Chapter 23: Chapter 23

TWENTY-THREE

Okay, perhaps Willow underestimated having to work extra hours. The day was dragging on and she had only made it halfway. It so happened that the day she had to work overtime was the busiest. Customers kept on coming and going, she could not even remember the last time she stood by the counter and let Millie chat her up. The kitchen was extremely busy as well, the heat that welcomed her when she opened the door being the evidence.

She fanned herself as she went to give a new order. The temperature in the kitchen was a total contrast to that of the outside. Willow walked out of the kitchen with another tray full of food and went to serve another table. She tried to sound enthusiastic and full of energy as she set downtrend food and smiled at the customers, asking if they needed anything else.

With the energy that she still had, she walked over to the counter and gave a small smile to Millie. Pitiful eyes stared back at Willow. Millie looked just as exhausted as she did though all she had to do was stand and get orders.

“You can’t possibly be as exhausted as I am,” Willow said as she rested her elbows on the counter.

“Standing here isn’t exactly pleasant ya know.” Millie retorted.

Willow scrunched her eyebrows. “You know that you can get a chair, right?”

“I know, but sitting takes away the whole essence of being behind the counter,” Millie replied.

Willow kept quiet, deciding not to judge Millie too much. She could not think standing was better than sitting. Grabbing a stool would make her job a whole lot easier but then, maybe Millie would rather keep the ‘essence ‘ than be comfortable.

It did not take long before Willow had to attend to another table, and another, and another...and the cycle just continued until standing on her own feet felt like a punishment. When the sun finally set and the restaurant closed, she was relieved. Even if she did not have to do it, she stayed back to clean the restaurant. Another sigh escaped her lips after she wiped the top of a table and moved to the next.

“You didn’t have to stay back, you’ve been working the entire day. You must be exhausted.” Said Elaine, one of the cooks.

Willow smiled and shook her head. “Just accept that I’m helping you. Besides, this is quicker, that way everyone will get home in time.”

Elaine smiled back and continued sweeping the floors. “Whatever you say,”

When they finally finished with everything, Millie locked up the place. Everyone bid each other goodbye before separating and heading to their own destinations. Willow stopped by the side of the road and took out her phone to check a new message.

‘Are you home yet?’

Willow stared at the unknown number with furrowed eyebrows. She decided to ignore the message and continued walking. With her hands in her pockets once more, she trekked home. The cold weather made her wish she had no job at all. If only she were rich.

The house finally came into view and she smiled when she saw the lights on. That meant Charlotte was at home and Charlotte being home early meant good, tasty food. She made haste and went into the house with a huge smile. The smell from the kitchen was enough to affirm Willow’s earlier presumption.

“Char!” She walked into the kitchen. “Food! Food!” She screamed excitedly and moved closer to the stove and uncovered one of the pots, releasing the tempting aroma of the food that was still cooking.

“Hey! Don’t do that. What if you burn yourself?” Charlotte scolded.

Willow ignored her. “Can I eat now?” She asked.

“No. Why don’t you go take a shower and by the time you’ll be done, the food will be ready.”

“Great plan,” Willow clapped her hands and wasted no time doing as Charlotte suggested.

After bathing and changing into her pyjamas, she combed through her hair with her fingers. After being satisfied with herself she made her way back to the kitchen. Charlotte was dishing up the food, she looked up at Willow and smiled.

“It’s been a while since we did this,” Said Charlotte. She handed Willow her plate.

“Mhm.” Willow nodded and took a seat at the kitchen table. “How’s it going with the new job and you quitting the multiple jobs?” She asked after Charlotte sat down as well.

“I managed to quit all my jobs today, and I’m supposed to report for work officially on Monday.”

“That’s four days away,” Willow commented and chewed down her food.

“Yeah, that is why we are going apartment hunting tomorrow since you were very busy today and I had to tie up loose strands.” Said Charlotte.

Willow kept quiet for a second before nodding. She then realised that she had not even spoken to Levi since yesterday.

“I want to decorate the apartment.” Willow smiled excitedly.

Charlotte nodded. “Of course, I knew that you would want to do that before you even said it.”

They continued eating their food in comfortable silence. Willow was almost done with her food when Charlotte spoke up.

“Are you ever going to go to university?”

