Summer Boy Ch. 02

Lynn's jaw dropped. Oh...fuck.

"You're both such incredible people," he started to speak faster, "And I thought..."

"Oh my God! Are you kidding me?!" Lynn finally burst.

"I know! I know! I'm a shit! I know that!' Dominic said moving toward her, "I couldn't help it! At the time Zoe and I were just casually..."

"I don't want to know her name for God's sake!" Lynn spat and rolled off the bed. She stomped over to her closet.

"I thought we were all just casually dating!"

Lynn yanked a blue robe off a hanger and pulled it on, cinching the fabric belt with a firm tug. She glared back at him, livid. "You could have told me that before I put your dick into my mouth!"

"You're right, I should have ended it."

"You were going to end it? With me? On my birthday?" she sputtered.

"Lynn, believe me, you're an amazing, amazing woman! Any guy would want you! If she and I weren't already..."

"ON MY BIRTHDAY?!"

"I'm sorry."

Lynn's vision was beginning to blur and her throat hurt almost as bad as her heart and guts. She felt the tears welling up in her eyes. "Get out of here," she demanded, "Now. Get the hell out!"

She shoved him by the arm out of her bedroom and across the apartment floor.

"Lynn, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to...,"

"Get out!" she yelled.

She managed to push him out the door and into the hallway.

Before she slammed the door on him, Dominic turned around and asked, "Are you going to be okay? I'm sorry. I really mean it, Lynn."

"Grow up!" Lynn whipped the door shut.

She stood at the door in the dark, listening to a few more pleading apologies from Dominic before they finally stopped. Her body shook but she couldn't move her feet, unsure of what to do or where to go. She didn't know if she wanted to cry, scream or what and she didn't know how long she had stood there fuming.

It had been perfect. The night had been...perfect.

**********

Adam arrived at the community centre, standing and balancing on one pedal of his bike as he rode along the walkway before gliding into the bike racks. He felt strangely energized today without being quite sure as to why. There was no cocky smirk on his face or giddy boyish excitement racing through his gut. There was just an unfamiliar confidence. Again, he wasn't sure why.

There was a very good chance that the moment he walked through the door, Lynn would explode all over him. He envisioned everything from a slap to a relentless and unforgiving flaying from her tongue. He wasn't sure how she could do it, but she could even try to fire him.

Or she could just ignore him. That was the only thing that troubled him, to be honest. He enjoyed her attentions, not like a schoolboy gaining the attention of a teacher, but like a man and a woman. He realized just how much he'd always savoured Lynn's reactions to him.

As he walked towards the entrance, he felt inside the side knee pocket of his cargo shorts. He smiled, assured of what he had been carrying in it was still there. Just then, Trevor came around from the corner of the building.

"Hey! Yo, Adam," the always 'on' Trevor beckoned, "Wait up, dude."

"Gonna be late, man," Adam said as he waved him off and continued towards the door.

Trevor fluttered his lips. "Yeah, right. Fuck me, 'frog'. You're always late," he said dismissively. He stepped in front of his co-worker, smiling deviously, and punched him playfully in the shoulder. "I've got a hot little offer for you, you lucky bastard. Me and Cass were talking last night at the club and she..."

Adam angled a grin and side-stepped him. "Later! Later, guy," he insisted, "Don't want the supervisors on my back today."

"Aw, come on!' Trevor pivoted with has hands at his sides as Adam passed through the doors, "They're too busy with their own shit, anyway."

*********

Lynn was thinking just how much the days needed reset buttons. She would have pressed it right now and woken up in her soft, soft beddings. Then she would have unplugged her alarm clock and tossed it across the room for good measure. Then, with a smile stretched across her face, she would have taken a pillow and smothered herself with it until she passed out.

Possibly terminal unconsciousness would have been a delight compared to what she was experiencing right now.

"Lynn, this is Zoe," Dominic said hesitantly.

He still hadn't learned that she didn't want to know her name. Now she had a very clear image of the woman to go along with it.

Staring back at her was a person of the same height. She was slightly fairer than Lynn, honey-brunette hair falling in soft waves around her face. Tellingly fit in her orange and grey workout gear, she stood upright and poised. She could have been a dwarf, plump and bald for all Lynn cared. What she of course was really paying attention to was the nasty scowl pinching over the woman's green eyes and stiff-lined lips. If it wasn't for that, Lynn would admit that she was looking at a pretty attractive woman. Well, that and also thinking that she was a bitch.

Suddenly, she really did wish she was standing before a dwarf.

After a long, frigid moment, Lynn finally peeled her eyes away from Zoe and looked up towards Dominic. She glared at him as if to say, "So now what?"

"Uh...Zoe...this...this is Lynn," he said, his voice trailing off.

