Forever and Always

by E. L. Todd

  10

  I slept on the couch that night and Penelope didn’t ask why. She probably didn’t even notice I was gone. When I went to work in the morning, I didn’t speak to anyone or acknowledge a single person. My secretary said hello to me, but I passed by her without saying a word.

  My office door suddenly opened, but I was so indifferent to everything that I didn’t care at all. My life had no purpose or meaning. I was in a relationship that was dead and lifeless, with a woman that didn’t care if I lived or died. Finally, I looked up at the person who entered my office unannounced. It was Brian.

  “I have to talk to you,” he said quickly. “I tried calling you last night, but you didn’t answer.”

  I shrugged. “I don’t remember where I put my phone.”

  Brian stared at me for a moment, but then continued on. “It’s about Penelope.”

  “What about her?” I said with an indifferent voice. “You still want to know what she’s like in the sack?” I asked. “Well, she sucks—there you go.”

  “What the hell is wrong with you?” he asked. “Are you drunk?”

  “Maybe.” I sighed.

  “Are you high?”

  I shrugged.

  Brian shook his head. “Anyway, I have to tell you something.”

  “You already said that.”

  “My friend that works on Wall Street with Christian—”

  “Who’s Christian?”

  “The guy Penelope cheated on you with.”

  “Oh, him.” I sighed.

  Brian stared at me again. “He told me that he knocked up Penelope, but he didn’t want her anymore since she was pregnant. He dumped her and kicked her out. She lost her job because she was so depressed.”

  I rose from behind my desk, shaking in anger. “What did you say?”

  Brian sighed. “I’m not making this up,” he said. “She told you the baby was yours because she had nowhere else to go. I’m sorry, man.”

  The anger inside my body ignited like a lit stick of dynamite. It was one thing to leave Scarlet because I was accepting my responsibilities as a father, doing the right thing for my kid, but knowing that I left the love of my life because Penelope lied to me made me snap. I grabbed my bag and stormed out of the office with Brian following behind me.

  “Where are you going?” he asked.

  “I’m calling in sick,” I said as I strode out of the office. Instead of the elevator, I took the stairs two at a time, and practically ran through the lobby. I yelled down a cab, and when it pulled up in front of my apartment, I threw a fifty at the driver and ran up the stairs to my apartment.

  The door slammed open and Penelope jumped from the couch, frightened of the way I stormed in. My bag fell to the floor, and I kicked the door shut behind me. Never in my life had I hit a woman or even thought about it, but I could’ve done it right then. I could’ve beat the shit out of her.

  “Why are you home so early?” she asked quietly.

  I moved closer to her, and she inched away from me. It was obvious how frightened she was of me. She was smart. If she knew what I wanted to do to her, she would have been running for cover.

  “Sean?”

  “I could kill you, Penelope. I SWEAR TO FUCKING GOD, I COULD KILL YOU!”

  Penelope practically ran to the other side of the room, but I chased her down and pinned her against the wall. She tried to move away, but I held her by her shoulders. “Please don’t hurt me,” she begged.

  “We’ll see,” I spat. “So that bastard isn’t mine, and you made me believe that it was? You are the fucking devil, Penelope. I can’t believe you would do this to me. I was happy with Scarlet, but you tricked me into being with you. Do you understand that you ruined my life? Do you get that?” I shook her shoulders and she started to cry. “I have no sympathy for you.” I released my hold on her and stood back, not because I felt bad for scaring her, but because I knew I was going to hurt her. “Scarlet is everything to me and now I lost her—she’s gone.”

  Penelope lowered her gaze to the floor, and I wanted to punch her in the face. Instead, I grabbed her stuff and started shoving it into boxes then I threw them out into the hallway. Penelope cried as she watched me throw her belongings outside of the apartment, breaking some of her things when they collided with the ground.

  “Please stop, Sean.”

  “Get the fuck out of my apartment!” I threw her clothes in the hallway, not bothering to put them in boxes anymore. “Get out.”

