I’m barely able to concentrate at work. My mind can’t stop replaying what happened last night over and over.
That can’t be right. That isn’t what happened. I misinterpreted something. Right? Tobias hates me. He lords his skill and wealth over me. He wanted to ban me from the store. Why would he try to kiss me?
My heart beats a little faster each time I think about it, I’m worried I might have a heart attack before lunch. My call metrics are going to be a little skewed for today, I can already tell. I’ll need to come up with a good excuse for the manager, as I don’t think “A handsome, rich man nearly kissed me but I ran away before it happened” is a good reason I missed picking up two calls.
What happened? What changed? He wanted me gone, hated my opinions. Didn’t he?
I’m suddenly reminded of what specifically he said yesterday:
“That’s all? I give you the opportunity of a lifetime and you just give up before the time is done? Good, you’d best be leaving if that’s how you’re going to act.”
I stayed. I made it to the tournament. Is that what he really wanted? But if so that would mean… he wants to spend more time around me? Insane. He’s a jerk. A rich and famous jerk who flaunts his wealth and has basic opinions about overrated superheroes.
If that’s all he is, then why are you so flushed?
It comes from my own head, but I hear it in his voice. He knows. He knows how much he messed me up. I have no clue about him. I don’t even know if he’s upset with me for running away. I shouldn’t care about that, right?
I pull up Marq’s number in my contacts and see it right there, “Marq (Pretty Boy)”. It makes me feel a little better. I go to close the app, but an errant flick of my finger scrolls down further instead and a name catches my eye.
“Tobias (Rich Boy)”
…What? What the hell? Where did this come from? It takes longer than I’d like to admit to remember him tapping something on my phone before handing it back to me. Is that what he did? He put himself in my phone? And he did it with the same format as Marq! Was that intentional? It must have been!
I should text him. I should call him. I should delete his contact. Why is this happening to me!?
My computer pings, a message from my manager.
“That’s call number 3 you missed. Put yourself on Aux status and come see me.”
Oh. Dang it. I just missed a call because of Tobias. That jerk. That sexy jerk.
* * *
I claimed I was feeling ill and needed to go home. My performance is usually pretty good, so I can get by with it just this once, but I can’t have stupid Tobias stupidly messing up my work life with his stupid mind games.
Besides, I like Marq. He’s so outgoing, and has a sexy voice and gave me his number the proper way. He doesn’t hate me the way Tobias did until before last night. …And maybe uses me for his greed, but that’s part of the charm! Isn’t it?
I hear the door open and close downstairs as Kara enters.
“I’m home!” I yell out before she gets too far.
“Jesus!” she cries in shock. “Why are you home? I didn’t see your bike out there!”
“I claimed I was sick and Sonny insisted he give me a ride home. He’ll bring the bike for me after work.”
I hear her footsteps coming to my room. I didn’t see Kara between when I got home last night and going to work this morning. She was working a shift at a new bartender job she found. Tips have been decent, but she’s pretty and her drinks aren’t the worst so that’s no surprise.
“Claimed? So are you or aren’t you sick?” She peeks her head in the door, like she might catch the plague from me.
“I dropped three calls and had to give some kind of excuse.” I was lying on my back on my bed.
“Three? That’s a new record for you. Can’t touch me though. How many calls did I drop when you tried to get me a job there?” She’s almost giggling to herself thinking about it.
“Ugh, don’t remind me. I think you only got to 5 before they let you go, but that was within 1 hour. I had to work real hard to smooth over my image after that.”
“So what’s got the great call center machine slipping almost as bad as me?”
I’m about to open my mouth and explain when our last deep conversation hits me. So much has been about my life, and I don’t talk enough about hers.
“Nothing important. Just feeling off. How are you? How’s your family? Any new guys you’re banging?”
She grabs my pillow and hits me in the head with it.
“You’re so dumb. I want you to ask about me and talk about my stuff when there’s stuff to talk about. I can worry about my friend who is clearly not doing well.”
“I got Marq’s number,” I blankly state.
“What! Skank! We texting him sober or drunk? Did you get gin when you last went to the store?” She almost looks like she’s about to get up when she notices my lack of reaction. “…or is him giving you his number a bad thing?”
I sigh and cover my face with my hands.
“…Tobias tried to kiss me…”
“Shut up! Mr. Ego himself wanted that lanky business? Did you kiss him back?” Kara’s excitement is palpable, but I can only feel like my head is going to explode.
“No! I screamed and ran home. But thinking about it at work is why I screwed up so bad. It’s like he’s messing with my head.” I sit up. “That must have been his plan! He tries to kiss me, I lose my job, and then I can’t do the tournament anymore because I’m spending all my time trying to find a new one!”
“Tobias sure sounds like a smart guy who knows you super well. That’d be devious if anyone besides you believed it.”
“Ugh! What am I going to do!?”
“You’re overthinking this. Pick the one you like and tell the other ‘Sorry!'” Kara says like it’s the easiest thing in the world.
Right. Pick the one I like. I know what I like. The pretty one. Who does nice things for me. And also harbors a darker side to their personality.
WHY IS THAT BOTH OF THEM?!
