Friday was NOT off to a good start.

First off, I'd woken up twenty minutes late, then my morning shower had been cut short due to waking up so late, then I'd found I was out of coffee, so no morning caffeine hit to lift my mood. Wraith had taken a giant dump on the kitchen floor, so I'd had to get down on my hands and knees to scrub that shit off, literally.

And then it was time for Work.
Or rather, the pathetic excuse of a volunteer job I loathed beyond belief.

The entire shop was littered with bags upon my arrival, a few of which blocked the door. I knocked on the window to get Nadine's attention, and watched as she maneuvered her way around the bags to open up the store and let me in.

"You're late." she scowled.
"Only by five minutes." I defended. "My dog shit on the floor this morn-"
"I don't want to know." she cut me off, raising a hand to silence me. "But it's not good enough, we have new stock to put out. Spring stock out, Summer stock in, get to it."

I groaned and set my bag down behind the counter, immediately starting in the kids room by habit. My phone buzzed in my pocket as I was pulling clothes off the racks in an angry huff, throwing them on the floor as I freed them from their hangers. I peeked around the corner to make sure Nadine wasn't watching, and pulled it out to find I had a new text from Brian.

From: Brian
To: Rikki

Mornin Sunshine ;)
What's up?

I opened up my phone's camera, snapping a couple of photos of the store and the chaos I was currently dealing with, attaching them to my message.

To: Brian
From: Rikki

Kill me.

He replied barely a moment later

From: Brian
To: Rikki

Oh jeezus, that's rough
Glad I don't have a mundane job

"Excuse me!" Nadine snapped, poking her head through the doorway. "Get off your phone, you've got work to do!"

I pouted at her as I pretended to put it away. When she turned her back, I tapped out a quick reply.

To: Brian
From: Rikki

Save me, please...

I sighed as I reluctantly slipped my phone back into my pocket, ignoring it when it buzzed again as I got back to work. The bell above the door chimed and I heard the Boss enter the store. My stomach dropped; that was never a good sign. Trying to busy myself with the task at hand, I tried to tell myself not to jump to conclusions, it would be fine. I was just being paranoid.

I was wrong.

"Rikki-Lee, can I speak to you for a moment, please?" Wendy said, suddenly appearing in the doorway.
"I'm a bit busy right now." I tried to brush her off, hoping if she saw me working, I could weasel out of it.
No chance. "It'll only take a few moments, come outside please."

I sighed and left the hanger I was currently emptying on the floor, following her out into the humid morning. She took a seat on the bench outside the shop, tapping the spot beside her. I sat down, readying myself for a scolding.

"Are you not happy working here?" asked Wendy.
"Why do you ask?"
"Nadine's told me you've been giving her a bit of attitude lately." she replied. "A little more than usual."
"I might've been." I knew there was no point in lying, I'd already been caught.
"She's also told me you've a tendency to play with your phone a lot."
"When the store's quiet, and there's nothing else to do, yeah."
"There's always something to do." Wendy frowned.
I resisted the urge to say "No there's fucking not..." - the store was so tiny, so well kept, that it really didn't take that long to tidy.
"And you're reading when there's customers in store..."
"I put the book down when I serve them."
"That's not the point, Rikki... we have a standard here."
It's a fucking THRIFT STORE. And not like I was getting paid for this shit.
"And I have to warn you that if you don't start cleaning up your act and pulling your weight, I'll have no choice but to let you go." she stated. "I know you're only a Volunteer, but we're only interested in people who are committed and on time." she emphasized.
Nadine, that little snitch... she ratted me out.
"Am I making myself clear?" she asked.
"Crystal."
"Get back to work." she gestured toward the store. "Prove me wrong, show me you can make a better effort."

I sighed and sauntered back inside, returning to the kids room to resume pulling old stock off the racks. My gut twisted as I worked, panic rising up in me and tears pooling in the corners of my eyes. I fucking hated this pathetic excuse for a "job" but the last thing I needed was to get fired. Get fired, and lose my fucking Welfare. No Welfare, no Money. I wouldn't be able to pay my bills, I'd be homeless, Wraith and I would starve.

I heard the bell above the door chime again as I finished clearing the racks. Toughen the fuck up, Taylor. We don't cry anymore, remember? Crying is for Pussies. Forcing myself to pull it together, I wiped my eyes, gathering up the clothes on the floor and dumping them into a bag. I refused to go back to that pathetic trainwreck of a woman I had been seven months ago.

When I walked out to grab one of the bags of new stock, and pass the old one to Nadine, I found a very familiar figure leaning against the counter.

"Can I steal her for a moment?" Brian smiled, pointing to me when he saw me.
"She's got a lot of work to do, now's not a good time." Nadine frowned.
"Aww c'mon, it'll only be a couple minutes." he smirked, turning on the Smoulder.
Nadine sighed and rolled her eyes. "Alright fine, it's close enough to her Coffee break anyway."
"Thanks, you're a Doll." he grinned, putting his sunglasses on and beckoning for me to follow him out of the store.

Thank fucking God.
Or whatever cosmic force there was out there.

"Here." Brian chuckled, passing me a cigarette instantly as we stepped outside.
"How do you always just know?" I smiled, taking it from him and allowing him to light it for me.
"Because I'm awesome."
"Don't be cocky." I shook my head, blowing out a wisp of smoke.
His smirk re-appeared, and my stomach dropped as I remembered our little text conversation a couple nights prior. "So how is it in Purgatory?"
"Hell." I corrected him. "The Boss actually threatened to fire me today."
"Gettin sick of that smart mouth of yours, are they?" Brian teased.
"It's not funny."
"It's a little funny." he bit his lip, a mischievous look dancing in those ridiculously seductive eyes. "Come on." he said, gesturing for me to follow him once again.



