16. Sordid Pasts

16

SORDID PASTS

B eing one of a kind was a good thing.

Most times.

Even being unique.

Laurel enjoyed that in her life.

What she didn’t enjoy was that she had to make this call the next day.

“Hey,” Easton said when he answered the phone. “You’re calling early.”

She looked at her watch. It was eight thirty. Not that early since she’d been at work for an hour.

“Sorry,” she said. “Did I wake you?”

“No,” he said. “I don’t sleep much. Been up about an hour. Did you think about what you wanted to do today?”

They’d made plans for another date but nothing set in stone. He told her to call when she was ready to do something.

She’d had a bunch of things in her mind and hadn’t narrowed it down yet. She found it sweet that he told her to pick since their date was ruined by a nasty dishwasher last night.

She didn’t think it was ruined. She had a lot of fun with him.

Their banter was easy.

Their attraction was solid.

Finding time was the issue, it seemed.

“And I’m calling you from work.”

“Oh,” he said. “Everything okay?”

“I’ll be here until five unless I can find someone to come in,” she said. “Earlier in the week, one of the staff needed the day off. Her supervisor told her no, I said yes. It was a family emergency. Ariel’s mother had surgery yesterday. No way I was saying no. Give me a break.”

“I’d be the same way. It’s not like she called in. You had a few day's notice.”

“That’s right. I told Denise, who is Ariel’s supervisor, that there was time to get the shift covered. Ariel did cover it. But the person covering the shift got into an accident on the way to work. She’s fine, but she’s shaken up and her car is totaled. She called me from the ER. She’ll be there another few hours easily while they look her over.”

“That’s unfortunate,” he said. “But as long as she is okay.”

“Courtney sounded it. So of course, the staff did what she should, called the supervisor to get someone else to come in.”

“And no one can come in?” he asked.

“It’s not that. The supervisor isn’t answering. She’s on call this weekend too. There are three supervisors, one for each line of products, but they rotate who is on call and deal with any issues like this. And if they can’t find someone to work, they have to work. They are paid extra for that. Plus if they have to work even more.”

Which pissed her off that Denise wasn’t answering her phone.

Denise was on call and that was most likely why she threw the fit and didn’t want Ariel to have the time off. Because then she’d have to cover the shift being on call this weekend if she couldn’t find someone to at least come in for a few hours.

And because Denise was such a bitch to people at times, many weren’t willing to give her a hand.

“If you have to work then you do,” he said. “We can do something later. I can make dinner up to you for last night.”

“Last night was great,” she said.

She looked around at the machines running. She’d moved staff so that the open spot that Courtney needed to be at wasn’t doing much other than inspecting and checking the orders, and she could do that while she was on the phone talking with her earbuds in.

“You think?” he asked. “I had fun. Even learned a thing or two.”

“That is what happens when you start talking about your sordid pasts.”

He laughed. “I’m not sure there is much sordid in mine or yours. I was talking about the nasty build up in a dishwasher.”

“Oh that,” she said. “Is Abe still busting on you over it?”

She found it hilarious that Easton sent the pictures to his cousin last night and Abe said he never knew there were such sexy repairmen in the area.

It didn’t take Abe long to recognize her, which then led to Easton confessing to his cousin they were on a date.

Guess if he was telling his cousin, he was willing to keep seeing her.

She’d worried that going over and fixing the dishwasher would turn him off, but then told herself it was who she was and if he didn’t like it, it was best to know now.

She wasn’t up to playing games anymore.

It seemed he wasn’t either.

Though she felt bad about his ex, she still didn’t find out what it was Rachelle wanted that she didn’t get.

Was Easton not attentive? Was he cheap? Did Rachelle go looking for compliments and gifts?

Were there issues in the bedroom?

Just saying he couldn’t give her what she wanted didn’t mean a lot.

But last night wasn’t the time or the place to dig any deeper.

She was happy with what she’d gotten and then left with some deep kissing and a worked-up body.

She had high hopes for today’s date and maybe a way to get her hands on him more. It didn’t seem like it was going to work out though.

“He will for a long time,” he said. “I’ll have to share with Liam too. If I don’t, then Abe will.”

“Abe and Liam talk?”

“Yeah,” he said. “They’ve known each other for years. Abe used to visit in college and Liam and I were roommates. That’s how we met.”

“I’d love to hear more about your college days. I don’t talk to anyone I went to college with anymore.”

