Hi guys! Here's the next chapter! You know the drill...read, enjoy, review! Thanks friends!
Hope ur having a good day! Cant wait to c u 2nite!
Tess grinned outrageously as she glanced at the phone. Looking around to make sure nobody was peeking in to see her, she typed back a quick reply before sticking the phone back in the drawer. Texting at work was not expressly forbidden, in fact the guys did it everyday, but something about it just felt wrong to her. It was a definite no-no in any professional setting. Of course, that fact didn't stop her from texting Lex every so often and waiting with baited breath like a schoolgirl until he texted her back.
In some ways,she felt ridiculous; no better than a teenage girl with her first boyfriend. It had only been a week since she met Lex, and she should have been leery of the fact that it had become so intense, so quickly, but she wasn't. She had seen him every night since she first met him, and their dates lasted until the next morning more often than not. Tess tried to tell herself that he was just a good companion, that she was just having fun, that is was really about the good sex, but even she couldn't stomach the lie. She liked him.
She heard her phone vibrate, but as she reached towards the drawer to grab it, the office door opened, allowing a stream of Scottish tinged curse words to flow into her usually quiet office. Opie stepped in quickly and closed the door, as if to protect her from the barrage of "mother fuckers". Chibs had been remarkably stressed out for the past week over some issue with his family. It couldn't be easy for him to be here and them to be there. She didn't understand the dynamics of his family situation, but she truly felt for the man. As far as Tess was concerned, he could swear as much as he'd like.
"Sorry about that," Opie said, grabbing a clean rag. "One of the mechanics dropped his favorite wrench."
"He's just having a rough day," Tess tried to reason, even though she knew it wouldn't fly.
"He's been having a lot of those lately," Opie sighed. "And it'll likely just get worse until his wife and kid get here."
"Want me to try to talk to him?" Tess asked, concerned about the older man who had always been so nice to her.
"Nah, no need to worry about it. He'll be fine, this is just how he gets" Opie brushed it aside. "Besides, I hear that you have other things to worry about."
"What do you mean?" Tess questioned, instantly nervous. She had done everything she was supposed to do, so what could he be talking about? "The schedule is finished for the next two weeks and I got payroll done early this week. The parts order is done and will be here tomorrow, and yes, I put the plugs you asked for on it."
"Thanks," Opie laughed. "But that's not what I meant. Lila has been telling me that you have a new friend."
"Oh," was the best that Tess could come up with. She fixed her eyes on a point over Opie's left shoulder and she tried her best not to blush. "Um, yeah. I've been seeing somebody."
"You've been seeing somebody, huh?" Opie pried. "Every night, for the past week, is what I hear."
"Damn it," Tess muttered. "Lila has a big mouth."
"Yeah she does," Opie agreed easily, leaning back and crossing his arms over his chest. "Who's the guy?"
"What do you mean 'who's the guy'?" Tess asked, confused. "He's just a guy I met and he asked me out. I said yes, and, well...here we are."
"Where'd you meet him?" Opie questioned, ignoring the tone in her voice.
"At the grocery store, right after I left Gemma's house," Tess answered, still not sure why Opie was questioning her. "What's this all about, Op? Why are you so worried about my boyfriend?"
"Listen Tess," he replied, sitting up again. "You may have noticed that this place and all of us aren't exactly your standard, everyday employers."
"Yeah, I know that," she said, still not sure where this was going. "I know who and what you guys are. People around this town talk."
"And?" Opie asked, wondering what Tess would say.
"And….nothing," she shrugged. "You guys are my friends. You hired me when you didn't have to. You treat me with kindness and respect. You have made my time in Charming so much better. That's all I really care about."
Opie offered a small smile, truly touched by her words. He wouldn't let that detract from the topic at hand. "I'm glad to hear that Tess. But the thing is, not everybody sees us like you do. To some people, we are criminals and enemies. Some of these people would stop at nothing to hurt us. They use those close to us, and people get hurt. I don't want that to happen to you. You need to be careful."
Tess was shocked for a moment. Whatever she had expected from this conversation, it certainly wasn't this. She knew that her employers considered her a friend and invited her to dinner sometimes, but Opie was trying to take care of her and look out for her. It mean a lot. Tess opened and closed her mouth a couple of times, before she came up with the words for an answer. "I appreciate you looking out for me, Op, but that's not how Lex is. He is a nice, normal guy. He has never even asked much about you guys, just where I work and whether I like it or not. He isn't dangerous to me, and he certainly isn't dangerous to you guys. Lex is nice."
Opie sized her up for a minute, without speaking. He wanted to press her harder, dig for more information about whoever this guy was, but he didn't. He knew enough about women to know that if he pushed too hard, all he would get was anger and completely shut out.
"Okay," was all he said.
"Just okay?" she asked, surprised that he had let it go so easily.
"Yeah, okay. I trust you," he told her. "Just look out for yourself and let us know if you need anything."
Tess opened her mouth to respond, but was cut off by the sound of the phone ringing. Opie smiled at her, "You had better get that."
She rolled her eyes, before picking up the phone. "Thank you for calling Teller-Morrow Garage! This is Tess, how may I help you?"
