11. All Work and No Play
Jacob POV
BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP.
I stuck one arm out reaching for drawer with my alarm and shut it off. Was it already seven AM? Time to get back to reality. Time to get to work.
I rolled over in my bed so I could stare up at the ceiling. Then, I realized I couldn't remember how I had ended up in my bed. I had been at the party and then I woke up here. One of the better benefits of being a werewolf is that I'll never have to experience a hangover. My metabolism processes the alcohol out of my system usually faster than I can get drunk. Still, I had a vague suspicion I had somehow exceeded that drinking rate last night.
I tried to retrace my steps in my head, but the memories were kinda fuzzy. I remember hanging out with the wolves around the fire, meeting a Makah girl and drinking a beer. Maybe more than a beer….
Everything else after that point was gone. Maybe I had drunk a six pack or two.
Although my memory blacked out, my werewolf hand-eye coordination skills must have still been intact. Somehow, I had made it home in one piece. I had driven last night.
Responsible Jacob creeped into my consciousness and asked, "but did my car make it home in one piece."
I hopped out of bed and ran out to the garage, still wearing the clothes I had worn last night. I tripped over my shoes I was wearing, but did not fall. I opened the garage as quickly as I could in my groggy state. I half-expected there to be no car in the garage and the other part of me expected to see the horrible evidence of a drunk driver all over the body of my car. But, I did not find any evidence of that.
In its full glory, my car sat there, unmarked and beautiful as ever. "Baby" I exclaimed in happiness.
I fully searched the car and saw that it was unharmed. The top was down for some reason, but I didn't care about that. I put the top back up.
"I'd never let anything happen to you" I reassured the car and myself.
I went back inside the house and made some breakfast for me and my dad. He usually was up early enough to eat breakfast with me before I went in to work. I guess he decided to sleep in after the festivities yesterday. Maybe he had been the one that partied to too much. He seemed to enjoy himself at the wedding, maybe he enjoyed himself even more than I thought. He was still human, so he could get hangovers and all those annoying side effects of drinking. Bummer.
I placed left-over breakfast in the microwave and left a note on the fridge. If he wanted food, it would be in microwave waiting for him. I took a shower, washing away the sand I carried from the beach. I scrubbed my body so much looking for sand that it felt like I was cleansing myself from yesterday's sins.
I got dressed and dashed out into the living room. My dad must have still been asleep, but I still cracked his door to check. My dad was still sleeping but he was lying on top of the bed cover. Dammit. I shoulda checked to see if he was tucked in last night. My father was usually autonomous when it came to moving in and out of his wheelchair; he liked to be as independent as possible. Still, sometimes he would need help getting in and out bed. I hoped today would not be one of those days.
I didn't want to wake him up, so I quietly moved his wheel chair to a more accessible location for him. I also placed a cup of water on his dresser and I left another note on his wheelchair.
Picked up a shift at the garage. Back at 4:30. Call me if you need something.
I left his room quietly and headed out to work.
The garage was busier today than usual. Usually people have more time around the holidays to get their cars fixed. Also, more accidents happen around holidays. I'm surprised I hadn't contributed to any accident last night. The boss was also giving a tire discount for the two days. It ended today, so the last shuffle of the coupon-crazed consumers were stopping by to get a good deal.
So far before my break I had already changed a dozen tires. I had been speeding through mounting the tires without pause. Time flew.
On my break, I sent a text to the Cullens saying I'd be at work all day. Nessie had wanted some space, so I guess it was a good thing I was working all day. Since I normally didn't work weekends, I was making some extra cash today. With the amount of food I go through in a week, I could definitely use it. I ate two protein bars, drank some water from the main office then got back to work. I expected I'd be changing tires for the rest of day.
Some people hate doing the same task over and over, but I didn't mind the monotonous work. Although the work was repetitive, changing tires requires a lot attention. It keeps my mind from thinking of other things. I get to forget my troubles and just work, and sweat. It's nice.
Lunchtime came around and John, one of the other mechanics, had come in with a sub I asked him to get while he was on his lunch break. Some days one of the guys would go and grab lunch for everyone that wanted to eat out. We usually never had the same lunch break, so we could never go out and eat as a group. So, instead we would just send one guy to get lunch for all the others. Today, that guy was John.
"Thanks Johnny boy"
John handed me my sub. "She's a heavy one" I always got the biggest item on the menu, so my coworkers always joked around about my eating habits.
"It's like 2 sandwiches in 1" another coworker exclaimed.
"Yeah, its costs as much as two sandwiches, too." John joked.
"How much" I asked.
"$7.50, buddy" He outstretched his hand palm up, bending his finger asking for cash.
"I already put it on your bedside table" I gave him a wink.
"Yeah, yeah, smart ass. Eat your damn sandwich." He swatted the air and walked away. I had won this battle.
