He keeps talking. “I’ll make a list of everything I can think of that I want for toiletries and snacks I like to have. Drinks.”
“Okay. That’ll be good. I’ve done a bit of shopping for me. Would you like me to make dinner tonight? I have stuff for pasta, I have some chili that I made yesterday, I could do something with some chicken breasts I have in the freezer, or I have, um, eggs and sandwich stuff, and-”
“Start working for me tomorrow. I’ll take care of myself tonight.”
“Okay. Thank you for the opportunity, Mr. Carmichael.”
He makes a grumbly sound. “Austin.”
“Okay, then.” I clap my hands. “Austin.”
“I leave for work at seven to seven-thirty. I get home anywhere from five thirty to midnight. Make sure I know where to find my dinner at night for heating up. That’s all I have for you right now. I’ll leave notes on the fridge if I need you to do anything. I’ll work on getting you a new credit card tomorrow. I have to do some stuff with my corporate bank manager, so do you need cash until it comes for food and shit?”
This feels like a test. I’m not failing it.
“I can just spend what I have if you’re going to reimburse me on pay day until that card comes.”
“You’ve got the cash to do that?”
“Carly gave me a loan. I can use some of that.”
He shakes his head. “No. I’ll get you some sort of card tomorrow. I’ll get the bank to put a rush on it.”
“Okay.”
“I’m putting a low limit on it.”
“Fine.”
No way do I want him to think I want cash for something nefarious.
“Can you even cook?”
“Yes, I can cook.”
“We’ll see.”
Yes we will.
He heads to his room and returns with an Xbox console. He moves to the TV and grabs the remote, then leans over and starts setting things up.
And then a few seconds later, he looks over his shoulder at me. I’m still sitting at the island.
I guess I was staring at him bent over. He has a pretty great ass.
He cocks an eyebrow and stares.
A pretty great ass for an ass.
And I’m not sure why he’s giving me a dark look, so I stare back.
“This isn’t gonna work if you can’t follow basic instructions.”
“I don’t understand,” I say.
He rolls his eyes.
“Oh.” It hits me. He wants me to go. I’m not to be around when he’s home. Right. I ignore the sting of that as I jump down and go to the guest room. I peek at him just before my door is closed and he’s already turned back to installing his Xbox.
God, he’s so dismissive. And grouchy. And Carly says this isn’t really him so I can’t imagine what’s going on in this guy’s life that he’s this crabby.
If this isn’t him, he definitely hates me. I wonder what it’d be like if the night he came I was just sitting here, waiting for him to arrive with an empty, clean, well-stocked apartment.
Oh well. It is what it is.
Whatever comes of this, I’m just relieved to have a job, I have a temporary place to stay, I know where my brother is, know he’s not on drugs, and that’s all I need for today.
My life has sucked lately, but today sucks far less than yesterday.
14
Austin
I feel a stab of guilt as Jada goes to her room. I can’t seem to shake my sour mood. My mood isn’t her fault, but having her foisted on me as a roommate when I’m feeling just miserable isn’t helping.
I need to kill stuff. I set my Xbox up and spend the next few hours doing that.
At one point she comes out looking contrite as she reaches into the fridge to take out some water and nuke something in a container.
I do my best to ignore her, but feel her eyes on me and it’s annoying.
“Sorry, I haven’t eaten all day,” she whispers. “I’ll get outta here stat.”
I should’ve set my Xbox up in the bedroom. Maybe I’ll move it.
No. Fuck that. She can be uncomfortable. This isn’t her place. It’s not mine either but I am a lot more entitled to stay here than she is.
The microwave beeps and she’s gone behind her closed bedroom door and whatever she’s eating, it smells good. I order pizza, thinking I should’ve let her make me dinner tonight.
The pizza is all right but I’m exhausted, so I eat just one slice and put the rest in the fridge before crashing early.
***
It’s nearly one in the morning when food smells hit me and wake me up from a dead sleep.
I’m practically drooling in bed when I sit up, annoyed. I go to the ensuite bathroom and take a leak, thinking cooking after midnight isn’t remotely conducive to being unobtrusive here.
I find myself storming to the kitchen and seeing her at the stove with a frying pan of steaming meat and vegetables.