Page 38 of Silver Linings

twenty-one

. . .

“It’s massively under baked—”

Paul Hollywood fondles the inside of a loaf of bread while chastising some poor amateur baker through the speakers on my phone.

I get an hour each day for lunch, and this is how I’ve been spending them lately, legs kicked up on supply boxes, sketch pad propped against my thighs, charcoal pencil in hand.

My thoughts oscillate between the piece I’m drawing and Silver writhing against my shoulders, gasps of pleasure falling from her beautiful mouth.

It’s safe to say I’ve been less than productive and sporting a semi every day over the past week.

We’ve had a repeat of last weekend nearly every night this week while working in the bookstore, and it has made our progress… less than impressive.

I stare down at the varying shades of gray that make up the design I’ve been working on.

It’s a light wood grain, four leg table with intricate floral designs running up and down the legs.

Each one is carved with vines wrapping around different flowers.

It’s an heirloom piece, something to be passed down from generation to generation.

These are the designs my dad hated. It all comes down to what’s quick and efficient, any ounce of creativity sucked right out of a project. I was a robot producing carbon copies of big box store furniture when I worked for him.

What the hell is the point of doing custom builds if you aren’t going to actually customize anything to the client?

If I had my own shop—I catch myself. There is no point in dwelling on something that isn’t a possibility, I have no capital and no clients.

But if I let myself daydream, I could admit I don’t hate the thought of that path, could easily see myself at a work table, sawing and shaping before coming home to Silver with sawdust snowing out of my hair.

I’d shower the wood shavings off before cooking us dinner, and we’d spend the rest of the night on the couch—a book in her hand with her legs across my lap, while I trace designs against her skin until she’s too distracted by my touch to read anymore.

A knock on the door jolts me out of my fantasies and has me sitting upright. Before I can answer the door myself, Mr. Fairbanks steps through, looking around the room with a sneer, drooping jowls making his expression even more severe.

“Hello, sir,” I greet him.

He takes in my discarded notebook, array of charcoal pencils, and the frantic bakers fighting for their loaves of bread on the tiny screen of my phone.

“Hard at work, I see,” he condemns.

“I’m on my lunch break.”

He heaves out a dramatic sigh, indicating his annoyance over not being able to reprimand me, though I’m sure he’ll find his moment sooner or later. Maybe the former, if I can’t get my feelings where Silver is concerned under control.

“It’s been brought to my attention that certain members of staff are being too friendly with some of the tenants.”

Sooner it is, then.

“As far as I know, Tony always acts above board with the residents of the building, though I did see him and Mr. Harris chatting in the lobby the other day while they drank their morning coffee. Do you think they’re organizing some sort of cabal?

” Antagonizing him is probably not the wisest course of action, but I can’t help it.

I’m feeling more myself these days than I have in a very long time, and I’ll be damned if I let him ruin my good mood.

Fairbanks levels me with a withering glare. “I informed you upon employment that there would be no?—”

“Are you accusing me of something, sir?” I stand so I can meet him eye to eye.

He shrinks away from me ever so slightly, but he seems to catch himself, remembering that he’s the one with the power in our dynamic.

“I’m just here to remind you of the consequences of such breach in our terms of employment. Fraternization with tenants will be met with immediate dismissal.”

“I haven’t forgotten.”

“The walls have eyes and ears, Mr. Wells. You’d do well to remember that in the future.” Then, he departs, leaving the stench of Drakkar Noir floating through the air behind him.

I almost feel guilty lying. I did tell him he had nothing to worry about in this area when he hired me. I was being truthful then. I didn’t intend to fall for Silver, actively avoided it in the beginning, but it happened, and I’m too far gone to do anything about it now.

For all intents and purposes, I’m hers.

And no job is going to stand in the way of that.

However, it did make me wonder who’s spreading gossip and what they may have seen.

Did someone see me leaving Silver’s apartment a couple weeks ago?

I had taken every precaution, and the only person around when I came into the building with Silver was Tony.

But he wouldn’t say anything. Tony liked his stories and idle chit chat, but he cared about everyone, and felt like they were his own family.

He would never do anything to hurt them in any way.

Either way, it didn’t matter. The only way I’ll stop seeing her is if she told me it’s what she wanted, even if it killed me.

But until then, it’s clear I need to find a different job before I get fired.

It’s crazy how the thought of that doesn’t send me into a crisis like it would have a couple months ago.

Pre-Silver, this job was my lifeline, my ticket to staying in New York, and I’m not sure when it happened, but now, she was.

She came in and flipped me inside out, forcing me to show her my tender, pulverized insides, and I survived, was better for it even.

There are thousands of businesses throughout the thirteen miles that encompass Manhattan.