Lynn searched his eyes carefully. He was still that strange, desperately awkward man who left her in her bed on her birthday. Dominic shifted side-to-side on his feet.

"I heard that this place has decent squash courts," an unfamiliar voice spoke.

Lynn had to blink to pull her eyes away from Dominic. She looked at Zoe, "What?"

"Squash courts," Zoe repeated followed by a noticeable pause where the words "you dumb bitch" could have probably been slipped in.

"Zoe wanted to...we were thinking of using a squash court," Dominic clarified.

Once more, the reception area of the centre fell into silence.

Drawing a blank, unsure of what emotion to let out first, Lynn remained dumbfounded.

"Uh...we're all booked up at this time," Olivia, standing at Lynn's side, finally broke in, "Maybe you could go..."

"No, we're not."

With Lynn and Zoe still in a staring showdown, Olivia and Dominic turned towards the reception desk. Cassie was looking at her monitor as if she were watching the Weather Channel.

"What?" Olivia asked. She leaned toward Cassie a little and, with a deliberate tone, she added, "No, I think they're all booked for the entire day, Cassie."

The receptionist shook her head. Studiously, she turned her monitor for all to see and pointed to a blank block of time alongside the two squash courts. "They could use Court 1 for an hour or Court 2 for two hours, right now."

Olivia frowned at her but Cassie didn't bother to look up from her screen.

"Yeah?" Dominic said reluctantly, "It'd be alright if we go..."

"We'll take Court 1 for an hour," Zoe interrupted. A smile curled up onto her face and she continued, "Then maybe we can check out the rest of the facilities of this nice centre of yours, Lynn."

Lynn did not like the way she said her name.

"No problem," Cassie chirped, tapping her keyboard, "Do either of you have a membership card?"

"I know Dominic has one," Zoe offered, looking up at her boyfriend momentarily then back toward Lynn, "From before."

Suddenly Lynn realized all eyes were on her. Everyone was waiting for a reaction. Instead, all she could think of, aside from trying to keep an air of professionalism in this particularly troubling moment, was that damn reset button. She remained silent and unmoving, save for her slowly twisting lips.

Finally, with a noticeable blink, she turned, feeling as if she were pulling her feet out from tar, and headed towards the staff room.

Cassie quickly registered the court for them and diligently handed Dominic his membership card.

"Thanks," Zoe said, "Washrooms?"

"Oh, that way, inside the change rooms," Cassie pointed down the corridor with her pencil.

"Thanks, again," Zoe said. She turned and started to walk down the corridor. Looking back, she asked, "Coming, Dom?"

He started to say something but he suddenly felt a tug at his elbow. Olivia held him fast.

"Can I talk to you?" she hissed with thinly veiled insistence.

He pouted his lower lip as he looked at her, then nodded once. "Go on ahead. Be there in a minute," he said to Zoe.

Still being lead by the arm by Olivia, he followed her towards the community centre doors. They passed Adam who had been standing unnoticed by the entrance.

"Hey, uh, is Lynn alright?" he asked.

Olivia strode past him, Dominic in tow. "Not now, Adam," she grumbled.

Adam turned and watched them go outside.

"Adam!" Cassie called to him, standing behind her desk.

Offering her barely a passing glance, he continued to watch what was going on outside.

"Adam, can we talk about something later on?"

Without a reply, he followed Olivia and Dominic back outside.

*********

After walking a few meters away from the entry way, Olivia finally released Dominic's arm with a noticeable shove. She stood between him and the centre. The height difference didn't seem as obvious as she stared him down like a pitbull.

"What the hell were you thinking?" she started into him immediately.

Dominic held out his palm past her head. "I couldn't help it. We were driving in the neighbourhood."

"Couldn't you have gone to your club or something?"

"It wasn't my choice," he insisted, "Zoe suddenly said to go to the community centre."

Olivia brushed away her straight black hair, scratching the side of her head, and then rooted her hands onto her hips. She eyed him. His voice was anxious and pitchy and his shaved head was shining with perspiration. She had no idea what Lynn could have seen in him, what she herself and everyone else saw in him. Confident. Cool. Mature. That was Dominic. Not this whipped boy scrambling for excuses.

"You told her that you had been seeing Lynn?"

Remorsefully, he looked away and nodded, folding his arms.

Olivia fumed but, as she was was wont to do, she also thought about this carefully. "But why would she want to come to the centre? And don't tell me she wanted to play freaking squash."

Dominic frowned and looked at her. "What?"

Olivia rolled her eyes. "I mean, girlfriends don't usually want to check out your exes...unless they had a reason to feel insecure..."

Once again, Dominic looked away.

The woman narrowed an eye on him. She spoke slowly, yet firmly, "You didn't happen to suggest or imply that you might still be interested in Lynn?"

