by Izzy Cullen
~12~
I woke the next morning to my alarm blazing. I was feeling the effects of the busy weekend. I wanted to hit snooze, but knew it wasn’t an option. Instead I grabbed my phone and headed to the bathroom to take a shower. When I checked my phone, I saw a half dozen missed Face Time calls from Alex and a few texts messages. My heart sank; I had wanted to talk to him last night, but I was so tired I don’t know if I would have even had a decent conversation.
I scrolled through the texts and they were all the same. How he loved and missed me and hoped the week would go by quickly. I quickly shot him a quick text before I jumped in the shower. When I got out, my phone was ringing.
“Morning, beautiful.” It was Alex. I loved hearing his voice in the morning.
“Morning? Isn’t it like three in the morning there?” I was counting backwards in my head, and it had to be close to six in the morning now.
“Yeah, I got in a little bit ago. It has been a long and frustrating day.” I could almost hear defeat in his voice.
“All you need is a good night sleep. Tomorrow will be better. I miss you.” I was trying to pep him up, but I’ll admit I’m not good at it. I’m not the friend people go to if they need to be cheered up. I never know the right thing to say, and many times I stuck a foot in my mouth.
“It won’t be a better day. We are thousands of miles apart. I miss you like crazy.” He paused and let out a breath. “This Paige is a fucking trip, too. She can’t handle constructive criticism and freaked out when I brought in a voice coach today. I’m about to throw in the towel and head home.” I was feeling frustrated for him, but couldn’t help enjoy the flutter in my stomach when he referred to here as home.
“If anyone can get through to her and help, it is you. You are amazing with people. Just think that once you go to bed, it will only be six more wake ups until you are here.” Ever since I had the girls, I referred to time as wake ups.
“Six? That sounds like too many. I don’t know if I can wait that long,” Alex practically whined.
“You are whining right now. You are overly tired. It has been a long day and you have basically been up twenty four hours. Now go to bed. I love you, but you need sleep.” I was using my mom voice on him.
“Fine, I’ll call you when I break for lunch tomorrow. You should be done with school by then.” I made a kissing sound into the phone and hung up. I finished getting ready and went into my room to get dressed. The girls were already watching cartoons in my bed.
I ran over and jumped in with them, giving morning kisses like crazy and tickling them. I finally broke away and kicked them out so everyone could get dressed. I could hear the twins arguing over a dress and who it belonged to. I started staying out of those squabbles and thought they needed to learn to figure it out.
Once I got ready, I met them in the bathroom so I could fix their hair. We made it downstairs and I got the girls breakfast, my usual cereal and toast. They enjoyed it in the living room as I waited for my coffee to brew.
I heard the door open while I was in the kitchen and wasn’t sure who it was. I knew it had to be someone with a key. I was walking towards the door when I saw Lexi come in. Her eyes were puffy and she looked like crap. I didn’t have a chance to get anything out of my mouth before she came in for a hug and started crying. I didn’t know what to say, so I just held her. When the crying started to die down, I pulled away and held onto Lexi’s arms.
“What is going on? Are you okay?” I didn’t know what to think. All her grandparents had already passed.
“I can’t do it anymore, I’m done.” I was now thinking it was either Todd or her job, but I knew she loved her job. “Abby, he criticizes everything. I can’t wear certain clothes because he thinks I’m trying to pick up guys. If I go to the store and it takes longer than he thought it should, then he picks a fight. I’m seriously walking on egg shells all the time, waiting for him to explode.” She stopped talking and walked over to get a cup of coffee. I followed her.
“When did it start?” I understood how she felt. David was like this in the beginning, but towards the end he was always texting, wondering where I was and who I was with. I think back now and wonder if it was to control me or so I wouldn’t catch him fooling around.
“When he started talking about moving in.” Everything with them happened pretty quickly, but so did mine and Alex’s relationship, so I couldn’t talk. I just knew Todd didn’t care for me, and instead of making Lexi feel uncomfortable around both of us, I backed off a bit.
“Has he hurt you?”