  “Sean,” she cried. “Listen to me.”

  “NO!”

  After all her shit was out of the apartment, I grabbed her arm and dragged her from the room and into the hallway.

  “I have nowhere else to go,” she cried. “Please, Sean. I lost my job and I have no one to turn to. Please don’t kick me out.”

  “Fuck off.”

  I slammed the door in her face and locked the bolt. Her cries could be heard through the doorway and I listened to the sounds for a while. Last week, I was the happiest guy on the planet, and now I was the most miserable person in history. Scarlet was gone forever. I could try to win her back, but she would never take me—not after I betrayed her twice. She would be stupid if she even considered it. My life was empty and I had no meaning—I was dead.

  Penelope continued to cry in the hallway, and I was irritated by the noise. The woman lied about everything, but I knew she was finally telling the truth. She really had nowhere else to go. Her parents had died years ago and she was an only child. She had no friends because she was a bitch, and no other ex-boyfriends that were stupid enough to take her back. After I took a deep breath, I opened the door and started to carry her stuff back into the apartment. Penelope was sitting against the wall and she stopped crying when she saw me carry everything back into the living room.

  Penelope got to her feet and came back inside, and I shut the door behind her.

  “Thank you so much,” she said as she wiped away her tears. “I really have no one else.”

  “You can stay here for a month. After that, I’m kicking you out. You are staying on the couch. And don’t look at me or speak to me for any reason—which shouldn’t be difficult for you.”

  She watched me walk away and open the cabinet. I grabbed as much hard liquor as I could, and I carried it into my bedroom. I returned to the kitchen and grabbed all the old vicodin that I could find. Then I went into my bedroom and slammed the door behind me, leaving Penelope alone in the living room.

  I was being stupid and reckless, but I didn’t care. Never in my life had I been in so much pain. I opened the bottle and chugged the rum, but when the pain didn’t go away, I popped a vicodin pill and felt my mind begin to blur. It wasn’t a solution to my problem, but then again, no solution existed. All I had was the alcohol and the left over pills. I wasn’t going to work and I wasn’t leaving my apartment. The alcohol would kill me or the drugs would. It didn’t matter which.

  11

  Scarlet

  Ryan left for work in the morning, but I decided to stay home and work on editing a manuscript that I was almost finished with. Sean was always on my mind, but I didn’t let myself fall to a depression. I had to pretend that I was okay, hoping that someday I actually would be. Now that I had a purpose, supporting both Ryan and myself, I knew I couldn’t fall prey to the darker emotions that were growing inside me. Sean’s betrayal did more than just break my heart. It killed my soul.

  The sound of a knock on the door made me flinch. Cortland was at work and so was Ryan. Only one other person would come visit me and he wasn’t welcome. If Sean was at the door, I would punch him without thinking twice. When I looked through the peephole, I gasped.

  “Janice?” I asked when I opened the door.

  She smiled and immediately hugged me, holding onto me for a moment. I returned her embrace and instantly noted the weight she had lost. She was much thinner than she had ever been. I pulled away.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked as I shut the do
or behind her.

  “I came to see you,” she said. “You won’t return my phone calls, so I had to resort to this. I apologize for barging in on your life.”

  “It’s okay,” I said. “Can I get you something? Maybe some ice cream?”

  Janice’s cheeks reddened. “I’ve lost some weight, as you can tell.”

  “What’s going on?”

  “Can I start by saying how sorry I am about what happened with Sean? I never would have done that if I knew how you felt about him—you have to believe me. You’re my best friend. You know I would never hurt you like that.”

  I sighed. “I should be apologizing to you. You did nothing wrong, Janice. I should have called you and told you where I was and what I was thinking. It was wrong for me to leave you in the dark like that. Do you forgive me?”

  “Of course,” she said as she hugged me. “I’m so glad that we worked this out. I was so worried about you.”

