Blackbird Read Free Page B

stairs from the cellar. “She’s locked herself in there,” she said, frowning.
                  “I’ll talk to her.”
                  Robert was standing in the old cellar directly in front of the door to the storage area. He lifted his hand to knock, but then hesitated. A moment passed as he tried to think of what to say. “Chelle?” he said, rapping at the door softly. “I have a shirt for you. I’m going to leave it outside the door ok?”
                  No response.
                  “I just want you to know that I’m sorry. We’re sorry. I would never have asked you to wear it if...” he didn’t know how to end that sentence without sounding like an awkward jerk. He was the boss and the buck stopped with him. He had been happy with the tee shirts and should have said so instead of letting Billie convince him to fix something that wasn’t broken. Now poor Chelle was in the cellar, probably crying her eyes out behind that door, humiliated, and it was all his fault.
                  “I threw those guys out and told them they can’t come back. You can go home if you want, Chelle…ok?” Still nothing. Damn he wished she’d say something.
                  “Chelle are you alright?”  Still there was silence. “Ok, I understand. Look, I’m very sorry. We’re gonna go back to the shirts starting tomorrow. I’m sorry.”  He was repeating himself but didn’t have any idea of how else to say it. He was sorry, but right now he had a feeling she didn’t give a flying fuck how he felt. He decided just to leave her be.
                  “I’m going back upstairs. Have someone come get me if you need anything. Truly Chelle, I’m very sorry.”
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Three
                  Stumbling down the stairs Chelle nearly fell halfway down. At the last moment she managed to grab the banister, pulling it partway out of the wall as she did. She shoved it quickly back into place hoping nobody would notice and ran as fast as she could toward the open door. This was the only safe place for this to happen at work. Hopefully nobody was in there. Nobody should be because as far as she knew all of the employees were upstairs dealing with the busy Saturday night hockey crowd.
                  She slammed the door, barring it shut with two large kegs. Each weighed about a hundred and sixty five pounds but that was no trouble just now as the pain in her back was beginning make itself known. How she would move them from in front of the door would be a problem she’d have to figure out later, but for now, she needed to make sure nobody could get in. The kegs were placed just in time because as she dropped to her knees she could hear Lisa on the other side of the door, knocking and then giving a push. There was no way Lisa was strong enough to get in and so undoing her belt she fell to her knees in front of the row of C02 tanks, being careful not to get too close.
                  Hurriedly she folded her belt in half and stuck it in her mouth, baring down with her teeth as hard as she could in anticipation of the agony she knew she was about to endure. Just as the wings began to shred her back she heard another set of footsteps and another knock, a heavier one, followed by her boss’s voice. Shit.
                  He was talking to her through the closed door but as the wings ripped their way out the only thing she could focus on was the rushing of blood in her ears and the pain as her body turned against her. She was so focused on that and on the shame that nothing Robert was saying made any sense to her, it was all she could do to keep the belt in her mouth as the wings, now fully out, began to extend, spreading themselves to their full span as if waking up after a long sleep and needing to stretch. They were