Shatter Me (The Jaded Series, #1) (7 page)

“I was just heading over to the diner. Want to go with me and grab some breakfast?” She asks me excitedly.

As I’ve not had anything since early yesterday afternoon, I’m starving. The money I have left is precious to me, but I know that I need to eat as well. The last thing I need is to become sick because I’m not eating enough.

I give her a small smile and say, “Sure, I could do with some breakfast.”

I lock my car door and we make our way towards the diner on foot. As we move along the sidewalk, I realize that Anna must know just about everyone here in this little town. Several cars honk at Anna as they pass by and give friendly waves. Some people step out of their businesses to yell a greeting at her. There are plenty of “Hi, how are ya’s?” It must be so nice to be so welcomed and loved in such a small community.

We walk into the diner a few minutes later and make our way to one of the booths. As soon as we are seated a short woman wearing a pair of sparkly black capri’s,  a deep plum colored button up blouse, with the first few buttons undone, and an apron approaches us. Her strawberry blonde hair is piled high up on her head. She has on a bunch of gold and silver bangles on both wrists and a pair of big hoop earrings. She’s also sporting a pair of high black strappy heels. Shoes that shouldn’t be worn by a waitress while at work. Although the outfit is ridiculous for the type of work she’s doing, she looks darn good in it. Her name tag says she’s called Nitra.

“Hey, Anna girl, what are you doing here so early?” She asks while propping a hand on her hip.

“Having breakfast with my new friend here. Bailey, meet Nitra. Nitra, this is Bailey. She’s new in town and I’ve decided to take her under my wing. She came in the diner for the first time the other night and I knew right away that we were going to be great friends.” Anna finishes her introduction with two claps of her hand.

Holy smokes!
This girl really is something else. Her infectious excitement causes me to laugh, something I haven’t done in a long, long time. It feels strange to laugh, especially in the wake of a nightmare, but it also feels really good.

Nitra turns my way and holds out her hand. “Nice to meet cha, Bailey. How do you like our little town so far?”

I place my hand in hers and we shake. “I haven’t seen much, but from what I have seen it seems like a nice place.”

“Of course it’s a nice place. Everybody knows everybody here. We’re all family and look out for each other. What’s not to like?” Stopping to pull out a notepad and pen, she continues talking. “So, what can I get for you two this morning? Or do you need more time to decide.”

Before I get a chance to answer Nitra with my meager choice of a muffin and water, Anna pipes up and orders what could probably feed an army.

“We’ll have some bacon, sausage, eggs, hash browns, toast, and pancakes, please. Double of everything. Oh, and have Cookie add some whip cream and strawberries to the pancakes. Can you also bring us both some orange juice and coffee?”

Nitra’s eyes nearly bug out of her head as Anna rambles off her list of wants. Once she’s done writing everything down she walks off to put in our massive order. There is no way Anna can eat all that. I realize what she’s doing and I turn to her to protest. Before I get a chance, she’s out of her seat and squealing like a child that just woke up on Christmas morning. I turn to look at what has made her so giddy and see the man from the other night, Nick, walking into the diner. He smiles really big at Anna and immediately starts in our direction.

When he reaches our table, he scoops Anna up and plants a hard smoldering kiss on her lips while swinging her around. It’s so hard to watch these two. They make love look so easy. They have no worries and you can tell they are both comfortable with each other.

When they finally break apart from their private moment Anna turns to me while still holding onto Nick and says, “I want you to meet my new friend, Bailey.”

It’s plain to see that Nick really doesn’t want to look away from Anna, but he forces himself to anyway.

“Oh, hey, you were in here the other night right?” He asks while pushing Anna into the booth and following to sit beside her.

“Uh, yeah, the night I got into town,” I tell him.

Nitra brings us our orange juice and coffee. She adds a third cup for Nick. While pouring milk in his coffee Nick casually asks, “So, Bailey, what brings you to Jaded Hollow?”

I’ve already prepared for this question so I answer him just as casually while quaking inside, hoping he doesn’t see through my lie.

“I just needed a change of scenery. I’ve always wanted to travel and nothing was holding me back, so I thought; ‘why not now?’” I glance down to my coffee and pretend to stir it, even though I haven’t added anything to it.

