Chapter 5
Five
Colin
22 Years Old
Colin stepped onto the asphalt of the Roaster’s Republic parking lot and adjusted his jacket, running his fingers over the corduroy textured elbow patches once before shutting his car door and meeting Walker around the front of the minivan. This place was familiar, and it would soon eclipse the out-of-place feeling he got just from riding in the new car Walker and Talia had gotten. He missed the old one. It had been outdated, and repairs were starting to outweigh the cost of just buying a new vehicle, but Colin was the type to drive one car and only one car until it died a slow and painful death. He still had the same Audi he had gotten in high school, and he meticulously cared for the thing so it would last longer and he wouldn’t have to get used to a new car. There were too many memories in the backseat to junk it.
“You still drink it black?” Walker asked as they walked inside the coffeehouse.
“Yep. Cognitive function and all that.” Colin nodded. He had always wondered why caffeine made him feel less hyperactive when it seemed to have the opposite effect on other people. Now he knew exactly why.
“Remember that time we tried to go on a health kick and we cut out coffee for a month?” Walker asked as they approached the counter.
“Worst month of my life,” Colin said. And he meant it, too. Not because of the lack of coffee, but because it had been right after his high school graduation and right after his and Scarlett’s relationship went up in flames.
“I agree,” Colin’s aunt, Talia, called out from behind them. She was seated at her normal couch beside her best friend Amala and sipping out of a mug, high ponytail bobbing behind her head. When he arrived at the house that morning, Talia was already gone, so Colin was happy to see her now. More routine and more familiarity for him to latch onto for comfort. “You two were the grumpiest assholes ever that month, and I hope you never go on a health kick again.”
“It was Colin’s idea.” Walker pointed a finger at Colin.
“I said I wanted to start running. You’re the one who added all the diet stuff to it,” Colin countered.
“True.” Walker grimaced. “I can’t cook, either, so I don’t know why I thought that was a good idea.”
“If I recall, it was because you said you were losing your abs and you wanted to look good naked again,” Colin informed. His statement was immediately followed by snickering from Talia and Amala.
“Jesus,” Walker huffed. “Maybe don’t announce that to the whole coffee shop?”
Colin winced. “Sorry.” Sticking his foot in his mouth was his forte. If there was a fact or explanation he could provide, he had a hard time keeping it to himself, and occasionally people didn’t want to remember things or to know about every single chemical that had been known to cause cancer when they were just trying to heat their leftovers in a styrofoam container. A fact Colin had learned from living in the dorms at Johns Hopkins University and watching his roommate use the microwave like it was his job.
Luckily, Walker knew him well and just slapped his back with a grin and called back to his wife, “I don’t know what you’re laughing about, Ponytail. You directly benefit from all of this.” He gestured up and down his body.
“That she does,” Amala piped up.
“You two need to stop telling each other everything,” Walker grumbled.
“Why?” Colin asked. “I would think communicating about sex would help increase the use of contraception and decrease sexually transmitted diseases.”
“Well, at least he knows about protection,” a voice said from the doorway to the back room. Colin should have thought twice about coming to Roaster’s Republic, but he had zero idea that Scarlett’s sister, Harper, was still employed there. The new name tag on her black apron said “manager,” so he was already calculating how long he had to be in her presence before he could make a quick exit. He wasn’t good at reading social cues, but he could tell that Harper was staring daggers at him despite him not making eye contact. That, and about two months after he left for college, she had called him up to tell him he was “a good-for-nothing asshole who thinks he’s better than everyone.” It didn’t bother him that she had said that because she was so far off base that the words held no meaning. What bothered him at the time was that she had refused to answer his questions about how Scarlett was doing, so he had to have Carter keep tabs on her for him. That ended when Carter left for college, and Colin felt a little sheepish about asking Walker or Talia to do the same. His youngest sister, Pearl, wasn’t discreet enough for the job, and his youngest brother, Cooper, would end up making an investigation out of it and stalking Scarlett a little too well. So, instead, Colin heard virtually nothing about Scarlett for several years other than through her social media, which he only allowed himself to look at once a week. Mostly, there were pictures of paintings she had finished—all painstakingly beautiful—or pictures of her with her sister, who was currently glaring at him like he had kicked a puppy.
“Harper.” Walker’s tone was drawn out and cautionary. The way Colin’s father used to sound when Colin did something wrong.
“It’s fine,” Colin assured him, but kept his eyes on the floor. Eye contact was always uncomfortable. If he had to use it, he usually counted out the seconds for a designated amount of time. When he interviewed for his current job, he had practiced on FaceTime with Carter to make sure he wasn’t looking away too quickly or staring for too long, which often happened when he overcompensated. He didn’t know why eye contact was so important when the job he was applying for entailed working in a lab forty hours a week with little to no contact with anyone other than the research team, but he had gotten the job, so whatever he’d done during the interview process must have worked.
“So, I guess you’re visiting?” Harper made it to the counter, and Colin was grateful for the physical divider between them.
“I’m back permanently,” Colin said. “I got a job in Merrick.” The neighboring town was widely known for its oncology center and research facilities. It was in part why he had chosen to pursue cancer research because even when he wasn’t planning to come back, his subconscious had wanted to. The main reason he had chosen his occupation, though, had nothing to do with routine and everything to do with his favorite person on Earth. Not a single thing had changed in the last four years on his end. He was still in love with and would always be in love with Scarlett Wallace, no matter how much she and her sister despised him.
“Lovely,” Harper huffed out.
“For the love of God, can you just take our order?” Walker cut in.
“Sure. A black coffee and… the tears of a thousand women for him?” Harper gestured in Colin’s peripherals to him.
Colin’s hands started to fidget at his side. “Just another black coffee.” His eyes zigzagged across the floor, searching for anything to make a focal point to calm his anxiety. That was when his gaze landed on the perfect object to focus on, leaning against the floor cabinets. The painting, with all its tiny blue and red dots, spiraled into a DNA double helix. It was similar to the one hanging up in his childhood home, which he had stared at enough to get lost in. An open book that Walker had bought Talia for their wedding anniversary. This piece had a similar style and had to be by the same artist. And suddenly, he needed the painting. Once he had his mind set on something, it was hard to redirect. The need was so visceral that he couldn’t think of anything else until he had it. DNA made up everything and anything alive or dead. DNA was the reason he was the way he was. DNA was so complicated and intricate that humanity would never solve every puzzle related to it. It was his job. His life. Everything in between.
“How much for the painting?” Colin pointed.
“That’s not for sale,” Harper bit off. That statement alone made him panic a bit, but he was sure he could convince her.
“Why? Because it’s not up yet? I’ll pay you double whatever you were going to ask for it.” He could tell his voice was getting somewhat frantic by the way his hands were starting to quake, but the small amount of control he had in the painting was now on shaky ground, and his body wanted to revolt against the idea.
“Colin,” Walker’s voice soothed with a hand on his arm. “I’m sure we could work something out. Why isn’t it for sale?”
“I don’t make the prices, so I couldn’t tell you what it costs,” Harper said. “And even if I could, I wouldn’t sell it to Colin on principle.”
“Oh, come on—” Walker started.
“Who prices them? Can I speak with them? Please ,” Colin begged. “I need?—”
A flash of copper hair and the swing of the door to the back room caught Colin’s attention mid-sentence. Then Scarlett’s sweet voice made all his thoughts about the painting halt in their tracks.
“H, can you make me tea or something? I’m starting to see double, and—” Soft green eyes shifted over to Colin, and she froze, her feet jerking to a stop.
The mug Scarlett was cradling in her hands dropped to the floor.