Vertigo

Ch.7 “Poor Little Rich Girl”



Oh how I hate these stupid bills, Tanner thought to himself, groaning. His office was getting quite stuffy and he needed to change the light bulb in the lamp by the door. He sighed heavily, propping his feet on his desk and rubbing his scalp with his fingertips roughly, messing his hair up even more. And how I hate Sunday’s, he added.



Sunday’s were devoted to organizing files, paying bills that needed to be paid, cleaning, and the weekly drug-test that every person had to take in order to stay at the shelter. It was awful, really. Running a homeless shelter was harder than it seemed and Tanner sometimes thought that he was in over his head.



“Mr. Reid?” a small voice asked from the door. Tanner looked over to see a small blond-haired boy in oversized clothes looking at him with large hazel-brown eyes.



“Hey Mikey” Tanner smiled, “what’s going on?”. Mikey was always one of Tanner’s favorite kids and often reminded him of himself when he was younger.



The young boy padded over to one of the chairs in Tanner’s office and climbed onto it, grinning. “You okay? I heard some of th’ big kids talkin ‘bout a fight th’ other night…” he trailed, looking worried.



“I’m fine” Tanner replied, smiling, “you don’t need to worry about me”



Mikey rose an eyebrow at him but nodded quickly, “They also said some’in ‘bout a pretty girl to.” the little boy smirked, “She ya girl?”



Tanner bit the inside of his cheek, memories of the night of the fight flooding back to him. Amber’s body close to his, her lips… her kiss. Their kiss, that should have never happened. It was enough to make him blush a little bit. “No Mikey” Tanner chuckled, playing it off, “She’s a helper”



“They said she was real pretty like a model” Mikey smiled. “Is she? Can I meet her? Wha’s her name?”



Tanner laughed at the little boy’s excitement, “Her name is Amber and you can meet her if you want”



Mikey grinned, a small knowing look in his eyes. Tanner drew his brows at this and shuffled through some papers, listening to Mikey’s big day he had planned, full with playing on the playground, watching some movies and learning how to read better. It was always rewarding to know that the people staying in the shelter could come talk to him and felt comfortable around him. That was always important; but Tanner always knew it was because a lot of them knew him before he started the shelter.



A knock at his office door interrupted Mikey’s day plans and Tanner’s organizing focus. Both of them turned to the door and grinned to see Eleanor with a big smile on her face. “Hello Mikey” she said sweetly.



“Hi!” he waved.



“Mr. Reid, there’s someone to see you” she said, giving him a look that Tanner couldn’t read.



“How many times do I have to tell you Eleanor, call me Tanner” he smiled to her warmly.



Eleanor grinned and nodded, “I know, I know… old habits die hard. Good manners and all” she chuckled. Tanner laughed; Eleanor could always make him laugh.



He watched as Mikey said a simple goodbye to him and trotted out the door, running down the hall to the children’s wing, no doubt to tell someone else about his fun-filled day he had planned out. Tanner grinned to himself, wishing he could have a fun day too.



Eleanor stepped to the side so his visitor could walk into his office and Tanner almost blanched when he saw Amber quietly take a seat where Mikey had just been sitting. She was dressed -surprisingly- in comfortable looking jeans and an old, worn t-shirt with… tennis shoes. Her rich chocolate hair was swept back in a messy bun and she couldn’t look much cuter, Tanner decided.



“Hi” her voice wavered slightly, no doubt trying to sound in control and brave.



“Hey” Tanner said quietly, watching Eleanor leave and close the door to his office. What the hell is going on? Tanner grumped, “What brings you by? You don’t have to come in today”



“I…” Amber sighed, “I don’t know. Honestly, I have no idea” she looked very distraught. “Can… can you just listen to me for a while? I need to talk to someone about something and I…” she looked around, obviously searching for courage somewhere, “I couldn’t get a hold of Mr. Jones and I cant talk to any of my friends”



Tanner’s brows shot up, “You cant talk to your friends about stuff?” he asked, curiously.



“No.” Amber shook her head. “Are you kidding? They’re the worst gossips.”



Tanner chuckled, leaning back in his chair. “What’s going on?” he asked.



“Well… I.” Amber sighed, leaning back in her chair as well. “Its about my mother” she went on, biting at her lip and obviously not sure whether or not Tanner cared. “I have to live with her for the eight months I’m on parole… she’s awful.” her voice was surprisingly quiet.



Tanner drew his brows together and leaned his elbows on his desk, listening, “How so?”



“Well…” Amber began, clutching her purse, “when I explain it, it doesn’t seem as bad as it actually is. She’s just… I feel like she hates me” Tanner noticed that tears were stinging at her eyes. “She’s always criticizing me and talking shit about me behind my back to my step-dad and step-brother… she put me out in the pool house, when there are at least two different guest-rooms in the main house… I know she hates me. I’ve never been good enough or thin enough or pretty enough… or smart enough.” Amber sighed, wiping away a tear.



Tanner sighed heavily and sat in the chair next to her, taking her hand in his. Amber tensed slightly and blushed but held his hand back. “You know… you’ve probably heard this before but… sometimes, people have to do things they don’t want to and… people go through things for a reason”



“But why do I have to stay with her?!” Amber exclaimed, “why couldn’t I just have stayed at home?”



“Amber” Tanner sighed, “your dad has a job that, unfortunately, requires him to travel around the country all the time and you seriously took that for granted. What would you do in his place?” he asked, knowingly, seeing Amber bite her bottom lip in slight guilt.



