5. Chapter Five
Chapter Five
I’m at the end of a very, very short fuse.
That much was clear when I yelled at our rookie, Grace, after explaining the correct way to input a table order into our system three times. Yeah, it wasn’t my finest moment. I nick a fry that fell out of the fryer and pop it into my mouth. Laryssa stares at me like I have three heads, and I’m finding her nonvocal dialogue irritating. She’s looking at me like she knows exactly what’s on my mind, and it’s annoying.
“What?” I bark.
She ducks behind the metal counter of the fast-paced kitchen, her hands shooting up to wave her imaginary white flag. “Don’t shoot, please.”
I almost roll my eyes, but I stop myself.
“Sorry,” I mumble.
“What’s gotten into you today?” she chuckles.
With a shrug and mild glare, I say, “Dunno. Just in a bad mood.”
“I know you’re not known for being the poster child for all things sunshine and rainbows, but this whole woe is me persona is getting a little tiring,” Laryssa says.
My forefinger and thumb migrate to my forehead, trying to rub the tension from it. “I’m allowed to have an off day occasionally. I’m only human.”
She snorts. “An off day? It’s been more like an off week, Mon. You need to snap out of it before you take someone’s eye out.”
“I have been a bitch on a warpath, haven’t I?” I look at Laryssa to confirm.
“You should ask Grace that question.”
I groan, flopping over the metal surface. “I apologized to her. Profusely. But I might have scared her even more with this Jekyll and Hyde thing I’ve got going on.” I pause, holding my head in my hands. “I don’t know why I’ve been in such a shitty mood.”
Laryssa raises her hand. “Oh, I know the answer to this one.”
“Okay, tell me the answer then, Nostradamus.” I arch a brow and take a sip of water.
“Your lack of a sexual release could be a good guess. I can feel the tension radiating off you. When was the last time you got laid? Like, I mean, when did someone really just go to town on you?”
I nearly choke on my drink, barely suppressing my laughter at her brash approach to the subject. Leave it to Laryssa to ask me the most jarring fucking question when my mouth is full of water.
“Are you going to swallow that?” she teases. “After all, spitters are quitters.”
I swallow. “You’re really immature, you know that?”
“Maybe.” She shrugs.
We talk about everything—boyfriends, heartbreak, and shitty parents. No topic is off-limits. But I made it clear that talking about my sex life, or lack thereof, makes me uneasy.
“What are you asking? Oral or full penetration?” I answer, batting my eyes.
She points at me, looking unamused. “Don’t do that. Don’t answer my question with a question. It’s evasive.”
That’s kind of the point.
I slump further over the counter, my finger absentmindedly drawing lines in the condensation of my water glass. Laryssa and I escaped to the back kitchen, away from the guests. It isn’t like we hate our jobs. I just needed a break today, and she more than happily dragged me to our unofficial hiding spot.
“Why are we talking about this now? Here?” I eye my surroundings, watching the line cooks and wait staff buzz around us. The kitchen’s swing door barely stays closed before someone rushes through it.
“Because I just love embarrassing you. I’m kidding. No one cares what we’re talking about.” I turn back to her, her voice coming out more strained. “We never talk about it, and I’m worried about your sexual health, Monroe.”
“But there’s nothing to worry about because nothing is happening,” I say, exasperated.
“Exactly!”
I squint, trying to read her expression. “What do you want from me exactly?”
“I want you to get laid. That can be your birthday gift to me.”
The kitchen is a cacophony of shouts, banging pans, and general clamour, and it all seems amplified in this moment, making my head pound.
“That’s not how it works. You can’t just…” I trail off, thinking better of trying to argue with Laryssa about this.
“You need some dick. End of story.” She crosses her arms, blowing a strand of hair out of her eye.
“And I also need a million bucks, but beggars can’t be choosers in this economy,” I quip.
A humourless chuckle leaves her. It looks like she doesn’t find my wit as charming when she’s on the receiving end of it.
“What are you so afraid of?” she tries again, softer this time.
My whole body goes numb, and that feeling of impending doom, like the calm before the storm, brews inside me, waiting to knock the wind out of me.
