6. Chapter 6 Sabrina
Chapter 6: Sabrina
T aylor Industries had been a godsend for Sabrina. After college, she’d gotten a job closer to DC. It paid well enough for her to send money back to her mom, but the work sucked. They hired twenty graduates to fill four positions and made everyone compete to earn a permanent role. The pressure had been insane. Within the first year, Sabrina dropped enough weight for none of her clothes to fit right, and she ate tums like candy. When she’d started losing her hair, her doctor said it was stress-related and prescribed self-care.
She changed jobs, but her new position required business attire that made her feel like a clown pretending to be a doctor. They also believed in policy and procedure over thinking and common sense. To say it wasn’t a good fit would be kind. She’d stuck it out for a few years, hating every minute, but eventually they compiled enough dress code and procedural violations to fire her.
Sabrina’s next job was the worst. Her boss was rude on a good day and verbally abusive anytime someone blinked wrong. She’d never forget the image of his shocked face when she’d told him to shove his fancy pen up his ass. She’d lost that job in an instant.
Without thinking, she’d gathered every garment of professional clothing she owned and donated it to a local charity, swearing she’d never wear uncomfortable clothes to sit behind a screen again. Then she’d been called in for an interview with Taylor Industries. The pandemic hadn’t hit yet, and Nathan was still running the business. Since she’d be working with Freddy, he’d been part of the interview, along with Patrick as he learned the ropes to take over when his father retired.
Having been out of work for a few weeks, Sabrina hadn’t been willing to spend much on clothes, so she’d visited thrift stores until she found the softest red dress she’d ever felt. It had ruching along the sides of the bodice and fit her like a glove. She still hated dresses, and this one was better suited for a date than a job interview, but Sabrina bought it anyway. On the morning of her appointment, she realized that she’d also donated her dress shoes and hadn’t bought a new pair to go with the dress. She’d thrown on her canvas Ked sneakers and decided it would have to be good enough.
“Bring the red one,” Freddy said quietly from behind her, his voice huskier than usual. “I drooled on myself that day, you know?”
She turned around. “What?”
He nodded to the dress she now held in her hand. “The day of your interview. Patrick thought I was hungover, and Dad told Mom I was getting sick.”
“You don’t drink,” Sabrina said.
“Nope.” He popped the p . “But you look good enough in that dress to make me want to. Keep it.”
His words confirmed what she already wanted to do, so she draped it over her arm and turned back to check the rest of the closet. There wasn’t much there.
Looking around the rest of the room, she wasn’t sure what else to do. With scraps from the roof, busted beams, and insulation everywhere, climbing over the tree to search for her phone wasn’t an option. It was probably smashed anyway.
Freddy spoke again. “Start packing up the office. I’m going to get pictures of the kitchen for your insurance.”
“Okay.” She followed him out of the bedroom, pulling the door shut behind her so she wouldn’t have to continue seeing her bedroom like that. “It’ll only take a second. I just need to shove my laptop and charger into my bag.” Sabrina hadn’t even thought about taking pictures, but she was glad Freddy did. “Will you get some of the laundry area too? I think they’ll need it to cover the clothes I lost.”
He was standing in the big entryway in the middle of the house with his jaw set firm and his brow furrowed. “You can’t leave any of your stuff here,” he winced as he spoke. “Any of your computer stuff, I mean. It’s too open to the elements. Pack it all up, and we’ll take it to my place.”
Damn, she hadn’t thought about that, but he was right. She grabbed the giant storage tote where she shoved old cords, dead keyboards, and other random accessories she’d likely never use again. Pawing through it quickly, she decided none of it was worth keeping and flipped the whole thing upside down, right there in the middle of the floor. Then she disassembled her computers and monitors and packed them into the tote before shoving the throw and pillow from her loveseat between the parts to protect them from banging against one another.
Once she and Freddy both finished their tasks, he helped her disconnect her TV, so they could take that as well.
“Thank you for helping,” she said. It felt like something had shifted in their relationship, and Sabrina didn’t like it. She never should have kissed him. He was her person, which wasn’t something she’d experienced before, and now she was fucking it up.
Freddy’s face was still set in the fake, cheerful expression he usually reserved for his family dinners or dealing with obnoxious people he had to be nice to, and Sabrina hated it.
“It’s fine. Let’s load everything into my car. It’ll fit better in the hatchback,” he grunted.
“You don’t mind driving it all up to HQ?” she asked.
“We’re not going to HQ.”