I’ll have to find something to tie me over until I figure out what I really want to do, develop a more permanent plan now that the situation with The Langham was a bit fraught.

I don’t want to have to hide what I feel when I’m around Silver.

I want to be able to wake up next to her, to bring her her favorite coffee in the mornings, to not sneak out in the dark hours of the morning.

After all she’s been through, she deserves to know that she’s my priority.

Two years ago, Maddox told me I needed to learn to live life the way I wanted, and I think I finally understand.

I ran away and found my home again, here, with my friends and a woman I was falling for.

This is where I want to be, where I want to build a life.

It’s high time I figure out a plan for it—my own plan, no one else’s.

No more wandering around aimlessly, adrift on an unpredictable wind, or living according to someone else’s whims. If Silver can be brave enough to risk everything she has to save the store, I can be brave too.

I pull out my phone, feeling the urge to talk to her.

Hendrix

So I’ve been thinking…

Silver responds almost immediately, and it brings a smile to my face.

Sunshine

Sounds dangerous. Are you wearing safety gear?

Hendrix

Hilarious. Do you have plans tonight?

Sunshine

There’s an evening squirrel watching club I was thinking of attending in Central Park.

But I could be convinced otherwise.

Hendrix

I’ll pick you up at the store.

Sunshine

Do I get to know what we’re doing?

Hendrix

No.

Sunshine

How am I supposed to tell every person I know where I am in the chance you turn out to be a murderer?

Hendrix

You don’t. It’s going to make the documentary that comes out in ten years fascinating.

Sunshine

The perfect crime, no one would suspect you.

Hendrix

I’ll see you soon, Sunshine.

A few hours later, I step through the doorway of Brownstone Books to find Carmen dusting the shelves.

“Christ, I forgot how hot you are,” she states boldly, drawing a chuckle out of me.

“Thank you.” I look around for a head of bright blonde hair and sea-foam green eyes, but I don’t see Silver anywhere.

“No, seriously, it’s no wonder why Sil won’t stop talking about you.” Her gaze admires me openly, and I start to squirm at being so baldly checked out.

“Oh? She talks about me?” I know it’s pathetic to fish for intel, but any sort of outside confirmation that this insane buzzing in my chest is reciprocated is nice.

“Totally!” She bounces around the store, wiping down shelves and tables as she goes.

“It’s always Hendrix this, Hendrix that.

” She stops abruptly and puts a hand to her chest in dramatic reenactment.

“Hendrix and I fixed this floorboard last night. Hendrix thought I should paint the shelves yellow. Hendrix is a fantastic kisser. Yada, yada, yada.”

I cough into my hand. “She told you we kissed?”

A devious smile lights her face. “No, but you just did.”

With perfect timing, Silver finally emerges from the back office.

The sight of her immediately wipes away all coherent thought.

She’s wearing tight fitting jeans that hug her in the most sinful way, and a pink checkerboard sweater that ties at her chest but leaves a triangle of stomach exposed.

Her hair is half pulled back, tendrils framing her face, offsetting the cherry earrings dangling from her lobes.

She looks so cute, I don’t know how I’m going to survive the night.

“What are you guys talking about?” Silver eyes Carmen skeptically.

“Nothing,” I say, knowing she wouldn’t want our business openly discussed like her employee seems inclined to do. “Are you ready?”

She nods and looks at Carmen. “Don’t forget to lock up, and if I go missing or get murdered, point them in his direction.” She hooks her thumb at me.

“Oh, I bet something gets murdered tonight…”

We both stare at Carmen, speechless, as she starts to cackle like a deranged demon.

Silver looks over at me. “And you thought I had no filter.”

I usher her out the front door, leading us out into the crisp, late October air. The leaves on the trees lining the block are slowly starting to shift from green to a mix of yellows and orange as we make our way down the street.

“She scares me a bit.”

Silver laughs, and it’s bright and lovely. I want to bottle the sound and have it with me for a rainy day.

“So, where to, Romeo?”

We’ve reached the end of the block, her just a step ahead of me, when I grab her hand and whip her around, tugging her into me.

I quickly lean down and capture her lips between mine.

Surprise ebbs into a soft sigh as her body melts into mine.

When I pull away, she’s leaning forward, trying to chase after my mouth.

I settle my forehead against hers. “I’ve been dreaming of doing that all day.”

“Call me Walt Disney then, cause I just made your dreams come true.”

“You’re ridiculous,” I huff against her lips.

“I think you like that about me.”

“More than you know. Now, let’s go, Walt . There’s romance to be had.” I grab her hand, leading her towards the subway, the sound of her laughter trilling behind me like wind chimes.