Rookie

by JL Paul

“Guilt?”

  Mrs. B nodded. “Yes. Guilt.”

  Sidney shook her head, refusing to believe it. Rob was his own person and if he didn’t want to do something, he wouldn’t do it. No amount of guilt could force him into anything.

  “I didn’t work for Rob when he was married,” Mrs. B said. “But I was with him after the divorce. He confided in me several times about how horrible he felt about the whole thing. He thought that he’d ruined her life. They were not ready for marriage, no matter what they thought back then. Sure, they were in love, but stress and real life can destroy that. It happened to Rob and Melanie.”

  “But they’re trying to work things out,” Sidney said.

  Mrs. B shrugged. “Maybe, but I think for the wrong reasons.”

  She scooted forward, pausing when the waitress returned with their soft drinks.

  “You see,” Mrs. B continued, “Rob feels like he didn’t take care of her – didn’t do what he was supposed to do. She left and ended up taking care of herself. Now, maybe they both feel as if there is unfinished business between them, I don’t know, but I do know that he is not in love with her.”

  Sidney peeled the wrapper off her straw and then poked at the ice cubes floating in her drink. “I still think you’re wrong. I just don’t think Rob would go unless he wanted to – because he’s in love.”

  “Listen to me, Sidney,” Mrs. B said, leaning over the table. “He’s in love, all right, but not with her. You silly girl, don’t you see? He’s in love with you.”

  “Me?” Sidney said, eyes wide, hand hovering over her glass. “No, I don’t think so.”

  Mrs. B smiled her sweet, loving smile. “I watched you two when you were living with us. The tension was so thick that I really thought I could cut it with a knife. And then, something must have happened. You two wouldn’t look at each other but couldn’t help sneaking secret glances.”

  Sidney’s cheeks flushed but she didn’t say a word.

  “It thrilled me,” Mrs. B said. “I thought he’d finally found someone who would love him with all her heart. Someone he could love back. Someone sweet and kind and gentle.”

  Sidney shook her head.

  “It’s true,” Mrs. B said. “Honey, I know you’re hurting inside but so is he. He hasn’t been the same since you left. Just give him another chance. Talk to him when he gets back. You’ll see I’m right.”

  When Sidney returned home that evening, she walked in through the kitchen door, dropped her bag, and walked out through the front door.

  Strolling through the sand, she replayed everything that Mrs. B had said. Maybe it was true and maybe it was just a caring woman’s hopes. Sidney didn’t know and probably never would. She just couldn’t talk to Rob – not now.

  Sinking to the sand, she stretched out her legs as the sun dipped below the horizon and the gulls nestled down for the night.

  She regretted the angry words that they’d tossed back and forth the last time she’d seen Rob. But once things are said, you just can’t take them back.

  “Really wish I could,” she muttered, picking up handfuls of sand and letting it leak through her fingers. “Really wish I could.”

  Sighing, she allowed her mind to go blank for a bit, zoning out to give her heart a rest. Just as she was relaxing, her phone rang. With a soft curse, she dug it out of her pocket, frowning at the screen.

  “Unknown number, huh?” she said as she answered. “Hello?”

  “Yes, I look for Mario?” the thickly accented voice asked.

  “Wrong number,” Sidney said, ending the call. Along with the barrage of junk mail, she also was receiving an unusual amount of wrong number calls. It was irritating but what could she do? Change her number, maybe, but she’d most likely get a wrong number or two on that one.

  “Whatever,” she mumbled, her thoughts returning to her predicament.

  Lexie entered her mind. Sparkly, bubbly Lexie. In the short time that Sidney had known her, Lexie had never held a grudge. Maybe Sidney could talk to her; explain why she’d done what she’d done. Perhaps Lexie would listen and forgive. Possibly even understand. If Rob and Melanie’s cruise turned out to be a success, then would it matter anymore?

  “Melanie would probably still be hurt,” Sidney muttered. “But they weren’t even together then. And who’s to say that Melanie hasn’t dated other men?”

