by Kelli Walker
Red dripped in my vision as his words filled my office.
“That doesn't mean I don’t want to speak with her and try to work things out. I’ve been trying to get in touch with her, but she hasn’t been taking my calls. So, I hope she’ll hear me when I say this.”
His eyes turned directly into the camera and I was ready to wrap my hands around that little fucker’s throat.
“Callie Roper, I love you. I’m an idiot. A selfish idiot. But I’m ready to work things out once and for all, on your terms and with your rules. So, with that said…”
I stood from my chair as Matthew pulled Callie’s engagement ring from his pocket. I planted my knuckles into my desk as he sank to his knee on national television, then held the ring up for the camera. Oh, he was good. He was a performer of the highest caliber. He deserved an Oscar nomination for the shit he was pulling.
And everyone was ‘awwww’’ing as if he deserved their praise.
“I’m not perfect, Callie. I never claimed to be. And yes, I got jealous because of your Master’s degree. I admit that. I wasn’t prepared for the sheer amount of time you’d spend working and studying, and all I ever wanted was to spend as much of my waking time with you as I possibly could. I let my selfish wants get in the way of us, but it won’t happen again. Callie Roper, will you agree to marry me again?”
The crowd around him erupted into applause as the announcer on the television came back to the screen. She was all smiles and blushing and fanning herself as if she’d just creamed her panties right there on television. I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe what that asshole had done. The little shit was tugging at the heartstrings of the public in order to force Callie into talking with him.
And that wasn’t happening.
I picked up my cell phone and immediately and dialed up Clay. And the phone didn’t even ring once before he picked it up.
“Are you seeing this?” I asked.
“Colt. I can’t see straight. I can’t… I need you to get over to this house.”
“Why? Wait, you’re not in your office?”
“No. I stayed home today and did some things with Callie. She was in the living room with me when the press conference took place.”
“She’s seen it?” I asked.
“Yep. She saw it. She got angry, she got quiet, and then she got up to her room and I can’t get her to come out and talk.”
“Give her some space. She needs to be able to breathe.”
“Can you come over here and try to talk with her? You’ve always had a better way of communicating with her than I have, Colt.”
I bit down onto the inside of my cheek to keep myself from groaning.
“Fine. I’m on my way. I’ll be there soon.”
“Thanks, Colt. I really appreciate it. And I know Callie will, too.”
I turned off the television, picked up my things, and raced straight over to the house. Every fiber of my being wanted to seek out that little rat and smoke him out of his den. He had no right to manipulate Callie this way. He had no right to use the media to forward his own agenda. Callie wasn’t his to possess. Wasn’t his to command. She was a free-spirited young woman who only wanted to get away from a man that destroyed her heart and broke her trust.
I squealed into the driveway and headed straight for Callie’s room. I didn’t shut the front door. I didn’t speak to Clay. I didn’t do anything. I took the steps two at a time until I stood in front of Callie’s door. In front of a door I had pinned her to only a week ago.
I hadn’t been anywhere near it since our encounter, but I could hear her sniffling behind the door. Her muffled cries hit my ears and all pretense fell out the window. I knocked on the door softly to try and get her attention and I heard her swallow her sobs.
“Callie. It’s me,” I said.
“Colt?” she asked.
I peeked back and watched Clay come up the stairs. I heard her door crack itself open and I gazed into the swollen, red eyes of a broken-hearted young girl. I was shocked at how quickly she opened it for me. Especially with all of the fuss she had apparently been giving Clay. I looked back at my brother and he urged me to go in, his eyebrows hiked up to his hairline.
He wouldn't be doing that if he knew how hot my body was getting.
Get a grip, Colton. Callie needs you. Not your fucking cock.
I inched myself in through the crack in the door and tried to shake all of the thoughts from my head. What kind of man had I turned into? Callie was crying in her room and the only thing I could think about was having her body again. I grimaced at my own ineptitude. I shut Callie’s bedroom door behind me and heard Clay march back down the stairs, leaving the two of us alone in her room.
Behind a closed door.
Again.
“Why is he doing this?” Callie asked.
“Oh, Callie. Come here,” I said.
I opened my arms for her and she rushed into them, wrapping her arms around my waist. Her head fell into the divot of my chest and I settled my chin on top of her head. Her sniffles were deep. Her body shook with her anger and her sorrow. I held her as close as I could get her, trying to figure out what I could do to be with her in this moment. My mind was torn between crashing my lips to hers and crashing my fist into Matthew’s face.
And neither reaction was appropriate for the situation.
“I have no idea what to do, Colt. What I said was final. I meant it when I broke things off with him. And I don’t understand why Matthew won’t accept the fact that I don’t want to get married anymore. Is it the money? Maybe it’s because he can’t get the money back from all of the checks we wrote off already. Do you think he’s going to ask for that money back? Make me pay half of it or something?”
“Sh-sh-sh-sh. It’s okay. First, you need to calm down,” I said.
