by K E Osborn
All the emotion of the past twenty-four hours is exhausting, so completely mentally and physically draining.
Callie hugs me and kisses me on the cheek. “Let him know we’re all here for him, won’t you, darling?”
“Of course,” I say as I sniff. “Sorry for having a go at your lawyer.”
“Oh, honey, he had it coming.”
Blair, Brielle, and Benjamin walk with her to their chauffeured vehicle.
“Do you want to stay at my place again tonight, Jeni?” Sarah asks softly.
“I think I’ll be fine, but thank you for all your support. You too, Chris. You guys have been amazing.” I give them both a hug.
“Call me if you need anything, anything at all, day or night. Promise me?”
“Of course I will, I promise.” I give her another hug.
Sarah and Chris walk off as Mike takes my arm in his and walks me to the car, opening the front passenger door for me to get in.
“Thank you, Mike.”
“My pleasure, Miss Taylor.”
***
Mike walks me to the elevator and pushes the button as he hands me a business card.
“Miss Taylor, this is my direct number. If you need anything at all, call me. I’m only a few floors away.”
“Thank you, I will. I’ll see you at nine thirty in the morning?”
“Yes, Miss Taylor, shall I come up to the apartment to personally see you to the car tomorrow?”
“Yes please, Mike, thank you.” The elevator doors open. I step in, swipe the card, and proceed up.
The elevator doors open, and I walk into our apartment, where I stand, alone. I look around and hear the silence surrounding me. I walk into the bedroom and through to the en-suite to have a shower to try and wash off the stains of the past twenty-four hours. I step into our large shower; it feels empty without him. I let the water run over my back as I lean my forehead against the cold tiles. I close my eyes, and I imagine what he must be feeling, being held in jail. I hope he’s being treated fairly and not being abused by the other inmates. A single tear falls down my cheek as I sigh; I wipe it away and turn my face under the water. I feel panic, fear, and confusion surrounding me. I miss him. I love him. I want him back.
I step out of the shower and dry myself with his towel and make my way to the bedroom, the empty bedroom where the sheets are still in disarray from Sunday night’s lovemaking. I walk to the closet; I already know what I’m going to wear. I pick up his gray sweatpants and top and put them on. I walk over to the bed and lie down on his side, smelling his scent on his pillow. I hug it tightly and climb under the covers. It’s only eleven thirty in the morning, but I’m overwhelmingly tired as I drift into unconsciousness.
Chapter 24
He’s alone in a dark cell; the room is small with no windows, and bars lock him in. I stand there in front of his cell, staring at him while he sleeps on the thin, tattered mattress. His eyes stir as he sits up, and his face turns to me in despair as a tear falls down his cheek. He stands to look at me as I walk toward the bars. I reach my hand out to touch him, but he seems so far way. He reaches his hand for mine, but there is something in the background, something dark and terrifying. I call out as the darkness approaches him, but nothing comes out of my mouth. I’m mute as the darkness surges closer and closer. His hand seems farther and farther away as I struggle through the bars to reach him. He turns to see the darkness, his face full of fear and terror as the blackness engulfs him. I call out again, but I hear nothing as the darkness takes him from me.
I wake suddenly from my nightmare, sweat beading on my forehead, my breathing erratic. Panicked, I sit up; the room is in complete darkness. I turn on the light as tears fall down my cheeks. I realize right at this moment that I must support him. I can’t lose him, and life without him is dark and dreary. He’s my light, my happiness, my life. I turn to the clock to see it’s three a.m. I lie down, and my breathing eases as I take his pillow and hold it tight to me. I take my cell phone from the bedside table and set my alarm for eight thirty a.m. I leave the light on for comfort as I drift back to sleep.
***
The elevator chimes, and Mike steps out. “Good morning, Miss Taylor, are you ready?” He’s looking at me with sympathy.
“As ready as I’ll ever be, Mike.” I stand up as he takes my arm in his, and we head down to the parking garage. Opening the front door for me, I slide into the car and sit looking at my hands in my lap. Mike looks at me concerned as he turns on the ignition.
