Trigger Warning! Mentions of domestic violence
“I still can’t believe you’re here Rosie” Javi say to me, excitement laced in his voice.
“What me to be honest with you Jav? So am I” I laugh.
“Listen I know it isn’t easy being back here, but I’ve got your back and so does Kate. We are all here for you” he smiles
“Thanks Jav” I smile “I really appreciate it, but enough about me. Tell me more about this team you put together? Also, how’d you manage to get Kate to comeback?”
“To answer your question about Kate, she’s only giving us a week. She won’t comeback permanently, not yet at least. But the team I have is great. We’ve got phd’s from NASA, FEMA and as Kate put it ‘the rest of the alphabet’. The only one’s without a phd is me and my partner Scott. He doesn’t have a phd, but he’s arguably smarter than everybody on the team. He’s got his degree in engineering from MIT.”
“The army. We met at basic-“
“Wait I thought you said he graduated from MIT? Why the hell would he join the army after getting his degree?”
“The army paid for his college. In exchange he spent a few years in the army to pay back his debt.”
“Ahhh okay! Continue” I smile
“He was on of the people who helped create the original program that the PAR’s use. Like I said dude is crazy smart. As we were both getting ready to be discharged, I brought up to him how that kind of technology could be beneficial in tracking storms, even helping prevent them. Or at least giving people more time to prepare. We decided there and then we would go into business together.”
“That’s awesome Javi! You two must be really close”
“We are” he smiles “I should warn you”
“Warn me about what? The tornadoes?” I laugh
“No” he chuckles. “Scott, he… well he can be a bit abrasive.”
“He can be an ass, I’m not gonna sugar coat it to you. He can be a real prick, but I promise you he’s got a heart of gold. He’s just been through hell and this is how he protects himself”
“It isn’t really my business to say, just keep it in mind if he’s a prick, it’s self preservation”
I just nod, still a bit confused as we pull into the motel parking lot. Javi parks the car and we get out. Immediately I see the rest of the StormPar trucks, and all the men standing around them. As we approach they all turn to us, most staring me down. “Alright guys, you all have met Kate. Well this is Rosie! Kate might only be giving us a week, but Rosie plans to stick around for a while. So play nice and treat her just like you would treat each other, oh and careful she can be feisty”
“Haha real funny Javi” I roll my eyes “it is really nice to meet all of you and I’m excited to work with you all”
Everyone greets me with hesitant smiles on their faces. I can’t tell if it’s a) because they don’t know what I know, b) if it’s because I’m a woman, or c) all of the above. Regardless they will just have to watch and learn. I turn to Javi “hey”
“Where’s Kate? And which one of these guys is Scott?” I whisper
“Kate is in her room, yesterday was a bit rough. As for Scott I’m not actually sure where he is”
Javi and I look around, while Javi knows who he is looking for, I’m just looking around for someone in uniform. As if on cue, a very tall man walks out of the diner frown on his face and he’s followed out by an older man who seems upset over something. The two go their separate ways and the younger one of the men walks over to us
“Do I wanna ask?” Javi asks him
“Ask me again later” he says shortly
“Okay then. By the way, Scott this is Rosie. Rosie this is Scott. I hope you two get comfortable with one another because you two are gonna be riding with each other for the foreseeable future” Javi smiles.
“Hi” he says shortly, not once looking me in the eye.
“I’m looking forward to working with you Scott”
He just looks at me and doesn’t say anything
“You know, any kind of responses would be appreciated and less rude” I say
“I can obviously see you aren’t in a good mood, but that doesn’t mean you have to be an ass”
He just stares at me, still not saying anything before he turns around and walks over to one of the trucks.
I just roll my eyes “whatever” I mumble. “Javi where am I staying. I’ll leave Kate be for now, but I’m exhausted and just need to rest a bit”
Javi hesitates for a moment before handing me my key. “Here is your key. You are in room 116. There’s.. umm there’s something else you should know..”
“So when I went to book all the rooms, they didn’t have enough for everyone to have their own room so you are gonna have to share.”
“Okay I’m not seeing the problem” I say thinking I’m sharing with Kate or Javi.
“You are sharing with Scott..” he says
I just stare at him… “really?”
“I’m sorry. I offered to switch but Scott is a neat freak and I’m very much not, and I know we’re gonna be here a while and would prefer to not piss him off. You’ll be fine, you just have to sleep there.”
I sigh “you are really lucky I love you Javi”
He smiles and I walk away.
I’m laying in bed scrolling on my phone when there is a knock at the door. I get up to answer it thinking it’s Javi or Kate, but to my complete shock it’s Scott.
“Do you not have your key or something?”
“Umm I do… I didn’t want to just walk in and scare you or something” he says kinda awkwardly.
“Oh.. I appreciate it but I knew you were coming eventually I would have been fine Scott?” I smile
I step to the side letting him in. He shows a small smile and comes in. I sit down on the bed and he just stands there awkwardly.
He hesitates for a moment.
“I’m sorry about earlier..”
