by A N Busch
Their voices were miles away and she didn’t have the time to stop and answer any questions.
She got to his dorm faster than ever before, busted through the door and only stopped for a moment to look around in the lobby. She didn’t see him through her tear-filled eyes, so she ran up the stairs taking two at a time.
When she got to his floor, she could see his door was open and she raced inside. Looking around her legs gave way from under her and she fell to her knees. The room was empty, except for the wooden desk and bed that was in every room upon move-in. Abby’s brain was going in a million different directions. She thought of more questions every second and no one was there to answer any of them for her.
Where was he? Did he go home to New York? He was not supposed to leave till later in the afternoon. How was everything already gone? He had barely packed anything yesterday. Why didn’t she wake up on the way to her dorm room, or had she? What time did she get back to her dorm? It was already close to two in the morning when she had started to fall asleep in his arms.
Something shiny caught her eye from the top of the desk, but she was frozen in place. Abby tried to stand up but her knees would not support her weight. She heard the half-scream, half-cry escape her lips, but it sounded like it was coming from far away. Everything was getting further away; the room started dissolving around her. She knew she was going to go with it; when the room was gone, she was going to allow herself to be consumed within the darkening walls. She waited, frozen in place, until everything went black.
The next thing she knew, she was in someone’s arms and being carried. Sunlight was blinding her already stinging eyes. She didn’t care who was taking her away because she knew it was not Westly’s arms around her. If only she had been left there to disappear with the room, all the pain inside would be gone. They should never have saved her. The blinding sunlight faded and she heard Paul’s voice ask what was going on and Melanie and Jamal’s mumbled answers to him, “We have no idea.”
“I’ll call someone to cover the desk then I will be up in a minute.”
“Abby, it’s ok.” She could feel Melanie’s hand squeezing lightly around her arm as she spoke. “Jamal and I are here; we have you now. Everything is going to be ok, please relax. Just take a deep breath hunny.”
Abby squeezed her arms tighter around Jamal’s neck and cried into his shoulder. The whole elevator ride back to her room she muttered the same words over and over again, “Gone, letter, Westly, why.” None of the words were more than a whisper into Jamal’s shoulder.
Jamal sat Abby on her bed and Melanie was instantly at her side, holding her upright. She had picked the note up off the floor and was reading it silently. Jamal pulled over Abby's computer chair and placed his hand on her knee to comfort her. Melanie handed him the note and then pulled Abby’s face up to look at hers before pulling her into a tight hug.
Paul busted into the room almost out of breath and practically yelling, “All right; what the HELL is going on? Someone tell me now!”
Abby barely heard the whispered response from Melanie. But she clearly heard Paul start cussing, saying that he was going to, “Find that asshole right now.”
Abby looked up to tell him no, but he was already gone.
“I’m so sorry hunny, there was this computer disk in the room. Do you want us to see what is on it? Maybe it's something important.”
Abby saw the disk in her hand and grabbed it, screaming, “What the hell am I supposed to do with this huh? He just leaves like that with no explanation. What the hell is this stupid thing supposed to do for me?” It took all of Abby’s strength to break it in half and her rage peaked as she threw it across the room at the wall. She fell into Melanie’s arms and cried more.
Chapter 20
Abigail jolted awake in her hotel room, covered in sweat. She reached up to wipe her face with the back of her hand and realized it was more than just that. Her eyes felt swollen and her cheeks were covered in tears. She sat up slowly and looked down at the tear-soaked pillow that was under her head as the memories of her dreams came back to her. Everything clicked into place in one second and she started to remember everything.
He was not just a dream and more than just a memory. Westly was a ghost from her past. Everything started to come back to her from the past couple of weeks: the dreams, the way Rachel had not responded to her email and the way she had acted on the phone the last time they spoke, her aunt’s behavior in the kitchen insisting she forget it all and stop talking about it. This is why she had put it all out of her mind. She could feel her heart breaking all over again and she grabbed at her chest. It felt like it was caving in now, squeezing her till she could not breath. She laid back down balling up and crying like she had so long ago, letting everything she could remember about the weeks that had followed that day come back to her.
Rachel had postponed her trip to Europe and brought Abby to her apartment. She lay in Rachel’s bed for days and days sleeping, crying and refusing food. She didn’t say a word to anyone; Rachel had to force her into the shower at times. She remembered the tears stopping at some point, but she still didn’t move from the bed. There were whispered sounds of Rachel in another room talking on the phone like she was not even there.
After three weeks, Abby awoke fifteen pounds lighter. The sun was coming in through the window and pouring onto her face. She was done; it was time to leave this place and never look back again. Never to return again to the place that had killed her sprit and her heart. She changed her clothes quickly and gathered her things. It was time to go home now; she would never think of him again. He was just a dream and was never real. It took only minutes to convince herself this was the best solution and she left a note for Rachel on her way out the door.
