Fade to Black

by Unknown

  “Anytime.” He squeezed her hand and smiled as his phone rang. His eyes left hers and looked down at the caller id which abruptly changed his mood. He let out a sigh before answering, “Hello?”

  Kate had come to realize that Rich was in a loveless marriage. His wife was completely nuts. Her voice never changed from its high pitched shriek from that first day. She was belligerent, belittling, and made constant references to her suspicions of there being something between Rich and Kate, which was ridiculous because Kate loved Jesse.

  His phone closed with a snap, and he let out a long, frustrated exhale. They both pretended as though the last few minutes hadn’t occurred. Neither of them knew what to say, so they resorted to silence.

  Finally the state capital came into view, and Rich spoke, “Have you covered this before?”

  “Yeah, when I was at Six.”

  “So you know what to expect?” He was trying to act as though he wasn’t rattled, but she could sense his frustration.

  “Yep, no biggie. This story practically writes itself.”

  And Kate was right. Two hours and four crazy wife phone calls later, she and Rich were headed back to the station. His phone rang again and he closed his eyes, let out an exasperated breath and answered, “What? I’m trying to work.”

  Then the screaming began, “How dare you not answer the phone when your wife calls? What if there was an emergency and I really needed you?”

  “Do you?” he said through clenched teeth, the muscles of his jaw working ferociously.

  “Huh?” Shea was confused but still irritated.

  “Is it an emergency?” His voice was too calm. “Do you really need me?”

  “No, but…”

  “Shea, I am trying to work here.”

  “Are you with Kate?” The way Shea snarled caused the hair on the back of Kate’s neck to stand on end.

  Rich ran his fingers through his hair. “I told you that Dale has me working with her. You know that I’m with her.”

  “Is she pretty?”

  Rich turned to look at Kate, his eyes pleading. “I guess if you like that type,” he said, adding a nonchalant shrug.

  It was interesting to Kate that his indifference stung, but it did, and not just a little bee sting either. It was more like the one you’d get from a scorpion the size of a Scion. And the last thing Kate wanted to do was reflect on the whys of that dangerous question.

  “Is she your type, Rich? Do I have a reason to worry?” The interrogation continued.

  “Shea, I’m not having this fight with you again.”

  “That’s not an….” Her voice was cut off as Rich closed his phone.

  The ginormous purple elephant was again seated uncomfortably in between them, and words started coming out of Kate’s mouth before she could censor them. “Feel free to tell me to mind my own business.”

  His jaw was still grinding his molars into nubs as he said, “Okay.”

  Well, don’t stop now, Kate! She took a deep breath, and added another elephant to the herd. “Have you always been so miserable?”

  The hard lines of his face turned even harder. His eyes narrowed, teal flashed to navy, and his tight lips formed a frown. “Excuse me?”

  “I’ve heard the way she speaks to you, Rich.” Kate twisted in the seat to face him. “Nobody deserves to be treated that way, least of all you.”

  Rich sniffed, coughed, and ran the back of his hand across his eyes, then gripped the steering wheel hard.

  Kate wondered if this topic had nearly driven him to tears and she felt horrible, his agonizing silence added to her guilt. “I’ve noticed you don’t wear a ring,” she whispered. “If I had a sexy husband, I wouldn’t ever let him take it off.” She laughed awkwardly as she realized she’d just called him sexy.

  He glanced at her sideways with an evil smirk on his lips, but didn’t comment further on the fact that he’d picked up on her slip of the tongue.

  “Is that your choice or hers?” Kate continued.

  Rich turned and his eyes met hers. Behind the beautiful, oceanic blue was a sadness she’d never seen before. Her heart broke for the man sitting next to her. “Would you like to hear the story, Kate?”

  It wasn’t until he broke off their stare to concentrate on the road that she was able to breathe, and attempted to choke down the lump that had worked its way into her throat. She whispered, “Only if you want to tell me?”

  He smiled, but sadness still remained in his eyes. “How about we go get some lunch, and I’ll tell you all the sordid details.”

