Chapter 16 #3
When it was clear she wasn’t going to explain Lot stepped in. “We were working at a coffee shop a few months back, actually, weren’t you preparing for your second interview with the newspaper?”
“Yes,” Hannah hissed with irritation.
Lot shook her head at her sister’s dramatics and continued.
“Anyways. Hannah and this guy ran into each other. He was carrying a to-go tray of coffees, and they spilled all over both of them. Han, apologized, of course, even though it was a complete accident and by the looks of it, I’m pretty sure the guy was the one who turned around and wasn’t even looking when he bumped into her. But the guy was capital P-O'd.”
“I might have taken a page from Em’s book and used some colorful language when he insulted me under his breath.”
“What’d he say?” Mason asked.
Hannah waved her hand in the air, “I don’t even know exactly.
It was in Spanish. I think. Whatever it was, definitely didn’t sound like a compliment.
When he realized I was just standing there staring at him, he commanded me to go get some napkins and clean up the mess.
Well, I told him I was waiting for his balls to drop, because apparently that was what it took for men to act like grown adults and accept it was an accident and move on. ”
“Oh, hell yeah!” Cole shouted holding out his fist for Hannah to bump.
I smiled, watching the pride on his face as he stared at Hannah.
“So, you’re working with this guy?” I asked.
Hannah sighed loudly, “Unfortunately. I got pulled onto an assignment that would have otherwise been a dream if it weren’t for him being on the team.”
“What’s the assignment?” Lot asked.
“It’s for the investigative journalism team. We’re working on a piece about some suspicious deaths of a number of employees at an undisclosable gas company.”
We all gasped and Hannah threw her hands up, “I know! It’s gonna be huge when the story comes out, if we ever get our hands on the information we want. But…freaking Julian Navarro has to be there and ruin all the excitement. And now I just hate going into work.”
“He’s not harassing you, is he?” Cole asked. I looked over to find him frowning like he was planning to hurt Julian if she answered yes.
“No, no. Nothing like that. He just likes to push my buttons. He’s harmless, but annoying as all hell.”
Cole didn’t seem satisfied with her answer and Hannah was quick to change the subject, asking Mason if he was ready for his hiking trip he was going on next weekend with the trekking club he was a part of.
My anxiety didn’t let me process the conversation around me as it continued.
It was unnerving to hear that she was going to be working in investigative journalism.
My brain was already nagging me to Google myself.
My online presence was already non-existent before I joined Los Siete, but I knew there had been one article and a police report about my disappearance as Olivia Walsh.
The FBI and Witness Protection had assured me that they had buried the information online, and it was true, when I put my name into the search bar nothing relevant came up.
It helped that it was the name of an actress.
I gave up after going through twenty Google search results pages.
The only thing about me on the internet that I had been able to find was the church website which mentioned in the about section under Theo’s picture, ‘his wife, Olivia’. Otherwise, it was like I didn’t exist, whether I was Shiloh Tellez or Olivia Walsh.
But with it near the anniversary of my disappearance, I was always concerned that he might make some sort of public post appealing for any information.
Not that he had a social media account that I was aware of.
It was against the church's beliefs to be a part of social media. The only platform they published anything on was recordings of the sermons which were archived on a password-protected website that wasn’t accessible to the public.
It was only used, as far as I knew, by the church staff to share previously recorded sermons with other members.
And Theo used them on occasion to prepare for sermons that he was writing.
“Em?”
I blinked up at Lottie. “Hm?”
“You want something to drink?”
I glanced at the open cooler and reached down, grabbing a cold water bottle.
“Oh, damn. I totally forgot to tell you. When I went to Emory’s earlier,” I audibly groaned and Cole paused to wink at me, “she wasn’t alone.”
“What?” Hannah and Lottie both asked, looking at me.
“Yeah, she was with a guy. Scared the shit out of me actually. I walked in and the guy was holding a knife. I thought I was going to have to use some karate shit on him.”
“What the hell?” Lottie asked, wide-eyed.
“He’s being dramatic. You gave him the passcode to the door downstairs without my permission.
And then he comes pounding on my front door unannounced, of course I freaked out.
I grabbed the kitchen knife to defend myself as I peered through the peep hole.
Enoch just grabbed the knife from me when I opened the door. ”
Lottie narrowed her eyes at me. “Enoch? That’s that guy from the gym? Your ex?”
“I thought his name was Nox?” Cole asked with confusion.
I winced, ready for her to dig into me about him once again. “Yeah. Same person. His full name is Enoch. He just goes by Nox.”
“Wait, who? Your ex works at the gym?” Hannah asked.
“The guy who freaked out on her a couple weeks back,” Lottie said to her sister. “And he doesn’t work there; he was a patron.”
“Oh,” Hannah drawled. “Actually, no. I’m even more confused.”
Cole raised his hand, “Hi, yeah. Please explain. What happened at the gym?”
