Rising from the Ashes (5 page)

The loud shrill of my cell phone cut through my head and ripped me out of a sound sleep. Groaning, I rolled over and willed my eyes to adjust to the sun shining into my bedroom as I reached to grab my phone from the nightstand.

“If someone isn’t dead, they’re about to be,” I muttered to whoever was stupid enough to call me before eight o’clock on a Saturday.

“Um…” the voice on the other end replied. “I’m sorry. I must have the wrong number.”

I rolled my eyes and propped myself up on my elbows. Once I was awake, there was no getting back to sleep. The asshole on the other end had just prevented me from sleeping in on the one day a week I was able to, so it was understandable that I wasn’t exactly chipper.

“Who the hell are you trying to reach at such an ungodly hour?” I snapped.

“Uh…well, I was looking for Savannah Morgan?” He ended his sentence as a question, which just annoyed me further.

“Well, unfortunately for you, you got her. Who the hell is this?”

“B-Ben. Uh…this is Benjamin Bennett from P&C?” he responded, sounding almost terrified.

I was surprised he hadn’t just hung up on me already.

“
Ben
?” I asked, positively horrified that I’d just acted like that to someone I worked for. “Oh my God, I am so sorry. I can’t believe I just spoke to you like that. I am so, so sorry. Um…I’m not really a morning person.”

He laughed across the line. “I kind of figured that out. I’m the one who’s sorry. I just got my ass thoroughly chewed. Are you sure you aren’t a lawyer?”

I let out an abashed groan. “I’m so embarrassed right now,” I replied quietly.

“Please, don’t be.”

It made me feel somewhat better that I could sense he was smiling. I’d dodged a bullet. He wasn’t going to fire me—or at least I hoped not.

“It’s totally my fault for calling so early on a weekend. I honestly didn’t even look at the clock before picking up the phone. For that, I’m sorry.”

“Oh, uh…well, you’re forgiven,” I replied awkwardly.

“How about we start this whole thing over?”

I felt a smile spread across my face at his humor. “Sounds like a plan.”

“Ring, ring,” Ben said into the phone.

I cleared my throat and put on my best professional persona. “Hello?”

“Hi, I’m calling for Savannah Morgan, please.”

I let out a small laugh. “You’ve reached Savannah. May I ask who’s calling?”

“Well, good morning, Ms. Morgan. This is Benjamin Bennett. How are you this lovely
early
morning?”

A full-belly laugh escaped me when he stressed the word
early
. “I’m good, Ben. How are you?”

There was a long, awkward pause before he spoke again. “I’m well. Thank you for asking. I’d be better, however, if you’d allow me to take you out tonight. That is, if you don’t have any plans already, of course.”

My stomach dropped. “Like on a date?” I stupidly asked.

He let out nervous chuckle at my question. “Well, that would be ideal.”

Shit!

I had no clue how to respond to that. Granted, Ben was a very attractive man, what with the piercing blue eyes and perfectly styled and cut light brown hair. Any woman would be more than willing to date him. I just didn’t feel right about agreeing to a date with him. He was a really nice guy, but I had a rule against dating coworkers. Those types of relationships never ended well.

“I don’t really know if that’s a good idea, Ben,” I said slowly. I wasn’t sure about dating him, but I didn’t want to hurt his feelings either. “You’re a really nice guy. I just don’t think it would be smart for us to date.”

He was silent for several seconds before he said, “Is it because of that guy last night? Jeremy?”

“No, not at all.”
Maybe just a little.

“Oh…all right. I completely understand. I’ll admit that I read a little too much into your invitation last night. I’m sorry for that, and I’m really sorry I disturbed your sleep.”

He sounded so dejected that I couldn’t help but feel horrible. If I were being honest with myself, he hadn’t
completely
misread the situation. I
was
attracted to him. I just wasn’t sure about the whole work aspect of things.

“No, Ben, you didn’t read too far. I am attracted to you—”

“Oh, thank God!” He blew out a relieved breath. “I thought I was completely off the mark, and that could have been humiliating.”

I had put a stop to the direction the conversation had taken before he got the wrong impression. “
But…
” I dragged it out, so he knew he needed to listen to what I had to say next. “I made this rule that I would never date coworkers. That’s just a recipe for disaster. I mean, have you ever heard of that working out for anyone?”

“Well…”

He remained silent for a long time. I could only assume he was trying to come up with an example to show it could work out.

He finally let out a sigh and relented. “No. You’re right. I can’t think of an example where dating a coworker worked out well.”

I had to laugh at his disappointment. “If it’s any consolation, I’d totally go on a date with you if you didn’t work at P&C.”

He joined me in laughing. “If I didn’t have rent and bills to pay, that might be incentive enough for me to quit.”

“Damn economy.”

“My thoughts exactly.”

“Look…” I started, hoping to soften my earlier rejection. “I know that it’s totally cliché to say this, but I mean it when I say that I want us to be friends. I had a lot of fun with you last night, and I know my friends liked you. I think you’d really fit in with all of us—that is, if you’re even interested since I shot you down and all,” I ended with a smile.

“Well, since you put it that way…who could possibly turn down that offer?” he said with a chuckle.

“You know what I mean. Besides, you’ve already been invited to the guys’ show on Saturday. They’d be really disappointed if you missed it.”

He finally relented and admitted that he’d had fun the night before, and he agreed to go watch the guys’ band play on Saturday. We talked for a few more minutes and ended the conversation on a high note.

It felt good to have Ben as a friend. We’d dodged the awkward dating bullet, and I felt relieved with where we’d ended up.

I threw myself back on my bed and contemplated going for a jog. I despised exercise with a passion, but I’d read in a book that it was a great stress reliever. And seeing how I was normally a stress-free person who was currently living a stressful life, I was all for any method that would get rid of that shit.