  Guilt boiled in her veins. “I’m sorry, I…”

  “It’s okay.”

  Kate was beyond curious. But… “I don’t want you to tell me anything you don’t want to. I didn’t mean to pry.”

  The smirk was back as he said, “It will be nice to finally get it all off my chest. I’ve not even told Nate the story. He thinks I just stopped wearing the damn piece of platinum because I’d had enough.”

  “Have you had enough?” It appeared that the you-can’t-ask-that sensor in Kate’s brain had been turned off.

  He pulled the vehicle into a parking space outside a sandwich shop and turned off the engine. His body shifted toward her and he took her hand in his. Heat spread from the point of contact.

  The contact should have made Kate uncomfortable, even angry. Instead her heart was pounding in her chest, and her breathing had all but stopped. Her brain was screaming at her to pull away. She didn’t though, she just stared into his face anticipating the answer she hoped was coming.

  Kate’s question echoed in Rich’s head. “Have you had enough?” That was the same thing he’d been asking himself for the last twelve months. The first year of their marriage had been loving, full of laughter and enjoyment. But just before Shea quit her job at Raskey’s Law Firm, everything changed. She became cold, distant, mean spirited, and paranoid.

  Again Kate’s sweet voice returned to his thoughts, “Have you had enough?”

  His body acted on its own and shifted toward Kate, taking her small hand into his. The contact made his heart skip a beat, and as he looked into her eyes, he felt more passion for her than he’d ever felt for anyone in his life. He leaned in toward her and held his breath while his eyes drifted closed in anticipation.

  “Rich,” she breathed, “you were going to tell me why you don’t wear a ring.” Her big, innocent eyes blinked.

  “Right, my ring.” He forced his back against the door and rubbed at his finger. “Shea came home from work one day and said that she couldn’t work at Raskey’s anymore. She insisted that things were just too hard. She’d always loved that job, and her quitting seemed to have come out of nowhere, but she was adamant that…”

  “Did she have an affair?” Kate cringed as the question flew from her mouth.

  “No, why would you…?” He stopped mid-sentence as Kate’s question sunk in. Had Shea had an affair? That would explain the distance, the anger, the paranoia—well, everything. “I don’t think so.”

  “Sorry, I won’t interrupt anymore.” She acted as though she were locking her lips and tossed the invisible key over her shoulder.

  “It’s okay.” Rich began to contemplate the possibility as he continued the story. “She refused to even go back for two weeks, she was just done. We argued. We fought, but she never would give me an answer. She simply left a great paying job with full benefits to go work at the Gap in the mall for nearly minimum wage.”

  “Weird.” Kate shrugged.

  “Yeah, it was. Then a new reporter started, I came home from work and she asked if I had met her. Of course I had, and Shea went ballistic. She started yelling crazy things about me cheating on her. Which, I promise you, Kate, I never have. Never. No matter how bad things were between us.”

  Kate nodded and blinked slowly, letting out a controlled breath. Her reaction made him wonder if she was actually relieved he’d remained faithful.

  “Anyway, the next morning while I was in the shower
, Shea came into the bedroom and took my ring off the dresser. She cut it with some type of clippers and then beat the pieces with a hammer. When I got out, there was nearly nothing left of it.”

  Kate gasped. “Oh, my.”

  “So that’s the reason I don’t wear a ring.” He held up his hand to show off his naked fingers.

  “Did she ever say why she did that?” Kate’s head shook back and forth in disbelief.

  “She said that the pieces signified what I’d done to her heart.”

  “Goodness.”

  Talking to Kate was so easy—so natural—and in the next few minutes, Rich had managed to spill the horrifying details of the last year of his life. “Then the night of Jordan’s bachelor party, I came home completely plastered and woke up to find that she’d shaved my…my boys.”

  Her eyes widened and a strangled giggle burst out of her. “I’m sorry. It’s not funny, but it…”

  Rich chuckled. “It sounds like something that would happen in a frat house, huh?”