Willow stopped eating and sighed. Charlotte had asked this question enough times for Willow to grow sick of the conversation. Indeed, she wanted to finish her studies and mingle with people her age. But there was nothing good in her life. She was scared of meeting new people, Louis had made sure of that. And more importantly, money was the major issue.

Even if she managed to get a student loan, she didn’t want to drown Charlotte in more financial problems. It was okay just like this. This way she could even help with money rather than adding to the burden.

“I’ve got a stable job now. You can go back to college and I’ll sort everything out—”

“Char, I’m okay just like this. Do you know that there are so many rich people that didn’t even exceed high school?” Willow asked with light humour lacing her voice.

Charlotte snickered. “Don’t give me that. I know how much you want to be an interior designer.”

“And I also know that you are aware of our situation.” Willow countered.

“What situation? We’re okay, sure we have money problems but very soon that’ll all be in the past.”

Willow stood up and grabbed her plate. “Let’s not have this conversation, we’ll just end up fighting like last time.”

“I don’t care Will. You should fight for your future. Are you just going to do small jobs for the rest of your life?” Charlotte breathed out.

Willow sighed walked away from the table and moved to the sink. “Drop it.” She said warningly.

“I don’t think I can,” Charlotte replied. “I want you to fight for what you deserve. You can’t give up on things because you’re scared. It’d be better to acquire a loan and have hope for a future than waste time thinking about ‘what if’. Please, Willow, think about it.”

Willow was about to reply but a knock on the door beat her to it. Charlotte looked at Willow with a raised eyebrow, the silent question ‘Are you expecting anyone?’ between them. Willow shook her head and so did Charlotte.

“I’ll see who it is,” said Willow when she noticed that Charlotte was not yet done with her food.

Willow dried her hands and went to open the door.

“You!?” She exclaimed with a shocked expression.

“Will, who’s there?” Charlotte asked after hearing Willow’s voice.

Willow looked at the man at the front door and sighed. “I’m gonna be out here if you need me!” She yelled to Charlotte before closing the door behind her and glaring up at Black.

“What do you want?” Her hands were crossed in front of her chest, not to necessarily look intimidating but to shield herself from the cold.

Black dug into his pockets and pulled out his phone. “I texted you.” He said.

Willow’s eyebrows creased in confusion. “Text me? You didn’t te—” She stopped talking when she remembered the unknown number. “Oh!”

She wanted to ask why he had her number but the events of the previous day were her answer. Caleb had used her phone to make a call to Black. Even if she had not saved the number, Black had saved hers.

“I wanted to make sure you are alright.” Said Black.

Willow found it hard to hide just how much of an effect Black’s words had on her. When she looked up at Black, she realised the man was not even aware of how he sounded. She took a deep breath of the cold air, glad that there was no light to expose her reddened cheeks.

“Why would you do that? We aren’t friends.”

Black was hurt by her words and if the lighting had been better, Willow would have noticed how his jaw clenched and unbleached within a matter of seconds.

“I wouldn’t consider us friends either,” Black retaliated. Willow frowned, Black was satisfied when he saw what looked like hurt in her eyes.

“Then why are you here?” Willow bit back viciously.

“Because I want to know if my mate is okay,” Black replied coolly.

Willow felt her heart rate increase. Why did Black have to say that so easily and naturally? And when she met his stare, she felt even more conscious of her pyjamas with little lambs on them but she didn’t avert her own stare. She was half convinced that staring into his eyes was like a hypnosis experience. She was drawn to him, like a lone sailor to a siren.

“As y-you can see I’m okay,” Willow said with a light stutter.

Black nodded. “I’m glad. Have a goodnight and say hi to Charlotte for me.” Black smiled at her before turning around.

Willow watched him silently as he walked down the road. She tried to see if he had his car parked somewhere but there was nothing. And when she could no longer see him, she remained by the door wondering how he would get home and why he did what he did.

She took a few more minutes to let her body recover from the rush of emotions Black spurred. With a huge exhale she walked back into the house.

“Was that Black?” Charlotte asked.

Willow nodded. “He said hi.”

“Why didn’t you let him come in? I would have told him about how worried you are about not being able to see him after we move.” Charlotte had a bashful smile on her face.

Willow snapped toward Charlotte. “Don’t you think you’re getting too comfortable with a person you’ve only met once?”

