Love Me to Death (36 page)

“No, Misty’s coming over in an hour. I’ll get her to bring some on the way.”

“Ok, if you’re sure?”

“I am. I just want you to concentrate on your interview. You worry about me too much.”

“It’s my job.”

She smiles.

After getting ready, Ned and I have breakfast together and just talk. She doesn’t eat much since she says that the coughing has made her throat sore. I manage to get her to have a glass of orange juice and a banana. Once I’m satisfied that she has everything she needs, she practically pushes me out the door and I get going.

I use her car to get to my interview. That’s one of the first things I plan to do once I am earning some real money again … buy myself a car. I already replaced Layla’s car with the money I had left from my first payment from Ned, so next on the list is one for myself. I didn’t get her anything fancy it was actually Bobby’s uncle’s old car. He was looking to upgrade and gave it to me for a ridiculously low price since he knows me. It made Layla happy and so that worked for me.

I get to my interview ten minutes early. It’s for the position of a bartender, it’s not exactly what I was looking for but it’ll do for now. Ned said that she could have talked to Jonathon about me getting a position at Eccentric since she owns half of the place but I didn’t want that. This has to be something I do for myself. If she helps me then it will totally defeat the purpose.

I walk up to the entrance of
Maceys
and step inside. It doesn’t open until this evening and so the place is empty. It’s pretty dark inside and I notice a pile of chairs all stacked up on top of each other. I scan quickly and count about twenty tables. They are all wooden and round in shape. The largest table appears to be able to fit at least eight chairs around it. It’s not the classiest place but it’s definitely not one of the worst I’ve seen and I’ve seen a lot of bars.

“You must be Brennan?”

I turn around to find a petite woman with black hair and blue eyes staring at me. She only looks a little older than me. She stands there with one hand on her curvy hip and is tapping her foot against the wooden floor. Before Ned, I would have definitely been checking her out and figuring out the best way to get her in my bed. But instead my eyes meet hers and I nod.

“Yes,” I say politely.

“Jerry,” she says holding out her hand for me to shake. I do. “I’m the bar manager at Maceys. Terrence, the owner, is not around today so I’ll be doing your interview.”

“Great,” I say.

She turns around and starts walking down a dark corridor. “Come on then. Sorry about the mess, we had a big party here last night and the cleaners aren’t in until one so it’s a little crazy right now.”

“It’s not so bad.”

She laughs. “Now you’re just being polite.”

I laugh in agreement. “Maybe.”

“So have you done any bar work before?” she asks as she presses a few switches to illuminate the hallway. I’m watching as we walk farther down the hall and wonder how safe it is for a young woman to be interviewing a random guy all alone in this place. I wonder how often she has to do this.

“I haven’t, no,” I say truthfully.

“Why did you apply?”

“Honestly, acting is what I want to do but it is not exactly the most stable career and I need something to fill the gaps.”

“I appreciate the honesty,” she says as she stops in front of a burgundy door. She dips her hand into the back pocket of her skin tight jeans and pulls out a set of keys. She sticks one in the lock and pushes the door open. “Here we are,” she says as we enter a small and messy office.

She rounds a wooden desk and sits down, facing me.

“Take a seat.” She gestures with her hand to the seat across from hers. I sit down and watch her closely. She pulls out a stack of papers and starts going through them cursing as she does.

“That man is so damn unorganized. I’ve been here for five years and I still can’t get used to this crazy filing system. Are you sure you’re not looking for a job as an administrative assistant?” she says baring her teeth.

“Definitely not,” I say, scanning my eyes over all of the paperwork littered around the office.

“Can’t say I blame you. Ah! Got it. Right, here we go. Brennan Cole,” she says reading off the sheet of paper in her hand. “Twenty-five years old, did ok in high school based on these grades. No work in the past seven months.” She looks up at me. “You a fast learner?”

“I can be if I need to be.”

“You know much about alcohol?”

I smile. “More than I should.”

“How are you with people?”

“Pretty good, I’ve never had any problems getting to know people.”

“Good, that’s what I like to hear. Now, not to be rude but you’re a pretty hot guy, Brennan. The math is simple, guys like to get served by hot girls and girls like to get served by hot guys. Can you play that role?”

She’s asking if I can flirt.
I am a pro.

I grin. “I can.” She squirms in her chair a little and I smile at the reaction she just had to me.

“You certainly can. You got a girlfriend?”

“I do,” I answer confidently.

“She the trouble making type?”

“Nope.”

“You got any baby mamas, crazy exes or stalkers?” I almost want to laugh but she is being deadly serious.

“Not that I know of.”

“Criminal record or trouble with anyone that might come looking for you?”

“No.”

“Good, then you’re hired. You start next Friday. It’ll be a trial shift. It’s not too crazy then but busy enough for you to get a feel of the place. You survive that and the job’s yours permanently.”

“Seriously?” I ask in shock.

“I don’t kid around, hon. I don’t have time.” She acts a lot older than she looks and I wonder if maybe she is.

“Well, thanks.”

“Not a problem, just don’t let me down. Terrence is trusting me to make the right decision and I’ve got a good feeling about you. Now, if you don’t mind I’ve got a lot to sort out,” she says standing to her feet.

