When the Lights Go Out (6 page)

Chapter Thirteen

April knew she was making the right decision as she walked away. She didn’t need a man right now. She was gaining her independence. She was moving out on her own, and she was going to be a strong single woman working her way up the corporate ladder.

It was really difficult to do that dragging a man by the ankle and banging his head on each rung as she pulled him up with her.

Sure she could have just started a relationship, but who really ever had anything meaningful develop from a one-night stand? Or would it be a one-afternoon stand? Either way, it wouldn’t work out.

By the time she made it out to the moving van, her mother was pulling on the canvas handle to lower the rolling door. The girl in the red shirt looked less terrified as she watched April approach.

Arching a brow, the employee had the gall to ask, “Did you give him your number?”

“It’s none of your business.”

“No, it’s not. But I think you ran out of there awfully fast. So here.”

April found a business card in her hand. It was for the store, and she saw the “James” in big bold letters, but luckily her thumb covered up his first name. “I don’t need this.”

“Take it anyway. Mr. James doesn’t always smile. You made him smile. You knocked him off the stick that was up his ass.” She unwrapped another piece of gum and shoved it in her mouth. “He wants us all to be more professional, but I think professionalism is overrated.”

April grinned at the girl. “He wasn’t at all professional when the lights went out. Keep trying to make him smile.”

The girl in red laughed out loud. “Good to know.”

“I’m going.” April held out the card again. “And I don’t need this.”

“Maybe he’s the one who needs you to have it.” And she turned and jogged back toward the open roll cage.

April dropped the card on the ground before she went back to take the driver’s seat. Her mother insisted on riding to the house with her to ensure she wasn’t giving off too much negative energy. April was too tired to argue. As she hoisted herself into the cab, her mother turned on an oldies station that played rock and roll.

When April buckled her seat belt, her mother unbuckled hers. April rolled her eyes as her mother jumped out. She could have asked what her mom was doing, but it was most likely just her running to the back of the van to put some kind of filter over the exhaust or something equally earth saving. Frankly, April didn’t want a lecture on the amount of toxic gas this van gave off, so when they were both buckled in, April cranked her mother’s station and both of them sang a Three Dog Night song about bullfrogs all the way to her house.

Chapter Fourteen

Taylor flipped the main power switch and listened to the loud hum and popping noise as the lights slowly began to warm up. It took about fifteen minutes for them to turn all the way on, and it took nearly as long for their ancient POS system to upload the necessary reports to get up and running.

He was under the large shelf desk checking the charge level of the battery backup when the office door slammed open.

“I gave her your business card. You can thank me later.”

Taylor scrambled to get up at the sound of Rebecca’s voice. In doing so, he totally misjudged the depth of the desk and cracked his head on it.

This time he did knock himself out.

Coming to in a room full of white is mildly terrifying. Having the first thing you focus on be a bouquet of whoopee cushions is enough to make a man question his sanity.

That could be it. He’d lost his mind. This whole day was some drug-induced hallucination. If he’d had a wet dream in the hospital bed, it was probably better for his career than screwing a customer in the men’s room.

“Hey, you’re awake. Good. Now you can stop sucking up all the workman’s comp budget.”

Taylor groaned. “Am I in hell? I thought the white light was a good thing. What are you doing here, Rick.”

Rick Oakwood was the local District Manager. Bitching about inventory levels and holes in the store was how he usually said hello. If he had to explain expenses while in the hospital it really would be proof his boss was a robot.

“Relax. I came to visit your sorry ass. I would have brought you flowers, but you already have some. No need to stink the place out with petals for the cute nurses to clean up.”

Taylor watched as his boss stood up and put on a suit jacket.

“Not going to ask how I’m doing?”

Rick gave a loud burst of laughter. “Man…you have a catheter in. I know you’re not doing great. But you’re actually awake now, so I can sleep a little better tonight.”

“How long was I unconscious?” Taylor looked out the window, like it would magically tell him the date.

“Just a couple hours. They scanned your cat and you had some minor swelling, but nothing they say is permanent.”

“How long do I have to stay?”

“That’s for you and the doctors to decide. Get better. Your assistants are pulling open to closes until you get back.” Using the back of his hand Rick gently smacked Taylor’s bicep. “You know I feel fucking lousy about encouraging the pranks that landed you in the hospital.”

“Believe it or not, Rick, this was the one year I didn’t mind.”

