Black Bounds

by Charlotte Byrd

“What’s going on? Am I under arrest?”

  “We need to ask you more questions at the station, Tom,” the cop says, holding his head down as he puts him in the back of his cruiser.

  “You bitch!” Tom yells at me as he slams the door shut.

  I inhale and exhale deeply as I feel the weight of the world lift off my shoulders. Aiden turns me around to face him. He buries his hands in my hair and tugs slightly, relieving all the pressure that has built up.

  “Mmm-mmm,” I moan.

  “You’re amazing,” he says, pressing his lips onto mine. Slowly, he parts my lips and runs his tongue over mine. Whatever tension remains in my body, all but dissipates.

  “I love you,” I whisper.

  “I love you, too.”

  Chapter 13 - Ellie

  When we go to see Caroline…

  Instead of returning to the cottage and getting some sleep, Aiden and I decide to go straight to the hospital to see about Caroline. Despite the fact that I didn’t get a minute of shut-eye last night, I know that there’s no way that I could get any rest without seeing her first. I have to know if she’s alright.

  Instead of calling another driver to take us there, Aiden made a few calls and a sleek, brand new silver BMW arrived for him to use direct from the local rental place. I had no idea that you could even rent a car without going to the lot, but I guess anything is possible for the right price.

  On the way over, Aiden and I don’t really talk. I find a pop station on the radio and turn it up. Out of the corner of my eye, I see the sour expression on his face. It feels like it’s about something more than what just happened with Tom and the police. Something more visceral. Primal even.

  “What’s wrong?” I ask.

  “No, nothing.” He shrugs it off.

  “Tell me,” I insist. “Are you worried about Caroline?”

  “Well, yes, of course I am.”

  “But your facial expression, just now, it’s not about that is it?”

  He flashes a coy smile at me.

  “Are you hungry? Do you want to drive through Starbucks on the way?”

  “Yes, definitely. But don’t change the subject.”

  “Okay, fine. I’m not a huge fan of pop music.”

  Hmm. I’m actually taken aback by this.

  “And by not being a huge fan, I mean, I hate it.”

  I look over at him. He actually looks a little proud in announcing this.

  “What are you talking about?” I ask, shaking my head. “You mean, you don’t like…who? Beyonce? Taylor Swift? Bruno Mars?”

  Aiden shakes his head definitively. “No, I don’t.”

  “None of them? Or just one or two?” I ask. I still can’t believe what I’m hearing. Are these words actually coming out of his mouth?

  “Let’s just say that I’m more of a rock ’n roll kind of guy,” he says, shrugging.

  I stare at him. Dumbfounded.

  “Close your mouth, dear,” Aiden says, joking. He reaches out and physically lifts my chin up to the rest of the mouth.

  “I’m just shocked. I mean…I don’t even understand the words that you are saying.”

  “Well, what can I say?”

  “So, what kind of music do you like then?”

  “Um, let’s see. The classics mainly. Old bands. You know, Led Zeppelin, Yard Birds, the Rolling Stones. I have a bunch of their records at home.”

  “Records?”

  “Yep, I’m pretty old school.”

  “Don’t you need a turn table, too?” I ask. “Or whatever that’s called.”

  “Yep, and I’ve got that, too.”

  I shake my head and laugh as we pull into the Starbucks drive-through. Luckily, pumpkin spice lattes are still in season because I don’t think I can handle any more surprises today. I also order a breakfast wrap.

  “Do you want me to put something else on?” I ask as we pull away with our hot drinks and breakfasts in hand.

  “No, it’s fine. I’m just warning you…for the future.”

  I laugh. “Well, speaking of the future, I’m not sure how I feel about being involved with someone who doesn’t like Beyonce.”

  “Oh, really?” Aiden raises his eyebrows. “Well, we’re in agreement then. I’m not sure how I feel about being involved with someone who does.”

  We take a sip of our drinks and break out laughing. As we pull into the hospital parking lot, I suddenly realize that I really needed this. A break from all the doom and gloom.

