Come Work For Me

by Weston Parker

  The office was going to look pretty cool. We’d even ordered new desks and some new furniture to overhaul everything. Lincoln was getting a whole corner for his play area, and I was looking forward to be able to see him in it.

  It was strange how I couldn’t quite remember what my life had looked like without them in it anymore. I definitely couldn’t imagine a future that didn’t have them in it. Whenever I thought about them, which was all the time, I had to fight to keep a grin off my face. Totally unlike me.

  Once I got to the gym, I tried to focus on my workout. In my mind’s eye, though, all I could see was Lilac and Lincoln in our new office, and in a new house that was home to us all.

  Where I’d never thought about anything like having a family before, thoughts of them consumed me now. By the time I was done with my workout, I’d only been away from them for a few hours and I was already eager to get back home.

  Lilac had talked about taking a walk with Lincoln once he woke up, so I decided to surprise them with something nice when they got home. I’d never been a flowers and chocolates kind of guy, but I decided it was time to change that. Lilac deserved flowers, chocolates, hearts… All of it. And I was going to be the man who gave it to her.

  There was a store around the corner that always had fragrant bouquets displayed on the sidewalk, and unless I was mistaken it even had stuffed animals for Lincoln. I didn’t know whether I’d be able to find a dinosaur there, but I could try.

  Bypassing the elevator when I left the gym, I went back to the lobby and walked through the parking garage to get to the shop. It was faster to cut through here than to use the main entrance.

  It was a damn good thing too, because when I came around the corner the first thing I saw was Lincoln crying so hard his little body was shaking. In the second it took me to process what I was seeing, I took in how Lincoln was glaring up at someone. A man. Kurt.

  Kurt was holding Lilac up against the wall, one hand at her throat. That was all I had to see before I lost it. As if someone had taken my field of vision and cropped it, all I could focus on was my family and the man threatening them.

  There was no traffic or horns blaring from the street near the alley I had been planning to cut through, there were no pedestrians on the sidewalk next to that street or prying eyes pricking into me from windows above. I didn’t even smell the faint stench coming off the dumpster at the end of the alley anymore.

  There was only Lilac; only Lincoln. A primal roar was ripped out of my chest, then I was dropping my shoulders and running to tackle Kurt. I was vaguely aware of my knee buckling and Lilac’s sob, but I didn’t care about my knee. All I cared about was her. Keeping her safe. Making those sobs stop.

  Kurt folded over my shoulder when I rammed into him, screaming out in either pain or surprise. I hoped it was pain.

  There was a thud when we hit the ground, but Kurt’s body had broken my fall. I’d also known to brace for it, so I didn’t miss a beat. Yanking my arm out, I bent it and slammed my elbow into Kurt’s face.

  A satisfying crack sounded from his nose and suddenly there was blood gushing from it, but I still didn’t stop. This man was after my family. He’d hurt Lilac. If I hadn’t happened to decide to go to the corner store, what would he have done to her?

  I didn’t even want to think about the answer to that question, so I shut my thoughts down and focused on the man struggling to free himself from underneath me. Kurt’s face was contorted in rage, curses leaving his mouth in strings that would make a sailor proud.

  No matter how much he struggled, I didn’t let him go. In the distance, as if she was talking underwater, I heard Lilac calling the cops.

  Only a few words reached me through the rage making my blood pound in my ears. “Stalker ex,” “attacked,” and most importantly, “It’s going to leave a bruise.”

  Another animalistic sound tore from my throat. I couldn’t stand the thought of her having bruises anywhere, never mind bruises in the shape of her ex’s fingers around her throat.

  As I pulled back to slam my fist into his face, I was snapped out of my rage-fueled haze and back into the world when I felt a tiny hand on my bicep. Blinking as the red mist cleared from my vision, I saw Lincoln standing behind me.

  He flew into my arms as soon as I opened them, his body trembling from head to toe. Shoulders heaving as he sobbed, he buried his head in the crook of my neck.

