The One I Love

by Mia Ford

  She has such admiration for me in her eyes since I said it should be hers. I want to give her the moon if she keeps thinking of me in such a great light.

  We get seated fairly quickly and I’m happy to order a round of drinks for the table. The special is a wine spritzer of some sort which Thomas immediately makes fun of me for ordering, but he drinks his. The next round is on him and he gets something horrible the waitress sets on fire.

  Once we’ve finished our before dinner drinks and ordered some food the conversation goes back to the contracts.

  “Thomas, she said to rewrite it for her to have half. And her and I both agree she should get it so let’s talk about something else, like how we’re going to pull this off.” I’m getting impatient with his desire to wax poetic about legal issues. We want her on our team and we can figure all that out later.

  He gets ready to say something back when I start shaking my head. And then it happens I see Savannah has spotted me and she’s making her way over. Nothing good will come from whatever she’s going to say and I can’t excuse myself to talk to her because it won’t look good in front of Ada. I feel like a sitting duck and I don’t even know what type of ammo is about to blow my ass up.

  “Charlie, you left me hanging the other night. You know you owe me now.” She slurs making it obvious that she has gone beyond a buzz. The smell of alcohol floats in the air towards me as she leans down. I didn’t think it was possible that a person could smell like a liquor bottle.

  “Now is not a great time, Savannah,” I tell her as quietly as I can. Both Thomas and Ada are looking at me with wide eyes.

  “Charlie, I want what’s mine. I know I didn’t pay for it, but when you promise something, you promise it. You know what I mean. I want it.” Her voice takes on a whiny quality that I’m pretty sure she thinks is adorable instead of pathetic.

  “So, give it to me and I’ll be on my way.” She’s getting louder as her words slur together. People are looking over now to see what the fuss is about. Where is her date?

  “I mean it, Savannah, this is not the time.”

  “Oh, I see. You’re here with the big man in a suit and another coke whore. You don’t want to give me what’s mine. That’s fine. That’s fine.” Her arms are swinging wildly as her glazed eyes fix on me.

  Ada looks completely disgusted with the whole thing and I expect her to walk out any minute. I can’t believe she just called her a coke whore.

  “You’re making a fool out of yourself. I’ll come by the bar, I’ll bring you what you want. Just leave me right now.”

  “No,” she yells and slams her body into our table spilling drinks and making a loud noise. “I want it right now. I’ll follow you to your house for it.”

  The owner of the restaurant’s making his way to the table. I know him from the times Thomas has brought us before. He takes Savannah’s arm and moves her from our table.

  “I need you to calm down or you’ll not be welcome in our restaurant.”

  “It’s his fault,” she yells.

  At this point, her date has realized was not going to the bathroom but making a ridiculous scene instead. He comes over and is trying to convince her to leave. She’s still getting louder and more reckless with her body as she flails her whole body around to get out of the owner’s grasp.

  “Get her out of here, or I’m calling the police.” The owner tells her date and adds, “I know you didn’t think she’d act like this Bernard, but please for me, get her out of my place.”

  Once they are removed and the restaurant calms down Addy pins me with a heavy stare. “You’re going to have to explain that to me,” she states with a no-nonsense voice that I picture her using on her more rambunctious students. “And don’t lie. If you lie I’ll walk out.”

  “If I tell you the truth you’ll walk out too,” I say sadly.

  “You’ll just have to take that risk.”

  I sigh knowing I’m about to lose the deal for us and watch as Thomas shakes his head no. But in my heart, I know I have to be truthful with her or she’ll never believe anything I say again.

  “I need you to know Addy. I don’t do coke, I don’t do any hard drugs. I occasionally smoke weed and I drink. I’ve done coke in the past and I didn’t like it.”

  “Okay,” she says hesitantly.

  “The night we came to see you play, I had plans to meet her at the bar she works at. That night I was supposed to take her some coke. I have a friend, he sells and I got it to impress her. I was trying to get in her pants,” she winces and I hope I’m not taking the honesty thing too far. “I didn’t give it to her because there were some men in the bar my father fired and they started a fight that got me escorted from the bar.”

  “That’s why your face was bruised.” It’s a statement, not a question. I nod my head and she surprises me when she continues, “Okay so now she thinks you owe her the free drugs you were going to give her if she slept with you?” Ada asks.

  “When you say it like that it sounds so dirty.”

  “Well, it is dirty Charlie. Thank you for telling me the truth. I don’t like anything about it, but I’m glad you didn’t lie.”

  She takes a sip of her drink and the food comes to the table. I can’t believe it was that easy to tell her about my dalliances with drugs and women. Somehow this would come back to bite me in the ass later. When I look at Thomas, he’s just shaking his head.

  We eat in near silence. The food is good and I think all of us are just processing what just happened. When we’re all done with our forks down I signal for the check.

  “Shall we get the hell out of here?” I ask and lead the way. I’m glad the owner was able to get Savannah to calm down and I hope the damage that has been done isn’t irreparable.

