Bound and Unbroken

by Skye Callahan

  Since Leslie had extensive experience in dealing with a significant other’s crotchety parents, Lena went on to explain the rest of her day.

  “At least he defended you…” Leslie said once the rant was over.

  “That sounds like a ‘but’ statement.”

  “Run.”

  “What?” Water splashed over the sides of the tub as Lena jerked upright. She pulled a towel off the rack and threw it into the puddle to sop up most of the mess.

  “Love, you’ve known him for two weeks. Run before you actually have anything invested in the relationship, because I’ll tell you from experience, he can defend you to the hilt, but his family will always come between you. I know it’s not what you wanted to hear—”

  “Of course not. I don’t want to run, Les. Throwing myself into school then work—I’ve been running most of my life simply by avoiding everything else.”

  “Fine, at least take a break and clear your head. James is out on the road all week if you want to come up for a visit.”

  “I teach, remember? It’s a Monday through Friday gig.”

  “Well, I figured after the tornado… but I guess they’ll figure something out.”

  “Umm…what?”

  “They announced it on the news, about an hour ago. They thought it was something simple, but it turns out the tornado did major structural damage to the school.”

  “My school?”

  “Yeah, babe. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have brought it up. They haven’t contacted you or anything?”

  “I haven’t checked the house phone.”

  “Sorry, didn’t mean to make your day worse.”

  “Would’ve happened eventually. I’ll talk to you later. Looks like there are a few things I need to take care of.” She hung up and tossed the phone back into the pile of clothes.

  The bath water had cooled significantly, but Lena dipped her head under the water one more time, hoping it’d wash out the thoughts crashing through her head. Still unsettled, she pulled herself out of the tub, wrapping a towel around herself and not even bothering to dry off before leaving the bathroom.

  In the small hallway next to the kitchen, the house phone lit up with a bright red spot indicating a message. Sure enough, the superintendent had called to inform her that the elementary school was closed indefinitely. He offered his help in trying to help Lena gain employment elsewhere, but at this time of year, the chances of that were slim. She’d have better luck if she went back to subbing.

  With a groan, she grabbed her Kindle off the coffee table and headed to the bedroom where at least she could curl up under a blanket and get comfortable. Her skin tingled, and she struggled to find any position that was comfortable for more than a few seconds.

  Despite her silent reminders to herself that at least she was safe, and she still had her friends and a home, she couldn’t help but wonder why all the shit had to hit the fan at the same time.

  ***

  A thump in the next room, roused Lena from her fitful sleep. It actually came as somewhat of a relief since she’d been having a freaky dream about Eric and one of the blondes she’d seen in the club.

  Thank you brain, I really needed that image.

  Her room was dark now, and she blinked at the bright red face of the clock, which indicated that it was just going on ten o’clock. She sat up, and heard another thump and groan from the next room. It had been a long time since Jeremiah had brought someone home—months, in fact.

  She figured it was because he felt guilty that she’d been dumped, but apparently, that trend had ended. Thirsty, she reached for her water glass, only to remember she didn’t grab one before lying down to read, so she slid her feet into a pair of slippers and crept out to the kitchen.

  On her way back to her room, Jeremiah’s door cracked open, and she froze feeling like a kid who was about to get caught stealing cookies. She was stuck in the middle of the hallway, three feet back and she could duck into the living room, or three feet ahead would place her back in her own bedroom.

  Decision made, she took one giant step forward, but it wasn’t fast enough to avoid the naked man that stepped out of Jeremiah’s room. Her glass crashed to the floor as she threw her hands over her face and mouth. “Oh my god.”

  “Lena?” Landon covered himself and ducked back through the doorway.

  She heard Jeremiah’s deeper voice echo her name from inside the room.

  Glancing down at the shattered glass around her feet, she figured running and hiding in her room wouldn’t be an option until it was at least cleaned up.

  Jeremiah came out of his bedroom, thankfully in a pair of pajama bottoms. “When did you get home?”

