Next to Me (2 page)

Sitting back down in the chair, she watched him sleep, listening to his steady breath as his chest moved up and down. Her phone started playing Blue Oyster Cult, and she jumped a mile, hoping it didn’t wake him up. Silencing it, she checked the number. It was her dealer more than likely calling to see if she wanted another gram. Hesitating a minute, she waited for it to stop ringing. It was always hard to resist the offer when he called, and he delivered, making it more difficult. She texted him.

Thor, meet me outside my apartment, I’ll take one.

Thor had named himself after the character, and he kind of looked like him with his longer blond hair and broad muscles. He didn’t do coke himself, but he sold the crap out of it. Thor was the kind of dealer you wanted to have. He wasn’t shady, and he was all business. He did have a hammer in his trunk if he needed to use it, which was kind of where the name came from. Nobody who couldn’t pay wanted to deal with Thor’s hammer. Whitney walked over to cover Zane up with a blanket and kissed his forehead lightly. She grabbed her cigarettes, the bottle of vodka, and quietly went outside to wait for him.

Zane opened his eyes as she left the room, knowing where she was going, but felt powerless to stop her. He had tried the intervention thing with her before, and it ended poorly. For a while she stopped, but she made his life hell, and then she had slowly started back down the junkie path again. Despite her bad habits, he’d made a commitment to take care of her and had stayed in the complicated relationship ever since.

She didn’t look like a typical junkie. She was beautiful with her natural blond hair, gorgeous complexion, and surprisingly healthy physique. No one would know the sick and damaged girl who teetered very close to the surface. He knew one day it would be too much for him, and he would have to let her go. He moved down the couch a bit to find a high heel sticking up from the cushions when it poked him hard in the ass. Once he moved the shoe, he finally fell asleep.

The alarm was going off somewhere on the couch, and the cat was stretching across his face. He knew he’d only had maybe an hour of sleep waiting for Whitney to come back in. Listening to her talk to the idiot who sold her the poison had finally put him to sleep. She would feel bad if he fell off a roof for lack of rest.

Pushing the cat off him gently, he started digging through all the things on her couch to get to his phone and shut off the alarm. Getting up, he rushed out the door to his truck. He couldn’t show up in what he was wearing, and he really needed a shower to wake up. He didn’t bother telling Whitney bye because she was either dead to the world or pacing in her room, and he didn’t want to witness either. She was high when he picked her up, so he knew she had just added more fuel to an already coke filled fire. It was funny how she thought he couldn’t tell as she chugged vodka like a five-hundred-pound Russian man would.

His dad’s house wasn’t too far away, but it wasn’t a drive he wanted to make at three in the morning. Plus, he always liked to watch Whitney when she was on a bender if he could. Pulling into the driveway, he could see that his dad had left most of the lights in the house on and was probably asleep on the couch with the television on Sports Center as loud as it would go.

Sure enough, when he walked in the sports anchor rattling off NFL injuries greeted him and he had to search around his father’s sleeping form for the remote. After he turned the TV off and grabbed a quick shower, he fixed both of them a quick breakfast. He left the eggs and bacon in the microwave and a note for his dad on the counter. Back in his truck, he guzzled the coffee he had made, which was disgusting, and hoped it would wake him up enough to work. It was the instant kind since he didn’t have time to wait for the coffee pot to finish.

“That girl is going to kill you, Son.” His father’s words echoed in his head as he pictured Whitney dragging her ass into work later that afternoon, being the center of town gossip. Zane looked at himself in the rearview. His dark hair seemed to fall into place without trying. He had a nicely structured face if he did say so himself, and he was voted best looking in high school. There was no reason he shouldn’t have a girlfriend and let Whitney live her destructive life. He just couldn’t let her go for some reason. Destined for pain and glutton for punishment, he supposed one day he would snap out of it.

Climbing out of his truck, he walked toward the office trailer. Not surprisingly, he was the first one there out of his small crew, and he unlocked the door, walking into the small space they had to work in. The blast of hot air almost knocked him off his feet. The air conditioning was out again; this was not going to be a good day.

In the middle of an Arizonian summer, at eight o’clock in the morning the temperature was already climbing. The small town he grew up in wasn’t big enough to have but one heating and air guy, and he had to pray that Gus wasn’t busy or the whole day would be spent out in the sun dumping bottles of water on the guys to keep them from overheating. The whole situation made him feel even more tired, and he was going to have to find an iced coffee to get through the day.

