My eyes widen and my throat tightens. Tanner continues his incessant gaze. He stares at me with a wild, confused look. The room spins, my mind spins, my heart spins- stop it! I pull my eyes away and continue behind Robin. Why is here? What is he doing? I pull at the ends of my hair. No way that was him. A mere coincidence. People have look alikes. I pop my knuckles.
Robin leads me through one long hallway bustling with activity. "Let's grab Killian and I will get Liam to begin the tour. I have to give an introduction to all of the new workers in the other cabins. Robin turns for a moment, "Yeesh," He gasps. "You alright? Looks like you saw a ghost!"
I laugh, blinking quickly, "Oh, no, I'm just amazed by all of this! It's so lovely!" I exclaim.
"Well. thank you. We try very hard to keep things here nice and spiffy."
"Who's we?" I thought you were the one owner?" I walk closer to Robin and attempt more conversation.
"Oh, I don't own this place, I'm kind of like the manager," He nods a moment. "And I get help from each department head. Liam runs security, Jim runs communications, or marketing or whatever, Stacy is in charge of the employees in the orchard, Martha runs production in the kitchen, I oversee them and the boss oversees me."
I must find the boss.
Robin leads me into a large cabin littered with bunks. Is this fucking camp? We get a cafeteria? Bunk beds?
"Pick a bunk right quick!" Robin suggests, turning to greet someone new.
I find my bag in the corner and slide it next to a bunk in between two others. Where's Kingston? Did he get the job? I ignore my own questions and observe the room. The floor is carpeted (wonderful for sneaking out) and the walls are thick logs. Two windows gaze out onto the rolling pastures of trees. A couple tables with mismatched chairs are scattered amongst the room and a large whiteboard is propped against the wall. The carpeted floor evolves into a tiled room located off to the side of our bunks. I can't see around the corner, but I'm assuming it's a restroom.
"Everyone, gather around so I can give a tour of the building," Liam orders, checking his watch.
Liam is tall and muscular, he has brown hair combed into a quiff and a scruffy beard.
Kingston walks in from the door and begins a conversation with Liam as Robin exits. I examine the group. It's all men. All the men are built exceptionally well with bulging muscles. Two men eye me, one has darker skin and light eyes, perhaps African American, while the other has tan skin, curly hair, and dark eyes. He looks to be from South America. Three more men shuffle in, making ten people in total (including myself).
"First, we have the security cabin. This is home for all ten of us. My name is Liam and I'm the head of this department. If you have any questions or concerns bring them up with me." Liam strides out the door and the rest of us file after. "This is the main hall, a couple rooms branch off from here, they're mainly used for conferences for the heads of the departments."
The men talk amongst themselves as we continue our tour, I listen in silently.
"Abel, what part of Africa are you from?" The latino man asks.
The darker skinned man replies with a smile, "I'm from Algeria, you're from Nicaragua, yes?"
The man nods and continues on with an irrelevant conversation.
The hall joins in with the cafeteria. I scan the room for Tanner.
"Here's where you will eat all of your meals," Liam pauses, glancing back over at us,"In there is the kitchen, they prepare meals and the apple products that are sold in the shop." He gestures for us to follow with a hand, "Everyone take a seat, we're going to listen to Robin's little speech before continuing."
Everyone sits in the nearest available spot. Tons of workers and employees buzz around looking for an empty space. I watch as Kingston follows Liam. I take a seat closest to the back of the cafeteria so that I can observe the audience.
"My name is April!"
I turn to my left to see a petite blonde. "Hi," I smile with kind eyes, "Scarlett."
April is pretty with bright blue irises. She looks like me before Marcel. "Us girls need to stick together," She beams.
"It's because there is way too much testosterone in here," I laugh. "Where are you working?"
She giggles before continuing, "I work in the shop. I've been here for about three months. You're new, I can tell."
I nod, tucking a loose curl behind my ear, "Is it that obvious? I mean, I'm kind of intimidated. The men in security are like one huge football team."
She giggles again before nodding. "You'll get used to the men, most of them are pretty nice," April stands up quickly, "Especially this man!"
I look up in time to see April wrapping her arms around Tanner's neck. "This is Tanner, my boyfriend."
I sink. My heart grows heavy and falls from my chest to my feet. April just used Tanner's real name. Tanner is not on a mission. Tanner is a part of this. I bite my tongue. This can't affect me.
"I'm Scarlett," I introduce, forcing a smile. "I knew a Tanner once."
Tanner grimaces as April tucks her head into his chest. "Nice to meet you," He replies, shaking my hand.
I squeeze his hand tightly.
"Babe, sit over here with us!" April cheers, "Scarlett was just telling me that she's working in security."
"I can't, I have to go assist Robin," Tanner rushes away.
"I'll miss you!" April laughs, waving frantically.
I grin. "Tell me about him! How long have you guys been dating?" I'm determined to find out about him now.
Robin messes around with the microphone on the stage, "Everyone settle down please!"
April puts a finger to her lips, "Tell you in a bit!"
"Okay, so welcome to Pink Lady Orchards, my name is Robin and I'm so happy to have you all here. A quick announcement, dinner will not be served by the kitchen tonight because the staff is still gathering, so we are going to order lots and lots of pizzas."