  “Well, yeah.” Her face turned serious for a moment as her eyes stared at him. “I’m seriously worried about your safety, Rich.”

  There was a long pause while his eyes drank in the sincerity of her face. He cleared his throat and continued, “That night I started sleeping in the den with the door locked. I stopped at Home Depot and bought a deadbolt that only I have the key to.” There was no need to tell her that he’d slipped up a few weeks ago.

  “That’s good,” she sighed. “Was that all she did?” She rested her hand on her knee and leaned toward him.

  He laughed. “You have no idea what that woman has put me through. Once, she stuck condoms to my car.” It surprised him that the laughter continued—and that it was alright. It felt so natural to confide in the angel sitting next to him. “It wasn’t just wrapped ones either. She’d unwrapped every single one and stuck them all over my car.”

  She raised a hand up to cover her mouth, trying to stifle a giggle. “Oh, Rich, I’m so sorry. No wonder you’re miserable.”

  “I’m not completely miserable,” he corrected. “I do have some really great things in my life.”

  “I am so glad to hear that.” She looked truly relieved. “Do you want to talk about those? It’s probably a happier list.”

  “Well…” You. “I love my job.” You. “I have some really good friends.” You. “I’m close to my mom and dad.” You.

  Her eyes dropped to her lap and watched as her fingers played with a loose string. Painful silence stretched on for only a few seconds, which felt like lifetimes, before she reached for the door. He opened his and walked around to meet her. He wanted to take her hand and escort her into the sub shop where they would have lunch. Instead, he jammed his hands into his pockets and purposely kept his distance.

  As he held the door to the restaurant open, she turned to him, “Thank you for telling me all of that.”

  “Thank you for letting me unload all my baggage onto your shoulders.”

  “If you ever need me, I’m here.” She wrapped her tiny hand around his forearm, sending a delicious warmth surging from the point of contact, and squeezed. “I want you to know you can count on me.”

  Having her hand on his skin made his body react in ways it never had. He looked down into her eyes which were so clear he swore that he could see directly into her soul, and fought the urge to kiss her.

  “What can I get you?” came the voice from the kid behind the counter.

  “Um.” Kate looked at the menu above the head of the college student waiting to take their order.

  Rich ordered his usual turkey on wheat, and waited at the register while Kate told them what she wanted on her sandwich. “I’m paying for both orders,” he told the girl with the blond ponytail. “And give me two large drinks.” He swiped his card as Kate came up to his side and started to pull out her wallet. “I got it.”

  “How gentlemanly of you,” she laughed. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  They found a table and he took the cups. “What would you like?”

  “Coke, please.”

  He hurried to fill the cups, cursing the slow machine, and returned to the table. “Here you go.”

  “Thanks.” She took the cup from him and their fingers brushed just enough to make his heart to skip a beat. “Be careful, Rich, people will think we’re on a date.”

  “Would that be so bad?” he asked hopefully.

  The question hung in the air for nearly an eternity. Her big green eyes just stared into his. “Um,” she paused for an uncomfortable second, “well, yes, it would—”

  If that don’t take the wind out of a guys’ sails.

  “—since you’re married and I’m…going to be.”

  Rich shook his head, slumped into the chair across from her, and ignored the fact that he’d just humiliated himself in front of an angel. “Thank you for letting me talk about my disaster of a marriage.”

  “Anytime.” She smiled. “You can tell me anything.”

  That I love you? There was no way he could ignore the feelings that were consuming every cell of his body. He reached over and curled his fingers around her hand. “Thank you, Kate. It’s nice to know that you’re willing to listen to me whine about the last miserable year of my life.”

  “Which reminds me of my original question—” Her eyes twinkled the most beautiful shade of jade. “—have you had enough?”

  “I don’t know,” he told her honestly as he pulled his hand back. The movement was surprisingly painful. “I’ve never been a quitter, and I vowed to…. Better or worse, you know?”

