Two of Hearts

by Alexa Jackson

  - By morning, so - go out; not run away from him, from me, anything that put me at risk of breaking me again.

  - You will return? -Aline Smile, smile which no longer believe - To help me, I suppose. You can have my table, if it is the case.

  - I'm in place of Neil - Adam tells her unkindly - and Penelope will be in my place whenever you are absent, in that room, the presidency. And when I am, we both work there. Some problem?

  - No, sir - Aline wilt like a spoiled pepper.

  I smile quietly. It is strange that I have only seen a few details about her when I was away, thinking coldly, and I had much time to think.

  - Until tomorrow - I speak to two. Him deal with it.

  Way to the elevator, relieved, but at the same time incomplete. Relieved to have been able to handle everything very well. I think I can do this. There was no hostility between Adam and me as feared initially, we can work civilly. Maybe I can introduce Ben in his life slowly; a photo, some comments about it, an unexpected visit from Julienne. Maybe I'm wrong to beg a bit of attention, but for my son, I'll do anything.

  I call the elevator. That's right, is not the time for pride.

  - I do everything for you, Ben - softly whisper, renewed courage.

  When I turn around, Adam is there. His penetrating gaze on me. An air of regret.

  - Thank you for coming, Penelope - he finally speaks.

  - By Neil? - I remember what he said on the phone - By Jenny?

  He looks me firmly. I see in your eyes glow when he told hundreds of people who loved me.

  - By me.

  Support me against the cold metal and wonder who deceives me more: my head that says I'm seeing things, or my heart that insists that our love had not died as I thought he had just shrunk to rest, gain strength, return higher than it was before.

  Which one should I give voice?

  Then the elevator doors close.

  ****

  Obviously I received a flurry of Julienne questions when I arrived. First I said I would take care of Ben. After bathing him, suckle and put it to sleep, sit in the room with him in the cart. My cousins were to send all of his stuff, as the cradle, but asked to wait a little longer.

  - Then? - Julienne already can not stand to wait - he asked the boy?

  - No. But Julienne.? You delivered the letter I asked?

  - Yes - she wrinkled her forehead, forcing the memories, after all, have passed months - I was twice in his house and did not find him. The maid said she had gone traveling, no date to return. So I left the letter with her.

  And if he does not .... Oh, never mind. With or without a license, Adam could have come to me, if he wanted.

  - But you talked about Ben?

  - No ... - she starts to protest - not directly. I said I needed to work in the morning. Ben is quieter in the morning. I quoted his sister as an example, you know, I do not know how it was with the twins. He seemed air, did not pay attention to what I said, or just wanted to change the subject soon, but agreed to the schedule. So if you have no problem to ...

  She makes a funny face.

  - You kidding? I'm rehearsing with him.

  - Rehearsing?

  - Test drive - she smiles - For my own babies.

  While smiling, she looks sad. How can I help my cousin in matters of the heart, you can not help me?

  The Crighton brothers and the power to crush the hearts of women.

  Then I realize that I have a mini Crighton. The whimper of the nurses when we left, it is not necessary that he gets to 18 years to raze hearts.

  - My Little Ben - secure his gloved little hand - not inherit it from his father as well.

  Although I do not want to see many broken hearts because of it, there is little conviction in my voice.

  Chapter 36

  Adam

  I could fall to my knees and regret for the rest of life as I was stupid, stupid, a donkey. But this time, I resolve to fight. Of all the things I learned from Neil, the most important is that I should fight for the woman I love. He never gave up, never faltered, never looked back, afraid of what might happen.

  Even now, with prey and he destroyed Jenny, the desire he has to have her back is greater than all.

  The world collapsed on our heads, the same day that Penelope was the office. I got hit by a bullet. In fact, I hosed directly in the chest when I arrived and saw her there, even more beautiful than I remembered.

  First I thought it had been some hallucination caused by stress. But no, she stood before me, really making my requests more supplicants.

  I did not know what to do at the time, how to act, what I should speak. I just knew this could be my only chance. Not erase the past, but building a new story with her.

  I'm not good to let emotions and feelings speak for me. I usually do shit when it happens. I spent my whole life running over things. So this time, I will use all the calm and self-control that I can.

  It was hard to hear the name of another when I could not resist the urge and went after her in the elevator. It was more than a silly jealousy, panic was taking care of me. The fear of having lost all chances. After all these months, it would be naive too believe that there was no one in her life, she was also closed to the world as I have been. I can not even blame her. I can not blame either this Ben. She is an amazing woman. It should be a nice guy.

  But if the energy I felt between us, and the brightness in her eyes is as real as I noted, I will fight. With all my strength.

  Do not give up on someone you love, ever. I would have run to his apartment that day and laid bare my soul, if Jenny had not been arrested, bringing down the rest of all structures. She needed me, was heartbreaking witness gets off babies from their arms. Neil needed me as never had before.

  So I see it as a sign that I should take it easy. Meanwhile, every ounce of energy you have will be used to help Savannah to defend Jenny. I have the absurd feeling that if I get it, Penelope see me with different eyes. As a hero? Maybe, but with admiration, certainly. Who knows all my sins are forgiven.