I stroked my fingers through her hair as she drew in a shuddering breath.
“Do you think I should talk with him? Am I doing some sort of a disservice by not talking with him?” she asked.
I felt my body tense at the mere idea of her sitting down with that asshole after what he had pulled.
“You already talking with him,” I said.
“But, I mean, if he has questions only I can answer, do I owe it to him to sit down?”
I crooked my finger underneath her chin and tilted her watery gaze up to mine.
“I want to make this very clear, Callie. You owe that man nothing. You owe no one in your life nothing. You already spoke with him. You gave him the ring back. That’s all the talking that has to happen in a scenario like this.”
“I don’t know what to do,” she whispered.
“You don’t have to worry about anything, Callie. Your brother and I will handle this.”
“I don’t want that, Colt. This is something I should be able to handle. I’m a grown woman. I’m simply a little lost for advice and direction.”
“Not when a man like him is using the media to manipulate the situation. He knows what he’s doing, and that makes him dangerous. I know you’re a grown woman. Trust me, I know.”
I watched Callie’s cheeks blush and it took all I had to keep my cock from growing against her body.
“Being grown has nothing to do with this situation. This is a completely different ballgame. The media is a completely different ballgame. And I told that boy on the phone that if he took another step in this direction, there would be hell to pay. And now, hell is going to be brought to his doorstep.”
“What are you going to do?” she asked.
I released her from my arms and watched her sit on the edge of her bed.
“I’m going to contact our Public Relations Department and they’re going to intervene on your behalf,” I said.
“What?” Callie asked.
“They’re going to deal with the media front. They’re paid to deal with the media front. You say nothing to anyone who approaches you. Everything is cleared through them. And until then, I’m coming to stay with you and
Clay just in case Matthew comes here.”
“You’re what?”
I was just as shocked at my suggestion as she was.
“Colt, you don’t have to do all that. What if the three of us sat down with Matthew or something?”
“Do you want to sit down with Matthew?”
I watched her lips part and close several times before she shook her head ‘no’.
“Then you’re not sitting down with him. That will only happen if you want it. Not if he wants it. He made his decision and he’s the one throwing a toddler-sized tantrum to the press about it. Clay and I’s P.R. Department will handle the mess he just displayed on television. And in the meantime, I’m packing up my things and moving in.”
“Are you sure?” she asked.
“Positive.”
I watched relief spread across Callie’s features, but inside I felt dread encompass my being. This wasn't a good situation for me. Being closed up in a house with her would be the death of me. And with Clay always lurking around, he was bound to figure something out. But I wanted to protect Callie. I needed to protect her. Matthew was manipulating her, and that shit wasn’t going to fly. Not on my watch.
“I’ve got some work I have to finish up at the office, then I’m coming over with my things. But would you at least entertain Clay and not lock yourself away from him? He’s really worried about you,” I said.
“You know how he is. He wants to fix everything and talk about everything then and there. And I wasn’t ready to do that. Not after I had just watched the damn thing on television.”
“Then tell him that, Callie. Because that man loves you. And he’s at just as much of a loss as you are. Talk to him. And if you don’t want to do it for yourself, then do it for me.”
Her eyes fluttered up to mine and her gaze alone seized my heart in my chest.
“I promise I’ll talk with him before you get back here tonight,” she said.
“Good girl.”
The words flew out of my mouth before I could catch them and the air sizzled between myself and Callie. Her eyes danced between mine and I watched her tongue dart out to lick her lips. No. Not again. That wasn’t happening again. It couldn’t. Not during such a vulnerable moment in her world. I was better than that. She was better than that. And quite honestly, I didn’t want her coping with the stress of this situation by losing herself in another man.
No matter how much I wanted to feel her skin against my palms again.
“I’ll see you tonight,” I said.
I backed towards her door as she stood to her feet.
“Colt?”
“Yes?”
“Did my father call you? Or did you come after you saw the interview?”
I panned my eyes over to hers and sighed.
“Your father called me, Callie.”
Then, I left before anything else could be said. I had a big feeling that conversation wasn’t going anywhere good, and Callie had enough on her plate to digest.
Callie
I sat on the porch of my childhood home, toggling through my laptop. I had a dozen different things running through my mind. Scheduling classes for my next semester. Working in my required internship for the year. Researching areas in Los Angeles that would be good for a practice like mine. It all hit me at once and my bedroom had been a little too stifling to deal with all of my rambling thoughts. So I picked up my notebook, my laptop, and my lemonade and I went to sit on the porch.
The sunset always calmed me, especially as it started to dip over the trees of our property.
I scrolled through my list of confirmed classes and started stacking up the required books. That had to be my biggest culture shock when it came to getting my Master’s. I didn’t have as many required hours as my undergraduate degree, but it seemed as if I had almost twice as many books. Thankfully, I had a scholarship and an approved federal loan I could use to order my books for the next semester. And if I worked my ass off while I was at school, I could foot the bill myself for the last of my books for my last semester.
