–the diner’s owner–told me she would have to cut my hours in half because her daughter was moving back and needed a job.
She apologized repeatedly, but I assured her everything was okay. It was total and utter bullshit, but there wasn’t anything I could do about it. I only make eight dollars per hour there. My take-home pay is shy of three hundred dollars a week. Now that is being cut in half. While I get paid more at the bar, I only work twelve hours. Which makes my check every week around one hundred and thirty dollars. We were barely holding on as it was. Now, I’m scared we are one bad day in tips away from living in the car again.
I’ve tried to come up with ways to cut our bills in half, but it’s not simple. There are things we can’t go without. Rent, electric, water, gas for the Jeep, and food. To some, they will look at that list and the total of my checks and not see how I’m poor. But they don’t know what I pay for this place. It’s too much for the small space and the condition of it. So, after stopping by the school, I’m heading to another apartment for a tour. It’s a studio apartment above a garage. But that also means the rent is almost half as well. We will go from paying six hundred and seventy-five dollars to three hundred and twenty-five dollars.
By the time we leave, it’s the boy’s nap time, so Jacob is fussy. He cries pretty much the whole drive to school. As usual, he passes out when we are five minutes away. After parking the Jeep, I carefully remove my stroller and place Caleb in it. He doesn’t make a peep as I lay him down and cover him up.
On the other hand, Jacob wakes up and starts crying again, refusing to lie down beside Caleb. I try to soothe him on our walk up the hill. Finally, he falls back asleep on my shoulder. My lungs burn due to Jacob’s added weight and pushing Caleb up the steep hill. But I push through the pain.
Once inside, I head straight up to the second floor. There are more people in the office this time, and most of them turn to stare at me. I try not to let their looks bother me. I know what others think when they see me with the boys, but I can’t change who I am, and I love my boys with all I have. Jacob starts to fuss again, and after another person sends me a dirty look, I exit the office. I sit my bag on the floor and check on Caleb, who is still sleeping soundly. I start to pace back and forth with Jacob, lightly bouncing him in my arms.
“Come on, Jacob. It’s okay, my sweet boy. Sleep is fun and good for you,” I say, rubbing his little back. But nothing I do or say helps him. His cries are getting louder and louder. On one of my passes, I run into someone. I stumble back but don’t fall because arms wrap around my waist. The moment their hands touch my body, I know who it is, and I pray for the ground to open up below me and swallow us.
Looking up, I see Professor Black staring at me with his stupidly handsome face and breathtaking eyes. Jacob lets out another loud cry, and without saying anything, the stupid jerk takes my baby out of my arms, bringing him to his chest. My jaw drops at the balls on this man. As I’m about to demand he give my child back, Jacob snuggles into Reed’s chest and quiets down. “There, there, little man. I got you,” Reed’s smooth voice calms him even more.
“How did you do that?” I ask, amazed.
His big hands are rubbing Jacob’s back. I try not to stare at them and wonder what they would feel like on my body. But I fail, of course, until he opens his mouth to say, “Babies feel our emotions.”
My eyebrows shoot up as I pull my eyes from his hands and cross my arms. “Are you saying that this is my fault?”
Reed chuckles before saying, “No, but he could feel your frustration, which was also making him frustrated. Is this the little one who wasn’t feeling well?”
At the mention of the white lie I told earlier, I move my gaze from Reed to the door behind him. “Actually, no,” I whisper. Students leave the office behind us, reminding me why I’m here. I reach out my hands to take Jacob. “Thanks for getting him back to sleep, but I’ve got to get going.”
Reed steps back and nods his head toward the office door. “Go on. I’ll stay out here with these little guys.”
“Are you sure? I don’t even know you,” I say, shocked that I’m even entertaining the idea of letting him stay out here with my kids.
“I’m not going to kidnap your boys. They are safe with me,” he says, stepping into my personal space. “No harm will come to them, or you while you are in my presence.” His words pierce my heart, and despite my past, I believe him. With his gaze on me, I feel safe for the first time in twelve years. The feeling terrifies me, but I trust it. Cameras are lining the hall, so if he does something, I will have it on tape. Plus, I will kill him or anyone over my children without blinking an eye.
“Thank you.” I step around him and head inside.
“Hi, Ali.” Lacey greets me with a genuine smile. “Who was that adorable baby you had earlier?”
I smile at the mention of my boys. “Jacob, my son. Caleb was asleep in the stroller.”
Her eyes widen as she asks, “You have twins?”
I nod. “So, about my situation. I’ve decided to drop my college writing class.” Yes, that’s right, I’m dropping Professor Black’s class because even though he might make me feel safe. I can’t get even more enamored with the man than I already am. Plus I can’t afford the class.
“Oh, that won’t be necessary anymore. Your bill was paid in full yesterday morning. I assumed you knew about it,” Lacey says, staring at her computer screen.
I gasped. “What? Are you sure?” That can’t be true; she must have pulled up the wrong file. “How?”
