One Simple Step (Journey Series)

by Williams, C. A.

  I ducked down out of his reach, grabbing my other heel to chuck in his face, and finally found my chance to attack Bleachy. Of course, the bitch came out with her claws, but I had grown up with two brothers and knew how to really fight. I landed a few good punches before I felt Teddy’s strong hands grip my forearms, pulling me off of Bleachy, but not before I got a few good hair pulls in. Hey, if she was going to fight like a girl, I could, too.

  “Get off of me. You have no right to touch me. Ever again.” I hissed out, smoothing back the hair that had escaped the tight bun I had thrown it into this morning, when everything had been at least a little normal. I felt like I was in the twilight zone or something.

  Teddy’s hands dropped down to his sides as I caught my breath, even though my hands were still shaking from the adrenaline, or maybe, the overall situation. He stared at me with those brown eyes that I thought I knew, waiting to see what my next move would be, and suddenly the room was just too damn small. I had to get out of there. I couldn’t be with him or her, or on that pathetic excuse that I had called home for so long. And all of it had been a total waste.

  I spun on my bare heel without another word to Teddy, brushing past Mark and Tyler who were both standing in the narrow hallway, their arms crossed tightly and something in their eyes as they looked sheepishly at me without saying a word. I think it was pity, but I didn’t want that or need it. I brushed past both of them roughly without another glance. They were supposed to be my friends, too, and who knew how long this had been going on. I guess bros before hoes would always stick. I don’t know why I expected anything less.

  “Bobby, please pull the bus over,” I demanded quietly, even though I just wanted to explode and scream at everyone in sight, tugging both of my unpacked bags behind me once again.

  “I can’t do that, Miss Ally,” he responded, never taking his eyes off of the dark highway. “I’m sorry.” I wasn’t sure exactly what he was apologizing for but by the way his bushy brows were knitted together, I’m sure it had a whole lot to do with what I had just walked in on. At least someone seemed sorry about the whole situation. And Bobby had been trying to keep me from it the whole time.

  “Yes, you can Bobby.” I gave him a tight-lipped smile and reached around him to flick the turn signal on. “I need you to right now, or I swear I’ll jump right off this moving bus. And you know I’ll do it.” I planted a hand on my hip as he let out a loud huff and, thankfully, the bus moved to pull over onto the side of the highway, because I probably would have followed through right in that moment.

  “But, Miss Ally,” he tried to argue once more as I stepped on to the stairs. “It’s the middle of the night. A girl like you doesn’t need to be out there all alone. Something could happen and I don’t know what I would do with myself if it did. Can’t you just wait till we hit the next town? We could find a nice hotel. You could get a pair of shoes on those pretty feet of yours...”

  His words died off as I pushed the glass door open, turning to look at him over my shoulder and giving him a reassuring smile. Even though his words mirrored the thoughts frantically running through my head, I just had to get out of there. The bus was suffocating me and the people on it were, too. Even Bobby, though I know he was really the only one that cared.

  The traffic whizzed by me as my bare feet stepped onto the side of the road. I realized I probably looked ridiculous as the bus slowly pulled away. I moved into the grass, plopping myself down onto my suitcase as the whir of headlights started to blur together, and I blinked my eyes rapidly, not letting myself break down, right here, right now.

  I needed to keep it together. I needed to get my life back on track. This wasn’t going to bring me down. I was a strong ass woman, and I wasn’t going to let this get to me. And right now, I just needed to get myself the hell off of this highway.

  Chapter 2

  Nick

  “What do you mean it’s over?” I repeated back to the girl that had just dropped this bombshell out of nowhere down on me. The same girl that I had been dating since middle school. The same girl that I had planned on marrying and spending the rest of my life with.

  “I mean it’s over, Nick.” She enunciated each word slowly, as if she were talking to a child. “I don’t know what else to say really to help you understand it any better.” I followed her into our bedroom of the tiny apartment we had shared since moving in together almost four years ago, all while she crammed things into two empty suitcases, not even bothering to look at me as she told me it was over. Whatever the hell that meant. This had to be some kind of fucked up joke.