  “I’m okay, Janice. You are the one that we should worry about.” I looked at her body. “You are practically anorexic.”

  Janice sighed. “Now that we’re friends again, there is something I need to tell you.”

  I took Janice’s hand and pulled into the living room. “Go ahead,” I said.

  “After Sean came to R and R—”

  “When did Sean come to R and R?” I asked. “What are you talking about?”

  “He didn’t tell you?” she asked.

  “No,” I said.

  “Well, Sean came looking for you after you left. He asked me if I knew anything, and I said I didn’t. I tried calling you, but you didn’t answer. Carl took him into his office. Minutes later, Sean was punching Carl in the face, beating the shit out of him right in his own office. By the time Sean ran away, Carl was unconscious. An ambulance took him to the hospital. He was in a coma for three days because of the swelling to his brain.”

  “Oh my god,” I said as I covered my face. “I can’t believe Sean did that.”

  “He probably didn’t tell you because he knew how mad you would be.”

  “They never found out it was Sean?”

  “No,” she said. “Carl questioned me when he came back to work, but I denied any knowledge of him, and said I had never seen him before. That’s when the assaults began.”

  I stared at Janice. “Carl came after you?”

  She nodded and averted her gaze. “As punishment for hiding Sean’s identity.”

  I shook my head. “I’m so sorry, Janice. This is all my fault. If I had stood up to Carl, this never would have happened.”

  “Don’t blame yourself,” she said. “Please don’t do that.”

  “Is that why you’re here? Are you running from him?”

  “No,” she said. “But I had to tell someone. I have no one to turn to. All the girls in the office turn a blind eye because they don’t want to be the next victim. You and I were the last girls in the office he hadn’t propositioned, so after you left the company, I was next.”

  “We have to do something.”

  “But what?” she asked.

  “I don’t know,” I said. “But this is bullshit. He can’t treat us like this. I’m glad Sean beat the shit out of him.”

  “I am too.” She smiled. “Are you two still together?”

  “No,” I said quickly.

  “Last time I talked to him, he told me that he loved you.”

  “Well, he left me because Penelope wanted him back—she’s having his baby.”

  Janice grabbed my hand and squeezed it. “I’m sorry, Scarlet. I had no idea.”

  “It’s okay,” I whispered.

  The front door opened and Ryan and Cortland came inside. They both stopped when they saw Janice sitting in the living room. They stared at her for moment, particularly Ryan, and then finally came into the sitting area.

  “This is Janice,” I said to them. They approached us on the couch and I turned to her. “Janice, this is my brother, Ryan.”

  Janice stared at him with a smile on her lips. Her cheeks were slightly red. They shook hands and Janice said, “I’m normally not this skinny.”

  Ryan nodded with a smile. “Okay. Good to know.”

  Then, I introduced her to Cortland. The men sat on the other couch and looked at us.

  “What’s going on?” Ryan asked. “I didn’t know you had any friends.”

  I rolled my eyes. “I used to work at R and R with her. Apparently, our boss is assaulting her now. We are trying to figure out a way to bring him down.”

  “It’s impossible.” Janice sighed.

  “No,” I said. “We are going to do this. I was a coward before, but I’m not anymore. We are going to fight this time. This piece of shit is going down.”

  “Can we help?” Cortland asked.

  “I don’t know,” I said. “We need proof that he is sexually harassing her at work.”

  “Aren’t there cameras in the building?” Cortland asked.

  “No,” I said. “Not in our office.”

  Cortland shook his head. “This pervert covers his ass,” he said. He thought for a moment. “What if we catch him in the act? I’ll bring my camera and record your boss in action then we’ll upload it to their server so it will infect their entire network and everyone will see it. This guy won’t get off with a warning—he’ll be fired.”

  My lips stretched into a smile. “That a great idea!” I said. I got up and hugged Cortland tightly. “You’ll help us?”

  “Of course,” he said. “Ryan and I both can.”

