by Nancy Glynn
***
As soon as Daisy drove out of the gate and away from her prison, she saw Eric’s Camaro waiting for her. She parked next to him and smiled warmly.
He jumped out and ran to her side as she got out to meet him. He hugged her to him, lifting her off her feet, making her laugh.
“I can’t believe I’m free of him, of this place. Thank God I have you for a friend. You’ve done so much for me, Eric." She kissed his cheek, pushing his glasses back up the bridge of his nose.
“I would do anything for you, even though you keep friend zoning me,” he teased.
She smiled into his blue eyes and felt safe. “Let’s get out of here.”
“You got it. I told my parents and they understood. They know how special you are to me." He kissed her nose and let go, grabbing her hand before walking back to his car. He turned back to her. “Hey, why don’t we just drop my car back off at my house and drive in your car? I can always get another one if I need to or use the cabs down there,” he said with a shrug.
“That’s a great idea. We’re a team now, right?”
“Always,” he said in a hoarse voice.
She followed him to his house and parked the car. He scribbled a note and left it in the windshield wiper for his parents.
“Want me to drive?” he asked.
“I got this. I love my Lexus on the highway." She flipped her sunglasses on and grinned at him as he pulled his seat belt on.
“God, you’re gorgeous.”
She rolled her eyes and laughed. “Be a good boy.”
“No promises." He flipped his clipped sunglasses down over his glasses to hide his eyes, but she knew what was there.
The town slowly disappeared from her view, house by house, Jack’s Den, Prime and Tender, the forest where she first saw Bessie in her vision and where Jack’s church hid. She did the sign of the cross to send that poor soul some light and prayed she would find her Leon.
“You okay?”
She nodded and returned her gaze to the road. She chewed on her index fingernail and spit it out. After realizing what she did, she practically jumped, laughing out loud.
Her old self was returning. She attacked the other long nails she had grown out. It was a bad habit, but to her it was a good one now.
Her heart quickened as she came to the road that would lead to Christian’s house. King Road. Goodbye, Christian. Tears burned her eyes and her chin quivered, willing them to stay put.
Exit I55 came into view that would take her all the way to downtown Chicago. A place she loved, a place Eric loved. It was all good. No more tears.
Looking over at Eric sitting next to her, she would never have guessed it would turn out like this. Always believed it would be with Christian.
But she felt a kinship with Eric that was different from what she felt for Christian. Not that crazy kind of love, but a quieter one. However, she knew deep down that Jack would try to destroy that, would creep into their heads and give them thoughts that didn’t match their actions or beliefs.
He was good at that.
Jack would try to slowly poison them, for that she was certain. Her guard would be up and ready for battle.
Glancing in the mirror, the shine of her cross glinted in the reflection, reminding her there was still so much to fight for, so much ahead of her. She wanted to leave all this behind and start fresh, but was it even possible? Would Jack allow such a thing?
The wind whooshed in the opened windows, whipping her hair into a fiery frenzy. It whistled a sinister tune in her ear, swirling around her, turning her nerves into hot wires.
In her head, she heard the words “You’re still mine, Daisy,” unable to discern the voice but felt the urgency.
Chapter Seventeen
Daisy and Eric settled in their new furnished place easily. The hotel was beyond what she had imagined. Grant Park was on one side and the Lake on the other, walking distance to the Loop.
As promised, she had her own room adjoined to the presidential suite that included a kitchen, a library, a dining area, and a living room designed in glass and chrome offsetting a marble fireplace.
She especially loved her room with a view of the Lake, very pleased with Eric’s choice of hotels.
They bought groceries at a store on Balbo Avenue and filled the cabinets. There was also a dining area on the main floor if they didn’t feel like cooking.
After putting all her clothes away and placing her toiletries in her bathroom, she met up with Eric in the living room.
“So, you like?” he grinned.
“Like? Yes, you did good, Eric,” she laughed.
“I know it’s not a mansion like Christian’s or a palace like Jack’s, but–”
She put her finger to his lips. “You did good,” she said, smiling.
He clapped his hands together. “Okay, now what for dinner? I can make fish or steak...”
“Tacos!”
“Tacos?" Okay, tacos it is. Let me get the ground beef out." He stepped over to the fridge and grabbed the meat.
“I want to do it." She scooted him over and grabbed the skillet.
He waved his hands in the air. “Fine, fine. Make me some grub, woman!” he winked and sat the kitchen table.
She smiled and prepared the meal. Lucinda had taught her how to make the basics. Eric’s bantering was similar to Christian’s, making it hard to forget.
Memories of Christian’s teasing trickled into her thoughts. Her heart physically ached. She grabbed the edge of the sink and closed her eyes, swallowing hard.
“You okay?” he asked, running to her.
“Yeah, just a little heartburn is all. Dinner’s almost done. Go read your reader,” she ordered softly.
“You sure?”
“Yep, I’ll be fine,” she forced a smile.
They ate dinner quietly at the glass dining table. A sadness crept over her like clouds over the sun. She continuously pushed her salad around before Eric interjected.
“You gonna eat that today?” he asked lightheartedly, taking a drink of his water.
