Breene, K F - Growing Pains 01 Read online

  “Little close to the female staff, huh, Jacob?” Sean asked with warning in his voice.

  Krista barely put two drops in her cup before she fled to the creamer station. Leaving the two men in a stare-off, she tore lids of creamer as fast as possible.

  “It’s Jacob that has to watch out,” she said, reaching for casual to hide her urgency to leave. “My keyboard is all dirty and disgusting. If he’s not careful, I’ll pull a snatch-and-run with the clean one he’s got under his arm.”

  Jacob turned to her with a smile. “Yours is dirty, huh?”

  “Way dirty, yeah. I tried to clean it, but there is only so much Clorox wipes can do with dirt and grime from years of servitude. Anyway, I’ll see you two around.”

  She made a hasty exit as Sean said, “Creamer, Krista.”

  She looked back at the creamer station and realized she’d opened the containers but left them sitting on the counter like a complete boob. She let out a loud sigh, turned around with surprising agility for the size heels she was wearing, grabbed the opened containers, and got outta there.

  Thank God the girls would be heading to her house later that night to view Ben’s painting, because she had a feeling she’d need a drink after the day’s end.

  ~*~*~*~

  Text from Kate:

  Where the fek r u? Weve ben here 20 min???

  Text back from Krista:

  walking from 25th. Where f-ing train dropped us!!!

  Text from Kate:

  Serves u rite 4 still livg on L line beotch

  Text from Krista:

  Not helping. C u in a while.

  When Krista finally walked in, warm despite the mild chill from the air—turned out San Francisco was sixty degrees at nearly all times of the year, including winter, so her Seattle jackets were overkill—Ben, Jasmine and Kate were all sitting around the dining room table drinking a glass of wine.

  “Hey guys,” Krista said, dropping her stuff on the floor.

  “Abbey’s home,” Ben warned.

  Krista gave a body consuming sigh of aggravation. She picked up her stuff and marched it into her room where she dropped it in the middle of the floor. She didn’t feel like getting bitched at. Ben’s “piece” was taking its toll on Abbey’s nerves. If this place wasn’t so reasonably priced for how big it was, she would move in an instant.

  Also, it would help if she had some money to spare.

  Back out, a glass of red wine waiting for her, she sat with a relaxing sigh and reached for it.

  “What are you, Princess Sighs-A-Lot?” Jasmine asked, eyeing her from across the table.

  “I think I’ve picked it up from my boss…“

  “That jerk guy?” Kate asked.

  “Yeah. He sighs a million times a day. Every time he opens his email, or looks at work, or looks at a cup of coffee for crying out loud—sigh. Always with the sighs. It rubs off.”

  “Better than the double chin,” Jasmine said, taking a sip.

  “True. How is work with you girls?” Krista asked, feeling so much better about her day now that she was home, with friends, and relaxing with a glass of vino. A girl had to look forward to the little things.

  “Eh,” Kate said dismissively. “It’s work. I wouldn’t mind a change, but no one’s hiring.”

  “Yeah.” Jasmine nodded. “It’s better than school in that I have a little money. It’s worse in that it takes up all my free time. So, I’m par for the course.”

  “Oh—Kris,” Kate said, sitting upright. “I totally forgot to tell you. I can’t go to your Christmas party after all. My f**king mother wants me home for Christmas since I missed Thanksgiving.”

  “Shoot!” Krista sighed yet again.

  “That’s going to get old,” Jasmine reflected.

  “It’s already old and I’m the one doing it. That sucks, Kate. Jaz, can you come?”

  “Nope. I’ll be washing my hair.”

  “Cute. Ben?”

  “I really admire you, Krista, but I really don’t like those things. Sorry!”

  “Ugh! You guys are all a bunch of hoboes! Well, it’s settled then, no way am I going.”

  “Why?” Kate asked the same time as Jasmine said, “Don’t blame ya.”

  “I’m not going to turn up to a party where no one will talk to me. How ridiculous would I feel?”

  “What about that friend of yours. What’s his name…Johnny or something?” Kate asked.

  “Tommy. He’s bringing his girlfriend. He’ll be talking to her all night and she won’t let me join the group because I’m a single chick.”

