Just like that.
He’s coming.
My stepdad is coming, and there was nowhere for me to run this time. How many days would it take him? I wasn’t sure. But if the university emailed him this morning, then it wouldn’t be more than 2 or 3 days before he knocked down my door and dragged me back to hell.
Chapter 13
Arnie
It had been 2 days since Jamie got out of the car looking like he had seen a ghost.
I had tried to call him back when he dashed off in the direction of his work, but he ignored me, his mind elsewhere. I didn’t think it was my place to push it, so I waited until he was inside before going around to see Mags.
I wasn’t sure what I had done to scare him off or why he ran. He signed the agreement. He knew what this was when he arrived at my home on Saturday morning. When some are new to the dynamic, they worry after their first scene that what they did was wrong or that they need time to collect their thoughts.
I was sure I had taken care of Jamie in the right way after what happened in my office. He seemed his usual self, if not sassier and more open with me than he had been on the morning he arrived.
I had no idea what kind of 180 happened. It had been days of radio silence. He was ignoring my emails, my texts, and according to Simmons, he hadn’t shown up for class or even told them he would be absent. At that point, it grew into genuine worry that something else had happened to him. In a panic, I drove to see Mags on Tuesday afternoon after Jamie failed to meet me at the library again.
“Can’t you just ask Simmons for Jamie’s address?” Mags asks as he brewed us both some tea.
The club was closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, but Mags was around to oversee deliveries or do admin in the office. He knew his fancy mango tea would help calm me down; it always did.
He placed the glass teapot and two glass cups down on a tray in front of me. We are sitting on the red velvet armchairs in the far corner of the office. I watch as the dried tea leaves and mango settle to the bottom, stewing, just like me in my thoughts of Jamie and his well-being.
“No, it’s against policy even if he has access to it. I’m worried something bad has happened, Mags. He didn’t seem like the type to ghost someone. He even seemed upbeat in the car until a point, and I know for a fact he enjoyed that kiss,” I say as Mags watches me.
“Look, Arnie, I don’t wanna be a bitch, but it could just be that he isn’t interested. Didn’t you say that he was straight or straight-adjacent? Maybe he experimented with you, then decided it wasn’t for him. The ghosting could be because he’s a rude boy and not because of anything else.”
Mags knew how to make someone feel better.
“I mean, why not kick me more when I’m down, Mags.”
I half-laugh as I shake my head at him, knowing that he did mean well. I knew he was wrong, though. I needed to talk to Jamie and confirm he was okay, despite the potential end of our relationship, because he wasn’t like that. I told him I would support him, and I meant it.
The tea is pleasant, but I couldn’t enjoy it as I thought of a way to get to Jamie. An idea comes to me on how I could at least make sure he was alive.
“Hey, is Cheeks open tonight?” I ask as I run my finger around the lip of the cup, trying not to sound like a stalker.
“Yes... Arnie?”
I look up; Mags had put his cup back on the table and is watching me with a careful expression. I knew where this was going.
“It’s not like that, Mags. I know I have a saviour complex because of my parents and foster care and blah, blah, blah. But I am concerned for Jamie regardless of what happened between us. I know he ran away from home to study here and has zero contact with his family. What if something awful happened?”
Mags studies me for an extra second before nodding, his lips pursed together as he swipes his hands down his pastel shirt to straighten it out.
“I’ll be back in five, Arnie. Man the club, will you?” He stalkes out of the office, and I can hear him take the stairs two at a time before the bang of the emergency door slams shut behind him.
What the hell? Man, the club? There was no one there. I laughs to myself.
Mags was good at helping me feel better, but there was just something eating at me about this whole thing with Jamie. I refused to get him out of my mind and move on until I had him in front of me. I have to see for myself that he is okay and if he needs me.
But why would Jamie need me? I gave him rules, punished him, then kissed him without asking.
Maybe I scared him off. I wasn’t used to acting like this; it was unfamiliar ground. Maybe I had been too much, too quick.
Running my hands through my hair, I wait for Mags. My tea long forgotten. I'ms pacing, wearing a hole into the polished, dark floor at my feet.
