burning red • joe burrow

002

tara dialed his number but took an eternity to actually press the call button.

tara doubted he would actually answer, he probably doesn't even have her number saved. they haven't actually spoken in a while.

on the fourth ring, he answered. "hello?" tara said once he answered the phone.

"tara?" he responded, almost with a laugh. he couldn't believe it was real.

"joe?" tara said, making sure she was talking to the right person.

"yeah, yeah. tara, how are you?" joe said. "we haven't talked in forever."

"yeah, i know." tara said. "how are you?"

"i'm good, tara. i've missed you a lot, how are you?" joe asked.

"not good." tara said truthfully.

"what's wrong?" joe asked.

"you know that guy finn, the one i met when i went to la?" tara asked. she went on vacation to la, that's were she met him.

"yeah, what about him?" joe asked. "that was like years ago."

"well, we started dating and then i moved to la. that's when we stopped talking. then about 11 months after we started dating, it all went downhill." tara said. "he's been cheating on me and last night i caught him with a girl and my house. he told me to get out."

"and i knew he was cheating." tara said. "i just couldn't leave him. he wouldn't let me. he controlled what i wore, who i talked to, he went through my phone. he hates you, that's why i couldn't talk to you."

tara decided it was best if she left out the part about him hitting her.

"tara," joe said sympathetically, "i'm so sorry. you shouldn't have to go through that."

"i'm sorry." tara said. "you're still my best friend. i just couldn't talk to you. he's so controlling."

"i'm staying a motel right now, i just don't have anywhere to go." tara said. "i have a job at this cafe in hollywood. but it isn't enough to leave la."

"i'll figure something out." joe said. "i'll send you some money to stay in a real hotel in the meantime. and some money for gas."

"thank you, joe." tara said. "like really, thank you."

"anytime, tara." joe said. "call me back if you need anything, or if you just want to talk."

"yeah, i will." tara said.

"what cafe do you work at?" joe asked before she hung up.

"beachwood cafe." tara said. she's been working there for a couple of years now.

"okay," joe said. he hung up the phone.

tara plugged her phone in the charger and lied down. the lamp was still on, but she was still looking at the ceiling.

she was finally free, the burning red love she experienced was now dark grey. the fire went out.

• • •

the next day, tara awoke and took a shower. she put on jeans and a brown tight fitted shirt. she grabbed her work apron and left for work.

she had a 6 hour shift today, 10am to 4pm. she got in the car and put on her playlist. it wasn't her usual work playlist, it was her screaming playlist.

it consisted of a bunch of taylor swift songs she would love to scream given the chance.

as she was driving to work, she got a text from joe. she couldn't read the whole thing because she was currently driving, but once she got to work, she did.

it read, what time does your shift end? she responded with the time that it ended and went into work.

she was a couple minutes early so she waited until 10 to clock in. it wasn't too busy today, she's only had her usual couple of customers.

then, a familiar face walked in. tara did notice who was waiting in line until it was their turn to order.

"can i get 2 blueberry muffins please?" he said. tara knew that voice anywhere.

"they aren't gonna be that fresh, they were made before i got here." tara said grabbing the muffins.

"that's okay." he replied. "i love stale muffins."

"i never said they were going to be stale." tara said. "it's on the house by the way." she said with a smile.

"funny." he said putting a 20 dollar bill in the tip jar.

"my shift is almost over," tara said, there were 2 customers behind joe. "give me like 5 minutes."

joe took a seat towards the front of the store. he didn't eat the muffin, he just sat there, watching tara and the people in the cafe.

"okay," tara said hanging up her apron. "i'm done for today."

"here." joe said handing her one of the blueberry muffins as they exited the cafe.

"what are you doing here?" tara asked. he only
told joe about her situation 16 hours ago and he was already here.

"i want to help you." joe said, taking a bite of the muffin. they were walking down the street now.

"i'm not a charity case, joe." tara said. it came off ruder than she wanted it to.

"i know," he replied. "but you can't live in a motel for the rest of your life."

"okay, we'll what am i supposed to do? if i stay in la, finn is gonna know where i am and he'll kill me." tara said.

"okay, i know he cheated, but i don't think he'll actually kill you." joe said.

"you don't know finn." tara said. she still hasn't told joe what he does to her.

"what have you been up to?" tara said. "what changed since i last saw you?"

"mmmm, i tore my knee up pretty bad, i was out for the whole season." joe said. "i broke up with marlee, other than that, not much."

"you broke up with marlee?" tara said. "why? what happened?"

"i wasn't a good boyfriend. i couldn't be with her when i have feelings for someone else. it's not fair to her, and she understands that." joe said. "the thing is, when we broke up, she told me that she knew i had feelings for someone else she saw the way i talked about her."

"who?" tara asked. she couldn't help but feel a sting in her chest, it's not like she was jealous. joe was her best friend.

"i'm not gonna tell you." joe said.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

who do you think joe has a crush on