  “This is nice,” I say. “It’s a nice break from everything else that happened today. Oh my God, I can’t believe how long this day has been already.”

  “I can’t even imagine,” Aiden says. “I mean, at least I got some sleep. But you…you must be exhausted.”

  Yep, bing, bing, bing. In fact, I’m more than exhausted. I’m actually shocked that I”m still standing up straight. I’ve been up for more hours than I can count and haven’t laid down once since the party. And given everything that happened, and how much sleep I require just to function like a normal person, I’m pretty sure that once I do go to sleep, I will be asleep for a very, very long time.

  Once we pull into the hospital parking lot, the mood in the car grows more serious. Neither of us know what to say or what to expect. I’m just glad that Aiden is here for me. I don’t think I could go in there all by myself.

  “I hate hospitals,” I say on our walk over. “Actually, I’m sort of terrified of them.”

  “You are?”

  “Well, I’ve never even been in one. I mean, not overnight or for any other reason. So I just sort of associate them…with bad things.”

  “Yes, bad things happen in hospitals. But good things happen, too. People get better.”

  I think about that for a moment. “Do you think Caroline will?”

  “Yes, I do,” he says quickly. I don’t know if he said it that way as a show of confidence or if he actually believes it. But I hope to God that he’s right.

  When we get inside, Aiden takes charge and asks the nurses about Caroline. He gives them all of Caroline’s info. Even though we are not technically family, he sweet talks them into letting us through. Besides, Caroline’s family isn’t anywhere near Maine and I’m the closest thing to family that they have.

  The younger, doe-eyed nurse who looks like she has been working for a full twelve-hour shift already shows us to her room. I follow behind Aiden all up to the point where we reach her room, and then he turns around and pushes me forward.

  “She’ll want to see you first,” he whispers in my ear. Before I know what’s going on, I find myself inside. The lighting is harsh and unpleasant, but the smile that pops up on Caroline’s face when she sees me is genuine and bright.

  “Oh my God.” I run over to her and grab her hand. I try not to squeeze too hard, but I can’t help myself. I can’t even believe that she’s awake. And alive.

  “How are you? Are you okay?”

  Caroline shakes her head with great difficulty. “I’m good,” she whispers. Her voice is raspy and forced. She’s clearly not good, but even in this state she’s in much better shape than I ever imagined she would be. I mean, yes, of course, I was remaining positive and optimistic. But it wasn’t until I actually saw her alive and smiling that I realized just how lost I thought she was.

  I hug her and squeeze her hand and she continues to smile at me. When I finally pull away, my eyes are brimming in tears and I turn away to wipe them.

  “You’re such a crybaby,” she says, smiling.

  “I know,” Aiden says. “Has she always been this way?”

  “Pretty much.”

  “I was just so worried about you,” I say quickly. “I just saw you lying there…”

  I can’t bear to finish the statement. It’s all too much and tears well up in my eyes again. I turn away from her and bury my head in Aiden’s shoulder. I feel like such an idiot. And a child. Here I am bawling my eyes out in front of someone who actually suffered. She was the one who we
nt through all that and I’m the one who is begging for attention. But of course, that’s not true. Attention is the last thing I want. My heart is just aching for my friend and I want to take all her pain away, but unfortunately, I can’t. When I finally compose myself enough to turn around, Caroline clears her throat and points to something on the nearby table. I don’t know what she means, but Aiden does. He walks over immediately and hands her the large jug with a straw. Caroline takes a few sips of water and wets her lips. I notice how cracked and brittle they are. Almost bleeding from being so dry.

  “Do you want some Chapstick? Or gloss?” I ask.

  “No, not right now. Thanks. They have just been pumping me with so many drugs that it really dried everything out.”

  Caroline takes another few sips and licks her lips for good measure.

  “The cops were here earlier,” she says after a moment.

  “They were?” I ask.