Hopefully.
After ordering over two thousand dollars worth of books and making myself sick on the amount of reading I’d have to do over the course of the back end of my year, I flipped back over to the vacant properties tab I had open. I scrolled through and jotted down some places that caught my eye, then wrote down information I’d need for the building. Things like issues I already saw in the pictures, the asking price, what I felt I could get the building for, location, possible renovation and updating that needed to happen. I didn’t want to go into something like this without being fully prepared with questions and armed with knowledge I’d picked up from my father over the years.
I flipped back and forth between my school plan and my business plan. When I got fed up with one of them, I’d hop over to the other. The sun sank below the trees, coating me in the first shreds of darkness as cool air trickled over my arms. I crunched numbers and plotted out classes. I downloaded pictures of properties onto my laptop and took note of phone numbers to call. I ran my brain ragged with business plans and internship requirements, so when my phone rang out on the glass table I mindlessly picked it up.
And I really shouldn't have done that.
“Callie Roper speaking.”
“I’m glad you finally picked up.”
My pen dropped from my hand and my head whipped up from my notebook.
“Matthew?” I asked.
“Have you already deleted my number?” he asked.
“I should.”
“So you didn’t look at your caller I.D. What has your attention?”
“It’s none of your business. What do you want?” I asked.
“I want to talk with you, Callie. You know this.”
“Why can’t you just leave me alone? We already talked. We already decided things.”
“No. You walked in, threw your ring at me, and told me never to contact you.”
“After telling you it was over and that I never wanted to see you again. If that doesn't sound final enough to you, I don’t know what will once we sit down and talk,” I said.
“I just want to take you to dinner. Anywhere you want to go. I want to talk face-to-face, Callie. I’m really not asking much here.”
“Dinner isn’t going to happen. Not now. Not ever.”
“Fine. Coffee. I’ll take you to coffee.”
“That’s not happening, either.”
“Then what will happen? What will it take for you to sit down like an adult and speak with me like one?” he asked.
“You know, you keep saying that as if I’m acting like a child.”
“You did get your uncle to answer the phone for you that one time. His threats were a nice touch, though. Did you come up with those?”
“After you kept harassing me and refused to leave me alone, yes. I had one of the only men I do trust pick up the phone for me thinking maybe he could get the point across. But apparently, that didn’t happen. Since you’re still bugging me.”
“I’m just asking for a conversation. I want to talk with you, not be talked at by you. Yes, you threw the ring at me. Yes, you said we were over. But you didn’t give me a chance to speak at all. You just walked out.”
“Because you were dick-deep in the woman you said you’d cut things off with,” I said.
“And I want a chance to rectify that.”
“You’ve rectified enough in the media.”
“So, you saw that.”
“Yes, Matthew. I saw it. And it was a cheap shot. I’ve had to delete all of my corresponding social media accounts and take myself completely offline because I’ve got people I don’t even know harassing me alongside you trying to get me to talk with you.”
“Maybe they have a point,” he said.
“Are you serious? Is this what you wanted? You think that because I won’t take your phone calls or answer your text messages that you can use the media to stir up the public so they’ll guilt-trip me into tal
king with you?”
“Callie, the only reason I’m speaking to the media is because you won’t speak to me. So, I hoped to reach you through them.”
“Good talk. Thanks for calling. But this is the only time I’m going to speak with you, so make sure you’ve said whatever it is you have to say. Because when we hang up this phone, you will leave me alone. Or I’ll get a lawyer involved to make sure you do,” I said.
“You sound like your uncle.”
“I sound like a woman being harassed by a man throwing a tantrum.”
“I won’t leave you alone until we talk. Even if I have to come to your house, Callie. I will get you to sit down with me. Because I know we can work this out. You’re worth working this out with.”
“That would be a bad idea if you came here. Don’t you dare do that.”
“Why? Because your uncle doesn't want me to?”
“Because I don’t want to see you,” I said with exaggeration.
“I love you, Callie.”
“I don’t believe this,” I groaned.
“That’s not past tense. I love you. I still love you. I can’t get you off my mind. I can’t sleep without you next to me. And I know that if we sit down and talk like we always did, you’ll like what I have to say.”
“Damn it, Matthew. I’m tired of this game.”
“If you ever loved me, Callie, you’d sit down and at least give me the chance at closure. If you don’t want to continue things, fine. But we spent years together. If you ever cared for me at all, at least give me a chance at closure so I can move on the way you obviously already have.”
I scoffed as I leaned back into my chair.
“You’re not going to get any closure after screwing around with another woman. You’re the one who did this to us. Not me. You don’t get to make demands when you’re the one who ruined us,” I said.
“She didn’t mean anything, Callie. I told you this.”
“But she meant enough to fuck around with a second time after you agreed to let her go so we could seek help together.”
“Callie, I--.”
“Why did it go on so long?”
The phone call fell silent and I drew in a deep breath.
