for, liar

Chapter 60

"Cinnamon mocha for Miles!" Tiffany calls out and slides the cup over the counter to him.

He thanks her, picks it up, and turns to leave.

"Miles!" I shout.

It was more than enough to get his attention. He looks at me again, nervous now. Was he really just going to leave without acknowledging what just happened?

"Sorry, I really gotta get going. My dad is flying in for business. It's last minute and he needs a place to stay so I have to go pick him up from the airport."

He was going to leave without telling me any of this. I know I shouldn't take this the wrong way but how could I not? Just because I met his mom doesn't mean he wants to introduce me to his entire family.

"Oh, okay. Will you call me later? I get off at ten."

He nods and walks out the side door. I have so many concerns going through my head right now, I'm not sure how to filter and place them. Miles hasn't worried me with any sketchy activity our entire relationship so I guess I must have been getting comfortable a little too fast. I could also just be looking too far into this and being paranoid. I'm used to Maddy doing sketchy shit all of the time but I've learned to brush that off.

He doesn't even call me after work. I'm sitting alone at 11:30 in the dark eating cold spaghetti with the only thing lighting up the room being the pitiful overhead stove bulb. A part of me wants to wake Maddy up to talk just so I can clear my mind and ease those irritating thoughts that will keep me from sleeping but she has to work in the morning.

I pick up my phone from the kitchen counter and check it one more time in case I missed a message. I'm only making matters worse. I should just let it go and get to sleep. He's just busy with his dad or he's tired so he went to bed as soon as he got home. I convince myself that he will call me in the morning just so I'm able to go to sleep.

Maddy is wide awake by 7 A.M. cooking breakfast before she has to leave for work. I walk in there after another sleepless night. Miles still hasn't tried contacting me to explain himself. Am I supposed to just let this go?

"Why do you look like you haven't slept?" Maddy asks with one look at me.

I scowl and grab a coffee mug from the cabinet. She laughs, flipping over a huge blueberry pancake.

"Because I haven't." I mutter.

The steam from the coffee splashing into my cup heats up my cheeks. No matter how bad of a mood I am in, just the smell of coffee makes me feel at least thirty percent better. It's not a lot but it's something.

"Bad first day back at work?" She asks.

She slides a plate over to me with two pancakes and a piece of link sausage.

I thank her and sit down at the table. "No, it wasn't bad at work, just weird. Lana got fired, Jeff offered me a higher position with Scream Beans, and Miles was acting strange."

She cuts the stove off and sets the spatula down on the hand cloth folded on the counter. "You just threw a lot at me. Hold up, Lana got fired?"

I nod and cut into my pancake stack. "Yeah for 'unacceptable behavior with customers and management' or whatever the fuck that means." 

"I thought the whole point of Scream Beans was to have unacceptable behavior. Shouldn't she have gotten promoted then?"

I chuckle because that's a valid point. He never even emphasized what the unacceptable behavior was. What could be more unacceptable than what we already say to customers?

"I wanted to call her and get the details but I think that might be weird."

We went for drinks one time to talk and it was really nice, it just wasn't enough to bring us any closer and make her hate me less. She might die before she admits we're anything other than enemies.

"Yeah, well that all sounds weird so you should definitely call her."

She sits down in front of me with a cup of orange juice and her breakfast plate. She's already dressed for work with very minimal makeup. No matter what she does, she always looks unbelievably beautiful. It's unfair.

"Maybe later. I've got other shit going on."

"Right! What kind of promotion is Jeff trying to hand off to you?"

I scratch my head, gritting my teeth together. "He wants to give me a store...to manage."

Her eyes darted up to me. "He's serious about that?" She asks.

"Yeah, he handed me this big packet of shit to read about. I don't think I'm going to do it though. I'm stressed out about it and I'm perfectly fine with just being an ASM."

I like being an assistant manager. Sure, I have a lot of responsibilities and all but it's nothing compared to the stuff store managers have to deal with. When things get too rough, the problem goes to the manager and the ASM is off the hook. I don't need all of that pressure on me.

"I think you should at least look into it." Maddy encourages me.

I probably would if Jeff didn't give me the creeps.

"I'll read the packet later."

It's not happening. I really don't want this management position. I must seem insane throwing away this opportunity, This doesn't feel like my calling and I'm confident there's something out there better fit for me.

"Okay, so what's going on with Miles?" Maddy asks, getting up for an orange juice refill.

"Oh my God, I genuinely have no idea. He came into the store last night to get a drink. It was past eight so it was kind of weird to see him there that late, but I didn't really question it because I thought he was just being cute and wanted to visit me. He gets a new drink to try and I go to bring him his change because he refused to let me charge him and this guy that was fixing his coffee with five million fucking packets of sugar strolls over to Miles like they were old pals and starts asking him how he's been, where'd he disappear to, and how they thought he died after some party. He told the guy he must have the wrong dude and then almost leaves without saying goodbye to me or telling me that his father is in town and he has to pick him up from the airport! Like what the fuck even happened there?"

I'm not even sure if Maddy caught all of that rambling massacre. That was the fastest I've ever talked.

"Then he says he'll call me later and never does. I'm kind of offended. Am I being crazy or can I validate being sketched out by this?"

She sits back down with another full glass of juice. This bitch is thirsty this morning.

"Yeah, that seems weird and all but maybe he actually doesn't know who that guy was and got really busy with his dad that he forgot to call you. Not everyone has some deep dark secret they're trying to hide all the time."

"Well, yeah...I guess not. I don't know. I know I seem psychotic but damn it just pissed me off a little. He wasn't even going to tell me about his dad until I called out to him to see why he was leaving in such a hurry."

She shrugs, taking a small bite of sausage and chewing it slowly. "Don't be paranoid like me. It'll get you nowhere but heartbroken."

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