“No, God no, but at times, I think if he did, it would be over and done with. He can literally bitch me out all night for a skirt or blouse I wore to work.” Lexi has always been independent. She had never changed for a guy as long as I knew her, and for her to be dealing with this as long as she had, actually surprised me. “At first I thought it was cute. A little jealousy here or there, but it is getting to the point it isn’t cute anymore.” She took a sip of her coffee. I wasn’t sure if I should talk or just listen. I went with listening for now. “I told him last night I couldn’t deal with it anymore and he needed to get out.” Her voice started to shake a bit so I reached over and grabbed her hand. “He went crazy and busted a bunch of stuff, and then he cried and begged me to take him back, but I can’t, I won’t.” I didn’t blame her.
“Why didn’t you come over last night? Where is he now?”
“He left last night, so I thought he was gone, but he came back around two this morning. He’s sleeping now, so I thought I’d sneak out. I called into work, too.” She was visibly upset.
“I have to get to work. I wish I knew sooner. I would have taken the day off.” I felt awful leaving her now. “Stay here today. Don’t go back until someone is with you. We can go after school.” I had plans with Johnny to grab groceries, but that could wait. He would understand.
“I can’t stay here. This will be the first place he looks once he sees I’m not at work.” Lexi was scared of him and it scared me.
“Go to my parents or Alex’s.” Her parents didn’t live here, or even close, so that was not an option.
“Do you think Alex would care?”
“Oh my God, no, he would be happy to help.” It was true. Alex really liked Lexi, and if he were here he would probably go over to Lexi’s house and lay Todd out. “Johnny is in the guesthouse, so he will be around in case Todd decides to check there.”
“Johnny came back with you?” I forgot I hadn’t filled her in either.
“Yes, he is a really great guy, you’ll like him. I promise.” I crossed my heart with my fingers. I got up and got Alex’s key off my keychain. I handed it over to her. “I have to get going, but if you need me call me at the school. My parents are around and, honestly, Johnny will be more than willing to help out.” I hugged her and then yelled to the girls to put their dishes away and get ready. “Get in the shower, grab some of my clothes and head over to Alex’s.” Lexi didn’t say anything, but agreed by shaking her head. I was wishing I had the wisdom of Derek on my hands. He was good at handling situations like this.
I loaded up the girls and got to school. Once I was there, I sent Alex and Johnny a text letting them know Lexi would be hanging at Alex’s for the day. I told Johnny to check on her and I told Alex I’d explain later.
The day was busy. It always seemed to be after I took a day off, but I made sure to text Lexi at my lunch hour. She swore everything was fine and that she and Johnny decided to go pick up groceries. The thought of this made me happy. I was glad she wasn’t sitting around and that they must be getting along.
At the end of the day, the girls asked if they could still take the bus to my parents to do homework with my mother. I hadn’t planned on running, but I agreed. I texted my mom and let her know I would be there by four thirty to pick up the girls. She sent one back telling me to get to Alex’s and that my dad was already there. My stomach immediately dropped and I ran to get my stuff so I could leave. I might
have actually beaten the bus out of the parking lot.
When I pulled into Alex’s, there were a lot of cars in the driveway, including the city police car. I was about to freak out, but then I saw Johnny, Lexi, and my dad all standing next to Logan, the town police chief. When I parked and climbed out of the car, I finally saw Todd in the back of the police car. I wasn’t sure what happened, but happy everyone was safe. I jogged up to Lexi and gave her a hug. I was mad at myself for not taking the day off. I didn’t think it would have mattered, but at least I would have been there for her.
“It’s okay, I’m fine.” Lexi pulled me off of her. “At least nothing a little wine won’t fix.”
“What the hell happened?” I stepped back from Lexi and looked at everyone.
Logan began to speak first. “Mr. Bell wanted to speak to Ms. Adams.”
Lexi interrupted.
“You have known me how many years? Call me Lexi. I don’t know why you need to be so formal.” Logan blushed a bit. I always felt he had some interest in Lexi, but he wasn’t the type to put himself out there.
