by M. R. Polish
My throat constricted. I checked the ones from Vahn first. Good morning beautiful. Can’t stop thinking about U. I deflated when I realized he sent those that morning and probably thought I was ignoring him. I texted back real quick: Sry. Slept in, just woke up. Long nite. I chewed on my lip trying to think of something to text back that would be equally flirtatious as him thinking of me. That happens when I dream of U. Okay, so it was somewhat corny, but at least he’d know I wasn’t ignoring him.
Alison’s text said she made it home and that she’d call me later. That meant I had one left. One that I didn’t want to open. I held my breath and swiped the screen opening his text. Bad things happen when U say no. U have 1 more chance. The noises I thought I heard before waking sounded in my head like alarms.
My heart beat so fast I thought it would explode. I stared at the message re-reading it over and over, making my anxiety worse. Jumping out of bed, I clung to my phone like a security blanket. I didn’t want to be home alone. I didn’t want to be anywhere alone.
Quietly, I tiptoed down the short hall. I pressed my back up against the wall and tried to calm my heart before it exploded. Before all my courage dissolved, I peeked around the corner into the kitchen. No one was there. A flood of relief rolled through me. I checked the living room and the front door—which was locked. I was just paranoid. Steve messed with my mind and now I was doing nothing more than playing into his game.
After a hot shower, I hurried to get dressed and put a little makeup on. Today was the day; I was going to go to the police. I had a couple of texts saved on my phone. That should be enough, shouldn’t it?
A loud clank came from the kitchen and I froze. I grabbed my phone from the counter and stuck it in my back pocket. As quietly as I could, I tiptoed out of the bathroom and down the hall.
The sound of water running made me jump. I peeked around the corner and saw Steve standing at the kitchen sink. My whole body shook. He wasn’t here earlier. I checked. No one was here. “What are you doing here?” I tried to sound brave, but my voice broke.
He turned and smiled at me. “Bout time you woke up. I was beginning to wonder if our whole day would be ruined. You look beautiful.”
I wanted to gag at his compliment. “You didn’t answer my question.”
“Well, I wanted to make things up to you, show you that I’m not a bad guy. I deserve another chance.”
“So you break into my apartment?” I reached to my back pocket and hoped that my fingers would touch the right numbers. Damn touchscreens. They should have a 911 emergency button to make it easier.
“It wasn’t hard. I waited for Alison to leave. Not good company if you ask me.”
“Well, I’m not asking. Why are you here, Steve? I already told you no. I’m with someone else.”
“Oh, I heard you, but I’m giving you a second chance. You could do way better than Vahn.”
I tensed up. “I could do way worse, too.” Please let me have gotten the right number, I chanted to myself as I tried to remain calm. “You need to leave.”
“You don’t mean that.”
I circled around him so my back faced the living room—and the front door. I contemplated if I could make it to the door in time before he caught me. “I do mean that.” I inched my way a little farther out of the kitchen.
“Going somewhere?”
I shook my head. “No, but you are. I said leave, now.”
I heard a loud rumble outside. Steve looked toward the front door at the same time. “It sounds like we have company.”
“Keeley!” Vahn hollered as he burst through the door and I ran over to him.
Steve leaned against the kitchen counter. “Looks like we do have company. To what do I owe this pleasure?”
Vahn placed a protective arm around my middle and held me close. “I was already on my way over here to pick her up for lunch, but I saw your car parked out front. Keeley’s my girlfriend. You need to leave her apartment and leave her alone.” His voice was deep and full of authority, but was it enough to make Steve listen? Steve raised his arms in defeat. “Fine, but, Keeley, you’ve been warned.”
Vahn let go of me and darted to Steve. “Don’t you threaten her, you piece of shit!” He grabbed Steve by the collar and stared at him, inches away from his face.
Steve pushed Vahn away, but not before Vahn clocked him in the nose. Blood trickled down his face. Vahn pulled his arm back to take another shot.
“Vahn, don’t,” I pleaded. I knew he was tough enough to take Steve on, but the whole team was another story and what happened to Alison scared me—not to mention the stories she told me about everyone else. I pulled at Vahn’s arm and he backed away from Steve. “The police are on the way, I’ve already called.”
Steve fixed his shirt and smiled at us as he wiped his nose with the back of his hand. “You’ll regret that.” He walked off and I held on to the counter to help support me. My legs were so weak I was surprised I was still standing.
Vahn’s hand was on my lower back almost instantly. “Are you okay? Did he hurt you?”
“I’m fine, just shaken up a bit.”
“You called the cops?”
I nodded. “Yeah. I think the call went through, I dialed but never talked to anyone.”
He pulled me in for a hug. “I’m just glad you’re okay.”I was still shaking. The confrontation jumbled my nerves more than I cared to admit.
Sirens sounded and within seconds, two uniformed officers came through the door.
After we talked to the police and filled out reports, the cops left, reassuring us that they would find Steve and bring him in for questioning. Small sparks of hope rose but nothing would be better until he was in jail.
“So, what do we do now?”
Vahn ran his hands through his hair. “I don’t know. Every idiot leaves evidence. We just need to find his. Maybe you should call your dad? He might have advice.”
