"Well so much for your promises," I said. "What'd that last? Two seconds?"
"I'll keep it," he said, "even if it kills me."
"I mean it," I said. "Even if you see me in the supermarket, just keep on going. Alright?"
Instantly, it struck me as an incredibly stupid thing to say. Did billionaires even visit supermarkets? Whatever. As long as he got the point, right?
Slowly, he nodded. But then he spoke, a strangled whisper in the quiet room. "You call me. I'll be waiting."
"Then you'll be waiting a long time," I said.
"I don't care," he said. "Call me anytime. Day, night, middle of the night. I don't care. Just call me. Okay?
"Don't count on it," I said. And then, with Chucky in my arms, I headed toward the front door, opened it up, and walked out. When I hit the front walkway, I set Chucky down. He plopped down on the walkway and refused to budge.
"Damn it," I muttered and scooped him up. He wriggled the whole time I walked toward iron gate, still open from when we'd arrived. The short walk seemed to take forever. But when the gate was finally behind me, I stopped and turned around. Chucky gave a long, plaintive whine.
Lawton stood, framed in his doorway, looking out at me with an expression of such anguish that the lump in my throat grew to epic proportions. I choked it down and turned away, hugging Chucky close as I made my way along the smooth sidewalk.
"Time to go home," I said.
Of course, the home might be Chucky's, but it wasn't mine, because, let's face it, I didn't have one.
Chapter 51
Work, sleep, mope, walk Chucky – the days dragged on with very little change.
At work, Brittney finished all the required training and went out on her own. She was still rude and barely competent, but at least she wasn't my problem anymore. True, I saw her more often than I liked, but she barely spoke to me, and I was happy to return the favor.
Slowly, but surely, those with the flu were returning back to work. I kept waiting for the axe to fall, but somehow it never did.
Instead, I kept getting the worst shifts on the worst nights. I was the first to get sent home and the last to be called in when someone else was sick. I should've cared, but somehow, I couldn't make myself give it more than a passing thought.
Slowly, but surely, I was sinking deeper into a financial hole. But I'd been sinking so long that I was almost used to it. So I did what I always did. I sent out resumes, went on interviews, and curbed any expense I could think of.
At the Parkers, I worked hard to keep myself busy, cleaning, organizing, and consoling Chucky as best I could. For both our sakes, I'd started walking him along a different route, avoiding Lawton's place like the plague it had become.
To my surprise and relief, he kept his promise. I missed him. I thought about him every day. I longed to feel his arms around me and hear his voice in my ear. But wanting him so bad that it made my heart ache didn't mean I should go back to him.
I was on my third week of moping when the sound of the doorbell woke me from a nap on the couch. With weary resignation, I dragged myself up and stumbled, still half asleep, to the door and peered out the peephole.
Who I saw there didn't make me happy. I opened the door and glared at him. "What do you want?"
If Bishop was surprised by my rudeness, he gave no indication. "Got a minute?"
"No."
"That's too bad," he said. "Because I came to apologize."
When I didn't respond, he added, "From what I hear, girls like that sort of thing."
I narrowed my gaze. "Is this some kind of trick?"
"No trick," he said. "I'm assuming you're not gonna invite me in?"
"Got that right."
"Figured as much. Wanna talk outside?"
