12. Troublemaker
12
TROUBLEMAKER
Mara
On Friday, as the clock edged toward closing time, I took a step back to look at my carefully arranged display of collectibles. My foot bumped one of the empty boxes littering the floor, so I nudged it aside. Normally, I restocked my display window after I closed, but between after-work plans and an achingly empty window, I decided to unpack all that eye candy right away.
With all the boxes and paper littering the floor, and the shiny, new, superhero figures, I felt like a kid on Christmas morning.
I stashed the boxes and swept away the packing peanuts. I even had to brush bits of Styrofoam off my jeans. Zephyr would have loved playing in the mess—which was why I’d left him upstairs in the apartment. I didn’t want him to end up eating something he shouldn’t.
My ponytail drooped to one side and my back ached. I pulled out the elastic hairband and then stretched my arms overhead to release the knots that came from leaning over the display shelves.
The bell on my door jingled to announce a customer, and I grinned as I turned to face the door. For some reason, I expected to see Ford. He hadn’t been around all week, which was exactly what I’d thought I’d wanted when I’d turned down his invitation. Had he dropped by to surprise me?
My grin turned into a frown when I spotted Doug Aspin—the absolute last person I ever wanted to lay eyes on again.
A year’s worth of suppressed emotion roiled up inside me. Frustration, fury, and, most of all, disgust. With myself, for letting that relationship last as long as it did when I knew I should’ve left after a month. No, make that after the first date. The man didn’t know how to be a decent human being. Then again, narcissists never take the blame for anything. In their minds, they’re always right.
I wished I had the superpower to make him go away by pure force of will. On the off-chance it would work, I tried, but he didn’t budge. Instead, he strode toward me like he owned my store.
Whatever words were about to come out of his mouth, I didn’t want to hear them. I began inching toward the counter, but then stopped and stood my ground. There was no way I’d back down to this manipulative jerk. Not in my own store. Not again. I needed to stand up to him.
I turned to face him square on and stared him down. “You know, up until right now, I was having a good week... I read the new Deadpool comic... I ordered some new stock... everything was coming up me . Now you’re here, ruining it all. Turn around and go away. I don’t want you here.”
“Don’t be like that,” Doug said in an irritating, wheedling tone. “I came to check on you. I’ve missed you.”
Dumbstruck, all I could do was shake my head in disbelief. This guy couldn’t take a hint. Hell. It hadn’t been a hint. I’d clearly said, “ go away !”
“I’m taking you out to dinner tonight.” Those were the same words he’d used the first time he’d asked me out. Judging by the smirk on that face I’d once thought of as handsome, he expected me to swoon at his invitation. Had I done that the first time? If so, I’d been an idiot.
Instead, I gave him a hard blink of disbelief. “In your dreams.”
He stepped closer, crowding me toward my display window. “I know you’re about to close. We can leave now and grab a bite to eat.”
The man never listened. “I’m not interested. I have plans with Courtney and Scarlet.”
He scowled. Seriously—the man had the nerve to scowl at me. “Why are you spending time with those two? They’re always trying to push their ideas onto you. You’re better off without them.”
Anger hit me like a punch from a supervillain. Instead of staggering back from the blow, I steeled myself, doubling down on the emotion to fuel my strength. “No Doug, you’re the one I’m better off without. You’re the one who was always trying to push your ideas on me. To manipulate me and keep me away from my friends. They’ve been nothing but supportive.”
“That isn’t true,” he stated, his tone frustratingly mild as he met my gaze with those arresting, deep blue eyes. They were eyes you’d trust. Eyes that could reel you in. Eyes that were just as deceitful as the man. “I was trying to protect you from them.”
“Revisionist history. I’m not buying your retcon crap.”
He stared at me blankly. “Retcon?”
Not again. He loved to pretend he didn’t understand terms I’d explained to him over and over. This time, I didn’t let it bother me, recognizing it as the petty manipulation it really was. “I’m sorry you can’t seem to remember the word,” I said sweetly. “That must be frustrating for you when I’ve explained it to you so many times before. You’re usually so smart.”
His patronizing smile wavered, and the corners of my lips curved up in satisfaction.
“I’ll explain it to you again. The word retcon is short for retroactive continuity. It’s when a show or comic book series tries to pretend something in the storyline never took place or when it provides some bogus logic to explain it away. Like you’re trying to do with me right now.” I snapped my mouth shut. Time for me to kick him out .
Doug shook his head at me just like my dad would do when I’d disappointed him. “Honey, we need to talk.”
My bile rose at being called honey by this guy. I shuddered as I pressed my lips together.
“I miss you, Marilyn. I miss us.”