  The car drives us to a bar downtown called Kitzy. It’s an upscale place but not gold chalice upscale. We go in and get a table with tall stools. I sit next to Ada and Thomas sits across from her.

  Once again, when we sit, Thomas is back to all business.

  “So, I guess our main question is are you ready to make the commitment? We are ready to rent out a recording studio. I know a guy and all I need is for you to say the word for this to get started,” Thomas says. “You’ll be expected to come in and record with Charlie during a time we agree upon. That’s not something that takes up a little time. It takes up a lot. This album is going to be the next big thing and we want it to be right. So that means a lot of hard work from both of you and I need a commitment.”

  “I understand that,” Ada says. “If I decide to do it, I’ll make the commitment. You don’t have to worry about that I never slack when I agree to do something. I’ll just have to keep a good sleep schedule so I can function at work.”

  “That might not be an option. We may have to record into the night.” Thomas stares at her intently letting her know it is now or never time.

  Addy fixes him with her own bone-chilling look and he holds his hands up in defeat. “Everything is negotiable Ada. I’m just trying to do my job and make sure we are moving right along and on track with everything.”

  This conversation goes on for a while and I just listen. Once the three of us have more drinks coming we’re less serious. Addy cuts herself off and the two of us continue drinking.

  “I’m going to the ladies,” Ada says and gets up from our table. I notice a guy on the other side of the room watching her go and I think he looks familiar, but I can’t place him. I look away and when I look again, he’s gone.

  It irks me. Where do I know that guy from? Why was he looking at Ada like that? It hits me he looks like the guy that punched me in the bar, but I’m not sure. This guy is dressed completely different and I only got a glance at him. I could be paranoid after they said they were coming for me. My gut starts to churn and I think about following her to the bathroom. That’s ridiculous though, she can go to the bathroom by herself.

  Thomas and I go back to our drinks and I let it go. Well, I almost let it go. I just can�
�t shake the uneasy feeling that something is wrong.

  “Hey, that girl you were with. Someone just grabbed her from the hallway and yanked her outside.” Our waitress is standing over the table. She barely gets the words out and I’m rushing to the bathroom to save her with Thomas at my heels. I should have trusted my instincts.

  It had to be Corky’s men or the men from the bar. I can’t believe my problems have somehow come down on her.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Ada

  Jimmy came out of nowhere and he had me by my hair and my arm before I could even run.

  As he pulls me out the back of the bar all I can think is he’s going to kill me. I assume he’s decided to kill me instead of Charlie because I broke up with him and humiliated him by not coming back to him when he begged me to. Surely, someone saw him drag me out the back.

  He’s got both my arms and he’s holding them tightly and pulling them down. He turns to me with eyes full of rage. There’s no feeling in them, just anger. Anything we’d shared in the past is gone, there’s nothing but hate for me in his stare and I know without a doubt in my mind he’s going to really hurt me.

  I let out a throat-wrenching scream which earns me a punch in the face. I feel my skin split above my eye and see the blood on his hands.

  “Now, Addybug, why did you make me do that?”

  Addybug is what my dad calls me and my nickname on his lips makes my skin crawl. He’s never called me that before. Fear grips my heart and I try to breathe to calm myself down. If I lose my head I’m going to end up in the woods somewhere covered in leaves and trees.

  “Jimmy, come on. It’s me. You don’t want to hurt me.”

  “I saw you with him, Addy. I already told you it’s me or it’s no one.”

  He’s become calm, which is actually even more terrifying, as he pulls me towards a car I don’t recognize parked behind the bar. Searching around us I realize there’s no one around.

  Everyone is parked out front and there aren’t any open shops in the shopping center behind it. Dread surfaces. No one is going to help me. I start to lose hope and with a last-ditch effort, I try to fight him. I dig my heels into the ground so he has to drag me if he wants me to go any further.

  “Stop making it hard for yourself Addy.” He twists his hands around my arms burning the skin. I continue to resist. It’s all I have left to do.

  “Ada.” I hear Charlie yell my name as he comes out the back of the bar. “What the hell?”

  I hear footsteps coming towards us and look to see what Jimmy’s reaction is. He isn’t pulling a weapon and he looks shocked someone is coming to my rescue. Charlie and Thomas are running at us but he doesn’t let go of my arms.

  Charlie leaps and attacks Jimmy. He finally lets my arms go as Charlie tackles him to the ground. When Jimmy gets up he punches Charlie in the face. I hear the crunch as his fist hits his nose and then Charlie gets a punch in. Thomas joins in and pulls Jimmy up off the ground holding his arms behind his head and keeping him from moving.

  “We’ve called the police baby,” Charlie says. “Someone saw him grab you. I’m so sorry I didn’t get here sooner.”

  “You did what you could Charlie,” I say.

  I can’t stop shaking as Charlie holds me. I hear Jimmy swearing as he tries to get away from Thomas. Looking at him, you wouldn’t know it, but Thomas is a strong man. He’s holding Jimmy down on his own while Charlie sways me slightly. I want to tell him to stop, but it is calming me.

