Page 62 of The Fallen Man

“Well, that sounds like the kind of confidence I aspire to, but still… you can’t make the bitch decision for her. Take both shoes and let her pick.”

“Once again: genius.”

Caitlin smiled. “Glad I could help.”

“Me too. Hey, if I manage to skip out of this shindig early do you want me to come over and express my gratitude in person?”

“Yes, please,” said Caitlin smiling at the idea of having him to look forward to at the end of the day. “But I won’t get done tonight until eleven.”

“Katie, it’s barely noon now. Are you working a twelve-hour day?”

“Fourteen. I picked up a couple of extra shifts. Anyway, I don’t get done until eleven and then it’ll take me an hour to get home on the train.”

“Or I could come get you and save you the trip.”

Caitlin’s immediate thought was that it would also prevent any run-ins with the creepy Russian bill collector. And then she hated herself for using Jackson that way.

“Oh, no. That’s out of your way. I don’t want…”

“And I don’t want to waste an hour on the train when we could be naked.”

“Well, I see your point,” said Caitlin.

“So you’ll text me, and I’ll come get you, and then we’ll both be happy.”

“Yeah, all right,” said Caitlin giving into temptation. He wasn’t a boyfriend, but hewasa friend. If Jessica drove, Caitlin would let Jessica drive her home, so this was practically the same thing. Caitlin hung up and turned around to find Jessica staring at her.

“What?” asked Caitlin.

“I’m sorry, did I just hear the Queen of Does-Not-Wanna-Man make a date?”

“It’s not a date,” said Caitlin firmly. “It’s just sex. It’s a hook up.”

“But it’s like your third hook up with this same guy.”

“Uh, yeah, third.” Caitlin grabbed her till and tried to head toward the bar station.

“No, no, no. You hang on just a minute, sister. This is that guy,right? The one you gave your number to like a month ago. How many times have you seen him?”

“I don’t know. He comes over on my night off.”

“It’s not your night off tonight.”

“OK, maybe some other nights too.”

“Does he spend the entire night?”

“We take awhile and we’re tired. So… yeah, sometimes.” All the time. “It doesn’t matter.”

Caitlin clutched her till tighter and backed away from Jessica. She didn’t want Jessica’s congratulations, opinions, or judgement, or whatever it was going to be. She didn’t want to talk or think about it. She didn’t have the courage or energy to do either and she didn’t want to jinx the one nice thing that had happened to her recently.

For a moment, Jessica’s face seemed tense and disapproving then abruptly she smiled.

“Well, I think it’s great that you found someone flexible with his schedule and who doesn’t pressure you.” Jessica sounded genuine and Caitlin relaxed her death grip on the till.

“He really doesn’t. He always texts if he has to cancel and he drives me to gigs in the morning if I’ve got one. He makes it really easy.”

Caitlin took a deep breath as she realized the truth of her words. She hadn’t thought there was room in her life for anyone, but Jackson didn’t seem to need things from her the way other people did. He only made things easier. From changing the lock on her door, to driving her places, to whacking her radiator in just the right way to make it shut up, he had made the past month smoother.