Forgive Me by Kateri Stanley (reading strategies book TXT) 📕

“Ah, shit. Sorry, that sucks. If you go to the Security team round the front, they’ll help you. They can phone a mechanic.”

She scrunched up her face. “I… can’t see them.”

“It’s around the front.” Laurie pointed so she could follow. “See? If you walk down the hill, it’s on your left.”

The woman smiled, shaking her head with embarrassment. “I’m sorry, I don’t know. I can’t see it. The rain’s pretty heavy out here.”

Laurie was hating this; he had a job to do and this was happening during his break. “This place is in the middle of nowhere. How long have you been walking?”

“For hours. This is the first building I’ve seen in ages. Is it okay if I can use your phone? I'm not a thief, or a serial killer. You can frisk me for knives or rope if you want.”

The remark made him queasy. Keep it together man.

“I only need to make a call. I really won’t be long,” she added.

The woman was soaking and shivering. Laurie knew cars broke. His own had done it a couple of times but it was always on the freeway. Why was she driving around this God forsaken place late at night?

Do something man. You can’t just leave her. She could catch hyperthermia and it’ll be your fault. You don’t want a cute dead girl on your conscience. He wanted to shake the thoughts away. Laurie stared at her, sighing inwardly. Fine, but this is the last fucking time I do something generous.

“Okay, I’ll let you use the phone.”

Her face was a wash of relief. “Thank you. I really appreciate it.”

They don’t pay me enough for this.

“Yeah, sure.” Laurie’s hand trembled as he opened the window. The rain splashed, and he grabbed her wet fingers. He pulled her through, making a racket. “Be careful where you put your hands and feet.”

“Thank you so much! You’re a lifesaver,” she replied, her clothes were dripping, making patterns on the floor.

“I’ll get you a towel,” Laurie said and threw a cloth from the cupboard.

“Is this a laboratory?” she asked, looking around as she raked the cloth along her hair.

Is it obvious? “Yeah, it is, that’s why you need to be careful.” Laurie peeled the sodden coat from her shoulders. His cheeks burned when their eyes connected, feeling immediately stupid. Get the fuck on with it. He placed the coat in the sink, indicating to the wall by the administration corner. “There's the phone.”

She smiled brightly. “Thanks.”

“Yeah, sure. Don’t mention it.”

Laurie watched her speak to the operator as he tried his best to wrench the dampness from her coat. According to her story, white smoke was seeping from the engine of her red chevy truck. She'd added oil but eventually the vehicle conked out. She yapped on for a while about how she got to Kaltheia and winked at Laurie as she joked about being saved by ‘a knight in shining armour’. He seemed more scared than she was and he wasn’t a fan of her flirtatious jokes. They were making him uncomfortable.

“Thanks for your help. See you soon.” She hung up, turning to Laurie. “They’re gonna be about an hour or so, is it okay if I hang here for a little while I wait?”

Laurie felt sick because he had work to do, a lab to watch and he didn’t have time to babysit a stranger. What the fuck am I gonna do?

Laurie wasn’t expecting to be babysitting a stranger on his night shift. He kept his ‘guest’ in the tiny staffroom next to the lab not concentrating on his job. He was too preoccupied with the raven-haired beauty next door. He didn’t need this right now, not with the amount of ridiculing he’d receive from his colleagues if he messed up any of the samples.

The rain was still lashing; the whole situation was making his head pound. He checked his watch and couldn't help but sigh. It had been over an hour now and the support for her broken truck still hadn't arrived, it was long for the pick-up crew. Something wasn't adding up and the feeling of dread was creeping up on him.

Laurie finished preparing the stash of blood samples and he assembled them into the analyser. He pressed the start button and watched the machine churn in sequence.

I don't know what the fuck to do. I have my break now but she's fucking here and...I can’t talk to girls. I mean, she's pretty and she scares me. I can’t fucking stand here all night. My food’s in the staff room and I need to eat something!

His stomach answered for him and he peeped around the staff room door to check on his guest. The room was in darkness, the moonlight poured in from outside. The rain patterns from the windows were reflecting off her skin. There were purple dots up along her arms; she was scratching at them viciously. He didn't need lamp light to know where they were birthed from. Laurie wasn't a prude when it came to narcotics, especially in college and high school. He'd smoked cannabis back in the day but he kept his hands clean when it came to needles, pills and powders.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

She pulled her sleeves away from scratching, turning to him. She clicked on a smile and Laurie noticed perspiration was looming on her forehead. Is she detoxing?

“I’m gonna eat my dinner as I’m on my break now. Is that okay?”

She smiled tiredly, nodding her head.

“Can I switch the light on?”

“No!” she snapped.

“Why not?”

“Sorry, I just prefer it with the lights off.”

I bet you do. “Oh okay, no worries. It’s a little dark in here with the lights off, that’s all.” Laurie got his dinner from the fridge and sat next to her on the couch. His stomach was making all kinds of sounds but he was too hungry to care if she heard them. Well, you do care. Just fucking eat.