I DON'T KNOW WHY YOU SAY GOODBYE

[caleb hayes]

He needed a shirt for a stupid meeting. Honestly, he didn’t understand why a deputy in chief needed to go to a silly meeting about something he could care less about. But his superior just had to demand that he go and make an appearance, ruining his plans. As Caleb stepped out of his truck, his eyes took in the hundreds of cars around him. And he hated the mall. Detested the mall. Honestly, why women had the need to spend money they didn’t have on clothes and shoes they didn’t need was beyond him. Eventually the clothing will go out of style and the women will spend the money that their husbands earned on something stupid. And it would be a repetitive system until someone finally admitted that this was stupid. Caleb happened to be that guy and as he entered the mall, he began to dread entering a store. Women were already looking at him with an approving eye and he pushed his way past the slow walkers, wondering when this nightmare would end. This had to be a form of killing someone, it just had to be. There was nothing worse than being stuck here. Caleb was sure of it.

Buying himself a coffee, he ventured into some name brand store and looked around, taking in the multiple colors. Seriously, the shirt was the same style only a different color? It sent his temper flaring as he glanced at the price. And the shirt cost more than his cell phone bill. What were the odds? This was the reason why he had some money saved up in his savings account; little things like meetings would be the death of him. And he couldn’t get out of it. That’s what pissed him off the most. Senior members could get out of anything, yet here he was, begging for some type of illness to overtake his immune system and make sure that he wouldn’t have to go to the meeting. It was about getting new Tasers, something he didn’t know why he had to be there. The ones the officers currently had were good enough and could inflict a lot of pain if used correctly. But Caleb had been slightly hung over when the chief had told him about the meeting and he had nodded along, not realizing he was sealing his fate. Why did he have to have a good job?

Taking the last sip of the coffee, he got rid of it as he entered the next store and he walked to the sales rack at the back. Yes, he was cheap. Finding a shirt he thought would be alright on his muscular frame, he glanced around for a worker. Of course no one was around, and the only way he could get into the damn dressing room was by finding someone to unlock the door. This was why he hated going shopping. There were too many complicated rules about where to change and how to change and what to spend and blah blah blah. Khol’s was usually his store, but since ‘the meeting was with higher individuals’ Caleb was forced to get a nice shirt that wouldn’t tear or stain within the first couple of hours. And sure, he could use some more flannel, but this wasn’t about what he wanted. It was about what he needed, something he knew, girl’s didn’t understand. The women checking out a couple of feet away had spent two grand on a couple of dresses and a pair of shoes. He didn’t even have to grand to spend money on! Sighing, Caleb ruffled his hair, wanting to strangle someone already.

[hblood]

She needed to get away from her house and Rafe – she had to go somewhere that wouldn’t provoke the man to follow and the only place she could think of was the mall. She was a woman and she was high-class and spoiled, to say she didn’t like shopping would be an understatement. So when she hit her hand against the alarm clock singing “I’m on to the next one.” Juniper was stripping off sheets in a hurry to start her day. She was more alert and well-rested, because now she had a different routine to do each day from the routine she had before. Instead of getting the paper herself, rafe got it for her. He would even start her keurig for her if he knew when she awaking from her slumber. She loved his presence, but she felt smothered at the same time. She didn’t need protecting for sleeping with connor, but she wouldn’t fight it. Rafe made it clear to her that he needed this job and she wouldn’t destroy it for him. If he needed the money, she would give it to him, but she got the impression from the Romanian ex-military pilot earning was better.

So she ate her toast with jam, read the paper, and had her coffee. Rafe volunteered to walk and play with Lemon, so she told him where she was going and left. It felt like she had to check in with him, but when she saw his cruddy phone she felt like she needed to up the ante on hot efficient it was. It was like a prehistoric dinosaur phone compared to her iTouch, so she would make it her mission to get him a new phone whiles at the mall. Juniper loved the mall because she loved getting new things, as materialistic as it sounded. She usually tried to keep it modest, only buying a few items of each kind. If she said she was getting jeans, she wouldn’t go over five pairs, and if she said she was getting underwear she would try to keep it low, but she was borderline obsessive with having new pairs and getting rid of old ones. She had her quirks about shopping, but she was a good girl. She wouldn’t spend over a thousand in the store, she promised herself.

But after aeropostale, abercrombie and fitch, American eagle, and more and more stores, she went over her limit, but she convinced herself that she deserved it. She was under a lot of stress from work and family matters and rafe listened, but it was like talking to her mom some days. He nodded and sometimes, she would just fill in the “uh-huh honey” her mother would do whenever juniper had to release steam. Shopping wasn’t how she handled stress, because she knew it could be addictive but she didn’t have the willpower this time to not shop – she did it anyways and after shopping, she would get her nails done and then go get her hair and eyebrows done. Sometimes a girl needed a day out filled with pampering and today was juniper’s day of pampering.