Luckily, the questions in Rick’s eyes were interrupted by a tall man in a white lab coat. Rick excused himself when a nurse started checking on the various beeping boxes he had been hooked up to.

“We heard you were awake Mr. James. Glad to see you back with us. I’m Dr. Rhodes. Let’s talk about what happened, and when you can go home.” 

After a long conversation about how to rest after a head injury Taylor noticed the flowers at his bed table. Probably from his parents. They were a few states over. He should call them since they were listed as his emergency contact.

He completely tuned out the doctor when he saw who the flowers were from.

The card had a stylized tree on it and under the pre-printed “Get Well Soon” was a simple note.

Her name is April Prime. She’s worth it. Go for it.

April Prime. April.
Taylor mumbled his agreement and signed whatever papers were put in front of him. When the nurse came back to check his pulse, he had to ask. “Who dropped these off? Which flower shop?”

“No flower shop,” The nurse said as she scribbled something on the chart at the end of his bed. “It was an older lady with dread locks. We figured she was a relative. Wasn’t she?”

Taylor was concentrating harder than the doctor told him he should, but he remembered the woman that had rushed in and hugged his bathroom enchantress.

“Did she leave anything else?” he asked.

“Nope. Just the flowers. Although she did say something like ‘Just what April needs.’ Does that mean anything to you?”

He held onto the card and stared at the words. “Maybe.”

And maybe his day was looking up again.

“Well, while you make up your mind. It’s time to remove the cath.”

And then again…maybe not. Taylor dropped the card with his mystery woman’s name on it. He had some serious reality to deal with before he could think about his dream girl.

Chapter Fifteen

The wheels of the handcart really did make it easier to unload the truck. So, she had to admit, did her parents. Her father was in better shape than most men half his age. He ate well and exercised every day. Lifting up one of her many boxes of books he whizzed past her with ease while she wheeled up the sloped sidewalk at half speed.

By the fifth time she rocked the cart back and forth to make it over the threshold, April was sweating. She wiped her brow and caught a faint smell of cologne on her shirt.

She smelled like Mr. James. April still didn't know his first name. It was better she didn't. She wasn't ready for that kind of reality yet.

"Anything else you need brought in, Sweetie?" Her father stacked the boxes high. There was a good chance April would sustain a head injury when she unpacked.

"Nope. You got the last of it. I really do appreciate it." April tipped the handcart forward with what she thought was a gentle nudge.

The box she was lugging didn't think so and took a headfirst dive toward her floor. Luckily the box was tall and slammed up against the sofa instead of landing flat. She would need to pack with smaller boxes next time. It had sounded efficient to her right up until she had to lug all of them out.

"Are you sure you don't want to stay at home one more night?"

April thought seriously about her mother's offer. As a streak of luck, the electric company had a last minute cancellation and a technician had her power up and running when she’d made it back from the office supply store. The only thing she had to make do without was cable and Wi-Fi, because of course the DVR was defective.

"No," April said with a smile. "Assuming your offer to drop off the truck in the after-hours lot is still good?"

Her father looped his arm around her mom. He grinned as he tugged on one of her dreads. "We've never been to
that
lot before, but I am sure your mother and I could find our way around." He dropped the keys to their bio-diesel truck in his wife’s hand.

April shook her head. She knew what the look passed between them meant. Her parents were going to get busy in a parking lot.

"If you two get caught, I expect to be paid back for bail."

"We've always paid you back before, darling." Her mother winked as her father smacked her mom on the butt before they left.

April spun in a circle to take it all in. The floors under her feet were original wood. Some scuffs and worn areas would need a bit of refinishing, but it was something she could do on the weekends. Especially since the whole house was under one thousand square feet. Looking out the window she could catch a glimpse of the neglected yard she was going to turn into a garden. There was a lot of work to do everywhere in the house, but under each arched doorway was something all hers. She scraped a nail along the peeling wallpaper and wondered what was underneath. She had plans running through her head, and she couldn’t wait to uncover every secret this little place held.

She had a few secrets of her own too. When she plugged in her phone, notifications from her work email exploded across the screen. Only taking three days off to move definitely wasn't long enough for her, but it was far too long for her office to not implode without her. At least she had job security.

There was a large presentation she was supposed to lead next week. It wasn't like they couldn't do it without her, but she knew if the new rollout was going to run smoothly, she needed her hands on every aspect. Training was a major issue that couldn't wait.

