The Shop

Chapter 3

The coffee is cold by now and my hand is frozen while clutching the tray. I can't seem to get her smile out of my head. These thoughts are bad. I don't like her, I love Tara. Tara, oh shit. I grab my phone out of my pocket and check my texts. Seven texts and ten missed calls, all from Tara. My ass will be served on a platter. Just picturing Tara setting the table with my head on a platter with an apple in my  mouth made me laugh a bit. But then I'd see Mary sitting across the table and I would come back to life and curse her out. God I hate that bitch.

By now I'm back to the lobby of my apartment and Rubert opens the door for me. 

"Thanks Rubert." I say scurrying in from the cold.

"My name is Ronaldo." He remarks and I ignore him, pressing the 6th floor in the elevator. When I finally reached my floor I almost bump into another man while getting off the elevator and he gets on.

"Hey, watch where you're going." I spit but quickly take the words back when I see my neighbor Liam's face.

"Oh, sorry Liam." Liam weirdly smiles and fiddles with his fingers, not making any eye contact with me what so ever and saying nothing. The doors close and I walk back to my apartment. I have always felt bad for Liam's mother. When Tara and I first moved in a few months ago, Liam's mom introduced herself. She told us Liam and she, have lived here Liam's whole life. Madeline I think her name is, said we should not be offended by his, different behavior. Liam was diagnosed with Down Syndrome when he was three years old. Though I would have never guessed it. He looked like a regular guy.  When Liam's mom told us, I just thought the old bat was pulling our leg. But I didn't realize she wasn't joking until I heard the screams. 

One night I was waken by screams through the walls. I yelled at Tara to call 911 and scrambled out of bed to the apartment next door. I banged on the door and Liam's mom answered, looking calm and collective. After a few minutes of explaining I learned once in a while Liam has nightmares and he screams louder than any child ever could. Everyone in the apartment is ok with it because the Payne's are a nice family. But from that day on I'm extremely nice to Liam, I know Tara would kill me even if I wasn't. It must be hard on her, taking care of him all alone. But I have never once been annoyed at them. Despite the screams, they don't bother anyone.

Fumbling with the keys I finally open the front door to find Tara pacing back in fourth in only a t-shirt and shorts. When she looks at me I can see worry in her eyes, and a hint of anger. Even though I know I'm probably about to get a scolding I can't seem to shake how sexy she looks.

"What the hell is wrong with you!" She yells, my eyes are wide. I knew she would be upset but not this furious.

"It took you over an hour!" I look over at the clock hanging in the wall in the kitchen and it reads 9:33. I didn't notice my little *stunt* at the shop took so long.

"Well..." I try to begin explaining but she cuts me off.

"I though you were hurt or something! You are always so selfish! You couldn't even return one call? What were you doing all this time?" She walks over to me and picks up her Styrofoam cup. I try to explain but she cuts me off, again.

"Well, you see there was a-" 

"And! My coffee is cold! You are unbelievable!" I can't take her joining into another one of my sentences.

"Damnit Tara if you would let me get one word out I can tell you what fucking happened." Tara's face is covered with fury but she finally shuts up. Thank God.

"First of all, the line in that dump was out of the door. Second, when I finally got your shit I accidentally knocked over another person's coffee and had to clean it up. Then I bought her a new cup which also took five minutes. So if you would stop bitching for two seconds you would know why I'm late. And for the record you told me to silence my phone last night because I was getting so many alerts from Sport's Center." She opens her mouth as if she is about to say something but then closes it. I exhale and hand her the banana bread. She quickly thanks me and goes to the living room to watch TV, I assume to blow off some steam. Looking down at the tray in my hand I see Mary's cup. Handing the cup to Tara I walk back into our bed room, collapsing into bed. I left out the part when I sat down and had a quick exchange with that random girl.

"What do you want me to do with this?" She yells from the living room.

"It's for your roommate." I yell back and begin to take off my boots. I stuff my hand in my jeans and feel a paper in there. Hoping it is money, I pull it out sadly finding the recite from that girl back in the shop. I smile to myself thinking about her witty remarks. I turn the paper over and read the name of the credit card user. 

"Huh, her name is Jasmine." I say to myself and stuff the recite back into my jeans. I'm not sure if it's bad that I kind of wish she wrote down her phone number too. She seems like a cool person to hang out with. That's the only reason I want the number. Right?