“That’s very brave of you to just up and leave like that.” I glance up from my coffee to gauge his expression. Is he questioning my answer or is he just making an observation? He’s looking at me like he doesn’t know whether or not to believe me.
Crap!
I don’t need anyone doubting me. People may become curious if they think my story is false.

Just then, Nitra walks up carrying our horrendous amount of food.

“Sweet Jesus, Anna! Were you planning on feeding a whole baseball team?” Nick asks her.

Anna giggles, “Nope, I’m just extremely hungry. Someone’s been keeping me busy the last couple of days and hasn’t let me up for air long enough for me to eat.” She says this with a wink towards me.

Nick leans in and nuzzles her ear and whispers, loud enough for me to hear, “Hmm...I wonder who that could be.”

I start to feel like I’m invading their private moment. I shift uncomfortably in my seat. I’ve never been around people that are so relaxed and carefree with each other.

Anna peeks at me and I think she notices how awkward I feel. She nudges Nick back to his side of the booth and says, “Eat up, Bailey, before it gets cold.”

I reluctantly grab an empty plate that Nitra left for us and start placing small amounts of food on it. Nick just starts eating straight off the plates.

While Anna is piling her food on her plate, she asks me, “So, how do you like working at my brother’s bar so far?”

I had no idea that Anna was Jaxon’s sister. Of course, there’s no way that I
would
know since I just got here, but I figured there would be more of a resemblance. Jaxon and Mia look just alike, while Anna looks nothing like them. Jaxon and Mia must take after one parent while Anna favors the other.

“It’s okay. I haven’t really gotten the opportunity to really work yet. All I did yesterday was learn how to set up. Tonight I’ll be there when there’s more of a crowd, so we’ll see.” I start shoveling food into my mouth. It tastes so good that it feels like I haven’t eaten in a week.

“I’m sure you’ll do fine. You said you’ve done bartending before right?”

“Yeah, I worked in a restaurant that had a bar for four years in college. Actually, that’s what helped pay my way through school.” I decide to sneak another piece of bacon and another scoop of eggs.

“See, you know what you’re doing. It may get rowdy there sometimes, but most of the guys that go there are generally good natured. It’s not often that things get out of hand. You just have to know when to let things slide and when to stand up for yourself.”

Ha!
That’s just the thing. I’m terrified of standing up for myself. All it’s gotten me in the past is more pain. But I don’t tell Anna that. All I can do is hope that the need for such bravery never comes up and that if it does I can handle it and not have a panic attack.

A few minutes later Nitra comes back to our table to refill our coffee. “How long are you in town this time, Nick?” She asks while refreshing my mug.

Nick finishes chewing the huge bite of eggs he just stuffed in his mouth and answers, “I head back out at the beginning of next week.”

“Oh wow, that must be a huge bummer for you, Anna. Didn’t you just get back in town a couple days ago?”

Anna pouts her lips and says, “Yes. I hate it. Every time he leaves I want to pull my hair out. I swear one of these days I’m going to surprise him and just pack up and go with him.”

Nick leans over and rests his forehead on Anna’s and says, “Ah, Anna, you know it kills me to leave you.”

“I know,” Anna sighs and gives him a sad smile.

Nick reaches up to cup Anna’s face and rubs her cheek with his thumb. “I love you, Anna Banana.”

She reaches up to place her hand on top of his and replies, “I love you too, Nick.”

What must it be like to be so in love? To completely trust someone with your heart and soul and not worry about when the next painful punch or kick will come. Once upon a time I thought I found that. Now, I know that women like me never find that rare and precious gift. I’m not jaded enough to believe it doesn’t exist, I just know that it doesn’t exist for me.

After a few more minutes of lovingly gazing into each other’s eyes, the pair leaves their own private world and comes back to reality. Anna turns towards me and explains Nick’s business trips.

“Nick owns his own construction company and has to go to different sites to oversee the progress. There are times when he’s only gone for a day or two, but others he’s gone for weeks. I would go with him, but my gram needs me here to help run the diner.”

“You mean the older lady that was here the other night?” I ask her.

“Yep, that’s my gram.”

