Shades of Atlantis (6 page)

“What?” I asked suspiciously.

“Well.” She grinned brightly, straightening up. “Since you’re letting us all down for the winter formal…”

Jonathan’s and Ben’s eyes darted to us without breaking their
own
conversation. I was sure it made no difference to them whatsoever if I went to the dance, but this way, they wouldn’t have to watch Chris’s every move all night.

“You’re not getting out of the Snow Bowl, too,” Amanda finished firmly.

Damn! I was already getting my excuses ready for that expedition. A gang of us were going to the Ragged Mountain Snow Resort just outside town over Christmas vacation. This particular outing was to celebrate the last time we would all be there together while still in high school. I didn’t ski anymore; a nasty fall a few years ago left me with a badly broken leg. I had healed completely, but I had no desire to repeat the experience. If I had to go, I’d be sticking to the less dangerous ice skating rink.

“Okay,” I agreed grudgingly. “I’ll go, but that’s an enormous concession you’re getting here. Don’t expect any more until we’re fifty!” I would have to be careful not to agree to any specific activity over the next few weeks.

Amanda smiled, apparently pacified, and Jen rolled her eyes at her. The cafeteria was starting to empty, signaling it was time for our next class.

Dance

It was snowing the evening of the winter formal. I shook flakes from my hair when I got inside the staff entrance of the restaurant and then ran one hand over it to check the knot. Standing in front of my opened locker, I shrugged my jacket off my shoulders, and just as I was hanging it up, I heard the kitchen door behind me open. I didn’t need to turn around to know it was Caleb. It was a strange sensation, but it was as if his presence immediately filled the room, pressing down on me and making it hard to breathe. I froze at the sound of his surprised voice.

“
Triona
! What are you doing here?”

My heart fluttered. I gulped twice, trying to calm it, and reminded myself that he was madly in love with the stunning blonde from New York. I turned. His startled expression made my breath catch. It was crazy; there were tingles in the pit of my stomach, and I would have been perfectly happy to stand there locked in his gaze forever, except that his eyes tightened minutely and his body seemed to stiffen. I had to make a determined effort to speak the words I’d practiced repeatedly so they wouldn’t stick in my throat.

“Hi, Caleb.” At least I sounded natural. Reaching behind me, I closed my locker and forced myself to take a small step forward.
One step at a time
, a little voice in my head instructed me.

I froze again, disappointed and a little hurt when, as smoothly as I stepped forward, Caleb stepped back. I didn’t understand the weird barrier he’d created between us. He seemed determined to keep a certain physical distance between us at all costs, and it made me incredibly self-conscious. What was I even doing here? I should be with my friends. My eyes stung, and I blinked, trying to hold back tears. When that didn’t work, I lowered my face and pretended to adjust my skirt.

“Didn’t Seth let you know I was working tonight?” My voice was shaky.

“No,” he muttered darkly, “he didn’t.”

I waited until I was sure there would be no tears. “Maybe I should just go out and get started?”

“Started?” He sounded slightly bewildered. I lifted my head, and he was staring at me with such an extraordinary expression, so lost, as if he couldn’t remember who I was, but was trying to. I couldn’t begin to fathom what he was thinking at all. My heart thumped.

“Work?” I clarified. “I should start work.”

“Oh yeah, sorry. Yes, of course. But it’s very quiet tonight—I’ve already sent three people home.” He took another step back, his hand at the door behind him, as though it were a reflexive response to my step forward. “The weather, maybe, and people staying home to see their kids off to the dance at your school.” He paused, studying me.

I involuntarily drew a shallow breath and quickly dismissed the idea of going home. Despite everything, I couldn’t make myself leave him.

“Shouldn’t you be at the dance?” he asked, one eyebrow rising.

“Yeah, it’s a long story…” My voice trailed off. Why would he care? I walked forward and was pleased to see he didn’t run through the door and leave it swinging after him. Instead he stepped back and held it open for me. I swiped my card and walked through, smiling timidly and trying not to meet his eyes. I was sure he took a deep breath as I passed.