“What? Oh, I’m sorry, Eric. I’m not much company tonight, am I,” she stated.
“What’s wrong? You feeling guilty about us living here together?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know...maybe,” she admitted, momentarily looking up at him.
“Do you wish it were with Christian?" He set his fork down.
“I don’t want to hurt your feelings, Eric. You’ve been so kind." She continued to play with her food.
“Look at me, Daisy,” he said softly. “Please?”
She dropped her fork and sighed, looking up at him.
“He’s the one who told you to leave, right? I’m the one who’s been there for you, trying to love you, and I do. I love you so much it hurts, Daisy,” his voice grew hoarse.
“I know,” she whispered. She wiped a tear away and stood. She walked over to Eric and sat on his lap. “I know you do. Just give me time, okay?" She went to kiss his cheek, but he turned and she kissed his mouth instead.
He stroked her face and slid his fingers into her hair. His kiss grew deeper, his breath grew shorter.
The sound of glass breaking in the kitchen jolted them. They ran in there to see what it was, and found glass shards on the floor by the sink. She silently grabbed the broom and swept it into the dustpan.
Eric brought the garbage can over for her to dump it in. “Jack?” he whispered.
She shook her head. “Please don’t mention his name in this place. That’s all behind us.”
He nodded. “You got it. I’ll clean up our dinner plates.”
“Thank you,” she said and continued to sweep for any remaining shards.
***
Standing in the hot shower allowed Daisy to feel completely numb. It felt so good. She pushed the water back into her hair, feeling the prickly sensations tap her face.
She finished up and grabbed a towel. Something caught her eye in the foggy mirror. Wrapping the towel around her, she
stepped closer and saw it.
Mine.
Her hand swiped at it, erasing any trace.
It appeared again.
“Leave me alone!" She wiped again and it stayed gone.
“Everything okay, Daisy?” Eric called through her bedroom door.
She opened it and shook her head. Fear filled her face.
Pursing his lips, he pulled her to him in her wet towel. “Damn him,” he hissed.
“I’m not letting him control me. He can do all the pranks he wants. If that’s the only thing he can do, I can live with that.”
“But I don’t want you walking on eggshells, wondering what he’ll do next,” he breathed into her hair. “What did he do this time?”
“Wrote something on the mirror,” she mumbled into his chest.
“What did it say?”
“It doesn’t matter, really–”
“What did it say?” he demanded more firmly.
“Mine,” she whispered.
He walked past her and into the bathroom to try to see any remnants left. “She’s not yours, Jack. She’s mine! You hear me? Mine!”
“Eric!”
“I’m sorry, Daisy, but that’s how I feel. Your heart may belong to someone else right now, but you’re mine,” he said in a cracked whisper.
“Leave my room, please,” she said tersely.
“Daisy, I–”
“Please.”
Before he left, he wrote something on the still foggy mirror. He walked past her with pleading eyes and left for his room.
Daisy looked at the mirror and sighed. A picture of a heart was drawn with a D in the middle.
For the first time, she allowed the tears to flow, releasing all the pain she had since the beginning, since meeting Christian that fateful day in her aunt’s and uncle’s home, the issues with Dane, first encountering Jack on the hay bed, Dane and Lydia losing their lives, going to that school and signing her life away, making love to Christian and on the same night ending it, and permitting Eric into her life and slowly into her heart.
She fell to the floor and let the tears rack her body, cleansing it, and hopefully healing it. She cried until she could cry no more.
After emptying her heart, she sat up straight and wiped the tears away for good. Her lips tightened with determination.
When she pulled herself up to the sink counter, she spoke to the mirror as if Jack could hear her. “I belong to me and nobody else, ya hear me! No one owns me. I will always be stronger, always!”
She backed up and looked around the bathroom just waiting for something to happen, willing it, but nothing did. “Come on!”
A satisfaction came over her, filling her with pride. She dried her hair and pulled her nightgown over her head. Glancing around one more time before going to bed, she lifted a smug nose up in the air.
Knowing Eric probably lay in his room, sad about their encounter, she made her way to him. She knocked softly on his door before he finally answered. She pushed the door open, waving a white rag she had grabbed from the closet. “I’m sorry...forgive me,” she pouted.
“Course I do. I went over the line,” he apologized, pulling his arm out from behind his head to wave her over.
She could see his bare, somewhat muscled, tanned chest above the covers.
Throwing the rag at him, she laughed and sat on the bed next to him. She grabbed his glasses and placed them on his handsome face. It was a face she came to adore, could see falling in love with.
“I’m going to see my father tomorrow,” she said.
“Really? Why?" He sat up against the pillows to give her his full attention.
“I need some answers. It’s time.”
“Want me to come with?”
“No, this one I can do alone. Hopefully I can catch him. He usually works at home on Wednesdays." She smiled wickedly.
“What’re you smiling about?” he drew his brows together.
“I loved your heart. Thank you for that.”
He smiled. “My pleasure.”
