The Human Mate

Chapter 14

RILEY

An hour goes by, and there is still no sign of the delivery.

After hearing what Brie had said to Margret, I assumed Margret lied, and there was never an order.

Brie and Margret were still in the store. I spoke to them while I waited for the delivery, getting to know more about Brie. Part of me wondered if she would be a good friend, which pointed that way until I realized the delivery wasn't coming.

I was getting bored.

In addition to talking to them, I walked around the store and found the book I wanted to read. Since I wanted to read it independently, I placed it on the step leading up to my apartment.

Every time I mentioned leaving, they would give me some jobs to do around the store, which was getting on my nerves. They didn't intend for me to work today. They would have been jobs I would have to do tomorrow.

After another half hour came and went, I paced the store and even looked out the window, which made me realize there was no store open.

How odd!

I let out a breath and looked to see where Brie and Margret were. In the corner, they whispered to each other. Their faces seemed to be full of concern, but as soon as they realized I was looking at them, they would smile.

False smiles all around.

This is not what I needed. My mind was still running wild from what had happened with Logan earlier. I needed space to think.

Looking outside the window, I noticed a few blinds flicker as if someone was looking but left.

What the hell was going around here?

Unable to take anymore, I left the store and headed to my apartment.

"Where are you going, sweetheart?"

I looked toward Margret, who seemed to block my way toward the stairs.

"I'm going to head back upstairs for a bit. I might read."

Glancing at the book on the stairs, I looked back at Margret with a smile.

Margret nodded. "Okay, sweetheart. I am making some food for us. You should come down and help."

I gave her a nod as she stepped aside for me to go up. Grabbing the book, I left on the stairs and headed upstairs. Eyes were on me the entire time, and I knew it was both women.

Brie was lovely, and I could see her being a friend—a good friend to me—but since she was Logan's friend, I didn't want to ask her questions about him or even tell her how I was feeling. We weren't at that stage yet.

Opening my door to the apartment, I headed inside. With a sigh, I walked over to the couch and got comfy. I read, but my thoughts went to Logan.

Everything raged to him leaving me, then lying to me he had a call. There was no ringtone when I went to the bathroom. If I had heard it, I would have stayed there until he was done, but there was nothing.

Why would he lie?

Shaking my racing thoughts and tried to continue reading, but my mind wasn't in the book. I put the book down and walked over to my window. I looked outside. It was a lovely, warm day. I wanted to have some fresh air.

Surely, there wasn't anything out there that could harm me.

Brie's words rang out. "At least we can keep her safe."

What the hell did she mean by that?

What was out there that was so dangerous?

Every part of me wanted to leave, and I knew I had to. I felt like a caged animal in my apartment. I looked toward my front door and let out a sigh.

Screw this, I'm going out.

There's no danger; if there was, wouldn't it happen by now?

Stepping away from the window. I grabbed my jacket from the nearby hook and opened my door quietly. I didn't want anyone to hear me. I stepped outside and closed my door as quietly as possible while keeping my eyes on the stairs.

I headed to the top of the steps, trying to see if I could hear Brie and Margret talking downstairs, but I couldn't figure out what to talk about. I knew I couldn't go through the front entrance as they would probably stop me, but there was a back door that led straight onto a path that went straight to the lake, which was where I wanted to go.

I walked down the stairs quietly, keeping my eyes on the store's entrance. I could hear mumblings coming from the kitchen, which meant they were in the kitchen. I had to remain quiet, so I headed to the back door.

The sound of the bell from the front which made me stop. Could that be Logan? I stayed still, but it wasn't. A female voice called out while I heard Margret hush them to be quiet.

What the hell was going on? Surely, it wasn't a book club or something.

Since working for Margret, we have been coming up with ways to have more people enter the bookstore, and the book club was one idea. She wanted me to make a flyer for it, which was my primary plan for tomorrow when I got to work. There were more, such as tutoring for younger people and even reading from an author. I quite liked that one. Meeting an author I liked was one thing on my list to do.

Shaking my thoughts away, I listened again, and the bell rang out again. More people were coming into the store, but I couldn't figure out how many or why.

I needed to go.

This was my day off. There was no way I would be in there with that many people. If Margret had her way, she would put me to work.

Being stuck here was ridiculous. I should be able to leave when I wanted to.

Ignoring the noise from the store, I took one more look to make sure there was no one behind me—no. I opened the door and closed it quietly behind me.

I closed my eyes and breathed in the fresh air. Then, I opened my eyes and looked ahead to find the path I had found. When I moved here the first night, I found it hard to sleep. I needed to walk, so I went out the back way. I found the path and followed it. It led me straight to the spot I liked so much, by the lake.