even thinking about me beyond what he needed to do to end the situation and get rid of me so that he could get back to the new girlfriend on the other end of his phone.
“I’m just curious, that’s all,” he replied with a small grin that irritated me to the core.
“Well, maybe you should MYOB and get back to work figuring out how to get me home, hmm?” I replied in an annoyed tone.
“Yep, I’m on it, princess,” he said, his voice full of sarcasm and mocking.
“You are such a jerk,” I muttered under my breath.
“Oh, don’t I know it,” he muttered back, making me blush with shame. I didn’t want to be mean, but he was making me so mad at every turn, and the longer I sat there, the angrier I became until I was almost bouncing in my chair.
“Why are you doing this?” I shouted as I turned and looked at him.
“Doing what?” he asked with an innocent expression on his face that sent me over the edge.
“You are driving me crazy!” I yelled. “You are all nice and sweet to me and then you turn on me and now you’re totally cut off and cold. You don’t even notice I’m here because you’re so busy texting your little girlfriend…” A look of horror crossed my face as I heard the words slip out of my mouth. I’d had no intention of saying a single word about how I felt, but there it was, like a toxic cloud hanging over us, and I had no way of calling it back. I bit my lip and looked away as he burst out laughing.
“You have got to be kidding me!” He laughed harder.
“No,” I said as I narrowed my eyes and looked at him suspiciously. “I’m not.”
“My girlfriend?” He was laughing so hard could barely spit out the words. “Ava, when in the hell do I have time in the middle of this mess to find a girlfriend? Forget about trying to court her!” He was roaring now, and I was getting more and more pissed as he mocked me and my confession.
“Well, you’re on that phone texting like a maniac night and day,” I said. “What else could possibly be occupying so much of your time but a woman?”
“Oh man, you are a piece of work!” he declared. Then turning to face me, he looked at me for a long time before speaking again. “Ava, I assure you that there is no woman aside from you.”
I waited for him to say something more, but he simply stared at me in silence until I looked away.
“Okay then,” I said quietly. I had no idea what to say next. He’d given nothing away, and I didn’t want to risk blurting out how I felt about him only to have him start laughing again. So I asked, “Then what are you doing on that phone?”
“It’s something, um, personal,” he said quietly.
“Well, this whole mess is really personal for me, and I let you into that,” I said smartly. “It’s only fair that you let me into your stuff!”
“The difference is that I’ve been hired to do a job that involves protecting you,” he said. “It has to be my business.”
“Oh, so that’s how it goes,” I shot back. His remark stung and I was on the defensive now. “All the other personal stuff you told me was just part of the job?”
“No, that was…different,” he muttered. “It’s just that this is really personal, and I didn’t think it was right to involve you in it. Plus, you didn’t seem all that…welcoming.”
“Just because you’re sleeping on the couch, doesn’t mean I don’t care about what’s going on with you,” I chided.
“Well, it’s not like we’re spending a whole lot of time sitting around talking,” he replied.
“Probably because you’re on your phone all the time,” I grinned, trying to lighten the mood. His face darkened briefly before he looked over and saw me smiling.
“Touché,” he said as he returned my grin. “Fine, let’s talk then.”
“I’ve already started the conversation,” I pointed out. “I asked what you’re doing to get me home.”
“I’ve got a plan that I’m working on with a couple of former SEAL buddies,” he admitted. “I’m not sure how it’s going to play out, so I don’t want to say anything before we get the pieces in place, but I should know more this evening, and if I do, I’ll tell you then.”
“Is that what all the texting is about?” I asked.
“Um, no, not really,” he stammered as he looked away.
“Then what is it?” I probed.