“Of course,” I say mirroring her action. I wait until she has walked past me and then follow behind her. We walk back up until we have reached the front door again. I turn to her and smile gratefully. I can’t wait to tell Ned. She did say that she had a good feeling about this.

“Now if you can’t make it for any reason then you’ve got our number, please call. Do not jerk us around. You do and your chance is gone,” she warns.

“I’ll be there,” I promise.

“Great. See you on Friday.”

“Yeah, see you then,” I say before she turns, closes the door and disappears. That was the weirdest yet most rewarding interview I have ever had. I have to refrain from dancing all the way to the car. As soon as I’m back inside the car I pull out my phone with a huge grin. I notice that Ned has called me twice. I want to call her but I decide to call Layla first. I want to tell Ned more than anything but if I call her first then all I’ll want to do is race back home and talk to her more. Instead, I pull up Layla’s number and call her.

“Hello,” she answers after the second ring.

“Someone sounds chirpy.” I laugh.

“Nothing wrong with being happy, Bro. You sound pretty
chirpy
yourself.”

“That’s because I just went and got myself a job.”

“What! Oh my gosh, I am so proud of you, Bren!”

“Thanks. Technically it’s only a trial shift but if all goes well then the job is mine.”

“That is brilliant! I knew you could do it.”

“Thanks.”

“What is the job anyway?”

“It’s just bartending.”

“It’s not
just
anything, Bren. It’s a job and you worked hard to get it. You be happy. It’s fantastic news. What did Ned say?” she asks excitedly.

“I haven’t told her yet, you’re the first to know. I’m going to call her as soon as I get off the phone with you.”

“Oh, well then I’ll let you go but I really am so proud of you. Well done.”

“Thanks, Sis that means a lot. I’ll speak to you soon. Ok?”

“Ok. Love you.”

“Love you more,” I say and she giggles.

“Bye,” she says before hanging up. I find myself just staring at the phone with a smile on my face. Things are finally starting to look up. I just wish Mom was here to see it but in many ways I guess she is. I scroll down to Ned’s number and press the phone against my ear excitedly. She answers almost immediately.

“Brennan.” My face twists in confusion.

“Misty?” Something in her voice sounds off and why is she answering Ned’s phone? My stomach drops.

“I’ve been trying to call you.”

“Why? What’s wrong?” I ask nervously.

“It’s Ned, she’s been taken to the hospital.”

My world stands completely still and everything goes silent. I sit frozen trying to figure out how eight little words can have the power to shatter my entire world.

The drive to the hospital is a blur. I have asked myself a thousand questions.

How can this be happening? Is our time over already? Did I miss something? Why is this happening? Why now?

I don’t have the answer to a single question yet they continually circle around in my mind. As soon as I get onto the floor Ned is being kept on I fire more questions at Misty.

“What happened?” She looks panicked and her eyes are puffy and red.

“I don’t know, she was coughing more and more and then she kept complaining about a pain in her chest. She thought she could just ride through it but it was bad, so I called an ambulance.” I want to punch something.
I should have been there.

“Where is she?” I ask scanning my eyes around frantically. I can see that I have raised the attention of several people but I don’t care.

“She’s in a room with a doctor but they said that nobody can go in yet.”

“I’m not
nobody
,” I say storming toward the lady sitting behind the reception desk. “I need to know where Neddie Waters’ room is,” I demand. She looks at me impatiently and rolls her eyes as if she sees behavior like mine every day.

“Are you family?” she asks.

“I’m her boyfriend.”

“Well then I’m afraid you will have to wait outside with the other visitors, we will let you know when you can go in.”

“I am not going anywhere until I see her, so I don’t give a damn what you have to do to get me in but I
am
going in.”

“I’m afraid that is not standard procedure—”

“Screw your procedure, either
you
get me in that damn room or I find a way to myself.”

“Bren,” I hear from behind me. I spin around and see Bobby standing there with Misty. I briefly wonder what he is doing here but the thought is soon pushed to the back of my brain. I have more important things to worry about. “Calm down and let me handle this,” he says calmly. My heart is pounding inside my chest and for the first time, I realize that my eyes are filling with liquid. My chest is tight and I feel like I’m going to stop breathing if they don’t tell me where the hell she is.

I watch as he steps up to the desk calmly. “Look, I understand that you have rules but right now Ned doesn’t have any family here. The only family she does have are in Ohio. My friend here is the one person I can guarantee you she’ll want to see. Now I’m pretty sure that all of this can be avoided if you just go and ask a few questions and see if some simple allowances can be made, right?”

She stares up at Bobby for a moment and then she looks back at me. Her eyes soften and then she nods her head. “Wait here and I will see what I can do.” She walks off and then turns back to Bobby. “I’m not making any promises, though.”

“I understand,” he says. Then he walks up to me. I keep my eyes on the ground. I can’t even think straight, I just need to know what is happening. “Bren,” he whispers. I don’t answer. “Bren,” he repeats. I look up and then the tears fall. I can’t help it. I want to scream and tell myself to man the hell up but Ned has become too much to me. No amount of preparation could have prepared me for this feeling.