by Quell T Fox
“Do you have a plan, Liza?” I ask.
“There are two options. Neither of which I think you will like.” The last part is directed towards Jacob. He lifts his head, his hardened gaze back but this time directed right at Liza.
“Option one. You stay here and I go with Asha to Utah. Eliminating any possibility of her energy sparking up, accidentally.” She takes a sip of her coffee. I peak at Jacob from the corner of my eye and he hasn’t moved. Completely stone-faced. I don’t know him well enough to be able to read all his faces yet, but it seems that he shows no emotion when he’s worried about something.
“Option two. We go to Myah.”
“No. Absolutely not.” Jacob shakes his head, adding to the effect of his response.
“Who is Myah?”
“I figured you would say that, but I had to put it out there.” She throws her hands up, surrendering. “Right now, these are the only options I have come up with. Feel free to come up with your own.” Completely ignoring my question.
“Who is Myah?” I repeat, more sternly this time.
“Why would you even think that was an option? You should know better than that. The first one I don’t like either, but Myah?” He says the name like it puts a bad taste in his mouth.
Liza sighs and leans back into her chair.
“Jacob, I need to give all options, if we’re supposed to be-“
My hand slam on the table. I’m officially pissed.
“Look, both of you,” I start, looking between them both. Clearly, I have their attention now. Good. “I get that I don’t know anything about any of this…stuff, that is going on. But you both need to realize that at the end of the day, this is my life. Mine! Yes, I chose to do this and to trust Jacob and now you, Liza. But that does not mean I don’t have a say in what’s going on. You both need to do a better job of filling me and not leaving me in the dark. Because this is bullshit!”
I stand, grabbing a coat from the coat rack that’s by the door. I have no idea who it belongs to, but I don’t care, I know it’s cold outside. I’m out the door before I put it on. I need air, I need space, I need a lot of things right now. Yet, I feel completely trapped. I hurry down the stairs to the driveway. I know what’s to the right, since that’s the way we came from, so I take off to the left. I’m mad and I need to let out my anger. I’ve never been good at dealing with emotions, of any kind, but especially anger. I don’t usually get mad or upset about things. I’m a go with the flow kinda chick, not wanting to waste time on negative energy. I try to let things go and not hold onto anger, but since I’ve been with Jacob, all kinds of new things are happening with my emotions. I’ve never felt an anger like this before, I’m shaking, I feel hot and I can’t think clearly. My gut is telling me to walk, which is why I left. Actually, it’s telling me to run but I just ate, and I don’t think that is a good idea.
I hear footsteps running up behind me. Once Jacob reaches me, he falls in line and walks beside me. His hands shoved into the pockets of his leather jacket; he keeps up easily. He doesn’t speak a word. It’s a good thing because I don’t want to blow up on him unnecessarily. I know this is hard for him, in a completely different sense than it is for me. I don’t want to make this more difficult for anyone, but this is all crazy. I don’t understand anything going on. They have barely explained anything to me, other than the basics. And yeah, maybe I haven’t done a great job of getting it across to them that I would like to be filled in, but it should be common courtesy. I am overwhelmed and I don’t know where to begin with half of the things that I need to know.
I slow a bit when I see a clearing to the right. I head to the other side of the road, interested in what is over there. It’s probably a house, but we’ve been walking for a bit and at this point I am sick of staring at dirt and trees. When we come up to the end of the tree line, I set my eyes on a lake. It’s small, and almost perfectly round. Surrounded by beautiful fall colored trees on all sides, minus this clearing.
I turn onto the grass making my way towards the water, there are a few benches near the lake side and a wooden dock placed somewhere in the middle of the clearing. It’s weathered but seems in good condition. Matching wooden railings run the length of the dock, and at the end it opens up to a bigger area for site seeing. I decide I’d rather take the risk of walking on the dock. I don’t know how old it is, or how safe it is but right now that’s just where I want to be. I step onto the dock, not slowing at all. The sound of Jacob’s boots thumping on the wood, follows directly behind me. Once I reach the end, I stop.
This scene laid out in front of me is almost enough to take my breath away. The lake is calm and quiet. I’m not sure what kinds of trees they are, but the leaves are amazing shades of red, orange and yellows. The water is crystal clear, and I wonder if people come here to swim in the summer. It looks like a wonderful place to do just that.
It’s silent for a long time, it’s refreshing. Both of us standing here, but not saying a word. This is what I need more of, especially now.
“I proposed to you here.”
I look up at Jacob, he’s standing about a foot from me, hands in his pockets staring straight to the end of the lake. His cheeks tinged with red from the crisp air. His hair is pulled back into a low ponytail, but the slight breeze has pulled some loose strands out. I’ve always thought he was attractive, but in this moment, he has never looked more perfect.
“We hadn’t known each other for long. We came up here one weekend to get away from everyone. Liza’s family owns the cottage, but they never used it.” He turns to face me. “I don’t know what it was about you then, or what it is about you now, but I have this need to be with you. When I’m not, I feel like I am missing a part of me. Growing up we are told about the bond people have and how it’s necessary to sustain our way of life, but this,” he points to himself and then to me,” this is so much more than that, Asha. This is real. It always has been, and I know you can feel it too.”
I do feel it. I know exactly what he means. Knowing how I feel about him in this short amount of time, I can’t even fathom the way he must feel about me.
“I am sorry that I have not been doing a good job of keeping you filled in. I’ve always felt protective of you, but after finding you this time, I have this overwhelming feeling of protecting you. I am terrified of losing you again, and I meant it when I said that I cannot go on if that happens. I want to keep you sheltered from all this madness going on around us. I want to take you and run away and live our lives, but I know it’s not that simple. I’m going to fight for you, fight for us. No matter the cost.” His dark eyes are shadowed with worry, and fear. “I never stopped loving you Asha, and I never will.”
EPILOGUE
There are so many questions left unanswered. Too many, actually. I don’t know where to begin with sorting everything out. I don’t know the right thing to do. There are a lot of things that I don’t know right now, and I have a lot to learn. But what I do know, is that beyond a shadow of a doubt, I can trust Jacob with my life. No matter what we face, I know that we will face it together. I know that he will always be by my side. We are going to find a way to get this bond done. We are going to get past this mess and have our happily ever after. I know that I have finally found my home, and that is wherever Jacob is.
THANKS
Thanks for reading, and for taking a chance on a new author!
Keep a look out for Book 2!
Mended Promises
Join my group on Facebook for information on upcoming books and to chat with fellow fans.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/632201927243401/
* * *
ayscale(100%); -o-filter: grayscale(100%); -ms-filter: grayscale(100%); filter: grayscale(100%); " class="sharethis-inline-share-buttons">share