  “Can it get any worse?”

  “Probably not.”

  “Do you still love her?”

  Another question he’d asked himself a thousand times a day for the last year. “A piece of me will always love the woman that I married, but it’s a tiny piece.” He paused and played with the wadded up straw wrapper, trying to decipher his thoughts, his feelings. He must have been silent for a little longer than she would have liked because she cleared her throat and changed the subject.

  “Are you doing the family thing tomorrow?”

  Tomorrow. He groaned. “Yeah, it’s the year for her family. It’s nice because they’re local, so we don’t have to travel.”

  “But…?” she said, sensing that there was a big ‘but’ coming.

  “Her family isn’t exactly supportive of our marriage, and some of them are a bit unstable.”

  She raised an eyebrow and the corner of her mouth. “Like Shea?”

  “No, not like…” He was surprised by his defensive response. She took a bite of her sandwich and chewed slowly, her eyes avoiding his. “Yes, just like Shea,” he finally whispered.

  Kate finished chewing and took a long, slow sip of her drink. “Sorry to imply…”

  “No, it’s okay.” He shook his head. “I’ve just been defending her for so long that it’s become a habit.”

  “Rich, how can you defend the fact that she mangled your wedding band, or that she sticks condoms to your car, or shaves your…” Color started to rise in her cheeks. “Your boys. There’s no excuse for that. I’d never do anything like that to Jesse. Ever.”

  Hearing his name on her lips and seeing the adoration in her eyes caused real, physical pain as though someone had reached in and was using brass knuckles to massage his heart. Rich cursed his memory as it chose that moment to recall Jesse swinging her around in circles the day of the Amber Alert.

  A loud slurping noise brought him out of his agonizing thoughts. Kate smiled, her pale skin turned an exquisite shade of pink under the dusting of freckles on her cheeks. “Excuse me. I guess I need to get some more.” She held up her cup, shook the ice still in it, and slid the chair backward.

  “I can get it for you.” He started to stand.

  She shook her head. “No, you need to finish up. I have to get this story edited.”

  They finished lunch, the newscast, and finally the
shift without saying much to each other. Sitting alone in the photographer’s lounge, Rich’s mind replayed everything that had happened today. She’d been so quiet, probably worried she’d offended him, or said more than she should. The truth was, she’d given him a lot to think about.

  His marriage was awful. He was miserable. But the most important thing he’d learned today was that he couldn’t live without Kate Callahan in his life. After only a few weeks Rich loved her, and had no right to. She was happy and in love with someone else. He was certainly at a crossroads in his life. Was he ready to give up on Shea? Was their future dead?

  Kate’s laughter rang through the newsroom, and he looked up to see her sitting on the corner of Olivia’s desk, the two of them laughing at something on the computer screen.

  There was another path he could take.

  But would it be any less painful than the one he was already on? There was no guarantee that the woman he loved would love him back. Chances were better than not, she would probably stay devoted to the man already in her life.

  “Goodbye, everybody,” Kate’s voice called.

  With a nervous heart, he quickly stood up, ran his fingers through his hair and, as she turned to smile at him, his decision was made. The two of them walked into the parking lot together. It hurt that he wasn’t going to see her tomorrow. He missed her already. His arms ached to pull her into a hug, to show her exactly how much she meant to him.

  “Well, goodnight, Rich.” She flashed him a smile. “Good luck tomorrow with your house full of crazies. I’ll be thinking about you.”

  “I’ll be thinking of you too…while you’re working.” While you’re eating. While you’re sleeping. Then thoughts of who she was sleeping with crowded into his brain. Utterly painful.

  She began to walk away from him, toward her car, and he hurried to close the distance. “Oh, Kate.”

  “Yeah.” She turned and her hair fanned out before settling around her face.

  “You aren’t pretty,” he blurted. Her brows narrowed in confusion as her face fell. He shook his head, his lips lifting at the corners. “I think you’re absolutely beautiful.” He winked at her. “Definitely my type.”