  None of that mattered, though. Not at that moment. What did matter was that Sidney at least try to talk to Lexie. She had to give it a shot. If she couldn’t reconcile with her friends, well, she’d have no other choice.

  She’d just go back home.

  Twenty

  She nearly ran back to the cottage, phone clenched in her fist. She didn’t want to have any sort of conversation while sitting on the beach; she wanted to be in her living room – a place more comfortable. As soon as she burst through the door, she dialed Lexie’s house phone. Maybe if Chad answered, she could talk to him first, sound him out a little, and maybe persuade him to soften Lexie up.

  But she got voicemail. Opting not to leave a message, she stared at the phone, wondering if she should call Lexie’s cell.

  “I’ll do it,” she said, elation thrumming through her veins. She was going to do this. She was going to end the silent treatment and get things back on track. With trembling fingers, she hit the speed dial number for Lexie’s cell and pressed the phone to her ear.

  Once again, voicemail. Groaning, Sidney waited for Lexie’s elaborate message to end.

  “Hey, Lexie. It’s Sidney. Um, could you please give me a call when you get this message? I don’t want to go into everything on voicemail so please call me back.”

  She ended the call and sank to the sofa, hoping and praying Lexie would respond. She didn’t want to think that maybe Lexie was avoiding her calls. Unfortunately, that was a real possibility.

  “Now what?” she asked the walls as she slid her phone to the coffee table. “Looks like I’m back to talking to myself.”

  Falling into the back of the couch, she closed her eyes. She’d survived the death of her parents as a child. She’d survived being shipped from home to home. She’d survived living on her own at a young age. But now, she didn’t think she could survive any longer. The pain in her chest made it hard to breathe while the loneliness sucked everything vital out of her soul.

  “I should have never come here,” she said, tears welling in her eyes. “If I would have stayed in Indiana, I never would have met them. Then I’d be happy.”

  But that wasn’t true. All through her childhood, she’d had a friend here or a friend there. But never had she had friends like the ones she’d made in LA.

  Closing her eyes, she tried to relax and not freak out. More than likely, Lexie and Chad were out and Lexie hadn’t heard her phone. Or, perhaps they were at a movie and she couldn’t answer. Sure, she was upset with Sidney, but she wouldn’t totally ignore phone calls, would she?

  Her cell rang, ripping her from her thoughts. Her heartbeat sped up as she reached for the phone, hope rising.

  But the number on the screen was blocked. As Lexie was one of Sidney’s contact, her name always appeared on the screen.

  With slight trepidation, Sidney answered the call.

  “Hello?”

  “Hey, Sid. Long time no talk, huh?”

  A chill swept over her body, bringing bumps to her skin and an aching cold to her bones.

  “Grant,” she breathed. “How did you get this number?”

  “It’s amazing what you can do when you make the right contacts, isn’t it?” He chuckled, the tone lifting the hair on the back of her neck. “You see, women can’t resist my charms. Especially this cute little girl that works for the cell company. And when I told her that my ex moved here with my little girl and wouldn’t let me see her, well, this chick melted and went out of her way to get your info for me. She didn’t want me to not get to see my little girl.”

  “You’re sick, Grant,” Sidney said, a little anger mixing with
the fear. “Leave me alone, do you hear me?”

  “We have unfinished business, Sidney,” he said. “I’m not just going to go away, do you understand?”

  Sidney ended the call and clutched the phone in her hand. Should she call the police? Yes, but first she needed to get somewhere safe. Chad and Lexie lived just a short walk down the beach and Rob just a little further than that. She knew where Lexie kept a spare key.

  With a plan in mind, she ran to her room to pack a quick bag. Certainly Lexie wouldn’t turn her away now.

  Her phone rang again. Glancing at the screen, she saw that the number was blocked. Too scared not to answer, she hit the button.

  “What?”

  “Don’t hang up on me again, bitch,” Grant growled. “And don’t bother packing. I’m coming in and we’re going to talk.”

  “No, Grant,” she said, grabbing her half-packed bag and running from the bedroom. She’d have to go out the front and run down the beach. If he was close, hopefully she could get a good head start.