“How do you know so much about me?” Amber asked calmly, vaguely aware of Tanner’s thumb rubbing against the back of her hand.



Tanner smiled warmly, “I’ve known Cedrik for a while now… and any charges he brings me, I get the basic background info… you cant be too careful now-a-days.”



“Oh” she said quietly, searching his face.



“Anything personal about yourself that you tell him, he doesn’t tell me, trust me” Tanner grinned. “He’s a cool guy”



Tanner searched her face as she nodded, looking a bit miffed and uncomfortable. He remembered how scared he felt when he looked up to see Amber hovering over him the other night during the stabbing. Her blue eyes were brimming with worry and fear that night and all he wanted to do was comfort her and tell her that it was going to be okay. He honestly hadn’t planned on kissing her.



Sure, she was cute and there was something about her that had him oddly attracted to her, but… she was too different from him. She was high society, he came from poverty and filth. She was an over-confident spoiled rich girl while his confidence was lacking. They came from two different worlds and two different views. Plus, she was still seventeen.



“Why did you kiss me?” Amber blurted, her eyes widening after she said it, not believing that actually came our of her mouth. Tanner’s eyes widened and he gently pulled his hand away form hers. Is she a mind-reader or something? He thought to himself.



“That should have never happened” he said quietly, “I’m sorry, I don’t know what I was thinking” he turned away from her, looking at his desk.



Tanner felt a soft hand on his cheek, gently forcing him to look at Amber; she looked at him with an emotion Tanner hadn’t seen form her: warmth. “Why?” she asked, “Why should it never of happened?”



“I’m twenty-four, Amber… you’re only about to turn eighteen.” he sighed, pulling her hand away from his face slowly. “We’re too different and barely know each other-”



“That’s not fair” Amber whispered, drawing her brows together, “you know all about me… and I don’t know anything about you. I don’t care about how old you are.”



“But I do!” Tanner sighed, “It’s not right, Amber. It’s… not legal.”



Amber rolled her eyes and huffed softly, standing up and walking to the door. She glared at him harshly, acting like a child. “Then why did you kiss me, if you knew you were going to regret it?” she spat, folding her arms across her chest.



Tanner rose to his feet, stepping closer to her and let out a breath he’d been holding. “I never said that I regretted it” he said softly -Amber barely heard him.



She stepped close to him, resting her hands on his shoulders, “I want you to kiss me again” she said in a small voice. “No one has ever kissed me like-”



“You cant always get what you want” Tanner said roughly, pulling away from her. “Don’t you realize that? You’re just a spoiled little girl thinking she has the world in the palm of her hand. People don’t always get what they want, its called reality.”



By the look on Amber’s face, Tanner could tell that stung. “You don’t regret it… but you wont kiss me again?” she said slowly in a harsh tone. “There is something fucking wrong with your logic Tanner”



&&&&&&&&&&



Amber stormed into the pool house and growled in frustration, flinging her purse on her bed. She was angry, and confused and sad all at the same time. I never get rejected! She thought furiously, plopping onto a chair and sighed, taking her shoes off. I don’t know what I was thinking, anyways… going over there, Amber thought.



In all honesty, she just needed to talk to someone. Mr. Jones wasn’t answering his phone for one reason or another, and she couldn’t talk to any of her friends about anything, ever… she didn’t need them worrying or talking shit behind her back again. She hadn’t planned on being so forward with Tanner either. Actually, she thought that he might kiss her again, but no.



Falling onto her bed, Amber groaned. So this is what rejection is like, she sighed. It sucked. She didn’t understand why he was so against kissing her again and all whole slew of insecurities washed over her. Was she that bad? Did he think she was a bitch? Was he lying when he said that the age difference bothered him? But he was so hot and cold too. One minute he says that he never regretted kissing her, then the next he’s going off about how she’s a spoiled brat and he wont kiss her? She sighed heavily in frustration, trying to sort everything out in her head.



“Amber” her mothers voice cut through her thoughts.



“Yes?” she replied, sighing heavily.



Julia came into the pool house, closing the door behind her and sat down on a chair. Amber sighed again and rolled over, sitting on the bed to face her mother. Julia’s eyes narrowed on her daughter, taking in her clothes with obvious disgust. Amber rose a brow at her.



“I never got the chance to talk to you” Julia said quietly.



Like hell, Amber retorted silently, crossing her arms over her chest. “About?” she asked.



“I know you don’t want to live here and quite honestly, I wanted to send you off to boarding school.” Julia quipped, crossing her legs in a lady-like fashion.



Amber rolled her eyes, “Like dad would let you” she huffed.



“As long as you are living under my roof, you will not disrespect me, Jason or Leo… understood? You are merely using my pool house for a few months until your parole is finished.” Amber’s mother said, her tone condescending. Amber kept silent, fuming mad. “Furthermore, your only business for coming into the main house is for dinners. As you have seen, I’ve had Rosa fill your kitchen with healthy foods and drinks.” Julia eyed her daughter, making it obvious that she didn’t think Amber was in good enough shape.



“Why do you hate me? I’m your daughter!” Amber asked, her voice a little louder than she planned.



Julia rolled her eyes and stood up, “Amber, I don’t hate you. You just turned out to be an even bigger disappointment than expected. You little delinquent.” she sneered and closed the door behind her.



“Fuck you” Amber muttered after Julia left; her eyes stung with tears as she bit at her bottom lip. She pulled the covers back on her bed and slipped in, closing her eyes tightly. I need dad, she thought, letting out a small sob, wiping at her tears angrily.





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