***

Caleb was right about it being quiet. There were very few customers. A few couples and one party of four, and they were all gone by nine o’clock. Caleb stayed in his office all evening, as usual, as far away from me as he could possibly get. To be so close to him and not be able to see him was maddening. I really didn’t know what I had expected tonight. I didn’t know what I was doing there at all, especially after Amanda and Jen told me about his girlfriend. The only thing I did know was that Caleb was, intentionally or unintentionally, drawing me to him, and no matter how humiliating and painful it got, I couldn’t resist the pull.

I was absentmindedly ripping a piece of paper to shreds, watching the clock move with unnatural slowness, when the door opened with a bang and Chris staggered through, catching himself on the frame. He was wearing a suit, so I presumed he had come from the dance. He swayed a bit as I approached him; his face looked harsh, jaw clenched and eyes narrowed.

“What are you doing here, Chris?” I asked warily. I had never seen him in the restaurant before.

“I’m here to eat.” He looked around, taking in the empty room.

I noticed his lip was twitching oddly. He did look good in a suit; if he wasn’t so vile he would be very cute. “I can see why you couldn’t get away,” he sneered, his lip curling back over his white teeth. The result of bleaching, probably. “You’re run off your feet.”

I pursed my lips. He looked and sounded like he had been drinking. He didn’t walk here because he wasn’t wearing a coat, so he must have driven. I must have been more distracted than I thought, not to have heard his car.

“Come on, then, I’ll show you to a seat,” I sighed reluctantly.

Chris looked around the room again. “Oh, I think I can find one myself,” he slurred sardonically. Grabbing the nearest chair to him, he pulled it back and sat down, using too much force. The chair screeched loudly on the wooden floor, and he fell into it, knocking the one beside it sideways with a bang. Chris made no effort to pick up the seat, so I bent to retrieve it as the kitchen door swung in. Stephen, wearing his white chef’s uniform, poked his head out.

“Everything okay out here?”

“Fine,” I said bleakly, getting to my feet again.

Stephen hung on the side of the door for a moment, watching. Chris grimaced in his direction and then mumbled something about being a tease under his breath. I started to blush and hoped it wasn’t a barbed comment about me.

“Are you sure?” Stephen asked again with an expression of concern on his face.

“Yes, absolutely,” I assured him, sounding more confident than I felt.

With one last glance at Chris, Stephen went back into the kitchen. I walked over to the counter to retrieve a menu for Chris and handed it to him, then waited, notepad in hand, impatiently clicking the top of my pen with my thumb.

“How about you get me a beer to start?” By his bloodshot eyes, I guessed he had had enough already.

“You’re under twenty-one.”

“But the customer is always right,” he argued, flashing a smile that would probably have floored a lot of the girls in school but was wasted on me.

I glared at him, disgruntled by his presence here, as if I wasn’t aggravated enough tonight. I’d missed out on a night out with my friends to work with Caleb, who’d ignored me all evening and left me sulking in the dining room alone. Now that I had to deal with being alone in the dining room with Chris, it occurred to me how much better being by myself was.

“Okay, okay. I’ll have a steak—rare.”

Okay, okay. I’ll have a steak rare.

Any side?

You pick, he suggested, grinning again.

Okay, I said in a singsong voice, jotting his order onto my notepad and heading back to the counter.

I don’t understand it.

I jumped and spun around, dropping the notepad. Chris had moved next to me, his breath on my face reeking of beer and pot, and as soon as I turned, he pushed me back against the counter. I leaned my upper body as far back as I could and steadied my two hands on the edge. My heart didn’t seem to want to calm down. I sensed danger in the way Chris stood over me, not touching me but nevertheless blocking me from moving away. My arms tensed and my grip on the ledge of the counter intensified.

Damn, Chris, I shouted, hoping Stephen was still listening. What are you trying to pull?