  The doorbell rang.

  Frozen in fear, she stared in the direction of the kitchen.

  “Let me in,” Grant ordered in her ear.

  Ending the call, she quickly called Chad and Lexie’s house. Once again, no answer. Fighting panic, she hit Chad’s speed dial but got voicemail.

  “Chad. It’s Sidney. I don’t know where you are but Grant is at my back door. I’m hoping to get out of here and go to your house. If you get this message, please come home.”

  Hanging up, she dialed 911.

  The beautiful picture window in the living room shattered as glass sprayed the room, shards hitting Sidney’s face and upper body. She screamed as the 911 operator answered her call.

  “Help,” Sidney said. “He’s in my house.”

  She quickly gave the operator her address as Grant cleared glass from the window frame, preparing to climb through.

  She didn’t stick around to watch. She darted into the kitchen for the back door, cursing herself for not engaging the alarm when she’d returned from the beach. It probably wouldn’t have stopped him but it might have alerted the neighbors or a passerby.

  She threw the lock on the door but it wouldn’t open. Pushing with all her weight, she couldn’t get the door to budge. He must have barricaded it from the outside.

  Terror burning her throat, she ran to the bathroom just as Grant climbed through the window. He dived for her but missed just as she reached the bathroom and locked the door.

  “Bitch! Open the door! You can’t run away!” he shouted, pounding on the door.

  She surveyed the small window next to the toilet. The frosted glass on the lower pane prevented people from looking in and she wondered how hard it would be to break. The door wouldn’t hold Grant for long and if he got in before she got out the window, she was trapped.

  Her phone, still in her fist, rang. She answered it, not thinking.

  “Sid? Are you okay? What’s going on?”

  “Chad,” she gushed as the door bent with the weight of Grant’s body. “He’s in the house. He’s trying to get to me.”

  “Hang on, Sid,” Chad said, breathless. “We’re coming. Just hang in there.”

  Sirens screamed through his phone. She stood on the toilet, the phone pressed to her ear, held by her shoulder. “I’m in the bathroom. But he’s about to break the door down.”

  “We’re coming,” Chad repeated, his voice choppy.

  She dropped the phone and used both hands to open the top of the window and popped out the screen. She thought she could probably squeeze through if she could only hoist her body up that far.

  But the door splintered, sending chunks of wood all over the floor. With one more body slam, Grant managed to get it open enough to slip through and enter the bathroom.

  “You bitch,” he said, his eyes glazed with insanity. He crossed the room in two strides and yanked her off the toilet. She screamed as he wrapped a hand in her hair and yanked her backwards.

  “Get off of me,” she ordered, her hands clutching her hair.

  Turning her toward him, he punched her with his free hand, hard enough to cause white dots to spark inside her head.

  “If you would of just talked to me, we wouldn’t have to do this.”

  Reeling from his punch, her knees gave as he dragged her from the room. Just then, the front door burst open and several police officers stormed inside, guns drawn.

  “Let her go and put your hands up,” one of them ordered.

  Grinning like mad, Grant yanked her hair once more before shoving her face first into the floor. “She’s just a worthless little bitch, not worth all this trouble.”

  An officer snatched Sidney off the floor and hurried her to the kitchen. She glanced over her shoulder in time to see Grant pressed against the wall, hands behind his back as another officer handcuffed him.

  Tears fell from her eyes as the officer helped her into a chair. Aches and pains made themselves known as she struggled to catch her breath. One random thought entered her head – a hope that she hadn’t broken her wrist again. She’d only had the cast off for a few weeks.

  “It’s okay now, miss,” the young officer assured her as he knelt on the floor. “Paramedics are here and they need to check you out.”

  “I’m fine,” she said, her breathing beginning to even.

  “Still,” he insisted. “Let them have a look.”

  She couldn’t argue as two paramedics entered the room, bags in hand. One of them, a slender African-American woman, smiled as she touched Sidney’s cheek.

  “How are you feeling, honey?” she asked. “Anything hurt?”

