Unspoken Endings

by Gabbie S. Duran

  Impatiently, I wait for the minutes to tick by. The first chance I get, I exit the class and walk as fast as I can to my car and race home. The moment I walk in the door I see a frustrated looking Trey screaming into the phone demanding information. Kelly is sitting on the couch looking both somber and worried, but Abigail is missing, sending my heart to beat out of control.

  “Where is she?” I ask, already walking to our room.

  Kelly stops me halfway down the hall. “She’s asleep,” she quietly whispers, as if afraid someone would hear. Pulling me back into the living room, Trey is still pacing the small space in front of the fireplace.

  “Trey gave her some of your pain meds and it knocked her out.”

  Jerking my head back in shock, I ask, “Why would he do that?”

  “We wanted her to calm down. It worked, and thankfully she quickly fell asleep.”

  Still confused, I ask, “What's going on?”

  Kelly’s shoulders drop in worry as she takes a deep breath and sits back down. “The media found out about Bill. I tried to get here before Abigail found out, but by the time I called her she was a mess,” she explains.

  The room starts spinning and my earlier shock has doubled.

  “Yeah, it was that bad,” Kelly says.

  Looking back towards our door, I ask, “How long has she been asleep?”

  “Not long. Those pills of yours must be really strong. They kicked in almost immediately.”

  Nodding my head, I remember how fast they make me groggy, which is why I slept most of the time. I still don’t have the full details of what is happening, but I still need to know she’s okay.

  “I’m just going to check on her,” I inform Kelly, not caring what she thinks of me disturbing Abigail. When I enter the room it’s completely engulfed in darkness as I take in Abigail’s sleeping form. Shutting the door behind me, I walk my way over to the bed and carefully climb in on my good side. The moment my arm wraps around Abigail her body turns into mine.

  I place a kiss on her temple. “Everything is going to be alright, beautiful,” I whisper to her. Kissing her on the corner of her lips this time, I can taste the remainder of her salty tears.

  When I brush my lips over her swollen eyes, she lets out a light whimper, breaking my heart. Trying my best to soothe her without having to move my injured side, I feather kisses along her skin, knowing how much she likes that.

  Satisfied that she’s fine for now, I’m soon cautiously pulling myself from Abigail’s tight embrace, giving her one last kiss on her temple before exiting the room. Heading back to the living, I find that David has arrived, but what surprises me the most is seeing Julio amongst them.

  I give him a nod of greeting. “I thought you were taking the week off,” I say on my way to the fridge to grab a much needed beer.

  “As soon as I saw Abigail’s name on the news, I came right over. Vacation or not, her safety is my concern. It’s my job,” he answers as I’m already walking back into living room drinking my beer. Another minute later, Trey hangs up the phone and he looks livid as he rakes his hand down his face.

  “What happened?” I ask.

  He lets out an exasperated sigh. “I think I may have just screwed myself over and became Abigail’s manager,” he grimly answers. I practically choke on my beer.

  “How the hell did that happen?” Kelly screeches out.

  “They wouldn’t put me through to the slime ball director unless I was someone important and I convinced them I was legit. They’re getting bombarded with a shit load of phone calls from the media about Abigail. It took me repeating over and over again that I was her new manager to get me through to him,” he explains. We’re all still gaping at him as he continues. “I finally got through to the weasel and he’s denying he leaked anything. From the way he sounded, I’m pretty sure he’s telling the truth. He sounds just as shocked as we are. He’s practically losing his mind with trying to get his own press release out to clean up the bad press linking their show to the shooting.” I take another swig of beer trying to take everything in.

  “So how did you become her manager again?” David skeptically asks the one question we still haven’t gotten enough clarification on.

  “Everywhere I called I dropped the title with my name and number and eventually I was getting phone calls from all of them. If that’s what it takes to keep the hounds off her, then yes, I’m now her fucking manager!” he proclaims before looking straight at me. “I want fifty percent of her earnings,” he orders.