Entering a shop, she swore she saw the shoulders of the first man she slept with in sapphire bay. She was immediately nervous because they hadn’t been in contact, but to hell with it. She was juniper charland and she had rocked his world with food, her body, and sent him home in time to watch his games. There would be nothing awkward about seeing him again. so she marched up to inspect the one item he had in his hand. Ew, gross, that color would not look good against his skin tone at all and he needed help, apparently. “You Know, Officer Hayes, that shirt would never look good on you in twenty years.” She smiled as he turned around to face her, she bit a lip playfully before reaching out to hand him a shirt that would. “Now this, you can do this.” She laughed a little at him before adjusting her weight and her packages. “How are you?”

Words// 685
wearing // this

[caleb hayes]

A chuckle escaped his lips as he turned, his eyes shining brightly at the pretty girl. She had appeared out of nowhere, like an angle, and decided that he needed help. He did. Perhaps Caleb was bitter with the reason he was at the mall with tween girls who giggled every other corner, but she made it alright. His eyes took in the shirt that was in his hands and he shrugged. ”I’m not here to impress others. I’m here to just buy a shirt and look semi nice to a forced meeting with the high authority in the area” Caleb said professionally, except he added an eye roll towards the end. ”But I suppose a beautiful woman like yourself could assist me” his eyes raked in Juniper’s look and inwardly smiled. He hadn’t seen her in a while, something he was slightly upset about, but was glad they had run into each other. She was nice and spunky, and he liked those kinds of girls. Girls like that became his friend fast.

Laughing, he took in the new shirt into his arms and smiled. Yes, this color would probably suit his newly tan skin tone better than the yellow he had just put back. Maybe this was why people didn’t want to hang out with him; he had no sense of fashion and it seemed as though everyone in Sapphire Bay had fashion. It was easy, though, to consider the idea that he should just walk around in either his underwear or uniform. Both would attract women and both made his self-confidence booth, something that needed to be every once in a while. Just because he was a guy didn’t mean he didn’t have insecurities with his image. Most often than not, he would change his clothes before a date, change his hair multiple times, and everything else until he was satisfied. And even then, he wasn’t completely happy.

”Ah, this color is much better” he mumbled, pressing it against his chest before turning to Juniper. ”I’ve been better, you?” he asked curiously. What had she been up to? It wasn’t like they had been dating or anything, he liked her. She was a female version of him, and perhaps that was why he adored her. ”How about you? Busy with the vineyard or expanding your multiple businesses?” he teased, leaning against the wall. The shirt draped over his arm, the color shining brightly in the fluorescent lights, was dying to be tried on. Honestly, Caleb couldn’t buy a shirt that he didn’t love, whether for one day or for the rest of his life. But he didn’t want to rely on only his opinion; he wanted Juniper’s too. She would tell him the truth, but she couldn’t exactly go around and be like ‘hey, can you check me out in this shirt’ without seeming like a coincidence bastard. And he hated coming across like that. ”Hey, if I asked you to check me out in this shirt after I tried it on, would you be honest?” he asked, hoping that it didn’t sound as awkward as it seemed in his mind.

[hblood]

When shopping, Juniper rarely paid attention to the other mall-goers, in fact at some points she only saw herself and all the pretty clothes. As much as she stuck to her budget, only a few things in each category, she always went over because it was one budget she could go over and not worry about it. Besides, the jeans she just put on made her as look so damn good that she just had to buy them and she was guilty for shoes. If her future husband ever complained about her amount of shoes, she would just sheepishly agree with whatever he said. She had more than enough, but shoes kept coming and coming and she couldn’t stop herself. She watched Caleb give her the one over as they talked. It was fine; he was allowed to look at her in such a way. They did have sex that one time at her house and she wondered if they would ever do it again. He was the man that had opened her eyes to her new, scandalous ways. She was sleeping with Connor and she had slept with him and if given the chance, she would do it again. She had no shame in thinking in such a way. It had been a fun evening, they ate food, they had sex, he left to watch the game and she had a relaxing bubble bath. Perfect, why not do it again?

When he asked how she was, she stuffed her hands into her jeans pocket and smiled, biting her lip even. Hey, if you wanted to be viewed as attractive and someday an object of someone’s affections, you had to pull out all the stops. “Yeah, been a little busy – it’s not particularly wedding season yet, but there are women out there already calling me to book and do other jazz. Then there’s the consulting firm and its nonstop work from when I start to finish. There’s a new hired hand for the vineyard,” she supposed that’s what she could call her bodyguard as he did do a lot of her vineyard work for her. “He does a very good job at helping me keep up with it.” Juniper didn’t want to call Rafe her bodyguard because she didn’t want Caleb, a police officer, to think she did activities that warranted a need for a bodyguard. Her father was a paranoid old man that’s all and she was sleeping with, what she was told anyways, a guy who wasn’t exactly a righteous and holy man. She didn’t believe Caleb was either, but he still worked for the law.

When he asked if she would check him out in the shirt he was about to buy, she giggled. “Of course, Caleb, that’s what friends do right? I check you out in the shirt and you tell me if my jeans make my ass look big.” She nodded him on in and waited for him to change into it. She allowed herself to look at some shirts for Rafe as he didn’t have much of anything. These shirts were a good deal and Rafe was pale and admittedly, had beautiful plump lips and brown hair that seemed to go with anything. She draped them over her arm as Caleb came back out, modeling the shirt. “Yeah, yeah definitely buy that one – it makes you look very official and authoritative. That’s what you’re going for, right?” She winked and walked over, adjusting the shirt a little. “But try not to make it so crooked – it makes you look a little unkempt and foolish.”


