Never Far Away

by Anie Michaels

  Ella took just one more moment to make sure she was put together properly. Her hair was down with big barrel curls floating past her shoulders. Her make-up was a little more dramatic than she was used to, but she wanted to fit in at the club and thought the smoky eye look complimented her outfit. She was wearing a pair of black trouser shorts that came down to about mid-thigh. They were short enough to show off her legs, but not short enough to be inappropriate. Her top, a simple button-up white, cotton tank, was tucked into her shorts. She threw on a chunky silver necklace and silver bangle bracelet. Just to add a splash of color she chose bright red pumps which matched her red lips. She turned her body every which way just to make sure she looked presentable from every angle and when she was satisfied she looked her best, she pulled the door open just to find Porter standing at the end of the hall.

  She saw him leaned back against the wall looking terribly bored, but tremendously hot. He added some gel to his normally unruly hair and the effect was maddening. He looked sharp and sexy. He wore her favorite pair of jeans that hugged his thighs and made his ass look amazing. His arms were hugged tightly by his maroon button up shirt, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows. The red of his shirt made his brown eyes pop and the chocolate color was so delicious she found it difficult to pull her gaze from them. The sight of him was arousing and she knew she was going to have to keep women off of him all night. It was a task she was happy to take on, seeing as how she didn’t plan on leaving his side.

  “Porter, I stand by all my previous comments. There is no way on this earth you made it to thirty-two years old and remained single. I think you must have been really irritable or a complete asshole before we met. You are, by far, the sexiest man I have ever seen. I’m not sure I even want to go out anymore. Let’s stay home,” she smiled at him as she wrapped her arms around his waist.

  “Oh no. You spent an hour in that bathroom getting ready while I waited patiently. We’re going out. You remember how sexy you think I am at this moment when you try to get me to dance. All sexiness evaporates when I try to dance.” He took her by the hand, pulled her out from his body, and made her spin around. “But we don’t have to worry about dancing because there is no way I am letting you out on a dance floor in this.” He pulled her back to him suddenly, her hands coming to rest on his shoulders.

  “I really like Possessive Porter,” she whispered up to him.

  “Well good, cause Possessive Porter is your date for the evening.” He bent down to her and as his lips touched hers, it was as if he’d branded her. Heat torched through her veins and she gripped his biceps to keep herself upright. He pulled away as quickly as he’d swooped in and she couldn’t help but laugh at the bright red lipstick that was now covering his mouth.

  “Come on Possessive Porter, we should probably clean the lipstick off you before we go.”

  It had been years since Ella had been to an honest-to-God dance club. She was worried to a certain degree that she’d be the oldest woman there, but she was surprised to see quite a few women who looked to be in their thirties. She wasn’t interested in feeling like a chaperone. Porter had her by the hand and led her through the crowd to where Megan and Patrick were seated at a tall table against a wall that lined the dance floor. Ella felt the bass of the music thumping through the floor and when she got to Megan, she was forced to yell in her sister’s ear just to be sure she could hear her.

  “Hey, Megs!” She shouted.

  “FELLA!” Megan yelled as she jumped from her stool to give Ella a wobbly hug. Ella gave Patrick a look over Megan’s shoulder that said ‘She’s already drunk?’ Patrick just smiled and shrugged his shoulders. If there was one thing Ella knew about Patrick, it was that he loved Megan. He was secure enough to let her be her wild self, but man enough to not take any crap from her either. There were times they fought as hard as they loved, and Ella had always been a little jealous of how passionate they seemed to be about each other. No one could handle Megan like Patrick could, but no one could love Patrick better than Megan.

  Ella watched as Porter reached out towards Patrick to shake his hand. Patrick shook his hand and then they did the weird, mannish, half-hug thing that guys did. Porter said something in Patrick’s ear and she watched Patrick nod his head. Porter slapped him on the back and Ella smiled as she watched Porter make friends with her future brother-in-law.

  “You started the party without us,” Ella said in Megan’s ear.

