Seven Days (3 page)

“Carrie?” Ryan called me back when I tried to slip his check under the saucer of his coffee cup. I’d hoped I could be stealthy when I saw he was busy on the laptop he now had out in front of him.

“Anything else?” I asked, brightly, as I turned back toward him. I kept my customer service smile in place as he sighed deeply and scrubbed a hand over his suddenly nervous and tired-looking face.

“Look,” he began, confusing me with his change in demeanor, “I don’t know any way to say this without it sounding like a line, which it’s not, by the way,” he paused. “Well, not that I’m unopposed to— ” he started to babble before shaking his head and trying again. “Never mind— I want to ask you something.”

“Okay?” I asked, my smile slipping a couple of notches and I shifted my weight, popping out a hip to stand more comfortably. “You know, now that you’ve prefaced it like that, anything you say is going to sound like a line?” I joked, hoping to ease the tension on his face. “You could say that your eggs were cold and I’d think it was you telling me that you wanted to fertilize mine,” I blurted, instantly going red that I’d been so blunt with a guy I didn’t know, a customer nonetheless that had the power to complain about my forwardness to my boss. Shit.

“Well, that notwithstanding,” he chuckled, putting his elbows on the table in front of him. “I just moved here for a new job and Tildy said you are a native to the area and would be a great wealth of knowledge. So, um, I was hoping I could ask you to show me around?” he pushed out, looking uncomfortable.

“Have you been to the Safeway?”

“Yes,” he nodded.

“The Wal-Mart?”

“Unfortunately,” he wrinkled his nose.

“And, well, you are here today, so I’d say you’ve found everything this tiny town has to offer,” I shrugged, getting ready to leave him again.

“I didn’t just mean this town, I meant the state in general,” he stammered, trying to catch me before I walked away. “I know this is going to sound weird, but I’ve got just over a week until I have to report to my new job and I want to hit the best attractions in the state,” he explained. “Will you take me?”

“I have to work. Some of us have bills and families to take care of,” I lied with a shake of my head, trying again to walk away. I’d taken the last of my vacation days for the week so I could get some of our plans secured so our departure nine days from now would be smooth. I knew I owed this diner so much to just be walking away like I was, but I couldn’t chance the wrong people getting the news we were leaving.

“Tomorrow,” he informed me of my real schedule, “Tildy said you were taking the rest of the week off.”

“Well,” I huffed, shooting an irritated look over my shoulder, even though I couldn’t see the hostess stand from my section. “Look at Tildy and her big mouth,” I mumbled more to myself than to him, but his laugh let me know he’d heard anyway.

“What do you say? Wanna come on an adventure with me? You look like you’d love an adventure,” he asked, his amber eyes pleading. I didn’t understand why Tildy had been so forthcoming with my schedule or why he seemed so desperate for me to spend the next week with him. I’d just met him. Why was this so important to him that he was pushing the issue?

“Why?” I asked, looking mystified.

“Cards on the table?” he peeked up at me, sheepishly.

“Full disclosure, always, or the answer will be no every time,” I answered, folding my arms over my chest.

“I was here yesterday, too,” he almost whispered before clearing his throat. “Sat in Jasmin’s section,” he clarified, pointing toward the front corner of the diner. “I watched you like a creeper as you helped table after table, and I was completely transfixed. There is something about you; I can’t quite put my finger on it, but I just want to spend some time with you. For some reason, my gut is telling me that if I don’t make a bold move like this with you right now, I’m going to miss my chance. It doesn’t have to be the whole week, just…,” he sighed. “Pick out your favorite place in this whole state and I’ll take you there,” he offered. “No promises, no expectations. Just spend Monday with me, and we’ll decide if we spend Tuesday together, too. Let me show you how much fun I think we can have exploring this fine state.”