“Miss Taylor, are you sure you’re ready to see him?”
I swallow hard, as the answer I really want to say is “no fucking way”, but I contain myself and nod.
He exhales and drives me to the penitentiary.
Mike walks with me through the main gate, where I see Jenson talking to a security guard. We look at him as he takes two passes from the guard and gestures for me to come to him. I turn to look at Mike.
“You can do this, Miss Taylor; you’re a strong, confident woman. Remember your love for Aiden, and you’ll be fine,” he says, calming me. I look at him and exhale.
“Here we go,” I say as I hug him then walk toward Jenson. He looks at me cautiously and puts out his hand as a greeting.
“Miss Taylor.”
I shake his hand. “Mr. Monroe.” He hands me my visitor’s pass.
“Now, I just want to say that it may be daunting for you when we go in. You will be on one side of a screen, and you’ll use a telephone to talk to each other. Please remember he’s in a fragile condition at the moment, and he needs your support.” I glare at him, and he instantly looks away.
We walk into the building through a metal detector. A security guard uses a handheld device, waving it around my body, and then walks with us as we continue on down the long hallway. As we go through each doorway, an alarm sounds. I feel myself becoming very anxious with every step I take. Those pesky, evil butterflies are wreaking havoc as we are led into a small room. The room is painted dull gray, and there is a desk with a glass partition from the top of the desk to the ceiling. On each side of the glass partition is a black telephone. Jenson gestures for me to sit down; I do as I’m told and sit, waiting for Aiden.
The door on the other side of the room opens, and Aiden walks through in handcuffs wearing a dark blue top and matching pants. His hair is disheveled, not in a good way, and he has a slight growth of stubble on his face. He looks depressed, and my heart breaks as my fun-loving, energetic man now looks defeated and disheartened. He manages a half smile when he sees me. He’s in front of me, so close and yet so far. I smile back at him as the guard on his side unlocks his handcuffs. My bottom lip starts to quiver, and I feel myself becoming emotional. He picks up the phone on his side, making me pick up my phone.
“Hey, baby, you look good in my shirt.” The tears start to fall at the sound of his voice. “Jeni, please don’t cry.” He places his hand on the glass window. I put my hand up to meet his.
“I miss you,” I say quietly. “Our bed isn’t the same without you.”
His face scrunches. “I didn’t think you would come today.”
I sigh and bite my bottom lip. He looks miserable. “I love you, Aiden. There was never any doubt that I’d come,” I say, making him smile.
“I love you so much. You know I didn’t do this, right? Please tell me you believe me.”
I swallow a lump in my throat. Do I tell him that I’m not sure, or do I lie to make him feel better?
“Who could be framing you?” I ask, looking down.
“I think it’s Matthew.”
Then it dawns on me—the conversation between Matthew and Rachelle was about Aiden.
“Oh my god,” I say under my breath. “It’s Matthew and Rachelle. They’re both in on it.”
“How do you know?” Aiden asks.
“I heard a conversation between them the day you were arrested. Rachelle said, ‘Are you sure this will work?’ and then Matthew said, ‘It already has, baby
.’ It has to be them, Aiden,” I say, convinced. He looks at Jenson as the lawyer pulls his cell phone out of his jacket pocket.
“Tanya, yes, can you get Simon to check the records on Matthew Jones and Rachelle Sanderson? See if there are any abnormalities and get back to me as soon as possible.” He hangs up. “Tell Aiden I’ll try my best to find something concrete on them,” Jenson says to me.
“I heard what he said. Tell him thank you,” Aiden says to me through the phone.
“Aiden says thank you, Mr. Monroe.”
He does the two-fingered salute.
“Are they treating you okay in here?”
“I’m in a cell on my own, so I don’t have to worry about anyone else in here; plus, it’s low security so there aren’t any extremely bad criminals.” He is trying to comfort me.
“How are you, baby? Are you okay? You look pale.”
“I’m more worried about you than myself.”
