Catching Smoke: Ch. 21
When Emmalee bursts through the door, Colin is unprepared.
He had been expecting her to show, of course. And when he heard her at the door he intentionally didn’t answer. He was wanting her to prove that she could find a way in without help.
And she did.
But it still caught him off guard.
“Have you been there the whole time?” Emmalee asks when she sees Colin lying slightly startled on the bed.
“Yes.”
“Didn’t you hear me knock?”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn’t you answer the door.”
“It’s not in my job description.”
Emmalee crosses her arms over her chest and glares at him. Colin grabs the remote to the television, but Emmalee snatches it from his hands before he can push a button.
“I thought your offer was a serious proposition,” Emmalee says.
“It is.”
“Obviously not.”
“It is if you’re here to take the job.”
“Do you really think I’d be here if I wasn’t?”
“Good point,” he says. “I’m injured.”
“Injured?”
“I was hit by a car.”
“No, you ran right in front of it.”
“Yes, well, the driver should have been prepared for that.”
“Right. Because it makes total sense for a driver to expect a crazy man to come running in front of the car unexpectedly.”
“Are you done?” Colin asks, sighing.
“Done?”
“I’m not going to give you your job description if you’re going to stake your opinion in everything as some sort of defensive mechanism. You want answers. That’s why you’re here. You’re hoping that by taking the job I’ll answer all your questions, and ease whatever fear you have going on. But can you please just say that? I’m not in the mood for this whole argument act.”
Emmalee blinks, and then sets the remote control on the bedside table. She takes a seat on the empty bed across from Colin, and waits for him to speak. He grins before getting up from the bed and limping to the drink station.
“Want something?” He asks.
“No, thanks.”
He pours her a drink anyway and makes one for himself before limping back over to the beds and handing one of the drinks to Emmalee.
“You’re going to need it. Trust me.” He says.
And then he begins to explain the job.
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