An Unlocked Mind (Secrets #2)(3)
He jerked open the door to his locker to grab his jacket before slamming the door hard enough to have it bounce back open. He hit it several times, until finally it stayed closed, then leaned his head against the cool surface.
Life wasn’t fair. There was Alex, his brother, with a new job, married to a man—Rob still couldn’t believe that part—who thought the world of him, and happy as a fucking lark. And there was Rob, stocking shelves at the local supermarket. A dead-end job instead of what he should have had. The injustice of it all wearied him, and he tried his best to push aside such thoughts. He didn’t need the whining voice in his head.
“No use crying over spilled milk,” Rob said to himself as he put on his jacket, before reaching for his trainers and dropping onto a plastic chair.
The door to the lockers opened, and another assistant, Neil, came strutting in. “Suspended, huh?”
The cocky bastard grinned, which set Rob’s temper skyrocketing. “Yep. And for no good reason.”
Neil sat on a plastic chair next to where Rob was pulling on his trainers. “You didn’t really think Martin was going to side with you, did you? If the choice comes down to him getting in trouble or you, well, there’s no contest, is there?”
Rob stood. “I thought he was better than that.” He ignored the use of Mr. Peterson’s first name, clearly an attempt to put Rob in his place.
Neil snorted. “No one is going to go to the wall for anyone else, mate. People aren’t like that.”
After he shrugged into his coat, Rob turned to Neil. “Good luck. Those flyers still need to be hung.”
He’d made it to the door when Neil called out to him. “Take care, okay? You didn’t deserve it, you know.” The remark was so out of character, Rob stopped and turned to face him. Neil gave him a half smile. “Seriously.”
“Yeah, I know.” Rob waved at him and then stepped out the door that led to the rear of the supermarket.
The late-January air had bite to it, and Rob shivered despite the coat he wore. He reached into his pocket and counted out money for the bus. Then he realized he needed to save every penny. Walking home it is, then. The fact that it was over two miles didn’t matter, as it gave him time to think about what had happened. He’d tried to be decent to the woman. After all, it wasn’t like it was the first time a customer asked him something he couldn’t answer. But she’d been the worst of the lot because she hadn’t been willing to give him a chance to resolve her issue.
Rob sighed. What the hell am I going to do? Thank goodness the previous month’s rent was up-to-date, because he’d been short and it had taken him four extra days to pay. His landlord, Mr. Mackenzie, had given Rob the time to come up with the money, but he knew he couldn’t expect the man’s good graces again.
Of course, walking two miles with so much going on in his head had both positive and negative outcomes. The journey passed quickly, but by the time he walked into his flat, he was beside himself with worry. He grabbed a glass of water from the tap—even though he really wanted a beer—and sat down in the threadbare gray chair he’d found in the local charity shop for a couple of quid. It was comfortable, and after regular applications of both upholstery cleaner and Febreze, it now smelled okay too. He glanced at the small table next to it, where bills lay. Several of them.
Can’t put it off forever.
Rob groaned and reached for the stack. There were so many it made Rob’s stomach clench. He was going to come up short on several of them because of his lost wages. Maybe if he didn’t eat for the next few days, it might take some of the sting out of it. On cue, his stomach protested the idea. He tossed everything back onto the table and noticed an embossed, cream-colored envelope that had somehow slipped to the floor. He picked it up. Secrets? He had no clue what that was about. The card inside was one of the fanciest he’d ever seen, gold-tone with more of the embossed printing, telling him he was invited to an opening. He opened the card, where he discovered Secrets was apparently the name of a club in London. Why the hell is some club in London inviting me to—
Then it clicked. The place had formerly been known as Whispers. Rob groaned and threw it into the dustbin. That was the last thing he needed.
Pulling open the door, he found the refrigerator was a stark wasteland. He’d expected to get paid next week and had planned to do a little shopping to tide him over. When he extracted his wallet from his pocket, he found a grand total of forty-seven pounds and twelve pence. Hardly enough to last him the week.
Now what do I do?
He was still trying to work out where else he could claw some money from, when his phone rang. He glanced at the caller ID and pressed Ignore. After the day he’d had, he was in no mood to talk to Mum. She wasn’t a bad sort, but she’d become increasingly clingy since Alex moved out. She was always asking him if he wanted to visit, along with not-so-subtle hints about moving back home. Right then, that particular option had some merit, but he couldn’t see himself living under his parents’ roof again. Maybe if the situation got dire enough, but things weren’t that bad yet. His efforts would be best served by looking for a solution.
A few pieces of toast later, Rob’s stomach stopped growling, even though he was still hungry. He went back to his chair and picked up the stack once more. As he thumbed through them, his heart sank. Phone bill, electric, gas, plus he still owed for the repairs on the car that he’d had to sell because he could no longer afford to run it. He ran through the numbers in his head, and no matter how many times he did, the answer was still the same. He couldn’t afford to pay them all. Hell, he lived from payday to payday as it was.