  “I only had a few drinks to warm up. It’s fine! Once Kalli gets here, we’ll all dance and have a good time!” Ella smiled and took a moment to remind herself that Megan was just twenty-two. She was still in the ‘I can drink every weekend if I want to’ stage of life, while Ella was in more of the ‘I’ll take a glass of wine or two with dinner every now and then’ stage of life. She decided to let Megan enjoy her promotion party, knowing that Patrick would never let anything happen to her.

  “Is Kalli bringing that Scott guy?” Ella asked.

  “I’m not sure. I know she invited him, but I’m not sure if he’s coming.”

  “Have you met him yet?”

  “No. She’s been keeping him to herself,” Megan answered with a wink.

  Ella felt Porter come up behind her. She felt her body respond with warmth as he placed his mouth right near her ear.

  “Do you want something to drink?” His voice sent vibrations along her neck that made her shiver.

  “Yes, can you get me a vodka sour, please?” She asked sweetly.

  “Sure,” he said, as he placed a small kiss just below her ear. “Stay here. I’ll be right back.” He walked towards the bar and disappeared in a sea of people, most of whom were gyrating and rubbing various parts of their bodies against each other.

  “So,” Megan sang in Ella’s ear. “You and Porter?” She made it sound like a question.

  “Yeah?” Ella answered, not really sure what Megan was getting at.

  “You’re good? I mean, happy?” Ella smiled at her sister. She was always worried about her and there were times she thought Megan would have made an excellent big sister.

  “Megan, I am deliriously happy, really.”

  “Good. You guys look good together. It never occurred to me, until just now, that the only time I ever really saw the two of you together was when you were in a coma.” Megan laughed, sensitive sister moment over. Ella had to laugh too.

  Just then Kalli came up to their table.

  “Kal!” Ella exclaimed. She stood up to hug her friend and realized it had been a while since they’d seen each other. “I’ve missed you.”

  “Ella, I’ve missed you too.” Ella pulled away and smiled at her. Kalli made her way over to Megan and gave her a hug as well. Then she pulled up a stool and sat down in between them.

  “Where’s your date?” Megan asked.

  Kalli rolled her eyes in frustration.

  “He’s a little hot and cold, I’m afraid. I invited him and he said he’d try and make it, but I’m not holding my breath.”

  Ella frowned and rubbed her hand up and down Kalli’s arm, trying to comfort her.

  “Maybe he’ll surprise you and show up,” Ella offered hopefully.

  “We’ll see,” she said and then her eyes darted up behind Ella and went wide with shock.

  “Here you go, Babe,” Ella heard Porter say in her ear as a glass appeared in front of her. She had to hide the smile that came from watching Kalli react to Porter. Yes, he was hot.

  “Porter, this is my friend, Kalli,” she said motioning towards her friend with her mouth open still. “Kalli, this is my boyfriend, Porter.” He held out his hand to Kalli and she placed her hand in his. Ella knew what his handshake felt like, firm and strong. Powerful. Just like him.

  “Kal,” Ella said, trying to get her attention. When Kalli’s eyes returned to hers, Ella mouthed the words ‘close your mouth’ at her. She promptly snapped her jaw shut and started blushing.

  Megan laughed loudly at Kalli, the alcohol obviously having an effect
on her.

  “Let’s dance!” Megan shouted.

  “You guys go ahead. I don’t want to be the fifth wheel,” Kalli said with a frown.

  “Don’t be a Debbie Downer!” Megan said. “Come on ladies. We’re dancing. Let the boys guard our purses.” It became obvious to Ella that there was no arguing with Megan this evening and the woman wanted to dance. Ella quickly took a gulp of her drink and then turned to Porter who already had one eyebrow raised at her.

  “I have been nominated as the purse bitch, haven’t I?”

