Whisky State of Mind

Whisky State of Mind

Copyright © Karlene Blakemore-Mowle, 2013

First published 201
3

Published by Karlene Blakemore-Mowle

2 McLennans lane

Macksville, NSW,2447

Email: [email protected]

URL: http://karlenebm.blogspot.com.au

All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a database and retrieval system or transmitted in any form or any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the owner of copyright and the above publishers.

Chapter
1

Sky McKenna threw out a hand and searched blindly for the source of the terrible screeching beside her bed.
God how she loathed that alarm.
How could it possibly be time to get up? She’d only just gone to bed. It didn’t help that she’d been up half the night reassuring her best friend, Bella, that she could handle her internship at one of Paris’s most prestigious designing houses. When her fingers finally located the top of the alarm clock, she gave it a satisfying thump and blessed silence filled the room once more.

She contemplated going back to sleep…just ten more minutes was all she needed, but the nagging, annoying voice of responsibility she carried around continued to sing a rendition of ‘
Oh what a beautiful morning’
at the top of its voice and she knew there was no way she would be allowed the luxury of falling back to sleep.

Sky dragged herself from her nice warm bed and made her way to the bathroom, managing to kick her toe on the way and let out a long string of curse words she was fairly sure would make her Granny pass out cold had she still been living at home.

There was no time to wash her hair this morning—it would take too long to blow-dry and she was already cutting it fine if she wanted to get into work before her boss, Gerard Glitter, or as she preferred to think of him,
Sparkles
. 

She’d been late a few times over the last week or so and had no one to blame but herself...oh
, and the guy from the coffee shop she had a crush on, who she managed to coincidently bump into every morning at the coffee shop on her way to work each morning. She didn’t even know his name.

Actually, it was
all
his fault. Sometimes he didn’t turn up until later and so she
may
have lingere
d
at the end of the line  for a few minutes longer than she should have until he arrived just so she could get a whiff of him as he brushed passed her…but hey, she needed to get her thrills somehow.

It didn’t take much to keep her happy;  a fresh cup of double strength Kenya gold coffee and that smell of
Mr. Scrumptious
—a mixture of something lemony with a dash of spice. Once her morning ritual was complete, she was then able to face the monotony of the day ahead, working in a job she hated, with a boss she despised.

As much as she detested her job, at least it paid the bills.

She was sure her grandparents hated it more than she did though. Their plan for her had been college and then a well-paid corporate job, but then they’d had the fight of the century and pride had forced Sky’s hand.

There were times she still felt bad about the argument
; she’d been raised by her grandparents since the age of eleven. She owed them everything. They’d taken her in after her father had been arrested and thrown into prison. God only knows what would have become of her, if they hadn’t. She had nowhere else to go.  

For years, she’d been the model granddaughter. She didn’t argue when her grandmother chose her clothes and ran a strict eye over anything she chose to wear during her high school years. Yes, she was teased at school—ridiculed by the so-called popular kids who were allowed to wear skirts so short they almost counted as halter-tops and shirts that exposed their midriffs…but that was all right. She lived in a nice house and wanted for nothing. She could handle being a freak at school. She’d learned a long time ago she was not built to fit into normal society.

The one thing that kept her going—well, two things really, were her best friend, Bella and the knowledge that in a few short years she’d be going to college and she could finally start living her own life.

However, all her plans for breaking free crumbled before her eyes when her grandparents had given her their ultimatum. If she wanted to go to college—then she had to remain living at home.

At first, she’d resisted—she hated that they were so over protective and controlling, but then she realized it made sense, in a frustrating kind of way. She couldn’t afford to go to college without their help financially, and if they were paying the bills it
was
cheaper to live at home instead of on campus.

Bella had moved into an apartment with three other girls and although Sky was happy for her, part of her was insanely jealous. Everyone around her was out living their life, and she…wasn’t.

For two,
long
years, she bit back her frustration and forced herself to keep the peace until the night she decided to tell her grandparents that she wanted to change majors. She was twenty years old for goodness sake and they were refusing to allow her to make any decisions about her future by herself. The moment they played the “grateful’” card, she’d snapped.

“I
am
grateful Gran. You have no idea how grateful I have been all these years, but you can’t keep trying to run my life. I’m not a child anymore.”

“Well you’re far from an adult. Look around you dear, you live at home—you don’t pay board, you have no income—that’s hardly being adult is it?”

“I lived here out of respect for you and all you’ve done for me, Gran. But I can’t do this anymore. You have to let me make my own mistakes.”

“We made that
mistake
once with your mother—and we don’t intend to make it twice. While you’re living under our roof and we’re paying your expenses—you will do as you are told, young lady.”

Sky had pushed back her chair and stood calmly, hoping they couldn’t see the way her hands were shaking. “Then I’ll move out from under your roof.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, where will you go? How will you eat?”