“Fine, Lexi was in the house with…” Logan stopped and looked at his notes. “Johnny, when Todd came over and started beating on the door, yelling for her to answer. When Lexi refused, Todd got upset and pounded harder. At this time, Lexi called the police. Then Todd broke the side window next to the door. Johnny came out and restrained him using adequate force.” He was smirking when he said adequate force. I wanted to hear Lexi’s version. “Right now I am arresting him for disorderly conduct, attempted breaking and entering, and malicious destruction of property. I will need to talk to Alex to see if he wants to press charges. I can hold him for the night without talking to him, but I need to talk to him by morning for the charges to hold.”
“Yes, he’ll press charges.”
“You don’t own the property. I’ll need to talk to him.”
“Logan, he will do what I ask, so it’s like talking to him.”
Logan had a smile on his face. “Abby, I’m sure it is, but I have to talk to him. Can you try to call him? He didn’t answer earlier.” I looked over at Johnny and my dad; neither of them had said a word yet. What I saw was a small cut above Johnny’s eye. He must have seen my change in expression because he finally spoke and told me he was fine. I told them I would call, but in my rush to join them, I left my phone in the car.
Walking back to the car, I refused to look over at the police car with Todd in the back. I hated him right now and was wondering what he would have done to Lexi if he had gotten to her.
I reached in the car and grabbed my phone. I saw that Alex had actually tried calling six minutes ago. Quickly, I unlocked my phone and called him back.
“Hey, beautiful, I am so glad to hear your voice. I need some sunshine on my shitty day.”
“Well, I’m only going to make it shittier. So listen, I am fine, everyone is fine, but I’m putting Logan the police chief on and all you need to do is say is, ‘I want to press charges.’ Can you do that?” I knew he was going to freak out.
“What the fuck happened? What do you mean press charges? You better start explaining.” I could tell he was worried and freaking out.
I was almost back to the small circle. “Logan will do a better job explaining. Now repeat back to me what I told you to say.” The four of them overheard, and when I got there they were chuckling.
“Fine, I want to press charges, now put him on the phone.” I handed the phone to Logan and he walked away from the circle to explain everything to Alex.
My dad was the first one to talk. “It was a good thing you were with Johnny. He would have hurt Lexi if he got to her.” He turned to Lexi. “Why don’t you stay with Julia and me for a while?” I knew this was not going to sound good to Lexi, but she was too polite to refuse, so I had to step in and save her, quickly.
“We are having an old school slumber party tonight. With Alex gone I have the whole king to myself, so she can sleep with me.” I gave her a wink.
“I’ll stay with Abby for a few days until I get things figured out. I need to get the few things of his out of my house and change all the locks, too.” Lexi was so calm like it wasn’t a big deal. I was still a tad freaked out.
“We’ll get things figured out. I’ll follow Lexi to get her things, and then I’ll swing by and get the girls.”
“It’s Monday, you are supposed to have dinner at my house, remember?” My dad was looking at me like it was common knowledge without saying it.
“Crap, it has been so crazy, I wasn’t thinking. Think you can forgive me if we miss this one?” Rarely did we miss a Monday night.
“I suppose.” My dad leaned in and kissed my forehead. Just then Logan returned with my phone and handed it back to me.
“Mr. Morgan is pressing full charges so I can keep Todd over night until he is arraigned in the morning. Lexi, I suggest you apply for a personal protection order against him. It won’t keep you completely safe, but it should deter him from doing anything stupid again.” Logan handed Lexi a business card before speaking again. “I’m going to get him booked now. Try to have a good night.” Logan turned and walked to his patrol car.
“I want to hear the real story, not the politically correct version from a police officer.” I should actually check on the house or even Johnny’s cut, but I needed the scoop.
“Really, it happened like the police chief said.” Johnny had his hands in his pockets.
“What exactly does appropriate force mean?” That was the real question I wanted answered.
“Johnny went to talk to him and Todd pushed him. Next thing I saw was all this kung fu shit.” Lexi was slicing her hands all around and making sounds to go with the movements.
