Chapter 39 - Johnny - Redemption
Out of habit, I grab the rock from the door of Becca’s building and run up the stairs. Every time I come over, I bring her the rock from the door. One day, all the rocks from her neighbourhood will be in her apartment.
Not that the rock really matters right now.
It’s been a week since I last saw Becca and I’m going a little crazy. She hasn’t returned any of my calls or texts. She hasn’t even answered the door when I’ve come to see her at her apartment. Not that I blame her. I was a bit of an ass last time I saw her. Okay, maybe I was a complete ass. But that only lasted for a couple of hours, and then I was trying to find her to apologize.
I feel a bit like Connor when he first found Alex again, and it’s only a matter of time before the people in this neighbourhood notice that I’ve been hanging around and start calling me a sketchy fuck, too. I’ve been here every night in the last week, and every night I’ve brought the rock from the door.
Now there’s a pile of rocks beside Becca’s door, but still no sign of Becca. She’s not home, she’s not with Alex, and she doesn’t have any photo shoots booked tonight. There’s only one other place that I can think she might be.
I leave Becca’s and drive over to her mother’s house. I park my car and run up to her door, knocking loudly as soon as I’m close enough to reach. The door swings open, and suddenly I’m standing face to face with Becca’s mother, with my hand still raised to knock.
“Oh, hello, Rebecca,” I say, lowering my hand. “Sorry to bother you, but I was wondering if maybe Becca was here? I’ve been looking all over for her and I’m having a hard time tracking her down.”
She looks me up and down and raises an eyebrow. “My daughter is out this evening. On a date. With a more suitable man.”
Fuck. No, this can’t be happening.
“Do you happen to know where she went?” Why would I bother asking this? She’s not going to tell me. She thinks her daughter is out with a better man. “It’s… it’s, uh, very important that I speak to her.”
“Why would you bother? You’re free to move on to someone more suitable for you now. Rebecca needs to be free to date someone on her level.”
Holy shit, this woman really doesn’t think much of me, does she? I don’t disagree that Becca is too good for me, but to hear her mother say it straight to my face like this. That hurts. I’m notthatbad, am I?
This new guy she’s out with must really be something special if he gets her mom’s approval.
“I just really need to speak to her. Can you please tell me where she is? I won’t disrupt her date, I just to see her for a moment and then I’ll leave her alone.”
She stands in the doorway, looking me over, before she huffs out a huge breath. “She’ll be at Club Redemption tonight. I believe they’d planned to go to dinner beforehand. But don’t go putting ideas into her head and making promises you can’t keep. You don’t deserve that.”
“Yeah, okay. Thanks,” I say, already halfway down the stairs.
I pull my phone from my pocket as I get in my car and immediately call Travis.
“Hey, what’s up?”
“Hey, Trav. I need you to come with me to Club Redemption tonight. Becca is on a date with some guy her mom thinks is better for her than me, and I just need to see for myself.” And hopefully win Becca back, but I keep that part to myself.
“Oh, umm. Yeah, I can’t come with you, but do you need a ride or something? I can hang out for about an hour.”
“Why? What are you doing?”
I hear him laugh.“I’m babysitting for Mom and Dad’s neighbour. You met Finley, right?”
“Since when do you babysit?”
“Since she hired me as a handyman around the house and her kids’ dad backed out at the last minute. I was at her place fixing the dishwasher and I offered.”
I can’t even begin to wrap my head around this development. Hired him as a handyman? And now he’s babysitting?
“Okay, whatever. I’ll come pick you up and you can drop me at the club. Where are you?”
“At Mom and Dad’s.”
“On my way.”
I hang up and pull away from the curb.
