Chapter 6
I barely got the order out, had to hand it to the girl behind the counter to read and punch into the computer.
Maybe I'd imagined it 'cause when I got the nerve to turn around, there was no one behind me.
Maybe it was some perverted old dude, and I was wrong that it was even him standing there.
Maybe…
But I knew better than to doubt the atmosphere that had shifted all around me as he stood there. The frantic air that closed in and caged me. The feeling I got when I was in his vicinity, no matter how far away. I knew it was him. I knew it down to the deepest bone in my foot. The pinky toe bone.
Gathering the bags after checking the contents twice, I made my way out to the bus the band was on. The big, important one that led the way. Burgundy with hints of blue and gold airbrushed onto its behemoth side.
Was I supposed to knock for Carlisle? Call him so he could come out to get it from me? I should've asked him.
The mouth of the bus was open, though, waiting. Taking a large breath and asking whatever Gods were listening to not let me trip on those stupid stairs, I saw him. Looked right at him as I shook my head to clear my doubts.
Leaning against my bus. Staring. Right. At. Me.
He smiled and inhaled his cigarette. One eye squinted and he looked exactly like the cover of that Rolling Stone.
Only he could make cancer look so good.
I'm sure I appeared slack-jawed and stupid, still feeling the ghostly finger on my neck. My brain jumbled, I looked away quickly, considering.
Was he waiting for me? Did he want to touch me again? Apologize?
Or was he most likely paying a visit to one of the trashy girls on my bus that I couldn't stand to listen to anymore?
How many blow jobs Cindy gave out. The position Jake put Yasmin in. The way Edward made Beth feel like she was the only one in the world.
She wasn't.
'Cause Amanda was on there too and she had told Beth exactly that.
They called themselves "the girlfriends", but they were anything but. It was just nicer than admitting to being playthings.
I felt sorry for them. It made me sick that these girls gave themselves so freely. Even if I was jealous that they gave themselves to Edward.
I called out to Carlisle from the ground. He appeared in the doorway and told me to come in.
I chanced one more glance to Edward, still smoking, still leaning, but eyes narrowed. A swift beckoning of his head.
But I knew my job. I looked away and stepped right onto that bus.