Rach,
This never happened; it is never to be spoken of again! PLEASE!!!! It was all a dream, it never really happened. It has been just another normal semester. I am going home. I’m sorry, but I will not be coming back next year, or ever. Hope you can come visit me some day. Thank you for everything.
Love you, Abigail
Abby was gone from that moment on; she would be a new person now, Abigail. That is who she would be from that moment on; it was the start of a new life for her. By the time she got on the plane she was smiling again. All memories of an anything to do with Westly were gone.
At least he was for the past 13 years or so. She had only locked him away in a drawer in the back of her mind and thrown away the key. The past two weeks the drawer never stopped rattling until it broke the lock and opened. He was back now filling her heart with the feelings of the strong, powerful love they had shared and ripping it apart at the same time. She cried thinking of him, every part of him. She let her body fill with love when the waves of it came over her and did the same when the heartache came. Her heart was mended and torn open from the memories over and over until she was asleep.
The phone in the room rang which made Abby jump up quickly. The wet spot on the pillow was bigger now and her eyes stung more than before. Even in her sleep the tears had poured out of her eyes. She reached for the phone slowly, her hand shaking, “Hello?”
“Hello my love. I thought I would call and wish you luck one more time before your presentation.” It was her husband, his voice warm and loving.
“Thank you. The phone startled me.”
“Oh sorry, I thought you would be up by now. I got up early to call you.”
“I had a hard time sleeping last night. Guess I overslept a bit. Thank you for calling me.”
“You’re welcome my love. Well I should let you go so you can get ready. Just remember, this idea is the best you have ever had. You are going to do great, I know it.”
“Thanks, I will remember that. I love you.”
“ I love you. Are you sure you are alright?”
“Yeah, don’t worry. I just had some bad dreams, that’s all.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. Just remember they were just a dream. Don’
t think about them and have a good day.”
Abigail hung up quickly, relieved to be off the phone with him. She had sounded groggy and startled on the phone, but she had tried very hard not to sound hurt or sad. The way he had asked if she was all right was enough to let her know she hadn’t done a good job of it. She wanted to sit for a few minutes and think about everything but time was short. There wasn’t the time to think anymore about last night’s realization; she had things to do. She jumped into the shower and washed all the tears and sweat off herself. Abigail needed to cleanse everything from last night off of her so that she could go into her meeting with a fresh mind and get the job done. The memories of Westly would have to wait for another time.
Her suit out and ready, Abigail placed her wet hair into a tight bun and put on makeup. Most of it went to cover the dark circles under her eyes. She gathered her cards and sketches and was out the door.
Thankfully, Abigail got there ten minutes before she needed to be. She waited in the lobby till she got called into a small conference room on the first floor. She had just finished setting things up when three men and a woman walked in and introduced themselves.
The whole time she felt like she had them interested. The men kept nodding at her and the woman looked very pleased. Her presentation only lasted about forty minutes, but she was enjoying showing them all she had come up with. Her own excitement overflowed and she had to stop herself a few times and slow down a bit. The man who had introduced himself as the vice president of the company told her when she was done it was wonderful. They wanted to go up and brief the president and share with him a few details from their meeting with her. They assured her that someone would be back down to see her shortly. Abigail nodded as she gathered some of her sketches together for the vice president. Abigail graciously thanked them again for their time before they left her alone with her thoughts.
Abigail sat in the small conference room waiting; she organized some of her papers over and over again nervously. She was almost in shock that this was all happening so fast. Sometimes fast was a bad thing. The pleased look from her crowed though made it look like news was going to be good. She wanted to stand up and pace back and forth, but she needed to look calm, collected and together. The president of the company himself might walk in at any moment to see her.
Could it really have been this easy? The last time she went with a coworker to do a presentation they had to change things three times before they met with the owner of the company.
Ten long minutes passed before the door opened again and a young woman came in. “Hi, Mrs. Dalton if you could please follow me.”
“Of course.”
Abigail grabbed her bags and followed behind her a little confused as to what was going on. They were heading back towards the front lobby. Should she ask where she was going? They stopped at the elevators in the lobby and Abigail’s stomach dropped to her feet in the same instant the young woman had pushed the up button. Up was better than being shown to the front door. She wondered whom she would be going to see, Mr. Michaels himself? As his name crossed her mind this time it rung a bell with her. It seemed more familiar than before but she couldn’t place it. Abigail shrugged off the felling quickly; she had seen his name on papers here and there for almost two weeks now.
“My name is Jessica Jansen. I’m Mr. Michaels’ personal secretary. He was very impressed with what you have done. I overheard him when Mr. Stanly came in and showed some of your presentation. He said, ‘It is like she has read my mind, and I didn’t even know what I was thinking…’ It must be good, I have never seen him this excited about anything, ever.” A thick southern accent in her voice revealed itself the more she spoke. At first Miss Jansen’s speech was calculated as if she was trying to pronounce each word perfectly, though it did not take long for her pace to quicken and the thick sound of a true Texan slid out in her words.
“Um, thank you. Impressed? Really? Wow what a strange day I’m having.”
