The Beauty and the Biker Alpha

Chapter 4: The Calm Before the Storm

Chapter 4: The Calm Before the Storm

Calla

It was the strangest thing. I felt as though there was an invisible thread linking me to Alpha Callum. The thread became taut as it pulled me ever closer, but it was in no danger of snapping. Of that much, I was sure. Nothing would break this bond. I shook my head slightly, trying to clear it. What the hell was wrong with me? I didn’t even know this guy. I had never been boy-crazy in the slightest. Why was I practically swooning now? Had I been drugged? No, I hadn’t even eaten yet for the day. Some birthday this was. I couldn’t seem to look away from Callum’s smoldering gaze.

“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t punish you,” said Callum, his tone indecipherable.

Punish me?! Since when was I under his jurisdiction? He needed to simmer down, but I couldn’t afford to be cheeky again. I tried to be charming.

“Because it’s my birthday?” I said, my voice faltering a little.

It came out like a question, as though I was asking him if it really was my birthday.

“Prove it,” he said, a glint of mischief in his eyes.

Maybe he thought he was calling my bluff.

“You could just be saying that,” he added.

Okay, he definitely thought he was calling my bluff. I rummaged in my apron’s pocket. A few items fell out to my embarrassment, including my house keys, a sanitary napkin and a tiny notebook with ‘keeping it real’ emblazoned in glittery silver letters on the front. The phrase hadn’t bothered me when I had gotten the notebook but now, standing there before Callum, the phrase seemed painfully corny. I blushed as he bent to get my things before I could retrieve them myself. He handed them over to me, smirking as he caught a glimpse of the plethora of keychains attached to my bunch of keys. Almost all of the keychains were small plush stuffed animals. As I reached out to collect my things, my fingers brushed against his hand and a jolt of electricity surged through me. I shivered a little though it wasn’t cold. As I stuffed my items back into my pocket, I realized I had also dropped my wallet, but he hadn’t returned it yet. Instead, he twirled it between his fingers. Even his fingers seemed muscular. Was that even possible? Could fingers be muscular?

He raised his brows at me, silently asking my permission to open the wallet. I nodded deftly. He unfolded the pink wallet, his smirk widening as he noticed the dolphins and kittens pattern on it. I was waiting with bated breath for some reason. He looked at my ID, noting my date of birth. I felt like an overly made-up teenager trying to get past the bouncer at a nightclub. I twiddled my thumbs, trying to ignore all the eyes on me. Callum had effortlessly been the focal point of the room from the moment he had arrived. Now that he had turned his laser-like gaze onto me, he had the whole room switching back and forth between us like they were watching a tennis match.

“Happy birthday, Calla,” he said somewhat sincerely as he returned the wallet to me.

I breathed a soft sigh of relief. The tension in the room seemed to dissipate slightly. Callum caught one of the biker beasts’ gaze and nodded in the direction of the adjacent booth. The biker obeyed his leader’s unspoken command without hesitation, moving quickly to the next booth. The bikers scooted over until Callum had a free spot next to him. He patted the spot gently with his enormous hand. I stood there, dumbfounded.

“Sit, birthday girl,” ordered Callum.

His bossy behaviour irritated me, but I was in no position to refuse such a benign request. I gingerly sat next to him, trying my best not to make eye contact with any of the other lean-mean fighting machines even though they were all staring directly at me. I glanced up at Sailor who, to my surprise, was scowling at me. I frowned, confused by her expression. Nick looked bewildered but not disapproving until Callum told him to take my order. Nick pressed his lips together until they were nothing more than a thin angry line. His lips remained like that whilst he was jotting down my order. I laughed sheepishly, covering my mouth to stifle the sound. Nick still heard it. He glared at me. I gave him an apologetic look. I didn’t want to have to beg for my job back a second time on the same day. That would be excessive, even for me.

Nick and the other waitresses headed back into the kitchen, leaving me with Callum. I contemplated following them, but I didn’t think I was permitted to do so. The Biker Beasts and other patrons began carrying on their own conversations. I relaxed a little now that I was no longer sharing the spotlight with Callum. I wasn’t interested in being the centre of attention. That was more of Sailor’s thing. I didn’t mind commendation for my work ethic, but I didn’t like the kind of obsessive gaze that came with fame. I didn’t know who Callum was but everyone else did. I wondered what he had done to make everyone go nuts like that. They were acting like he was a celebrity or royalty or something.

“This is the part where the boy and girl ask each other questions,” he whispered in my ear.

The part? My usually sharp mind worked so slowly around him.

“Oh, like in a romance novel? Or a movie?” I blurted out incredulously, immediately regretting it.