I’m afraid of becoming like her. I don’t want to live my life anything close to how she lives hers.
That’s what I’m prepared to say, but the words never make it out. Getting into how my mother has shaped my entire view of relationships and love isn’t something I’m jumping to get into between grease stains and lukewarm water. So, I figure the safe answer is a massive amount of sarcasm.
“Oh, I don’t know, getting killed by some crazy guy for starters.” I chuckle, ignoring the invisible weight pressing against my chest, suffocating me. “I’m not falling victim to a serial killer just because I’m horny. I’ve watched enough Dateline .”
Laryssa huffs, shoving past me as she exits the kitchen. I burst into renewed laughter, trailing behind her.
Out of the corner of my eye, I spot a group of people around my age, some older, that looks familiar. Focusing intensely, I almost feel my eyes popping out, seeing Alden Van Doren at the head of the group. I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck, and to add to my ragged state, I see they are heading toward the far side of the pool and into one of the cabanas I am servicing today.
Of course, just my luck.
Between the pounding headache forming and my lack of sleep, this is the last thing I need—an entitled group of adults making my day worse. But I decide to just suck it up and get it over with. Puffing out an already exasperated breath, I grab the tablet and head toward the cabana. If I’m going to be subjected to another summer of him, I’m going to do it as quickly and painlessly as possible.
A gaggle of voices and various squeals overwhelm me as I step into the cabana. But my ears pick out one deep, scorching voice. It rushes into me the loudest, like a crashing wave. I stand off to the side, hoping to remain invisible, and bide my time until they notice me. After a while, I get tired of waiting and just rip the Band-Aid off. I clear my throat loudly to draw the obnoxious group’s attention. Multiple heads snap toward me, including his.
Alden’s face drops when he sees me. Our eyes meet for half a second before I look away. But I don’t miss how his face scrunches up in disgust.
Well, ditto.
My voice starts out quiet but grows louder as I recite the speech I’ve probably said a thousand times over the years. “My name is Monroe, and I’ll be your cabana attendant today.” I take a breath, not making eye contact with anyone. “This…” I hold up the tablet. “This is a direct line to me. Any concerns, questions, or requests you have will come to me if you use this tablet. It’s actually pretty easy to use, and our system is great—”
I’m losing my window, judging by the looks of confusion and scattered laughs. “Anyway, just use this if you need something. Don’t hesitate.”
It’s silent for a whole minute, and my chest blooms with nerves as I stop to take in each face. And just as I predicted and have come to expect, everyone resumes their chatter, not even acknowledging me at all. Typical.
Wordlessly, I place the tablet on the bar and prepare to make a quick escape. But before I can leave, a man approaches me. He’s wearing a dark green polo shirt, the shirt so snug on him I think I can see his abs through the material, and swim shorts that compliment his darker complexion.
“I’m Wendell.” He sticks out his hand for me to take. I hesitate before accepting it. His grip is firm. “I’m sorry about them.” He juts his chin out, gesturing to the rest of the group.
“Hi. And it’s fine. I’m not going to cry over it.”
Wendell smiles faintly. “Well, regardless, I wanted to apologize for their behaviour and thank you.”
“Thank me?”
He nods. “For giving us such a warm welcome.”
His honesty, or what looks like honesty, clashes against the idea I have of every one-percenter in my head. I try to find any undertone of insincerity, but there is none. That’s a surprise. It isn’t every day that someone thanks me for just doing my job. My own smile forms.
“You’re welcome.”
My body jerks suddenly as my work phone buzzes nonstop against my side. I unclip it from my waistband, the number for this cabana flashing on the screen. I look up and look around for whoever is paging me. There’s a blond man in the corner who looks as entitled as the rest of them, tablet in hand.
“Excuse me a minute,” I tell Wendell, sidestepping him as I march up to the blond.
The blond guy stares at me intensely, eyes roving my body. I should be more put off, and I am, but dealing with a clearly sex-starved man who’s probably picturing me naked is so in the realm of normal for me it doesn’t even make me mad. It only tires me. He sets the tablet down and leans against the bar.
“So, it really works.”
I nod, crossing my arms. “Yes, I wasn’t lying about that.”
