Forever Awakenings (Awakenings #3)

by Lisa Bilbrey

  “You’ve made a lot of progress lately, Elle, but maybe this is too much,” Sadie fretted.

  “I won’t know unless I go,” she said, softly. “You have to trust me.”

  “It’s not that we don’t trust you,” Callum told her. “We just worry, but if you want to try, then we will support you. Right?”

  “Absolutely,” Sadie quickly replied, looking at Derek. “Der?”

  “Of course, but if at any point you start to feel scared, you have to promise that you’ll come to us and not just leave. Okay?”

  Elle nodded. “Thank you.”

  “Come on, baby,” Sadie said, reaching for her. “Let’s shower.”

  —FA—

  Elle would be lying if she said she wasn’t terrified to go back to work, but she had talked to Jo about it the morning before. Jo had been apprehensive, but said that if Elle felt ready, she should follow her instincts.

  “I can take you home,” Callum offered.

  “No,” Elle whispered, but made no attempt to climb out of the car. They had been parked in front of the Davis Building for almost twenty minutes. “No, I just need help getting out of the car.”

  “Okay, we can do that,” he said, opening his door.

  He rushed around to her side, opened the door, and offered her his hand, which she gave. Elle’s heart raced as she climbed out of the car. Sadie and Derek were immediately at her side, their hands resting on her back and shoulder, giving her the support she so desperately needed.

  “I can do this,” she whispered, feeling silly for being worried. Just three weeks before, she had rushed inside without second thought, but she had mission: Samuel needed her. “I … I can do this.”

  Callum, Sadie, and Derek prodded her forward. Her legs trembled as they entered the building, drawing the attention of those waiting for elevators. The urge to flee was intense. She hated the way they stared at her, waiting for her to breakdown again. She was stronger than them, she reminded herself. Stronger than anyone.

  “Come on,” Sadie said, gesturing toward the stairwell.

  But Elle shook her head. “The elevator.”

  “Beautiful, I don’t know,” Derek murmured nervously. “That might be too much.”

  “I want my life back,” she whispered. “All of it. My leg hurts too much to use the stairs. I can do this.”

  “Okay.”

  Callum leaned down and kissed the top of her head before leading them to the elevator. Those who had been waiting took steps backwards, giving her space. Her heart raced as she watched the numbers above the elevator light up one by one.

  Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, and finally one. The doors opened, and though she expected it, Elle was still startled. She gave a soft laugh.

  “Never realized how loud they were,” she mumbled.

  “No shit,” Derek agreed. He stepped inside the elevator, used one hand to keep the doors open, and reached for her with the other. “I’ve got you.”

  Closing her eyes for a moment, she took a deep breath and took a step toward him. Derek grabbed her hand and pulled her into his arms, holding her protectively. Callum and Sadie followed, but nobody else made an effort to join them.

  The doors to the elevator closed and Elle released a sigh of relief. “I wasn’t sure I could really do this.”

  “We did,” Sadie said, placing her hand on the back of Elle’s head, her fingers running through her short hair. “We’re so proud of you, my love. So fucking proud.”

  The elevator stopped at the tenth floor with a jolt. When the doors opened, the first thing Elle noticed was Lucia seated behind Greta’s desk. She stood as the four of them stepped out of the elevator.

  “What are you doing here?” Elle asked.

  “Helping,” Lucia said, stretching her hands out to Elle, who took them without question. “You and Samuel gave me a job when I had nothing. Just felt like it was my turn to give back.”

  “But what about Taj?”

  “We’re taking some time off,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. “Nick wants to spend some time with Ivy and Elliot. With everything that’s happened, Elliot’s been having a hard time. Jonas and Abe have been toying with some new music, so they are going to take advantage of the break and crank out some new songs to try for the next album, or sell. Haven’t decided yet. And, well, Aaron and I are toying with the idea of getting hitched.”

  “What?” Derek asked a wide smile creeping over his face. “For real, sis?”

  “Just talking about it right now,” she confirmed. “But I think so. I love him.”

  “That’s great,” Elle murmured. “You both deserve to be happy.”

