The Maddox Brothers: Beautiful Burn Part 11

"I've been deeper," he said with a smirk, pulling his cap down low, just like his brother had less than ten minutes before, and walked away.

I rolled my eyes and shook my head, pulling open the back door. Wick and Jojo nearly fell forward, and then pretended-poorly-to be doing something other than eavesdropping.

"Am I fired?" I asked.

"Fired?" Jojo asked. "h.e.l.l no! That's the most fun I've had at work since Daddy built this place!"

Wick held up a cigarette and squeezed by, and I followed Jojo inside. She went to her desk and I went to mine, staring at my computer for a full minute before I could focus.

"Ellie?" Jojo called over the speaker.

I pressed the b.u.t.ton. "Yes?"

"Did you quit cold turkey?"

"Um ... yes?"

"Daddy is nine years sober. We're impressed."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome. No more breaks today."

"Understood." I let go of the b.u.t.ton and covered my eyes with my hand. The new Ellie's paint wasn't even dry, and I'd already managed to ding the first door that had opened. I rubbed my temples, feeling another headache. I wanted a drink; my mouth felt dry, and my mind toyed with having Jose stop at the liquor store on the way home.

"Ellie?" Jojo said from the doorway, startling me.

I pulled my hand away from my face. "Yes?"

"You're going the right direction. No one does anything perfectly the first time. It's going to be okay."

No one could have said anything better to me in that instant. Those three simple sentences set my soul at ease.

"Thank you," was all I could manage.

Jojo winked at me and returned to her desk.

I clicked a few times to navigate to the computer's settings, and then selected Change Username/Pa.s.sword.

USERNAME: ELLIE2POINT0.

Pa.s.sWORD: RIGHTDIRECTION001.

CHAPTER EIGHT.

Bluegra.s.s played through ceiling speakers placed throughout the MountainEar building. I thumbed through a stack of pictures from the recent half marathon, shaking my head.

"You don't like the music. I figured you were a rock chick," Wick said, walking into my office.

"I tune out the music," I said, laying the pictures down on my desk, fanned out. "It's the pictures. They're terrible, Wick. Who took them?"

"She's right," Jojo said, sitting on the loveseat across from me. She crossed her legs, her snow boots still wet from her walk inside. "I've seen them. They suck. You've got to quit letting Mike turn in that c.r.a.p. Just quit using him period."

Wick frowned. "There's no one else."

I nodded toward Jojo. "Her coverage of the art walk was stellar. Why not just use Jojo?"

Jojo smiled and stood. "Because Jojo has an office to run."

"Who took those?" Wick asked, pointing to the frames on my desk.

"Oh," I said, turning them slightly. "I did. Just something to remind me what I'm trying to do."

Jojo walked around my desk, picking up a frame holding a picture I'd taken at my parents' house the weekend before. I had snapped just half of the black and white portrait of Finley hanging in my parents' main hall-taken when she was just fourteen. Even back then, she was stunning.

"You took this? Who is this?" Jojo asked.

"My sister," I said, my voice quiet. I hadn't spoken to Finley since I'd woken up next to Sterling. She had left me a few voicemails, but she also understood that I might not want to chat about her vacation by the sea while I was stuck in a snow globe.

"It's actually pretty good," Jojo said. She looked at Wick, and he agreed. She picked up another frame, and then set it down. "What camera are you using?"

I shrugged. "Just a point-and-shoot my sister bought me. A Nikon, I think. It's over there." I pointed to a bag in the corner.

Jojo strutted over and rifled through my things, pulling out the camera and holding it up. "I started with this one. I can teach you a few basics over lunch. Take some pictures tonight, and show me tomorrow."

"Why?" I asked.

"Because your job description might broaden."

"I'd love to do lunch, but I'm sort of on a budget. I brought a sandwich from home."

"It's your fourth payday. You can't afford lunch yet?" she scoffed. When I didn't answer, she continued, "My treat. Don't bother arguing. I'll win."

Wick nodded. "She's right."

"Okay. I have a few things to wrap up first."

Jojo left for her desk, and Wick disappeared into his office, closing the door. I was glad he was in a good mood. Thoughts of Sterling and the many possible reactions Finley could have about our moment of temporary insanity ran on a loop in my brain, and I was working on maybe three hours of sleep.

I finished answering Wick's emails, and then pushed my roller chair away from my desk. The phone buzzed.

"Ellie, line one," Jojo squawked over the speaker.

"For me?"

"Yep."

I picked up the phone and pushed the b.u.t.ton for line one, wondering if it was a bartender complaining about something not working at Turk's, or Mike hoping I'd give him good news about his c.r.a.p pictures.

"This is Ellie," I said, waiting for several seconds until the voice on the other end began to speak.

"I'm ... I'm sorry to call you at work. Congratulations on the job, by the way."

