Chapter Five #3
Last time I was there, I half expected Ainsley to kick me out.
After going back and forth a bit, I finally had enough of Tris’s attitude and told her that she’s proof that caffeine doesn’t fix everything.
I almost felt bad, but I can’t say I didn’t love watching her face turn three shades of red.
Honestly, it made my day. Even Tom noticed I wasn’t in as bad a mood.
Of course, the realization that I was smiling because of something related to Tris set me right back where I started.
The real pisser is that I still haven’t had a cup of coffee there that I’ve enjoyed.
Seriously, how hard is it to make a decent cup?
Everyone else around here salivates over all their flavors.
Tourists mark it on their “must stop here” lists, but each time I’ve had a cup, it’s either been too sweet, bitter, or tastes more like some brand-name candle than coffee.
“Not today, Billy,” Chief replies, turning to me with a slick ‘gotch’ya’ expression before glancing back at Billy. “But the Captain was just saying how impressed he was today with everyone’s hard work. Even mentioned wanting to treat everyone to lunch, so the timing couldn’t be more perfect.”
“Oh, wow, that’s awesome.” Billy turns back toward the hallway. “Guys! Lunch is on Captain King today.”
The crew sounds off with words of appreciation as they all head toward their vehicles.
“Better get a move on,” Chief says with a smirk, shuffling through some papers on his desk.
“Real clever,” I say flatly, standing up and walking to the door. “How do you know I won’t just go home?”
He evens out the papers once, then twice, before he peeks up above them and at me. “Because Captain Levi King, I know something that you don’t.”
His answer catches me off guard. “Oh yeah? And what’s that?”
He laughs, a deep rumble from within his chest. “Sorry, Captain. You’ll have to figure it out.”
With that enlightening revelation, I leave the chief’s office and make my way to my new truck feeling more aggravated than I did when we were running the drills.
I shut the door and grip the wheel, the panic from earlier fading but leaving its stubborn weight pressing down on my chest. I watch one by one as my crew peels out of the parking lot.
And despite this being the last damn place I want to be, I throw it in gear and follow them, heading straight for the Cozy Pines Cafe.
Screw it.
The second I walk into the Cozy Pines Cafe, something feels different, off.
Like the air is charged somehow, instantly setting me on edge.
The rest of the crew doesn’t seem to notice, but it’s my job to be vigilant, so I take everything in, looking for something that’s not how it should be.
I look around, but everything looks like it always does.
Vines are hanging, and patrons are laughing.
It’s busier than usual, filled with the regulars along with the tourists here early for the Memorial Day weekend.
The place smells like there’s a fresh batch of something delicious ready to be enjoyed, mixed with the aroma of freshly brewed coffee.
Nothing seems off until my attention catches on Ainsley and Tris behind the counter.
Ainsley looks distraught, like something has upset her, and usually I wouldn’t really care, but that’s not the unsettling part.
She reaches her hand out and comforts Tris.
Against my will, my own pulse spikes at the interaction.
My fists curl at my sides as I wonder what’s wrong.
Before I can tell myself to leave it alone and look away, Tris’s eyes find mine, as if they’ve been pulled by some invisible string.
The look of pain and sympathy etched into her expression punches through my chest. It’s harder to swallow than any I’ve seen from her before.
The rawness of it catches me off guard, like I’ve caught a glimpse of the woman beneath the cold exterior.
But all at once I realize what’s happening.
When she sees me and her expression doesn’t shift to disgust, annoyance, or utter disapproval of my presence, the reaction I didn’t realize until now I’d grown used to, I understand what Ainsley must have told her.
She’s the only one who’s never once looked at me the way she is right now.
She knows.
The longer we stay in this locked gaze, the tighter my fists squeeze, and my jaw clenches.
Finally, she looks away, and I find my seat with the rest of the crew.
She comes over and takes the table’s order.
Billy and Mark look like they’ve folded in on themselves at the sheer sight of her.
This is a woman who demands a room and brings men to their knees, but suddenly will no longer look at me.
In my seat, I’m stewing, and when it’s my turn to order, I spew nothing but digs to get her to turn her expression back to the one I’m used to.
I don’t want her sympathy. I don’t want her looking at me the way everyone else does.
But the part that really gets under my skin, the part I don’t want to examine too closely, is why it bothers me at all.
Why her looking at me like this is sending me into a spiral of devastating rage.
That’s where the anger settles. Not at her. At myself.
God, I hate her.
She takes off, and the table collectively sighs in relief.
“Seriously?” I grunt.
“Listen, you’re a scary dude, but she’s still at the top of my fears list and has been since like kindergarten,” Mark says, hands up in mock surrender.
“I always thought it was the money and power that made her scary, but nope. She’s still got it.” Billy peeks a look over his shoulder toward her, but quickly turns back around.
“Money and power?” I ask, hoping I sound less interested than I feel.
“Oh yeah, man. Uh, I mean, Captain,” Mark corrects himself, and I internally groan. Get on with it. “Tris’s family used to be like the DuPonces.”
“Only not as nice,” Billy adds.
“Yeah, definitely not as nice. Her family was loaded. I’m talking, mansions, private islands, and jets. The woman made those reality TV show stars look like a joke. Anything she wanted was at her fingertips.”
I glance over at the woman across the room who is now wiping the back of her hand across her brow, spreading powdery sugar across her face. When she realizes what she’s done, she huffs in frustration.
“So what the hell happened? Because other than the holier-than-thou attitude, that’s not the woman I’m looking at right now.”
“Be careful, she’s like Medusa,” Maria chimes in. “She’ll turn you to stone.”
“Her dad was arrested, and her family lost everything. He’s in jail now for a butt load of charges. I don’t know the details exactly, but it’s not good. His court date is coming up in the fall, I think. Ask Tom, he knows way more than I do. He helped the FBI with the case.”
“No thanks. I’m good,” I tell Billy, because I don’t need any more information on this woman than I’ve already got.
“Suit yourself, but could you do me a favor? Can you ask to get my order to go? I have work at the Turtle Bay Tavern tonight, and as previously stated,” he says, a smirk growing on his face as he peeks behind him again. “She scares me.”
I roll my eyes, now feeling like I’ve got the whole picture, and it all makes sense.
It sounds like the Princess was knocked off her pedestal and lost her crown.
I glance back over, hoping to further prove all the reasons I can’t stand this woman, but wind up cursing myself for not being able to look away.
I watch her fluid movements as she reloads the coffee machine, her hips moving as she walks back and forth, offering help to Ainsley.
When a little kid presses up to the glass, eyes locked on a pastry, she glances around, slips it out, and hands it to him, pressing a finger to her lips in a quiet shush.
Gaze still fixed on her, my chest loosens, warmth creeping through me, while my stomach clenches in sudden tension. I turn my attention back to the table and pretend to be listening while I silently fight to regain a semblance of control over the tumultuous emotions rioting inside of me.