Chapter 6
"What happened?" Kathy practically drops her drink as she sees me limp into the bar. "I might have been exploring in a place I shouldn't have," I say. She looks horrified and helps me find a spot to sit down. "Exactly where did you go?"
"The abandoned house east of here," I wince expecting her to yell at me. Instead she asks Chase to bring me a glass of water and some ice for my leg. She's rather taking this better than I thought.
"How did you manage to get out?" She presses the ice onto my leg and I wince as the coldness stings.
"Well, Luke was passing by and found me before the roof collapsed." This sets her off.
"The roof was collapsing!? Are you out of your mind!? You could have been killed! You're so lucky he was there!" She presses the ice harder and I cry out. "That's really cold!"
"Good! Maybe it'll teach you to stay out of places you shouldn't go!" She gives me an angry look and Chase smiles apologetically towards me. "I'll make you some soup," he leaves the kitchen and I think he used that as an excuse to avoid an angry Kathy.
"I guess this means you won't be able to work tomorrow. You're lucky you have tonight off." She eases up on the pressure from the ice.
"You should probably go lie down and rest. I'll have Chase bring you the soup when he's done," she helps me stand up and escorts me into my room. I lay down on my bed and she leaves me alone in the room. I decide I should take off my pants to make it easier to press the ice against my leg as I lay down. I press my uninjured foot against the floor and unbutton my jeans.
I slowly inch them off of my injured leg, the pain being only minimal due to the numbness brought on by the ice pack. "Akari, I brought-" Chase opens the door and looks stunned to see me tossing my pants onto the floor.
"Chase!" I squeak and grab my pillow to cover up my panties. "Ever heard of knocking!" I feel my voice getting higher with every word. My face is burning and his is bright red. "I'm sorry, I didn't know you were changing." He closes his eyes as he brings me a tray with a bowl of soup on it and places it on top of my dresser.
"I'll lace, I mean leave you alone," he slams the door shut and I realize I've been holding my breath. I start laughing silently before letting out a loud snort. "Lace?" I giggle loudly and notice that my panties do have lace on them. I guess he did get a good look.
My night off was spent with me sleeping the whole night and the next day after taking some pain pills Jin brought over. I was able to skip work last night and ended up sleeping through it anyways. Today however the swelling on my leg has gone down tremendously and I'm able to walk around. Kathy believes I'm well enough to work and here I am. I've been taking my time bringing out drinks just in case my leg starts to ache.
Luke and Owen came in and Luke, for the first time, looked like he cared about me. He asked me how my leg was feeling and why I wasn't in bed resting. I assured him I was feeling better and he looked relieved. Kathy suggested I bring him a free drink in honor of him saving me. I've never seen him so flustered by praises. A bunch of people thanked him and he looked almost shocked at the kind words.
"Akari! Akari I heard the news," Gill scrambles into the bar and he's carrying a bouquet of roses. "I heard you were hurt," he looks at my leg, which is wrapped up in cloth, and makes a worried face. "If anything happened to you I would be horrified." He realizes he has flowers and hands them to me.
"Please take these. They're to help you recover," he smiles as I sniff the sweet smell of the roses.
"Wow, Gill. I don't know what to say," I reply with all honesty.
"Don't, instead, I'd like to treat you to dinner tomorrow night. His blue eyes stare into mine and I hear a few of the customers tell me to say yes. I look around at Kathy and she gives me a stern look. Owen looks amused and Luke shows no sign of emotion.
"Gill, I'd like to-"
He cuts me off before I can add but. "Good! I'll be here around four so be sure to be ready. I'll be ready to assist you if your leg starts to her. I'd offer to carry you but I don't want to get my vest wrinkled. I'm glad you're okay," he pulls me in for a hug but stops short. "I don't want to crush the roses. Anyways, don't get injured again. See you tomorrow." He holds my hand and kisses it gently before leaving the bar.
I look at the customers who quickly return to their conversations and Kathy pulls me aside. "What are you doing? I told you to stay away from him!"
"I was going to say but, but he cut me off! Maybe we can have dinner here?" I say jokingly.
"Chase can cook for you guys!" She smiles at my joke and I see she's seriously taking it into consideration.
"We haven't even asked him yet."
"He'll agree to it. I'll make sure of it," she lets go of my arm and heads into the kitchen. I stand there awkwardly sniffing the roses again. I feel a tap on my shoulder and I turn to see Luke.
"Have fun tomorrow, Newbie," he says and pulls out one of my roses and snaps the bud off and places it in my hair. He winks at me and turns around to leave the bar along with Owen. I pull the bud out of my hair and sniff it. The smell of this rose was much sweeter than the rest.