“Like he said, appropriate force.” Johnny had a smile on his face.
“Well, son, I’m just glad you were here, because if she was alone the outcome may have been different.” My dad reached out and shook Johnny’s hand.
“He was only mad because someone probably called him and told him they saw me in the store with a tall, blonde and hunky stranger.” Lexi was trying to lighten the mood like always. “I think if I had been alone he wouldn’t have gone crazy. I think in his mind he thought I was moving on already.”
My dad interrupted. “Even if you were, it doesn’t give him the right to go crazy.” He walked over and hugged Lexi. “I’ll call Bruce and we will get the window secured until it can be fixed tomorrow.”
We talked for another minute trying to figure out the evening plans. I then followed Lexi to her house to pick up a few things for the night. Once we got there, I followed her into the house. Her usually immaculate house was torn apart. I told her she should call Logan and report this as well, but she said she just wanted things to be over. I started cleaning up the living room and kitchen while she gathered some things.
When she came around the corner, she looked defeated. “What’s wrong?” I could tell she was upset.
“I think I’m going to sell the house. That or rent it out.” She loved this house and it surprised me. I didn’t ask why, but I knew she felt the question burning in my head. “It feels cheapened. Does that even make sense? Almost dirty feeling.” I walked over and hugged her. “I know I didn’t have any real trauma here, but it just doesn’t feel like mine anymore.”
I understood her point of view, but it made me sad, because this was her real first purchase. Lexi had a huge trust fund and not many people, if anyone, knew about it. She never touched it and lived off her paychecks, but she finally allowed me to talk her into buying this house with it. I was being selfish. I needed her with me, always and forever. That was what our friendship was even during the hard times.
“As long as you stay in this town I don’t care where you live. Why don’t you stay with me this week until you figure things out?” She didn’t respond, but I knew she would. I knew her too well.
We left and I went to pick the girls up while she headed to the house. I was a little late, but I fig
ured my mom took care of the story for me. The girls were finishing eating when I walked in. I felt horrible. The last two weeks were so crazy and their schedule was getting all messed up.
“I thought I would feed them. I talked to your dad and knew not to wait.” My mom seemed concerned.
“Thank you. I was going to order pizza, but this looks way better.” I was a tad jealous of the good meal the girls were eating.
“I put together plates for you, Lexi, and Johnny as well.” My mom walked around the counter and handed me the bag with the rubber containers. She then hugged me. “How is Lexi holding up?”
“She is a trooper. She’s staying with the girls and me for a few days, maybe longer.”
“I’m glad you found each other in life.” My mom pulled away. “Give her a hug for me.” I nodded my head. I was lucky to have Lexi. She has always been a constant along with Derek.
The girls finished dinner and we headed back to the house. I told the girls that Lexi’s house needed some work and she would be with us for a few days. The girls didn’t seem to question it, but loved the thought of it. Johnny ended up coming over for a little while. He and the girls played Alex’s guitar and sang songs until Lily had the great idea of playing Just Dance. It ended up being a competitive dance party in the living room and nobody wanted to lose. I finally ended things when Lily and Josie were yelling about picking songs. At that point it was shower and bedtime. I was happy about putting them to bed after the argument.
Lexi helped braid hair and tucked them in; we divided them up tonight. I took the twins and she got Lil. Once we made it downstairs, we both sank into the couch. “Hey, care if I open wine?” I didn’t, and knowing Lexi she needed it to calm her nerves a bit.
“No. You know where everything is.”
Lexi stood up and started walking towards the kitchen. “Want a glass?”
“No, it’s a school night,” I shouted over my shoulder.
“Stupid rule.” Lexi was round the corner by now. Johnny was still at the house, but was getting ready to leave. He planned on staying in the main house at Alex’s since it was only boarded up. I tried explaining how safe the town was and that it wasn’t needed, but he left anyway. I thought maybe he wanted to get away from the wine or just give Lexi and I some time to ourselves.