Charlotte shrugged. “He’s big and scary isn’t he?” She mused. “But I’m very certain that I shouldn’t be scared of him.”

Willow clicked her tongue before rushing to her room and closing the door.

“Hey! Are you going to bed? You haven’t even done the dishes!”

Willow tuned out Charlotte’s voice and sent a quick message to Levi before trying to focus on sleep.

......

Reality hit Caleb in the face like a truck. The wonderful haze he spent in Levi’s arms dissipated too quickly for his liking. And just as quickly as he had started getting used to the feeling of Levi’s arms being around him, it was snatched away from him.

Other than the fact that Levi had to go back to his brother, Caleb also had school. After sitting down and thinking about everything, Caleb realised that his and Levi’s was not going to be as easy as he wished. Reality felt like a harsh slap, even when Caleb walked down the hallways to his first class of the morning he could still feel the pain.

There were so many issues standing in front of them. One, Levi was a rogue while Caleb belonged. And even though there was an easy and obvious solution to that, Caleb was unsure if it would be as simple as it was supposed to be. Levi was supposed to be made a member of the pack. But would Levi accept to be a part of the pack, granted Caleb was still not aware of why Levi was even a rogue? What if Levi didn’t want to be in a pack?

Let’s say Levi did actually accept to be a part of the pack, that brought Caleb to the second problem. Louis, Levi’s older brother. Would he let his brother join a pack without causing much trouble? That just sounded absurd to Caleb. After everything he had heard about Louis, Caleb knew that there would be repercussions.

And even if they did manage to sort out any such issues peacefully, there was still the issu3 of Willow and Black. Levi cared for Willow, that was very easy to see and whatever affected Willow seemed to affect him. Caleb could only pray and hope that Black would be able to woo Willow quickly.

Even without all those problems, school and work still intervened with their bond. Caleb was so ready to drop everything and follow Levi around like a puppy would its owner.

Caleb sighed and took his seat, dreading the rest of the day.

“You can’t be that disappointed to be back,” Caleb snapped out of his thoughts when he heard the familiar voice.

Edward was staring back at him with a smile.

“You’ve been gone for too long man,” Edward added.

“We saw each other on Monday,” Caleb replied as he took out his books.

“Yeah and today is Wednesday and you didn’t show up yesterday.” Edward’s exaggerated tone made Caleb roll his eyes.

“Whatever.” Caleb brushed him off.

Edward’s lips thinned. “What’s up with you? You’re more moody than usual. Why didn’t you show up yesterday? Are you okay?” He bombarded the other with questions.

“Too many questions.”

“You’re such a little bastard. I’m asking as a friend, ya know.”

“Really, or were you just worried because I wasn’t there to buy you an after-school snack?” Caleb asked.

“That’s true.” Edward nodded and Caleb shook his head, unimpressed. “But other than that, I actually like you and you’re my friend, so I have a right to worry about you.”

Caleb stopped scrolling down his phone and looked up at Edward. Sincere eyes stared back at him and he smiled. He was happy to have a friend. A friend that he may or may not have liked a few days prior, unbeknownst to that friend.

As Caleb looked into Edward’s eyes, he was glad that he had not acted on his feelings. If he had, it would have put him in a tight situation after meeting Levi. This time as he looked into Edward’s eyes, he searched for nothing more than friendship and he was content. Even if looking at Edward’s long hair, face, eyes and multiple piercings still elicited some feelings within him, Caleb was certain that it would die down after a while.

He now had his mate after all.

“Mhm.” Caleb smiled. “What do you think about visiting a mall before eating, after school?” He asked.

Edward smiled. “You don’t even need to ask.” He said excitedly. “What do you need at the mall? Lingerie?” Edward teased.

Caleb glared at Edward under deep flushed cheeks. Why did Edward say such a thing? And why did Caleb think of Levi?

“I want to buy a birthday present for my baby nephew,” Caleb replied.

“Baby nephew? Don’t tell me your brother knocked up some chick, it wouldn’t be surprising though.” Edward had a questioning look on his face and Caleb cursed his loose tongue.

“It’s my cousin’s baby.” Caleb tried to save his earlier mistake and when Edward nodded, he sighed inwardly.

“I’m great with kids, I’m a hundred per cent sure that I’ll be able to help you.”

“Thanks.”