Serving Time

by Bailey West

  I looked for my phone, but it was across the room in my purse.

  Damn.

  “No, Averie. I’m not going anywhere. You think you are hot shit because you won that case against me. I know you’ve been around here strutting like a peacock with your chest all stuck out. You didn’t win because you are smarter than me. You won because you’re a cheater and a liar.”

  “This is not the time or the place to have this discu…”

  “SHUT THE FUCK UP!” Spittle flew from his mouth as he yelled and stepped closer. “You’re not talking big shit now that we are alone, are you? I came to collect what you should have given me a long time ago.”

  I had thought about trying to make a run for it, but he’d blocked my exit. Even if I did run, there was nowhere safe to go. I knew I was going to have to fight.

  Barry moved towards me. I picked up a bookend to hit him with it. He wrestled the bookend out of my hand and threw me against the bookcase. The pain didn’t register because I knew that I was fighting for my life. I didn’t have time to stop, be afraid or feel pain. I couldn’t beat him in hand to hand combat, but I could hurt him enough to at least get out of this office. I tried to scramble away from him, but he pulled me from the ground by the front of my shirt, which ripped in the process, exposing my camisole. He grabbed me by my throat with both hands and pinned me to my desk.

  “I am going to fuck you,” he said while moving his hands between my legs to undo my pants. “Then I am going to kill you, black bitch!”

  I wanted to stop him from opening my pants, but I needed both hands to try to pry his hand from around my neck. His hand was block my ability to get in air. I started feeling lightheaded, things were getting fuzzy, and I was losing my strength.

  This is it…I am about to die…

  “What the FUCK!” I heard in the most beautiful baritone voice.

  Samuel is here? Am I dying?

  I felt the grip on my neck abruptly release, and the air rushed into my lungs. I scrambled to my feet in enough time to see Samuel throwing Barry through the glass divider that separated my office from the other offices. He grabbed Barry by his shirt and shoved him through the glass wall that led to the conference room. I ran to stop him and turned the corner just as Samuel was ducking a punch that came from Barry then delivered one punch to Barry’s jaw. Barry’s eyes rolled to the back of his head, and he hit the ground hard. Samuel watched him fall then lifted his boot over Barry’s face.

  “El,” I said with all the strength I had. “No! Please.”

  He kept his boot lifted and turned to me. His eyes told me that he was going to stomp Barry’s face no matter what I said. I was about to stand there and witness him murder someone, and I couldn’t stop him. He turned from me just as Countee and two other men rushed in. Countee grabbed El and pushed him back against the wall while El fought to get free.

  “El! Calm down!” Countee yelled in his face while using his forearm to contain him. The two men that came in with Countee stood over Barry. One spoke into his phone. While the other one checked Barry’s pulse.

  “He’s alive,” the man called over to Countee.

  Watching Countee and Samuel tussle for control reminded me of two bulls locked in battle. Countee was larger than Samuel, but Samuel wasn’t backing down.

  “Calm your ass down. Your lady is over there, and she needs you,” Countee said through his teeth while still battling with Samuel.

  Those words seemed to bring El back around. He lowered his arms and relaxed his stance.

  “You calm?” I heard Countee say while I looked around the room taking in the whole scene. I felt a soft touch on my arm. I turned around and rushed into Samuel's chest. He took his jacket off and covered me with it then walked me back into my office.

  I held on to Samuel and rested my face on his chest until he finally spoke.

  “Are you hurt?”

  He tried to let me go so that he could look at me. I wasn’t ready for him to let go. I turned my face to the side and said, “No.” Then I rested my face back on his chest.

  “I need to see for myself, Vee,” he said gently.

  I reluctantly released him and stepped back so that he could examine me. He gave me a once over and then zipped his jacket that I had on.

  “Where did you come from?”

  “I was coming up to watch you work since I knew that you weren’t going to leave. I had dinner,” he looked around. “I guess I threw it somewhere when I saw him on you.”

  “Was the security guard down there when you came in?”

  “No, and the elevators weren’t locked. I was on my way up here to get on you about that.”

  “There is supposed to be a guard on duty at all times. If the guard leaves, someone should have been there to replace him.”

  “Ms. Patterson,” a police officer stood outside my office.

  “Yes?”

  “We have a few questions for you if you’re up to it. Mr. Chambers said he would provide us with the footage of the attack, but we still have a few questions.”

  “Can it wait until later?” Samuel asked.

  “No,” I touched his chest. “It’s fine. Let’s get it over with.”

  I sat down and answered the officer’s questions. The paramedics came up and loaded a still unconscious Barry onto the stretcher and took him out.

  Another paramedic came into my office and checked me while another spoke with Samuel. I watched the paramedic bandage his hand and say something that Samuel obviously didn’t agree with because he wouldn’t stop shaking his head until the paramedic stopped talking.

  Samuel came back over and sat with me while the paramedic took my vitals and asked about my physical condition. I declined to be transported to the hospital in the ambulance even though I knew based on standard protocol in assault cases that I would have to go.