“How is this supposed to not sound like a line?” I asked, my eyes flitting over the empty tables in my section. Donald must’ve just left. Absently, I wondered if Tildy had planned it that way, knowing I can sacrifice a few tables early in the day since I was on shift until 8 tonight anyway. Part of me was a little weirded out by his suggestion. I mean, who asks a girl he just met to travel a state with him? However, most of me wanted to give him a chance, even though I wasn’t sure I could do it. “Leave me your number and I’ll think about it,” I decided. The chemistry was too strong for me to just blow him off. I owed it to myself to think about it.

“Yes!” he said with an over exaggerated hiss of the word, and a boyish grin I refused to swoon over, even though my panties were already half flooded because of the conversation we’d just had.

“I didn’t say I’d go,” I said, flatly.

“No, but I’ve cleared the first hurdle,” he smirked, picking up the napkin roll across the table from him and scrawling ten digits before grabbing his bill and sliding out of the booth. As he started to head to the counter to pay, he stopped inside my personal space, letting me feel the warmth of his body heat mingling with mine and smell the earthy scent that was him. Placing a finger under my chin, he lifted my eyes to his, which was a feat, considering he towered over my 5’3” stature by, at least, a foot. “Please feel free to use that number whenever you need, no matter the time,” he said, walking away like he hadn’t just fucked up my entire world.

**

As I drove home from the diner that night, I went back and forth over whether it would be smart to spend Monday with Ryan. I wanted to. Every single cell in my body was screaming at me to spend this time with him. I mean, I’d dedicated every waking moment since my mom died to taking care of Britton and making sure that what I had to do never touched her. This was the first time I’d ever
wanted
to do something for myself enough to try.

I didn’t regret the things I’d had to do to keep a roof over my sister’s head, but, at the same time, I wished that I hadn’t had to resort to such extremes either. Before my mom died, my dad’s addiction was better. He was functional and had a job that he went to every day. Richard and Anne Patrick weren’t exactly the Joneses, but they made enough to pay our bills and keep us in clean clothes and we never went hungry.

I tried to fill in the blanks after the accident, but when dad started to go to work less and less frequently, I continuously came up short. My mom had life insurance, but, unfortunately, they don’t tend to pay out for death caused by stupidity, so we were out of luck there. The only help I got after dad stopped working all together was his unemployment and the small amount of survivor’s benefit we got from Social Security.

I knew that Britton would encourage me to spend time with Ryan, but I had to make sure she had a place to stay where she wouldn’t be put in the position to take care of any payment issues. I would never forgive myself if she ever had to face the same decisions that I’d had to when I was just a few years younger than her.

A knock on my car window startled me out of my thoughts and threw my heart into my throat. Looking over, I saw my sister with concern etched on her features as she watched me. Giving my head a quick shake, I pushed out of the door.

“You scared me half to death, Britton!” I scolded, walking around the house to the front door, careful to step through the sea of tumbleweed littering the path from the vacant trailer beside us.

“I scared you?” she snorted, following me into the house and carefully closing the warped door behind her so it latched and didn’t swing back open against the trailer. “You’ve been sitting outside for the last fifteen minutes with the car running, staring off into space,” she summarized. “You know I get worried about you when you approach the fifty-four hour mark. I’d be a lot less likely to die of a stress-induced heart attack before I’m old enough to drink if you’d just sleep like a normal person.”

“I know,” I frowned and rolled my eyes. “Off topic, um, do you have a friend you can stay with on Monday night? Maybe a few extra nights?”

“Um, yeah, if anything I’m sure Tildy’ll let me sleep on her couch or something,” she started, eying me warily. “Don’t we have shit that needs to be taken care of this week though? Where are you going?”

“We do, but I can still get that stuff done,” I brushed aside, heading down the dark hallway to my bedroom. “I, um, met someone today. He’s new in town and he asked me to show him my favorite places in the state,” I finished, rushing through the words and keeping my eyes on the closed door at the end of the hall. Closed meant that someone was waiting for me. Shit.