Whitney woke up with her face buried in the carpet and Duchess asleep on her back. She jerked up, feeling every bit of the drugs and alcohol she had consumed the night before. How had she gotten home?
Oh shit, Zane.
She stumbled out into her living room, knowing he would be gone. He was such a responsible person, on time to work, never staying out late. Well, except when she called him. Groaning, she searched the apartment for her cigarettes and did her best not to light her hair on fire as she lit it through the rat’s nest.

Looking at the clock soured her mood even more. It was 1:20 and she had to be at work at 2:15. Seeing as how the town of Ruftin was the flea on the dog that was Arizona, she would be there in two minutes, but she still had to get ready, which she really dreaded. Taking long drags of the cigarette, she looked in her cabinets to see if there was anything edible.

Half a pop tart peeked out of its shiny wrapper and she hoped it wasn’t stale as she popped it in the toaster. What a glamorous life she lived. Finishing her cigarette, she went over to the couch to find her uniform and apron. She hoped the clothes were fresh from the wash and not supposed to go in there. She was never sure. Since the toaster was broken and she forgot about the pop tart, it burned. When she smelled smoke she raced over to unplug it, but knew it wouldn’t be edible. Hopefully she could sweet talk the cook at work for a grilled cheese. She went to tackle the tangles on her hair and hoped the imprint of the carpet would be gone by the time she got to work.

It took her a minute to realize she needed to wash everything. She could smell cigarettes in her hair and a lingering trace of the cologne the guy she’d slept with had left on her skin. There was no way she could go in and wait tables smelling like that. She was just going to have to be late in the name of washing off a one-night stand. As she showered she tried to remember if she’d given the guy her number. He was cute, a farmer named Jason. She’d met him at the bar, but he’d walked in with a different girl. The night was kind of fuzzy, but maybe the girl was just a friend. It didn’t matter anyway. He wasn’t going to call her. She’d snuck out at three a.m.

Rushing outside after she’d wrestled all her clothes on and fed Duchess, she jumped in her car. Her car started sometimes, and others it just laughed at her. It was an old as dirt Toyota Camry and the blue had just about rusted off of it.

Zane sighed as he did paperwork in his truck and wasted gas in the name of staying cool. He had to send the crew home early because Gus hadn’t been able to come and fix the air. His buddy Cole had offered to stay and keep him company, but knowing he would ask why Zane looked like shit, he told him he would be fine on his own. Explaining his relationship with Whitney was difficult, and he didn’t want to go through that whole thing while he was not firing on all cylinders.

He was almost done with the paperwork when he saw his boss pulling into the job site. Hoping it was just a routine visit, he hopped out of his truck to greet him. Charlie Morris was someone he looked up to. He owned his own company, was well liked in town, and had a beautiful family. One day Zane wanted to be like him, and even though he didn’t have the education Charlie had, he wanted to move up in the company. Feeling confident in his role as project manager, he knew that Charlie was impressed with his work ethic and his drive.

“Bad day for no air conditioning, Zane my man.” Charlie walked up and shook his hand like he always did.

“Tell me about it. I take it you got my email that Gus couldn’t make it out until tomorrow. We would have pushed through, but I didn’t think we needed any fainting goats out here.” Charlie laughed at his dumb joke and leaned against the side of his pickup.

“This isn’t a social call, Zane. I need to talk a little business with you.” Zane tensed a bit, knowing that sometimes layoffs could happen when it was least expected. He hated laying off his crew, and worse he hated getting laid off even if it was temporary. He went completely mad while he wasn’t going to work.

“Relax, it’s good news.” Charlie must have sensed his nervousness. “I just want you to know that there is a big opportunity for advancement coming to the company and if you play your cards right the job is as good as yours. It isn’t an office job, you will still be out in the field, but you will be over several projects in the area instead of one. We still have to go through the procedure of interviewing, background check, and all that fun stuff, but I know how hard you work, and I think it will be better if we hire internally for the position. I am encouraging you very strongly to apply.”

Zane could barely contain the excitement he felt from the offer, but he did his best. “Thank you so much, Charlie. I’ll apply right away.”

“Great, I’ll see you soon.” Charlie shook his hand again and walked to his car. This was huge. More money would mean his dad’s medical bills could be paid. He might be able to afford to take some classes. This was going to change everything.

Whitney arrived at Ren’s Steak and Grill exactly five minutes after she should have finished her prep work. Her co-workers glared at her as she walked in, sunglasses still on, and made her way to the coffee pot. They hated picking up her slack and she knew it. Ignoring their glares, she filled a regular tea glass to the top with coffee and went to find a booth to sort out her bank.