We sit in companionable silence while we finish up our food. Nick gets up and pulls his wallet out of his back pocket and tells Anna he’s going to take care of the bill.

“Wait,” I tell Nick while grabbing for my purse. “I’d like to pay for my portion.”

I reach in to grab some money but before I can offer it to him he walks off and Anna says, “No, Bailey, it’s on us.” She says softly. I glance at her and she’s giving me sad and understanding eyes.

My eyes go wide and I protest, “What? No! I can’t let y’all pay for my breakfast.”

“Oh yes, you can, missy. I invited you here and it was me that ordered a huge meal. Besides, we get the employee discount.” She says, winking at me.

My eyes start to mist. Anna is such a sweetheart. She must know that I can’t afford to pay for a decent breakfast so she made it to where I couldn’t say no to her offer. There is no way I could pay for everything I’ve eaten today. I believe she specifically invited me so she could pay for my food. I have to blink several times to keep my tears at bay.

“Thank you,” I whisper to her.

She doesn’t reply, but reaches across the table and squeezes my hand. If given the chance, I know that we could be wonderful friends. Unfortunately, I won’t be here long enough to let that friendship fully blossom.

After Nick settles the bill, we make our way out of the diner. I, again, thank Anna and Nick for breakfast and tell them I’ll see them later. Anna confiscates my phone so she can put her number in it and makes me promise to call her later to set up a time to have coffee tomorrow.

I make my way back to the convenient store where I took my whore’s bath yesterday and proceed to do the same today. Once refreshed and in clean clothes I head back to the library and grab my seat in the back.  So I don’t tempt fate and take the chance of being late for work, I set the alarm on my phone, making sure I put it on vibrate. I settle back in my comfortable chair and crack open my book, looking forward to losing myself in the fictional world of love and make believe.

––––––––

W
hen I walk into the bar ten minutes before five there are more people than there was yesterday when I left at five. Considering it’s Friday I would expect no less. There are several people seated at the bar and a few more at the tables. Three guys are over at the pool tables drinking beer and having a merry ole time ribbing each other about their latest shots.

I look to the bar and see Mia standing there talking to one of the customers. She acknowledges me with a chin lift and I head in her direction. Lifting the partition, I place my jacket and purse underneath the counter. Turning, I make my way towards Mia as I pull my hair into a ponytail.

Tonight she’s wearing a black tube top that shows off her small pert breasts. The bottom portion of her top flows loose around her waist. Her jeans are well worn but hug her slim hips. There are several holes in the material. On her feet is a pair of black leather biker boots.

She looks completely comfortable with her body. Not afraid to show it off but also not flaunting it. She gives off a vibe that says I’m confident in my looks. Unlike me with my loose jeans, green v-neck t-shirt, and sneakers. Plain. Nondescript. Nothing special. These clothes work for me though because they allow me to hide the parts of my physical being that I want no one to notice.

Mia is still standing in front of the customer, talking when I walk up. The customer notices me first, eyes briefly landing on my scar, and smiles.

“Well, hello there, gorgeous. Never seen you in these parts before. You new in town?” He asks.

He’s wearing a gray and blue button up plaid shirt. The sleeves are rolled up to his elbows that are resting on the bar. His dark brown hair is shaggy and a touch too long. Although he has kind green eyes, I look to him wearily.

“Yes, I’ve only been here a few days,” I answer him.

“Names Mac, and what might you be called?”

“Bailey.”

“It’s very nice to meet you, Bailey. You plan on staying in Jaded Hollow long?” He picks up his beer that’s resting on the bar and takes a healthy swig.

No. It’s too dangerous. I don’t say that though. Too many questions would be asked. Questions that I can’t answer. Instead, I say, “Um...I haven’t quite decided yet.”

“Well, if you need someone to show you around town then I’m your guy. You just let me know.” He gives me a wink.

Before I could become too uncomfortable with the direction of the conversation is going Mia steps in and saves the day. “Oh, stop harassing the wait staff, Mac. She doesn’t need or want your flirty ways hounding her.”

“Hey, I was just being friendly to the new girl in town. No harm in that.” He gives off a wounded look, but his eyes give away his amusement.