Chapter 5 #2
“Unfortunately, yes.”
Dammit. I knew it. Well, Stella spoke it first, I guess I should give some credit to her.
“First, Charlie raises my rent and now—”
“Wow, wait, Charlie raised your rent?”
“Yep, I’m now paying thirty-five hundred dollars for that shitty studio apartment. And before you ask, I researched it, he can raise it. It’s the beginning of the month, so at most I could get away with a small extension because his only requirement is to give a thirty-day notice.”
“Fuckers aren’t going to let you go, Jen. That’s insane.”
“It’s outrageous, I’m aware. My lease ends at the end of January so I can try to find a new place, but I have to make ends meet in the meantime.
Which is much harder to do, considering I can’t even get my foot in the door to work outside of the wine bar.
” I throw my hands up in frustration. “Fucking Hank and Charlie.”
“You forgot Tally,” Blake adds.
“What? What’s she doing?”
“Jen, you seriously don’t know? You think Hank and Charlie are smart enough to know the requirement and timing for raising rent legally? That they would know how to get lies about you spread out to nearly every tattoo shop downtown in the span of a week?”
My jaw hangs. “Tally’s doing this?”
Blake gives me a pity smile. “I’ve tried to calm things down the best I can. I didn’t know about the rent being raised, but I think I’ve gotten Tally to at least stop blacklisting your name for now.”
“All because I don’t want to work here? This is insane! Her husband is an asshole who hits on anything and everything. You know how he is, how he treated me! Maybe Tally needs to be clued in on all that.”
The pity only intensifies. I don’t have a good feeling about this.
“She’s well aware of Hank’s behavior, Jen. She doesn’t care—they have an open marriage and frankly, I think she’s just as bad.”
“Of fucking course,” I grit out. Some part of me knew she wouldn’t care if I told her about Hank, but I didn’t want to believe it. “What lies is she telling people?”
Blake gives me a pointed look. “You really want to know?”
“I need some sort of idea. I can’t disprove her lies if I don’t know what they are.”
The pause Blake gives me only makes his next sentence worse. “She’s got a few circulating. One that you were having an affair with Hank.”
“Oh, fuck off, you just said they’re in an open marriage!”
Blake snorts a laugh. “You just found that out yourself, not every tattoo parlor in Boston knows that.”
Dammit.
“He’s repulsive!”
“Again…Boston, Jen. They don’t care, they just know they have another tattoo place calling saying bad things about a person looking for a job. No sane person wants unnecessary drama in their place of work.”
I crane my neck back. “Keep ’em coming. What else is she saying?”
“That you didn’t actually complete your requirements. You stole from the shop on several occasions, and now, bear with me—she apparently found out about me supervising Lucie’s tattoo. She’s spinning it that she was underage.”
“Ay, wonderful. That’s just perfect.”
“Listen, don’t give in. I’ve stayed here way longer than I need to, and you telling Tally ‘no’ was the nail on the coffin for this place. I hate that it comes at your expense, but I see I’m going to have to play my exit smartly.”
I damn near want to laugh. “Glad I could show you what leaving gets you.”
I want to scream and rage break everything in this place, but they aren’t deserving of that reaction from me. I refuse to give them any more ammunition, especially one that would be true.
“I’m going to continue trying to run interference for you the best I can in the meantime. Maybe lie low on the tattoo places for a bit, let them get their fit out. If you need a place to stay while finding a new apartment, I can offer up my couch. Gotta warn you, though, I have shit roommates.”
“Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind. Might be my last resort.”
Blake sits back on his rolling stool. “Hey, as long as working here isn’t above that. I’m serious, Jen, don’t back down. I should have left a long time ago.”
“It’s not on the table, I swear. Thank you for sticking it out while I was here.”
Blake shrugs. “Don’t mention it, I would want someone to do that for my sister.”
“I know the feeling. I owe it to my sister to keep going, so I’ll figure it out. Lies will only get them so far, I think completing this apprenticeship is proof that I’m patient enough to outlast their bullshit.”
Blake hums. “There’s a silver lining if you want to look at it this way, but they have to lie to ruin your hard work and reputation. Truth would ruin theirs, and there should be peace in that.”
“Bad fruit falls from every tree eventually, doesn’t it?”
“Sure does.” Blake clicks on his phone. “You might want to head out, Hank’s got someone coming in half an hour. I wouldn’t want to risk—”
I hold my hands up. “Consider me gone. Hope your exit goes smoother than mine.”
Blake chuckles. “Plotting and planning it as we speak.”