“When was the last time you ate something?” he asks, shaking his head.
I try to think when the last time was. “It doesn’t matter. I’m okay. I want you out of here and back in my arms.” Tears well in my eyes and run down my cheek. He winces at me sympathetically.
“Baby, you have to eat. Please promise me you will eat something when you get home. Hopefully Jenson will be able to find something, and by this time tomorrow, I will be back in your arms.”
Tears continue to flood my cheeks. “I love you so much, Aiden. I don’t know what I’ll do if we can’t find anything on Matthew and Rachelle.”
“Don’t worry about that. Just look after yourself. You still haven’t promised me you will eat something,” he says sternly.
“I promise I’ll eat.” I exhale and shake my head.
“I love you, Jeni.”
The security guard walks in. “Time’s up,” he says sternly.
“I love you so much, babe,” I say into the phone.
“I love you, Jenifer Taylor.” He hangs up the phone. Our hands meet again on opposing sides of the glass partition as tears flow down my cheeks and drop, pooling on the counter. The security guard places the handcuffs back on Aiden’s wrists and leads him out of the room. I wipe my eyes and turn to face Jenson.
“Do you think we will find something, anything?” I am hopeful as he looks at me.
“I don’t know. I will definitely look into it thoroughly.”
The security guard leads us back to the front of the building where we hand in our visitors’ passes and head toward the parking garage. Mike is waiting for me, and I fill him in on what happened as we drive back to the apartment.
“So the lawyer is going to look into it?” Mikes asks.
“Yes, and as soon as he’s found something, he’ll call me, and then I’ll call you.”
He sighs with relief. “Let’s hope he finds something soon.”
I nod in agreement as we pull up to the parking garage of the apartment.
***
I pull out my cell phone and dial Sarah.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Sez, it’s me.”
“Oh, hey, Jen Pen, how are you? How did it go?”
“It went well. We think we know who framed him,” I say confidently.
“Oh my god, who?”
“We think it’s his co-worker, Matthew, and his PA-girlfriend, Rachelle.”
“That’s great news! What does that mean for Aiden’s trial?”
“It’s still on, and at the moment, we have nothing to prove that they did it, so if the lawyer finds nothing, then they get away with it.”
“Oh my god, I hope that he finds something soon then.”
“Sarah?”
“Yeah?”
“Can you come over and stay the night with me?”
“Finally, I get to see your apartment. Of course, I’ll come right over.”
“Chris won’t mind?”
“He’s working till midnight anyway, and I know he won’t mind.”
“I’ll see you soon. Thank you, Sarah,” I say sincerely.
Half an hour later, my cell phone rings.
“Hey, it’s me. I’m in the parking garage. What floor are you on?” Relief hits me.
“I’ll come down and let you in. You need a card to get to our apartment. I’m getting in the elevator now. See you in a sec.” I hang up my cell phone as the elevator makes its way to the parking garage. The doors open, and Sarah is standing there with Mr. Snuggles. I laugh as she enters the elevator.
“I thought you might like Mr. Snuggles to cuddle in bed tonight.”
“Thank you, Sez. He’s just what I needed.”
We ride the elevator up to the apartment, the doors open, and I look at her face purposefully to see her reaction. Her face fills with awe as we step out of the elevator, and I walk toward the bedroom.
“Through here is the bedroom.” I lead her into the room and put Mr. Snuggles on the bed. I show her the rest of the apartment and finish by sitting on the sofa.
“This place is amazing, Jeni.” She sits down on the sofa with me.
“I know,” I say, managing a small laugh. “You hungry?”
“Yeah a bit,” she replies, and with that, I pull out Mike’s card from my pocket and dial the number. Sarah looks at me, her brows furrowed.
“Hi, Mike, it’s Jeni.”
“Oh, hello, Miss Taylor, is everything okay? Have you heard anything?”
“Yes, everything is fine, and, no I haven’t heard anything yet. My friend Sarah is here. I was wondering if you would mind getting us some takeout, the usual please,” I ask him nicely.
