Chapter 11 - Chapter Eleven

When Tia woke up, it was ten thirty. She yawned. She’d never understand how Jet could wake up and go to work at four in the morning at the weekend.

Last night was very embarrassing, to say the least. She smiled when she remembered the Bingo-related comment before swinging herself out of bed and heading towards the bathroom to brush her teeth and take a shower.

She came out of the bathroom feeling refreshed, and then she ran smack bang into Jet.

“What the hell are you doing here?” she asked him after regaining her balance—which was very hard to do considering that she was wearing only a towel.

He put a hand on her arm to steady her. “My shift ended.”

“Already?”

“What do you mean already? I’ve been working my @$$ off for six hours.”

“Right. Um, good for you. What were you doing?”

He shrugged. “Moving stuff.”

“Uh, good. Okay. I have to go get changed. I’m getting my cast taken off today.”

“Wow. Uh…good for you.”

“I know,” she called, going into her room and slamming the door close.

Well that was awkward.

~

“You’d think that I’d remember how to walk,” Tia grumbled, hobbling along in the doctor’s office.

“It’s going to take a few weeks for you to learn how to walk again,” the doctor said.

“But I’ve been walking for the past fourteen years of my life!”

“I understand,” the doctor said sympathetically, obviously not understanding.

Tia plonked herself down on her chair. “I can’t believe I’ve forgotten how to walk.”

~

She was sitting on her bed, reading her book when suddenly Love Game started blaring out from her phone. She made a mental note to change her ringtone before snapping her phone open.

“Hello?”

“Tia.”

“Oh. Gary. Hi. What’s up?”

“Um, are you at home?”

“Yes. Why?”

“I…I have something to tell you.”

“Go ahead.”

“No, I kind of have to tell you…directly.”

“Uh, sure. Do you want to come over?”

“Okay. I’ll be there in five minutes.”

Gary lived a block away from her, so it was convenient for them to meet up sometimes. She slipped on her sunglasses so that when Gary came over she would have them on. She was forgetting to put her sunglasses on more frequently now. She was spending more time with Jet, which meant that she wasn’t allowed to wear her sunglasses.

When she had looked out her window that morning, an old woman who was shuffling across the road saw her eyes, muttered that she was a devil child and was nearly run over by a car.

Yes it was that bad.

Five minutes later, the doorbell rang and Tia rushed down the stairs to open the door.

Jet, however, got there first.

When he opened the door and Gary saw him, and then Tia standing there on the stairs, the colour drained from his face.

“I uh…I should go,” he mumbled.

“What? No. Gary. Come in.” Dammit. She had forgotten that Jet was in the house.

“No, it’s fine.”

“Gary, please. Come in. Jet was just—”

“I came by to drop off Tiana’s jacket,” Jet said smoothly, sensing the discomfort. “She left it at school. I’ll leave now.” He nodded at Tia before leaving the house.

Tia smiled at Gary as he walked hesitantly into the house.

“I haven’t been here for a long time,” he said finally.

“No, you haven’t,” she said, walking up the stairs into her room and beckoning Gary to follow her. “So, what was the thing you wanted to talk to me about?”

Gary closed the door behind him. “Uh, Tia,” he started. “I…really…really like you.”

Aw shoot.

“I really like you too Gary,” she said cheerfully, forcing a smile on her face. “You’re one of my best friends.”

“Is that it?” he asked her. “You only like me as one of your best friends?”

“Yep,” she answered lightly. “Is there any other way I’m supposed to like you?”

“No, I guess not,” he muttered.

“So…what was the thing you wanted to talk about?”

“Um, I forgot. I’ll…tell you when it comes to me.”

“Well, okay then. You want to stay for lunch?” she asked, feeling a bit sorry for him.

“No, I think I’m good.” He turned to leave the room.

Tia licked her lips. “Um, Gary?”

“Yeah?”

“Okay, I just heard this from Sarah, and I don’t know whether it’s true or not…but…apparently, Carrie really likes you.”

Gary raised his eyebrows then. “Really?”

Tia shrugged, glad that the awkwardness was temporarily gone. “From what I’ve heard, yeah.”

He nodded. “Right. Okay. Well…I’m going to go.”

“See you on Monday,” Tia called after him. The door closed. Tia groaned and slid down onto the floor with her back against the wall, burying her head in her hands.

~

“Hey,” Jet said, coming into the room after knocking on her door and she told whoever it was to come in.