She didn’t get too close with many women. She tried, but it didn’t work out.

Maybe she tried too hard and that was the problem.

“Sure,” he said. “We can do that at some point.”

“I’m not sure how long I’ll be here today. I’m going to see if I can get a hold of someone to come in at least for the afternoon if possible so I can leave early.”

“Is there a second shift?”

“There is,” she said. “Five to two and then they shut down until seven in the morning. Certain times of the year they will run around the clock but not right now. No one is working on Sundays either. So if the best I can do is get that person to come in a few hours early, I’ll take it. Any of them would work and I’ll shift things. I’ll be making calls for a good hour or more I’m sure.”

“Sounds like fun,” he said. “Don’t worry about me. Just text me when you’re out and think of something you want to do. Or we can do it tomorrow. I’m flexible.”

“I’ll come up with something,” she said. “Bye.”

She hung up after that and then pulled out her tablet while she was filling orders and then had a moment to break and started to make calls.

She got a lot of voicemails, which she expected on a Saturday morning. Most weren’t going to want to come in when they saw the number. Everyone knew who was on call for the weekend and she was placing a bet it fell on Denise’s head for her attitude.

At eleven, Denise called her back. Which was hours after the fact for someone who was on call. “What’s going on, Laurel?”

“Courtney got into an accident on her way to work,” she said. “She tried calling you and you didn’t answer. She called me.”

“I’m sure she didn’t get into an accident,” Denise said. “She’s not that reliable, which is why I didn’t want Ariel setting it up with Courtney.”

Laurel couldn’t believe that was the first thing out of Denise’s mouth. “I’m pretty sure she did get into an accident because I could hear the tears in her voice over being sorry and the noise and beeping in the background. Not to mention, she asked if she needed to provide a doctor’s note for not coming in. Don’t you even want to know if she is okay?”

There was a pause and then Denise said, “I’m assuming she is since she called you.”

She rolled her eyes. It wasn’t worth saying anything back. “She’ll be fine and most likely at work on Monday. I’ve called ten people this morning and no one is getting back to me to come in. I’ve given up on those off and am going to call those due in for the second shift to see if anyone can come earlier.”

Another pause. “So I don’t have to come in?” Denise asked.

The first thing out of Denise’s mouth should have been something along the lines of “I’ll be right there” but she knew that wouldn’t happen.

“I’m here,” she said. “I’ve got it covered. I’m sure someone will come in earlier. If not, then don’t worry about it. You can owe me another time.”

She hung up a few minutes after that and was still smirking. She knew it would bother Denise to have to owe anyone. And Denise even thanked her at the end.

Another hour went by and no one was calling back. Some on shift were going to lunch and she turned when she felt a tap on the shoulder.

“Hi, Karen. Everything okay?”

“I texted Eva who is scheduled to replace me at five. She said she could be here by two if you still need someone.”

Laurel frowned. “I called Eva and got no answer. It didn’t even go to voicemail.”

Karen smirked. “Eva doesn’t check her voicemail. It’s probably full. But if she saw the work number come up, she knows Denise is on call, and she’d put off answering or returning the call.”

Which was what Laurel suspected. “I’ve left messages for other people. It’s me and not Denise.”

“This is horrible, but some won’t even check the message. They are off and don’t want to come in.”

“I get it,” she said. “I really do. I should have texted from my personal number or called from that rather than the office line.”

“You would have gotten a better response for sure. If you call Eva now, she’ll answer. I told her it was you who called. She felt bad. Please don’t tell her what I said.”

“I won’t,” she said. “No worries, but I will call Eva now. I appreciate you letting me know.”

She looked up Eva’s number and called back and it was answered on the second ring. “Hi, Laurel. Karen told me that you needed someone to come in early.”

“I do,” she said. “If you can, that’d be great. Any time works.”

“I’m at my parents' right now but will be leaving soon. I can get there by two.”

“Wonderful,” she said. “We can rearrange where people are working if we have to or you can fill in where I am. I’m just checking and filling orders so I had the time and hands to make calls.”

“Whatever you need,” Eva said.

“I appreciate it. See you then.”

She hung up and texted Easton that she’d be home in a few hours and didn’t want to go out. She’d rather have another night in and she’d cook if he wanted to come over.

She got back to work and twenty minutes later, her phone went off. She pulled it out to see his response that he’d be over, but he was the one cooking. That it was only fair.

She’d never had fair in a relationship in her life—maybe it was time to get it.