As I was about to head outside and eat my sub, another car came into the garage. I looked around and saw that all the other guys were busy already working on car or on lunch break. The customer had stepped out of the car before I could get someone else.
I couldn't smoothly slip away anymore. "One of the mechanics will be with you shortly". I said politely and then began to walk out to the back.
Suddenly she leaped out in front of me and said "Oh no, I was hoping you could help me." She was a bit jittery. More so than the rest of the customers today.
I looked down at my sub and then back up at her. "Mam, I'm actually on my lunchbreak right now, so one of the other mechanics will come by to help you."
She laughed. "Oh, I'm sorry. I just wanted to get my tires changed before the deal was over. And please don't call me mam, call me miss."
She emphasized the last word. Although people that looked her age were usually fine with being called mam. She was older than me by at least 15 years so it felt bizarre calling her 'miss'. It went along with her request though. "Okay. Well if you sit in your car Miss then someone see you soon. The tire sale is lasting until we close, so you will get the 4 for 3 discount. No rush." I added a polite smile with my last words, hoping that now I could walk off and eat my sandwich.
"Oh, you can't do it? You look like someone who is very skillful with cars and using your hands"
"Yes I'm a mechanic, but the next available mechanic will be able to help get you started."
"You're not available then." She said as she took off her sunglasses with a sly smile.
I realized the double meaning of her words. Was this lady trying to flirt with me while right now? I was tired, hungry, and sober. I was not in the mood to flirt with anyone let alone a cougar who bothers me on my lunch break.
She must have mistaken the disgust on my face for disbelief because she added a wink to confirm any suspicions that she was flirting.
"I'm not available right now." I said without a smile. Her smile also faded away.
Luckily, one of the other guys came over to assist her and I took that chance to slip away.
So rarely did anyone shamelessly flirt with me at the garage. Once a month, I would get a flirty customer, but they were never as obvious or as old as the cougar. I usually didn't mind it, but today I had been changing tires nonstop and had no patience for someone distracting me from lunch.
The whole ordeal made eating my sub less enjoyable. I sat outside behind the shop eating. I was still thinking about how I had been so turned off from the cougar flirting. I wondered how old she was. Was she in her early forties, maybe older, maybe younger. I never understood the appeal of dating someone much older or much younger. I couldn't even imagine it. Well, to be fair, I couldn't even date someone much younger than me because that would be robbing the cradle. If I dated someone 15 years older than me she would be in their late thirties, while if I dated someone 15 years younger than me she would be elementary school age. I guess dating someone much younger would be way worse than dating someone way older, at least, until I became old. Thinking about this was more complicated than I had thought, so I decided to stick to dating people my age.
Nahuel popped into my head. His predatory nature whenever he was around Nessie, reminded me of the cougar. He was just waiting for her to fall for one of his traps. He was over a century older than her. What was the male equivalent of a cougar? Whatever it was, that was him.
I shook my head in disgust.
Then I remembered that one day I technically could be a male cougar to Nessie. I shuttered. The thought of being a male cougar repulsed me, so I can't imagine what she would think about me. She'd probably never see me in any romantic way because I was so much older than her. Nessie would always think of me as an older brother. If she ever found out about imprinting, she might think of me as a pervert and hate me. I wasn't a pervert, but I was over fifteen years older than her. That would make me a male cougar, a cradle robber, a perv…
I shallowed a dry lump that had formed in my throat.
Hopefully, I wouldn't have to talk to her about imprinting any day soon because I would have no idea how to talk to her about it without sounding like a creep.
As I took the final bite out of my sub sandwich, my phone rang. It was my dad.
"Hey, what's up?"
"Can you pick up some dinner on your way home after work?"
"Sure. Any preference?"
"Something with chicken"
"Okay. Will do. See you at home."
It wasn't unusual for my dad to ask me to pick up food after work. Eating fast food for dinner was pretty typical.
I checked my phone to see if there were any new texts. No response from the Cullens.
I threw my trash away and headed back inside to work.
I walked through the porch doorway with the fast food I had gotten after work. I was tired, but happy to be home.
I dined with my dad on fried chicken and fries. Afterwards I checked my phone for new messages. I had a few dozen from the pack group text. I read through them for a good laugh. They recapped all the highlights from last night's bonfire.
I still didn't have any new messages form the Cullens.
"Jacob, can you stop by Charlie's"
"Huh? Charlie's?" I replied still scrolling through my messages.
"I told Charlie that you would house sit while he and Sue went on their honeymoon."
I looked up at him. "Housesitting?"
"Yeah, he was worried about someone breaking into his place, due to the increase in burglaries. I told him that you would be more than happy to watch his place for him".
I groaned. My dad had a habit of volunteering me for things and forgetting to tell me about what he volunteered me for until the exact moment I needed to do whatever he had volunteered me for. It was mildly annoying, but I'd never un-volunteered for whatever he signed me up.
