“Anya!” Tyler must be pissed. He usually doesn’t raise his voice. He’s a lot like Cooper in that way, quiet and reserved. Nothing can ruffle their feathers. Sometimes I swear they’re more like brothers than friends.
My mind returns to Cooper. Sure, the interaction with Anya got my mind off things for a few minutes, but after she left, even the folding of the shirts, sweaters, and shorts that Tyler offers as kind of a souvenir purchase keeps my thoughts at bay.
“You’re up tonight, kid. Anya is out. Long time coming. I hope you don’t mind working tonight. I’ll even let Cooper know, since apparently you two are fighting.” He moves his fingers in air quotes.
“I can work tonight. I’m even wearing sneakers. No dice on jeans though. You’ll have to take it or leave it. We’re not discussing what Cooper and I are until Coop and I discuss it first.” I stand my ground. I swear Tyler is trying to get a rise out of me, hoping I’ll take the bait and spill my guts to him. That is not happening.
“Yeah, you’ll probably get better tips anyways without wearing jeans.” He laughs. I roll my eyes. There’s one thing about The Alibi, Tyler doesn’t have uniforms like other bars tend to. I’m more than thankful for it right now.
“Ha, what happened to Anya?” Two can play this game.
“Besides the fact she was supposed to open today and called in sick yesterday five minutes before her shift started?”
“Yikes.” I finish folding the shorts before making my way to the shirts.
“She wasn’t very friendly to you, and you’re my fucking family. Anya knew that. She was trying to do something that wasn’t possible, and it didn’t work.” The way Tyler states that, it warms my heart. I’ve been trying to hold my tears in all day, then he says that, and the waterworks turn on.
“Ah, fuck. Come here, Hads.” I try to wipe my tears with the sleeves of the hoodie before making my way around the counter. Tyler’s arms wrap around me. He lets me cry on him even though he has no idea why I’m doing so.
“I’m sorry,” I blubber into his shirt.
“No problem. You okay?” I pull back from him, nodding my head, wiping beneath my eyes.
“Me? Never better.” I roll my eyes and laugh at the same time.
“If you need to get out of here and get back to Coop, you can have the night off,” he offers.
“Thanks, but I need the breathing room. He’ll be home when I get there. Maybe by then my raging hormones won’t control me.” This causes Tyler to chuckle.
“Alright, I’ll shoot him a text and let him know you’re working.”
“Nah, I’ll do that. It’s my turn to return his text,” I breathe out. Tyler nods his head before leaving. I get back to my task, but not before texting Cooper.
Me: Hey, I’m working for Tyler today. I promise we’ll talk when I finish this shift.
I put my phone in my back pocket, not thinking he’ll respond right away.
Cooper: I’ll be here, Hadley. I’m not going anywhere.
His words make me think maybe we didn’t fuck up. They also have me thinking that maybe my running away like the blazes of hell was licking at my feet wasn’t the best thing to do. I guess I’ll know in a matter of hours what’s to become of Cooper and me.EightCooperFuck, I’ve done all I can today in my office. The only thing I could do to keep my mind off Hadley and her leaving. It was a disaster of epic proportion, so bad in fact I refused to let the cleaning lady in here during her weekly routine. Hadley fussed at me to clean up after myself, but when I’m in the middle of a project, it looks like a wrecking ball in here.
It doesn’t help that after Hadley sent me that text message, Tyler called to let me know she broke down on him. He didn’t say much else, but clearly shit needs to be discussed. The air needs to be cleared. If I had it my way, I would have gone straight to The Alibi, flung her over my shoulder, and brought her home, where she belongs. I knew if I did that, though, it wouldn’t do a bit of good. Hadley would storm off, and nothing would get solved. And her resolve would get worse before it got better.
Tyler said Hadley was working for him today after he let a waitress go, but she wouldn’t be closing, and he’d make sure she wasn’t dead on her feet. Something tells me he can read between the lines of what’s happening between Hadley and me. I pick up the mess from last night that’s still on the balcony. The discarded food, beer bottle, and empty wine glass. I shake my head. Hadley would be so pissed at herself for leaving her food out and not at least saving it for leftovers if she had a chance, especially her pimento cheese bake. That girl is in love with all things cheese.