  - Gotta think of something?

  I enter the Savannah room without knocking. No time for formalities. Every second on the clock runs ten times faster. Like sand in the hourglass on his desk.

  - Still nothing - she takes off his glasses and rubs his face - I did not mean it in front of Durant, he already looks pretty desperate, but prove her innocence ... Maybe we can get a lesser sentence.

  - Let's keep trying - sit next to her and start to examine the case.

  It has been difficult. Adrenaline, little sleep, lots of hard work and little rest. We had coffee like water, and rarely eat. So we are hard, but as Savannah said - prove the innocence of Jenny is like dying and coming back to find out if heaven really exists.

  There is still the fact that Hurt, a cop of questionable morals, be harassing Jenny morally. Both I and Peter use of our influence in the police to try to keep it away from her, but you never know what can happen. And Neil, being overly protective of her, you can do whatever the fuck.

  I hear an object hit the table, ergo look to see what it is, and I see that she had just turned the hourglass.

  - You also feel that way? - I ask her, indicating the object - As if time was slipping away between his fingers, as this sand?

  - The time has never been our friend - she agrees - or runs too much or creeps slowly. It depends on how you look. I must go home, see my son, take a shower, eat ...

  now only repair the crumpled suit set and how she looked exhausted.

  - Did you sleep here? - It is more a statement than a question.

  If anyone committed as much as I, or perhaps more, is Savannah. Maybe because she is also mother.

  - Sleep is not exactly the word. I need only a few hours - it touches my shoulder - Take care of yourself too.

  It's like telling a child in front of a full of sweets table she can not catch any. When she leaves, I'm immersed in the case again. The elevator recordings showing the time Jenny was in and
out of the building. The witness in the elevator, the knife with digital Jenny, cell and forgotten bag on the crime scene and the aggravation of having fled. All these events revolve around it. We walked in circles, and I can not see the light.

  My phone rings. Answer before the third ring.

  - Crighton?

  - Yes.

  - You can come to the police station?

  - What happened?

  - The Durant attacked Hurt.

  Neil was crazy completely. We know very well what police line Hurt follows. I had to ask Savannah to take care of the matter, or I would end the service that Neil began to negotiate with the motherfucker. The bastard would get a good amount to make it my mouth shut, but at least the case of Jenny not further complicate, if Neil was arrested for assault.

  Find where Neil is and go straight to his office. I open the door in a burst. So gather all the anger and rage that I feel for this absurd situation and dump on top of his big hard head. I can not help someone who does not help himself.

  - Neil! You are stupid by nature or a doctoral candidate?

  - Adam, I ...

  I have to be hard on him. Someone has to do it to act rationally. And I may have more success this time than when they fled. I need you to collaborate with me. I can not spend all their time thinking or fearing what he can do.

  - Why the hell did you think assaulting a police officer would go unnoticed? I'm tired of cleaning your bullshit. Or his two sons together make so much shit!

  Advance two steps. If necessary, I split his head in half or give a beating to learn. I feel angry enough for that. It's like seeing all the work that Savannah and I have been down the drain. I'll punch this bastard until he understand.

  That is where I see a couple of crystalline eyes stopping me. There were her delicate hands on my chest that made me flinch. They are her eyes. I could lose myself there without knowing the way to go home.

  - I know it was stupid, but ... - Neil pulls my attention back to him.

  - Your luck is that he was more concerned about filling the bank account. A beautiful process is the least ...

  - Can you shut up and listen to me? Hurt and everything else can go to hell. I have something more important here.

  I retort that the main goal of all is to rid Jenny chain, and they will not share the cell if it has passed it through his head. Even as angry as me, Neil plays the phone in my hands.

  Annoyed and willing to say the truth, I look to the device. A photo of Sophia illustrates the screen. Even being back, I recognize. In the same photo appears Jenny, with a frightened expression; the two seem to fight.

  Neil explains that want me to use the photo as proof that his wife was just another victim, but it is not as easy as he imagines. There are many ways to interpret an image. And in the end, it could be more proof that Jenny had even killed Sophia.

  Peter arrives soon after. Analyzes the image, the message that came with it and the phone.

  I have what you want.

  One thing is certain: someone knows something and is playing with us.

  - Mrs. Hernandes is here. - Penelope announced shortly after.

  Noto in his eyes irritability Savannah cause it.

  Jealousy or just peeve meaningless?

  When Savannah enters, he warns that the judge refused the application for bail. The weather again becomes tense. It is as if we walked into a minefield.

  Peter decides to go to New Haven investigate the death of Nathan.

  The man hiding behind the mask, and had put Neil and Jenny in this mess, it is directly linked to their past. The suspicion that Nathan is alive is not only unrealistic, as frightening. Then he will look into it closely, the beginning of everything, talking to the nurse who took care of Nathan in his last moments of life.

  Meanwhile, Savannah will attach the photo as a new test to the process and insist that Sophia's apartment to be examined again.