He let out a loud raucous laugh that deepened the flush of my cheeks. Ugh. Why was I being so awkward all of a sudden? I hadn’t meant to presumptuously imply that we were romantically linked somehow. I had never been very good at picking up on signals from guys. When I thought they liked me, they didn’t. When I thought they didn’t like me, they actually did. Callum's interest in me just didn’t make sense. I wasn’t a troll or anything, but I really didn’t look very glamorous in this uniform. The diner uniform was meant to be sexy now that Nick had redesigned it. He had shown up with the new uniforms on his very first day as the new manager. The uniform had clearly been designed with someone much taller than me in mind. The short-sleeved pale pink dresses reached the mid-thighs of Sailor and the other waitresses. However, the dress was knee-length on my shorter frame. My white apron had seen better days. I looked around. There were girls who had showed up to gawk at Callum specifically, and they were all dolled up, not that they needed to be. Most of them already looked like supermodels. I realized Callum was staring at me expectantly. I remembered I was supposed to be asking him questions.

“Oh, uh, what’s your claim to fame?” I asked.

It was a question to which I genuinely wanted the answer. He seemed hesitant.

“How did you get this job, Calla?” he asked, avoiding my question to my annoyance.

“You’re not gonna answer my question?” I asked indignantly.

“Don’t pout,” he insisted, grinning at me.

I hadn’t realized I was pouting. I frowned instead.

“I applied for it, and then I was interviewed and then the owner, Nick’s Dad, hired me,” I said matter-of-factly.

“But how did you know this job was available? Did you see a listing somewhere?” he asked, his eyes burning into mine. The intensity behind his eyes shocked me. He seemed just as eager to know about me as I was to know about him.

“I…don’t remember,” I realized, a strange feeling suddenly coming over me.

The hairs on the back of my neck were standing up.

“What?” He said, looking confused. “How can you not remember? It can’t have been that long ago.”

“Unless I’m secretly a hundred-year-old sorceress,” I said, once again blurting out the first dorky answer that had come into my mind.

He didn’t even crack a smile. He was visibly tense. I searched my mind, feeling a little out of sorts. How had I found out about this job opening?

“Was it word of mouth?” he prompted.

“Yes, I told her,” said Sailor, appearing out of nowhere and making me jump.

I hadn’t even heard her footsteps or seen her approaching. She did that sometimes. She was just graceful I suppose. In fact, just about everyone working here besides me had this grace. I felt like a duckling waddling around a swan’s lake.

“Why?” he asked, looking up at Sailor.

“Because she’s so trustworthy, Alpha,” said Sailor, wearing a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes.

“Do you remember that?” He asked. “You remember her telling you about this job?”

He was acting like he was a detective about to crack a fascinating case. Who would be so interested in one girl telling another that the diner is hiring?

“I do,” I said, lying.

It was fuzzy. I didn’t fully remember her telling me about there being work available here, but she was my best friend, and she said she had. Why would I doubt her? It wasn’t that important, right? I didn’t like lying even about something seemingly minuscule. I wanted to be honest with him.

“And how did you two meet?” he asked.

“We have the same crack dealer,” I said, lowering my voice and leaning towards him.

His grin was back. Sailor’s peculiar smile vanished, replaced by a look of murderous rage. I had seen it from the corner of my eye. The expression had startled me so much, my eyes immediately swept across her face to confirm what I had seen. However, the expression had already vanished by the time I turned to look at her properly. Had I imagined that? I glanced at a worried-looking Callum. Oh no, he probably thought I was deranged.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Nothing,” I said, lying again.

His eyes had remained glued to my face. He had been so focused on me, he hadn’t seen Sailor’s expression at that instant. Perhaps, I was just tired and hungry. Nick and the other waitresses began bringing out everyone’s orders. Callum’s burger was bigger than my head. I had never seen them make one like that before. I looked at it in horror.

“Eat it before it eats someone,” I mumbled.

Callum chuckled.

“After you,” he said.

I took a bite of my fried chicken sandwich. Meh. They had definitely not put equal effort into my meal as opposed to Callum’s.

“It’s good,” I said, unnecessarily lying a third time. “I don’t do crack,” I added softly. “And neither does Sailor.”

Maybe she had been mad because she thought Callum might actually believe my nonsense.

“I surmised as much, Calla,” he said.

His smile vanished suddenly. Not him too. He didn’t seem angry though, just concerned. I felt a ripple effect pass through the diner as everyone stopped talking and eating to listen. I listened too, but I heard nothing.

“Is something wrong?” I asked.

He silenced me with a raised finger. I noticed the coffee in someone’s mug was vibrating slightly. I heard a low-pitched hum that grew into a deafening roar within seconds.

“TAKE COVER!” Shouted Callum in a way that inexplicably made the whole diner shake.

Everyone obeyed instantly. Everyone except me.