“Of course, Miss Taylor, I’ll go now.”
“Thank you, Mike, I owe you one.”
“No need, Miss Taylor, it’s my pleasure.”
“Thanks Mike, I really appreciate it.” I hang up.
For the first time in days, I feel slightly relaxed and definitely relieved to not be on my own. Sarah decides that we should watch some funny movies, and I let her pick from the DVD collection.
***
I stand and walk to the en-suite and brush my teeth and hair. I hear Sarah yawn as I walk back into the living room.
“Morning.” She stretches out her arms.
“Morning, thanks for staying last night, and sorry for keeping you up.”
“I wasn’t going to let you be on your own. What’s for breakfast?”
“Um, I don’t know what we have,” I say apologetically. “How about some toast?”
“Sounds good to me.”
I take the bread and put four slices into the toaster and fill the kettle with water, putting it on to boil.
“I’m glad to see you’re finally eating,” Sarah says to me.
“Yeah, Aiden made me promise that I would.”
“What a good man he is,” she says, sitting at the table.
I suddenly realize that Jenson hasn’t called me. Does this mean he’s found nothing? No evidence that leads to Matthew and Rachelle? My heart skips a beat. I pull out my cell phone and call Mike.
“Hello, Miss Taylor.”
“Mike, did you get a call from Aiden’s lawyer?”
“No, did you?”
“No.” An overwhelming feeling of doom floods my body. Sarah can see my despair and holds on to my hand. I start to cry as my good mood shifts again to hopelessness.
“Don’t worry, Miss Taylor. I’m sure Mr. Monroe will call you as soon as he’s found something,” Mike says, trying to comfort me.
“Thanks, Mike,” I say quietly and hang up.
“Jeni, he’ll call when he finds the evidence. Do you want me to stay here with you until the trial? Or would you like to come back to my house?” Sarah asks kindly as I take in a deep breath.
“Actually I think I’d like to be alone.” I look down at the floor.
“I don’t think that’s a great idea...”
“Please just go. I’ll call you if I need you,” I say, wanting her to leave, even though she looks at me and winces. She
stands up from the table and rubs my back as she walks past me to gather her things.
“Just remember if you need me...”
“I’ll call, I promise.” She presses the button for the elevator.
The days continue on, and I still hear nothing from Jenson, which only sends me into a deeper, darker depressive state.
I roll over to his side of the bed and hug his pillow tight to my chest so I can smell him, although his smell is fading from the pillow as the days drift by slowly. I know that I should go and visit him in jail, but I can’t seem to find the strength to get out of bed, let alone get dressed and go out. I still wait by the phone for Aiden’s lawyer to call to tell me he’s found something on Matthew and Rachelle, but my hopes are fading as quickly as I am.
Chapter 25
I eat only to stay alive, and when I eat, it’s only a few crackers at a time, as I can’t seem to keep anything else down. I avoid the mirror because it reminds me of how lost I am without him. I sigh as I hear the elevator chime. Mike walks in and checks on me, as he does every day. I think Aiden has told him to do so.
“Miss Taylor, is there anything I can get you?” He walks to the side of the bed. My back is toward him, and I don’t bother to turn around to talk to him.
“No, thank you, Mike.” I snuggle into the pillow farther. I hear him exhale as he goes to leave.
“Miss Taylor, I might be stepping over the boundaries here, but I know Aiden would love to see you. It’s been two weeks since you saw him last. I think it’ll do you good to get out of the apartment and get some fresh air,” he says, making me wince when he says his name.
I close my eyes tightly as I try to think of what I should do. I want to see Aiden, but I don’t know how I’ll feel when I see him. I hear Mike exhale again when I don’t respond to him, and he goes to walk out of the bedroom. I turn over in the bed as I see Mike reach the door.
“Mike, wait,” I call out, and he turns around to see me facing him and smiles at me.
“Should I get the car ready?”
I nod and move to get out of bed.
“Very good, Miss Taylor, come down when you’re ready.” He walks to the elevator.
