Read Online Shattered by C. C. Brown - Free Book Online Page A

break down in a puddle of her own tears.
    She moved away from Colby, but continued to clean the spill from the table and floor. A co-worker of hers came up with a mop and assisted her in the clean- up. Grayson came walking over from behind the counter and pat Emily on the back, effectively signaling for her to leave our table.
    "I'm very sorry about this, sir. Emily is new," Grayson said, trying to calm Colby down.
    "I don't give a shit. You probably shouldn't have the new girl serving on a busy night then," Colby snapped back.
    I watched in disgust as Colby acted as if someone had tried to murder him. True enough, having large glasses of water spilled on you isn't the ideal night out, but it was only water and Emily had apologized profusely.
    "She is capable. Everyone makes mistakes, sir," Grayson said with a bit more authority in his tone.
    "Look at this!" Colby shouted, pointing to his watch on his wrist, "This is God damn Armani. How do you suppose I get this fixed, Barista Boy?"
    Greg stood up and pulled Colby away from Grayson. They both glared death stares aimed at one another and while Colby was acting out his anger and frustrations, Grayson held his in. I looked around and noticed that in the midst of the commotion, my purse had fallen to the floor and some of the contents had spilled out. I quickly gathered everything that lay strewn beneath me. As I was coming up, my eyes locked with Grayson's. The fury that had filled him just a minute before had already subsided. Our gazes locked for a few seconds more, my fingers tingling as I tried to throw everything into my purse. I was lost in him, but I quickly remembered the hurricane we were dealing with, and after painfully tearing away from his gaze, I tossed a fifty dollar bill on the table and ran out to find Colby.
    Anger radiated through me as I made my way out to the parking lot and found Colby sulking over by his car. He'd made a spectacle of himself, and probably destroyed the confidence of a young waitress in the process. Just as I was about to say something to him, Greg and Kelsey came strolling up, looking confused by the entire situation.
    "Hey man, I got it handled. That dude in there said if you want your watch replaced, they'll be glad to do it," Greg said, looking exhausted after having to deal with Colby's aftermath.
    "Really?" Colby asked sarcastically. "How in the hell is this place going to replace an Armani watch? The watch probably cost more than this dump."
    His words and the smug look on his face incensed me. I'd known Colby could be an asshole, but the way he carried on about a bit of spilled water on a watch that probably wasn't even damaged turned my stomach quite a bit.
    "Thanks for handling that, Greg," I said to him, trying to send everyone on their way, "and it was nice meeting you, Kelsey."
    "Oh yes, I enjoyed hanging out with you, Dallis. We'll have to do it again soon," she responded in her high octave voice with a smile that matched. I politely smiled back, but didn't answer. I just wanted to get Colby as far away from Ada's as possible.
    The ride home was filled with an awkward silence. Both of us wanted to say something, but neither of us did. I looked over to Colby who was focused on the road. I thought long and hard to myself before finally breaking the silence.
    "What the hell got into you tonight?"
    "You can't be serious, Dallis," he replied. "Some fucking clown head waitress spills water all over me and you're asking me what got into me?"
    "She said she was sorry. It wasn't even her fault, Colby. Some guys bumped into her, making her spill the water. I doubt she did it on purpose." He looked over at me as irritation flashed through his eyes, but he didn't say anything. "This was your night out. You planned this. And now I'm left to deal with your jackassery," I said, feeling the venom inside of me beginning to spill out.
    Colby looked over to me and then back to the road. After a few quiet seconds, he finally broke his silence.