  “So do you,” Lucia squeezed her hands before releasing her. “Now, I’ve got work to do, and your nine o’clock is waiting for you in your office.”

  “But …” Elle frowned. “I only decided to come back to work this morning.”

  She smiled. “I know. Best not keep him waiting.”

  Elle shifted her attention to Callum, Derek, and Sadie, all of whom were avoiding her gaze. “Um, okay.”

  The walk to her office felt like it took twice as long thanks to the way her employees stopped and stared. A few welcomed her back, but most just watched, waited for to lose control and flee in terror again.

  Elle wrapped her fingers around the doorknob to her office and pushed it open with a deep breath. She gasped, her hands flying to her mouth when she saw the tall, broad shouldered man standing in front of her desk.

  “Thomas?” she cried, nearly catapulting herself into his arms.

  “Hey, Elle,” he whispered, holding her tight.

  “We’ll give you a few minutes alone,” Callum said, and when Elle looked over her shoulder, finding him, Derek, and Sadie standing with Leigh and Tyson.

  “Thank you,” she whispered.

  They nodded before closing the door and leaving the two of them alone. Elle blew out a deep breath as she took a step backward.

  “Sorry. I wasn’t expecting you. I wasn’t expecting anyone actually.”

  “I asked them not to tell you,” he explained gesturing for them to have a seat on the couch. “I was going to come by the house, but Callum called about an hour ago and said you were coming back to work. Hope it’s okay that I’m here.”

  “More than okay,” she insisted, reaching out and grabbing his hand. “How have you been?”

  “Depends on the day. Sometimes I feel like I’m finally getting my shit together, and then there are days when I can barely handle getting out of bed.”

  Elle frowned. “Yeah.”

  “I’ve been worried about you,” he said, quietly.

  “Me, too,” she whimpered. “I should have listened to you and left the city. Said to hell with the company, packed up my family, and embraced the southern life.”

  “They probably would have found you no matter where you went.” Thomas paused. “They hurt you, didn’t they?”

  Elle nodded. “A lot.”

  “I’m sorry,” he murmured. “I wish I could have stopped them.”

  “Me, too,” she said again. “I should have expected him. Leo, I mean. I kept telling myself there was no way he could be the one after me. They don’t let men like him out of jail, but they did. He was angry with me, blamed me for ruining his life, for being happy with Callum, Derek, and Sadie. He made sure I suffered for my sins, as he called them.”

  “He was a monster,” Thomas said covering her hand with his.

  “He was,” Elle agreed. “So was she.”

  “No shit,” he scoffed and then sighed. “I blamed you.”

  Elle gasped and tried to pull her hands away, but he held them tighter.

  “I blamed you, but I was wrong. I was scared and hurt and angry, Elle, and it was easier to blame you than admit that I was … that I am a victim, just like you. Like Samuel.”

  “You’re important to me,” Elle wept, softly. “That’s why they targeted you. They knew taking you would hurt me. They t
ried to kill Derek, threatened my daughters, and tortured Samuel because y’all are important to me. You’re my family, Thomas.”

  “I always will be, too.” Thomas leaned over and kissed her forehead. “I’d better let you get to work.”

  Elle nodded and walked him over to the door, pulling it open. Laughter bubbled out from deep inside her chest when she saw Callum, Derek, Sadie, Leigh, and Tyson leaning against the wall like they were sure the two of them were going to jump out the window.

  “Hey, I’m—” But before Elle could finish speaking, Leigh had her arms wrapped around her.

  “I am so sorry,” she cried. “I knew you didn’t have anything to do with Thomas’s disappearance, but I felt so helpless. The police kept saying that you had to have been a part of it, that that’s why you knew where to find him. I’m sorry, Elle. I’m so fucking sorry.”

  “Um, it’s okay,” she murmured, patting her awkwardly.

  “No, it’s not.” Leigh pulled back, but left her hands on Elle’s arms. “I know you would never have hurt him. Please, forgive me.”

  “There’s nothing to forgive,” Elle insisted. “Let’s just move on, okay?”