“I bet, you might get to go home earlier, or you could spend the rest of your trip sight-seeing. Have you ever been to New York City before? I moved here about, oh, five or so years ago from Texas.” She leaned in closely as if to tell Abigail a secret. “To tell the truth, I think I got this job because of my accent, I wasn’t really that qualified. But he told me right out that he just loved my accent. He’s about the only one I'll tell you. Not many others here like it at all, been trying very hard to let it go, but it is just not that easy.”
Abigail wasn't sure what to say, Miss Jansen was a talker it seemed, “I can imagine it would be very hard.”
Miss Jansen had started talking again right away, but Abigail’s head was reeling with its own thoughts. She did this good? She thought she had, but if he had really said those things, wow. It was the only word that came to mind to sum up her day so far.
The elevator doors were opening up again and Abigail glanced above the doors to see they were on the top floor. She placed a smile on her face, not that it was too hard, as she walked out into a smaller lobby with large black and white oversized chairs and a large black desk in the middle of the room. She watched as Miss Jansen walked toward the desk.
“Mrs. Dalton you can put your bags down on that chair if you like. Then if you would please wait in the conference room to your left, I will let Mr. Michaels know you have arrived. He will be with you shortly. Can I get you a bottle of water or something else to drink?” she asked, her Texas twang gone and a professional attitude and slow enunciated speech back in its place.
“Oh no thank you; I’m fine.”
Abigail placed her bags on the chair and walked into the conference room to her left. The table inside was big enough for six people and there were black and white pictures on the walls. She walked around the room and looked at each one slowly. These were just what she had in mind for the lobby. The images had the ability to transport anyone looking at them into another world.
She started thinking about the call she was going to make to her boss when she got back to the hotel. Maybe she really would get a promotion out of this job. Abigail smiled at the thought. She really wanted to jump up and down and scream the way she would have done in high school or college.
She picked her chair carefully, close to the door but not facing it. Abigail straightened her clothing out and made sure her hair was in order before she sat down. She somehow thought it would be more dramatic if when he came in, she could turn around slowly. She could hear a slightly muffled male voice in the lobby and then took a deep breath. It was hard to relax and look calm when she wanted to act like she was a screaming teenager at a concert. The footsteps came toward the door slowly and Abigail tried to look unaffected by his presence.
“Mrs. Dalton I just had to meet you. This is amazing; I would love to know where you got the idea for it.”
Abigail turned the chair around slowly, feeling confident and keeping a smile on her face. As she looked up at him, her smile changed into a look of shock. Mr. Michaels was looking down at her sketches and Abigail’s voice was caught in her throat. After a few seconds of no response from Abigail, he started to speak again and looked right at her. No words came out of his mouth and his own expression turned to one of complete disbelief. Abigail stood up sharply but her knees gave way and everything started to spin as she fell towards the floor.
Mr. Michaels had dropped everything he was holding and Abigail was now in his arms. She looked up and he was just staring at her through his dark rimmed glasses. He stuttered the word amazing and Abigail reached up to touch his face. When she placed her hand on his cheek, the world went black.
Chapter 21
When Abigail started to stir, she could feel that she was lying down on a hard surface. She tried to rack her brain as to where she was, and when it came to her, she froze instantly afraid to open her eyes. Maybe it was all just another dream. She could hear a voice calling to her; it was in the distance but slowly creeping closer. Slowly the feeling of someone’s warm hand be
gan to tingle on her cheek. Abigail opened her eyes slowly and the face above her came into focus. A million thoughts were swirling around in her head at one time.
“Abs? Abby, please answer me. Are you ok?”
It didn’t take long for her to find her voice and speak, “I, I don’t understand. You? How, how are you here?”
“You fainted Abby. Are you okay?”
Miss Jansen was coming in the door with a bottle of water in her hand. She had a look of worry and wonder on her face as she placed the bottle on the table.
“Thank you Jessica; please shut the door behind you.” Mr. Michaels’ eyes never left Abigail’s face as he spoke to her.
He helped her up slowly and guided her gently into a chair. As he handed her the bottle of water, Abigail just stared at him. Part of her kept expecting to have his face change into that of another person. How could this be real at all? Was he really right in front of her now, sitting just a few feet away? She slowly lifted her hand up to his cheek and hesitated for a moment before touching him. As her hand touched him, his eyes closed and his hand went over the top of hers.
He opened his eyes slowly and looked at her again with tears starting to form in the corners. She pulled her hand down and he looked away from her. “Oh God Abs, I’m so sorry. What you must be thinking of me right now.”
She was trying to put what he was saying together. Abigail stood up abruptly as anger jolted through her. She crossed the room without looking at him. How could he do this to her? What the hell was he thinking? Was all this some idea of a sick joke? When she finally spoke she did so with disdain, “Why the hell would you do this to me Westly? After all this time, you bring me here, and for what? After what you did to me! Did you just think I would forget about it all? Forgive everything after seeing you again?”