April walked to her bedroom and eyed the bare mattress. She was exhausted, but an Oprah rerun she had watched about the contents of dust mites would not let her sleep on a bare bed. She really wanted to vacuum the springs before she put the sheets on them, and she wanted to wash the sheets before she put them on the bed so they wouldn’t have that icky cardboard smell on them.

Her parents had driven her car over here for her. She could always run back to their house for the night like they offered. April thought about it, but ultimately decided against it. She was on her own, and even exhaustion wasn’t going to send her running away from her beautiful new space.

There were boxes all over her house, but thanks to her labeling system she had everything in the room it needed to be in. As she folded up the handcart, a smile snuck across her face. April kicked up the footplate and ran her fingertips down the cool tube of steel on the side. She giggled remembering the salesgirl's face. She’d sure added some excitement to their day at work. Getting the boss man horizontal on the bathroom floor hadn’t been much of a hardship for April either.

It wasn't a long walk to get to the bathroom in this house. April stood in the doorway. She'd redo this room first. White subway tiles were definitely going in here. April giggled as she wondered how much a urinal cost. The ones in the men’s room sure had made cute planters.

Just because she didn’t need a man in real life, didn’t mean remembering a spectacular time with one was beneath her. A girl needed a little fantasy every now and then.

When she finally did get to go to sleep after vacuuming and running her first load of laundry, April’s dreams were full of hard floors and red light. What more could a girl ask for than a fantastic way to remember the day she took control of her life.

Chapter Sixteen

Taylor’s concussion was minor, and without any broken bones or cracks in his skull, he was sent home the same night. He was told to refrain from working for the next week and to stay away from anything requiring concentration as his head healed. Turned out most everything he did in his day revolved around a screen or a page. He’d been left with only his thoughts for days, and the only thing he could think about was that bunch of flowers and the card attached.

April Prime’s name was on his mind, and the feel of her body was imprinted on his fingertips. Despite the doctor’s orders, he went by the store just days later to make sure the projects he’d assigned were all being done properly. When he went to the bathroom, he was hard in an instant. His body remembered everything. The head injury wasn’t a pleasant result, but suddenly he wasn’t opposed to taking the day off anymore.

Stopping in his office he barely resisted the urge to check his emails, and couldn’t miss the extra greenery. All the plants from the urinals were on the bookcases and shelves.

Adam leaned into the office. “Did you get the teddy bear?”

The employees had sent the bear, pants and all, to his house as a get-well gift.

“Yes. Thanks so much.” Taylor grabbed a couple of files with the new resets to review tomorrow. Pictograms weren’t as much of a no-no as reports were. He was going to make some notes to get back in the swing of things.

Adam slapped the doorframe and leaned back out.

Taylor realized something. “Hey, who won? I didn’t get to find out this year.”

Adam backed up until he could see his boss. “Why do you care? You hate April Fools’ Day.”

Taylor touched the leaves of one of the ferns. “Not as much as I used to.”

“Nobody won. With all the chaos we didn’t get to watch all of the pranks play out. We’d talked about a do-over…but…” He gestured to Taylor and then made his hands make an exploding motion on either side of his head.

“I’ll tell you what. If you guys get this reset done ahead of time, we can re-do the prank war.”

Adam eyed him.

“But I get to join in.”

“You
did
hit your head hard.”

Taylor put the file of pictograms in his messenger bag, and tucked one of the plants under his arm. He had an idea. “If you aren’t up for a prank war, I’ll understand.”

Adam grabbed his boss’s arm and tugged.

“Kicking me out?”

“Hell no. You are telling the other managers you agreed to this before whatever broke in your brain fixes itself. I want witnesses.”

It had been threatening to rain all day, but the clouds parted a bit just as Taylor turned onto the street into the Belleview neighborhood. This was a dumb idea. It bordered on stalking. Every fiber in Taylor’s body readied itself for fight or flight, but there was still a little nagging in his heart that told him to do it anyway.

Taylor looked at the address he had from the bit of research he’d done. Luckily there had only been one home sold in Belleview in the last month, and sure enough a wood sign with flowers and leaves carved into it told him someone named Prime lived at the end of this driveway.

He grabbed the fern from the passenger seat. It was a housewarming present to someone who was moving out on their own. It was a way to see her again, and frankly it was something to say, “Hey, remember me? I’m the guy you screwed in the bathroom. I’d like to do it again, but I have to get your number first.”

His hand was up at the door ready to press the doorbell when he realized how crazy he sounded. He
was
a stalker.

He stood there and stared at the door and tried to think of some way to talk to this woman he couldn’t get out of his head.