This is fucking camp.
"Anywho, your cabin heads should've already given you somewhat of a tour, and tonight you will get your hours and placements for the week," Robin rambles on about being excited but I tune him out.
Tanner is dating a girl. He does not love me. He never really did love me if we are being fair.
"Alright, get back to your quarters, unpack, and get settled for the night. I can not wait to have such wonderful employees."
I'm at fucking summer camp and the man I love is dating a girl who looks just like me (well, the old me).
"Nice meeting you, Scar!" April grins, "See you in a bit." She prances off to Tanner. Tanner stands with his arms behind his back. He's glaring at me.
I pucker my face into an attempted smile. "See ya!"
*
Liam parades up to the whiteboard as soon as everyone is in the cabin. "Alright, let me explain a few things before y'all go eat or whatever the fuck is going on right now."
A couple of the men chuckle.
"This board tells who's on duty and where. I'll adjust it as needed, but these are the arrangements for tonight. I want Scarlett and Keegan sweeping the lower sector, Desmond and Ellis are top sector. Russell and Spencer, you two have the store. Kingston, Conrad, and Abel are all with me for tonight. Check the map so you know the perimeter. We leave at eleven to patrol and end at five, that's when the pickers come out. Sleep during the day or take shifts with your partner, I don't give a shit." Liam checks for our attention. "Shower whenever- before or after your shift. Rules are simple here. Do your damn job." Liam glances at his clipboard, "The arrangements will change every day. Now, you have an hour to eat and unpack, then get back here ready to go. We'll finish the tour some other time."
I eyeball the men all standing in front of me. I need to assert myself in their conversations, but it's also important that I watch them. A man with dirty blonde hair and olive eyes walks towards me. He's about twenty five, he has protruding veins in his forearms, and he has darker eyebrows for his hair color. The man has a small scar on his neck and one of his ears used to be pierced.
"I'm Keegan, I'm guessing you're Scarlett," The man extends a hand.
"Lucky guess," I smirk, shaking his hand.
"How does it feel to be the only girl here?" Keegan asks with a grin.
"Like I'm trapped in the boy's locker room," I laugh.
"I think a couple of the men are pretty pleased to have a girl on the team." Keegan glances over at the rest of the group.
"How do you feel?" I take a step closer to him.
"Hey Kitten, making friends I see?" Kingston glides over and props an arm on my shoulder. "I'm Killian," Kingston shakes Keegan's hand, "Nice to meet you, mate."
I roll my eyes.
"Let's go eat!" Kingston ushers me away from Keegan. "How's it going, love?" He whispers.
"It was going well until you showed up," I growl.
"Sorry to hear that," Kingston pouts his lower lip, "I'll be right back." He jets away from me, hopping back over to the group of men.
Damn it. Fucking Kingston wants to play the popular game.
*
After dinner, where I introduced myself to the entire team, I got multiple full body stares and plenty of conversations started. It's nice to know that I can get the boys' attention.
"Get into your groups," Liam calls over to everyone, "Keegan, Scarlett, Desmond, and Ellis, go pick a four wheeler and start patrolling. If you hear or see anything suspicious, you're all equipped with guns. The rest of you follow me."
It's obvious that the security team exists to make sure drug dealers do not trespass. I find it odd that no one questions how large security is. Does everyone here know what's going on? Robin and Liam are bound to know.
*
Keegan and I race around on the four wheelers and we stay as a team to patrol so that we don't get lost on the first night. He's actually quite funny. We try a couple of apples and discuss Liam a bit, deciding that he simply needs to be laid. It's exactly five when we arrive back at the bunks.
"I'm exhausted," Keegan yawns, dragging his feet to his bunk.
I glance towards the bathrooms. I desperately want to shower because I desperately want to cry over Tanner. No one can tell when you cry in a shower. I grab some clothes and my toiletries and step onto the cold tile. A couple of the men are at the sinks.
Desmond, a buff, younger man looks me up and down. "Good luck showering," He grins. "Call us over when you do."
Ellis winks and Russell bites his lip.
I walk past with a flip of my hair. Oh you've got to be fucking kidding? The showers all sit against the walls lined in white tile. They sit open without curtains or bars to hang curtains.
I take a deep breath, turn on the water and undress. If this is how I get their attention then so be it. I strip down completely naked and step into the cold water. I know they're staring. I know they're looking me up and down. Liam walks in, stares at my chest for a solid minute, shrugs, and walks out. I turn to face the wall as much as possible as I shower. I hear Kingston attempt to get some of the men's attention.
"What the fuck is going on in here?"
I turn quickly.
"Where are the fucking shower curtains?"
It's Tanner.
He doesn't stare. He doesn't look me up and down. He forces the rest of the men out and comes back into the restroom with a comforter.
"Evangeline," He whispers.
Tears drip down my chin. "I have to."
"Why are you here?" He asks quietly, looking over his shoulder.
"Why are you here?" I gasp for air.
He duct tapes the comforter to the sides of the shower. "I'll fix this tomorrow." Tanner walks out.
I push my back into the tile and slide slowly to the ground. My tears mix with the water and slosh into the drain.
