The Storm between Us

Chapter 9

Her alarm went off at 6:00 a.m and for a few seconds she just stared at the ceiling, trying to convince herself that she had enough energy to get out of bed. It was only her second day at her new job, but somehow it already felt different from the first.

Yesterday, everything had felt unfamiliar. The house, the staff, the residents, and the routine. It was all new to her. Today though, she knew what to expect.

She finally sat up, stretched and climbed out of bed.

After getting ready, Amber looked at herself in the mirror and made sure everything was in place. She fixed her hair, touched up her makeup, grabbed her bag and headed out.

Her second day started much smoother than her first.Yesterday she was nervous and rushing and trying to learn everything as instructed to her. Today, She followed the morning routine, helped with breakfast, assisted the residents with whatever they needed and slowly started learning everyone's personalities. She was beginning to remember names and recognize who liked to joke around, who preferred quiet mornings and who needed a little extra patience.

Amber was naturally observant, so she paid attention to everything.

There was one resident in particular who caught her attention.

She was a white woman who had schizophrenia and sometimes struggled with what was happening around her. Amber noticed that she could become overwhelmed easily, especially when there were too many people talking or moving around her at once.

Instead of treating her differently, Amber simply made sure she paid a little more attention to her.

She spoke to her calmly. She made sure she understood what she was asking for.

And whenever the woman seemed confused or uncomfortable, Amber tried to reassure her without making her feel embarrassed. By the middle of the day, Amber was starting to feel like she belonged there. She texted her cousin Xasso telling him about her day and a little about every one there.

She told him she wasn't as quiet as she had been on her first day. She laughed with some of the staff, had a few small conversations and even found herself becoming comfortable enough to joke around.

For someone who normally kept to herself, it felt like progress. When her shift finally came to an end, Amber grabbed her things and headed outside.

The evening air was cool and she pulled her bag over her shoulder as she walked toward the driveway.

Then she noticed a familiar car. The car that dropped her coworker Simone off yesterday. The white Mercedes.

Amber slowed down. When a lady stepped out the car she smiled because it was definitely simone.

She remembered yesterday when the woman had casually mentioned that her son was sitting in the car. Amber had looked over, curious, but she hadn't been able to see who was inside. Not that it was her business she just felt a pull towards who was inside the car.

Today, however, Simone opened the trunk.

"Hold on, baby," she said, reaching for one of her bags.

Before she could grab everything, the driver door opened.

A man stepped out. Amber looked down at her phone seeing how far her uber was before looking back up.

Then she froze. Her eyes widened slightly.

It was him.

KJ

The same guy from the gas station. The guy she had seen before.

The guy she had wondered about afterwards. Amber's heart seemed to skip for a second.

No way.

She stared for a moment before quickly looking away, hoping nobody had noticed. She didnt want ti seem nosy as if she was constantly watch them.

However from the corner of her eyes the guy walked around to the back of the car and opened the trunk wider. He reached inside and grabbed one of the bags for his mother.

Amber couldn't help herself.

She glanced at him again.

This time, she really looked.

He was even more attractive than she remembered.

And now that she was seeing him up close again, she couldn't believe the coincidence.

Out of all the places in Atlanta...

She tried to act normal, but her nervousness immediately betrayed her. She adjusted the strap of her bag and looked down at her phone even though she wasn't doing anything on it. Her uber was 2 minutes away.

Then she felt it.

Someone looking at her.

Amber slowly looked up.

KJ was staring directly at her. Amber glanced to her left and saw her other coworker had exit the building also and was talking with Simone. She glanced back at him.

For a second, neither of them said anything.

Then the corner of his mouth lifted into a small smirk.

Amber's stomach flipped.

"You look familiar," he said playfully.

She blinked. She decided to play with him too.

"I do?"

He nodded, still smiling.

"Yeah. Gas station."

Amber couldn't help but smile a little.

"Oh," she said softly. "Yeah. I remember you."

"I knew it," he said, laughing under his breath. "I was wondering if that was you." She swid walking up to her. Today he was in a navy blue sweatpants and black T-Shirt. Gold chain just the same with gold earrings. His glock hidden but obvious. His cologne floated threw the wind, very manly. His face looked more clean as if he had just gotten a trim.

Amber switched the weight on her feet.

"Small world."

"Very small," he replied.

She could feel herself getting nervous.

It wasn't that she didn't know how to talk to people. She just wasn't used to having someone she found attractive suddenly standing in front of her and actually talking to her.

Especially him.

"So you work here?" he asked.

Amber nodded.

"Yeah. I just started."

"Second day?"

Her eyebrows lifted.

"How'd you know?"

He shrugged.

"Saw you yesterday, I don't usually."

Amber laughed softly.

"You come here often?"

He smiled.

"I drop my mom off all the time."

"I should have figured." Amber laugh nervously.

Before she could say anything else, a car horn sounded from behind KJ. He turned around.

"That's my uber." she said.

KJ nodded.

"Well, I guess I'll see you around, pretty."

She smiled holding her head down to hide it. Her cheeks were hot.

"Yeah. I guess you will."

As Amber walked toward the car, she glanced back one more time to wave.

KJ was still standing by there, he remove one of his hands from his pocket to wave back.

She entered the car and greeted her uber driver. Just then her phone rings. It was a facetime call from xasso. She knew he just wanted to check if she was okay and on her way honey.

"You good?" He asked when she answered.

Amber buckled her seatbelt and tried to hide her smile.

"Yeah."

Her cousin raised an eyebrow.

"Why you smiling like that?"

Amber shook her head.

"Nothing."

But as the car pulled away from the building, Amber looked out the window and smiled to herself.

It definitely wasn't nothing.

For the first time in a long time, Amber was actually looking forward to seeing someone often.