No Regrets

Chapter Fifteen - Awkward's New Meaning

KATIE'S POV

   Walking into Chloe's Jewelry, my eyes instantly spotted and recognized Sawyer. The first thought that came to mind was to dive down to hide behind a counter. Luckily, sense quickly grabbed ahold of me and kept me from giving into my initial impulse. Instead of trying to duck down and hide, I calmly walk further into the store and do my blend into the crowd, hide in plain sight; however, my presence does not go unnoticed for too long.

"Hey Katie." Sawyer said as he walked over towards me.

"Hey Sawyer." I replied, quickly diverting my eyes to the necklaces in the display case.

"Don't tell me, let me guess, Christmas gift?" Sawyer asked. I didn't reply, I was too busy trying to keep myself from working my nerves into a frenzy. "You are really cutting it close." Sawyer commented.

   My eyes fell on a necklace, one that I was sure Mom would love and one that I could afford. "I can't drive and all those who can drive in my household are busy working." I said to Sawyer as I raised my head up. I waved my hand to catch the attention of someone working at the store. Someone came over after a minute or two and I pointed out the silver-chained necklace with a small white-swan charm. Although I could afford the necklace, the price was still a bit higher than I'd planned. I thought of Dominick and how I could possibly get him to pitch in, since last I'd checked he didn't have a gift for Mom.

   Upon a close look, I found that the swan on the necklace had little fake diamonds along the wings. It's elegant, simple, and beautiful. "What do you think, Sawyer?" I asked showing him the necklace. He looked at it and smiled.

"хорош ты, нечего сказать." He said.

  I give him a look and tip my head a bit. "In a language I can understand, please." I said amused.

  He laughed. "It looks beautiful." He said. "You should try it on, see if you like the way it looks when it's worn."

  His logic both made no sense and sense at the same time. I couldn't deny that I wanted to try on the necklace, I turned to ask the person who was assisting me if I could try the necklace on; but the worker had gone off to help someone else.

  I was slightly disappointed.

"I'll do it for you." Sawyer said.

"What?" I asked a little surprised. "You'll help me put on the necklace?" I asked.

"No, I'll pay your taxes. Yes, the necklace! Hurry up before I change my mind." Sawyer replied.

   I carefully handed him the necklace. "If you break it, I'll make sure you pay for it." I said.

   Sawyer laughed a bit. "Well, that wouldn't be any issue since, let's just say, I have a special discount." He waved at one of the workers, a girl with black hair pinned back in a messy bun. She looked over at Sawyer and mouths something to him.

   I looked over to see Sawyer's response, he instantly guided me over to the nearest mirror sitting on the counter. I held my hair hair so he could put the necklace on me. For a moment all I could do is stare. I didn't see what I had expected, I thought I'd see an image of Mom staring back at me; but instead I saw something that took me aback.

"What do you think?" Sawyer asks pulling me from my thoughts.

   I open my mouth, but words don't get a chance to come out. At the exactly moment, I am about to say, "I like it." A voice yells from across the store, "KATIE MARIE BENJI!" I turn around and see Dominick standing by the entrance. Instantly tension fills the store. Dominick looks surprised and embarrassed by himself; but that does not stop him. He quickly asks the girl Sawyer that waved at earlier who stands near the entrance to watch the baby stroller. The girl nods and Dominick starts weaving his way through the crowd of people.

   Once he reached where I am, he looks at me. "I have been calling you." he says firmly.

   I pull out my phone to discover I'd missed several calls all from him. "My phone must have been on silent." I say.

"We're leaving." Dominick says.

"Dominick wai-"

"We're leaving now, Katie." he says raising his voice.

  Sawyer quickly removes the necklace and places it back inside the display case. I quickly apologize to him and ask him to apologize to the people who work at the store for the disturbance. "I'll call you to talk about the project." I say before I begin to follow Dominick out of the store. The anger radiating off him closely matches the anger that boiled inside me.

   We don't say a word to each other until we're out in the parking lot. "How could you yell at me from across a store?" I ask loudly.

"You're the one who wasn't answering her phone!" He snaps at me. "For all I knew, you had been kidnapped and were being stuffed in a van!" He throws his hands up.

"It was. On. Silent!" I yell hitting my hands for emphasis.

"You should have checked it!" Dominick replies.

   I start describing my embarrassment to him. When we reach the car all he says to me is, "Get in the car and buckle your seat belt." He unlocks the doors and we get in. We drive a few minutes in silence before he starts talking. "I know you think I was a major d*ck, yelling at you like that. But, I had good reasoning."

   I scoff and roll my eyes. Yeah, right. I think.

"Don't act like I'm simply talking sh*t. You know what you did wrong." he says.

"Yeah, I didn't know my phone was on silent. I should be locked away." I say annoyed.

"You know it's not that Katie." he says. I over look at him. He quickly looks at me and lets out a sigh. "You sneaking off to see that boy. You know very well, how wrong that is. You are twelve years old, twelve, not twenty."

"You don't know what you're saying." I snap.

"Do you want me to tell the parents? Because, if something like this happens again I will tell them." he says firmly. I know that the threat is empty, and he knows that I know. Our conversation dies down at that moment.

   We don't say anything else. I decide to send a quick text to Sawyer, again to apologize and thank him for his help. Turning on the screen, I find something surprising.

  Six missed calls from an unknown number. There are six voice-mails as well. I press the first voice-mail from the number. I'm surprised when I hear Sawyer's voice. "Hello Katie, it's Sawyer... I hope this is the right number for Katie... so, here's the thing.. Umm, you left something at the store." he says, the awkwardness heavy in his voice.

  I tap Dominick on the shoulder and play the voice message back on speaker. "I'll turn around." he says.

~~~~~~~~~~

   I grabbed my purse, my wallet, and my phone as I get out of the car. What could I have left? "You get Mollie and I'll meet you at the store." I say before shutting the car door. Dominick agrees.

   I'm a few feet away when I hear Dominick loudly swear, "F***! F***!"

   I hurry back over to the car and look inside in the back. Mollie's car-seat it empty. Oh sh*t! We did forget something. The two of us managed to forget a living-breathing human being. A defenseless baby no less. Oh this is just fantastic! I think sarcastically.

  Dominick and I both run into the mall and over to the store. We find Sawyer standing outside the entrance with Mollie's stroller next to him. He sees me and waves at me.

"I am so sorry." I say as I check on Mollie. Scanning her down, head to toe. She's asleep. "Would this be considered awkward?" I ask as I hand to stroller to Dominick.

"I think we created a whole new meaning for the word 'awkward'." Sawyer replies with an awkward chuckle.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE**

THANK YOU FOR READING! I HOPE YOU ENJOYED!

VOTE, COMMENT, FOLLOW, do whatever you want.