  “Yeah, of course.” Tyson placed his hands on Leigh’s shoulders, pulling her against him. “You look good, Elle. Almost happy.”

  “I feel almost happy. Most of the time, anyway.”

  “She’s amazing,” Callum said, winking at her.

  Elle felt her face warm as her blush spread.

  “We should go,” Thomas said. “I’ll stop by again before we head back to Georgia, if that’s okay?”

  “I’d really like that.”

  Elle stood in the doorway of her office as Callum, Derek, and Sadie walked Leigh, Thomas, and Tyson to the elevator. For the first time in a long time, life didn’t feel like it sucked.

  Thirty-one

  The pile of paperwork on Elle’s desk was overwhelming. While Callum, Derek, and Sadie had been bringing her work home for her to complete, they clearly hadn’t been bringing her all of it. There were budget reports and zoning applications dated more than a month ago that she had never seen. By the time her lunch hour came around, Elle had a monster of a headache and she seriously contemplated going home.

  “Knock, knock,” Sadie chirped as the door to her office opened. She, Callum, and Derek were standing each holding a white plastic bag from Chang’s Chinese Palace. “Hope you’re hungry, because we bought way too much food.”

  “Starving,” she said, scooting her chair back and standing. Her thigh ached, causing her to wince.

  “You okay, beautiful?” Derek rushed to her side, sliding one arm around her waist in an effort to hold her up. “Your thigh?”

  Elle nodded. “Just aches a little.”

  “Maybe you should rethink using the cane,” he suggested as he helped her over to the sofa. She sat down and he placed the bags in his hand on the floor, while his other started massaging her injured muscle.

  “Maybe,” she quipped, unsure if she would ever use the device again or not. “What’d you bring me for lunch?”

  “A little of everything,” Callum said, making it clear to Derek that he shouldn’t push the subject of her cane at the moment. “Chicken cashew, sesame chicken, beef broccoli, some crab rangoon, and an egg roll of course.”

  “Oh, I’ll take a little of everything,” Elle laughed, trying to smile.

  “Are you okay, baby?” Sadie asked as she began to unpack the food. “You look exhausted.”

  “Just a little overwhelmed,” she admitted. It was better to be honest with them than lie and have them call her out on it. “Why didn’t you bring me all of my work?”

  Sadie sighed.

  “Because you were already stressed, and we didn’t want to add onto the pressure,” Callum replied. “It’s too much for one person, Elle. Way too much.”

  She nodded, knowing he was right, but the only other person who knew the job as good as she did was Samuel.

  “Maybe,” Sadie said, drawing their attention to her. “Maybe you should call him. See if he wants to come in and help.”

  “Him?” Elle asked, trying to keep her voice even.

  Sadie grinned. “Samuel, honey. Who else?”

  “Oh, I don’t know,” she fretted, accepting the plate of food from Callum. “He’s probably not ready.”

  “Or maybe he’s just waiting for you to ask,” Derek suggested.

  Elle bit the inside of her lip as her eyes shifted to Callum. “What do you think?”

  “I think,” he said slowly, “that my father won’t come back unless asked by you. I think he needs to be working as much as you do, and there’s no way you can do everything by yourself. As hard as it is to admit it, we can’t help you with the company. Not like he can, anyway.”

  “You’d be okay with us working together?” she asked coyly.

  “I trust you, Elle, and I trust my father with you.”

  The sincerity in Callum’s words hit Elle hard and she found herself struggling to keep from weeping. Truth be told, the job had become bigger than her long before her life was turned upside down. Samuel had offered to help her then, but would he still be willing? After getting dragged into hell because of her, would he still want to help her?

  “I’ll think about it,” she whispered.

  “Good,” Derek said with a smile. “Now eat.”

  —FA—

  Elle stared at the phone, trying to get the courage to pick it up and call Samuel. It was silly that she was nervous, but asking him to come back to work, to help her, was hard.

  Taking a deep breath, she picked up the phone and dialed his number. The call rang three times and she was about to hang up when a click filled her ear and a breathy, “Hello,” followed.

