Beautiful Disaster (The Bet)

by Francette Phal

  "NO! I didn't---"

  "Why are you even here? Shouldn't you be somewhere with your friends, laughing it up and shinning up your prize."

  "You're my only friend, Ellie, the only person in this world who matters."

  "Wow, I have to give it up to you, Nicholas. You’re damn good actor. You managed to fool me completely, didn't even suspect for a second."

  "Don't do this, Ellie; don't condemn me before I have the chance to prove my innocence."

  "It's over, I'm done. I gave you everything and I have none else to give. You won, Nicky." The tears were rushing so fast that it was futile to even stop them anymore.

  Above all the consuming emotions that raced through Nicholas' marrow, fear was the one that clawed its way to the surface. Real, unrepentant and merciless, it tore him to pieces. It was so fucking real and frightening that it caused tears to form behind his lids as he stared at Ellie's sorrowful face.

  He fell to his knees. Tears burning his own eyes, Nicholas reached for her and tightly, so very tightly, wound his arms around her waist. He was shivering, his bones rattling in his skin. Completely worn, Nicholas rested his head on Ellie's stomach and closed his eyes.

  "I won't let you leave me, not after finding you, Ellie. Don't tell me it's over when the only thing I have ever believed in is you and me. You're the very thing that keeps me sane and grounded. This love between us, it's binding and I can't let it go...I can't let you go." Tears fell from behind his closed lids and he didn't care.

  Ellie bit her lips hard to stop it from trembling as she wrestled with the impulse to wrap her arms around him, hold him just as tightly as he held her and forget everything. But she couldn't, her mind wouldn't let her. She fought for control as she struggled to free herself from his unyielding grasp. She barely managed it before retreating into the safety of her home.

  "I..I can't, Nicholas, I can't trust you. I don't want to anymore." She slammed the door shut before Nicholas could reach for her again.

  "ELLIE, please!" Ellie sniffed, her hands clenched and unclenched at her sides, desperately trying to ignore the heart wrenching pleas and incessant knocking. "Did I mean so fucking little to you that you're willing to throw it all away! If I betrayed you, do you think I would be here now in the goddamned rain begging you to listen to me?" He wasn't trying to be quiet. Nicholas didn't give a damn if the entire suburban neighborhood heard him. He was on his knees screaming on top of his sore lungs, trying to get the love of his life to have the goddamn sense to listen to him, trying to be discreet was the last thing on his mind.

  "Go away, Nicholas!"

  "I love you, Ellie and I swear to you that I'll give you the head of the person who did this. But don't ask me to leave you alone; don't ask me to forget everything we shared, because you'll be wasting your breath."

  It wasn't until Ellie heard the revving of the motorcycle signaling Nicholas' departure that she slid down the door and sobbed her heart out. She felt so hurt, so confused, so betrayed. She knew she had made the right decision in calling it quits with Nicholas, so why then did it feel like she'd just amputated a part of herself. Her mind hailed her a genius for retreating from a situation that would've ended far more disastrous had she remained. Yet her heart crowned her queen of cowards.

  She was running. Subconsciously her mind was using this as an excuse to run away. The getting gets a little tough and once again, Ellie could be counted on to put tail between her legs and run away. She'd done it countless times when her mother had called, wanting reconciliation. Her mother had begged to see her and Sophie, but Ellie had always refused, believing it best to keep her distance lest she and her husband hurt her again. She was running now, again, from the inevitable pain that came with loving someone. Because eventually, they could always be counted on to hurt you. Her parents, Tony and now Nicholas. They’d all proven that fact quite clearly.

  "...If I had betrayed you, do you think I would I be here right now, in the goddamned rain begging you to listen to me?!"

  Nicholas' words echoed against the walls of Ellie's subconscious as she rested her cheek on her upraised knees.

