Chapter 4 – Off to Work
"Say thank you to Tyler for his wonderful present, boys," said Annie to her two brothers as she and Tyler cleared the dishes from the table.
"Thank you Tyler," they said together, then they ran off to the adjoining living room. Tyler smiled fondly at the two boys, crossing his arms over his chest in thought. Annie went to stand beside him.
"Those two are who I live for," she said quietly. He turned his face to look at her and saw the distant way she looked off towards her brothers. He saw how tired she was of working all those hours each day. He saw the sadness she felt at having to stop going to school. But he also saw that she was strong, that she didn't mind as long as her brothers were alive and getting an education. She glanced at him and smiled. Without thinking, he put an arm around her shoulder, pulling her into a hug. He rested his cheek on the top of her head for a while, before she pulled away uneasily. He was a little surprised.
"Um. I have to change for my next job. Do you mind waiting for a while?" she asked, stammering and looking anywhere but at him.
"No, I don't mind," he answered, still a little bewildered at what she had done. He watched her walk towards her room, closing the door softly. Tyler sat down at the dinner table. What did I do? Why did she pull back like that? He was deep in thought, trying to understand. After a few minutes he heard the door to Annie's room open and he stood up. His jaw almost dropped to the floor when he saw her. She was dressed simply in a long black skirt and a black polo shirt. There was a white belt around her waist for accent, and her hair was pulled back into a half ponytail. Her make-up was darker and looked more professional. He let out a breath.
"Whoa. You look really good," was all he could say. She smiled shyly.
"I work as a hostess at one of the restaurants in town, and they require me to look a little more sophisticated," she explained. Annie made her way towards him.
"Well, they certainly made a good choice out of that. Shall we go? What time do you need to be at work?"
"6:30. And my boss will kill me if I'm late again," she said sheepishly. Tyler nodded and led the way out the door. Annie stopped at the living room to kiss her brothers goodbye before heading out again. They got into his car and he drove off towards town. They exchanged easy talk about Mike and Sammy on the way and Annie shared little anecdotes about the boys and their pranks. The ride was over too soon as Tyler parked at the curb across from Blue's, a chic little restaurant.
"Thank you so much. I really need to pay you back, that was way too much for a tip at the café," she said, turning to him. Tyler shook his head.
"Seriously it's okay. I like your brothers, they were loads of fun. And I like spending my time with you," he added shyly. Annie blushed at this and she bit her lip.
"I'll make it up to you though. I promise."
"But I don't want you to pay me back, it's really no problem at all," he insisted. She threw him an impish look and sighed.
"I'll pay you back and that's the end of it. Thank you again for a great afternoon. I'll see you soon," she said, a hand on the door handle.
"I hope so. Have fun at work," he said. She looked at him for a second, hesitation in her eyes. Then she leaned across the seat and dropped a kiss on his cheek. She pulled away and went out the door all at once. Tyler couldn't help but grin. He was smiling all the way back to the dorms. He didn't even have time to put his key into his dorm when the door opened and Reid stood in the doorway.
"Where were you?" he asked. Tyler pushed past him and walked into the room.
"I already told you. I was at the café in town, reading," he said, taking off his jacket and uniform blazer.
"You expect me to believe you've been reading for an hour? And why the café? We do have a library here, you know," Reid asked annoyingly. Tyler took off his tie and unbuttoned his shirt.
"Fine, you wanna know? I was out with a girl I met this weekend," he said. Reid's face broke into a smile.
"Baby Boy found a Baby Girl to run with, huh?" he said, smirking. Tyler sat down on his bed and faced the blond.
"We're just friends. I, unlike you, actually want to get to know a girl before I make any move." Reid looked amused.
"So, who is this mystery girl? Do I get to meet her? Is she from here? What does she look like? Is she hot?" Reid asked.
"Her name's Annie Harbor, you don't get to meet her yet, she's not from here, she's a brunette, and yes, she is hot," Tyler smirked at Reid's questions. He caught the look in Reid's eyes and frowned.
"Don't even try it, man," he said. He grabbed a towel from his closet and walked out of the room, leaving Reid looking bewildered.
"What?" he asked. Tyler just glared at him before closing the door.