“Mara,” I snapped, irritated that he’d used my full name, like a parent scolding a child. He was way too much like my dad with his superior attitude and manipulative behavior.
I stilled. Epiphany alert. My obnoxious ex reminded me of my dad. Gah! That was completely gag-worthy. I’d put a bookmark in that and think about it later.
Or maybe never. Ugh . Who wanted to think they had daddy issues? Gross.
“We need to move beyond what happened,” he said. “Things can be good between us again. You just need to try.”
Anger, sharp and hot, blasted through me, and I let out a bark of laughter. If I tried to write down a list of his offenses with a black Sharpie on Superman’s red cape, I’d have had to use both sides. As if I’d ever do something so heinous to Superman.
“You’ve got to be kidding me. There’s way too much to move beyond ,” I snapped back. “The cherry on top was when you had sex with another woman, lied to me about it, and then blamed me for it when I found out.”
“It was just the one time, I promise. I made a mistake. It meant nothing.”
“It meant everything. You cheated. I caught you in the act. End of story.” I kept my tone cool. I refused to let this man get under my skin. His cheating wasn’t the only reason I’d left him, but it was the simplest one to explain. The less time I spent dealing with Doug, the better. Besides, screwing around was something he could never justify.
“You have to admit, we were lucky to see each other once a week.” He gave me that accusing look I’d come to know so well. He’d used it whenever he was disappointed in me—I’d seen it daily toward the end. “You were working late all the time. I had problems with my boss, and you weren’t there for me.”
I stared at him. I guess I’d been wrong. He really could try to justify it. “We’ve been over this. That doesn’t excuse you.” Doug didn’t even know how to grovel. In his mind, he was always in the right.
"Mara, honey?—"
I needed him to go away. “Sleeping with someone else was only one of your betrayals. What about my booth reservation you canceled for the Pittsburgh Comic Convention? You knew how much I was depending on the exposure I would get for Ghost of a Chance. Not to mention the income it would have generated.”
He held his hands up as if surrendering to me. “I’m the one who paid the booth fee. I needed the cash.”
I stared at him in disbelief before my eyes narrowed. “Every word out of your mouth is a lie. I have the check I wrote to prove it. They sent it back to me after you canceled.”
“Huh.” He quickly covered his satisfied smirk, but not before I spotted it. “I was wondering why I never got the money back.”
Was he for real? “And then there was the news crew you sent here to do that exposé.”
He shrugged with only one shoulder. It was as if my accusation was beneath his notice. “I already told you, I have no idea how your name got on that list.”
I couldn’t help it. I rolled my eyes. “Right. Just like you had no idea how your cock got inside that woman.”
His mouth dropped open. “Jesus, girl. I can’t believe you said that.”
“Jesus, Doug,” I mimicked. “I can’t believe you did that.” I pointed toward the door. “I’m finished with you, and it’s closing time. Go . I need to lock up.”
When he didn’t budge, I swept past him and pulled open the door.
He let out an exasperated huff and spun to face me, his elbow hitting one of my new superhero figures and knocking it to the floor.
I let out a yelp as one of Superman’s legs snapped off and landed at my feet. “Seriously? You’re breaking things now? Stop wrecking my store and my life!” I snatched up the pieces, stormed past him, set them on the counter, and pointed at the open door. “Get. Out.”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m not moving until you agree to have dinner with me.”
Cool anger descended. He wanted to play that game with me? Fine. I swept past him and flipped off the light switch. “Then you can stand in the dark in my locked shop all night, because I’m not going anywhere with you. Just don’t burn the place down.”
I stormed out the door. After I slammed it shut, I heard the idiot let out a muffled curse of frustration.
An instant later, he yanked it open, making it bounce against the wall. “You were really going to leave me in there, weren’t you?” He had the nerve to look offended.
“I told you I was.” Not that I would have. I wasn’t that stupid. I was trying to make a point.
“What’s going on?” Scarlet demanded.
I whirled to see her and Courtney. They both glowered at Doug with nearly identical looks of loathing. My team was here.
“Doug was just leaving,” I told them.
He stepped onto the sidewalk and I locked my front door.
“You can be completely unreasonable sometimes, woman,” Doug snapped.
“Yes, I can.” I gave him a self-satisfied smile.
Scarlet pulled out her phone and started texting someone. “You should go, Doug.” She sounded distracted. “Mara is leaving with us.”
“I don’t know why I bothered coming here today.” Doug sounded like a petulant child.
“Neither do I.” I went to stand between my friends. With Scarlet in her business suit, Courtney in her heels and pencil skirt, and me in my t-shirt and jeans, we made an interesting trio. A powerful one.
