by Regina Frame
"Fuck you, old man," I mumbled to myself right before I drew back my arm and put my fist through the wall. "Fuck you, you piece of shit!" I shouted this time. "If you weren't already dead, I'd kill you myself for every damn thing you've ever put me through!"
I pulled back and punched the wall again, pieces of plaster breaking and landing at my feet. Pulling the baggie of pills from my pocket, I rolled them between my fingers through the plastic. I went there with one thing on my mind, and that was to end this once and for all. I crossed the hall and stopped when I reached the small bathroom. It smelled damp and musty, probably from the water that was still in the pipes.
I opened the plastic bag and took one of the pills out and rolled it around between my fingers. Even without the light from my phone, I would've known what it was by the feel of it. It was round and slick with the protective coating and a line running down the middle so that they could easily be broken in half. Why someone would only want to take half of one was foreign to me. I pulled out another one; long with Xanax printed into the bar. I stood there and wondered just how long it would take if I swallowed every one of them.
Honor's beautiful face crossed my mind. Her perfect smile and the silkiness of her pale blonde hair. I thought back to that first day at the studio when she walked through the door. She looked like an angel, and she took my breath away.
I chuckled to myself as I thought about all the times I'd given her shit, only to have her turn around and give it back tenfold.
She was the only woman I'd ever said those three little words to, and I meant them with all my heart. I realized that now. It was clearer than ever, and what made it even better was that I knew she loved me back just as much. I knew that, not only because she told me, but because I could see it in her eyes every time she looked at me. It was there in her smile, and it was there in her touch. She loved me for me, even if I was fucked up. She loved all of my broken pieces.
I stared down at the bag in my hand, turning it upside down. I watched as that poison made a splash in the rusty water in the toilet bowl.
"I refuse to give you control. You've made my life a living hell, you son of a bitch. I'm glad you're dead. I just hope it was painful, because you deserved as much pain as what you put me through. I just want you to know that I'm doing alright, no thanks to you or Mom," I said out loud to the pills, and to the memories of my childhood. "I refuse to live another day thinking that I'm less of a man because of the way you treated me. I have someone who loves me, and that's all I need."
"Oh, Chance!" Honor gasped from somewhere behind me, startling me.
"How did you know I was here?"
"The GPS on your phone. I was so worried about you. I called the guys, and when they didn't know where you were, Jinx helped me trace your phone. He drove me over here in his truck."
I wrapped my arms around her and buried my nose in her hair.
"I love you so much," I told her with my lips pressed against her neck. “Don't ever leave me."
"Never."
***
Honor
One month later
I grabbed a bottle of water from the refreshment table that the network had provided for their guests. I took a seat on the black leather sofa in the green room as I stared at the flat screen on the wall. Ever since the video of Chance's encounter with his mother had gone viral, offers were flooding in for interviews. Every news station and newspaper in the nation wanted to be the first to land the heartbreaking story of Chance Robert's life, and they were willing to pay big money. The story of a broken little boy who grew into a very talented man who was loved by all of his adoring fans. And then there was me.
I couldn't be more proud of him than I was at that very moment, watching him on screen. He'd made progress in leaps and bounds over the last month. He finally agreed to try some new medication that his therapist recommended, and so far, his nightmares had been minimum.
Chance finally talked about Heartstrings and the fact that he'd had it built and that most services there were funded by him and a few other donors, such as me. We both worked with the youth at Heartstrings at least twice a week as long as our schedule allowed. Once it became public knowledge, celebrities came out of the woodwork to offer money or their services in some way.
Chance had also stuck with his appointments with Dr. Perkins, and I could definitely see positive changes in him. He had more self-esteem that came from deep inside; not from some illegal substance.
And the great thing about it was that he now felt worthy of being loved. There was not a day that went by that we didn’t profess our love for one another in words, mind, body, and soul. Together, we were strong. Together, we were one.
The End
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
My name is Regina Frame, and I live in Alabama with my husband and three dogs. I worked for twenty years in the medical field as an office manager. I fell in love with reading after picking up, Fifty Shades of Grey, and I haven't stopped reading since. I started out as a beta reader for other authors, and then decided to try it myself. I couldn't stop now, even if I wanted to. I love to write! I love the challenge of bringing characters to life, and love it even more when I hear how they have touched my fans.
Harmony
(Jinx)
I was the quiet one. The guy who had it together. I worked hard to get my band where it was; at the top of the charts. I'd never been one to party, to just let go and enjoy this crazy ride, and because of that, people said I had a stick up my ass. So for one night, I let go. For once, I didn't want to be me. I wanted to be the guy who didn't give a shit about anything, but reality happened. It hit me over the head with a king sized hammer. How had I let this happen? Fate stared me in the face, literally.