Grabbing a straw out of her apron so she could suck down the coffee faster, she counted her money. It was easier for the waitresses to keep cash to make change so that they didn’t have to rely on a manager. She was a hundred dollars short, and she knew why. The little bag of coke in her sock had been more important than keeping her bank full. She hoped she could count herself down at the end of the night and wouldn’t have to answer for not keeping two hundred dollars with her.

After the coffee was gone and the hostess started seating people, she moved back to the waitress station to stand with the people who hated her until she was seated.

“Rough night?” A bubblier girl named Sophie was practically bouncing with energy in front of her. Most of the time Whitney wanted to smack her for being so damn happy. Looking at the three other girls on the floor, she knew that Sophie would be the only one speaking to her today.

“You could say that.”

“What did you do?” Sophie was intrigued now and never stopped smiling. It was scary, like she was a Stepford waitress or something.

“I went out, Sophie, drank a little, no big deal.” Whitney didn’t like playing twenty questions with anyone. As she was about to tell her this, the hostess walked up and interrupted.

“Whitney, you have a single at table four.” The hostess didn’t look at her as she walked by after seating her. Nodding and happy to get away from the others, she walked over to the guy sitting at her table and tried to put on a genuine smile. It wasn’t hard once she got to the table because he was attractive. He had a full sleeve of tattoos on one arm and wore a T-shirt that said
Don’t Tread on Me
. His long hair was pushed back behind his ears and had an eyebrow ring that caught her eye as he looked up. When he smiled at her, the fake one she reserved for customers turned into a wide grin. She probably looked like a fool, but when she saw the motorcycle helmet sitting in the booth beside him, she was smitten. She loved motorcycles and riding them with hot guys. Breaking her own rule, she sat down across from him and put her pad on the table. She never sat with customers, she found it tacky, but this one deserved an exception.

“Well, well, Whitney.” His voice was deep and appealing. “Looks like I came into the right restaurant.”

Smiling and hoping she didn’t babble like an idiot, she said the only thing she could think of. “You have a motorcycle?”
Genius, of course he does.

He didn’t seem to mind her stupid question. “Yes I do. Do you like motorcycles?”

“I love motorcycles.” Now she sounded dumb and way too enthusiastic. “What can I get you to drink?”

“Do you have alcohol?” he said, looking at the menu.

“Dry county, sorry.” She shrugged, hoping he didn’t leave because of it.

“Good thing you’re here, or I would probably leave.” He raised an eyebrow at her as she became aware of the line of waitresses gawking at them from the station. “I’ll take a sweet tea, please.”

She hopped up to go grab it and watched as the girls scurried to look like they weren’t trying to eavesdrop. She smiled as she grabbed his sweet tea, happy to have their attention for something other than her reputation. Looking down at the drab green shirt, black long skirt, and apron they wore, she wished she looked a little cuter, but he didn’t seem to notice, so she wouldn’t worry about it.

When she came back to his table the manager was leaving and shook her head at her, which made her worry a bit.

“What was that about?”

“I told your manager that I shouldn’t have to eat alone, so she agreed to let you join me, and someone else will wait on us.” He smiled, causing Whitney to blush. This was a strange situation, and she knew the girls would absolutely hate waiting on her.

“You’re crazy.” She stood by his table, holding onto the tea, waiting for him to tell her it was a joke, or someone to pop out and say they got her good. No one ever did.

“Take off your apron, Whitney, and stay awhile.” Finally, she snapped out of it and sat down across from him after untying her apron and hoping that the skirt she donned was clean. No noticeable stains were visible and she was thankful for small miracles. She wondered how he knew her name until she remembered the nametag on her shirt, and was glad she didn’t ask. Breathing a sigh of relief that it was Sophie who came up to ask her what she wanted, she relaxed a bit. Sophie’s smiling ass wouldn’t be a bitch to her. She’d wait on them like anyone else.

“So I know your name, don’t you want to know mine?” He fiddled with the corner of his menu, and she wondered if she made him as nervous as he made her.

“I think you look like a Rex, Damian, or maybe a Trent.” He looked amused, and she wondered how close she was.

“Close. My name is Walter. Walter Morris.” It was her turn to look amused. That was not the name she expected a man like him to have, and he was a man. She could tell he was at least ten years older than her and wondered if it would be rude to ask. “Not what you expected?” He sipped the sweet tea and continued fiddling with the menu.

“Not at all, Walter, but I like it.” She was flirting. It was shameless and she didn’t care. Something about him made her feel good. When Sophie returned they both ordered the burger and fries, talking about themselves as they waited.