He tilts his head, inspecting me thoroughly. “Can I make a request?”
No. Fuck off.
I sigh. “Sure.”
He sticks out his hand. “I’m Nico, by the way. I figured I should introduce myself since we’ll surely be seeing a lot of each other.”
I hum, continuing to stare at his outstretched hand until he gets the memo that I’m not taking it. He awkwardly drops it.
“What can I help you with, Nico?”
His already sleazy smile widens, unsettling me. “I like it when you use my name. It sounds good coming from that mouth.”
I take a step forward, ready to knee him in the family jewels or hit him with an equally charming comeback, but someone else gets to him before I do. It’s Alden. He grabs Nico’s shoulder and, by the looks of it, hard.
“Go take a walk, Nico,” Alden says calmly.
Nico cranes his head, his confident demeanour waning as Alden stands over him, the picture of a subtle threat.
“I—” he starts, his body twisting as Alden clearly applies more pressure to his shoulder.
“It wasn’t a question.”
I gawk, irked that Alden is standing in front of me, thinking I need to be rescued like some damsel. Nico nods quickly before he wriggles out of Alden’s hold and heads out of the cabana. Alden looks at me, his taunting blue eyes assessing me. His face is unreadable, as usual.
He could be angry, sad, or constipated, and I’d never know it. But I’m trapped by his stare, unable to move. I feel like he’s sizing me up, trying to figure out if I’m a threat to him.
I raise my chin, glare at him, and dig my fingers into my arms. “Didn’t need your help, by the way.”
“That wasn’t me helping you. That was me getting annoyed at my employee and telling him to leave.” His eyes dart away. “Sorry to burst your bubble, but not everything I do is for your benefit.”
My skin feels like it’s on fire, each capillary bursting with rage. His eyes find mine again, those intense blue irises mocking, like he knows he has a leg up on me. His mouth lifts at the corner.
“If you did anything for my benefit, you’d stop coming here every single year.” I take a step closer to him, not wanting my voice to carry. “I didn’t know you had the capacity to get annoyed. You know, since you’re a robot and all.”
I’m being incredibly childish and unprofessional, but I don’t care. Alden just brings out that side of me.
He shakes his head. “That’s the best you’ve got? Really? Because I’ve been called far worse.”
“That doesn’t surprise me. You just bring that out in people.”
Alden’s face does something I’m not used to seeing; he smiles. I don’t like it at all.
“Do you know what surprises me? That every time I come back here, you’re still around. I thought they would have fired you by now.”
I ball my fist, fighting to stay calm. “I’m sure nothing would make you happier, but no dice.”
He responds with a nondescript grunt.
Taking a deep breath is a mistake because the potency of his cologne smothers me. But it’s anything but a bad thing. Shit . Why does he smell so good? The warm and smoky scent makes my head spin, and I swear, if I didn’t hate Alden’s guts, I’d be on the floor in a puddle.
“What are you wearing?” he asks, his gruff voice rolling through me. My brows scrunch, and I eye him, but he isn’t looking at me. I follow his gaze down. Oh .
He’s looking at my shoes. Right. He’s looking at them and not at all implying something else. Maybe Laryssa is right, maybe I do need to get laid. Because right now, I am projecting on anything with a dick. I shake my head, mentally nauseous that I’d contemplated Alden and his dick in the same thought.
“They’re my shoes…”
Alden rolls his eyes. “I know that, but why do they look like a toddler just threw up on them?”
I roll my ankle, angling the shoe better. “They do not.” I am suddenly very defensive over my shoes.
“Purple and bright blue, Monroe. They look like vomit.”
My eyes meet his, and I notice that infuriating smirk playing on his lips. I take a breath. “I know exactly what you’re trying to do, and it’s not going to work.”
Alden clicks his teeth, chuckling. “What am I trying to do? Tell me.”
I bite down on my tongue, but I don’t have it in me to hold back, not today. “You’re trying to get under my skin, just like you do every year, but I have news for you. I’m not letting you get to me this time. So, as much as I’d love to continue this back-and-forth, seeing how much of you I can stomach today isn’t high on my to-do list.”
