City Lights, Country Nights

25.a job for you

Liora cautiously pushed open her bedroom door, her eyes scanning the room in search of any sign of him. Not finding Cole and noticing his closed door, she quietly made her way down the stairs to the kitchen.

Upon entering the kitchen, Liora caught the attention of Danny, who paused in his eating. "Why are you in such a hurry?" he inquired, observing Liora as she glanced around before meeting his gaze.

"Huh? I'm not," Liora replied, approaching him. "I do want to go for a run, but I need to meet Jackie for the food drive. Could you drop me off just before we reach town so I can fit in a run?" she requested. Danny nodded as he set down his bowl.

"I can do that, but I think Cole will be coming here soon. I'm sure he could take you if—" Liora interrupted him.

"No!" Liora exclaimed, her hand instinctively covering her mouth as Danny raised an eyebrow at her. "I mean, no, Danny. I... I just really want to spend some time with you," she hastily added, though Danny appeared unconvinced.

"What did he do this time?" Danny inquired, his eyes meeting Liora's. Liora shook her head.

"Nothing, he didn't do anything," Liora mumbled, looking down before meeting his gaze with pleading eyes.

"Ugh, okay, fine," Danny relented, eliciting a smile from Liora as they swiftly made their way to the car. The drive was mostly silent until they reached their destination.

"Okay, here you go," Danny said. Liora thanked him with a smile before getting out and running down the road until she reached the shop.

"Rory, did you run here?" Jackie asked as Liora walked in. Liora nodded slightly. "In the cold?"

"Yep," Liora confirmed, walking to the counter.

"Tea?" Haley offered, handing her a cup. Liora smiled and accepted it as she walked over to Jackie and examined the bags.

"You still have a lot," Liora remarked, sipping her tea as Jackie nodded.

"Yep, people aren't coming to get them," Jackie said. "They didn't want to come out in the cold," she added. Liora hummed, as she always liked the cold and didn't think it was too bad.

"Oh, Rory," Haley called, prompting Liora to walk back over to her at the counter. "Will talked to me about a job for you, and I think we can make it work," she said.

"Oh, that's great, thank you," Liora responded with a smile. "Is there a specific time you want me to start?" she inquired as Will walked over.

"Probably after the holidays," Will said. Liora let out a breath and looked down.

"You know, I can work over the holidays," Liora said, looking back at them. "I really don't mind. In fact, I would love to work over the holidays so  I can stay and work today and tomorrow," she added, expressing her reluctance to spend the holidays this year.

"If you're doing something for the holidays, I will work," Liora said, feeling that this was literally her last chance to get out of holiday obligations. If she had work, she had work, right? There was nothing anyone could do about it.

"I'll tell you the same thing I told Jackie," Will said, looking at her. "My mom would kill me if I let you work over the holidays." Liora laid her head down on the counter.

"God, please, Will, please," Liora pleaded, looking back up at him. Will shook his head.

"Rory, as much as I want to let you, I can't," he said. Liora closed her eyes. "And you have a lot to do over the holidays, like your dances and you can't tell me the school didn't give you something to do over the break."

"No, I can handle it, I promise," Liora insisted. "And it's not like I would be gone all day, just until after the holiday fun? you know?" she added.

"After the holidays," Will reiterated. Liora huffed as she looked up at the ceiling.

"You're not helping me at all here!" Liora exclaimed with a huff. "Okay, let me start today, and then we can make a schedule that works for everyone," she proposed. Will and Haley looked at each other.

"Okay, fine, but I'm telling you," Will said, looking back at her, "you will probably not work over the holidays." Liora got up and walked over to Haley, who started to show her a few things.

"Do you know how to work this?" Haley asked, pointing to the espresso maker. Liora nodded as she began making a coffee. When the door opened, she looked up to see Elijah.

"Hey," he greeted, walking up to her and looking her up and down. "I didn't know you worked here," he remarked.

"It's new," Liora replied. "So, I think we could do the Civil Rights Movement. I did a project on it at my old school, so I have everything we need," she said. Elijah nodded.

"So now we can just hang then?" he said. Liora raised her eyebrows.

"I mean, you're welcome to hang around the shop," Liora said with a smile. "As for us hanging out, I don't know if today is a good day," she said. Elijah just smiled.

"So, tell me a day that is," he said. Liora let out a breathless laugh as she looked down. "How about this: I'll give you my number, and you can text me about the project, and we can also talk, maybe... get to know each other."

"Ummm, sure, yeah," Liora said as he gave her his number and walked out. Liora turned to Will, Haley, Jackie, and Erin, who was staying in the back; they all looked at her. "What?" she asked.

"I mean, wow," Haley said, nodding her head. "He's cute." Liora's eyes widened as she looked at all of them.

"No, no, no," Liora said, shaking her head. "That was nothing. You've got the wrong idea. We have a project together."

"Yeah, he's not into the project," Jackie said. Liora just kept shaking her head.

"No, it's too complicated for anything," Liora replied. Don't get her wrong, Elijah was cute, but he wasn't who was on her mind.

"What's complicated?" Jackie asked. Liora looked away, trying to busy herself.

"Well, um, me and..." Liora started, but she couldn't bring herself to say it. Just a few words—me and Cole kissed, that was it, but she couldn't get it to come out.

"You and what?" Jackie asked.

"Do your food drive" Liora said, waving her hand at her. She couldn't tell her. There was no way. Liora didn't have the answers they would ask if she told. She didn't know where Cole stood with it, much less herself.

Liora knew they needed to talk, but she didn't want to. There were so many ways this could go. He could feel the same and want to be with her, and that just scared the hell out of her.

Or he could not feel the same, and the kiss was nothing to him. That would most likely hurt her and make her want to leave, because who wants to live with someone who rejects you?

Either way, Liora didn't think it would end well, but she chose to kiss him, and now she would have to figure it out.