He led me to the carpark, stopping beside a Black 1967 Cadillac Coupe de Ville, and opening the driver's side door. Wait what? That was HIS? Of fucking course it was, he was a goddamn Rock Star. Figures he'd have a bitchin' ride.



"Get in." Brian smirked.
"What?"
"You heard me."
"Brian, I have work."
"Fuck it." he chuckled.
"After my warning this morning? I don't think so."
"Get in, Taylor."
"Don't call me Taylor." I rolled my eyes, walking over to the passengers side and opening the door. "Only Dominic calls me Taylor and I fucking hate it."
"Don't roll your eyes at me."
"Or what?" I challenged, sliding into my seat.
He leaned over, his breath hot against my ear as he spoke. "After the way you teased me the other night, I wouldn't go pushing your luck."

I was too flustered to even try talking back as Brian stuck his key in the ignition and twisted it. Dear god... the fucking assertiveness in his tone... The car roared to life, vibrating beneath me and really not helping the situation downstairs after what he'd just done. We pulled out of the parking lot and tore off into the street, heading god knows where, and honestly, I didn't really care. Any excuse to get away from work.

Brian had his window wound down, and the warm Californian breeze whipped through his hair, blowing the stray strands in his eyes. He was quiet as he drove, thin lips set in a firm line and jaw slightly clenched as he concentrated on the road. That fucking jawline was perfection, sweet christ...

My eyes trailed down to his arm as he changed gears. He wasn't crazy buff exactly, but God, he had nice arms, and those hands... I found my mind wandering back to when he'd danced with me at Johnny's. Those long, slender fingers trailing across my hips, my back against his firm chest and his breath on my neck.

Fuck...



He pulled the car to a stop outside a brightly coloured building with "Comet Records" painted beside the door. I followed Brian inside, instantly blown away by my surroundings. The place was HUGE, spanning over two floors, row upon row of CD's and Vinyl, a wall of band merch and upstairs, a section for classical music. It was like something out of a goddamn movie.

"Sup, Brent?" Brian greeted the man behind the counter, whom bore a striking resemblance to him - though nowhere near as cute.



"Same old, who's your friend?"
"Rikki-Lee Taylor." he introduced me. "Rikki, my brother Brent."
"Nice to meet you." I nodded in acknowledgement.
"So uh..." Brian cleared his throat. "Rikki here's in need of a job, poor girl's stuck doing Volunteer work."
"Is that so?" Brent cocked an eyebrow.
"Pretty goddamn degrading, if I'm being honest." I grimaced.
"Think you could help her out?" Brian asked.
"What?!" I gasped.
"We may have a Vacancy..." he smirked - ahh jeez, it ran in the family. "Little short on staff since School let out, basically everyone quit to enjoy their break and it's just been myself and Mac."
“Don’t I need a resume or something?” I asked.
“It’s nothing special.” Brent shrugged. “Sweeping floors, re-stocking shelves, that sort of thing. But the hours are good, and you’d be getting paid decently.”
“Better than your current situation, right?” Brian grinned.
“I won’t argue with that.”
“It’s yours if you want it.” Brent smiled.
“Seriously?” I laughed. “Absolutely, Yes. Please.”
“Awesome, you can start Monday.” he said. “We’ll sort out the paperwork stuff later.”
“Thank you so much!” I squeaked.



“You’re very welcome.”

I felt a weight lift off my shoulders as Brian bid Brent goodbye and we left the store. This couldn’t be real, surely. I, Rikki-Lee Taylor, had a job, a REAL job, for the first time in my fucking life. And it also meant I would no longer need to work at that godforsaken Thrift Store. I was FREE.

"Call Work." Brian said as we got back in the car.
"Why?"
"Just do it."

I pulled my phone from my pocket and pulled the number up on screen. Before I had a chance to dial it, he snatched the phone out of my hands.

"Brian!"

But he'd already pressed the call button and had my phone to his ear as it started to ring.

“Hello, is this Nadine?” he spoke into the phone. “Yeah, Rikki won’t be coming back into work today.” he paused for a moment while Nadine spoke. “Because she got a job, a real job, so she's no longer required to do your slave-labor bullshit." and with that, he hung up.
I laughed.
“What?” he smiled.
“You. Are. Such. A fucking badass.” I snorted. “You owned that bitch.”
“What do we say?” he smirked, his sultry dark eyes staring me down.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” he breathed.

Faster than I was prepared for, he leaned in and pressed his lips to mine. All the breath went out of me as our lips melded against one another, the kiss gentle, but seductive. Goosebumps formed on my skin as Brian’s fingertips grazed my hip where my shirt had ridden up a little, moving to my back as he snaked his arm around me. I moaned into his mouth as his fingers caressed the small of my back, and he took it as an invitation to add a slip of tongue, deepening the kiss.

My hands buried themselves in his hair, and I felt a fire begin to burn between my legs as our tongues began a tantilizing dance. I moaned again as each caress of his tongue caused that fire below to gradually build, and he chuckled, biting my lip as he broke the kiss.

His arm remained around me as he held my gaze. I panted softly as I tried to catch my breath, feeling my legs tremble slightly, unable to take my eyes off his…

Notes

Chapter Title Cred: Set Me On Fire by Type O Negative

Ohey there, it's been another four months... oopsies!!
But this is back! I think... I hope
I've been writing shit, STEAMY fuckin shit, for the future of this story
So if I can get my shit together, you'll see some of it soon enough ;)

BUT THEY KISSED. FINALLY.

I admit it could've been written better, but eh
Better shit on the way, so if it wasn't enough, hang in there

Until next time!! xx