Mason turned in his seat behind the wheel. “This guy, Nox, he was part of the military group who came in together, had a complete mental breakdown. Was crying, grabbing onto Emory and wouldn’t let her go. Brett came out with his taser and had to threaten to call the police if they didn’t leave.”
“And that’s when she had her accident,” Lottie added, like I wasn’t sitting in on the conversation. “And then I find him in her office a couple of days later acting all cozy.”
Hannah slapped my leg. “What?! You didn’t tell us you were even dating anyone.”
I groaned again, putting the cold water bottle to my forehead. “I met him back in high school.”
“Oh, like, before you moved here.”
I pursed my lips into a thin line. “Yeah. I haven’t seen him since then. Well, until two weeks ago.”
“And you’re, what? Dating again?” Cole asked.
“No,” I mumbled, removing the bottle from my head. I swiped away the condensation from my forehead with my sleeve. “I don’t know.”
“So, what was the big deal at the gym?” Cole asked. “Why did he freak out?”
I sighed, absently staring at Cole’s inked arms that were resting on his knees as he leaned forward to hear our conversation.
“It’s complicated. We both had a lot of trauma surrounding the time that we broke up, and I guess he just got overwhelmed. It was a shock seeing each other again so unexpectedly.”
They all shared a look, and I could tell they were suspicious.
“Well, I don’t want you to get hurt,” Mason said after a moment of awkward silence filled with some country song playing on the speakers. “You’ve been really withdrawn since he showed up.”
Lottie reached over, squeezing my free hand. “Is this guy safe?”
I nodded earnestly. “Yes. One hundred percent. He’d never hurt me. Ever.”
Lottie’s mouth twisted in contemplation before she pulled away. “I want you to be happy, and I’m not saying don’t be with this guy, but it screams sketchy.”
“I dunno,” Cole shrugged. “I thought he seemed pretty chill. Han, come here,” he stood, holding out his hand for Hannah to grab.
Hannah raised a brow but listened. He spun Hannah until her back hit his chest and clamped a hand across her stomach. He puffed up his chest dramatically, his hand clutching an imaginary knife. He gave Mason a menacing glare.
“I’m Nox. You a friend?”
I rolled my eyes at his impression of Enoch.
“The guy was totally staking his claim. I mean, once I realized he wasn’t holding you hostage. Isn’t that what you and Em are always squealing about in your books you read?” Cole asked with a chuckle, releasing Hannah.
“Yes, but, like, those are books. Red flags are irrelevant in fiction,” Lottie said with shake of her head.
Hannah winked at me as she took her seat. “Sounds pretty hot.”
My cheeks flamed and I cracked open my water bottle, chugging down half of it.
“Oh, he is definitely hot. Totally jacked, too.”
I swallowed, pulling the bottle away from my mouth, “Oh, really?”
I gave him a ‘do tell’ expression.
“Dude, are you blind? I could see the muscle definition through his shirt. I don’t even like guys, and I was turned on when he sidled up behind us on the couch.
And when he crossed his arms,” Cole paused, to mimic the pose, his muscles bulging.
“He definitely could make some money filming military thirst traps”
My cheeks flamed even more, and thankfully Hannah noticed my discomfort and kicked Cole in the stomach. “So, what exactly are these karate moves you were going to use in a knife fight?”
Cole laughed, catching Hannah’s foot and holding it hostage as she tried to wriggle free of his grip. “I can show you, if you really want.”
“Alright, alright, children. You ready to get in the water, Cole?” Mason asked.
“Hell yeah!”
Mason stopped the boat in an empty stretch of water and pulled up a middle compartment in the floor of the boat. Inside was what I assumed to be the wakeboard and a neatly folded rope.
“Okay, then. Let’s get this party started!”
Cole removed his phone from his trunks pocket, the music suddenly pausing.
“This one goes out to my fellow emo-lover, Emory Crawford,” Cole said with a broad smile, pointing his finger at me.
The familiar guitar riff began, and I couldn’t help but smile back.
“Reprimanded, why shouldn’t I curse in an email I sent lying when I skip work?” he sang along, using his phone as a microphone.
He continued to sing, belting out the pre-chorus at a volume that had me scanning the area for onlookers. No one else on the water paid us any mind.
Cole pushed the phone into my face, and I relented.
“Faraday!”
I allowed Cole to pull me to stand, his arm slung around my shoulders as we finished singing out the chorus.
“And if I gotta hear the same song again from the manager’s Pandora playlist,” Mason chimed in, pointing at Lottie.
“I swear to God I’ll fill the sink with ammonia and chlorine and block every door,” Cole and I continued.
“And fill every vent! And fill every vent!” Mason screamed, his voice cracking.
“Hey, doofus!” Lottie shouted over the music, kicking her husband in the shin. “You’re just as much the manager as I am. And we all know that Emory controls the stereo when she’s working and forces us all to listen to her emo playlists.”
Hannah laughed at us all and I smiled to myself, Cole holding me tightly as we swayed with the motion of the boat.
Happy. This is what happy feels like.