  Ellie wanted to believe in him, wanted to trust in him again, but the evidence gathered against him all pointed to the fact that he was guilty. He must've planned it all with Matt. But, what was there to gain if he had already confessed everything to her? What was the point of splashing their most intimate moments for the world to see, if only to embarrass Ellie? She'd told Gabe that Nicholas had changed and the past Nicholas, Ellie could believe capable of hurting her so maliciously. But the Nicholas she's come to know, the one who'd wept in her arms not so long ago, the one who'd held her like she was the most precious thing in the world, the one who loved Sophie to pieces couldn't be so hateful.

  With a long sigh Ellie released some of the anger she felt, sadness, all-encompassing rushed through her veins. She felt very tired all of sudden.

  "Ellie?" Ellie wanly smiled at the sound Gabe's voice filled with concern.

  "Don't worry, Gabe, I'm not going to go all suicidal." He looked at her like she meant it and the comical expression on his face almost made Ellie want to laugh.

  "Joke." She muttered.

  "Not funny." He chided, helping her to her feet.

  "Where's Soph?"

  Gabe slung an arm around her shoulders. "Upstairs with Ronnie, come on, let's go to the kitchen. I made chili."

  "My favorite." She said then stopped Gabe in the kitchen entryway, wrapping her arms around his waist. She buried her face in his plaid shirt and smiled. "Thanks for not shooting him."

  She felt the kiss, ghost soft on her head, and then he raised her chin, his eyes boring into hers. "I don't think you would've forgiven me."

  Everything and everyone had fallen into place, playing their parts like season actors and all Matt had to do was to sit back and watch the drama unfold.

  The amazing high of knowing that you were the mastermind behind the biggest senior prank in all of John Edgar history was the icing on the fabulous cake of successfully separating Nicholas from his hoity-toity little bitch of a girlfriend.

  That little cunt, Matt sneered, taking a hit of the joint in his hand. She had turned his charmingly heartless best friend into a simpering little bitch. But not anymore, Matt thought with perverse smile. He'd cured Nicholas. His best friend probably didn't see it now, but he eventually would and when he did come to reason, Matt knew that Nicholas would thank him in more ways than one. They would be the happy little pair again, Matthew and Nicholas, best friends forever.

  They belonged together. They were smart, jaded as fuck and the heirs of multi-million dollar empires. They had the world at their fingertips, the power to create or destroy calling out to them to do with it as they will. Matt knew that Nicholas had strayed away from their chosen path, their destined path all because he thought he was in love. The very idea was laughable. Honestly, people like them didn't fall in love. They seduced, they fucked, pure and simple.

  It was as black and white as that and up until that fucking cunt came into the picture, Nicholas had been a master at the game. But Matt wasn't worried; they would have their time again, very soon. Everything would go back to the way it used to be and Nicholas would thank him.

  "Thank you, Bates," he would say with that disarming grin, "Thank you for saving me from a life of blue balls and snot-nosed children." And then they would fuck like the world was on fire.

  He took another hit of the joint, his third in the last hour and glanced at the clock on the wall, wondering what was taking Carlyle so long.

  "Fucking little bitch!" Ah, speak of the devil. Matt turned his head at the disgruntled growl watching listlessly as Tony limped towards him. "I'm about ready to put a goddamn bullet in her skull and get this whole shit over and done with." He flopped down in the black sectional couch, scratching the side of his head with the G39. "Tell me again when exactly I get to go after Ellie?" he asked turning the Glock on Matt.

  Matt rolled her eyes, pu
shing the gun away."The minute I have Nicholas in my bed, I told you this already. Now, how goes the marriage bargain?"

  Tony's scowl deepened as he played with the safety. "We haven't even gotten a response yet and I'm beginning to wonder whether you're fucking with me."

  "Rela---" Matt was interrupted by the explosive shatter of glass coming from the foyer. Tony and Matt both shared a looked, wondering if it were Maddie being an idiot again.

  "Bates!" Nicholas' distinct vocals were heard all the way upstairs followed shortly by more shattering.

  Matt jumped into action as fast as his drug induced mind would allow.

  It was unadulterated anger that coursed through Nicholas' veins. He was cold, wet and very, very pissed off and with a steel bat in hand, he enjoyed taking his anger out on the expensive artifacts adorning Matt's home. The frosted glass door that had been part of the front entrance was reduced to shattered pieces on the floor and now crunched beneath his boots as he made his way into the mansion, a mansion that had once upon a time been his sanctuary.