  “Miss Springfield,” I hear someone say. “I’m Detective Sharpe. Can you tell me what happened tonight?”

  I explain what had happened with Jimmy from our relationship to him threatening Charlie. I hesitate to bring my dad into it even though he’s part of the problem. Once I tell him how I went to the bathroom and Jimmy attacked he takes pictures of the bruises on my arms and goes to talk to Charlie. A lady comes up to me and takes a look at my eye. I realize she’s a paramedic only when she asks if I want to go to the hospital.

  She has me follow a light and tells me she doesn’t think I have a concussion, just a nasty cut. After a few butterfly stitches, she gives me a prescription for high milligram Tylenol and goes through some of the symptoms of shock with me. If I start feeling bad later I need to go to the hospital. I tell her, thank you, but everything is in a fog at the moment.

  I watch as the police car drives away with Jimmy in the back. It almost feels like I’m in some kind of crazy nightmare. Nothing feels tangible to me like I’m a ghost standing near the scene of a crime while people walk through me trying to piece together what happened.

  The people around me are bystanders mostly, they’re staring at me. Probably because Jimmy was the spectacle and he’s gone now. It makes me feel like a spectacle myself, one who can’t control her relationships.

  “Ada, are you okay?” Charlie has his arm around me and Thomas is talking to the police.

  “I’m so sorry Charlie, he’s my ex. He’s really insane.”

  “Do you want me to take you home?”

  “No, I just want to be around people. Can I come home with you please?”

  He looks taken aback and then almost hungry. I know what he’s thinking about and I am thinking it too. The night has been so full of insanity and high emotion. I want him and if he wants me then there’s no reason to wait.

  In the cab, he says, “I know that guy. I thought when I saw him it was because he was mad at me, not because he’s your ex.”

  “You know him?”

  “Well, not personally. You know the night I told you those guys got after me in the bar?”

  “Yes,” I lean back so I can look at him.

  “He was the one who punched me. He also remembered me from high school, so he had double reason to be mad at me, and now I guess I’ve given him a third one.” He puts his arm around me.

  “Oh no, were you at Rascal’s?”

  “Yeah, how’d you know that?”

  “That’s where they hang out. My dad was probably there and saw the whole thing.”

  We walk from the cab to his apartment holding hands and get into the elevator. Neither of us say anything and I can’t help but smile a little at how awkward it still is between us. His hand skims my back slowly when we ease to a stop and the doors open up letting us exit. I’m entering his territory. His space and I’m ready for this. I want this and as he pushes me gently against the wall beside his door, he fumbles for his keys. A vibration bleats between us as we stand my right side to his pocket and my hip, not near enough my center to tease me, but I think the dark thoughts waiting, no, anticipating his next move like a chess player.

  “Damn.” He reaches for his phone, fingers grazing me and I whimper waiting. Always waiting it seems.

  “Who is it?” I breathlessly mumble as I toy with a curl of my loose and frizzier by the minute hair.

  “Unknown number.” He frowns and I feel myself pursing my lips in a pout. Denied again it seems. It’s almost laughable because this time it isn’t me putting things off. Charlie opens the door and guides me inside. I don’t get to speak before he’s checking the phone and lost in his own thoughts.

  “Make yourself at home, I need to take this phone call.” Charlie kisses me on the forehead and walks purposefully toward what I assume is his study. His apartment, if one could call it that is huge. Enormous. Ridiculously so. Much bigger than my place and all done in tastefully rich decor that screams designer hands. Hands that make me jealous though there isn’t a single feminine touch to the apartment. It’s full-on bachelor pad. It’s all dark masculine wood and chrome finishes on all the surfaces followed by leather sectionals and heavy linen curtains that open just enough to let the view and twinkling stars peek through.

  “Sounds great,” I mumble dropping my purse on the side table at the door and inching my way into his domain. I slip my shoes off and walk under the threshold barefoot. My toes curl on the bare floor. Nerves fray my senses like electrical impulses and I’m drawn to follow Char
lie. I can hear muffles of his voice beyond the hallway and watch him pace inside his study raking a hand through his somewhat spiky dark hair. His fingers pull as if he’s annoyed and I figure it must have something to do with work or his dad. I don’t know and for some reason it makes my stomach clench. My hand floats down to cover my belly to steady the butterflies swirling inside.

  “Ada, why don’t you pick a movie or something?” Charlie peeks his head out from the study smiling and nodding toward a remote on the coffee table. I think about the rest of the evening and how to move things along naturally without coming off as obviously innocent or too slutty. Is there ever a natural halfway point? Maybe he’s trying to distract me from everything that happened tonight. It’s not that I don’t appreciate it. I just wonder what’s so important it pulled him away from me.

  “Sure,” I say.

  He winks and pulls the door shut blocking me out. I hear him say, “No George, and stop suggesting it.”

  I casually saunter absorbing my surroundings. I wonder who George is, I can’t help myself. My fingers touch the cool surface of the bar top counter and then move toward the imposing leather sectional. I plop down and sink into butter-soft leather that caresses the back of my bare thighs under my dress.