“I don’t know. I was off yesterday, but according to our system, someone paid your remaining balance in full. So, no need to worry about dropping any classes.” She leaves the desk, walking to a big printer behind her. She pulls a paper from the tray and brings it back. “Here is a copy of your account,” she says, taking a highlighter and running it over the bottom of the page.
I take the paper and look it over. At the bottom, in a bright pink line, it says the balance due is zero dollars. “Can you find out who paid for it?” I ask, wanting to thank them and try to pay them back.
“I can ask Lenny. He was working yesterday. Write down your number, and I’ll call you when I find out,” she says, handing me a sticky note. I write down my cell number and thank her before walking out in shock.
Reed must see something on my face that worries him because he pushes off the wall, where he is leaning with Jacob still in his arms. “What’s wrong?” he asks. When I don’t answer, he stops rubbing Jacob’s back and raises my head with his finger under my chin. The small patch of skin he is touching turns feverish.
I shake my head and paste on a small smile. “Nothing’s wrong,” I say, which is true, I guess. I don’t have to drop a class or find a way to get the money. But I still don’t like the fact that someone paid my bill. “Thank you for watching them.” I try to take Jacob from Reed again, but he steps back out of my reach. “Give me my son,” I growl.
“Why don’t I walk with you. He’s sleeping peacefully right now.” The smug bastard smirks down at Jacob.
“What the fuck ever. Come on.” I grab my bag and start pushing Caleb toward the elevator.
Reed is right behind me and presses the button for the elevator before I can. “So why did you miss class this morning?”
I sigh. “None of your business.”
He laughs again, and I hate that I love the sound of it. And the fact that it makes my thighs clench automatically. “Actually, it is my business, Little One.”
Little one? What the fuck. “Ha. I haven’t been little my whole life,” I say, quickly slipping into my only defense. I say hurtful things about myself before someone else has the chance. The door opens, and we step inside. No one else is here, so I focus on the floor to keep from looking at this man who irritates me.
He must decide to let my comment slide, or he is admitting that I’m anything but little when he asks again, but in a deeper tone, “Why did you miss class?”
“Fuck. You are persistent, aren’t you.”
“You have no idea, Little One.”
“Fine. I had to wait for someone to show up from the gas company. The only time they had was this morning. I lied and said one of the boys was sick. I wasn’t sure the real reason would fly,” I say, frustrated that he wouldn’t let it go. I look up from the floor when the doors open. Pulling my shoulders up, I stride forward and out the front door. “There, are you happy now?”
“Not in the slightest. Because you lied to me, and I don’t take that kindly.” The way he says that makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. “And people who lie need to be punished.” Those words have fear and something close to lust creeping up my spine.
We are standing in the middle of the parking lot, but I freeze and spin to stare at him. “Punished,” I exclaim. “Like what, are you going to give me extra assignments? Tell the Dean I told a little lie. Or worse?”
His eyes darken as he closes the small gap between us. “I think your idea of punishment and mine are two different things, Little One.” Well, fuck me sideways.
“Whatever. Do your worst, Professor Black. You aren’t the scariest person I’ve dealt with,” I say, turning back around. I try my hardest to ignore his presence behind me. I tangoed with the devil and didn’t break, so whatever Reed is going to do, I can handle it.
Reed grabs my wrist to keep me from walking away. I refuse to look at him. Instead, I keep my eyes glued to a small group of people standing a few feet away. “What the fuck did you say?” Reed’s voice has dropped even lower, and I feel as if I’m standing next to a whole new person.
I can’t explain it, but it’s like this darkness, or maybe its anger, is starting to pour off of him in waves. It doesn’t scare me, but it does make me go on the defense because I can’t afford to fuck around with someone capable of darkness. I infuse so much sunshine into my voice as I tell him, “Just forget it. It was nothing.”
“The fuck I will. Who–”
I cut him off by pulling my wrist away and start pushing Caleb forward. “It’s none of your business.” Reed keeps up with me, but any attempt to talk to me is cut off when we approach the group. I notice a girl from my Spanish class and ask, “What’s going on?”
“Someone’s car was vandalized,” she says, pointing her finger toward the car she is talking about.
As I turn to look in the direction she is pointing, my heart drops to my stomach, and the toast I ate earlier threatens to come up. My Jeep is sitting a foot away with the front window smashed, the word bitch written in red on the hood, and a knife is sticking out of the back passenger tire. Breaking out into a run, I push Caleb’s stroller over a rock, and it causes him to wake up. For the first time in forever, he starts to cry. I head to the driver’s side and see that the other two tires have met the same fate. Someone slashed all four of my tires. I’m watching you is written in red spray paint down the driver’s side. I can tell the paint is still wet because it is dripping onto the asphalt.
I forget all the people packed around staring and Caleb crying out for me. Instead, I crumble to the ground, my hands thrown over my mouth as I stare at my ruined car. Someone was watching me. Those feelings weren’t in my mind. Neither was the figure outside the bar. There are only two people who could be after me. But I don’t understand how any of them found me. I’m states away from where my family was killed and hours away from my last foster family. But it looks like neither was far enough to keep us safe.
What the fuck am I going to do?