Page 12 of Stoker's Serenity
She made an exasperated noise and said, “Yeah, but you work in a trade, which is at least noble work. Not like me, twenty-seven bouncing from job to job with no prospects whatsoever, but unwilling to incur a massive load of debt only to still have no prospects… Ugh… I feel so trapped and it sucks, and I don’t even know why I’m telling you anyof this. Oh, my god you must think I’m crazy. I am so making a terrible first impression, aren’t I?”
“No, actually, I like how frank and honest you are. It’s like what you see is what you get – no bullshit.”
She sighed and it held a tiredness, a sort of sadness which was echoed in her voice when she murmured, “Yeah, well, I feel like the world would be a much better place if people were more honest with each other.”
“No doubt,” I agreed, and got the suspicion that maybe people hadn’t always been honest with her.
There was a long silence as we each got sort of lost in our own thoughts, but it was a comfortable silence. At least, it was for me.
“Should I let you go?” she asked and I glanced at the clock on my phone.
“Shit, yeah, as much as I hate to say it – it’s getting late for me.”
“What time do you have to be up?”
I cleared my throat. “For this job? Four in the morning. Takes me that long to get where I’m going.”
“Bad commute?”
“Yeah, not much traffic at that hour but it’s a ways, that’s for sure.”
“Alright, well, be careful.”
“Call me tomorrow?”
Another long pause full of promise before she said, voice shaded with surprise, “Uh, yeah. What time is good?”
“Uh, either before two or after four-thirty,” I said.
“Okay. I’ll call you tomorrow.”
“I’m looking forward to it,” I told her honestly.
“Me too,” she murmured.
“Night, Serenity, sleep well.”
“You do the same,” she said, and I loved the sound of her voice, soft and gentle, velvet over the line. I could fall asleep just listening to her talk. It was probably one of the most soothing sounds I’d ever heard. Somebody had named this girl right, that was for sure.
I disconnected the call before I was tempted to keep it going, to keep her talking. God, it was tempting though. I felt like a goddamned teenager with a hardcore crush.
I sighed and set my phone aside on the end table and closed my eyes. I swore if I breathed deeply and slowly enough, I could just catch the faintest whiff of her delicate perfume.
5
Serenity…
“Shit.”I sighed and put my phone back in my purse. It was after two, I couldn’t try to call until after four-thirty, and as soon as my lunch was over I was working until six, so… yeah. I chewed my bottom lip as I sat in the mall’s food court and wondered how late was too late to call when he had to get up so early.
I was a world-class worrier, no doubt about it.
“Uh-oh, what’s that look for?” Linny asked, dropping into the seat across from mine with a hearty sigh.
I shook my head and said, “It’s nothing.”
“Oh, you suck at lying. Please tell me you hooked up with that hot guy from the MC.”
“No,” I said, but I couldn’t hold out. I let out an explosive breath and told her the truth. “We’ve been talking, though.”