  Kara’s blunt personality had been the first thing that had drawn me to her. When she had kicked one of my best friends in the balls for picking her last for the dodge ball team during gym class, I think I had instantly fallen in love. Everyone always teased that I was drawn to her in-your-face attitude because I was such a laid-back guy, but I didn’t care. Our relationship worked; at least I thought I did.

  “Kara, just stop for one damn minute. Please,” I added when she let out a loud huff like I was irritating her for needing an explanation. She twirled her petite figure around, planting her hands on her hips, staring back at me with an icy look in her green eyes that I hadn’t ever noticed before.

  “Look, Nick, I just can’t do this anymore. I’ve tried, God knows I have freakin’ tried with you, but I can’t. I don’t want to be stuck in one place for the rest of my life. I need to get out of here.”

  “Then why didn’t you say something?” I asked, baffled that I hadn’t heard a word of this before today. Fate must have intervened when I decided not to take an extra shift at the resort I managed like I normally did. If I wouldn’t have come home, she probably would have been gone without an explanation. “We can go anywhere you want, do anything you want to do. Just let me pack a bag. I’ll have to call Leo to let him know I’ll be gone for a while, but I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

  She shook her jet-black hair furiously, holding up one finger to me. “You don’t get it, Nick. I don’t want to be stuck here, but I don’t want to be stuck with you, either.”

  I felt like she had slammed a ton of bricks into my chest, pulling my heart straight out as she did so, and stomping all over it with those boots she always wore even though we lived in one of the warmest states around. I had no fucking clue what to say to that. Stuck with me?

  Apparently, she didn’t really care what I had to say to that either because her frenzied packing picked up once again. I watched silently as she removed every piece of herself from the apartment, but when she pulled the leash off the hook by the door, I had finally had it.

  “What in the hell do you think you’re doing?” I grabbed at the leash, which started a game of tug of war between us. Maybe I was trying to use that leash as an anchor to somehow save the relationship I had no clue was in trouble, but either way, I had to stop her.

  “What does it look like? I’m taking Gunther with me.” She gave me a look of disbelief, like I was the bat-shit crazy one right now.

  “The fuck you are.” I snatched the leash out of her hands quickly, dangling it above her head as she tried to reach for it. “I don’t know what the hell is going on here, what exactly you’re doing by ending all of this, but there’s no way Gunther is going with you.”

  “Oh, please, Nick, don’t be such a baby, it’s a freakin’ dog. I think you’ll be okay.”

  “Nope, not happening.” I picked up her keys from the kitchen counter and tossed them into her hands. “You can leave now,” I stated calmly in the same icy tone she had been using with me. Like she never gave a shit about me. She didn’t even like Gunther! She was always complaining about him hogging the bed or having to take him out on walks. I knew she was just trying to get at me even more for whatever reason, but this time I wasn’t letting her walk all over me.

  She looked like she was going to argue with me but finally clenched her fist around her keys and turned towards the door. “Fine, Nick. You and Gunther have
fun with your boring life, with your loser friends, and your control freak parents. Sounds like a grand old time, and I can’t believe I wasted so much of my life with you.” It was like she needed to twist the knife just a little harder before she slammed the door shut with such force, the picture frames on the coffee table gave a rattle.

  I collapsed onto the worn leather couch that had been one of the first things we had bought together, running a hand through my hair, trying to think about when in the hell everything had become such a fucked up mess.

  My phone rang, and for whatever fucked up reason, I almost wished it were Kara calling to say she had played one of her dumb ass jokes on me and to meet her at the bar down the road for a beer. She had always had a wry sense of humor that most people didn’t get, and one of the reasons my family and friends had never really liked her. Instead I heard the voice of my best friend, one of the last people I wanted to talk to right now.

  “Dude, get your ass down to Clammy’s. There’s a beer calling your name, Grant and Riley are on their way.”