  I answered all the questions the police officer asked then Countee provided him with a thumb drive. His team had just recently installed the surveillance cameras throughout my floor. The installation was handled the same way it was at VLG. No one at my firm knew the cameras were there except for me. Countee saw the officers out and then came to my office.

  “I was headed home when the silent alarm from the elevator was tripped. I had some guys sitting on someone not too far from here, so they were able to make it here before things got worse,” Countee said. “I want Laila to start shadowing you. You can tell people she is your personal assistant. If you are here, she will be here with you. Also, we will set up a secondary security station on your floor, for visitors to check in when they come off the elevator. The building security is not reliable. I will have a chat with the building owner and the security firm’s owner. We need to get to the bottom of what happened tonight.”

  Samuel

  I really should have killed him. I really should have taken his life harshly and brutally.

  Those words kept playing in my mind as I drove Averie to the hospital. She didn’t want to ride in the ambulance, so I loaded her into my car and drove her.

  I shouldn’t have listened to Countee. I should have stomped his head until I saw brain matter leaking from his ears.

  Those words replaced the previous ones when we had to wait in the emergency room until they called her back. Luckily one of the ER nurses was a friend of the family. She was able to get Averie into a room until the doctor was ready to see her.

  I probably could claimed self-defense and been acquitted. He did try to hit me.

  I ran that scenario in my mind when the nurse made me wait outside the room while she spoke with Averie. I had her purse and decided to find her phone and call her parents. I’m sure they would want to be here. I unlocked her phone with the code she’d shared with me after I shared my code with her. I found her father’s cell number.

  “Hello, Vee. Why are you calling so late?”

  “Mr. Patterson, this is Samuel. I was calling to let you and Mrs. Patterson know that Averie is okay, but she was involved in an
incident at her office. Again, she is okay, but we are at Lady of Light hospital.”

  “Incident! What kind of incident?”

  “Incident?” I heard Mrs. Patterson say in the background.

  “It involved another person who is okay as well, unfortunately. We are in the emergency room, and I am about to go back in the room with her, but the nurse can direct you back when you get here.”

  “We are on our way.”

  The nurse came out the room and gave me permission to go in. I sat next to Averie on the bed and pulled her close to me.

  “You know the drill, right? They will take pictures of your neck and clothes for evidence. You will have to give them the clothes you are wearing.”

  “Yes, I know,” she said while resting her head on my chest. “I hope they will give me some aspirin or something, I have a headache.”

  I should have punched his face until my hands bled. I should have picked up a piece of glass and stabbed him directly in the heart.

  “I’m sure they have something they can give you,” I responded while rubbing her arm.

  “Ms. Patterson,” the nurse spoke while entering the room.

  “The forensic photographer is here to take photos. Can you please undress? You will have to step out again, Sir.”

  I wanted to play the I am her lawyer card, but I followed directions and stepped out of the room after kissing Averie on her forehead.

  I was standing outside the door when I saw Mr. and Mrs. Patterson rushing towards me. Keeva and Kerem were close behind them.

  “Samuel,” Mrs. Patterson was nearly in tears. “What happened?”

  I looked at all of her family members faces waiting for me to give them the details.

  “She was in the building alone, and security should have been there, but they weren’t. She was attacked by a lawyer that she worked with in the DA’s office and more recently worked opposite him on the case we worked together.”

  “Attacked?” Mr. Patterson stepped closer.

  “Yes, Sir. I was bringing her some food and noticed that the security guard was not at his desk. I got up to her floor and found him choking her.”

  Mrs. Patterson and Keeva both inhaled sharply and covered their mouths.

  “I got him off her, and the security firm she recently hired came shortly after I did. She didn’t lose consciousness, but she is shaken up. They won’t let me go in the room now but Mrs. Patterson, I’m sure they will let you and Keeva go in with her.”

  Mrs. Patterson grabbed Keeva’s hand and moved past me through the door.

  “Mommy!” I heard Averie cry out when her mother entered the room.

  That sent me back into my internal dialogue thinking about how I should have murdered him.

  “Give it to me straight, Valentine. What happened to my baby?”

  I stepped away from the door and explained every detail from Barry's initial attempt to sleep with her through his attack, to Mr. Patterson and Kerem.

  “There were no signs this guy was mental?” Mr. Patterson asked.

  “No, sir. If I would've had an inkling that he was dangerous, he would have been handled.”

  “You need to get your hands looked at,” Kerem commented motioning towards my hands.

  I had cuts on both hands. I guess they were injured when I forced Barry through the glass. The paramedics wanted me to get to the hospital right away, but I wouldn’t leave Averie, so they bandaged them up. I hadn’t noticed that the bandages were saturated with blood until Kerem mentioned it. My concern was Averie.

  “I’m fine. I will get them looked at after I know that Averie is okay.”

  “No, man, that gauze is soaked. You can’t help her if you're not well.”

  “You should have them look at them now,” Mr. Patterson urged. “Go ahead. We are here with her. Let them fix you up.”

  It felt like it took forever for them to clean my wounds and bandage my hands back up. I didn’t need stitches, but one of the cuts was deep enough for them to use the surgical glue to close it.

  The nurse gave me the cleaning instructions, and I rushed out of the room to find Averie.