I shook my head. “No. I’m not ready to call him. I don’t think I can go through disappointing him again.”
“Okay, so we don’t call your dad. That’s alright. We have a report with the police now, so that’s something. Maybe they’ll get farther than they did when I went to them with Christie’s death.”
I chewed on the inside of my cheek and nodded. “I hope so.”
He released a deep breath. “Hey, why don’t you go put on those painting clothes and we can get out of here, release some stress.”
It was late afternoon by the time we made it to the wall. Vahn was right, leaving the apartment helped a bit with my stress level.
Vahn grabbed a couple of new cans of paint from the trunk of his car.
“What are you doing?”
He smiled as he set them down beside the wall. “I think today is a good day to work on the painting, so that’s what we’re gonna do. It’s a good way to relax and just forget about everything that’s going on.”
“Oh no, trust me, you don’t want to see what happens when I use a paintbrush.”
“I’ll teach you,” he said as he lifted the lid off a paint can, revealing the perfect shade of crimson. “Come here.”
I drug my feet across the patchy grass and over to him. “Seriously, I’ll ruin your whole wall.”
He came up behind me and urged me closer to the mural, then placed the paintbrush in my hand. “We’re going to work on the wilted petals today.”
Together, we bent over and dipped the brush in the paint, carefully wiping the sides on the edge of the can. He held my hand and expertly made swift strokes, filling the petal in. We bent again, dipping in a gray color this time. Again, he held my hand, making feather-light strokes along the edges, creating the wilted effect. I watched as my hand helped create the most exquisite petal.
“What do the wilted ones represent? I mean, I look at the whole picture and I see life and death, but that could be just me.”
He put the brush down and wrapped his arms around me. He spoke softly next to my ear. “The rose is life,
it’s happiness, it’s love. Life ends, and with it happiness and love feel like they end too. So the wilted petals are my grief, they are my life’s happiness falling away.”
I leaned back, resting my head against his shoulder. “And what about the river and the garden in the clouds?”
“The river is tears. We cry and wash away what life throws at us, so in this case, the petals. But in the end, just like the garden, we can begin again. Grow new life, new love, new happiness. So the garden, to me, is you.”
We stood there together staring at the wall. The new petal shone wetly over the others, reminding me that my pain was still fresh. Not as fresh as it was nearly two years ago, but it was still there.
“It’s beautiful.”
We stayed for a bit longer while I told him all that Alison divulged to me. He paced around the car before picking up a brush. I knew he was upset and was sorting through things, so I hopped up onto the hood and watched as Vahn worked some more on the painting. His motions were so flawless that it was mesmerizing. Dusk settled in around us, making it hard to paint much more. We worked quietly together closing up all the paint cans and cleaning the brushes. After everything was put away, we laid together on the ground in front of the car and watched as the last rays of sunlight sparkled on the fresh paint, the fading light leaving shadows along the wall. It was the best sunset ever.
Vahn laced his fingers with mine. Tonight was different. Tonight I wanted nothing more than to just be with him. He rolled over and half leaned on me. “You are my garden, my rose.” He lowered his lips to mine. Our kiss spoke words neither one of us could say. This, whatever it was, whatever we had, was worth fighting for. This was something I wasn’t going to give up. Not ever.
Nine
Sunday morning I woke up to Vahn calling. “Hey, beautiful. Sleep well?”
I smiled the biggest smile ever. “Yeah. I had good dreams and all.”
“Oh, so you dreamt of me, huh. That’s good to know. Maybe you should tell me about these dreams. You never know, maybe I can make them come true.”
I laughed and leaned back on the bed, crossing my legs. “I think I’ll just keep them a secret for now. So what about you? How’d you sleep?”
“I’d have slept better if you were here, but I made do.”
I laughed again. “You sure are chipper this morning.”
“Yeah, I had a lot of time to think last night. I’m not taking no for an answer, you’re coming with me today for some much-needed fun.”
I raised my brow, even though he couldn’t see me. “Fun? What about Steve and all that crap? I thought we needed to figure out a plan. We don’t even know if the police found him, or if he’s still out there, ready to make my life miserable.”
“Keeley, we can have a day for just the two of us. In fact, we need it. We both need to get away from all the drama.”
“Okay, fine, but what kind of fun are you thinking?”
He chuckled. “I thought you’d never ask. How much do you like roller coasters?”
I couldn’t turn down an invite to spend time with Vahn, or to have a little fun riding some rides. He picked me up within the hour and drove a little way up north until the roller coasters could be seen from the freeway.
A date and an amusement park was a great idea. We strolled through the park once before deciding on which ride to start with. After about ten rides, we climbed aboard the white wooden roller coaster, and it turned out to be my favorite. Vahn tried to coax me into riding the Spider, but as we watched from the fence, I chickened out. Too much spinning made me sick and that ride definitely had its fair share. We walked hand in hand across the park and stood in line for the Ferris Wheel. It wasn’t my favorite ride, but I wanted to prove to myself that I could be brave—at least on one ride that he wanted. Heights weren’t something I was afraid of, but falling to my death from that far up was.