  “Now’s not really a good time, Danny.” I heard a loud grunt come through the phone, and then he mumbled something as a barstool squeaked loudly, the sounds of the bar fading away.

  “What’s the matter fuck head, need to get permission first? Do I need to come over and ask Kara if Nicky’s allowed to come out and play for a little while? I promise not to get you too fucked up. C’mon, dude, it’s been too long. Does she only let you out like once a month?”

  “That’s not the problem this time,” I replied, before hearing a long pause and him laughing loudly, gulping in a few deep breaths of air before he was able to finally calm down.

  Danny and I had been best friends, really, since before we were born. Our moms had went to school together and ended up pregnant within months of each other, so according to them, we were destined to be best friends and that’s pretty much how it happened. So, I didn’t even need to ask what was so funny because I already knew that he had figured it out that quickly. How, I have no fucking clue, since I clearly hadn’t seen it coming.

  “Well…about time,” he managed to finally say. “You know I never liked that bitch, all emo and shit. I still swear to this day she has a voodoo doll of me hidden somewhere. And now, you can come have that beer and cry about her leaving you. Do you really want to sit in your apartment all alone, drowning in misery? You were always too good for her, dude. You’ll still find someone right for you one of these days.”

  I had to double-check my phone to make sure I was actually talking to Danny. I had never heard anything like that come out of his mouth before. In high school, he was the hotshot jock that played every sport, had every girl, and never once was serious about anything. It actually seemed like he…cared? Or maybe he was just happy that I was finally free to drink with him whenever he hit me up.

  I blew out a breath, knowing I would probably regret it in the morning, but a drink or five really sounded good right about now, and the silence in the apartment was almost deafening. “Fine, I’ll be down that way in five.”

  Chapter 3

  Ally

  Growing up, everyone had always teased me that I was too calm about everything. Almost any situation that was thrown at me, I was able to keep my head on straight, let things roll off my back, and always come up with some kind of solution to solve the problem.

  Maybe it was all of the “Zen bullshit,” as Leah liked to call it, that I had picked up over the years. Breathing was sort of my thing; it calmed me down and brought relaxation. I had even dabbled in yoga for a bit, but being on the road almost constantly in a cramped bus didn’t leave me with much opportunity, or room, to keep up with it.

  If I had ever had any breaking points in my life, last night was one of them. I kept replaying the past four years over and over in my head. Where had it all gone wrong? What had I done wrong? Was this the first time something like this had happened, or had I been ignoring some kind of signs that Teddy had been doing this all along behind my back? I knew the kind of guy he was when we had our shotgun wedding, but I thought I could change him, or really, that he had already changed.

  If any of my family or friends ever found out what I had done last night, they would probably be locking me up in a mental institution this very minute.

  After demanding Bobby drop me off on the side of the highway, which I quickly figured out wasn’t exactly the best idea I’ve ever had, I had a bit of a mini meltdown. By the time I finally managed to push myself up from the overgrown strip of grass that was the only thing separating me from the six-lane highway, I was a complete mess.

  Without looking in a mirror, I knew makeup was running down my face, my hair probably looked like a giant rat’s nest, and to top off all of that lovely mess, I was shoeless. So what did I do?

  Stuck out my thumb like most sane people would.

  Really, I was pretty damn lucky that an elderly man, who really reminded me of Bobby, was the first to pull over. I’d like to think it was Bobby’s way of sending a guardian angel out to save me, because let’s face it, I could’ve ended up locked in some pervert’s trunk, never to be seen or heard from again.

  I still hadn’t called any of my family or friends. Leah had called multiple times, probably since I was supposed to have checked in with her. I knew I was going to have to return her calls eventually or she would be sending out a search party, but really, I didn’t want to tell her what had happened. Leah would never say I told you so, but I knew she would be thinking it. She had never been Teddy’s biggest fan, even after we were married. She was constantly asking me about living on the road, and if it was all really worth it.

