Catching Feelings

6

"Bang! That's how it's done Fredo...I hate having to hand your ass to you all the time...it's not even fun anymore!"
Kenny walks through the bus door just as I'm throwing my controller aside. "Hamilton! You just missed me stompin' Fredo's sorry ass...again!"
"Whatever dick..." Fredo laughs. "I let you win."
This irritates me to no end, and he knows it. "You didn't let me win shit..." I snap.
Before he has a chance to reply Kenny gives him an uncomfortable look and then slides his eyes to mine. "Bobbi's on her way over...I just saw her, she'll be here in a minute."
"Okay..." I brighten at the thought of seeing her, she's been MIA all day. But Kenny still has a strange look on his face. "What's the problem Ken?"
"She's not alone Kid." He informs me with a nervous sigh.
"Yeah, so? Who's she with?" I ask, waiting for him to continue.
The door opens before he can fill me in. I rise to my feet and give her a smile "Hey B! Where have you been all day? We kinda missed you..." I trail off when I notice a guy stepping into the bus behind her. Even I can see he's good looking, and he has the build of a guy that spends a decent amount of time in the gym. Which I'm less than thrilled about, couldn't he have been some dork that offered little to no competition?
"Justin, Fredo...this is Jake." She points to him as he extends his hand.
I look at it but make no move to shake it and Fredo quickly reaches out to take it instead with a friendly "Nice to meet you..."
I ignore him completely and turn my attention to her "Is this the guy?" I ask, referring to the one she mentioned dating.
"Um...yeah, this is Jake." She introduces him again.
I look him over, but address her. "Yeah, I heard you the first time."
He takes over and reaches out, attempting to shake my hand again. I allow it this time. "Hey Justin, great to meet you."
"Oh yeah?" I let a hint of sarcasm invade my tone "Big fan are you?"
He looks slightly embarrassed "Well, to be honest I'm more of a classic rock kind of guy but..."
"So is Dan...he's around here somewhere." I point at the door, "You should go find him."
Bobbi clears her throat and I instantly feel bad about making her feel uncomfortable and take it down a notch. "Actually, he'll probably stop in at some point anyway...have a seat."
She visibly relaxes and gives me and appreciative glance which I return with a little nod. I watch him settle into chair but make no attempt to engage him in conversation.
Kenny takes over and does it for me. "Classic rock huh? I'm into some of that believe it or not."
Jake looks a little shocked but recovers quickly "Oh yeah? It's an easy genre to get into...love it all, but I like other stuff too...pretty broad spectrum." He turns to me "In fact, I picked up your newest as soon as Bobbi here told me she was gonna be working for you."
"No you didn't." I say rudely.
He looks surprised by the cold reception he is receiving from me. "Yeah, I did actually."
"Besides Baby...name another song, just one." I challenge.
He thinks for a moment with a guilty look on his face, but comes up empty handed just as I knew he would.
I allow the silence to linger, proving my point and then nod "Yeah I think that's one of Bobbi's favorites too isn't it B?"
She winces and narrows her eyes at me but doesn't comment as walks passed to sit in the chair next to him, but he reaches out and pulls her down onto his lap. I openly glare at him and clench my jaw in an attempt to keep from screaming at him to get his hands off of her, which technically I have no right to do.
She catches my eye and looks away before rising to her feet "You want something to drink Jake?" she asks heading towards the fridge.
He nods "Water would be perfect."
Water would be perfect. Who says shit like that? Why not just say I'll have water like a normal person? I think, my annoyance climbing.
"So Jake...what do you do?" I ask as she hands him a bottle. He thanks her with a wink before turning back to me to answer my question. "I'm an executive regional manager for Target."
I give him a condescending smile "You work at Target?"
"Well yeah," he hurries to defend himself with an 'I get this all the time' laugh "But regional manager isn't exactly a cashier."
"But...you work at Target correct?"
Something shifts in his eyes and it obvious he's just as annoyed with me now as I am with him "Yes, I work for Target."
"That's great Jake..." I say his name as though I can't stand the sound of it, which incidentally, I can't.
"I make well over six figures a year Justin..." He informs me with words that are laced with subtle aggression.
I shoot him a glare that tells him exactly how unimpressed I am with his salary, but refrain from reminding him that I make that in a day...or something close to it.
Bobbi looks insanely uneasy and I'm grateful when Kenny comes to her rescue "Hey Jake...just got a text from Dan...he's right over in the other bus, I have something to take care of over there anyway...want to come with? I think Justin's right, you guys will hit it off."
Jake agrees and follows Kenny out after giving B a little goodbye kiss on her cheek. The second they're gone Fredo comes up with an excuse to leave also just to avoid what I'm sure he knows is coming next.
When it's just her and I she wastes no time "You could have been nicer to him J. What the hell was that about?"
I throw my hands up in disgust "That guy? Seriously B? That guy? Gimmie a break!"
"What?" she snaps "I happen to really like him!"
I shake my head "No you don't."
"Yes I do...and Its none of your business anyway Justin." Okay, we're back to Justin now. No more J...she's pissed. "So you should just..."
I cut her off "You really like that guy? Mr. A Water Would Be Perfect I Work At Target guy?"
"Yes." She hisses.
I cock my head "Then why are you here with me? Why didn't you go with him?"
She stares at me silently for a moment, searching for the answer and then stammers "Because...I wanted to see if you needed anything, I am your assistant after all in case you've forgotten."
I give her a little half smile. "Liar."
She groans with exasperation and starts out the door.
When she slams it behind her, I call out after her because I know she can still hear me "Hey B...ask Mr. Wonderful if he can get my mom a discount on gift cards...she loves target!"

***
I pause and have to laugh a little before I jump on the other bus. Justin is ridiculous but hilarious at the same time. Anyone would have to be stupid not to see that he has some sort of little crush on me..I just hope that it doesn't hurt our working relationship. I really do love my job and the crew.
I climb onto the other bus to find Dan and Jake in deep conversation. "Hey there's my girl!" he says as I sit down next to him.
"Listen Jake, I'm really sorry about Justin's um...behavior."
Dan interrupts "Oh hell what did the kid do now?"
"Oh you know Justin..how he's not a big fan of new people at first..." I say to Dan with a sly wink. It's not entirely a lie but he did go a little more overboard than usual and I'm pretty pissed about it to be honest but part of me thought it was kinda cute as well.
"Hey he's a kid..I get it. No need to apologize." Jake says throwing his arm around me.
"Yea he wanted no part of me when Scooter brought me on board to be his guitarist..." Dan stops and thinks for a moment "To be honest I think he was like that with everyone..well, except Bobbi." Jake just looks at us as we both laugh and I quickly change the subject.
"You wanna go grab something to eat before the show Jake?"
He gives a bit of a sad look and hesitates "that sounds like a great idea Bobbi but I'm gonna have to take off before the show though..."
"Awe why..I thought you didn't catch your flight until later tonight?"
"I'm sorry they changed me to an earlier flight I have to be in Portland earlier than expected..I hate all this traveling..I don't know how you guys do it."
"No it's cool I completely understand..so let's head out now then."
We say our goodbyes to Dan and head out to dinner. I find it odd though that I feel relieved that he's leaving early.