Daisy licked her lips and leaned in, stopping just short of his mouth, feeling his breath on her face. “You have the prettiest shaped lips I ever saw on a man, Eric Wessington,” and kissed him, softly pressing, waiting for him to respond.
“Daisy, you don’t have to do this,” he murmured against her.
“I know. I love kissing you." She giggled at the vapor on his glasses and took them off. “There, that’s better." She returned to him and this time he responded.
She lay on his blanketed body, just enjoying their kiss, running her hands over his chest, over his tight nipples.
“God, what you do to me,” he said breathlessly.
“Yeah, better not forget it, buddy.”
He pulled her head next to his and held her, his arms wrapped around her, his chest movement slowing down under her hand. “The only other heart I ever drew for anyone was this girl I had the biggest crush on in seventh grade. I would draw hearts inside her locker door, on her folders, on her hand,” he remembered, chuckling under his breath.
A pang of jealousy coursed through her that she didn’t expect. “Was she pretty?”
“Yeah, long, brown hair and big, blue eyes. She would draw hearts back on me." He kissed her head.
“So you still think about her?" She didn’t get why this bothered her so much but it did.
“Sometimes, but not in a long time until now. You’re the only one I think about now.”
She grinned. “So what happened to her?”
“Her family moved away in eighth grade, but not before I got a kiss out of her. She came to my house one day and–”
Daisy sat up and stared down at him. “You’re not about to tell me some lovey-dovey story of a girl you once loved, are you?" She put her hand on her hip and waited.
Eric gave a thunderous laugh and couldn’t stop.
“What’re you laughing at?”
“You...you’re jealous!”
“I am not!”
“You’re jealous of a junior high love affair I had. Oh, my God,” he continued to laugh until tears rolled down his cheeks.
“Okay, maybe it’s a little funny,” she admitted and then laughed with him.
“Admit it!”
She waved her hands in the air in surrender. “Fine, I was a tiny bit jealous, just a tiny bit so don’t get crazy on me,” she ordered.
“Okay, I’ll pretend I didn’t hear the best thing ever, just go on with life as it is,” he said playfully.
“Best thing ever?”
“My heart is dancing over you being jealous, Daisy. It shows possibility,” he said in a more serious tone.
She gently slapped his arm and smiled. Crawling back under his arm, she wondered about something. “Are you really going to go through with your birthday ball, Eric?”
He sighed. “I suppose I have to. I’ll just go alone. I know Jack wants you there, but I won’t do that to you. I’ll never bring you back there again,” he promised.
“I want to go to Christian’s ball.”
“What?" His body became rigid.
“With you, Eric. I think it’s the least I can do for him, don’t you?”
“Hell no,” he shook his head.
“Put your feelings aside and really think about it. You were friends long before I came into the picture. I can’t just turn my back on him.”
“Won’t that be hard to watch him with Charlotte? Watch her become his high priestess? I know you’re a strong woman and all, but damn,” he shook his head.
“I feel like I owe him. Besides our last day together, he was so good to me. You must know that.”
“You still love him, don’t you,” he stated.
“I honestly don’t know what I feel anymore. I know I have feelings for you, but I also...I don’t know." She hugged him to her, kissing his hardened jaw.
He softened his muscles and relaxed against her.
She sprung from the bed and rummaged through his nightstand dr
awers, finding what she needed.
He laughed at watching her. “What’re you doing, silly?”
She grabbed his hand and drew a heart on top of it. “There!”
Eric cupped her face and kissed her, his eyes saying it all.
Stifling a yawn, he sent her off to bed. She kissed him once more on the lips and then on his hand where she drew the heart.
“I’ll never wash it off,” he said, half playful.
She stopped in the kitchen before going to bed to get some grapes and a mug of ice water. As the ice poured out of the freezer door, she smiled to herself.
After turning the remaining lights off, she walked to her room and stood in shock. She spun around not believing what she saw.
It looked as if a tornado ran through her room. Pictures broken on the floor, lamps, bedding in a heap. She ran in the bathroom to see if anymore messages. This time there was, but in red lipstick that said ‘Help Me.’
Eric ran in frantically looking for her. “Daisy, you okay? I heard you scream...what the?" His eyes scanned the mirror.
“Now I’m lost because why would Jack be asking me to help him? I don’t get it.”
“Sleep in my bed for tonight until we get this room cleaned up. It’s too much for this hour.”
Daisy stared at him with a silent question.
“Don’t worry, I’ll keep my hands to myself. Come on." He grabbed her hand and pulled her out of what seemed to be a bigger message to her than what was on the mirror.
Chapter Eighteen
The sun peeked through the half-slitted blinds of Eric’s room, promising a better day. Daisy stretched and looked to Eric’s empty, slept in side. She smiled at the thought of him fighting some deep primal urge to wrestle with her in the sheets. But he did keep his word and just held her until she fell asleep, staying on his side.
Sounds of pans against the griddle and smells of bacon and coffee made her stomach growl, making her forget the prior night.
The thought of going to her room to get dressed troubled her, but she needed to do it. She pushed the door open and felt pleasantly surprised. The mess was gone. Eric must have cleaned it up for her. He was really trying to win points with her, and it was working.
