Chapter 16 - Nia
“Good morning, bitch!” Emma screeches through the other end of the line.
I frown, eyes still closed, and shift in my queen-sized bed. “Ugh. Why are you so chirpy this early in the morning?”
“No, you weirdo, I just slept real late.” I huff and scratch the back of my thigh through my raised oversized t-shirt.
“Noah let me take a few more days to myself before I can go back to the café, so I’m taking advantage of that.
He said he didn’t want me looking like a heartbroken zombie while serving our gossip-hungry customers, so he wants me to figure my shit out before I can step into the shop again.
Didn’t I tell you all of this on the phone yesterday, though? ”
She clicks her tongue. “You did, but I forgot. Also, your brother is an asshole for keeping you away from work. I can’t imagine a better breakup remedy than snorting freshly pressed coffee beans up your nose. It’s quite literally the ultimate medicine.”
My chest tightens at her words, but I brush off the feeling before it can take over, because I can’t always be strong enough to deal with the pain that comes along with it. Sometimes I just need to be able to breathe without having to brace myself for an attack, or worse, a mental wound.
Most scars vanish over time, stop hurting as they age into our skin. Maybe mine would, too, despite them not being physical ones.
I rub my eyes. “My head hurts; let me go back to sleep.”
“Why the hell did you even receive my call if you didn’t wanna talk?”
“Because you kept calling insistently and I had no other choice but to answer you?”
Silence, and then… “I did?” she asks innocently, which makes me chuckle.
“You’re incorrigible,” I say.
She laughs, and then sneezes. “Sorry.”
“Bless you.” I yawn and straighten in bed, which results in my t-shirt to rise above my thighs. My eyes immediately go to the open window above the study table on the right, and sure enough, I find my neighbor’s son, Bob, ogling me with a hand inside his pants.
Fucking perv.
Trying to avoid any and every encounter with Cass has led me to confining myself in my house. It has also led to Bob getting a front-row view of me sleeping in every day, and despite being an annoying one, it isn’t the most important issue in my life.
Noah has given me my unquestioned space after the diner fiasco, which I honestly really appreciate.
It wasn’t easy reliving each and every one of Amanda’s words and trying to put ample meaning to them, but I’ve spent hours upon hours on them anyway.
At one point, I even considered the possibility of Cass being the one behind this.
That maybe he was done with me, and because he couldn’t ditch me again, he’d asked his manager to do the job for him.
And, Amanda being Amanda, she’d kicked things up a notch by not only delivering his message, but to also shaming me in the process.
It makes no sense, obviously, and I don’t know why I’m scared of confronting Cass about this.
Instead of talking to him, I’ve been ignoring his calls and messages.
I know that whatever Amanda said to me at Mama Pena’s Diner was all her.
I just know it. Her words, her expressions, and her general disdain towards me – that’s all her, not Cass.
And yet, I just can’t bring myself to speak to him, even though I want nothing more than to touch him, hold him, and kiss him again.
My stubbornness is stupid and uncalled for, but I do need time to myself so that I can…process everything, in a way.
Cass has fired Amanda. He’d texted me as much a little over a week ago. I’m not sure if it was right for me to feel satisfied after having read that message, but I don’t care. I don’t know her well, but I know she isn’t someone Cass needs, professionally or otherwise.
“That creep is staring at me again,” I tell Emma in order to get rid of the thoughts in my head, and curse when Bob starts jerking himself harder when our eyes meet. That bald and bearded caveman-looking asshole has no fucking shame.
“Ewww.” Emma gags through the line. “Please tell me you’re going to at least show him the finger, if not report him to the authorities.”
“He’s harmless, Em.”
“For now.”
I sigh. “His dad’s a decent guy; a family friend. And that puts me under an obligation of sorts.”
“An obligation of letting his middle-aged son jerk off to you?” Emma questions incredulously.
I rise, press my phone between my ear and shoulder, and tie my hair into an overhead bun before walking towards the window. “I don’t know what else you want me to say to you.”
“I want you to tell me why you don’t show him the finger,” she pushes.
“I do!” I say. “I fucking do, Em, but I think that just turns him on even more.”
“Ohmygod,” she mutters. “That’s…questionably gross.”
I chuckle. “Right?” I slide the window shut with a bang. Glancing once at a still-jerking-off Bob, I flash him the middle finger and quickly pull the curtains close.
“You flipped him off, didn’t you?” Emma asks.
I laugh as I face the dressing-table mirror. “Emma Rose Smith, are you accusing me of indecent behavior?”
“I’m confirming. There’s a difference.”
I click my tongue and stare at my reflection. My eyes look…dull against the warm ambience of my room. My cheeks are a bit hollow, my jaw sharper. Pair that with super dry lips and dark circles, and I’m ready to break into Hollywood as the female version of Michael Myers.
I sigh and shake my head. “Do you think I should tell Noah?” I question.
“About Bob?”
“Yeah,” I say. “This has been going on for days now. Usually I’m up early and already at work, so we don’t see each other. But now that I’m home…”
“He’s been creaming his pants to your luscious body?”
I scowl. “Please never use those words in the same sentence again. Better yet, don’t use them at all.”
“But you love me,” she quips.
I roll my eyes. “I do, unfortunately.”
She chuckles. “Okay, so, to answer your question: if you really wanna see Bob lifeless and in a coffin wearing a too-tight three-piece, then go right ahead and tell your brother everything. I mean, have you seen Noah’s biceps? I bet his fist is larger than Bob’s head.”
I can’t help but laugh. “You’re married, Em, in case you forgot. Keeping mental measurements of my brother’s body is hardly appropriate for you.”
“Meh, it’s fine. Martin knows he married a weirdo.”
I grin. “You–”
“Honey!” comes Mom’s voice from the living room.
“Ah, shoot. Hey, Em, my mom’s here. I promised I’d help her and Dad in cleaning their house today.” I walk over to my closet and pull out a pair of jeans and a plain yellow t-shirt. “I gotta go, babe.”
“Of course! I have to go check on Megan anyway. Have to make sure she hasn’t moved from having a normal phone call with her boyfriend to having phone sex with him.”
I stop in my tracks. “I’m sorry, what?”
Emma sighs. “Megan has a boyfriend, Nia. Keep up.”
“She’s 5 years old,” I say in complete disbelief, making sure to emphasize each word.
“Well, her generation moves fast. You and I waited too long, apparently.”
“I…” I shake my head.
“Nia, honey? You here?” Mom calls out.
“Yeah, Mom; gimme 10. I need to dress up.”
“Sure thing!” I hear her humming and moving around in the living room, which puts a smile on my face.
“Go help your parents while I go sneak up on my spawn,” Emma tells me.
I chuckle. “Does Martin know?”
“Have you seen his face flashing on your TV screen for homicide yet?”
I cough behind a fist. “No?”
“Yeah, so he doesn’t know.”
“You’re–”
“Crazy, I know; you’ve said that before.”
I grin. “Alright, gotta go. Thank you for cheering me up. It means a lot; love you.”
“Don’t mention it. I’ve got you, babe. Take as much time as you need to feel better, and once you’re sure you’re ready, talk to him.” She clears her throat. “Before it’s too late.”
Before he goes back to New York, is what she means.
I enter the bathroom. “I will, I promise.”
I have to, right? I gave him a second chance, and he did everything to live up to it; respected the risk I took on him. Until Amanda happened. It would be stupid if I let him go again without a proper conversation. He most definitely doesn’t deserve that, and neither do I.
“Good,” Emma states. “So, I’ll see you at Gerald and Jasper’s party tonight?”
I smile and grab my toothbrush. “Yeah, I’ll be there.”