His eyes roamed over my face. Why would you stand me up to come to work? he slurred. His bloodshot eyes lingered on my lips.

I didn’t stand you up, I cancelled. Any louder and the snow on the tops of the trees outside would shake loose. He moved his head a little more forward, and I automatically attempted to move further back, but there wasn’t anywhere for me to go. I could scream, but I wasn’t sure the situation called for hysterics just yet. My knees locked in position when the material of his pants brushed one of them.

Whatever. You know what the rumor is? He squinted at me.

Enlighten me, I grumbled sarcastically, trying my best not to sound intimidated. I suspected that was just what he wanted.

That you have a thing for your boss.

I laughed nervously.

And that you bailed on me to see him.

My heart gave a start when Chris swayed a bit, and I thought for a fraction of a second he was about to kiss me. He grabbed my arm roughly to correct himself, making the flimsy material of the seam on my shoulder split, leaving a gaping hole.

That’s c-crazy, I stammered. What’s the big deal? It was just a date, and I really don’t know why you even asked. My voice broke at the end.

He stepped back a couple of inches, and a dubious expression crossed his face as he looked me up and down. I fumbled blindly behind me for the metal tray I knew was on the counter. My trembling hand found it and flipped it from the counter so it clattered to the floor, hoping it was enough to get Stephen’s attention. Chris’s eyes flashed to the floor and then back to my widened eyes. Suddenly his face became more serious, knowing we were about to be disturbed.

He’s off the market anyway, he spat. You’re making a fool of yourself. I scowled at him. Takes one to know one, I thought. Chris moved nearer, and I felt the palm of his hand push against my hip. His stale breath blew in my face. I grimaced, closing my eyes and turning my head sideways, searching for some air not contaminated by him. His hand came up to my cheek, trying to turn my face back to him. I resisted, keeping my eyes shut tightly.

My heart pounded in my ears. Chris applied more pressure, his fingertips roughly pressing into the flesh on my cheek. The kitchen door swung open so hard it banged off the wall. At last! I was beginning to wonder if Stephen had left the building. But just as quickly, without opening my eyes, I sensed him.

Get your hands off her! Caleb roared furiously. Chris was pulled backward away from me, and I opened my eyes to see Caleb pressing Chris against the wall, his forearm locked across Chris’s chest. Chris glared at him defiantly. Caleb returned his stare, his expression livid. My lungs were working overtime; I couldn’t seem to take a full breath. Stephen had stopped at the kitchen door, his shoulders rigid with shock.

Are you hurt? Caleb asked starkly, obviously trying to keep his voice controlled and failing miserably. I knew he was talking to me even though his eyes remained unblinking on Chris’s face.

No, I’m fine, I croaked, patting myself down with the palms of my hands as if confirming my reply.

Caleb’s eyes darted to me. His face was full of boiling rage, his chest heaving, but his eyes were desperately seeking another guarantee.

I’m okay — really, I assured him, trying to smile and appear calm. Let him go; he’s just drunk.

Stephen continued to watch the scene with wide eyes. Caleb glowered at Chris, who seemed to have trouble focusing. A low rumbling sound was coming from Caleb, a vibration in his throat. His free hand was now open wide and held back, his eyes focused on Chris. Then his hand abruptly dropped limply by his side, and in one smooth movement, Caleb dragged Chris by the front of his shirt and sat him forcefully onto a nearby chair.

Chris slumped backward with his legs splayed in front of him.

Caleb left Chris there and rushed to my side, surprising me by how swiftly he moved. Wrapping one hand around my waist, he brushed the other across my forehead and down my reddened cheek, over the rip at my shoulder and down my arm as far as my elbow before returning his hand to my face with his palm curved against my skin. Shivers ran through my entire body. My heart, still pounding furiously, threatened to go AWOL.

Staring into Caleb’s eyes reminded me of staring at the flames of Bunsen burners in school, fiery and dancing with blue light. His jaw clenched.