  “Fuck you,” I throw back at him.

  “Forty?”

  Rolling my eyes at the joke he’s made, I go along with it. “You’re lucky if I let you get two percent.”

  “Shit, I’ll take it,” he announces with a fist pump to the air. Everyone laughs at his response, lightening the mood for a moment before his excited expression turns into a frown. “Don’t get mad at me, but I told them she would release a statement from our end. I think it will help if she tells her side of the story,” Trey expresses.

  I’m now glaring at him. “No,” I clip out.

  Defensibly holding out his hands, he claims, “Now think about it. If she stays quiet, she’s pretty much admitting that she murdered him. But if she gives her side of the story, which is the truth, it’d show she isn’t hiding anything.”

  “I hate to admit it, but I agree with him, Matt. Abigail does have the right to tell her side of the story,” Kelly states, defending Trey.

  I don’t like the idea, but at this point I’m defeated. Giving Trey a curt nod, he lightens up at my approval. “Don’t worry, man. As her new manager, I’m going to make sure she doesn’t get fucked over,” he claims. The title he’s happily taken upon himself makes me groan as I watch him tapping at his phone and starts calling someone. I can only imagine the circus this is going to turn into to, but better he deal with it instead of Abigail dealing with it herself. With a heavy sigh, I sit and think about the trials that I know will soon come. Tilting my head to the side to look at Julio, I say, “You’re going to have your work cut out for you.”

  “Nothing will change,” he replies.

  For the next couple of minutes, I sit drinking my beer until Trey is announcing, “Okay, everything is set. I’ve contacted a PR guy. Don’t worry, I checked him out and he’s legit,” he proclaims, as if knowing how skeptical I’m feeling about the declaration. “He wants her statement by tomorrow so these hounds will get off her ass. I’m making him sign a NDA, non-disclosure agreement for those of you who don’t understand,” he mocks over to Kelly and David, but they’re already rolling their eyes. “And in the contract I’m putting in there that if he doesn’t issue the exact statement that Abigail presents, I’m suing his ass. He’s agreed,” he proudly states, looking as if he’s just won a medal.

  I have to admit, his actions are surprising me. I’ve known Trey was taking up business management as his major, as I have, but I thought it was because it was forced upon him by his family to keep running their business back home. I guess he is going to put that degree we’re earning to use sooner than he’d expected.

  “See, I knew me not falling asleep during all those stuck up classes would come in handy. Abigail’s life is going to be turned upside down, but I’ll be there to make sure she doesn’t puke.”

  Kelly lets out a snort while David laughs. I, on the other hand, sit there silently cursing from how he’s explained how Abigail’s life will soon be. Right when I think she is finally at a point in her life where she doesn’t have to fear for her safety, here she is the center of attention all over again. It makes me wonder if Abigail will ever be able to live a normal life. Or if she even wants one.

  I'M STARING OUT the kitchen window overlooking the front of the house. The sight of the construction workers assembling the gate darkens the cloud already looming in the skies outside. Matt comes up behind me, leaving not an inch between our bodies as he locks me in his embrace. His lips immediately find the hollow of my neck as t
hey usually do when he first comes up to me. The feel of his lips brushing my skin would normally send shivers through my body, but today it’s otherwise; today, not even Matt’s touch helps to soothe my hopeless mood.

  Lifting his head after giving me a kiss, his eyes are now looking in the direction mine are currently locked on. “They’re almost done,” Matt says next to my ear.

  A sigh leaves my lips while continuing to watch the men at work. Ever since I’d released the statement with my side of the story, the media has practically exploded with wanting to see a glimpse of me. My words were not enough to keep them happy. Somehow, the media had discovered where we lived and that same day they started hounding the house. Julio was currently taking up residence in the spare bedroom because Matt refused to allow me to stay home alone while he and Trey went to school. I hadn’t planned on leaving the house when I’d returned from New York because I’d wanted to relax, but it’s difficult to relax when you have people circling the house and trying to peek in through the windows. Even calling the police wasn’t doing much for my protection. They could only order them to stay on the street when they arrived, but the minute they left they’d ignored the police’s orders.