  Sidney shook her head.

  “You’re in shock right now,” the other EMS said. “Let us have a quick look, okay?”

  She didn’t respond, just sat in the chair while the young officer retrieved a blanket from the sofa and wrapped it around her shoulders. She hadn’t realized she was shivering until the blanket fell over her body.

  “That’s a nasty bruise,” the woman said. “And you have some minor cuts here. We’ll clean you up, all right?”

  “Okay,” Sidney said.

  “Miss?” another officer asked. “There are three men out here that claim to know you. Said they live down the beach. Should I let them in?”

  Sidney looked around him and spotted Chad standing in the doorway, blocked by another officer.

  “Yes,” Sidney said, rising from the chair. She pushed past the people in her way and ran into Chad’s arms.

  “Hey, Sid,” he said, holding her close. “Are you okay?”

  She could only nod as the tears fell harder and the lump in her throat escaped in a sob.

  “We need to finish with her,” the female EMS said as she gently pried Sidney from Chad’s arms. She led her back to the chair, Chad, Bruno, and Paul right behind her.

  “What happened?” Chad asked as he surveyed the damage in the living room.

  “Yes, Miss Roper,” an older police officer asked. He flipped open a notebook and waited for Sidney to respond.

  Slowly, while the medics attended to the cuts and bruises on her face, Sidney explained how Grant had called before breaking into her house. When she finished, the office shut his book and nodded.

  “He’s not in his right mind,” the officer said. “He told us the same story. He admitted to everything. He thinks he’s a genius. Told us he followed you constantly and when you moved here, he put your name on every mailing list he could find. Then, he dated a girl from your cell phone service company and got your information.”

  She nodded. “He told me that. He told me that he told this girl that I was his ex and that I wouldn’t let him see his child.”

  “Is there a child involved?” the officer asked, looking around the room.

  Sidney shook her head. “No. We dated when I lived in Indiana but not for long. He started to become abusive then so I ended it.”

  “Well,” the officer said. “He’s going away for
a long time. He’s suspected in several other crimes in the area, including identity theft. He’s not as clever as he thinks.”

  Once the officers and paramedics left, Sidney finished packing her bag. Chad wrapped an arm around her and led her out the door.

  She walked down the beach with Chad, Bruno, and Paulie until they reached Chad’s house. An anxious Lexie ran out the door, sweeping Sidney in her arms as she cried a torrent of tears.

  “Oh, Sidney,” she gushed. “Are you okay?”

  “She’s fine, Lex,” Chad said. “Let her in the house, okay?”

  Once inside, they sat at the kitchen table while Chad explained to Lexie and Tracy what had happened. Lexie sat close to Sidney, clutching her hand.

  “I saw on our landline that you called earlier,” Lexie whispered. “Is that when he started calling you?”

  Sidney shook her head. “No. I tried to call because I wanted to talk to you. I wanted to… apologize, I guess, and stop this silly argument between us. When you didn’t answer, I called your cell.”

  Lexie’s eyes watered. “We went out for pizza earlier. And my cell phone is messed up. I’m supposed to get a new one on Monday.”

  “After we ate,” Chad continued. “We came back here. We were in the basement, playing music when you called. We took a break, I checked my phone and got your message.”

  “We were out of here like a rocket, man,” Bruno said. “Wish we would have got there earlier.”

  Sidney smiled at Bruno. “I’m glad you didn’t. You guys might have gotten in trouble with the police.”

  “Be worth it,” Bruno mumbled.

  Chad fetched a clean glass from the dishwasher and a bottle of brandy from the cupboard. He poured a touch of the amber liquid into the glass and handed it to Sidney.

  “It’ll help with the shakes,” he said, nodding at her trembling hands.

  “Thanks,” she said, sipping the liquid, cringing when it burned her throat. But it warmed her insides and calmed her nerves.

  “I’ll draw you a warm bath,” Lexie said, rising from the table. “You can soak for a bit and then get some sleep.”

  “Good idea,” Chad said. “And you can stay here for awhile.”