"Jesus, I can tell Gemma didn't train you," came a heavily accented woman's voice from the other end of the line. "I need to talk to Filip."
Tess was dumbfounded for a moment, before she recovered and said, unintelligibly, "I don't know who that is."
The woman laughed, "Right. I forgot, sorry. Chibs. I need Chibs."
"Oh!" Tess exclaimed. "Chibs, yeah. I should have known. Hang on, I'll get him."
"I've got it," Opie told her standing up and heading out, leaving Tess in an uncomfortable position. She wasn't sure what to do. The woman on the phone had very likely heard Opie say that he was going to get Chibs, leaving Tess sitting awkwardly at the desk. She cringed and picked the phone up again.
"Hi, sorry. Opie went to get him," she said nervously. "It should only be a minute."
"Thank you," the other woman said.
Tess couldn't let the conversation drop, because then she would be the moron holding a phone to her head for no reason. Besides, if she was truly honest, she was a bit curious. "You must be Fiona, right?" she said. "Chibs's wife?"
"That's right," Fiona spoke from halfway across the world. "Do I know you, dear?"
"No, no," Tess assured her. "We haven't met yet. I came to work in the shop a few months ago. Chibs has told me a lot about you. He talks about you guys all the time."
"Does he really?" Fiona asked, and Tess thought she sounded pleased.
"Yeah, he really does," Tess grinned. She heard Fiona laugh, before turning more serious.
"How has he been?" she questioned, and her tone pretty much made it clear that she knew exactly how he had been doing lately.
Tess didn't know what to say, exactly. It wasn't that she couldn't describe how Chibs has been, but she just wasn't sure how much to tell his wife. She thought for a moment before she settled on, "He's worried."
It wasn't much to go on, but Fiona seemed to know exactly what Tess meant. She sighed, "Ah, really grumpy and being terrible to everybody, then?"
"Pretty much," Tess agreed, amazed at the other woman's ability to judge the situation from a world away. "I thought he was actually going to strangle one of the customers this morning."
"He's mostly all bark, no bite, unless you actually do something to deserve the bite," Fiona assured her, but Tess could tell she was worried. She didn't have much time to contemplate that, because the subject of their conversation appeared in the door just then, shirt and hands and arms streaked with grease.
"Hang on just one second, there's a guy here who is covered in grease that better not end up on my chair, and I think he wants to talk to you," Tess explained, narrowing her eyes at Chibs.
"Don't hold your breath for that one, Dearie," Fona said ominously as Tess handed the phone over to Chibs and headed towards the door.
He waited until the young woman had left the office and shut the door behind her before he put the phone up to his ear, "That you, Fi?"
"Of course it is," she teased him. "You have many other women calling you at work?"
"Tons," he joked, throwing himself into Tess's chair, paying no heed to her warnings. "You doing okay, Love?"
"I'm doing just fine, better than you, I hear," she stated, leaving no room for questions.
He groaned, "I'm fine! And you're not allowed to talk to people who answer the phone anymore."
"Hush you," she ordered him. "I'm fine, Filip, and you can't be worried all the time. It's not good for you."
"You and Kerrianne being so far away, where I can't take care of you is what's not good for me," he argued.
"We'll be there soon, you know," she reminded him. "I changed the names and the tickets, just like you asked. We're traveling under assumed identities with forged passports. I feel like a badass, as Kerri would say."
"You are a badass," he assured her. "And not just because you changed your name and have illegal documents."
"Thanks, Love," Fiona giggled into the phone. "So as far as anybody around here knows, Kerrianne is starting to feel sick and our trip will be cancelled last minute and we will stay here during her break conquering her fake illness."
"That's good," he breathed a bit easier. "I don't want it to be easy for anybody to keep track of you guys."
"I know it, and we are being careful. Very, very careful. Everything will be fine, Filip," Fiona tried to assure him. "You try to relax and be nice to everybody."
"Why would I want to be nice to everybody?" he asked, only half joking.
"Because I like nice men," she came back, and he could hear her smile. "I met a nice man at the grocery a few days ago, you know."
"Somehow you forgot to mention that," he said dryly. "Why are you meeting men?!"
She laughed, "I didn't mean to! I was trying to get something off a high shelf and he swooped right in and got it for me. Told me that beautiful women shouldn't have to work so hard to get what they want."
"He sounds lovely," Chibs grumbled. This was doing nothing to help improve his mood and she knew it.
"Oh he was," Fiona continued airily, much to his dismay. He was well aware that she was goading him, and he had little choice but to take it. "He even tried to take me out for a drink. I told him that I would have to take a pass. He was far too suave and refined. I like my men more rough around the edges. Besides, his eyes were a sort of greyish color, and I like brown. And he wasn't anywhere near as handsome as you."
"He probably had a tiny cock as well," Chibs added, smiling when he heard her laughter.
"Probably, though I didn't get anywhere near close enough to evaluate that," she agreed. "I am sure it wasn't nearly as impressive as yours."
"Of course it wasn't," he scoffed.
"Speaking of cocks…" she began, but was swiftly cut off.
