Divine (39 page)

It took a few rings
before Fox's smooth voice finally answered, “Walley's Burger
Shack. How can I help you today?”

“
Yes, hi,”
Jonah calmly replied. “I was wondering if you could help me
figure out why you harassed my girlfriend this morning?”

“
Ah, Jonah,”
Fox chuckled in a low drawl, “I was expecting you to approach
me about that. Apparently you aren't man enough to come down here and
handle me in person.”

Jonah's casual laugh
escaped his lips as his eyes glowed red with a fiery sparkle. “That's
a lot of talk coming from someone who was so afraid of having me
around that he threatened me with calling the police. Obviously you
can't handle a fight on your own.”

“
If you want to
fight, then come down here,” Fox spat out.

“
Well, I would
love to,
Theodore
, I really would. But Summer doesn't want me
to go down there because of what I'll do to you. And since I
love
her, I'm going to work hard at respecting what she wants me to
do.”

My mouth literally fell
open at his calm admittance.
Did I hear that right? Did he
actually tell Fox that he loved me?

Fox stayed silent while
Jonah went on, “And Fox, I need you to know that it's a really
good thing that she told me to stay away from you, because if I were
to see you right now, I would bust the teeth out of your cocky little
mouth.”

A laugh of amusement
rang out from Fox as he listened to Jonah's threat. “Well,
maybe one day we will meet somewhere where you can do more than just
talk about what you would do to me.”

“
Yeah, I really
hope so,” Jonah snarled.

“
Oh, and Jonah,”
Fox added, the obvious sound of a smile coming through in his voice,
“tell Summer that I really enjoyed our kiss.” The loud
clank of his phone slamming down on the receiver echoed out of the
speakerphone, ending their conversation.

Jonah shook his head
while he stared down at the phone in his hand, his lips twisting
around in an attempt to control his anger. “Well, that went
just as I expected it to.”

I cocked my head to the
side while I gazed up at him next to me. “What do you mean?”

“
He brought up
the kiss, which was a cheap shot, and he slammed the phone down. I
wouldn't expect anything else from him.”

“
Well, you are
definitely the bigger man. And I can't believe you called him by his
first name, I bet he hated that.”

Jonah nodded and sat
his phone on the coffee table. “If Fox want's to play with the
big dogs, then he better watch out.”

Jonah was right about
himself, he
was
a big dog. And Fox had no idea what he was
getting himself into by messing with him.

* * *

Luckily Steve's number
was easy to remember and after I calmed down, I called him and told
him what had happened. We ended up meeting him after Fox left to pick
up my purse and my car.

Steve was upset that I
quit my job, but he understood why. “Fox is crazy,” he
told me that night in the parking lot; a fact that was obvious to
anyone who knew my ex-boss.

Jonah followed me home
afterwards because he wanted to be around when I explained to my
parents what had happened. It wasn't easy telling them either, they
pretty much freaked out; but, I understood why.

“
We need to file
a police report,” my dad shot out in anger. “He harassed
you.”

My mom nodded in
agreement. “Yes, Summer, we need to. He's a Divine; he could be
dangerous.”

I sat on the arm of the
couch with my arms crossed in front of me, trying to weigh the
decision in my mind. “I don't want to make him angrier, Dad. I
don't work there anymore so I won't be seeing him again.”

“
It doesn't mean
he still won't try to see you,” my dad added.

Jonah stood next to me
with his head looking down at his crossed arms, the bill of his black
hat covering his face from view. “I agree with your dad,”
he mumbled deeply.

“
But what if that
makes him freak out more?”

My mom paced the living
room floor in her fluffy robe with her hands on her hips, working at
staying as calm as she could under the circumstances. “If he
freaks out, then we'll call the police again. You need a restraining
order against this man.”

I sighed heavily and
brought my finger up to chew on the side of my already short nail. “I
understand that you are all worried about me. Heck,
I'm
even
worried about me. But I think he was angry because I turned him down
and it hurt his ego. I'm not there anymore, I won't be around him. If
he tries something again then I'll get a restraining order.”

I could see Jonah's
lowered head shake in disagreement. It was a hard decision to make,
getting a restraining order against Fox. But I just wanted the
situation to go away. I was ready to move on, ready to get a
different job and forget about Fox all together.

My dad sighed heavily
on the couch next to me. “Summer, you're eighteen years old
now. You are an adult; I won't make your decisions for you. But I
have to say, the decision you're making right now, not doing anything
about what Fox did, it's the wrong one. And I don't want you to
regret it later.” He leaned over and planted a kiss on the side
of my head and stood up, extending his hand out to Jonah. “Thank
you for helping her today, her mother and I really appreciate it.”

Jonah grabbed his hand
and shook it firmly while they gave each other regretful smiles, both
obviously in agreement with each other and disappointed with my
decision.

“
I'm going to
bed,” my dad mumbled as he took off out of the room.

My mom gave Jonah a
quick hug and smiled at him. “Yes, thank you for always helping
our daughter.”

Jonah smiled and stuck
his hands into the deep pockets of his jeans. My mom followed up the
stairs after my dad, leaving us alone in the living room.

He looked down at the
floor, consumed in thought. “I'm gonna go,” he mumbled
toward his clean, black shoes.