I gripped the side with white knuckles. This Ferris Wheel was high—like over the tops of trees so you can see the whole city—high. It was a great view, but all I could think of was how the tiny seat could fall off its hinges and we’d crash to the earth.
Vahn snuggled closer to me, making the seat swing.
“Don’t move,” I shrieked. “Please don’t make it rock, I hate that.”
“Keeley, why didn’t you just say you were scared of heights? We could’ve ridden something else.”
I glared at him. “I’m not afraid of heights, just this stupid ride. Obviously, because I rode those other rides. I don’t like how this one rocks miles above the ground.” I looked down then back at him. “Okay, maybe not miles, but it’s far enough to die. And, its slow so I’ll see it coming, the roller coaster is fast enough that I’d never know until it happened.”
He laughed and held his hands up. “Okay, okay. So, as your boyfriend, it’s my duty to take your mind off the fear, right?”
“What did you have planned? Kiss me senseless, like in the movies?”
He carefully scooted even closer, wrapping an arm around me. He lifted my chin so I had to look into his eyes and not the contraption people called a ride. “As a matter of fact, that’s exactly what I want to do.” His voice was deep and husky as he whispered, sending chills up my spine.
He nestled up against my neck and trailed kisses down my collarbone. “Vahn, I’m not sure this is appropriate.”
He chuckled. “I don’t think it is either.” He continued his teasing until I tensed up. We stopped at the top of the ride. “Relax. It’s just you and me…” His lips met mine, breaking off any more conversation.
Whatever magic he had in his kiss worked because I never felt the ride move again and the world faded away until it was as he said—just him and me.
The clearing of a throat broke the spell and I looked up to see an impatient worker waiting for us to get off the ride so he could let others on.
The immediate creep of a blush heated my cheeks as Vahn took my hand and whisked me away from the mixture of giggles and disappointed shaking heads.
As soon as we were clear of the ride, he pulled me off to the side where the shelter of trees hid us. I started laughing so hard. “Oh my gosh, I can’t believe that just happened.”
Vahn lifted his hand to cup my face and moved my hair with his other. “I can’t either. I never thought I’d end up with someone as incredible as you.” He leaned down and kissed me again, this time with even more passion than before. His arms wrapped around me and held me close to his body.
He pulled away and looked around. “I think we better go find a water ride. I need to cool off before I can’t stop.”
We took off running, both of us laughing. At that moment, life was perfect. I was alive, and Vahn was the reason why.
He drove me home around midnight. I didn’t want to go home, didn’t want the perfect day to end. He walked me to my door and glanced around the dark apartment from the entrance, checking for anyone lurking in the shadows.
“I think it’s all clear.” He pulled me to him and kissed me. It was light and soft, threatening my control on my emotions. I broke off the kiss, afraid I wouldn’t be able to if we didn’t stop right then.
He chuckled. “Goodnight.”
I smiled. “Night.”
I closed the door and locked it behind me, watching him drive away through the small window. I sighed and smiled happily as I walked to the kitchen.
“Have a good time tonight? You know, I would have checked the whole house before leaving you.”
I let out a small scream as I watched Steve emerge from the shadows around the corner of my room. A place neither Vahn nor I thought to check. “What are you doing here?”
“I just came by to make sure you made it home okay. So, you let him him touch you? Kiss you?” Steve came closer. I scooted back and inched my way to the front door. “You know, the police came to my house looking for me. They took me down to the station for questioning. Funny, they asked me about things that made me wonder where you got your information. Luck
y for me, they didn’t hold me long. Oh, I got a warning about leaving you alone, but that’s something I just can’t do. So I will ask you again. Did you let him kiss you?”
A horrible feeling settled in my stomach. “It doesn’t matter if I let him kiss me or not. He’s my boyfriend, not you.”
“When you’re my girl, it all matters,” he replied. He came even closer and I backed up against my door.
“I’m not your girl. You need to leave, Steve.” I felt around behind me for the doorknob. I twisted and opened it quickly, darting outside.
He ran out and caught me, grabbing my arm roughly, pulling me to him. I swung my other hand, hitting him across the face. “Let me go,” I yelled. He grabbed my hand, put my wrists together above my head, and pushed me back against the wall.
He pressed his mouth on mine so harshly that I could feel a bruise already forming. I cried out against his lips and struggled to break free of his hold.
A bright light fell over us. I cried out again and tried to raise my knee high enough to make him let me go, but he pressed me harder against the building.
“Is everything okay?”
Thank God, someone was there to help. I struggled harder and Steve finally let up. “Say anything and I will kill your boyfriend,” he whispered roughly under his breath.
I let the tears fall as he let my hands go, only to hold on to one of them tightly. I wanted more than anything to run away. I pleaded with my eyes to the stranger who wielded the flashlight.
“You okay, Miss?” the guy asked again.
I cried silent tears with my lips pressed tightly together, and nodded slowly.
“Yeah, we were just making up. A little argument, ya know?” Steve sounded as if nothing bad was happening.
The guy stared at me a little longer. “I was asking her.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat. I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t say anything at all. I told myself I’d never be afraid of someone, but at that moment, I was afraid not only me but for Vahn as well.