  “I’ve been here since this afternoon, Dolt. It’s been a long day, I fell asleep reading.” Tiptoeing backward, she cleared the mess of glass, and headed back to the kitchen to grab the broom.

  When she turned around, she found both Jeremiah and Landon, half dressed, and waiting for her in the living room.

  Should have made a bigger mess with the glass, she thought. “Go back to bed. I really, really, do not want an explanation.”

  “We didn’t mean to spring it on you.”

  “The only thing I have a problem with being sprung on me tonight is walking through the hallway and seeing my ex-boyfriend’s wank on display.” She huffed and walked passed them, then added, “No offence, Landon. Just not what I needed tonight.”

  Once she had the mess cleaned up, she noticed that both men were still watching her.

  “Everything okay with Eric?” Jeremiah asked.

  Perfect. “With Eric, yes. With his parents and nephew, no.”

  “Want to rant?”

  Lena shook her head and dropped backward against the wall. “I already ranted to Leslie and I only ended up feeling worse.”

  “Back rub?”

  Lena laughed, remembering her last massage and its inappropriate turns. If Miah found out she’d been to a BDSM club—the temptation to tell him came over her. It’d serve him and Landon right to get a shock of equal proportion to their little stunt. But, she wasn’t ready to admit to all of that. And wondered if she ever would be. “I’m fine, guys. Go back to bed.”

  She slid into her room, and as soon as the door clicked shut, her body began to quake. She slid down the wood, landing on the floor and pulling her knees to her chest.

  Breathe, she told herself. But her body refused to stop shaking, her skin burning. Itching.

  She laid her head against her knees. Coping mechanisms, right—what good were they if they went out of your head every time you needed one. She stood, and began pacing the room at the foot of her bed.

  Wonder if they make a cutters anonymous? Hi, I’m Lena and it’s been eight months, but now I need a break. No, no, no!

  ***

  Lena rolled away from the window to escape the sliver of morning light that crept across her pillow only to be jolted awake by the pang in her arm. She flopped onto her back and dropped one leg over the edge of the bed, then the other. Once she pushed herself upright, she slid down the side of the bed to sit on the floor and pulled an old wooden jewelry box out from under the box spring. A lifetime ago, the box had belonged to her mother—it was one of very few family items that Lena had managed to hold on to. The beautiful cherry wood box, with a rose engraved on the lid had lived under her bed for more than twelve years, hiding away all of her secrets.

  Lena shoved the lid open with her thumbs. The offending razor stood out against the plush lining of the box’s false bottom, which hid the few family photographs she kept. It had been years since she’d dug any deeper into the box and, until last night, more than eight months since she’d even cracked open the lid. She tucked the razor into the corner and tore open one of the antiseptic wipes, pushing up her sleeve just enough to wipe away the few splotches of dried blood that had formed overnight.

  “Fuck,” she whispered to herself, tossing the wipe into the trash. The box clicked shut and she slid it back into it
s resting place. Once, she had tried putting it somewhere less convenient, hoping that if she kept her miniature weapon of mass destruction where she couldn’t easily retrieve it, the inconvenience would deter her from doing anything stupid once she found it. That attempt had only resulted in adding a busted closet door to the list of damages.

  She rubbed her hands over her face and through her tangled hair. Maybe Leslie was right, she thought, I need to get out of town and clear my head.

  That’d at least give her arm a little time to heal. And maybe she could get away with no one finding out. She pushed herself to her feet with a grunt.

  A few days won’t keep Eric from finding out.

  Lena pulled a duffel bag out of her closet and threw it on the bed, texting a quick message to Leslie while she tossed in an assortment of clothes and daily essentials. Her phone buzzed, and she picked it up expecting a reply from Leslie, but her heart sank when she saw the screen.

  Morning Loner, making sure you’re okay. Heard about the school. We’ll be at my parents’, but you can give me a call if you need anything.