  Nicholas swung the bat and it connected with three lined vases set on a small ledge in the foyer. They shattered to the ground. Tulips and a pool of water lay in its wake.

  "Bates!" The humor wasn't lost on Nicholas as he realized just how like Stanley Kowalski he sounded just today alone. First, bellowing out Ellie's name as though she were his "Stella" and now this. His life was one big fucking theater act and Nicholas couldn't wait until the moment the curtain fell, he was too fucking tired.

  He lazily swung the bat from side to side, leaving a path of destruction in his wake. This was probably the most fun he’d had all day. Shit, he wouldn't mind going on like this for the rest of the afternoon.

  "Bates---"

  "Nicky!" Nicholas glanced at the grand staircase, the smile on his face haunting.

  "Hey there, buddy." Holding the bat over his head, a hand at each end Nicholas stared at Matt, face devoid of emotion.

  Matt, oblivious to the rage festering in Nicholas like a cancer, descended the stairs, elated to see that his friend had come, finally.

  "You okay man?"

  "No," he replied, "but I will be." Noticing the swing of the bat a little too late, Matt wasn't given a chance to retreat as it smashed into his left arm. The metal bat rung, the impact of steel meeting bone vibrated with a sickening thwack. Pure agony seared up Matt's left arm and the savage scream that ripped from his throat didn't help ease the pain.

  Noting the deadly gleam in gunmetal eyes, Matt staggered backwards as Nicholas advanced a languid gate that was all menacing. Matt held his arm through the debilitating ache, fearing if he let go it would fall to the floor, he nervously glanced at his best friend. "Nick…Nicky… let me explain---"

  "No, I don't think I want to listen just yet." His overgrown fringe obscuring his vision, Nicholas shook his head to remove it. He swung the bat with so much force that he knew, the moment it came in contact with Matt's knee, that he'd broken the bone. That knowledge was like a warm blanket to his otherwise frigid being.

  Matt shrieked and collapsed to the floor, the pain far too much for his body to handle standing up.

  Nicholas stared down at him, indifferent to his pain. Cold, detached and teetering on the brink of his sanity, he wasn't bothered in the least by the ugly position of Matt's leg. "I warned you, didn't I Matthew? I fucking warned you not to fuck up my relationship with Ellie. You didn't listen to me. See what happens when you don't listen?"

  "Shit, Nicholas …" Matt sputtered as he tried scooting away and failed.

  Nicholas smoothly fell down on his haunches, he brought the bat in front of him, set both hands on the rounded head and rested his chin on the back of his hands. "Try breathing, the pain eases when you breathe."

  "Ni…Nicky...I did it for…for us...."

  "No," Nicholas shook his head, the weight of his gaze bore into Matt like lasers. "You intentionally set out to hurt me and mine just for your own selfish, depraved pleasure and now, I'm intentionally setting out to hurt you and you have no fucking idea how good it feels right now. When I'm done with you, I promise, you'll beg me to kill you."

  The agonized screams did not register as he viciously yanked on Matt's broken arm, upon hearing the snap, bone dislodging from its socket, Nicholas released him. "I don't hate you for fucking our friendship over Matthew. I don't hate you for recording us in the cabin, because I know it killed you watching us together. I don't even hate you for getting my father up my ass again. I do however hate you for making Ellie cry. I hate you for making her doubt my love for her and for the small fact that she believes she can no longer trust me."

  The drug haze did not dull the pain that threatened to have him fall into a faint and as Matt stared into Nicholas's eerily serene face he wanted the darkness to claim him so he wouldn't have to ever see that look again.

  Rising to his full height, Nicholas loomed over Matt and bringing the bat to his face, he swung with one arm. "She hates me now, Matthew, because of you, she hates me!"

  "Alright, asshole, that's enough!"

  This was the second time in all his eighteen years that a gun had been pointed at him, Nicholas mused silently seeing Tony's form from his peripheral view.