  I'll dive headfirst into what we already have, should have some output that we're letting go unnoticed.

  All leave, except me. I look at the folders on the table, arranged next to each other. Analyze one by one. Sign some papers, refuse others to another analysis. Penelope is efficient, talented, intelligent. My admiration for her only increased.

  We have not seen the most since she returned. Missed opportunity, courage ...

  I look at the clock. Is he still here? Turn had just over two hours.

  Levanto quickly and follow it to the room, the joint Neil. Who today knows the luck is with me?

  She's on the phone, talking softly, but with a big smile on his face.

  - I have been coming home, my love - she says in a sweet voice - I love you, Benjamin. I love you more than ....

  I can not keep listening. Return to Neil room. Close the door harder than it should and loose air that was trapped.

  I love you too, Benjamin.

  So often that his voice echoed in my head, I punched the wall hard. I knew the risks when I let go and when I asked to return. This does not lessen the pain in my chest or prepared me for it.

  ****

  At home, I'm like a wounded and caged animal. The lines are a tangle of distorted letters. I walk every room unsure of being there. The scene is repeated dozens of times, and in my mind, there is only one sentence hammering, as an insistent and maddening headache.

  When the bell rings, I know it's her. Had called earlier and told Aline that needed an urgent contract, and that Penelope should bring in my house, so I got off work.

  I need to corner her, to make sure that this overwhelming force when we're together, it's not just something that only I feel.

  - Hi. - The murmur right out of my mouth.

  I admire it openly, the black and delicate sandals to simple neck blue dress that perfectly matches your eyes.

  The hair is loose as I like. I notice that are slightly larger than remembered. I like the way fall by the shoulders and slide across your skin like a light caress, I would have the privilege to do. I can feel, even from afar, the softness in my hands, how I loved the twist locks on my fingers when he kissed her.

  - The contract ... you said ... - she stutters, biting her lip - I think it needs it.

  Nervosa.

  That's nice? It is a demonstration of what still feels for me and trying to hide? Or just discomfort to return to my home?

  - In between.

  The image in my head so that when she passes me, exuding scent and sensuality, it's like I should grab it tightly in a hug that would make two of us merge into one. I kiss her neck, imagining the reaction on his face; I would say how much I think beautiful, and though it may not believe it, there was no one for me all the time that we separated. Then I would turn to look in her eyes, she confessed that tried to forget, but no other man had enough power to pull me out of your head and heart. More than a tattoo that can be removed, we were marked with iron and fire, to the bone.

  - Want a drink?

  His hand goes to the neck as she ponders.

  - Water.

  - Take your time - indicate the couch and go into the kitchen - I'll be back.

  Drink two glasses of water, like a lost in the desert. And so even though I feel. I had a whole speech in my head, and the words just fled, disappeared as soon as I opened the door for her to enter. How can someone have so much power over you? Even things as simple as talk and think normally.

  I return to the room. Penelope is on the couch, on the edge, hands folded on his knees, staring at the door as if ready to flee.

  - Here, your water - sit as close to it as I can.

  I do not care if I'm being too intrusive, crossing the limit. Each uses the weapons you have. I just know that.

  I extend my arm, leaning my body against hers. Reach agreement she had deposited on the other side.

  - I think I already have what I want - I murmur to a centimeter of his mouth.

  I leave the contract down on the couch, the carpet does not matter. When our lips touch, it's as if no tim
e had passed. Every month separation become a faint memory. We returned to top it all, where only what we feel the other matter.

  And it is impossible that this kiss so full of feeling and passion, is the result only of my head. Nothing has changed, nothing felt changed. We may be different, but our bodies still speak the same language. They communicate and find happiness as before.

  - Say that you Love Me! - Bite your lip and caress the tip of the tongue - Say you love me, Penelope.

  Pull her into my lap. I sink my face in the crook of his neck. I feel the tremble in my arms, or maybe it's me. Climb slowly with my tongue, tasting the sweet taste of her skin. The moan that escapes her lips makes me delirious.

  - Say it! - Whisper in his ear.

  My trembling hands make tour through his body, euphoric, eager for more. Craving more, begging for it.

  - I love you.

  My heart is stilled, and for a few seconds, these three words are all that matters. She loves Me. Arrogantly or not, I always knew that.

  - Benjamin ... - uncertain start is worth destroying this time. Maybe she loves him, but not the same way. No way she loves him the same way you love me.

  - You want to talk about it?

  His forehead is pressed against mine, but his eyes are closed. A slight smile draws his lips, and I want to bite them again.

  - Actually, I do not.

  It does not matter, I am that I have here. It's in my arms she groans.

  - No?

  She walks away, me standing looking.

  - Why not? You can not talk about it and change your mind, Adam.

  - You want to talk about it? All right - get up, ready to hear your negative - You love him, right?

  Maybe it's even better soon resolve this matter.

  - Of course I love. What a stupid question is that?

  It is possible to love more than one person? Why can not I see the possibility without going mad.

  - More than me?

  - In a different way. If you knew ...