  “Probably jealous of your cans, too,” Jasmine said.

  “Dang it. I wanted to see Sean dressed up.”

  “He’s going?” Jasmine perked up. She’d started seeing someone, so she wasn’t as horny, but she also was starting to get irritated by him already. It wouldn’t last much longer. Constantly dreaming of something better, she always wanted to hear the latest in the Sean files.

  “Yeah, I guess he always goes. Has to schmooze. Find a girl to take home then dump. You know the story.”

  “Wow, Bitter Betty, did he shit in your coffee this morning or something?” Kate asked with a smirk.

  Kate, unlike Jasmine, wasn’t all that thrilled Krista still talked to a man wanting nothing more than a roll in the hay. Kate and Jasmine were always two sides about everything. They were the devil and angel on Krista’s shoulders, except they usually took turns wearing the different hats of good and evil.

  “I walked in on him feeling up some chick from Accounting.”

  Kate’s look turned serious. “You didn’t fall for him did you? Because you know you can’t do that, Kris. You know—“

  “No, I didn’t fall for him,” Krista said defensively, shifting in her seat. “I’m not quite that stupid. I just…he’s just…it’s just nice talking to him. I couldn’t find anything that made me believe all the rumors. Until today.”

  “Besides always trying to f**k you?” Kate got slightly more dirty-mouthed when she was riled up, which was saying something, because she was plenty filthy in the normal course of her day.

  “Who is this?” Ben asked quietly.

  Krista rolled her eyes. “A guy I work with. He’s always after—“

  “Her pu**y,” Kate interjected.

  “Kate, you know I hate that word!” Krista said with spite.

  “That’s why I used it. I can see you losing sight of yourself with him. As I sit here, I can see it as you talk about him. He’s no good. Do I have to remind you that Jim was exactly the same way in the beginning? Attractive and clever and dashing?”

  “No—“

  “Because he was Krista. Jim could charm a woman out of her house if he wanted to. He was sweet and chatty and was completely focused on you and only you. Remember?”

  “Yes,” Krista said sullenly, sinking into herself.

  “And what happened when you finally gave in? When you decided that this time, this time, he was actually what he seemed?”

  “But, in my defense, he had been into me.”

  “He started abusing you, Krista! That’s what happened then! Cheating on you, hitting you, messing with your head—”

  “What?” Ben sat forward, alarmed.

  “Yes, Ben,” Kate said, not taking her eyes off Krista shrinking in her chair. “Krista, against her own better judgment, gave in to her ex-boyfriend Jim because he was so delightful. So handsome—“

  “You thought he was, too,” Jasmine threw in. “You’re being harsh.”

  “Yes, Jaz, I did. We all did. I’m not blaming Krista for Jim. We were all fooled with him. No one saw that coming. We were all young and inexperienced.

  “But I’m not fooled with Sean. I’m not a Bambi-eyed jackass anymore. I’ve seen through the rabbit hole with guys like him, and yes, very few are Jim’s caliber of f**ked up, but still, I know what waits for Krista with a guy like Sean. She is only getting her life back together. She is only now, after nearly a year, starting t
o poke her head out of her turtle shell and realizing how strong of a woman she is. She is only now starting to joke again, for f**k’s sake! I-will-not-let-another-womanizing-fuck-head-asshole-mess-that-up-for-her!”

  “Well, despite my moment of insanity, Kate,” Krista said, wiping a tear from her eye. “Sean is a floozy, I got proof today, and I am back on course.”

  “So there,” Jasmine said with a nod.

  “I knew a man was your ocean,” Ben said pensively.

  “What?” Kate and Jasmine asked together, thinking, quite rightly, that Ben was half cracked.

  “Shall we?” Krista stood and turned toward the painting.

  “Yes.” Ben got up, too. “I did guess on a few things, but it looks like I guessed right. I embellished a little, but it appears I really didn’t, so all-in-all, I think I just about hit the mark. I’d like to meet the Ocean, of course. I could do a couple touch-ups to really bring it three-dimensional.”

  “No.”

  “I’d like to meet the Ocean myself,” Jasmine said with a wicked grin. “I don’t mind using him for a night. I never have to see him again.”