“Look, um, take the car, go get some groceries for breakfast,” I said, turning back and shoving the keys at my sister, nodding my head toward the closed door to let her know that we’d pick up our discussion in a few hours.

“I don’t like this, Carrie,” she whispered, her voice on the verge of desperation.

“Just over eight more days, Britton,” I reminded her, shoving her back down the hallway. “I promise.”

“Okay,” she nodded, solemnly, turning her back on me and heading out of the house. When I heard the car start, I turned back toward the door. God, this was like the worst version of Let’s Make a Deal ever, because I knew whatever was on the other side was definitely not worth giving up the safety I felt in the hallway.

With a fortifying breath, I compelled my feet to carry me further into the house. The sight that greeted me was what I was expecting, but with a slight twist.

“There you are,” Ben said from his spot on my bed, leaning against the wall already naked, cock in hand.

“Your daddy stirred up some trouble last night,” Dallas said, drawing my disgusted eyes from the man on my bed to where he sat at my desk chair, luckily still clothed.

“Fuck,” I groaned, pulling my clothes off as slowly as I could before dropping to my knees by the door and crawling toward my bed. I knew the role I was expected to play for him better than I knew myself. After all, it was a role he’d groomed me for since I was fifteen.

“I’m sorry for my father’s behavior, Daddy,” I choked out, sitting back on my heels with my head down in the humiliation he craved. “Please let me make it up to you. Please let me suck your cock while Dallas watches. I want him to see what a dirty slut I am for you,” I whimpered, playing the submissive the only way he liked it. Calling him Daddy was the worst part, the first time I said it I threw up. In the years that passed, I got better at keeping the bile in my throat.

“I’d much rather you suck his cock while I fuck your ass, whore,” he ground out, shocking me with a demand he’d never made before. My father’s tab must’ve reached higher than I could’ve even imagined. This was not good.

“As you wish, Daddy,” I agreed, blinking back the tears in my eyes over what was about to happen. I was so concentrated on not crying that I didn’t see Ben’s hand flying at my face. Pain bloomed in my head as his fist connected just below my right eye. Falling backwards with the punch, I grabbed my cheek reflexively while I scrambled back into position.

“The correct answer to that command is: nothing would please me more, Daddy. Make me your little whore, even though I’d much rather have you all to myself,” he mimicked.

“Yes, Daddy,” I said, bowing my head. “I promise to remember and do better next time,” I said before parroting his words. This time, he grabbed my jaw in his hand and pulled my lips to his, biting my lower lip hard before pressing his cracked lips to mine in a kiss that tasted like pot and whiskey. With that, I went deep inside myself to the place I always went when I had a debt to work off. I started thinking of all the things Britton and I would do when we got to our new home next Monday. Would we find a place with trees and grass? A safe place where people were helpful and looked out for each other? Did places like that exist for girls like us?

I hoped so. I’d never lived anywhere I could walk around barefoot and I wanted that more than anything. It was times like this that I mourned my childhood and wondered if life would be different if I hadn’t, eventually, given in that first time Ben had offered a different way to stave off eviction. Would I have found another way to get the money we’d needed to keep Britton in a warm bed even if it wasn’t exactly the safest place to be? Would it have even been an option if I did somehow have that kind of money? Somehow, I didn’t think so. Ben hadn’t been looking for that.

“That was fantastic, baby,” Ben said after he roared his release, reminding me of what I’d just been a part of, just like he did every time he was done with me. He didn’t let me stay inside my head, because he loved debasing me more than he liked the sex, I thought.

Hours later, I found myself alone again, staring at the ceiling, counting the stains, fighting the exhaustion that was trying to carry me to sleep. I couldn’t go to sleep after that, I needed another twelve hours. Otherwise, I would relive the encounter in my dreams, usually in a feedback loop.

“Go with him, Carrie,” Britton whispered from the doorway. “Your face lit up earlier when you talked about it. I haven’t ever seen that much life in your eyes.”