  Most were disappointed we weren’t giving them an exclusive interview. They kept throwing higher offers at Trey for an interview, as if they thought I was holding out for the highest bidder, but it was far from that. Money was not the issue. It was keeping my life private that I truly wanted.

  Leaving the house had become challenging, even with Julio. The first time I tried to leave the house for a run to clear my mind, I never made it to the trail. Thankfully Julio was driving, because with how crazy the paparazzi was driving around me to get the perfect shot, I would have definitely crashed into one of them. Not purposely, but from being so distraught. So we were forced to return to the house where they were brave enough to follow me up the driveway and have been doing so ever since. It took Julio calling the police to get them off the property, but they couldn’t do anything about them being at the end of the street. The moment Matt got word of what happened, he called a security fence company to have one installed ASAP.

  Now as I stare out the window as they lift the iron wrought fence, the sight is another definition of how trapped my life will be. Even with him dead, Bill is still keeping me from being happy.

  “Do you want to watch a movie with me?” Matt asks, kissing his way down my neck. I somberly nod my head, not because I want to watch a movie, but because I know it will allow me to be in Matt’s comforting arms for the next few hours. Matt pulls me away from the window as if knowing he has to force me or else I won’t willingly move. Leading me to the couch, he sits me down and begins searching for the remote. Julio is already perched on the smaller part of the sofa on his laptop.

  “Are they almost done?” he asks over to Matt, inquiring about the gate.

  Triumphantly holding up the remote, he shows me that he’s found it.

  “Almost. It shouldn’t be too much longer,” he says as he makes his way to sit next to me. His hands pat his chest and the action makes me chuckle at how he knows how I’d prefer to be with him on the couch.

  “Good. Thankfully I knew the guy, or else I don’t think they would have been able to do it right away.”

  “How do you know the guy?” I curiously ask Julio, already draped across Matt’s chest.

  “He worked for the same security company you found me at, but it’s his family that owns the fence company. It’s through him that they get a lot of business because of the type of clients we work with,” Julio explains.

  “Makes sense,” I reply.

  “Yeah, we can never be too safe. I’m surprised you didn’t put up a fence a long time ago,” he states over to Matt.

  “When Abigail first arrived, she was pretty much hiding out. Not many people knew the details of her personal life until recently,” Matt answers.

  “I bet you didn’t think your life would get this exciting when I first hired you?” I tease, thinking back to the first couple of weeks when I’d hired him and he looked bored most of the time.

  Nonchalantly shrugging his shoulder, he says, “It’s been interesting, but it’s the best job so far. I get to do what I love. Even with you,” he teases in return. “Just don’t expect me to be your nanny when the time comes. I draw the line with that type of babysitting,” he sternly adds.

  Matt’s chest is vibrating from his booming laughter, but my body has completely tensed from his remark. It reminds me of the most important appointment I was supposed to keep, and had completely forgotten about. Mentally counting the day since I got my last Depo shot, I realize I should have gotten another over a month ago.

  Frantically climbing from Matt’s body, I’m now rushing to the room, panicking with every step. Matt’s footsteps are quickly heard following me.

  “What’s wrong, beautiful?”

  Reaching the room, I signal him to shut the door and I’m already biting on my thumbnail, nervously choosing how to tell Matt. I’m so lost in my thoughts he’s able to sneak up behind me and trap me in his arms, forcing me to look at him. His wide eyes are demanding I answer him.

  I take a deep breath before I answer. “I forgot to get my birth control shot updated,” I quietly croak out. His eyes grow wide and his body is now rigid against mine.

  “When were you supposed to get it?”

  “Over a month ago. I think?”

  A silence overtakes the room for what feels likes minutes as Matt’s eyes become lost in thought. “Have you gotten your period?” It takes me a moment to think of an answer as I think back over the last month.

