Just One Sip (2 page)

My lips thinned, hearing him beg. He never did that. And still…the ice crept over my shoulder blades up to my neck. I needed to get away. From him. From everyone.

I shook my head. “I just can’t.”

As if I had burned him, he pulled his hands away from my face. He took a step back. Then another. Then one more. His brows furrowed so deeply that they touched. Gradually, he shook his head. “Space? You say you want space, Lucy?” He took another step away. “Well, you’ve got it.” He turned and prowled to the front door.

I raised my right hand. “Wait!”

Not peering back, he paused, his shoulders hunched and tight in his silent fury.

My mouth bobbed and fresh tears began streaming down my cheeks. I fisted my hand and let it drop down to my side. “I don’t want to break up, Jet. I just…
can’t
…go with you tonight.”

In a quiet beat, his chest heaved, and then his feet were moving again. Away from me. He opened the front door and glanced at me once over his shoulder, I saw the pain radiating there in his eyes. He shook his head and stated softly, “That’s too bad. I think we do need a break.” The door shut soundlessly as he left.

My mouth hung open in a silent plea.
He had actually broken up with me.

He was mine.

I was his.

Shit like this wasn’t supposed to happen to us. We had been together longer than any of our friends had. We were made for each other.

What the hell had just happened?

My heart splintered into a million pieces, aching so much that I sat heavily on the couch and yanked the afghan over my shoulders. Holding my head in my hands, furious tears poured down my cheeks. My stomach ached with each inhale, and I jerked when I felt my mom sit next to me.

Why couldn’t I be like a normal person?

I had always been shy, but whatever this new introversion was, it was ruining my life.

Silently, my mom pulled me against her, holding me close as I wept.

Stuffing my face against her neck, I sobbed, “I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

Gently, she rubbed my back and used the cover to brush away the tears that wouldn’t stop flowing. “We’ll figure it out, hun.” She placed a soft kiss on my sweating forehead. “And Jet will be back. You know he will. He loves you.”

Present Day

Waving my hands in front of my face, I choked heavily on the marijuana smoke that filled my mom’s—and now my—bakery downtown. “Mom?”
For the love of god, she was smoking it in the shop now.
“Mom, where are you?”

Her soft tenor rang from the kitchen. “In the back, hun!”

Coughing twice more, I locked the front door to the shop. It was still an hour until opening time. Hopefully, it would air out by then. Maneuvering through the small tables of display cases, I noted she hadn’t filled them yet this morning. Sighing heavily, I opened the swinging door behind the vintage cash register. There she was—long blonde hair, not a gray in sight, cooking…and munching…in the kitchen like normal. “Procrastinate much?”

She took a drag from her joint before pounding it out into the sink. The windows were open in the back, the smoke wafting out in the breeze that ruffled her soft cotton skirt. “Don’t harp at me. I was up all night with a large order for the Brandles.” She waved her hands, and her various bracelets jingled with a soft tinkling. “I could actually use some help—”

“Nope,” I interrupted. “I’m back in Karim as your partner. Your business partner. The one who takes care of the books at Plume Bakes, not an employee to cook for you.”

Her nose crinkled. There was a smudge of chocolate on it. “I know. I know. You don’t have to keep telling me. We signed the papers. My memory isn’t faulty—yet.”

My lips twitched. “Then why do you keep asking?”

“It’s only been two times.” She sifted flower onto the cooking board she was using. Her brown eyes peeked up at me through her dangling bangs. Where she was a real flower child down to her core, I was a mixture of professionalism and free love. “Has Jet been by to see you?”

Taking off my suit coat, I started to wave it through the air to dissipate some of the lingering smoke toward the windows. “He stopped by my apartment two days ago.” I hadn’t heard from him since. “He wanted his ring back. Said it was his mom’s ring.”

Her abrupt laughter caused me to pause. “That ring probably cost twenty grand. Of course, it belongs to his mom. Do you know how many times I was tempted to make you give it back?”

I chuckled quietly, enjoying our conversation. She had spiraled down into a horrid depression when Grandma died a month ago. Mom hadn’t been able to be there as much as she would have liked, having to run shop. But seeing her now, in her ‘place’ behind the cooking counter, and smiling… Well, it made me smile. “His mother has enough jewelry to pay for an entire country’s starving children. I didn’t think it would hurt to keep it.”