  “Take one down, pass it around…” Kate sang.

  “Yes, okay,” Ben said, trying to tune out the feminine brigade behind him.

  In the living room, amid the painting and all the plastic sheets, the crew of four gathered around the painting, currently covered with a faded black sheet.

  “You need new sheets, Ben. Not that I’m commenting,” Jasmine observed dryly.

  “Ah…okay. So, what I need from all of you are your thoughts. More aptly speaking, your emotions when it comes to looking at the piece. If there are any, of course. Okay.”

  Ben carefully removed the sheet off of a fury of color.

  “Oh!” Kate said, staring wide-eyed.

  Krista had thought there would be primarily reds and blues, and technically it probably was, but to the eye, it was so much more. While it was every bit the abstract painting Ben had set out for, she saw the shapes he’d envisioned. There were the swirls of yellow and orange—hope. There was the anger and uncertainty and whatever else he’d said was red. The waves and currents and undertow in blues. In the middle, where the most yellow and orange could be found zinging through the canvas, was a clash of the blue and red, turning the colors violet, indigo, magenta and pink.

  It. Was. Sensational!

  Jasmine had her head cocked, analyzing. She was the most artsy of the three of them. If there was anything constructive to say, she was the one it would come from.

  “So,” Ben said, watching faces. “Thoughts?”

  “What’s the title?” Jasmine asked as she crossed her arms, a speculative look on her face.

  “Lost and Found,” Ben replied, looking at the painting.

  “It’s…cool.” Kate ventured.

  “I like what you’ve done with the colors. The conflict. To me it portrays a battle. A war.”

  “I see that,” Kate nodded. “Kinda. But also…you know…like anger. Right? Or…fear? Hope?”

  “You’re just throwing out words, now.” Krista grinned and rolled her eyes.

  “Fuck off, I see that! Kinda… Feel it, maybe? Art is confusing.”

  “There is so much movement,” Jasmine continued, moving her hands in the air over the colors. “It’s all over the place. My eye wants to go everywhere at once, but it always comes back to the struggle in the middle. Why Lost and Found?”

  Ben was still looking at the canvas. “A soul. One lost soul, searching. Wandering in this corporeal world through a timeless scope. A—“

  “Stop right there…” Jasmine held up her hand, “too heavy for a weekend painter. Well, it rocks, so good work.”

  “The subject is Krista. I should mention that,” Ben said, turning to watch reactions.

  “Krista?” Kate said, leaning closer to the painting.

  “He had a dream that he thinks was about my life,” Krista explained.

  “Not about your life, but about your current struggle,” Ben clarified.

  “Whatever.”

  “Lost and Found, huh? Hmm. I can see that,” Jasmine reflected.

  “What, that I’m lost, or that I’m found?” Krista put her hands on her hips. This was all tomfoolery in her opinion. All she saw was a really cool blast of color.

  “Your brain is lost, that’s for sure,” Kate said, tilting her head as she kept looking at the painting. “I really like it; I can’t stop looking at it, but I don’t think I see the deeper meaning here. And I certainly don’t see anything to do with Krista. But…I agree, it rocks. Good work, Ben.”

  “That’s it?” Ben asked.

  “What do you want from us?” Kate replied. “We’re stat brats. We’re not brush jockeys.”

  “I guess I thought you were more opinionated.”

  “About certain things, surely,” Kate said, leading the brigade back to the living room. “HEY!”

  Everyone jumped then froze, each in a different squat about ready to sit.

  “Speed dating!” Kate boomed.

  “No,” Krista said immediately.

  “Sure.” Jasmine shrugged.

  Ben stayed silent, probably thinking he wasn’t included in Kate’s new big scheme, or maybe not as able to keep up with her quick 180’s.

  “YES! Speed dating. We’re all single—or will be soon. We all need a man or woman. Speed dating.”

  “Oh! Jasmine,” Ben said with a smile. “I wasn’t aware you were a lesbian. You know, I have a good friend that—“

  Ben was cut off by Kate cackling. When the laughter died down, Jasmine said, “I like men, Ben. Kate will be dragging you along with us.”