“I’ll do what everyone else does, Gran. I’ll find a job.”

She’d left the house with her suitcase of clothing, and the box she’d carried into their home as a heartbroken, scared child all those years ago, and headed into town crashing on Bella’s sofa until she’d found herself a job. She didn’t go back to her grandparents’ house to collect the rest of her clothes; they’d made it more than clear that she wasn’t welcome until she came back and apologized, something she hadn’t been ready to do. That had been almost a year ago.

As far as planning went, it hadn’t exactly been one of her most sterling moments. She’d had to drop out of school…for now, but she’d found a job almost immediately and with a bit of help from Bella, the two girls had eventually moved into a
tiny little apartment. She may not have much—but what she had was hers and she was working toward her dream.

Sky stole a quick glance at the bedside clock and swore. There was no more time to dwell on the past. Getting dressed, she hurried through her makeup
; there was no point making an effort this morning, she wasn’t going to get to see
Mr. Mysterious
. With a disappointed sigh, she realized she’d have to forgo her usual morning coffee—she couldn’t afford to get
Sparkles
offside by being late again.

She had a moment of panic at the thought.
Not see her dream guy?
It was the highlight of her pathetic life. 
Nope, you can do this,
she coached herself firmly. She’d let this silly morning ritual go too far. It was not healthy. So what if he smelt divine and had a body to die for…he was probably married…or gay…or
both
knowing her luck.

She locked the door behind her and glanced down at the rather sad
-looking plant outside her door
. Damn it,
she muttered,
I must water that when I get home.
She pushed away the moment of self-reproach; at least it was only a plant and not a puppy. She ran down the steps. She was
not
going to be late today—even if it killed her in the process.

Taking a deep breath to fortify herself, she marched straight past the coffee shop without looking sideways. She didn’t even sneak a peek…she wasn’t sure she could have kept walking if she’d seen him patiently waiting in line for his morning espresso.
No, better to just not look at all,
she told herself firmly.

As she reached the diner, she congratulated herself on being so mature and strong. She shrugged off her coat and stashed her handbag in the locker with a tad more force than was required. She’d kill for a decent cup of coffee right about now.

“Someone’s not their usual sunny self,” Marcy noted, leaning against the doorway as she took a drag on her cigarette, the lines around her mouth accentuating with the action, blowing the smoke outside into the alleyway behind the building.

Sky usually got on with everyone. Her upbringing had put her in the path of some pretty extreme personalities, but Marcy seemed to take an instant dislike to her and no matter how often Sky had tried to break the ice—it hadn’t improved their somewhat cool working alliance. She wasn’t sure what it was
about her that Marcy took exception to, but she’d eventually given up trying to win her over.

Sky sent her an unamused glance as she pulled on her apron, then twisted and tied her hair back in a loose, messy bun. “I haven’t had coffee yet and now I’m going to have to drink the crap we serve here…so no, there’s not much to damn well smile about at the moment,” she snapped.

“Oh man—you’re going to be a joy to work with today.”

“Then it’s a good thing I’m not here to provide the comic relief isn’t it,” she threw over her shoulder as she headed out into the diner to start her day. She swallowed back her temper and took a slow breath. Maybe it was the Scots blood from her father’s side of the family that gave her a short fuse temper
; usually she could lock it down before she snapped, but days like this—without coffee, she was a woman on the edge.

It was a good thing that for some reason that day they were rushed off their feet with customers, it gave Sky less time to think about the fact she still hadn’t had any caffeine.

She turned around to serve her next customer and felt the color drain from her face.
Lack of caffeine, that’s what it had to be—she was hallucinating…she had to be.
She stood frozen to the spot as she stared at the man who had just seated himself at the table in front of her, all six feet of denim, leather, and a mean stubbled jaw.

“Hey there handsome,” Marcy’s husky drawl floated through her consciousness and snapped her from the daze. “What can I get you?”

Sky had never been more grateful in her entire life to have Marcy muscle in on one of her customers. She began to back away hoping to compose herself but the man’s next words froze her to the spot.

“Whisky.”

Marcy gave a deep chuckle, “We don’t serve liquor here sugar…but I can show you a place that does after work,” she added running the end of a pen across her ample cleavage as she eyed his biceps, lovingly molded by the tight black t-shirt he wore.

“Whisky McKenna,” he said
, deliberately ignoring Marcy and her less than subtle offer, holding Sky’s gaze steadily.

Sky felt the
color that had momentarily left her face return in a flood of crimson.
Damn him.
What the hell was he
doing
here? She knew Marcy was trying to work out what was going on, her gaze bounced between them quickly. No doubt she was trying to figure out why a guy like him would be ignoring her in favor of someone like Sky.