She nodded, still grinning. “True enough, daughter. True enough.” She pointed a flour covered finger at the small office in the back. “There’s tons of paperwork back there.” Her grin only increased. “I’m so glad you’re home. Now you can put that fancy business degree of yours to use. Aren’t you thrilled?”

I giggled outright as I made my way back to
my
office. “You know I am.”

It was good to be home.

I peeked back into the kitchen and tried to give my mom my best glare. “And don’t even think about lighting up when customers are here.”

She winked. “Of course not. I’m a certified angel once the sign says
open.”

Oh, my God. This was going to be a wild ride.

“Mom!” I shouted…glaring daggers at the order that I gripped in my hands. It was a miracle that the paper wasn’t ripping. “Mom!” I was going to throttle my tree hugging mother. “
What the hell is this?
”

Wholesome innocence stepped into my office. Oh, she could win an award for transforming herself into a light spirit made just for a church statue. “What are you talking about, dear?”

She even pulled out the
dear
card. Her face was going to meet bark in a hurry. I shook the paper in front of her nose. “You aren’t supposed to interfere with Jet and me! You know that!” I pointed to the scheduled catering employees for a Mak event. “And that’s my name on there.” My brows arched as I glanced once more at the name of the location. “And what the hell is The Club?”

Delicately, she lifted the paper from my hands. Her brown eyes surveyed the sheet, and then she shrugged a thin shoulder. I wish my shoulders were that small. Whereas I had received her smaller height, I was a tad more
round
around the middle. Probably from my dad’s side…if my mom even knew who my dad was. Definitely a free loving woman down to her
core
. She hummed quietly and handed the paper back to me. “It’s a new club of Jet’s. I think he co-owns the place. I’ve catered there once before.” She waggled a finger at the notes section of the order. “Make sure you wear the correct attire. It’s totally upscale.”

With that, she turned and left my office.

“Mom! We are not done talking about this!”

“Yes, we are. Sometimes you just need a little push.” Her hand reappeared outside my doorway. It made a shoving motion before disappearing again. “
Push
.”

“Mom!”

“Quit arguing, hun. You know you want to see him. It’s written all over your face.”

I glared at my doorway. “I’m not supposed to be doing the food stuff! It’s not in my contract.”

She chuckled quietly, still unseen. But the clanging of pans could definitely be heard. “Rules are made to be stomped the fuck on. I’ve told you that many times.”

I grumbled under my breath, “
Great advice from a mother.
”

“I heard that!”

November 15, 2006 – Age 16

Shouldering my way through Karim Academy, I grunted heavily when an old
friend
slammed her backpack into my gut as she passed. Tears welled in my eyes, a sharp edge of a book having nailed me in the ribs. But I kept moving, always moving forward. It had been almost a year since Jet had broken up with me. It had never been more apparent that I was a scholarship kid here at the over-privileged Academy for the rich snobs of Karim. That my mom was just the
help
their families hired when they wanted a fine meal for an extravagant party. My eyes were now wide open without Jet to protect me against the harshness of my reality.

And it was shit.

My life was shit.

Every minute was shit without Jet in my life. My best friend. The boy I loved.

My gaze caught on his as I stopped at my locker. I knew he felt the same way. He stood with his numerous friends not more than ten feet away. Always close to me. But never a word said. His ice blue eyes followed me wherever I went.

Waiting.

Waiting for me to relent. To explain my past behavior.

But I couldn’t. It was too damned embarrassing.

Jet didn’t necessarily prey on peoples’ weaknesses, but I did know that he kept a logbook.

A log of peoples’ secrets—just in case, one day, he ever needed them.

And my undisclosed explanation was pathetic.

Slamming my locker shut, I stuffed my biology book into my backpack. I kept my eyes down as I passed Jet’s group, hearing their conversation quiet as I walked by. Today was no different from yesterday and the day before that and so on. But I kept moving forward.

Always forward. It was the only way to stay sane.

I stumbled out of biology class when a classmate let the door close on my fingers. Muttering a curse under my breath, I shook my fingers out, glaring at the red mark on my small digits. “Thanks, asshole.”

The jerk didn’t even glance back. He merely kept walking as he chuckled at my obvious pain.

I growled quietly, squatted down, and sat my backpack on the ground. My head was pounding from a killer headache. My biology teacher was notorious for his monotone voice and hour long boring ass speeches. Being prepared for his class was a must. Digging through my backpack for aspirin, I shifted to the side of the hallway so I wouldn’t get whacked any more than normal.