  “Hey,” Elle whispered.

  “Hey,” Samuel echoed. “Missed you this morning for coffee.”

  “Yeah, I, um, kind of came back to work,” she mumbled.

  There was a paused, followed by a quiet, “Oh.”

  “It was a sudden decision that I’ve been thinking about for a while.”

  “Pretty sure you can’t suddenly do something you’ve been thinking about,” he laughed.

  “Guess you’re right,” she snickered with him.

  “How’s it going?”

  “Oh, you know,” she said, waving a hand in the air.

  “No, I don’t, so why don’t you tell me.”

  Elle frowned. “I’m a bit in over my head,” she admitted. “There’s too much work, not enough time. I don’t know. Feeling very overwhelmed at the moment.”

  “I bet,” he murmured.

  “I, um, I was thinking,” she whispered. “You know, if … if you thought you were up to it, that maybe you could, I don’t know, come help me?”

  “What?” he asked.

  “Never mind, it was stupid of me to ask,” she rambled before ending the call.

  Less than thirty seconds later, her phone started ringing and Samuel’s number came up on the ID. She ignored it, pushing her chair away from her desk. Once it stopped, her cell phone started ringing and she knew it was Samuel. Feeling overwhelmed, she scrambled from her chair and limped across her office, throwing her door open with so much force it hit the wall and drew the attention of everyone on the floor.

  “Sorry,” she mumbled as she limped past all of them, down to Callum, Derek, Nate, and Sadie’s office, but it was empty. She could feel a panic attack coming as she looked around and tried to figure out what to do.

  “Elle?” Lucia rushed to her side, pulling her into their office and kicking the door shut with her foot. “Take a breath before you pass out.”

  Elle sucked a ragged gulp of air in and blew it out. “Where are they?”

  “In the conference room, in a meeting. Do I need to get them?”

  She wanted to scream yes, but instead, she shook her head. “I’m okay.”

  “No, you’re not.” Lucia led her to the worktable, pushing her into one of the seats. “I
’m going to go get my brother.”

  “Please don’t,” Elle begged causing her to sigh. “I’m not being stubborn. I just … I just need to be able to have a freak out without it becoming a big deal.”

  “Okay, I’ll wait, but once their meeting is over, I’m telling them, Elle. I won’t keep this from him. Deal?”

  Elle nodded and stood up. “Thanks, Lucia.”

  “You’re welcome. Go back to your office. I’ll bring you a cup of coffee. Maybe decaf.”

  “Ew,” Elle shuddered. “What’s the point of coffee if it’s decaf?”

  Lucia laughed and sent her along her way. Elle settled behind her desk again, ignoring the light on her office phone that alerted to a voicemail. Lucia arrived a few minutes later with a cup of coffee.

  Elle pulled the next file from the stack and began working on it. She hadn’t spent more than ten minutes going over the numbers, though, when the door to her office opened. She looked up expecting Callum, Derek, or Sadie, sure that Lucia had gone to tattle about her panic attack, but instead, Samuel stood in the middle of the threshold.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked, pushing her chair backwards as she stood up.

  “Well, since you wouldn’t answer any one of my hundred phone calls,” he snarked, stepping into the room and closing the door behind him with force, “I had to come down here myself to call you a stubborn, pain-in-the-ass bitch.”

  Elle smiled. “Like you’ve never called me that before?”

  “Don’t,” Samuel grumbled.

  “Don’t what?”

  “Don’t pretend like I’m being a baby or some shit.”

  “I’m not,” she said, frowning. “Am I?”

  Samuel nodded. “Why didn’t you answer my call?”

  Elle tensed and shrugged her shoulders.

  “Goddamn it, Elle!”

  “Stop yelling at me!” she whined. “I’m sorry, okay? I shouldn’t have called in the first place.”

  “You think I’m mad because you called?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

  “Aren’t you?”

  Samuel stared at her for a moment before throwing his head back and laughing.

  “What’s so funny?” she asked, narrowing her eyes at him.

  “You,” he scoffed, falling onto her sofa. “Mad because you called. That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.”