“I’m sorry about earlier. You’re right I wasn’t in a good mood and it wasn’t fair for me to take that out on you. It was uncalled for”
I sigh slightly before smiling “it’s okay Scott. Every one is allowed to have a bad day”
“No buts, it’s okay. But if you don’t mind me asking, why were you so upset?”
He hesitates once more before answering “the man I was with, he’s my uncle. He’s one of our investors, and honestly I can’t stand it.”
Scott hesitates for a moment “Rosie? How much do you actually know about what we do?”
“Honestly only what Javi has told me. Why do you ask?”
“Javi and I started this company with the intent of helping people. We wanted to make a way to track these storms and get a better picture of them to see how they actually start. We were hoping that even if we couldn’t find a way to stop these storms, or we could at least find a way to give people more of a warning to prepare for them you know?”
“Yeah that makes complete sense”
“However we needed the money to build the prototype and eventually the rest of the PAR radars. We tried everything, but we just couldn’t come up with the money. That’s when my uncle found out. I don’t know how he did, but he did and he offered to give us the money.”
“That sounds great… I don’t understand why you’re upset?”
“Because he had a condition. He wanted us to give him numbers on any destroyed properties and help him convince people to sell them their property to him. These people have lost everything, and he’s using us to take advantage of them.”
I freeze for a moment, not knowing what to say.
“Why didn’t Javi tell me this?”
“I think he was worried you wouldn’t come”
“If that’s the case, he would be right. I can’t help someone take advantage of people Scott”
“I know. That’s why I’m telling you. Listen I know it isn’t ideal, but you should stay.”
“Why should I? He lied to me”
“He’s just worried about you Rosie”
“Why do you think he’s worried”
Scott gets quiet for a moment, before he kneels down in front of me and looks at me “Javi told me why you agreed to come here”
I freeze “how much did he tell you?”
“Not everything, just enough for me to put two and two together.”
“Listen I know it’s not ideal, but you and I both know it is safer for you to be here”
“Is that the real reason Javi didn’t get me a room of my own? He said they didn’t have enough rooms, but I saw the vacancy sign. He didn’t want me to be alone incase he followed me didn’t he?”
“Yeah. Originally he wanted you to room with Kate, but I told him to put you in here with me”
“Why? I would have been okay on my own”
“I know you don’t know me and I don’t know you, but you are important to Javi. After everything that has happened to you guys I wanted to do something to help him. That’s being here for you”
I smile “that’s really sweet Scott. I really do appreciate it” I pause for a moment “how much did he tell you?”
“Like I said not much, just enough to keep me in the loop”
“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to”
“Well speaking since you basically put yourself on security guard duty, I feel like you should know what you’ve signed up for” I chuckle
“Like I said only if you wanna tell me”
“His name is Zack. We met not long after I moved to D.C for my old job. I was still a mess after the incident with our old storm chasing group and I think he picked up on that” Scott looks at me, his eyes never leaving mine. “We hit it off almost immediately, he was everything any girl would love. Smart, charming, handsome, perfect… to perfect when I look back at it. Everything changed when we moved in together. He started being super controlling when I was away for work. Things just kept getting worse and worse until one day he hit me. I should have known better and left that day, but he promised me it would never happen again, but obviously it did. And one day-“ I pause getting choked up on my words.
“Hey” Scott takes my face in his hands “breathe and take your time. You don’t have to continue if you aren’t ready to talk about it”
“No no it’s okay, I need to say it” I whisper tears threatening to spill from my eyes.
Scott just continues to hold me.
“It was a couple days ago. We were arguing, I don’t even remember what we were arguing about but he lost it. He grabbed me and threw me to the ground and he-“ I choke “he just lost it on me. He tried to get on top of me but I managed to kick him off. I grabbed my phone and keys and left. That’s when I called Javi back and took him up on the offer. The next day I went back when I knew he wasn’t home packed up my important stuff, left a note and left” I cry
Scott just stays there, not saying anything before he quickly pulls me into a tight hug.
“It’s okay Rosie. I’ve got you. You’re safe here and I promise I won’t let anything, and I mean anything happen to you.”
“Thank you” I mumble out in between sobs into his chest.
Scott holds me until I stop crying. I pull away and he looks at my face. He lifts his hands and wipes away my stray tears. “Don’t cry. You’re to pretty to cry”
I blush “thank you for everything. You didn’t have to listen or do any of this. I really appreciate it” I smile.
“Of course. Now come on it’s getting late. Let’s get some sleep, we have an early day tomorrow. Do you need to shower?”
“Yeah I probably should, but you can go first if you need to”
“No it’s okay you go first. I have some stuff I have to do real quick”
“Yeah I’m sure” he smiles
“Okay. Thank you again Scott”
He smiles and goes over to his bag and grabs his computer. I go grab my clothes and head into the bathroom. I guess Javi was right. Scott really is a nice guy.
Thank you for reading! I’m really excited for this story and I hope you enjoy it. Updates may be slow, but I will do my best to put out at least one chapter a week so stay tuned :)