Alden’s jaw clenches. He doesn’t say another word to me before the blonde woman I somewhat remember seeing before comes up beside him.
I clear my throat, muttering, “I should go check on another cabana…”
“Yes, Alden, let the girl go back to her important work,” the woman says to him, not bothering to look in my direction.
I don’t have to be around these rich assholes for long before I start to feel worse about myself. Alden is nothing more than a walking, talking embodiment of everything I despise about the one percent. And that’s the reminder I needed.
I should have known better than to assume my day couldn’t have gotten any worse because I was so obviously wrong. The afternoon seemed to blink by, the sun dipping lower and lower into the horizon, and the once crisp blue skies now popping with bright orange and yellow hues.
Alden and his group have shifted from inside the cabana to lounging by the pool. Before I can take another step, my side buzzes again. I close my eyes and silently pray it isn’t a page from the cabana I don’t want. My stomach leaps when I pull out the phone. There’s only so much I can take. Goddammit.
I swallow my pride and make my way to Wendell, as he seems to be the safe and approachable option. His nose is buried in a book, a thick novel that looks like it is for work more than pleasure.
“Is there anything I can do for you or your guests?”
He looks up, eyeing me once before shaking his head, his designer sunglasses shaking along with him. “I’m not sure.” He looks away, scanning the surrounding area.
“Oh.” I fish out the phone from my pocket and show him the screen that is flashing with the cabana number. “It’s just that my end is going off, and that usually means—” I stop talking when I notice the tablet high in the air. “Never mind.”
The woman from earlier—whose name I now know is Charlotte—waves it around, looking in my direction.
“Right, I’ll just go over there,” I announce to Wendell, who gives me a last smile before ducking his head back down.
When I get to Charlotte, my shadow casts over her, blocking the sun. She makes a shooing motion with her hand, and I step aside, out of the remaining daylight she’s using to tan.
“Yes?” I ask.
Charlotte lowers her sunglasses and rests them on the bridge of her nose. She looks me up and down.
“They made my drink wrong,” she says in a honey and venom-laced voice.
She doesn’t waste any time as she thrusts it at me, as if the drink has offended her personally, and she can’t stand the sight of it.
“What’s wrong with it? Is it too strong, not strong enough—” I start, my words coming out harsh.
Charlotte stares at me blankly for a few seconds. “First,” she begins, “I don’t appreciate the tone. And second, me just saying I don’t like it should be enough to get a new one.”
I suppress the urge to roll my eyes, but I’ll never hear the end of it if I do. “Of course, you’re right. I’ll see that you get a new one right now.”
“That’s more like it.” She leans back in the lounge chair and puts her sunglasses back in place. “You can go now.”
Biting the inside of my cheek, I head for the bar. “Unbelievable.”
I relay Charlotte’s demand for a new drink, and I tell them to add a little extra alcohol to it so that she’ll get off my back for a while. With the new drink, I get back to her in record time, but she’s fallen asleep in the few minutes I’ve been gone. I sigh and set the drink down on the side table next to her.
I’m sure she’ll wake up and yell at me about the ice melting or something soon, but I have better things to do than wait around for that to happen. Turning on my heels, I don’t make it two steps before my eyes snag on something, or rather someone, coming toward me. Alden is dripping wet, looking like he just popped out of an ad for some expensive cologne. He must have recently gone into the pool.
A thousand tiny knots form in my stomach as I inspect each pebble of water gliding down his torso. I try to look at anything but him. I really do, but I can’t. My upstairs brain and my downstairs brain are battling it out, and it’s clear which one is winning. This isn’t good. I guess I have always ignored the fact that in some circles, Alden could be considered attractive or good-looking or hot. I cringe. No, you don’t find the insufferable jerk hot.
“Get a good enough look?” Alden’s voice calls out.
My cheeks heat from embarrassment instantly. All thoughts of his remote hotness or about those pecs I could sink my teeth into burn to a crisp. I can’t believe he caught me staring at him. Crawling into a hole and never coming out again would be preferable.
He stops in front of me, and that agitating smirk makes me want to bolt.