  “Oh, no,” Ben said, sitting back with a polite shake of his head. “Thank you, Kate. But no. That isn’t really my scene.”

  “Ben, come off it,” Jasmine exclaimed. “It isn’t any of our scenes. It’s another one of Kate’s great ideas—“

  “It is a great idea!” Kate threw in.

  “--and she’ll keep bugging us until we give in. Don’t try to fight it.”

  Ben looked at Krista, close to panic.

  “Sorry, Ben.” Krista shook her head. “Jasmine’s right. We’ll all have to go.”

  “You guys, this is a great idea!”

  Kate was drowned out by collective groans.

  Chapter Four

  The dating game totally sucked! Krista hated it.

  The other thing she hated was one night stands. But in an attempt to sink or swim, she’d had a bunch of tequila Saturday night and brought a friend of Jasmine’s home. She was rewarded with sloppy kisses, one brief panic attack, and a bad lay. She wasn’t even remotely satisfied.

  It was necessary, though. It was the first sexual encounter since Jim, and another step away from his hold over her. She’d confronted some of her fears, and she had to be honest, doing it drunk and with a man you would never see again if you didn’t want to—which she didn’t, since she was mortified—was a bonus. But that was the weekend. Now, Monday morning, she felt a little trashy and a lot insecure. This return to powerful, blasé Krista would take some getting used to.

  Krista dropped her stuff under her cube desk, grabbed her mug and trudged into the break room, not caring if she saw Sean or Satan. Preferably didn’t want to see God, though—probably couldn’t face that guy just yet. As she passed through the door, she ran straight into someone and bounced off.

  Instincts said to brace herself with her hands outstretched. Memory said do no such thing. To heroically protect her mug, she let her face take the fall, slamming her cheek into wall. Before she could rebound and head toward the floor, probably continuing her heroic rampage and breaking her face this time, she was grabbed from behind.

  “Jesus, Krista, are you all right?” Sean held her for a brief second, cradling her body within his, before gently easing her to the wall so she could settle in a soft landing.

  All she could think to say, as her brain started to buzz with the delicious p
roximity, was “Please don’t say the Lord’s name in vain around me right now. He might throw a thunderbolt.”

  A confused smile blossomed on Sean’s face. “Did you not see the wall coming?”

  “You’d feel pretty stupid right now if I was a clumsy girl and often used my face as a doorstop.”

  “I might, yes. But it’d still be funny.”

  “Probably.”

  “You’re not a clumsy girl, then?” Sean was leaning close, suffocating her pleasantly with that special elixir of his. His body was so warm, and large. He was wearing a dress shirt today, which was snug around his chest and biceps. He was filled out in all the right places.

  If she didn’t put some distance between them, she was liable to do something crazy, like grab his crotch. “Please step away, you are using all my air.”

  Sean chuckled, putting a hand to the wall by her face and easing himself backward. “Seriously, though, all joking aside, are you okay? Your cheek bone is turning red.”

  “Does it still look like the other one?”

  Sean’s eyes went back and forth across her face, comparing. Only twice did they dip to her lips, probably checking for a fat lip. “It is red with scuff marks, so no. But it is still shaped like the other one, so not broken.”

  “Well, then, when people ask how I got bruised, I’ll say you hit me.” A shock of terror stopped her heart. A memory flash of a large fist toward her face blotted out her vision.

  It wasn’t funny yet. It probably wouldn’t ever be funny again.

  She lost her humor and changed gears quickly. “Anyway, I need coffee. I had a weekend.”

  ~*~*~*~

  Sean watched as Krista’s face shut down. Sarcastic comicality dissolved into fear, then resignation. It had been something she said…

  As he replayed the scene, it dawned on him. Cold fingers clutched his gut.

  “I’d never hit a woman, Krista,” he said quietly.

  Her step hitched and her body bowed a little. She glanced at him, mouse-like.

  “It’s not all about you, McAdams. Get a grip,” she said in a wispy voice playing at being strong. She took a deep breath, trying to claw her way back from whatever dark place that comment had taken her. It didn’t take a genius to figure it out. She’d been hit. By a man. A father, maybe. Or an ex-boyfriend.