"So should I head over there now?"
"You can probably head there when it gets dark, and he said you're welcome to sleep in the master room. Here's the spare house key."
He reached into his shirt pocket and picked out a single brass-colored house key. I reached out my hand and grabbed it.
"How long are they gunna be gone?"
"They'll be back in town next weekend. They just left this morning for their Alaska cruise
Great. "So I'm spending the next week there?"
"Just the next six nights." He corrected.
"Well, I guess, I'll take a shower and head over there afterwards. Anything else?"
"Nope, that's it son."
I took a shower, packed a backpack full of clothes for the week, and headed out the door.
I arrived at Charlie's house and couldn't help but chuckle when I looked at the woods behind his house and remembered Charlie's reaction when I revealed myself to him. I had never seen his eyes get so large. Charlie never did look at me the same after that, but, too be far, he never looked at anyone the same after that. Bella had put him on a 'need to know basis', so he was a little suspicious of everyone now. He only knew I was a wolf, but I'm sure he figured out about the rest of the pack. I wasn't sure if he had figured out what the Cullens were. Actually, I don't think he wanted to know. He was better off that way.
I opened the door with the single key and entered the home.
I hadn't been here in years, since I was a teenager. The house looked almost the same but there were photo frames now covering the walls with pictures of Charlie, Sue, Bella, Leah and Seth. I'm guessing Sue was responsible for the wall decorations.
I threw my backpack on the couch in the living room. I walked into the kitchen to get a glass of water and saw a note on fridge that read:
Help yourself to the food in the fridge and pantry.
-Sue and Charlie
"Yup, they're gunna regret that." I grabbed a glass and filled it with water.
I continued my tour around the house finding more pictures hung up on the wall by the stairs. I continued my walk upstairs and smelled an old familiar aroma. I immediately knew it was coming from Bella's old room. I opened the door, surprised to see that it still looked almost the same as it did years ago. Her human scent still lingered here, along with some of Edward's. But her human scent brought back so many memories from years ago when I was trying so hard to win her over from Edward.
I couldn't help but chuckle and shake my head in disbelief. This memory felt like it was from an entirely different lifetime. I was so damn emo back then.
I noticed a picture frame on the nightstand table of Bella, Edward, and Nessie posing together. I was out of focus in the background looking in another direction. This photo was from the wedding. Sue was quick with developing these photos. I wondered if there were more wedding photos lying around the house. I headed down stairs in search for the others.
Near the computer I found the two envelopes full of developed 4x6 photos.
I grabbed them and headed to couch to get comfortable. I kicked off my shoes and started shuffling through the pictures.
There was a lot of Sue and Charlie during the ceremony and reception. There were even a couple photos with me in them, not just in the background. In one Nessie is right by my side resting her arm on my shoulder while slouched and sleeping in a chair. Its wasn't my best angle, but at least Nessie was having fun. In another photo I was awake talking to Leah with Nessie close by my side. It was a candid photo. There were dozens of candid photos of all the guests. There was a photo of me talking to Edward and were both smiling. In the photo, he was trying to get me to laugh, but my smile was more of a reactionary cringe than genuine laugh to him telling some things I did not want to know. I would hate to be able to read minds, but if I could read minds at least I would know why he acted so bizarre that day. I still wasn't quite sure about what he had wanted to talk to me about.
And now, he was just ignoring my texts.
The next photo was a candid of guests at the reception. I was there talking to Edward while Bella was staring at Edward. Nessie was in another conversation enchanting some of the other guests but it she looked still close enough to be a part of our conversation.
I suddenly felt so far away from her. I couldn't help but wonder what Nessie was up to right now.
I finished looking through the photos. Alice had told me once that she could never actively see me in her visions, but she could see me in her peripherals. She called them passive visions. I didn't understand what that meant, but she explained that she could always see glimpses of me and Nessie in her visions if there were photographs of us in the background. She said that if we were happy in the photos she knew we were going to be alright. Bella would take photos throughout the year and make Alice a photo album for Christmas. It was full of photos of Edward, Bella, Nessie and I. Apparently, that helped the psychic bloodsucker see my future, even if it was just through static and posed photographs. It was some sort of psychic loophole she had managed to discover. She'd never be able to actively seek my future, but if I just happened to be in the background of someone else future she figured I was still alive and well.
I put the photos down on the coffee table and picked up the TV remote. I turned on and started watching some cooking competition show. I made sure to get comfy with this couch since it would be my new bed for the next six nights. Although Charlie had offered me his bed to sleep, I'd rather sleep on the couch. If there were any dumbasses trying to break in and steal, I'd love to see their faces when they walked in and saw me waiting downstairs.
I checked my phone for any messages. Nothing from the Cullens.