I hunched over, as if that would help to m.u.f.fle the conversation. "You can't call me here, Sterling."

"I know. I'm sorry. But Finley isn't returning my calls."

I rolled my eyes. "She never returns your calls. Stop being paranoid, and stop calling me. Don't think I don't remember you pa.s.sing me whatever the f.u.c.k that pill was. What did you do? Roofie me?"

"I-this isn't my fault."

"Then whose fault is it?" I hissed. "I don't even remember what happened."

"Neither do I!" he snapped. "You were upset. It was supposed to just make us chill. It was something new I scored from Preston."

"Preston?" I hissed. "You gave me something you got from Preston? You could have killed us both!"

"You didn't have to take it. You can't put this all on me."

"I trusted you," I said, gripping the phone and trying to yell at him as quietly as possible. "But you're right. I accept my part in what happened. You might love her, but she's my sister. I'm trying to turn things around so I can prove to her that-if she does find out-I've changed."

"You can't tell her," Sterling said, sounding desperate.

"I won't. But you know best of all, Sterling. Finley always finds out. She knew I cut her Barbie's hair and she wasn't even home. We hosted a birthday party that weekend. It could have been anyone, but she knew it was me."

Sterling laughed once. "I remember that story." He was quiet for half a second. "You're right. We're f.u.c.ked."

I closed my eyes. My lips skimmed the speaker as I spoke. "This is not we. I don't want to talk to you anymore, Sterling. You're on your own."

"Ellie..."

I hung up the phone and sighed, pus.h.i.+ng away from the desk and gathering my things for lunch with Jojo.

She was standing by the door waiting for me when I rounded the corner. I followed her to her Outback and ducked inside, hugging myself for warmth. Jojo seemed oblivious to the cold, twisting the ignition like she wasn't wearing huge sleeping bags for gloves.

"You brought your camera, right?" she asked.

I held up my bag.

"I figured we'd try Camp's Cafe. The food isn't farm-to-table or organic or any of that s.h.i.+t, so it's tourist free, and one of the quieter places, so I can show you some tricks on your Nikon. I'm excited to see what you can do. You seem like a natural."

I laughed once.

"What?" Jojo asked, pulling out onto the road and poking at the heater setting with her mittens.

"That's what Finley said. My sister."

"Well, she was right. Maybe we can start covering things other than the farmer's market and wandering wildlife."

Jojo parked in the alley in a s.p.a.ce meant for the townhouses spanning the entire block. She didn't seem to be worried, stepping out and slamming the car door. We walked together, and I followed her past dumpsters and oil vats through a dirty screen door into the back kitchen.

"Jojo!" one of the cooks called.

Jojo waved, and then gestured for me to follow her past the pantry area, beyond the grill, and then the cash register.

"The same!" Jojo called. "Two!"

The woman behind the counter nodded and yelled back to her staff. "Two Jojos!"

We pulled off our coats, scarves, gloves, and hats, and sat them beside us in a booth by the window.

"You have your own sandwich? That's kind of cool."

"Not really. I just order the same thing every time, and you're going to love it, too. A fried biscuit with avocado, a medium fried egg on top, and their special sauce. It's Korean or something, which is weird for a country cooking kind of place, but it's f-it's good. Trust me."

I frowned. That didn't sound appetizing at all, but it was a free meal and better than turkey meat on plain wheat bread, so I wasn't going to complain.

I handed Jojo my camera, and she told me all about exposure, aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. She had me play around with the different creative modes on the camera-the P, A, S, and M-showed me how they were used, and then educated me on why they were superior to the icon modes.

By the time I scarfed down the weird but delicious Jojo biscuit, I was already adjusting the camera and taking a few shots of the cafe and outside.

Jojo clicked through them, shaking her head. I bit my nails, waiting for judgment.

"Ridiculous," she said. She handed me back my camera. "You really have an eye. Wick is going to s.h.i.+t, because he's getting ready to lose his a.s.sistant."

"No," I said, waving her away. "Really?"

Jojo grinned, putting her elbows on the table and leaning in. "Really. You'll still be helping at the office and cleaning his coffee table, I'm sure, but you're going to be great. I can tell."

"I'm not a journalist. I can't write. I paid someone to do my papers in college."

Jojo made a face. "You had to write papers for a degree in ceramics?"

I closed my eyes, embarra.s.sed. "Yes."

Jojo cackled, and I laughed with her, really laughed, for the first time in a long time.

"Thank you," I said, trying to catch my breath. "I didn't know I could laugh like that sober."

Jojo rested her chin on the heel of her hand. "I know you're supposed to be some kind of family f.u.c.k-up, but you're not that bad. I can't imagine you've changed that much in a month."

"It's amazing what detox and responsibility will do for a girl," I said, only half-teasing.