  “I’ve spotted, but it wasn't a full period.” Matt’s lips go flat and at first I’m frightened he’s angry with me.

  “I’m so sorry.”

  His head tilts to the side and his once flat lips are now turned down into a frown. “Would you be upset?” he asks.

  I don’t know how to answer the question, but somehow I feel as if it’s entirely my responsibility. “This is all my fault. I should have kept track of when I had to get it renewed,” I guiltily claim.

  Taking me in his arms, he whispers into my hair, “We’ll figure this out.”

  “Matt, I need to take a test. Just to make sure.”

  I feel him sigh in my arms. “I could run out and buy a test for you, but I’m afraid the paps will follow me. Pictures of me buying a pregnancy test all over the front of their magazines is the last thing I want right now.”

  I agree. Dreadfully closing my eyes trying to figure out what the hell we’re going to do, I think of the one person they haven't hounded leaving the house.

  I pull myself from Matt’s arms so I can leave the room. “Where are you going?” Ignoring him, I nervously march my way over to his door and start knocking. Matt quickly figures out my plan. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?” he shockingly asks while we wait for Trey to answer.

  He answers it with an arched eyebrow. “What?” he irritably growls.

  I don’t know what’s going on with him, but some days he can act like a grumpy bear.

  “Abigail, I’ll just ask Julio,” Matt voices from behind me as he tries to pull me away.

  I turn to Matt to argue my case. “No. They’ll follow him, too,” I clip out and then just as quickly turn back to face Trey who now has his arms crossed over his chest. “I need you to go to the store for me,” I tell him.

  He shakes his head and I grow disappointed. “I’m not buying you tampons or pads. No way!” he states, already stepping back and trying to shut his door. Using all my force, I push it back open and his eyes are widely staring back at me.

  “I’m not on my period,” I quickly reply and he now looks relieved. “I actually need a pregnancy test,” I blurt out, watching him go pale. He looks over my shoulder to Matt.

  “Are you fucking kidding me?” His booming words make me wince.

  “Trey, please. We would go, but we can’t,” I desperately plead, thro
wing in a pout of my lips for good measure.

  He looks ready to cave to my request when Matt also pleads. “I’m sorry, man, but we can’t leave the house without being followed,” Matt explains. Trey narrows his eyes at both of us and I’m already believing he won’t do it.

  “Never mind. I’ll call David or Kelly to do it,” I declare, stepping away from the door, hating the situation I’m in.

  “No, I’ll go. But you just upped my two percent to five for this shit,” he lets out before turning back into his room to grab his wallet and keys off his dresser. I know I shouldn’t be gleefully smiling, but I can’t help it as I watch him walk down the hallway and out the front door.

  Julio is heading to the bathroom in the hallway, but not before asking, “Where’s Trey going?”

  “He had to run to the store for something,” Matt answers without any further details. Julio accepts it and shuts the bathroom door, leaving Matt and I to walk back to our room to impatiently wait. I’m already an impatient person and the time it’s going to take for Trey to return might just drive me nuts.

  I’M DRIVING AWAY from the house mentally cursing to myself for the situation I’ve volunteered myself for. Actually, I know I would have been forced to do it whether I wanted to or not, but Abigail’s pleading will make me do anything for her. She may not know it, but that girl has us all wrapped around her little finger without her even trying.

  Looking in the rear view mirror to make sure none of the paps are following me, I head in the direction of the pharmacy, seeing that it’s clear. I can’t believe the fucking chaos our lives have turned into since the day she’s moved in. If it’s not one thing, it’s another with that girl. Sometimes I think her life is the perfect soap opera. Pulling into the parking lot of the pharmacy, I take one last look around me to make sure I wasn’t followed. When I know the coast is clear, I make my way inside.

  This has to be one of the craziest fucking requests I have ever gotten from a girl. I wasn’t joking when I told her I wouldn’t buy her tampons, but I never expected them to throw buying a fucking pregnancy test at me. At this point, the fucking tampons would have been a better request.