“Yeah, we are. I need to—“
Freddy’s glare as he crossed his arms over his chest stopped her. It was hot as hell, but it also made Sabrina want to smack him, just a little. He’d never had nothing. His family meant he had no idea what it was like to start from zero or have no one to rely on but yourself. He couldn’t understand what she was facing, because if the roles were reversed, he’d have a giant, wealthy family supporting him.
He cleared his throat and announced, “I told Patrick you’re taking the day off,” while raising an eyebrow that dared her to argue with him.
“You did what?” Sabrina asked while trying to determine where the nearest lethal weapon was.
“You’re off work today, so you can deal with everything here,” Freddy said again.
“You don’t get to decide that. Besides, who’s going to update the user manuals and tech guides? DS is expecting them by this afternoon.”
“I’ll handle it, or Patrick will tell them the storm delayed delivery until next week.” The muscles beneath Freddy’s jaw flexed as he spoke through his obvious tension. “And this isn’t a big decision. The power’s out over all of Whitetail, and there’s a fucking tree in your fucking bed, so you’re taking the day off.”
“You can’t force me to do what you want,” Sabrina argued. She wasn’t sure why she was arguing. Taking the day off was not only reasonable but kind of necessary. Still, something about letting someone else get involved felt wrong.
Instead of responding, Freddy whipped around and punched his fist through the wall of her living room. Then he flattened both palms against it and leaned forward until his forehead rested just above the hole he created. “You don’t get it, do you?” he asked softly.
“What, Freddy?” She flung her arms out to her side. “What don’t I get?“ Her vision swam as the tears she’d been holding back since two am finally broke free and fell. Freddy was her best friend, her person, the one who understood her and made her laugh. But she had to fuck it up with kissing and arguing and whining about her predicament. She turned away to avoid seeing the pity on his face.
Sabrina knew a lot of people considered her difficult. It had been true for her entire life. Her kindergarten teacher had sent home notes saying she refused to play with other kids, but she’d never understood why she was expected to play with them in the first place.
Sabrina was eleven before anyone invited her to her first sleepover. Every girl in the fifth-grade class was invited, so she knew it had less to do with her and more to do with a mom or teacher deciding things had to be fair. Life wasn’t fair, and even at eleven, most kids knew it. But for some reason, adults were always trying to pretend that everyone had the same opportunities and choices in life.
Despite knowing that her classmates didn’t really want her there, Sabrina had been excited. She’d read about sleepovers, seen them in movies, and heard her classmates talking about them. This was her chance to experience the fun for herself.
Everything had been great at first, but when movie time rolled around, the rest of the girls decided to watch Mean Girls. Sabrina hated that movie. She didn’t mind them watching it. It didn’t hurt her. She just chose something else to do.
The girl hosting the sleepover had a dollhouse that opened on a hinge. With three floors and moveable furniture, it was the most impressive toy Sabrina had ever seen. So when everyone else settled onto the living room floor to watch the movie, she retreated to the bedroom to reenact her favorite stories while making up new endings and presenting new challenges. She was just defending the home from a fire-breathing dragon when the host mom walked in and asked why she wasn’t in the living room with everyone else.
It seemed obvious to Sabrina, but she explained anyway. “I’m not interested in the movie, but this house is amazing.”
“Yes, but you’re here for the sleepover. Everyone’s in the living room. Don’t you want to join them?” the mom asked.
Sabrina remembered her confusion as she tried again to explain that no, she didn’t want to join them. Apparently, the other girls felt her absence was somehow infringing on their fun. When Sabrina stood her ground and refused to watch the movie, the mom had called Tracy, Sabrina’s mom, and asked her to come collect her daughter.
Shaking herself from the memory, she wiped away her tears, cleared her throat, and did what needed to be done. “You should go, Freddy. I’ll load everything into my car and take it up to HQ. I’m sure you’re tired from your trip.”
She turned back around, expecting him to still be across the room, but he wasn’t. Freddy was so close her nipple brushed against him through her tee, making her shiver.
“No,” Freddy said firmly while making eye contact and holding her gaze. “We’re going to load up my car. Then you are going to follow me to my house, where we will unload. Then we’ll both take naps, because neither of us has slept enough to function properly.”
It sounded so tempting, and Sabrina was so fucking tired.
Then his voice softened, and Freddy whispered, as if he didn’t want the tree to overhear, “Just come get some sleep, and then we’ll figure out everything else however you want.”
As a knot of more tears formed in her throat and choked off any words she might try to form, Sabrina nodded her agreement and grabbed the tote of computer supplies to carry out to Freddy’s Audi.