"I can't," he told her, hoping to God his words wouldn't be heard anywhere outside the office. "You called me at the garage, remember? I am almost sure the shop girl would have a coronary if she came back to her office in the middle of that."
"Fine," she moaned, and it set him on edge. "I suppose I can wait, if it's only a week."
"That's the spirit!" he said. "Just worry about keeping you and Kerrianne safe until you get here. Then, my cock and I will handle you."
"That had better be a promise," she told him, quite seriously. "Now go back to work. I love you, Filip, you know that, right?"
"Aye, I do," he said softly. "And I love you."
When he hung up the phone, he was smiling for the first time in what felt like days. His wife and his daughter were a step closer to being safe and with him, and when he considered it, nothing else really seemed that important, especially not the grease that was now staining the phone he had just set down and the chair he was sitting in.
Tess pulled the last of the heavy boxes from the top of the supply closet and glanced back at her still closed office door, wondering how long Chibs would be. She supposed, in the grand scheme of things, it didn't matter. She had plenty of work to do out here, and if talking to his wife would help Chibs stop being a miserable bastard, then he was more than welcome to use the office for as long as he needed. Still, she wondered if she could convince Gemma and Opie that there needed to be an air conditioner in the supply closet.
"Probably not," Tess muttered to herself as she swiped a hand across her forehead, wiping away the sweat.
"Probably not what?" came a voice from the door, and Tess froze. It was funny to her how just the sound of his voice could cause such a reaction in her. She breathed deeply to calm herself, though she couldn't quite figure out why her heart was racing. Slowly, she turned around and came face to face with Kozik for the first time in a week. He leaned against the door with his arms crossed over his chest and if she wasn't mistaken, his usual confident swagger was nowhere to be found. He looked nervous, and as much as she hated to admit it, it was a damn good look for him.
"Nothing," she stammered. "Not important."
"Oh," was all he could say. "Do you, um, mind if I come in?"
The two of them alone in a small supply closet was probably not the best idea that there had ever been, but she couldn't tell him no. Whatever was about to happen probably needed to happen. "Yeah, sit on a box, there are plenty to choose from."
She waited until he sat, and then she chose the box farthest from him. No matter how much they needed to get this talk out of the way, she didn't trust herself to be close to him. Nights spent with Lex had most definitely helped to dull the pain that was Kozik, but she would be a liar if she said it was completely gone. She plopped down on the box in the corner.
"So how have you been?" was the first thing he asked. As soon as he saw the look on her face, he knew it had been a bad choice. She looked like she wanted to hit him.
"Fine?" she said, and her tone made it sound more like a question, like she was reassuring herself. "Is this really what you want to talk about?"
"I don't know," he shot back, before shaking his head as if to clear it. "I mean, no. I just don't know what to say here."
"Well, do you want to maybe come back when you figure it out, because I have….boxes to clean out," she asked him, and even she was aware of how lame she sounded.
"No," he insisted. "No, I need to do this. I should have come to talk to you weeks ago, and I'm sorry I didn't. I was a dick to you and you didn't deserve that."
Tess opened her mouth to reply, but no words came. Whatever she had been expecting him to say, it hadn't been that. He had never stricken her as the type to apologize or admit when he was wrong, and the fact that he was doing it now threw her. She scrambled to string words together, but he saved her the trouble.
"You don't really have to say anything, I just wanted to tell you. We were pretty good friends there for awhile and maybe we were more than friends, and I fucked you over by being...well, by being a guy I guess," he shrugged. "The thing is, we work at the same place and we have the same friends, and we are going to cross paths from time to time. I don't want to cause you trouble every time I show up, and I don't want you to hate me."
"I don't hate you," she told him immediately, surprising herself, because until that very moment, she would have insisted that she did. She was looking him in the eye for the first time since that night, and she saw not even a hint of dishonesty.
"Good," he nodded. "I don't want you to hate me. I want…"
"What do you want?" she asked, not sure if she could even handle the answer, but she had to ask.
"I guess I just want us to be friends again," he said, finally.
She thought about it, about how easy it might be to just go back to the beginning and forget all the hurt that had been inflicted, but she knew that she couldn't do that. Being his friend would lead to liking him, liking him would lead to loving him, and loving him would lead her to right back where she was now. He looked so sincere, and he had a face that made her want to give him whatever he wanted, but she couldn't give in, not that easily.
"No," she shook her head. "I just...I can't."
He looked as if she had just punched him in the gut, but he quickly recovered. "Right," he muttered, and he moved to stand up, "I understand. I'm sorry that I bothered you."
"Kozik, wait," she grabbed his arm, and she knew instantly that touching him was a mistake, so she let her hand drop. "Just...give me some time okay? I need a minute to sit on this and feel it out. It will be okay, I just need….time."
"Yeah, okay," he said, missing the contact of her hand on his arm. He managed a tight smile and a nod before he turned and left her alone in the tiny room.
Tess waited, counting his footsteps as they walked away from the supply closet. When she could no longer hear them, when she was sure that he was gone, she completely deflated. She leaned limply against the shelf behind her closed her eyes, and willed herself not to cry. Things were finally settled now, and they definitely needed to be settled, but why did it feel so damned bad?