Not Looking for Love: Episode 4 Read Online Free Page B

I'm trying to stare down a new day of Scott not calling me back, and failing miserably.
    "We could go out for lunch," Dad suggests, but his face has a greenish tint, and I'm pretty sure he'd rather not eat anything.  
    "I'm going into the city for a bit," I finally say and rise to dump my half finished, cold coffee into the sink. "Maybe dinner."
    He smiles at me, the wrinkles around his eyes cutting deep into the dark bags under them. "That does sound better."

CHAPTER FIVE

    I have no idea if Janine will talk to me, or if she's even working today, but I have to try. She's the only person who might be able to convince Scott to talk to me again. Or at least give me some answers.
    Once I reach the store she works at, I circle the block three times before I get up the nerve to enter. The store's packed, but I don't see her anywhere. I pick up a random bra off the shelf, to look less conspicuous as I'm craning my neck, looking around like a maniac trying to locate her. I finally see her escorting a lady out of the first floor fitting rooms and nearly send a woman toppling to the ground as I rush to reach her.
    "Janine!" I call out before she can disappear back into the changing room. Her head whips around, her honey colored curls bouncing against her shoulders, and I watch her expression change from surprise to anger as she watches me approach. But at least she's not turning away.
    "Can I help you with something?" Her eyes flick to the leopard print bra I'm still clutching. "That doesn't seem like your style at all."
    "I have to talk to you," I say, shoving the bra onto a shelf. Only suddenly, I have no idea what to say. Her eyes are filled with cold hatred, even though her perfect lips are smiling at me.
    "You want some help picking out a bra?" she asks.  
    "No, that's not why I'm here," I say. "I…I…I need to talk to Scott."
    Her eyes narrow. "So call him."
    She thinks I'm insane, she must.  
    "He won't answer my calls," I stammer. Why is she making me say all this? She has to know. I'm certain he's told her by now.
    She shrugs and smiles at a customer walking by. "Then I guess he doesn't want to talk to you."
    "Please, can you ask him to? Can you tell him I need to speak to him?" The words fly from my mouth like I'd rehearsed them.  
    She shakes her head.
    "Please, you have to. You're my only hope." I have no idea where these words are coming from. All I know is that if she says no, I'll cease to exist. I'll just disappear, turn into air, float away like I never was.
    She laces her arm under mine and pulls me to the escalator. I fight her off, push her away, sure she's about to toss me out of the store without even saying anything. Just like Scott is doing, tossing me aside, ignoring me like I don't even exist.  
    "Relax," she whispers, then smiles at a co-worker who's eyeing us questioningly. "I'm just going on my break," she says to her.
    "Come with me, and don't make any more of a scene," Janine hisses at me and takes my arm again, pulling me down the escalator.  
    She's only wearing a thin black dress, and the wind outside is cold enough to reach bone. I hope she doesn't get sick because of me.
    "Look," she says after she finally lets me go just outside the door, her teeth already chattering. "I have no idea what's going on, but if Scott's not talking to you he has his reasons, and I think you should respect that."
    "I just want him to tell me why," I plead. There's no way I'm leaving here with a "No," from her. "Can you ask him to talk to me?"
    She's got her arms wrapped around her chest, but she's not glaring at me in anger anymore. "I can't just tell him what to do. He hasn't mentioned any of this to me. I can't…"
    "Please."  
    She sighs and looks off into the distance, past my shoulder. "It's not my place."
    That's a lie. She had no trouble shrieking at him to throw me out on the night he picked me up from the clinic.  
    "You're the only person who can help me."
    Her eyes whip back to mine, hard and dark