Garlic Is For Vampires (#Wattys2016)

Chapter 18: No Rest for the Wicked

The day at work passed at a snail's pace. Aside from dealing with some pain in my leg and constantly looking over my shoulder to see whether or not a vampire was standing behind me, I was working a busy day and these customers were constantly trying to annoy me.

"How'd you hurt your leg?" one man asked. He was somewhere in his mid-fifties and balding with a few flakes of dandruff on his shoulder. I looked down at my knee and then followed his gaze higher towards the silk shorts I was wearing. I smiled at him.

"I fell," I said.

"You know, I can make some more comfortable shorts like the ones you're wearing," he said with a grin, and a strange chill traveled down my spine. "If you give me your size I can have them done for you by the end of the month. They're shorter too so you won't be so hot since it's summer."

"Oh, these are already short enough," I told him. "Thanks for the offer, but I'm not interested. I'm sure there are other girls with shorter shorts who'd appreciate your work. I already have someone else making me shorts." I smiled at him.

"You mean someone like Dylan Shaw?" The guy gave a wicked smile and I felt the grin on my face shrink. I swallowed and felt my face pale. He'd hit a sore spot.

"Even if that was the case, he'd still be the only one allowed to see me in my underwear." I said it through clenched teeth and the guy noticed. He leaned on the counter, the specks of dandruff floating towards me. I placed my hands down on the counter and pressed down so he couldn't see them shaking. What was his problem? Why couldn't I just be left alone? As much as I wanted to ignore the fact that Dylan Shaw was breathing down my neck in every possible way, I couldn't show that I was being affected by it. If this guy was another clothing designer who knew Dylan-then that meant a lot of people knew him. Dylan was well known.

"Are you done harassing me or do I have to call the police to drag you out of here?" I said.

"She has teeth!" He flashed me his own yellowing teeth. "So; why did Dylan attack you? What happened that caused him to snap? Is it because he found you whoring around with another guy? Or should I add an S to the end of guy?"

That did it. I raised my crutch and struck him in the shoulder with it. Thank God we were alone right now-Rosemary was cleaning up from her candle-making class and was the only one who heard the guy swearing and shouting epithets at me as he ran out of the shop. I set my crutch down, breathing hard. I would not cry, I would not cry. I couldn't afford to ruin my calm to tears that were useless. Where would crying get me? Once my shift was over I would cry in the kitchen with a tub of Ben&Jerry's while curled up in fetal position, hugging my crutches for support.

"Sometimes tears show you're tired from fighting hard," Rosemary said. She leaned against the counter. "And it's been an eventful few weeks for you, Bree. Have you considered talking to someone? I'm always here for support."

"Thanks, but I'm a big girl. I think. And I just really need to remind myself that things will pass. I rarely have encounters with people who know...him."

"That's the good thing. Not a lot of people really know who you are-which makes your privacy more special. I know people have heard of you because of what happened, but they don't know you. It's complicated."

"I think I get it. Just a bit."

"Good." She smiled, "want to help me with restocking?"

"Of course. How else do I get paid?"

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"Need any help?" Angie asked as I wobbled towards the cab. She grinned and got out of the car. Bennett got out as well to help me in and he gently tucked me in between him and Angie. I laid my crutches across our laps and leaned back. It was getting dark and I really just wanted to go home. We planned a sleepover with movies and a lot of junk food. And Angie bought me new pajamas recently. She said they were from Victoria's Secret and I didn't know if I wanted to wear them with Bennett sleeping over.