Damaged Goods (MxM - BOOK FIVE)

Chapter Sixteen

"Your mum's not here" was the way Emily greeted him, and far from friendly, her eyes were red, and her cheeks were puffy. Tyler knew this look only too well. She'd been crying.

The Scottish girl had a bag slung about her shoulder and a hassled expression on her face that also suggested she was on her way out. It hadn't even occurred to Tyler that she might have late classes today and that she might be here.

"Do you know where she is?" he asked, though he felt he should probably have asked first if she was ok.

"Work," Emily replied stiffly.

Work? Tyler didn't know she was working right now. She hadn't taken a job in a year or so.

"Any idea when she will be home?" he asked again, still fighting the urge to ask Emily why she'd been crying, he knew she'd bite his head off if he did.

She narrowed her eyes at him, accusingly, "you know, Tyler, you're mum is pretty cool, and so far as I can tell, you're not much of a son."

Ok. So Emily wanted to pick a fight with him?

After the day he was having, he was unsure why he felt surprised.

"You don't know me," he began, deciding to keep his cool.

She seemed disappointed that he hadn't become, instantly hostile at her accusation. So she tried again."Your mum and I talk, you've no idea what she's sacrificed for you."

"I thought we agreed this morning that we would stay out of one another's business?" He asked sarcastically.

Her eyes hardened. Tyler hadn't learned a lot about Emily during their brief acquaintanceship, but what he did know, was that she didn't like people standing up to her.

"Some advice," he continued, giving her the benefit of the level head he had after his conversation with Father Michael. "People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones."

Her eyes narrowed, and for once, it seemed as if she was lost for words.

"Excuse me," he looked past her and moved further into the small flat without looking back.

He heard the front door slam shut behind him and didn't bother looking back once there was no further sound of her presence.

What had that all been about?

Was this because of this morning? Because he'd made her think about the shitty way, she was using Professor Marlow? Or the admission that Emily was cheating on her fiance back in Scotland?

Tyler didn't have time for this, and it wasn't even slightly; his problem. If her decisions weren't sitting well with her, then that was for her to sort out.

He had problems of his own.

He found what he was looking for pretty quickly. His mother kept a folder in the top kitchen cupboard by her Tupperware containers that she used for the current years account keeping. She'd always kept it, ever since he was a kid, and within it, along with essential documents; she usually kept his and her payslips.

The folder hit the benchtop with a thud, and he began moving through the folder efficiently. When he found the section, he was after he was surprised to see quite the collection of payslips.

So she was working for a large company, by the looks of it.

Oedipus

That was a curious business name. It rang a bell too, but Tyler didn't know why.

The postal address was for a Locked Bag post office location and that didnt help him. He was careful not to look at the payment figure on the payslip, knowing that was definitely none of his business, and began to search for an employment contract.