I muster up every bit of strength I have left to make it to Lucie’s dinner. I wanted so badly to cancel, but Lucie sent out a “no bailing” text to the group chat with about five different threatening emojis.
If this had been anyone else’s party, I might not have cared about canceling, but Lucie is my girl. I love Callie and adore Emma—Reagan is just as aggressive as I am, but Lucie is my favorite. We all have favorites, whether we admit it or not.
After my talk with Blake, I called my sister and we worked out an extreme budget for me to be able to make my rent.
Granted, it also calls for me to up my hours at Winedown, but thankfully that job is practically locked in place.
Tally wouldn’t get ahold of a person in charge through the phone to save her life, and if she showed up, I think Mia would laugh her lying, tacky ass out the door.
We made small adjustments to my five-year plan. When she pulled out the tarot cards, I was practically begging her to hold off on them. Diving into anything of my past, present, and future after the day I’ve had really might’ve sent me over the edge.
Walking in Dex’s penthouse, I know I’m bound to be the last one here, and with the sound of all the voices coming from the living room, I’d say that’s a pretty accurate assumption.
I hang my bag and coat on the racks by the door when it swings open.
“Well, if this isn’t perfect timing,” Beck says with a smile.
“Hey,” I grumble. I don’t have it in me to be anything but tired with him right now.
All my energy is being reserved for faking it around Lucie.
She’s already Stella’s twin flame, just take out the burn.
I don’t need her mother-henning me. If she knew, she’d have already sent me an astronomical amount of money or moved me in.
Before I can even make a full turn to the living room, Beck lightly grabs my arm. “Whoa, Jensen, you good?”
Beck softly rubs his thumbs back and forth. I can see the genuine concern written all over his face. For a solid two seconds, I consider unloading everything, but by the third second, I come to my senses and pull my arm tight.
“I’m fine, Beck. Just a long day, and I don’t have the energy to entertain you on a normal one, so…”
The corner of Beck’s mouth turns up. “I guess you can call me on a lazy day then.”
Don’t smile. Don’t smile.
That should not have made me feel anything. It was a cheesy one-liner that borderlines stupid, but it wasn’t him pushing me to talk. It wasn’t him calling me out for being a bitch. It was what I needed his response to be without me even realizing it.
I meet his green eyes. “I don’t have lazy days, Beckham. Now, come on, they’re probably waiting on us.”
Following the sound of all the voices, Beck and I find everyone circling around Dex’s massive island full of homemade pizzas.
Lucie spots us first and her eyes light up. “Beck and Jensen are here!”
I guess Lucie’s threatening text worked. We’re met with a chorus of greetings from our whole group, and Miles all but launches himself at Beck.
Beck catches him with ease. “Hey, All-star, you make any of these pizzas?”
A small pit forms in my stomach watching Miles recount every detail of making these with his dad and the completely captivated look on Beck’s face.
Yep, that’s enough of that. Breaking away from them, I move toward Lucie. “Hey, sorry I’m late.”
“That’s okay, it seems to me like you had perfect timing.” Lucie beams, and I swear my eye starts to twitch.
Callie leans over from behind Lucie. “She means we’re so happy you’re here. Don’t hurt her today. She gets a pass.”
She gets a pass?
Before I can ask, Dex swoops in, pulling Lucie to his chest, and kisses the top of her head. She looks up to him with freaking hearts in her eyes.
I love how happy they are and while seeing Beck with kids might form a pit in my stomach—Dex and Lucie only make me feel happy.
“Okay, everyone, listen up,” Dex says. “Lucie and I were going to wait to say anything, but considering you guys are the nosiest fuckers on the planet—”
Will tosses his hands up. “Heaven forbid a guy ask about his sister when she’s been sick.”
Callie takes his hands and pulls them around her. “He’s done.”
Dex shakes his head with a sigh. “Between that, and the fact that Callie, Emma, and Miles now know—”
“Lucie’s growing me a baby brother or sister!” Miles yells from the other side of the island, still being held by Beck.
Dex hangs his head with a laugh. “Yeah, what Miles said.”
While we’re all still processing, Lucie pulls a ring out of her pocket and slides it on her finger before flashing it to us. “And we’re engaged!”
At that, everyone cheers and moves to crowd them. Beck, Adam, and Tripp go for Dex first, while Callie, Will, Emma, Reagan, and I steamroll Lucie.
My head is slowly wrapping its way around the baby announcement, so I reach for her hand first to get a look at the incredible marquee diamond. “Holy shit! Lucie!”
Callie comes around to the other side. “Ah, I didn’t know he was going to ask you!”