Night shifts black

Day Twenty (Monday).

 

 

I keep my promise to Casey and grab some bagels on my way in the next day. I’m in such a good mood I even wave to Mara on my journey through the lobby. She’s not sure what to do with that and returns some kind of strange hand swipe. Aidan is more accommodating and mirrors my grin.

“Morning, miss,” he says.

“Morning, Aidan. And it’s Callie.”

“Miss Callie.”

“No, just Callie.”

He smiles. “Fourth floor?”

I nod. “Yes, please.”

“Those for Mr. Craven and Mr. Barrett?”

I glance at my box and nod. “Promised I’d bring breakfast this morning. You want one?”

He seems surprised by the offer and shakes his head. “Thank you, but I can’t eat on duty. Only on my breaks.”

“Got it. Well, have a great day. Thanks!” I hand him his tip and take off down the hall. I’d whistle as I walk if it wasn’t nine in the morning and I actually was a decent whistler, which I’m not.

Instead, I stop before the door, suddenly shy. After my interaction with Casey, I’m not sure what to expect, how to act when we see each other again. We’d flirted before, but not like that.

He probably does it all the time, I tell myself, and decide not to take it too seriously. I let myself in and breathe a sigh of relief when Casey glances over at my entrance, a huge smile lighting up his face.

“You came back.”

“And brought food as commanded.”

“Good, I’m starving.”

He joins me at the island, and I lay out my offerings. “I got a few kinds of cream cheese. I wasn’t sure what you liked.”

“Plain.”

“Got that.”

I hand him the tub, along with a plastic knife they gave me at the bakery.

“How’s Luke?” I ask, as he sets to work on his bagel.

His smile fades, and I sigh.

“Uh-oh,” I say, and he nods.

“Yeah. It wasn’t a good night. I didn’t want you to worry so I didn’t say anything, but remember that thing you told me about with the chair?”

I nod, my stomach dropping.

“Well, it hit last night. Freakin’ blew up. I’ve been on the phone since six this morning with TJ, the lawyers, the Label PR people. What a mess.”

I shake my head. “I was afraid of this. What are they saying?”

He grunts. “All bullshit. You know how it goes. No one actually knows anything so they all put their own ‘hypothetical’ spin on it, which then becomes fact. You should hear some of the stuff they’re saying. Totally crazy.”

I’m not hungry now, and poke my own bagel as my mind wanders. “What kinds of things?”

Casey shrugs, and I can see the righteous anger seeping into his face. “Stupid stuff. That he was high. That he got in a dispute over a bill. Oh, and you’ll love this. You’re in the story now, too.”

My heart stops. “I am?”

He nods. “Yeah, pretty much the main story, actually.” He studies me, and I can see the concern in his face. “Just a heads up. Anyone you’ve ever known, like, ever, is going to be trying to contact you within the week. Better turn your phone off and plan to stay hidden.”

I suck in my breath. “Contact me? Why?”

He shrugs. “Hey, just a warning. Trust me, when people think you’re worth something to them, you will suddenly be their top priority.”

“Worth something?” I shake my head. “What are you talking about? What are people saying?”

He studies me for a moment, and I can’t breathe. It’s bad. I can tell.

“Honestly, Callie, the main story coming out of it all is that you’re Luke’s new mystery girl.”

I let out my breath in almost a snort. “What? That’s crazy!”

He shrugs. “The restaurant witnesses all say you were seen together eating breakfast almost every day. No one seems to know you, and Luke doesn’t talk to anyone anymore, so there’s no one to counter the story. Not to mention, if they do any investigating, and they will, they’ll learn you practically live with him now.”

“So do you!” I cry.

He grins. “Maybe the three of us have something going. Lucky girl.”

I shake my head in disbelief. “That’s insane.”

He shrugs. “That’s the media. It doesn’t exist if there are no stories, so they have to make them exist.”

“But it’s not even true! It’s all just speculation!”

“Yep. Welcome to celebrity life.”

I grunt. “Well, I guess it could be worse for me than people mistakenly thinking I’m the girlfriend of Luke Craven.”

“True. For now.”

My eyes narrow. “What do you mean?”

He softens, and I can see that he truly wants to help me. He’s genuinely worried about us.

“They’re going to figure out who you are Callie and then it all comes out. Everything, believe me. There are no secrets in our world. We know they’re going to talk, so our best bet is to master the art of steering the conversation.”

My eyes widen. “Is that why you freaked out about the chair and wanted more information? You wanted to try to initiate damage control before word got out?”

He looks away. “Don’t blame yourself. There’s no guarantee there’s anything I could have done. I might have done more damage to Luke by badgering him at that moment than a few stupid rumors like this will do. This chair thing isn’t a huge story. It’ll probably blow over.”

He quiets, and I suspect there’s more.

“Ok, but?” I press, eyeing him from across the counter.

He sighs and studies me. “You’re the much bigger story, Callie. Believe me, the people are going to be much more interested in Luke’s rebound girl after his wife’s highly publicized suicide than some stupid diner chair.”

I almost choke. “But I’m not his girlfriend!”

Casey shrugs. “Ok. So prove it. Who are you? How are you going to explain your relationship then?”

“I don’t know, but this isn’t fair! I don’t care about myself, but he shouldn’t have to deal with this.”

Casey nods and is silent for a moment. I know I’ve just hit on something significant. Finally, he looks up at me, his eyes searching mine. “This is our lives, Callie. This is the risk we take every day. Every place we go, person we talk to, thing we do, could come back and bite us in the ass. Everything. We never know what or when. Things you do every second of every day without thinking could destroy us if the right people say the wrong things. A receipt falls out of your pocket walking to your car, and next thing you know you’re a litterer who hates the environment and wants to murder all the baby seals.”

I take a deep breath and drop to the stool beside him. “So what do I do? How can I help?”

“We’re working on that. I explained the whole situation, everything, to our people, and they’re going to put together a response,” Casey says. He takes my hand. “Hey, it’s going to be ok. I promise.” He squeezes, and I lean into him. He wraps his arms around me and kisses my hair.

“It would so much better if they just thought I was your girlfriend instead,” I mutter before thinking better of it. I immediately gasp and pull back. “I’m sorry! I didn’t…I meant…for Luke’s sake.”

He’s not smiling this time, just studying me again, and I can’t breathe. I’m such an idiot! I cover my face, completely mortified.

“I’m sorry. I…I should go check on Luke,” I manage, attempting my breakaway.

He grabs my arm to stop my retreat and forces me to face him. His face is inches away from mine, his eyes searching, so deep. So beautiful.

“You don’t actually want that, do you? I mean, do you have any idea how hard it would be to date someone like me?”

Actually, yes, I do have an idea. I also know how hard it would be not to date him after everything I’ve come to learn and love about him. But I don’t say any of that. In fact, no words seem to come out at all.