Page 68 of Finding Lexie
A group of four men entered the facility then and captured Lexie’s attention. She hadn’t seen them before, but that wasn’t too surprising. She was still new and still meeting the regulars who came to get assistance.
Jack went up to the men and greeted them, pointing toward a table near where she was standing. There were two women already sitting at the table, but they got up when the men approached.
“Welcome to Food For All. Can I get you something to eat?” Lexie asked politely.
“Fuck off,” one of the men muttered under his breath as he shoved a chair out from under the table with a foot and collapsed into it.
“I’d like something to eat,” another man said with a leer as his gaze ran up and down her body.
For the first time, Lexie felt very uncomfortable. Generally, the men and women, and even kids, who came for assistance were respectful and almost embarrassed about being there at all. But these men seemed eager to cause problems.
And also for the first time, Lexie did something she never did. She walked away without attempting to help the group any more. She didn’t know why they were here, but it didn’t look like it was to get food or apply for state assistance.
Natalie had obviously seen the men acting in a less-than-respectful manner, because Lexie saw her motion to Jack and Pika to intervene.
Lexie continued around the room, saying hello and smiling to others as she passed. She felt her phone vibrate once more in her pocket, and she pulled it out, needing a break. Backing up against a wall so she could keep an eye on the room, she smiled when she saw it was Midas calling.
“Hi.”
“Hey, beautiful. I thought I’d check in to make sure you were still going to be able to get off work at three.”
“Yup. Wait, where are you? What’s that in the background?”
Midas chuckled. “I’m on a boat headed back to base. We had a training exercise off shore today. I think the driver’s got a hot date, because he’s going damn fast. You’re hearing the waves hitting the bottom of the boat.”
“Oh, wow. Okay. Did it go well?”
“The training? Yeah. Of course. How’s your day been?”
“Interesting. Magnus called me today.”
“He did? You’re still emailing him, right?” Midas asked.
“Yeah. He said he’s gonna be in Hawaii in about a month and wanted to let me know.”
“He’s coming here?”
“Yes. Since he’s getting involved with Food For All and taking over for Dagmar. He’ll be doing site visits and stuff. He requested that this be his first assignment because he said he wanted to meet me in person.”
Midas didn’t say anything for a long moment.
“Midas? Are you still there?”
“I’m here.”
“What’s wrong?” Lexie asked.
“I think I’m jealous,” he said.
Lexie’s mouth fell open in disbelief. “Seriously?”
“Well, yeah. I mean, you’ve been emailing him fairly regular, and now he’s going out of his way to visit you.”
“Midas, he’s way older than me. I mean, like, by at least twenty years. And trust me, I’m not interested in him in that way. He’s like an older brother, or even a father figure. I feel bad for him because he’s really missing Dagmar. He’s having a hard time getting over his death. I think he feels a connection to me since we were together so long in that desert. That’s all it is. You have nothing to be jealous about. Jeez.”
“Okay.”
She wasn’t sure if he was really okay with what she’d said or not, so she continued trying to convince him. She wasn’t upset that he was uneasy about Magnus’s place in her life. Some men got jealous—and turned mean as a result. Overbearing and abusive. But she had no doubt Midas wouldn’t be that way. However, she could imagine him pouting on whatever boat he was on, and she wanted to reassure him.