  Ryan cleared his throat. “Well, in order for this to work, we are going to need bait. Since Scarlet doesn’t work there anymore, Janice will have to do it.” He turned to her. “Are you comfortable with that?”

  Janice thought for a moment. “Will I have to go through with it—all the way?” she asked apprehensively.

  “We would never let that happen,” Ryan said quickly. “This is what we’ll do. Cortland will hide and videotape the whole thing. Scarlet will get me into the building and I’ll hide around the corner. When he starts his attack, I’ll come in and stop him so Cortland can get the entire interaction. We’ll show him assaulting you while you continue to say no. There will be no room for misinterpretation. The cops will even be involved, especially if the other girls come forward and admit the truth—that he assaulted them too.”

  “Then I’ll upload it the next morning on their servers,” Cortland said. “The fucker will be sitting at his desk when I upload the whole video, watching it with a look of horror on his face.”

  The plan sounded feasible. I realized it was actually going to happen. Retribution was coming our way. I grabbed Janice’s hand and she started crying. I felt my own tears fall at the sight, knowing how much pain Carl had caused both of us. I hugged her and held her tightly, rocking her back and forth. “We are going to get him,” I whispered.

  “I know,” she said. “I’m so happy.” She turned to Cortland and Ryan. “Thank you so much.”

  Ryan stared at her. “Of course,” he said.

  Cortland nodded. “It’s the right thing to do,” he said. “When do we leave?”

  “My plane leaves tomorrow,” Janice said.

  I turned to Cortland. “Can you get the time off?”

  “It shouldn’t be a problem,” he said.

  “Good,” I said.

  “I can’t believe we are actually doing this,” Janice said.

  “It’s been a long time coming,” I said.

  I opened my laptop and bought the tickets online for Ryan and I. Cortland paid for his own ticket and Janice already had her return flight booked for early the next morning.

  Ryan shifted his weight on the couch. “Would you like to go out to dinner?” Ryan asked us. He was looking at Janice, but I knew he was addressing me as well.

  “You must be hungry,” I said to Janice. “The food in coach sucks.”

  “Yes, I’m starving.”

  We rose from the living room and walked out the door th
en made it to the street. Cortland drove us to Pike’s Market, and we went to the Italian restaurant that Cortland and I had visited a few weeks earlier. Cortland sat directly across from me and Janice sat across from Ryan.

  Cortland and I shared glances, silently communicating with each other. Ryan kept starting at Janice, but then he would look away when she noticed his stare. They continued to sneak glances at each other. They were acting like they were in high school. I knew Janice was very forward when she had a love interest, but she was being shy. I wondered if it was because she really liked Ryan, or if it was because he was my brother.

  “So, are you seeing anybody?” I asked Janice.

  She smiled at me. “No.”

  I nodded. “Cortland has a girlfriend—she’s Brazilian.” That was my way of saying Cortland was off limits, leaving Ryan for the taking.

  She laughed. “That’s interesting.”

  “Ryan owns a tattoo shop,” I said. I knew I was doing most of the talking for my brother because he was being particularly quiet, not his normal self at all. I assumed that meant he really liked Janice, even though they’d just met.

  “But it doesn’t look like you have any tattoos,” she said as she looked at Ryan’s arms.

  Ryan smiled. “Well—I—yeah just don’t really—want one,” he mumbled incoherently. “Yeah.”

  Cortland covered his face while he laughed and I tried to swallow my giggles. My brother was making an idiot out of himself. He wasn’t the charming stud that he usually was with girls.

  “That’s cool,” she said apprehensively.

  I tried to break the awkward moment. “When I came to Seattle, my brother took care of me. He let me live with him rent free and even gave me an allowance. He’s very sweet.”

  “That was so nice of you.” Janice smiled at him. “I wish I had a brother like that.”

  Ryan cleared his throat and didn’t look at her. “Thanks,” he said. He looked down at his menu and ignored her stare.