I crossed my arms
defensively in front of me. “You're mad,” I huffed,
giving him a roll of my eyes that he couldn't see.

His face shot up at
mine and he looked angry, but didn't have the red eyes that I was
expecting. “Yes, I'm mad. You're making the wrong decision,
Summer.”

“
I just want this
all to go away. Please, can't you understand that?”

“
Yes, I
understand. But things don't just go away because you want them to.
Sometimes you need to grow a pair and take care of the situation
that's at hand.”

“
Grow a pair?”
I scoffed. “I think I stood up to him pretty well today.”

“
Yeah, you did,
this
time. But what about next time? He's a man, Summer, a
strong one. And on top of that, he's a Divine.” His muscles
flexed as he took his hands out of his pockets and crossed his arms
in front of him with irritation. “Do you remember how you used
to make fun of him because he always acted like he was awesome
because he could control the lights?”

“
Yeah,” I
nodded.

“
Well, over the
year that you've known him, what else has he showed you that he could
do besides turning lights on and off?”

“
Blowing up the
Walley's sign and the lights in the restaurant.”

“
Yes, and do you
know what that means?”

“
That he controls
electricity?”

“
Exactly,”
he shook his head in agreement. “Listen to me Summer, Fox has
hidden how strong of a Divine he is from the world. He can control
electricity; that makes him very powerful, and very dangerous.”

“
Yeah, but he
doesn't want to hurt me. He's just angry because he can't have me,
and it affects the lights around him. I'm afraid of him, yes, but not
afraid that he'll do anything to me. Just let me walk away from all
of this, please.”

He pulled his lips in
with a shake of his head and then sighed heavily into the air.
“Fine,” he gave in, dropping his hands to his sides. “But
I'm going to tell you this again, and I want you to listen: you are
making the wrong decision. And I would hate to see what would happen
if he tries something with you and I'm not around to help you.”

“
Jonah,” I
pleaded as I stood up from the arm of the couch, “I, I just
don't know what to do.”

He moved in and hugged
me tightly against his firm chest. “I told you what to do, your
parents told you what to do. But like your dad said, you're an adult.
We just don't want to see you get hurt, that's all.”

I looked up at him with
a sad pair of eyes. He leaned forward and kissed me softly, showing
me that he still cared even though he felt I was making the wrong
decision. His arms unwrapped themselves from my body and he smiled in
weak disappointment before walking away and going out the front door,
leaving me standing alone in my lonely living room.

* * *

I spent the first part
of the week job hunting in search of something that would pay my
bills. By Wednesday I had actually landed an interview at the fancy
restaurant that my parents always took me to for my birthday: The
Shoreline. They had the interview lined up for me for that upcoming
Friday, and I was extremely nervous. I knew the hiring process
wouldn't be the same as the way Fox had hired me: basically on the
spot. This was a classy restaurant and I had to work a bit harder to
land a job there.

When the day of the
interview came I drove myself there wearing my best interviewing
outfit: a black high-neck blouse and gray business-style slacks. My
hair was pulled up and my makeup was light, making me appear young
like I was but exuberant enough to do the job.

The restaurant was
basically empty when I got there; it was around two o'clock in the
afternoon and was between the rush of lunch and dinner. When I made
it inside, a middle-aged brunette woman dressed in a red silky blouse
and black slacks stood in front of me behind an expensive looking
stand. She was on the phone, taking a reservation down in a book that
was spread open in front of her.

“
Hi,” she
said sweetly when she hung up the phone. “Are you Summer?”

“
Yes, I am.”
I stuck my hand out and met it with hers, giving it a courteous
shake.

“
I'm Amber. I'll
take you back to meet the boss. Right this way.” She waved me
along to follow her through the maze of exquisitely adorned tables
that made up the restaurant's pricey looking atmosphere. I looked out
at the walls of windows and smiled at the waves of the ocean; Jonah's
ocean.

When we reached the
back of the restaurant she opened up a pair of double doors and stood
back for me to walk inside.

“
Thanks,” I
smiled as I walked past her into the large office.

I was met by my new
potential boss who was sitting behind a large oak desk. His name was
Mike, and he was in his late fifties with gray hair that was receding
back from his lightly wrinkled forehead. He had me sit across from
him while asking me the usual interview questions: how I would handle
this and that, what days I could work, and countless more. It took
about a half an hour but by the time we were through, he hired me on
the spot. I shook his hand and hurried out to my car to call Jonah
and tell him the good news.

“
Jonah,” I
shrieked when he answered his phone, “I got the job!”

“
Oh, that's
awesome, Ashy! I'm so proud of you!”

“
Thanks! You
know, I really feel like things are starting to look up.”

“
Yeah, it sure
sounds like they are,” he agreed.

I plopped my head back
against the headrest and searched the ceiling of my Honda in thought.
“I want to celebrate; we need to do something fun.”

“
Yeah, we
definitely should. I'm sorry to say this but I'm super swamped with
work and I have to work overtime tonight. Can we celebrate tomorrow?”

My shoulders slumped at
the news. “Well, I'm going to the spa with Brittany, remember?
I'm using the gift certificate she got me and she's gonna join me. I
promised her I would hang out with her for the day because she misses
me now that she doesn't see me at Walley's.”