  She was with her family in the hospital room waiting to be released.

  “El,” she smiled when I peeked into the room.

  “Are your hands okay?” She reached for me.

  “They are fine.” I tucked them behind me. “Just a couple of cuts. How are you?” I rested on the wall near the door since her mom and sister sat next to her on the bed.

  “Over it. Ready to go home.”

  “Home? You're coming with your father and me,” Mrs. Patterson demanded.

  “No Mommy. I'm going with Samuel because he is leaving in the morning and we haven’t spent any time together.”

  “Ave…” Mrs. Patterson began.

  “I will deliver her to you bright and early in the morning Mrs. Patterson before I head to the airport.”

  “Okay, because you are going to need a couple days off work.”

  “I know, Mommy.”

  We waited until the nurse came and gave Averie her discharge paperwork. She didn’t have any injuries aside from some cuts and bruises, but the doctor prescribed her some pain medication and muscle relaxers.

  Her family walked her to my car.

  “Vee, I will be at Mommy's house in the morning. I love you,” Keeva said as they embraced.

  The rest of the family hugged her, and she got into the car.

  I waved when I climbed in and pulled off the lot.

  “Do you want to come to my house or do you want to stay at yours?”

  “You have to pack, don’t you?”

  “I’m not going.”

  “El, please. This situation is already horrible enough now you want to miss important meetings? No, go. I will be fine. We can go to your house, so you can pack.”

  “Ray packed for me.”

  “Then I would like to go home.”

  I didn’t care what she said. I’d already made arrangements for Xavier to handle my business. I would drop it for now, but I wasn’t going anywhere.

  I navigated to her house. We didn’t say much on the ride there. I helped her out the car and complimented her on the way she looked in the green scrubs the hospital let her wear home. She smiled which was a welcomed sight. She started a bath, and I found the Epsom salt under her vanity and dumped some in the tub. It would have been nice if we both fit, but her tub was made for one.

  I helped her into the tub and sat on the ground next to the tub to keep her company.

  “I shouldn’t have stayed so late by myself at the office. I could have easily left when Liddy left. Then none of this would have happened.”

  “Nothing that happened tonight is your fault. You know that, right?”

  She closed her eyes and didn’t respond.

  “Averie Grace Patterson.”

  “Not my whole name…” she smiled a little but still kept her eyes closed.

  “Yes, and look at me when I say this.” I waited until she opened her eyes. They were filled with unshed tears. My heart sank.

  “None of this entire situation from beginning to end was your fault. Didn’t you tell me that women always take the blame for things they shouldn't? Don’t change now Ms. Girls run the world.”

  “Shut up, El,” she chuckled.

  She washed. I held her towel open as she stepped out of the tub.

  “Go lay on the bed.”

  I grabbed the coconut oil mixture she uses as a moisturizer. I undressed down to my boxer briefs and met her in her bedroom. I used the moisturizer as a massage oil and rubbed her body until I heard her snoring. I pulled the comforter over her and climbed into bed next to her.

  “Ray,” I whispered into the phone.

  “Is Averie okay?”

  Countee had called and filled him, Roc and Xavier in on the details of Averie’s attack.

  “She’s sleeping. I sent Xavier a text while I was at the hospital but call him to make sure he doesn’t ha
ve any questions. He will sit in on the meetings I had scheduled for this week. We will play next week by ear.”

  “I will call him now. Are you good?”

  “Yes, I have a cut on my hand, but it’s alright. Averie is my concern right now. Call Countee in the morning so we can have a meeting about the security measures moving forward and I want security installed in her apartment.”

  “Got it. I will call you in the morning. It’s all over the news already. They aren’t saying Averie’s name, but they are definitely saying the attack happened at Patterson Law Firm.”

  “Yeah, bad press is the last thing that she needs while she is trying to figure everything out over there. I will have to reach out to some of my colleagues to find a good PR firm. She is going to need it.”

  “I will make some calls for you in the morning.”

  “Sounds good. Thanks, Ray. Tell Savi I am sorry you are up so late.”

  “She can hear you. She is practically on my lap,” he chuckled.

  “I’m just glad everything is okay,” I heard her say in the background.

  “Yeah, she’s going to be okay.”

  I didn’t fall asleep immediately even though I was exhausted. I wanted to make sure she was completely asleep before I nodded off. I didn’t need her awake by herself second-guessing her role in this whole mess. I didn’t know how she planned on proceeding, but I expected an apology and a written plan detailing how this situation will never happen again from her building’s management company. If it’s not to my satisfaction, I am going to tie them up in so much legal red tape that they will have to sell that building. I just might buy it. I won’t proceed until she gives me the green light. But everyone connected to this situation would pay for this.

  I woke up the next morning before Averie. I laid next to her and watched her sleep. I watched her chest rise and fall. I listened to the little snore sounds she made. I thought about how hard today would have been if I would have lost her. I’d actually considered not going to her office yesterday because I didn’t want to disturb her, and I needed to pack. At the last minute I changed my mind, made an illegal U-turn and headed to her office. I knew she would be hungry, so I stopped and picked up food on the way. What if I would have went with my first mind and went home? Today would have been so different…unbearable.