  “Two of them. One was a detective. He wanted to talk to me right after I woke up.”

  “How did it go?” Aiden asks.

  “Well, I was still pretty groggy. Not entirely sure what I said to him.”

  “What do you mean?” I ask.

  She shrugs. “I’m just kidding. Of course.”

  I smile.

  “They did a rape kit,” she adds.

  I nod. I want to know more about it, like what exactly did that entail. But I don’t know if she’s in the mood to talk about it. And I don't want to do anything to make this process worse. I try to think of some polite way to go about talking to her about all of this.

  “So…what do you remember about last night?” I ask. “That is, if you want to talk about it at all. Because you totally don’t have to.”

  Caroline cracks a smile.

  “Your girlfriend is pretty neurotic, you know that?” she asks Aiden. He smiles at her.

  “Yes, I’m getting that sense.”

  None of us say anything for a few moments. I think that Aiden and I just wait for her to continue, in any way that she sees fit.

  “The thing is that I don’t remember much,” she says after a minute. “Taylor and I got into a fight.”

  “Taylor?” Aiden asks. “The guy you met on my yacht?”

  “Yes. The guy who I thought was a nice guy, but then I caught him flirting with another girl. When I made a scene, another girl came up to me and said that he gave her his number earlier in the night.”

  “Oh my God, that’s awful,” I say.

  “Well, you know, that’s what you get for trying to date a rich asshole who would buy a woman at an auction, right?” Caroline says, rolling her eyes. It takes her a moment to remember herself.

  “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that. Present company excluded, of course,” she says to Aiden.

  “None taken.” He shrugs and flashes a wide smile. “I get it. Totally.”

  “So what happened then?” I ask.

  “Well, I was drowning my sorrows at the bar. Tom came over. We started talking about this and that. His issues with Carrie and her parents. Then we decided to go somewhere more private, to one of the rooms at the other end of the house. When I finished my drink, he offered to bring me another.”

  Okay, so far, nothing bad happened, I say to myself. So, how the hell did it all go so wrong?

  “Well, that’s when things get a little blurry,” Caroline says. “After I had that other drink, I didn’t feel very good. And Tom helped me back to my room. And I don’t remember anything after that.”

  “Nothing?” I ask.

  “No.”

  I feel all color drain from my face.

  “What happened?” Caroline asks.

  I don’t want to tell her, but she deserves to know the truth. Aiden nudges me a little.

  I take a deep breath and tell her what I saw. Every detail. I want to gloss over some, but I don’t dare. She needs to know everything. At least, everything that I saw.

  Caroline listens carefully. By the look on her face I can tell that she doesn’t quite yet fully grasp what I’m saying.

  “So, you saw him on top of me?” she asks after a while. I nod.

  “And I was passed out?”

  “Yes.” I nod again. I don’t know how to make this better, but she has to know the truth.

  “I guess that’s why the cops were here. And why they wanted to do the rape kit,” she says absentmindedly. I nod again. She turns away from me. I pick up her hand. A single tear runs down her cheek.

  Chapter 14 - Ellie

  The numbness after the fact…

  Driving back from the hospital, Aiden and I aren’t sure what we should do. He wants to go back to New York as soon as possible. He says that he has a lot of work to get back to. But I know that he also wants to get back home because things have become rather complicated here. I mean, we are staying at the home of the people whose future son-in-law I just accused of rape. Don’t get me wrong. I want to go back home, too. Nothing would make me happier. But then there’s Caroline. She’s going to be in the hospital until at least tomorrow and I just don’t feel right leaving her. She is far from home, in a state she has never been to. I called her parents while I was at the hospital, but they won’t be able to come up until tomorrow.

  “I just don’t feel right leaving her,” I say to Aiden. “I guess you can go back to New York.”

  “No, I’m not letting you stay at that house all alone.”

  “Tom’s not there,” I say. The thought of staying at the house sends shivers through me. I don’t want to stay there myself. Too many bad memories. Besides, I’m not the biggest fan of Carrie Warrenhouse on a good day.