My phone rang again, rescuing me from all thoughts of cardio.

“Yo,” I answered after seeing Emmy’s picture pop up on the display.

“What are you doing right now?”

“Lying in bed, trying to decide if I want to go for a run or not.”

Emmy was silent for several seconds before finally saying, “Aren’t you allergic to exercise?”

I let out a little chuckle. “I’m not allergic. I just really,
really
hate it.”

“You broke out in hives just from walking around the block with me. You had to take off your shirt and lie on my kitchen floor just to cool off.”

“Hey! That was
one
time. And I didn’t break out in hives. I just got really hot and splotchy.” I could hear the bitch chuckling on the other end of the phone. “I could work out if I wanted to,” I replied defensively.

“Whatever you say, Savvy. But you’re gonna have to work on your fitness some other time. We’ve got plans.”

I ran through my mental calendar, trying to figure out what she was talking about. “What plans? I don’t remember making any plans.”

“Stacia called me this morning. We’re going bridesmaid dress shopping today.”

I let out a groan at the thought of being stuck in some stuffy dressing room covered in butt-ugly tulle and silk.

“Suck it up,” Emmy responded. “She’s one of our best friends, and it’s our duty to go try on ugly-ass dresses.”

I threw my legs over the side of my bed with a huff, and started for my bathroom. “Fine, but I reserve the right to bitch-slap her if she chooses anything close to fuchsia.”

“Duly noted, honey. Now get the lead out. We have a ten-thirty appointment, so be at the diner by ten.”

I hung up the phone and turned on my shower to scalding. The thought of meeting up at the diner and possibly running into
Charlotte
didn’t make me any more excited about my day.

After standing in the shower longer than I should have, I only had a few minutes to finish getting ready before I had to head out the door. I threw on a pair of dark skinny jeans and matched them with a loose, off-the-shoulder, white and navy striped shirt and a pair of ballet flats. After throwing my long blonde hair into a messy bun on top of my head, I was ready and out the door.

Pushing through the door of Virgie May’s ten minutes later, I had to hold in a frustrated groan at the sight in front of me. Jeremy was sitting on a bar stool at the counter while Charlotte—in her Virgie May’s uniform, I might add—was wrapped around him while feeding him a bite of pancakes.

Unprofessional much?

It took an enormous amount of strength for me not to puke at the disgusting display. I sidled up to the bar and turned my full attention to Emmy and Lizzy, trying my best to ignore the lovely couple.

“All right, I’m here. Let’s get this party started,” I said sarcastically.

Lizzy gave me a smirk. “Don’t get too excited now.”

I rolled my eyes. “Where’s Stacia?”

Emmy stopped from setting up her pie display and looked at me. “Princess Pukey is a little slower than normal this morning.”

I laughed, remembering Stacia’s drunken antics from the night before. “Okay. Well, can I at least get a cup of coffee while we’re waiting?”

Emmy walked away to get my coffee, and Lizzy’s phone rang, pulling her attention away from me. That left me stuck with Charlotte and Jeremy with no buffer. That was not good. I sat there and stared at the counter for several seconds, praying neither of them would pay me any mind.

I wasn’t that lucky.

“Mornin’, sugar,” Jeremy drawled out.

It was possibly one of the worst things he could have said.
Sugar
was Jeremy’s nickname for me throughout our entire relationship. The fact that it was the first time I’d heard him use that particular endearment since he and Charlotte had gotten together wasn’t lost on me—or her either, for that matter. I didn’t have to turn and look to catch her reaction to Jeremy’s pet name for me. She made her feelings known by throwing the fork down on the counter and stomping off into the kitchen.

I turned and narrowed my eyes at him. “Are you trying to get her to poison my food, Jer? You already know she can’t stand me.”

He let out a frustrated breath and ran both hands through his hair. Jeremy’s hair was one of my favorite features on him. His reddish-brown hair, which normally lightened up in the summer, was now a gorgeous darker bronze color. When we had been together, I could sit for hours and just run my fingers through the silky auburn strands.

“She overreacted,” he responded dryly.

I didn’t agree with him. I would have responded the same way if the shoe were on the other foot. But it wasn’t like I could admit that. I wanted to hurl knives every time he called her
baby
in front of me.

“Whether you think she’s overreacting or not, you can’t call me
sugar
in front of your girlfriend, Jeremy. The last thing I need is for you to give her more ammunition to hate me. I’ve done that enough just by breathing.”

He looked at me, and I could see the sadness in his deep brown eyes. I was always able to tell how Jeremy was feeling just by looking into those eyes.

“I don’t understand why the two of you can’t just get along.”

I felt my defenses rising at his statement. “Why don’t you ask her? I haven’t done a damn thing to warrant her acting like a bitch every time I’m around.”

He pinched the bridge of his nose. It was something he did whenever he was under extreme stress.

Welcome to my world, buddy.

“I know, trust me. I just hate this shit,” he said with an exasperated sigh.

I couldn’t help my response to that. It pissed me off to know he wasn’t happy with how things were, but he wasn’t man enough to do anything about it.

“Well, you made your choice, Jer, so you gotta stick with it.”

His head swung back around to face me, and I could see the anger there.

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” he asked heatedly.

“It means that you choose to let your girlfriend lead you around by the short hairs at the expense of our friendship. If you don’t have the balls to stand up to her, that’s your problem, not mine. You’ve made it clear where I stand with you, so you might as well just suck it up and live with it.”

I knew I was being slightly dramatic, but everything that had been festering inside me all these months was finally coming to a head, and I just couldn’t contain it anymore. I couldn’t stand feeling so miserable day in and day out. That wasn’t me. I’d always been a happy person. Even growing up with the world’s shittiest parents hadn’t made me feel as bad as I was feeling lately.