Words// 600
wearing // this

[caleb hayes]

It wasn’t the mall he hated, per say, he hated everyone in it. For some reason, everyone seemed to be in a rush and busy to finish whatever they had come to do. It bothered him. Sure, Caleb was busy and such, but a leisurely walk wouldn’t harm anyone. The mall had so many stores and so many little hiding spots to commit whatever deed you fancied at the time, that when Caleb went to the mall with someone, he enjoyed himself. Maybe that was the reason he was crabby; he had come by himself. Company made everything better, he knew, and he realized that the mall was no exception. Caleb didn’t have a ton of clothes in his house, he knew that, but he had a lot of hats. Hats were his things. He had different sports hats, colored hats, and everything in between. It was his dirty little secret and he had a ton on a rack in his closet. Luckily for him, he didn’t have a lot of people sleeping over to notice his hat fetish. Like Juniper; he was certain that if they ever had sex again, and it was at his house, he would probably die if she started snooping through his things. It would embarrass him to see the amount of crap he had that he didn’t know. Cleaning and organizing wasn’t exactly his strongest suit. That would be evident the minute someone stepped in his house and had to avoid the pizza box and the multiple cups of coffee littered around his kitchen.

Her smile was so cute, but he didn’t feel anything more than an attraction. She was pretty and clever and witty but not the girl for him. Honestly, he hadn’t thought about Juniper in more than a friend way. They had eaten some delicious food, had sex, and he had still been able to watch his basketball team win. “I don’t think I could handle hormonal women wanting to create their perfect wedding and to make the day a day to never forget” he teased, being slightly honest. Women who wanted to get married bothered him; Caleb knew that men would ask when they deemed it was time. And women just continued to push men to their brick. “New help? I’m sure he’s doing a good job and he better be treating you right,” he said, being honest. He didn’t want to see Juniper in a bad relationship or having difficulties with men. She didn’t deserve it.

Throwing the shirt on, he glanced at himself in the mirror. He looked at his reflection and knew that the color was delightfully better than the last one. But he exited the dressing room and did a somewhat girly spin to goof around. As he came out, his eyes took in the shirts and slightly hoped that he didn’t need to try on all of those damn shirts. While he wanted to look nice, he didn’t want to be trying on hundreds of shirts. That would be taking everything too far. A chuckle escaped his lips as he ruffled his hair. “Yeah, I have to make a good impression on the mayor and some other high figures from other towns. Not that I care” and he really didn’t. Her slim hands tickled his shirt and he allowed her to fix it. “I don’t wanna look like that. I need to be high and mighty” he said before making a goofy face.

[/blockquote]

[hblood]

Whenever Juniper was away from Rafe, her mind was bogged with his presence. His chiseled chest, the soft underside of his chin when she nuzzled up to him in bed, the way he told her sweet nothings that meant everything. How secure she felt in his arms, how cozy the bed was with him, the way he smiled, his face when he was focusing. She didn’t see him as a body guard or a hired hand she saw him as her Rafe, but she didn’t tell anyone about him. Juniper wasn’t embarrassed of him, she was embarrassed over herself and her feelings and now she didn’t know what to do. She wanted to tell Caleb they should just be friends, but she didn’t know how to say it. Maybe she would sleep with him one last time and it calls it the end. She didn’t want to hurt Caleb; she wanted to be his friend, a confidant.

She saw his expression as he came out and saw her hands full of shirts. She didn’t want him to assume they were for him to try on, but she didn’t know how to tell him about Rafe. She just called him a hired hand, but yet she bought him a brand new cellphone under her cellphone plan, now she wanted to buy him shirts, shoes, underwear, socks and pants because he had so little. It was in the kiss, she fell in love, instantly – like she always did. She would say it over and over again, send it with her to the grave – she was a lonely soul and she needed someone to take care of her. Rafe had been paid by her father to do just that and maybe she was taking advantage of him, but she didn’t know. She needed someone to talk about it with.

“Right, high and mighty. Well go change back to your other shirt.” In the meantime, Juniper set to work – a quick shopper she easily picked up pants for Rafe, socks of good material, another shirt and a pair of casual shoes. By the time she and Caleb had finished checking out, Juniper’s arms were full and she was exhausted. She still needed to buy Rafe gloves for working with the grapes and some rubber boots. She walked alongside out of the store with Caleb. She had to set her bags down and rearrange them. “Now Officer, a gentleman would help me, but I reassure you I got this. I want it to be on the record I don’t shop like this every day or week. Try once or month or so. I was wondering if you had enough time to sit down and talk. A cup of coffee? Not here, the mall’s getting hectic. Somewhere in town, that way you can hop-skip over to your meeting after?” Let’s face it, she needed someone to open up too. Their fling was over probably, she wanted to deepen their friendship and keep in touch with Caleb.


Words// 500
wearing // this