  “It’s okay, buddy. I’m here,” I whispered as soothingly as I could manage, my voice cracked from the depth of the emotions coursing through me.

  I slid one hand around his waist and put the other on the back of his head, cradling it as his tears soaked my skin. Holding him to me, I kept whispering until I became aware of the sound of sirens somewhere nearby.

  Then Lilac was kneeling next to me, sobbing as her head came to rest on my other shoulder. “I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry.”

  I released my hold around Lincoln’s waist to sling my arm around her, pulling her closer to us. Our heads bent together, I hooked my leg free of Kurt and shifted us so he wouldn’t be able to see anything but my back.

  I couldn’t see him, but I could feel him behind me and he wasn’t moving. Groaning, cursing and muttering about pressing charges yes, but not trying to get up. Thank God.

  I didn’t think I’d have the strength to let them go so I could chase after him if he tried to run right now. Ignoring his threats about charges, I whispered to Lilac, “You have nothing to be sorry about, baby. I’m sorry I wasn’t here with you. I should have been here with you. Are you okay? Is it only your throat? Can you breathe okay?”

  She nodded, but didn’t try to speak again until the cops were there. An ambulance squealed to a stop behind the cop car, two paramedics jumping out to join the pair of cops approaching us. “What happened here?”

  “This maniac attacked me,” Kurt screamed, moaning in pain as he tried to sit up. Lilac and I broke apart, but Lincoln remained firmly tucked under my arm with his face hidden in my shoulder.

  “Joseph only attacked him because he was busy strangling me,” Lilac hissed, wincing as she lifted her chin and pointed to the red welts left behind from the grip of Kurt’s fingers on her.

  Knots tightened in my stomach when I got my first real look at the marks he’d left on her. Motherfucker.

  I lunged at him, but one of the officers was between us in a flash. He gave me a nod of understanding, holding a hand out to help me up while his friend rounded on Kurt. “We’re going to need to take your statement.”

  Keeping Lincoln between us, his arms clinging to my leg now, Lilac and I both nodded. One hand buried in Lincoln’s hair, I jerked my head down at Kurt. “Lilac is my girlfriend. I just got home from the gym and wanted to grab her some flowers from a shop down the road. When I came around the corner from the parking garage, I saw him holding her against the building and Lincoln crying.”

  “So, you acted to defend them?” the cop finished for me.

  “Yes,” I replied.

  Kurt snorted behind me, one of the paramedics bent over him. “Bullshit. She was never in any danger from me. She has my kid and she owes me money. I was trying to get what’s mine.”

  “I have a restraining order against him,” Lilac said.

  The cop glanced at Lilac and down at Lincoln before his eyes came back to mine. “Do you think we could get your full statement while she gets her throat looked at?”

  My eyes found Lilac’s. I wasn’t leaving her side unless I was absolutely sure that she was okay. She nodded, reaching for my hand and giving it a squeeze. “Lincoln can come with me to the ambulance while you explain the situation to these gentlemen. What do you say, sweetie? Want to go see if this one is different than the one you rode in?”

  “It’s okay, bud,” I added. “I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere. You and Mommy will be right over there.” Lincoln seemed as reluctant to let go of me as I was of him, but he nodded and went with Lilac. I kept a close eye on them as one of the paramedic
s led them over to the ambulance and checked out her throat.

  Speaking quietly so Lincoln wouldn’t overhear anything, I explained to the officer what had been happening with Kurt and gave him all the history I knew. He jotted down notes, frowning and shooting glances at his partner, who was taking Kurt’s statement.

  Though I couldn’t tear my gaze away from the family I had come to think of as mine, I’d realized as I recounted my statement, I still heard Kurt spewing some bullshit story to the officer.

  If I was making proper sense of the snippets I heard while giving my own statement, Lilac had been right all along. Kurt was now claiming that both Lilac and I owed him thousands of dollars, that he’d been on his way to the apartment to sit down with us and civilly discuss a payment plan when I’d tackled him on the street.