Dominic looked like he had swallowed superglue.

Olivia's face untwisted into an incredulous look. "You don't..."

"I think I made a mistake, Olivia," he said, cutting her off.

Taking a half-step back, Olivia spat, "You're damn right you made a mistake, you stupid jerk! I don't believe this!"

"I know that," he sighed, "I mean, seeing her again I can't help but.."

"Stay away from her," she growled. She leaned to the side to catch his eye, snapping her fingers. "Hey, did you hear me? Do you think by saying you made a mistake it makes things better? She doesn't need you. Do you realize how much you hurt her? Stay away and keep that woman away from her, too. You got it? It's over. Move on."

Still looking past her, Dominic thought for a moment, then finally shook his head. "I don't know if I can do that," he said, "If we can get past this..."

"You haven't even broken up with Zoe, yet!"

Not really hearing her, he nodded to himself, "We can make this work."

"Are you even listening to me?"

Dominic finally started to turn his head. Immediately, it was whipped back in the other direction as a solid fist careened into his cheek with a stern "crack". Stars filled his eyes and the next thing he knew, he was crumpled on his butt on the hot sidewalk. His jaw slack, and his eyes spinning in different directions, it took him a long moment to figure out which way was up.

Olivia stood over him, a muted look of surprise on her face. Dominic managed to notice that her fists were clenched. The woman sure packed a wallop, he thought in between the short blackouts.

"Ow! Fuck! Merde!" Adam howled off to the side. Hunched over, he held his wrist and shook his hand. He had never hit a guy like that before. It hurt like hell.

It also felt great.

*********

As soon as she was through the staff doors, Lynn ran into Marek holding out a clipboard before her. She stumbled to a stop, closed her eyes and breathed, "Go away, Marek."

"They just dropped off some equipment in the back," he went on ignoring her plea. He tilted his glasses toward the clipboard, "I'm gonna need time to do the inventory."

"Fine," Lynn replied and side-stepped him, "Go ahead."

"But my shift is almost done in 30 minutes."

"Then do it tomorrow," she grumbled, marching to her desk.

"I'm not in tomorrow."

Lynn fell into her chair and buried her fingers in her hair. She looked up and shot bolts at the young, oblivious staff member. "So do it now! I don't care! Do it until you're done, alright?"

"There's not enough time..."

"Marek! Get out!" she yelled, her entire face and neck flushed red.

He stared back blankly before grudgingly turning and pushing his way out the door. "What a bitch," he muttered.

"I'm not a...," Lynn called towards the door as it closed on her. She shook her head dejectedly and mumbled, "God, I am a bitch."

Alone in the office, she fumed. She couldn't believe what had happened. She should have gone off like a bomb on both of them. It would have felt so good. And they were going to be in the community centre, doing the activities she and Dominic used to do, rubbing her face in it. She should march right into the squash court and throw the witch down, make her feel really welcome to the "nice centre". She was sure she could take her. Hell, she could kick Dominic's teeth in for good measure, too.

Lynn leaned back in her chair, rolling her eyes to the ceiling, letting out an agonized groan. This was no good. There was no way she was going to be able to do any work today. Olivia would understand.

Reaching into her drawer, she pulled out her purse, stood up, and headed for the staff exit.

*********

"Are you okay?" Olivia asked.

"What the hell?" Dominic mumbled, still groggy and still on the ground.

"I'm not talking to you," she corrected.

Adam stood upright, still shaking his hand out, sucking a long breath of air in between his clenched teeth. "Yeah," he nodded, "Want me to hit him again?"

"Grow up," Olivia sighed. She turned and looked down on Dominic, "And this time, I am talking to you."

Unsure if she should tend to the fallen Dominic or let Adam take another swing at him, her decision was interrupted as everyone noticed Lynn's blue sedan peeling out from the back of the community centre.

"Lynn!" Olivia spun around and called out to her in vain.

Firming his jaw, Adam ran over to his bike and pulled it off the rack.

"Adam!" Olivia shouted, once again in a futile effort as he quickly broke into a sprint, chasing after the car.

One hand on her hip, Olivia rubbed her head contemplating if she had a next move. Dominic, shifted on his seat and grunted painfully.

"Oh, shut up," she said, dismissively.

Just behind the glass doors of the community centre entryway, Cassie stood quietly having observed the whole situation.

Juan came up behind her, tapping her on the shoulder. "Hey, Cass. Something up?"

Still looking out the window, she simply replied, "I don't know."

"Okay, when's your lunch?"

"In about twenty minutes."

"You going to be doing anything?"

Cassie looked down at the floor and then back out the glass doors. "Yeah," she mused, "I have something to check on."

To be continued...