  I was hurt, embarrassed, ashamed…pretty much any emotion you could think of, I had felt it over the past twelve hours. But right now, I needed to wrap it all into a tiny little box with a pretty bow, put my brave face on, and move forward.

  I pulled the expensive rental car, which I had charged to Teddy’s credit card, into the parking lot and took in my surroundings. I could hear the waves at the nearby beach crashing onto the shore through the open windows, the saltiness of the air felt cleansing as I took in a deep breath. Something about this place just felt so right, like I belonged. It felt almost like home.

  Or maybe it was just a way of my body telling me that it was about to shut down after going so long without sleeping, and being emotionally drained.

  Now, I had never been money hungry and had always been thankful for what I had in life, and I had always given back by volunteering in endless amounts of charity work. Every once in a while I would be able to convince Leah to tag along, but it didn’t matter if she did, it was just something that I liked to do.

  Teddy had made good money over the years, and really, I had never splurged on anything. But I couldn’t help but be a little vindictive when George, the nice elderly man that had given me a ride, dropped me off at the closest car rental agency. Sure, I could have gotten the cheap economy car, but there was just something in me that said, “Just do it, Ally. He screwed you, you screw him.”

  He probably wouldn’t even realize the money was gone, and I had already considered going on a little bit of a shopping spree before he noticed. Was that really so wrong of me?

  The apartment complex that sat right on the shore was clean and modern looking, but had just a little bit of charm to make it feel homey. I double checked my phone before punching in the number for the top floor, which I’m sure had one of the best views, and tried to smooth my hair into somewhat of a clean looking bun. I didn’t want to look like as big of a mess as I felt on the inside.

  I knocked on the door of the apartment that, luckily, I had saved in my phone for some reason. I had never made it to visit before, but I guess now was the best time. After a few minutes of knocking with no answer, I started to get a little nervous. I hadn’t thought to call ahead, and I wasn’t sure that I would really be able to make it somewhere else right now without collapsing into a heap.

  I heard wh
at sounded like a muffled voice from inside right before the door popped open, and I instantly smiled at the sight that was at least a little comforting. Her shock of red hair looked almost messier than mine, almost, and judging by her puffy eyes and silk pj’s, I had woken her up.

  “Oh my God, Rem. I woke you up, didn’t I?” Her emerald eyes blinked back at me rapidly, before she finally refocused on me without saying a word, probably thinking she was dreaming my impromptu visit. “I totally forgot you worked third shifts now at the hospital. You know what? I can come back, or maybe I’ll just drive a little bit further, check myself into a hotel. Just forget I was here. I’m so sorry I bothered you,” I rambled on, trying not to let myself break down.

  Remy blinked once more before throwing her arms around me, a giggle bubbling up as she buried her nose in my hair. “You aren’t going anywhere, missy. Just give me a sec, it’s not every day one of my best friends randomly shows up on my doorstep, and normally it would take a hurricane to wake me up once my head hits the pillow.”

  I breathed a sigh of relief as she wrapped an arm around my shoulder and ushered me into the surprisingly bright apartment, which looked to be decked out in a nautical theme, shutting the door quietly behind us. “I’m so happy you’re here and all, but to what in the hell do I owe this little visit to?” She paused, scrunching up her nose at me as I dragged in a suitcase behind me. “And no offense, but why do you smell like you haven’t bathed in a week?”

  After a much-needed shower, and a change of clothes, I knew I couldn’t keep my mouth shut any longer. Remy had been burning holes in my head the whole time that I messed with my hair and makeup, and the poor thing looked ready to pass out, so I couldn’t keep her waiting any more.

  She listened intently as I gave her all of the details, reliving them once again, which really was almost harder than the first time. I skipped over the part of how I eventually got myself a rental car. “And so I ended up here. I’m really not ready to head back to Indiana yet, and face all of that. I think I just need a little bit of me time before I have everyone judging me for the mistake that I clearly made. I feel like such a dumbass.”