  Ella kissed him on the cheek and said into his ear, “Take care of my purse now and I’ll take care of you later.” She pulled back from him and saw a smile on his face. Megan grabbed hers and Kalli’s hand and began to drag them towards the dance floor. They stood in the obligatory triangle that women always seemed to form when dancing as Ella strained to hear the lyrics to the song beyond the thumping bass. It was some poppy princess song she didn’t recognize, but the melody was catchy. She smiled as she watched her sister sing the lyrics word for word, eyes closed, enraptured in the music.

  Ella let the beat take her over and felt her hips begin to sway to the beat. Her hands came up over her head and she happily swayed back and forth with the rest of the crowd. The girls continued to dance and every once in a while Megan would point out a couple that were nearly having sex on the dance floor and they would all laugh and wrinkle their noses. Whenever Ella snuck a peek back at their table to check on Porter, he had his eyes on her. Sometimes he was simply watching, making sure she was alright. Other times he looked pissed, usually when a guy was trying to get one of the girls to dance with them. Megan and Ella did a fabulous job of shooing guys away, or sending them to Kalli if they were cute enough and didn’t use an opening line that made them roll their eyes.

  One brave guy approached their sacred triangle motioning towards the table where Porter and Patrick were sitting.

  “There’s two guys at that table taking their job of possessive boyfriends very seriously. I’m hoping they belong to you two and that you,” he said motioning to Kalli, “are free to dance with me.”

  “Oh, um,” Kalli stammered.

  “She’s available,” Megan said, gently shoving Kalli towards the interested man. Kalli stumbled into him, but regained her footing with the help of his hands bracing her arms against him. Ella saw him whisper something in her ear and Kalli gave him a twinkling smile. She tentatively placed her hands on his shoulder and he rested a hand on the small of her back. Ella smiled as she watched them, glad he had perhaps eased her mind about Scott not showing up. With Kalli occupied, Ella shouted to Megan that she was going back to the table for a drink.

  She walked up to the table as Porter and Patrick were engaged in conversation. Without missing a beat or even looking in her direction, Porter opened an arm to her, allowing her to sidle up to him. They were in tune with each other and everything about it made her heart sing. She watched his jaw move as he spoke with Patrick, noticing the stubble that had grown in over the course of the day, wanting to feel it scrape along the side of her neck. The thought of the scratchy skin roughly scraping over the inside of her thighs made her belly flip and her core heat. He turned to her in between sentences and gave her a wink, as if he could hear her thoughts. She blushed and pressed a kiss to his neck just below his jawline.

  Ella looked around for Megan, wondering where she had wandered off to. She finally saw her dark brown hair over at the bar.

  “I am going to go get another drink. Want anything?” She asked the guys. Patrick declined, as did Porter. She leaned up to kiss Porter’s cheek and made her way to the bar. By the time she made it there, Megan has disappeared again and Ella felt a twinge of frustration. The bartender came over to her quickly and asked for her order.

  “Vodka sour, please.”

  “Coming up,” he said automatically. When he handed her the drink she gave him Porter’s name to add it to the tab and he nodded at her, moving along to the next customer. Ella took a sip of the drink, enjoying the sweet and sour taste that flooded her mouth. Vodka sour was one of the first drinks she ever ordered when she had turned twenty-one and she always seemed to return to it, never wanting to try anything else if she wasn’t sure she’d like it. She looked back towards their table, but an enormous group of women had clouded the path back to Porter. One woman in the middle of the group was wearing a blinking sash that said ‘Bride’ on it and the rest of the women were all wearing matching tiaras. The bride-to-be looked completely trashed and Ella laughed, thinking about how the woman might feel the next day. Not wanting to contend with twenty drunken bridesmaids, she went around the group of women and took another route that led her along the far wall of the club.

  She weaved through the crowds of people, holding her drink slightly above her head, trying to avoid having it knocked around and spilled. She tried to politely say “Excuse me,” a few times, but was met with irritated glances and people grumbling as she tried to make her way through. She sighed a little as she made her way past a couple groping each other against the wall. She tried to keep the disgusted look from her face, but was caught off guard as a hand grasped her around her arm.