  Unable to think of a reply that wouldn’t raise suspicions she slid the phone into the side of her bag, and threw it over her shoulder. Eric said he understood, but that was when it was in her past. Not creeping up on her every time she got stressed out. She couldn’t bring herself to tell him, and since there wasn’t any point in trying to hide anything from him, her best option was to lay low—and far away.

  Eric

  By Monday night, Eric still hadn’t heard a word from Lena, and for some reason, she wasn’t even taking his calls. Something had been bothering her when he dropped her off, but he figured that after a couple of days to rest and process, she’d at least be up for a chat. Since he couldn’t track her down at school…

  He sat out two plates for dinner and placed some broiled chicken and green beans on each, then he sat out two glasses of water and called for Charlie. A few minutes later, the boy came skipping down the stairs, still with his coloring kit in tow.

  “Leave all of that on the hall table. Time to eat.”

  After dropping off his stuff, Charlie climbed up to the table, sitting on his heels in the chair across from Eric. He poked at his pieces of chicken a few times and then looked up. “Is Ms. Ross coming back to visit?”

  It wasn’t his first full sentence since he started talking on Sunday, but it was the first one that stumped Eric. “I don’t know. She has a lot of stuff to take care of.”

  “Maybe we should help.”

  Eric tried to press his half-hearted smile into a full one. “Maybe we should. First, eat up.”

  Sure, he promised to give her time, but he didn’t expect her to go incommunicado. Unless she’d lost her phone again. He stabbed a piece of chicken. Now you’re just trying to come up with excuses.

  Trying to come up with excuses or not, after dinner, he wasn’t going to rest until he at least got an answer. If that answer was a door slamming in his face, so be it. Except he wasn’t taking Charlie with him for the possible door slamming—he didn’t need to be involved any more than he already was. And if Lena still wanted a relationship, he didn’t want it to be because she just felt bad for Charlie.

  ***

  After dropping Charlie off at his new and immensely crowded school the next morning, Eric took a detour home so he could stop by Lena’s house. No motorcycle parked out front meant with any luck she’d be alone and willing to answer some of his questions.

  He knocked on the door, and after a few minutes of silence, it opened, revealing an average-height man, with dark hair trimmed nearly to the scalp.

  “You’re not the roommate,” Eric said, creasing his eyebrows.

  “Uh, no. Jeremiah left for work an hour ago, and Lena isn’t here.”

  “But she’s okay?”

  “Yeah, went out of town to stay with her sister. I haven’t talked to her, but Miah hasn’t said anything, so I assume all is well.”

  Do not punch the wall. Eric flexed his hand, the more non-answers he got, the more he felt his control slipping. Maybe it was a good thing Lena wasn’t around to see him—but then, that was the root of the problem to begin with.

  “You’re Eric, aren’t you?” the man asked, crossing his arms. He didn’t do it in an intimidating way, if anything his shoulders relaxed a little when he took the pose.

  “Yes, I’m just worried because she hasn’t been taking my calls, and she hasn’t even given me an explanation.”

  “She’s good at that, but I don’t have her cell number. She got a new phone shortly after we broke—” He snapped his jaw closed and swallowed. “—we broke up. I’m Landon, her ex.”

  Eric couldn’t find his bearings, he braced his forearm against the wall and reminded himself to keep his jaw shut. He didn’t even know where to start.

  “I take it she’s given you some doozy stories about me.”

  “No. Not about you.”

  “So, she told you about all the other shit?” He dropped his arms and leaned into the doorframe so suddenly it creaked under the pressure. “Look, I’ll have Miah call her tonight, and if you want to leave your number, I’ll ask him to get ahold of you.”

  “Thanks.”

  Landon grabbed a pen and pad from the table next to the phone, and Eric scribbled down his number.

  Landon offered a smile. “I’m not going to pretend to have any idea what happened, but I know what it’s like when she shuts down. She’ll come back and,” he shrugged, looking away, “I hope you two work it out. If you got her to talk about all that shit, sounds to me like you’re good for her.”