  “But, no, I don’t really want to stay there,” I say after a moment.

  “Let’s get a hotel,” Aiden says.

  “What?”

  “If you want to stay here to see Caroline more, that’s fine. I can do some work here. I just don’t want to stay at their house.”

  I smile at him. That’s perfect. The last thing I want to do is go back to that cottage ever again, let alone stay there. But we do have to get our things, at the very least.

  We arrive back the Warrenhouses’ estate half an hour later and head straight into our cottage. I pack up my bag, secretly thankful that I didn’t bring that much stuff. It takes Aiden less than a minute to get all of his. I do one last sweep of the place, including checking the bathroom and all the counters in case I forgot something. I already did a routine check of the outlets because I’m one to always forget a charger.

  “So, what should we do now?” I ask after I put my bag next to Aiden’s near the front door. I know that we need to tell the Warrenhouses that we’re leaving, but I really don’t want to. I barely know them as it is and things are quite awkward with Carrie already. She was my boss not too long ago and I did quit without much of a warning. I know that I had good reasons. I suddenly had money and she had been annoying me for way too long. But still, what happened last night is the last thing in the world that I expected.

  “We could leave and just call from the road or the hotel,” Aiden says. “But I think that would be a little rude.”

  I nod. He’s right, of course.

  “They did invite us to their party and they didn’t have anything to do with what happened to Caroline.”

  I nod again. I know all of this. Still, it doesn’t make any of it any easier. A feeling of utter dread descends upon me as I come closer and closer to the eventuality of talking to them again.

  “And Robert is very interested in investing in Owl,” Aiden adds. By the tone of his voice, I can tell that he’s doing his best in trying to convince himself to go talk to them as much as he’s trying to convince me.

  “Yes, you can’t jeopardize that,” I say decidedly. As far as I can tell, Robert Warrenhouse is Aiden’s Hail Mary. He’s the only thing that can save Owl from falling apart. He’s also the only thing that can probably save Aiden from losing his job.

  “C’mon, let’s just say good-bye and then w
e can get some rest,” I say as Aiden looks down at his feet to avoid eye contact with me.

  He sighs deeply as we walk out to our car with our bags.

  “You really don’t want to see them?” I ask, handing him my suitcase.

  “No, it’s not that,” he says with a shrug. “I just hate feeling like this. So, useless. Impotent even.”

  I nod.

  “The thing is I’ve run this company since I started it. All of the decisions have always been mine. Everything we did was up to me. I didn’t really need anyone before. At least, I thought I didn’t. And then, Blake did that. Basically ruined my whole business. And now, I find myself in this completely weak and insecure position. I need to go around begging people for money just so I can go back to doing my job.”

  “I’m so sorry.”

  “It’s just total shit, Ellie. I didn’t do anything wrong. I mean, maybe I trusted him too much. But I didn’t actually screw anyone over. And if the investors had just stayed put, they would have a lot more money in another year. We were on a trajectory to really blow away the competition. Like Facebook when they went public.”

  I nod and put my arm around him. I wish there were something I could do. But just like him, I feel completely helpless. In addition to feeling helpless, I also feel like it’s all my fault.

  “I’m just so sorry about everything that happened,” I say after a moment of silence. “I can’t help but feel like it’s all my fault.”

  “Your fault?” Aiden looks up at me. “What are you talking about?”

  “I don’t know. I shouldn’t have participated in that auction. I had a feeling that something was wrong.”

  “No, I was the one who was wrong. I thought it would be fun. Sexy. And now, I just feel like such a fool. I had no idea he would do any of that. I had no idea what an asshole Blake really is. Agh, it makes me so angry,” Aiden says, clenching his fists. “I feel like I could just punch something.”

  I put my hand on the small of his back and rub him a little.

  “C’mon, let’s just be nice and say good-bye. Get this over with,” I say.