I could imagine cartoon puffs of smoke billowing from Doug’s ears as he tromped over to his Camaro, flung open the door, and threw himself into the driver’s seat. He backed out of his spot without even bothering to look, punched the gas, and with a squeal of tires he tore off.
I put my hands on my hips. “Well, look at that. Poof. He’s gone. Scarlet, you’re like magic.”
She gave a perturbed frown. “Well, shoot. I didn’t want him to leave quite that fast.”
I shot her an are you crazy look. “Not fast enough for me.”
A police car turned onto the street and Chief Brown pulled to a stop next to us. “Hey, Madam Mayor,” said the gray-haired man.
“Hey, Mister Police Chief. You just missed him.”
He grimaced and shot Scarlet an apologetic look. “Sorry about that. I got here as fast as I could. I’ll have my guys keep an eye out for him.”
“Thanks. I’ll let you know if he comes back.” She gave him a wave as he pulled away.
I faced Scarlet squarely, my hands on my hips. Something was going on. “Spill it,” I said. “What was all that about?”
“I alerted our police chief that Doug was in town. Did you know there’s a bench warrant out for his arrest for unpaid speeding tickets?” She wiggled her eyebrows up and down like an old-time villain as she grinned in delight.
My mouth dropped open. She’d checked up on him? Scarlet’s mind was even more devious than I’d realized. “You’re kidding me.”
Her grin widened. “If he comes back to town and our police chief catches up with him, he’ll end up spending a night in jail.”
Courtney let out a peel of laughter. “Scarlet, I love the way your mind works.”
A gray Volvo sedan pulled into the spot Doug had vacated, and Lianna sprang out. She looked worried. “I’m pretty sure I just passed Doug, and he looked mega-angry. Was he here ?”
As Lianna hugged me, I said, “He was, but everything’s okay now. Scarlet scared him off. We’re heading to dinner. Join us?”
“Sounds like fun, but I can’t,” Lianna said. “I’m going home early to cook a celebratory dinner for Paul. He just got a promotion!”
“Tell him I said gratz,” I told her.
She looked at me blankly.
“ Con-grat-u-la-tions ,” I clarified. “Gratz.”
Comprehension dawned. “Will do. I’m welcoming him back with homemade sushi—hand-rolled, of course.”
“You could have him eat it off of your stomach. That could be fun.”
Scarlet scrunched her nose. “Fish? On her stomach? That’s just gross.”
Courtney bobbed her head from side to side. “Yeah. Probably. I was thinking of that scene from Sex and the City .”
“Not so sexy in real life,” Scarlet said.
“I need to hurry if I want to finish before Paul gets home. His flight arrives soon, and he should be home an hour after that.” Lianna checked her watch. “That doesn’t give me a lot of time.” She waved goodbye, climbed into her Volvo, and pulled away.
Scarlet thrust an arm out like a general leading the charge. “Onward! To the Not a Yacht Club,” she commanded.
Courtney linked arms with us and all but dragged us down the sidewalk toward the Ohio River.
“Now—what can we gossip about?” Scarlet asked in a singsong voice. She tapped her forefinger against her lips as she gazed skyward, pretending to think. “Oh, I know. Mara can tell us all about her upcoming date with Ford Ross.”
I gaped at her. “I—what—how—?” I sputtered. Finally, I managed to form a cohesive sentence. “How did you know? And it isn’t a date. We’re just meeting for coffee to discuss movies.” That was it, I reminded myself. Nothing more. I’d already turned Ford down. If I wanted our coffee meeting to evolve into something more, that choice was in my hands. Right now, I wasn’t sure what I wanted.
I had to hand it to Doug. Today’s well-timed visit had been an excellent reminder for me to be careful. The last thing I needed in my life was a man.
“Yeah. Right. Keep telling yourself that,” Scarlet said with a smirk. “And for the record, I didn’t know. I guessed. I’m glad you changed your mind.” She looked me in the eye. “Don’t fool yourself. The man asked you out. He clearly has more than talking movies in mind.”
I latched onto that glimmer of hope. Could she be right? Could I still have a chance at something more with Ford? And did I actually want more? My stomach knotted up with anxiety, so I broke contact with Scarlet’s perceptive gaze.
Part of me wanted the man, but a bigger part was panicking. I couldn’t juggle another failure right now. What if Ford was just as horrible as Doug? Maybe I wasn't as good at judging character as I thought.
But—was that true? What about my friends? Courtney and Scarlet. Lianna and Rose. They’d all been kind and supportive this past year. Not manipulative in the least. They were amazing women, every one of them. Maybe I wasn’t such a bad judge of character after all. I simply needed to hold the men in my life to a much higher standard.