Bottom Line by G.B. Gordon

Author:G.B. Gordon
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Carina Press
Published: 2023-04-06T18:12:36+00:00

Chapter Ten

Ben

Sunday

Ben forced his eyes to stay on the road and not in the rearview mirror. By the time he did look, all he could see was the dust cloud thrown up by his tires. Well, that was that. Not what he’d hoped for, but at least now the roller coaster between desire, rejection, and suspicion was over. No more whiplash reactions. No more heartache. Right?

He swallowed hard past the lump in his throat.

Less heartache?

Shit, Nick. Not cool.

What did one do with this...emptiness? Ben had had breakups before, had been ghosted. There’d been periods of anger, frustration, shooting his bow until his arm trembled, and eating ice cream out of the tub. But none of those had prepared him for the desolation he felt now. He assumed it would get better over time. Maybe? What was he to do until then, though?

The worst of it was, that he didn’t just feel sorry for himself; he also felt like he’d let Nick down in some way. Like he hadn’t so much given Nick space to figure himself out, but rather rope to hang himself with.

Ben shook his head. No, he had told Nick how he felt. And Nick had said No! Loud and clear. Back at the hotel when he’d kicked Ben out of his room, and again now with not believing a word Ben said, not even giving him the benefit of the doubt. Ben had barely gotten a word in edgewise over Nick’s presumptuous wrath. Despite his request for help the other day, he didn’t trust Ben one bit. Ben had to accept that. There was nothing more to be said or done.

Ben didn’t drive very often, so he had to concentrate on the car he’d borrowed from one of Mrs. Chen’s friends. Which was a good thing. He made it through traffic, dropped the car off with its owner, then took the bus back to the apartment.

Only then, leaning against the wall of the elevator, did he allow himself to go over that fatal exchange with Nick. But even the second time around he wasn’t quite sure what Nick had been talking about.

What was sure, though, was that Ben needed to have a heart-to-heart with Mrs. Chen. Like, really? She asked him to check an address that Nick just happened to be “working” on? A “bank”? That just stank. So maybe Nick had a point, there. Still, they should have been figuring it out together.

The elevator doors opened and as Ben got out, Corey barreled into him, mumbling an absentminded apology before he recognized Ben. Corey threw a quick glance over his shoulder, then blurted out, “Grandma’s been kidnapped.”

“Say what now?”

“It’s true. Mrs. Li just called me on her cell. I’m on my way to the market.”

Ben grabbed both his shoulders and gave him a gentle shake. “Stop babbling. You’re not making sense.”

Corey took a deep breath, then said, “Once a week there’s a shuttle to the market for residents who want to buy fresh fruit, or trinkets, or whatever.

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