Fresh Start (jax teller)

Chapter 12

I woke up to a loud knock on my door. I checked the time, it was 6:37am. I slept the entire night on the couch with Baloo while Zero slept on his bed.

I check the peephole to see who it is. It was Tara. I was confused and almost didn't want to open.

"Yes?"

"I was just wondering if you were going to work today." She asked me.

"No. I don't think I'm supposed to go in yet."

"Oh. Okay. Never mind. Sorry to bother you." I watched her leave and saw that she was walking.

"Did you need a ride?"

"No it's fine I can walk." I felt bad.

"It's fine I can take you. I should probably go anyway to see when I can go in." I invited her in while I got dressed and made myself looked presentable. She didn't looked pleased.

"When did you get dogs"

"Yesterday"

"I see. I hope they won't be of disturbance when they bark."

"No they won't. They're very mellow." We both walked out the door and got inside my car. The ride was awkwardly quiet.

"So Jax told me about your little disturbance with the installer" Tara said.

"Yeah. Guy was an asshole"

"Good thing he was around."

"Yeah good thing." I said with out sarcasm.

"Why was he around again?" She asked concerned but not scolding.

"Not sure. I think he heard me arguing with the guy." I reassured her and she nodded.

"He's kind of a flirt. And I trust him but you know, sometimes women don't have the respect. It's happened before." She told me not directing it at me but in a way as if she wanted to talk to me. I didn't say anything and we both went inside.

My background check was still not clear so I couldn't work. I drove into town to see what's around. I grabbed a bite and drove back home.

"Hey neighbor" Jax said as we both pulled in our driveways.

"Hi" I awkwardly said. I didn't want to interfere with his marriage. After hearing what Tara said, I knew that spending a lot of time with him may be unpredictable.

"You okay doc?"

"Yeah everything is fine thank you" I started opening my door. He started walking to my house.

"If you're in danger you can tell me" he said very concerned. I didn't know how to answer so I kind of just looked at him. He grabbed my arm told me to follow him.

We walked inside his house and he sat me down on his kitchen table. Surprisingly, it didn't smell like cigarettes or alcohol like I imagined. He pulled out a beer and handed it to me while he sat and drank one.

"So what's the story" he asked. I stared at him thinking about what I should say.

"It's complicated" I finally answered.

"Life is complicated darling" he said. I took a deep sigh and started talking.

"Back in San Francisco, my brother owned a car shop. It was a mechanic and wreckage shop. Originally it was my dads but then he gave it to my brother after he passed." He was being attentive.

"The shop was owned by my brother but ran by my ex. He became close to my family. We were together for seven years. Out of nowhere, money starts to go missing and of course my brother notices. The first person to ask was Christian, that's his name, he was in charge of everything. He told him he was going to look into it but nothing changed."

"Then what?"

"My brother confronted him and fired him basically. Cut him off. And I was in between both of them so I tried to make it right. I looked into any possible factors on why money was starting to go missing but I couldn't find anything, so I talked to Christian and I asked him myself, not as my brother's sister, but as his girlfriend of seven years. He got pissed and dumped me. After that happened, he bought a white Range Rover. I knew him, he didn't have that kind of money. After some time, my brother thought he was being followed, things started to get weird for him. His car got broken into, things at his house got stolen like his personal files. Then about two months later, he disappeared. No trace. No thing. They never found his body." Things got quiet for a second. We both didn't know what to say.

"Jesus Christ. The same Range that's been coming?"

"It looks like it. I just can't see anyone in the car."

"What about you? Is that why you moved?"

"I moved because after that happened, I confronted him and told him it was his fault and he did it. He denied it and said he had nothing to do with it. He said I can't ever accuse him of anything like that or else. I closed down the shop, quit my job, changed my name, and moved over here but I guess he's still able to find me."

"Do you think he'll hurt you?"

"I don't know. We were together for seven years. Not sure if he still loves me or would be able to do something to me. I know deep down I'm still in love with him but I can never be with him. I don't know how he feels about me."

"You should've said something doc. I'm gonna let Clay and the others know. I'll make sure one of the guys stays with you at all times when I'm not home."

"That's not necessary Jax, I doubt anything would happen."

"Better to be safe than sorry. Don't want anything happening to you knowing I could've helped."

"Thanks." I said and took a sip of the beer.

"Tara's going to be mad I came over here I should go." I told him.

"Guess you're right. I'm gonna stay around, you don't have to worry. I'll call up the guys and someone will be here too."

"Thank you so much Jax I already feel safer." I gave him a big hug. He smelled of cologne and cigarettes but then again I probably did too. I walked out the door and left to my house.

I forgot that I had Baloo and Zero. I forgot their food ran out because I didn't buy the big bag, only trial sizes. I felt really bad and thought that maybe I wasn't ready for dogs. Specially when I start my job. I knew I was going to be working long hours. I didn't want to return them to the shelter so I had to think about what I was going to do. I called an old friend of mine who's a vegan. She'll take any animal inside, even a little bug.

"Hey Amanda it's Lea, I know we haven't spoken in a while. I would love to catch up with you. I'm also situated with a dog issue or dogs, so if you can call me back I'd really appreciate it. Hope all is well." I left her a voicemail. Nobody calls me Marilyn so I had to use my name that she knew me by.

Few hours later after I came back home with their dog food, I got a phone call from Amanda.

"Hello" I said.

"I got your message. What's up?"

I told her the situation and was completely understandable. She told me she actually lost both of her dogs recently due to old age so she was looking into getting a pair. She had a German Shepard named Max and a little white Maltese named Oliver. After talking to her for a bit, we arranged a meet up tomorrow where I drive up to San Francisco and give them to her. For now, I get to spend one last day with them.

Next Day

I wake up at around 10am to head to SF. It's about a 2 hour drive from Charming, so I didn't want to be late. I put Zero and Baloo in my Mercedes and drive off.

Two hours later, I arrive. I felt a rush of anxiety being back in SF after all the terrible memories I have of being here. I go to Amanda's house, spend about an hour with her, talk about the dogs, and I drive off. Since I was in the area, I decided to go to the cemetery where there's a gravestone for my brother, even though there's no remains. I hadn't visit since we had a funeral for him. It was very hard for me so I left. I couldn't be there staring at the ground. I drove back to Charming.