“Please,” I scoff. “I wasn’t looking at you.”
He raises a brow. “Really? Because that drool on your chin tells me a different story.”
“You have a vivid and delusional imagination.” I subtly swipe my thumb over my chin just to double-check.
Alden hesitates before answering, which makes me wonder if he believes me. “You’re allowed to look, you know? It’s not a crime.”
I nearly choke on my tongue. Okay, moment of insanity over. My blood is back to the boiling point as Alden sweeps his eyes over me, an infuriating look on his face.
“It should be when you look like that.” I close my eyes in frustration, a groan slipping past my lips. My voice is husky, and I’m getting flustered. He always makes me flustered.
My dig sounds a lot like a compliment and not at all like the scathing attack I want it to be. I hear something come from him that resembles a laugh, and I open my eyes to witness it. He is still dripping and being all manly, and my hormones can’t take much more.
So, I take a step back, trying to gain some composure. I wrench my wrist with my opposite hand. Why am I nervous? I don’t get nervous around Alden. I don’t get anything around him except for being nauseous.
“Thank you.”
I groan. “It wasn’t a compliment.”
He smiles. “I’ll take it, anyway.”
“Can you put a shirt on at least? My corneas are burning as we speak.” I put my hand over my eyes.
When I open my eyes, I see Alden take a T-shirt from the chair beside him. He puts it on.
“Better?”
My chest burns as I hold my ground, determined not to show Alden how much he’s affecting me right now.
“It’s not any worse.”
“By the way, I’ll send you the bill for my dry cleaning since you ruined my pants with that little accident last night,” Alden says.
I can’t help the smile that forms. “It wasn’t on purpose. I can’t help my clumsiness sometimes.”
“Given your track record, I find that hard to believe. Those pants weren’t cheap, so if you need to pay in instalments, I’d be happy to set up a repayment schedule for you.”
“You’re serious? As if you couldn’t buy five hundred pairs of those same pants without making a dent in your bank account.”
“Deadly serious.”
I shake my head. “I’m not paying a dime, especially since you spilled whisky down my shirt last year. Consider this my payback. In full.”
Alden rubs the back of his neck. “Now, that was an accident. You came out of nowhere, knocking into me like that.”
“And you just stood there in the way when I had a tray full of drinks!” My chest heaves. “That was my favourite shirt, and it was ruined because of you.”
I can feel myself getting angry about the incident all over again, so I take a breath.
“Tell me how much it was. I’ll write you a cheque right now.” He smirks.
That fucking smirk aggravates me more than it should.
“Keep your money because I don’t want it. I’d rather survive solely on macaroni and cheese and hot dogs the rest of my days than ever take any amount of money from you.”
“Fine.” Alden runs a hand through his wet hair. “Call us even then.”
“That’s fine with me.”
We’re immersed in a charged moment before I see Charlotte stomp her way over to me out of my peripheral.
“Are you trying to kill me?” she screams in my face.
I move back and hold my hands up. “Not intentionally.”
She scoffs. “Did you add gin to my drink?”
I look at Alden quickly, almost forgetting that he’s beside me. “I’m not sure, but I can ask the bartenders—”
“Do you see my face? Do you see how red it is?” I nod, just now noticing how red and splotchy her skin looks. “I’m allergic to gin.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”
She crosses her arms. “Of course, you didn’t. Why would I expect anything from an incompetent two-bit nothing like you?”
Humiliated, I fold into myself as Charlotte berates me in front of everyone around us. I open my mouth to defend myself, to apologize again, to do something, but someone else’s voice comes out instead.
“Charlotte, that’s enough.”
Both Charlotte and I turn to Alden.
“But Alden—”
He continues, “She didn’t know, and she apologized. And making a scene about it isn’t going to fix the issue.”
The tips of her ears turn cherry red, matching her splotches. A final glare is all Charlotte offers before she huffs off in silence.
When she’s gone, I turn to Alden. “I could have handled that. It’s my job to handle it. I don’t need you to step in.”
“I know. But she wasn’t going to stop coming at you. I was trying to prevent any more of it.”
I back away from him slowly. “Don’t choose this moment to start acting like a decent person.”