  She yelped as she felt her body being yanked to the side, coupled with the cold blast as her drink came down on to the front of her shirt, the sting of the ice cold liquid soaking into her top stole her breath. Before she could see who had a hold of her, she was thrust down a dark hallway and pushed face first into a wall. Two strong hands grasped her arms, pushing her into the wall, making it impossible for her to move. Her face was smashed against the brick wall, the sharp edges of the grainy stone scraping along her cheek. Fear licked through her veins. She was paralyzed by it and could do nothing to try and free herself.

  A body pressed up against her, forcing her even further into the wall. A small whimper of fear made it past her lips, but nothing more.

  “Ella.”

  She immediately began to struggle against the voice, a voice so familiar, so unforgettable. Her body revolted against his as it remembered the last time he’d had his hands on her. She opened her mouth, finally feeling the urge to scream, but his hand clamped over it, squeezing hard, muffling her cries.

  “Ella, not this again. Be quiet and I won’t hurt you. I don’t want to have to hurt you.” She tried to hold back a sick laugh as she realized the irony of his words while her face was being smashed into a wall. She felt him still against her and slowly the pressure on her mouth weakened, as if he were testing whether or not she would scream if he removed his hand. She breathed fiercely. Her breath rushed in and out of her nose, hitting his hand and making a muffled sound. She shouldn’t be able to hear her own breath over the loud music, but she focused on the sound of her breath in and out, trying to remain calm.

  “No screaming,” Kyle said as he slowly took his hand from her mouth. She ran her tongue over her lips, trying to bring some life back to her mouth after his harsh pressure on it. “You’re hard to get alone these days, Ella.”

  “What do you want, Kyle?” She rasped. He laughed and she could feel him shaking his head at her.

  “Don’t pretend to be concerned with my wants or needs. Just listen.” He pushed harder against her arms splayed on the wall and brought his mouth right to her ear. “I want your word that you will forget what happened between us, Ella. I know your boyfriend is pushing you to go to the cops, but I want you to drop it.” His fingers squeezed her wrists a little harder and she let out a cry laced with fear. The fear was starting to take her over.

  “You’re lucky the cops didn’t catch me outside of your boyfriend’s house the other night. We’d be playing a different game right now if I’d been taken to jail.” She squeezed her eyes tight as his knee came up behind her and pressed into her bottom, nudging her legs open, and pressed into her. Tears threatened to spill out.

  “That was you outside the house? You were trying to break in?” Her words were fast and shaking.

  “I wa
s trying to get you alone so I could convince you to just let it go.”

  “Was it you who shot me?”

  He was silent for a moment.

  “No,” he finally answered.

  “I don’t believe you,” she said.

  “Yes, you do. You told Kalli you didn’t think it was me.”

  “How do you know Kalli?” Then everything became clear and the fear she had for her own safety was suddenly overshadowed by the fear she had for her friend. “You’re Scott.”

  “Well, Kalli thinks I’m Scott,” he said with a laugh. Ella was going to be sick. To think that Kalli had been dating Kyle, had spent time alone with him, let him into her apartment, all because of her. She fought back the bile that threatened her throat.

  “I’m telling you right now, Ella, let all of this drop. Tell your boyfriend you don’t want to press charges. Tell your sister and Kalli to just let you move on and I will leave you alone. I will disappear and you will never have to see me again.” He moved close to her again.

  “But I swear to fucking God, if you go to the cops and report me for anything, I will do my best to make you and everyone you care about pay for it.” He laughed again and it sent shivers over her entire body to hear so much evil in him. He ground his hips into her bottom again, and she cried when she felt that he was aroused.

  “It seems you’ve become quite the slut lately. Didn’t wait very long before you shacked up with your latest victim. Go use your whorish talents to convince your boyfriend to let everything drop.” She took a deep shuttering breath.

  “How can I believe you? How do I know you’re telling the truth?”

  “I’ve got no reason to lie to you about this. I’ve taken everything I wanted from you. I’ve used you up already. You’re not worth anything to me anymore.” It shouldn’t have hurt her to hear him say those words, but it did.