  “Thanks again.”

  ***

  Eric followed the alley around the sports bar, where Cade and a deliveryman were unloading a new stock.

  “And I thought you looked like shit the last time I saw you,” Cade remarked. “You here to work?”

  “If you want.” Eric chuckled. “Hell, I need a job.”

  “Didn’t think this was your forte.”

  “It’s not, and night shifts wouldn’t really work for me.”

  Cade sat the last crate aside, and signed the slip. The deliveryman nodded and climbed back into the truck without another word.

  “Come on in,” Cade said, “and grab a crate. I’m guessing your subbie is causing problems.”

  “And what makes you say that?”

  “Well, I know nothing about kids, so you wouldn’t come to me about Charlie.”

  “She ran.” Eric said evenly. “Out of town to stay with her sister. She hasn’t talked to me since Saturday afternoon, and I knew something was bothering her, but with Charlie around I couldn’t do much about it.”

  “Lena and Charlie… together. That’s a handful.”

  “And my parents.”

  “Idiot.” Cade slammed down a bottle. “No wonder she freaked.”

  From anyone else, Eric would have taken that as a confrontation, but he could always trust Cade to be honest and jump right to the heart of the matter. “Blame the damn tornado. I wouldn’t have even considered throwing them all together. And then Lena lost her job—”

  “Heard about the school. I’m sure that’s not so great on Charlie either.”

  “No, but at least he’s talking to me now.”

  “I’ll be damned.”

  Eric nodded, eyeing the liquor and reminding himself it wasn’t even noon. “I just stopped by Lena’s house, and her ex-boyfriend answered the door. No one else there. He said she was staying with her sister and Jeremiah went to work. Did we all land in some alternate universe after the tornado or what?”

  “If you’re done ranting, I have another dozen or so crates that need moved and unpacked.”

  Eric wanted to throw one of the crates, but instead he threw his arms up and gave in. For the next half-hour, the two of them stocked and organized the bar, and then sat down to enjoy a couple of sandwiches they had delivered. They tucked themselves into one of the booths—the same booth Eric and Lena ha
d shared—and Cade brought over a couple of beers.

  “Delivery sandwiches and beer for breakfast,” Eric said, shaking his head.

  “Special occasion.”

  “Mmh?” Eric said around the first bite of his sandwich. He swallowed. “And what’s that?”

  “You finally found a subbie who gets under your skin the same way you do hers. And you’re miserable because her next move is out of your control.” Cade stretched out, propping up his legs on the bench seat. “I’ve seen the way she looks at you, she won’t walk away so easily. Until she realizes that, all you can do is drink your beer and eat your sandwich.”

  Eric shook his head and took a long swig of beer. What he really needed was more to do. He was used to a full day of work, evenings at the gym, and generally being on the go non-stop.

  “Have you started looking for a job?” Cade asked, as if reading Eric’s thoughts.

  “Yeah, but most want regular office hours, and I have to be home by three to get Charlie. He just started talking, I’m not going to risk changing his schedule or having him stay with a babysitter more than necessary right now.”

  “Freelance. I know a couple of local companies who could use someone to help out with tech stuff. I’ll drop your name.”

  “Great, in the meantime, you have any free time for a construction project?”

  “Construction? You have my attention, but this better be going where I think it is.” Cade’s eyes glinted as he sat back.

  “I was thinking of turning part of the basement into a rec room.”

  “An adult only rec room?”

  “Yeah. Game for the project?”

  “Hell yes,” Cade raised his nearly empty bottle then finished it off. “Glad to hear you changed your mind. I’ll help out as long as I get to have some fun there.”

  “Just bring your own sub.” Eric finished his sandwich and cleaned up the crumbs and wrapper. “I’m going to head over to my parents’ house and check on some things, then I promised to take Charlie to the park.”

  “Have a look at Mr. Domesticated. Good luck with Lena.”