Troubled Indeed

CHAPTER SIX

The rest of the afternoon passes slowly. I'm concentrating on Lesh blueprints, trying to figure out what parts of the restaurant should be kept the same and what parts should be changed. Alexi never told me what the theme should be, so I've been going through Google and Pinterest for hours, trying to compose something unique for Lesh. Alexi surely has his own vision for the place, but I guess he wants me to come up with new ideas in case they are better than his.

I'm taking notes and saving a lot of images so I can run them by Alexi. I hear my phone ringing and hope it's either Anthony or Alexi. To my surprise, it's Emily who's calling. I look at the time and realize I should have been at my mother's an hour ago to pick up Benji, but I guess I lost track of time. Why is Emily calling me, though? She never calls me. Ever since I got promoted, she acts as if I'm a stranger. Whenever she needs something, she messages me, and vice versa. She still works for Lesh, and she also got a big raise for emotional damage after that night. Maybe that's what is keeping her working here.

"Hello?" I ask cautiously.

"Yeah, hi, listen, there's this guy who's asking for you and since you're not in today... what do I tell him?" she sounds hasty, it's clearly the busiest time of the day.

"Who is he?" I ask.

"How the hell should I know?" she says in an aggravated tone.

"Can you ask his name and what he wants?"

I hear Emily grunt as she lowers her phone and takes a few steps.

"Hey, hi again, what's your name, and what exactly is the problem?" I hear Emily's voice from a distance. A male voice replies something, and Emily walks again.

"I'm back. He says he's Simon and whatever he wants is personal," she says quickly, then adds "What do I tell him?"

I gasp for air. Simon. I've cursed this name so many times I thought I'd be over this by now. Clearly, I was wrong, because my body reacts in instant goosebumps. Simon.

"Hello, are you there?" Emily's voice echoes through my head and I snap back to reality.

"Um...I...OK...I'll be there, tell him to wait," I manage to say before my phone slips out of my hand.

I cover my face with both of my hands, unable to move. Simon. The ghost from the past. What I saw in the bridal shop window wasn't my mind playing tricks on me. It's him and looks like he's been watching and following me for some time. How else would he know about the bridal shop and where I work. I need to face him and find out what he wants. I text my mom that I'm running late. I get a thumbs-up emoji in response.

***

It takes me twenty minutes to get to Lesh and another five to force myself to get out of the car. All the bad memories resurface, both from the past and from recent events. I hate this, I hate the unexpected. At least today the restaurant is still open and I'm not alone against a bunch of goons.

I walk in, and even though I may look confident, I feel like crawling under my blanket and weep. I notice him by the bar and cautiously walk toward him. He notices me halfway there and smiles. He's matured, but he's still as good-looking as I remembered him to be.

Damn.

I was hoping he would be scarred, filthy and ugly. The last time I saw him he was always either on drugs or heavily drunk. It would have been easier to cope if it was still that way. Seems that he turned his life around after all.

"Hey, stranger," he says as if we're hanging out on a regular basis.

"Hi," I'm nervous. This is where I work and I need to keep my cool, but honestly, I want to scream my lungs out at him until my voice is gone.

"That's it? Hi? I haven't seen you in ages and this is all I get?" he says and opens his arms for a hug.

No. Way. In. Hell. I don't move. I don't want to hug him. I resent him. I just want to know what the fuck he wants from me and be done with it.

"Alright, I guess I deserve this kind of treatment," he lowers his hands and takes a sip of his water.

"Yes, you do. You should be thankful I came here at all."

"Okay...," he says slowly but still grinning.

"Simon, what do you want?" I'm getting anxious, but I knew this would happen the moment I decided to meet him. He always made me feel on the edge of my seat and I used to like it. Not anymore.

"How you've been?" he ignores my question.

"Fine, now tell me what do you want?"

"Seriously? We can't even have a friendly conversation? You don't want to know how I've been or what I'm doing these days?" he seems surprised, although it might be fake.

"No, I sincerely don't care. And it's weird that you decide to find me years after abandoning me the way you did."

"Ouch," he says, then adds, "Did you keep the baby?"

Emily walks by at the exact moment he asks the question. Her eyes go wide. There are a hundred ways this could be interpreted wrong. She stops for a second, looks both at me and the man next to me and then keeps on going. Her timing to eavesdrop is always perfect. But right now, I don't care. I need to clear this mess with Simon so I can move on.

"How is that any of your business?" I say through my teeth.

"It is, because if you did, I'd like to meet the kid," he says nonchalantly.

I snort.

"Not before hell freezes over," I say sarcastically.

"So you did keep the baby! What is it now...let me think...three or four years old?" he tries to guess the age of my son.

Damn. He's good. I never intended to say anything about Benji, but somehow he got this out of me.

"It's none of your business. And I'd like you to keep away from us," I say strictly.

"You see, that's one thing I can't do. I'm the dad and I want to see my kid."

What. The. Fuck.

Where was he four years ago when I told him I was pregnant? He took off before I could even finish the sentence. And now this? I stand up and turn to leave, but before I go, I need to be crystal clear with him.

"If you keep following me, you are up against forces you can't imagine. Leave us the fuck alone!" I say the last sentence slowly and clearly, then turn to leave.

"It was nice to see you too!" All I hear is his laughter behind me.