  My blood heated to mercurial levels. I considered myself quite well trained in knowing a lie when I heard it, but this guy was a phenomenal liar. If I hadn’t known any better, I’d have thought that he truly believed he was telling the truth.

  It doesn’t matter, I told myself. The police had told Lilac before that they couldn’t do anything until Kurt did, and now he had. Hopefully, this will be the last we see of him.

  If the cops didn’t make sure of it, I sure as hell would. Right there on the spot, I vowed to myself that he would never set foot near either of them ever again. Period.

  Chapter 38

  Lilac

  “It’s just a bruise.” The paramedic smiled at me, her touch gentle before she removed her gloved hands from my skin. “You don’t need to go to the hospital, but if you’d like to go get checked out, we can call ahead.”

  “That’s fine.” My voice came out as a croak. Speaking was hard. It burned my throat as the words passed through my vocal cords. “I’d rather just go home.”

  “I thought you might. Get plenty of rest and try not to overdo it for the next few days. You’ll be all healed up in no time.” Her brown eyes were kind on mine. “Good luck, ma’am.”

  “Thank you,” I whispered, preferring not to try and use my voice.

  Lincoln clung to me, hiding his face behind our clasped hands. We took the few steps to where Joseph was finishing up with the cops.

  When we reached them, I slid my free hand into his. Lincoln wormed his way between us and held on to Joseph’s leg. He pulled me into his side, his strong grip on my fingers easing some of the violent shivers making their way through my body.

  “We don’t need to go to the hospital?” he guessed as looked over at me, concern warring with rage in his eyes. I wasn’t surprised to see that black rage still lingering. I’d never seen anyone take someone down that hard or that fast before. And I’d briefly been a bartender at a sports bar during college.

  Joseph hadn’t been fucking around when he tackled Kurt off me. He was like a predator who was hell-bent on catching its prey, and once he had it in his hands, he wanted to devour it until there was nothing left.

  Knowing he’d been in the military and seeing the precision of that training in action were two entirely different things. This had been no drunken bar brawl, and Kurt hadn’t stood a chance.

  What had surprised me was how fast Joseph got himself back in control. In my experience, once people reached that level of rage it could be hard to pull them out of it. Given Joseph’s skills and advanced training, he probably could have snapped Kurt’s neck with his bare hands if Lincoln hadn’t gone to him.

  That was what had amazed me most. Even as I clutched my throat and it felt like it was on the verge of total collapse, even as I had to watch through eyes that were blurry with tears and even as I scrambled to call the cops.

  Lincoln had barely touched Joseph before the man regained control of himself. It was incredible to have seen it happen; how one small touch from a boy who wasn’t even his had brought him back from the brink and in an instant, all of his attention was focused on comforting Lincoln.

  Thank God Joseph was here. I honestly didn’t know what might have happened to us if he hadn’t. Kurt had gotten the jump on me before I could get back into the building.

  Lincoln and I had gone for a walk, and though I’d kept my eyes open, I didn’t really believe that Kurt could be following us. We were still staying at Joseph’s, not anywhere near our own apartment.

  He’d tracked us down, though. Obviously.

  Lincoln had wanted to enter the building through the parking garage because, in his words, “cars, Mommy.” He’d wanted to see them, claiming that there was a pretty red one with doors like Batman’s. I’d had no idea what that meant, but he’d been explaining to me that they were doors that slid open upwards when suddenly I was wrenched away from Lincoln and my back hit the brick wall. Hard.

  A shudder traveled through me at the memory. Joseph noticed and tightened his grip on me before turning his face toward the officer.

  “Does she have to give a statement now? I’d really rather just take her home.”

  The officer nodded. “I understand. Let me check with my partner, but we can always come by your place to get it a little later.”

  “Thank you,” I managed to croak out.

  The man offered me a polite smile. “It’s no problem, ma’am. Just doing my job. I’ll be right back.”

  I hadn’t noticed anyone else approaching our group, but since I had been lost in thought until the sound of Joseph’s voice had pulled me from memory lane, I didn’t really blame myself.