  "Drop the bat!" It fell from Nicholas's hands and clattered to the ground. Maddie, battered and bruised, stared at Nicholas from Tony's side, her blue-green eyes brimming with fear.

  "Oh man, I'm going to enjoy kicking your ass!"

  "Put the gun down and give it a try." Nicholas quietly challenged.

  "Slow your role Bat Boy. You’re not as strong as you think you are."

  "Like I said, put the gun down and try me."

  The safety clicked off. Tony practically bounced in place. "Think I won't do it?"

  "I dare you."

  Everything happened so fast that Maddie wasn’t even aware of it until she heard the resounding blast of the gun and Nicholas’s body falling backwards. A surge of adrenaline was the only thing pushing her as she tackled Tony to the ground and wrestled the gun from his hands. She used whatever God had given her to fight him, her nails scratched, her hands smacked and punched and her teeth dug mercilessly into tender flesh and bit down.

  The gun skidded away in their scuffle and Maddie struggled to her feet to grab it. Her hands shook terribly, her heart like the thunderous hooves of horses in her ears. She aimed for Tony, closed her eyes and fired. The recoil nearly took her arm off and she yelped, dropping the gun. Her eyes flew open at Tony's scream and she prayed to God that she'd hit her mark as she warily watched him a few feet away, blood oozing from the gaping wound in his right calf.

  She didn't waste a second longer as she ran for Nicholas; she fell to her knees at his side. The blood was everywhere now. It slicked the marble floor, coated her hands, warm, gooey as she anxiously fished through his pockets for a cell phone.

  "Oh God, please…please…please..."She repeated the mantra under her breath as tears pricked her lids. She wanted to retch, her body shook furiously as she finally found the phone.

  Tears fell from her eyes, down her nose, gathered at her chin before finally falling, mingling in with the pool of blood she sat in. "Pick up...pick up...pick..."

  "Emergency, 911?"

  "Yes, my friend’s been shot. H-he needs an ambulance!"

  "Oh God, please hurry! There's so much blood!" Through her tears, Maddie sounded borderline hysterical, the dispatcher had to tell her to keep her cool several times during the call. "Hang in there, Nicky the ambulance is on its way. Please hang on...". She chocked on a sob when she felt the continuous flow of his blood pulsing against her hand.

  "You know they aren't going to let you off the hook, right?" Maddie’s head spun in the direction of the strained voice. Tony sat on the floor, his ashen face contorted in a grotesque mask of pain as he held a hand over the wound Maddie had wisely delivered.

  "Shut up." she murmured, turning her attention back to Nicholas.

  "You---you think just beca
use you played the ‘hero' the cops are going to let you get away? They'll question you and they'll find out about the drugs, the prostitution, the lies, and your pregnancy. Everyone’s going to find out about your sorry little life and they’re going to hate you."

  "Shut up." She said through gritted teeth.

  Tony had always been a master manipulator, now he put those skills to use. He would get Maddie to help him escape. There was no way in hell he was going to get caught in this situation. He knew his words were having the desired effect when he saw the crease of fear and doubt form across her brow.

  "Everyone's going to hate you, Maddie. Ellie will find out about our little plan and she'll never forgive you for trying to break up her relationship with Nicholas. And your Gran, Maddie, what do you think she'll do when she finds out how big of a whore you are. You might as well take that gun and blow your brains out. At least then you'll die with some dignity, even if we both know it's a load of shit." His tone was not kind. Every word he spoke seared through Maddie like battery acid.

  On her knees beside the prone body of the man who would never love her back, Maddie’s entire being shook, Tony's condemning words like a battering ram. They were all true. If the truth ever came out, she would be an even bigger social outcast than she was now.

  But, Maddie thought suddenly, would it not be her cross to bear if and when those sins finally came to light? What was the agony of being ostracized and reviled if not a fitting punishment for all her indiscretions? Retribution needed to be paid in order to receive salvation. Wasn't that what her Gran had always preached?

  "Come with me, Maddie, and I'll protect you from these bastards. I'll keep you and the baby safe. It'll only be for a while and then we'll come back for what we want, what we'd planned. Come on, Maddie, let's get out of here."