“Hi,” she said glumly from where she was lying down on the floor.

He closed the door behind him. “You have a bed, an armchair, a desk, and there’s a bathtub down the corridor, and you choose to lie down on the floor?”

She sighed. “Leave me alone. I happen to like lying down on the floor.”

He sat down at her feet. “What’s wrong?”

She shook her head. “Nothing.”

He leaned forward and took off her sunglasses. “You don’t need these.” He tossed them onto the bed.

“Hey, be careful. Those are my best pair.”

“How many pairs do you have, exactly?”

She shrugged. “Ten, maybe?”

He reached forward again, grabbed her hands and pulled her up into a sitting position. “So. Tell me.”

“Tell you what?” she mumbled, very aware that she was now sitting between his legs which were bent at the knee.

He leaned forward a little. “What was Gary doing here?”

“Uh, he came to tell me…that he really liked me.”

“And what did you say?”

“I pretended not to know what the hell he was talking about and said that I liked him too…as a friend.”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t like him that way and I don’t want it to be really awkward when I tell him that I don’t like him.”

“Oh?” A grin tugged at the corners of Jet’s mouth. “Is there some other guy you like?”

She grinned back. “Maybe.”

“Care to tell me who?” he asked her, pulling her close to him and kissing a trail up her neck and down her jaw.

“Why don’t you take a guess?” she said, trying hard not to choke or hyperventilate and willing her heart to slow down before she died of a heart attack.

“Why don’t you just tell me?” he murmured as he let her down onto the floor gently and followed afterwards, still kissing her.

“Because I can’t think straight right now,” she breathed.

He laughed softly. “You’re so unbelievably adorable.”

Adorable? No one had ever called her adorable before. He started kissing her properly then and the coherent thoughts went away as quickly as they came.

There was a knock at the door and they sprang apart.

“Tia?” Her mother stuck her head in.

“Hi mom.”

“Oh, Jet, I didn’t realise you were in here too.”

“Hi, Mrs. Green,” Jet said, obviously not comfortable calling her by her first name when just five seconds ago he had been making out with her daughter.

“I was just about to ask Tia whether she had seen you, dear. I didn’t see you in the morning before work.”

“I was out with my friends,” Jet lied smoothly. “Would you like some help at the café tonight, Mrs. Green?” he asked her, easily changing the subject.

“Oh, no, dear. It’s alright. You have fun with Tia tonight. It’s Saturday, after all. Enjoy your weekend.”

He smiled. “I will. Thank you.”

“I’m going to the café now. Just call if you need me, okay?”

They both nodded and said their goodbyes.

“So,” Jet murmured afterwards. “Where were we?”

Tia grinned and waved his question away. “Oh, nothing interesting.”

“Nothing interesting?”

“No.”

“Well I better make it interesting in case you die of boredom.”

“Yeah,” she said, giggling. “You better.”

~

“Want to go to lunch?” he asked her from where they were lying down on the floor.

“Let’s go.” She sat up. “I’m starving.”

He helped her up and they headed out the house.

“Where are we going?” she asked him.

He shrugged. “I don’t mind. Any place you want to go?”

She shook her head. Then she remembered that Jet had to actually work for his money and that it would be unseemly for her to make him spend his well-earned money on her. “Let’s go to the café.”

He raised his eyebrows at her. “You don’t mind the food there?”

“It’s not bad,” she admitted.

He grinned. “Told you.”

She rolled her eyes. “Whatever. Let’s go.”

~

“What are you two doing here?” Tia’s mother asked, bustling past them to get through to the customers.

“Well, we were wondering whether we could have lunch here,” Tia started, looking around the café. “But I think it’s kind of obvious that there aren’t any free tables, so I think we’re going to leave.”

“Sorry, dear,” her mother said apologetically. “Maybe another time.”

“Are you sure you don’t need help, Mrs. Green?” Jet asked her politely.

“No, thank you, Jet darling. Kiki and May will take care of it.” She nodded to the two part-time girls that were hurrying out of the kitchen with platefuls of food stacked expertly on their hands and arms.

~

“Jet, really. This place is too…expensive.”

He stopped. “I have money.”

“I know,” she said. “It’s just that…well…you worked hard for that money…and…it just doesn’t seem right to waste it all on me.”

He pulled her in for a kiss. “If the money’s spent on you, then it’s not a waste, Tiana. You’re worth it.”

That left her dizzy and giddy for the rest of the afternoon.

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