  There was a woman standing with the other policeman, explaining something with animated gestures of her hands. A few minutes later, the cop walked back to us. “You don’t have to come down to the station to give your statement, ma’am. I can take your initial statement here and if we have any further questions, we’ll contact you. We also have an eyewitness who saw the whole thing who is giving us her statement now.”

  The officer wrote down a short statement from me, then put a gentle hand on my forearm when I touched my throat. Every word I spoke felt like a razor blade slicing at the delicate skin inside. “That’s enough for now, ma’am. Go home, rest. We’ll be in touch.”

  “Thank you.” Joseph held out his hand to shake with the policeman, and then whisked us into the building. As we entered the relative safety of the parking garage, I heard Kurt yelling from the alley. “I have a broken fucking nose. You can’t arrest me. Lilac is a lying bitch, and so is that violent sack of shit she’s dating. They’re doing all this so they don’t have to pay me. They’re the ones you should be arresting.”

  His obscenities kept getting quiet as we descended down the concrete ramp and finally cut off completely once we reached the elevator. Once we were finally back in the apartment, I broke down.

  It was only silent tears at first, streaming down my cheeks as Joseph closed the door behind us. Being here, knowing we were safe and that nothing had happened but knowing how much worse it could have been, my knees buckled.

  Lincoln threw his arms around me when I hit the floor, my shoulders shaking as I sobbed. Joseph was there a second later, enveloping both of us in his strong arms.

  None of us said anything. I screwed my eyes shut against the onslaught on images flashing before them. The noises coming out of me were awful, but I didn’t care. We were safe here. Safe.

  I forced myself to take a deep breath, then another. You’re safe, you can calm down now. You can stop worrying. He’s gone. He’s been arrested. He’s not coming back. Joseph’s here for us. Lincoln is fine.

  Repeating my mantra over and over again until the sobs finally subsided and I could truly start believing the words I was saying to myself, I scooped Lincoln up and carried him to the guest room. His room.

  It was filled with his things now. Stuffed animals on the bed and a brightly patterned comforter with planets on it. Dinosaur toys and puzzles littered the floor.

  Joseph walked with us, sticking close by me. He paused in the door, though. “I’m going to give you two some time. I’ll be right out here, okay? I’m not going any
where.”

  I nodded, pressing up on my toes to give him a kiss before laying Lincoln down on the bed. I lay there hugging him with tears still once again sliding down my cheeks. He curled his little body into mine, holding on for dear life until his breathing eventually evened out.

  Although I knew he’d fallen asleep, I wasn’t ready to leave Lincoln yet. Instead, I stayed there with him, vaguely hearing as Joseph spoke to Grant on the phone. I couldn’t hear their whole conversation, only bits of it.

  “My prosthetic’s fucked, but I’ll take that any day over anything happening to them.” His voice was thicker than I’d ever heard it, cracking toward the end of the sentence. A couple of minutes later, I heard him saying goodbye.

  There was silence, then he spoke again. “Alisha? Hi. This is Joseph Matthews.”

  I smiled slightly when I realized that he was speaking to Alisha. My Alisha. He’d called my best friend for me. The part of my heart that I suddenly realized I had handed over to him grew three sizes.

  “Yeah. They’re going to be just fine. She’s lying down with Lincoln now, but I wanted to know if you’d come have dinner with us later. I think you’d be able to give them the emotional support that they really need right now.”

  He kept his voice low, and I strained to hear what he was saying but it sounded like he’d moved farther away. I could only make out murmurs.

  Still. He called my best friend for me. He was there for me when I needed him most. He said he would protect us from Kurt, and he had.

  The knowledge burrowed into the very deepest recesses of my heart and put down roots there. Joseph had done so much more for us than I ever could have imagined. I was so damn grateful to him, but what I felt for him went much deeper than gratitude. So, so much deeper.

  What I felt for him transcended anything and everything that I’d ever felt before. It was so intense that when I really let myself feel it, it took my breath away. I love him.