by Lexi Aurora
“Felicia, baby, as long as I’m alive, you’ll never be free,” he says with a crazed smile, turning his attention back to Jeff. I had hoped the short reprieve would be enough for Jeff to scramble to his feet and defend himself, but my baby seemed frozen with fear. He turns wide and panicked eyes towards me, parting his lips as Tommy draws back his blade.
“I’m sorry,” JByrd whispers. The next few seconds pass in a blur. As Tommy lowers his knife towards Jeff to land the blow that would end his life, I reach between my mattresses and grab the pistol I knew Tommy kept loaded for ‘emergencies.’ I’ll be goddamned if this doesn’t qualify as an emergency. I cock the pistol, and Tommy stops short upon hearing the familiar sound. He turns towards me, having the nerve to look entertained by the threat.
“The hell you gonna do with that, bitch–” he shouts, taking a threatening step toward me. Without another second’s hesitation, I pull the trigger. Tommy’s eyes widen in disbelief, just as the bullet pierces him right between them. JByrd’s eyes are wide as well, as his attacker slumps to the ground. He lurches towards Tommy, and the gun trembles in my hands as a numb sensation washes over me. I drop the gun, and Jeff shakes Tommy as if he can’t believe the big lug is actually dead.
“Felicia…,” he begins, and I choke out a sob as I realize just how thoroughly I’ve messed up.
“He was going to kill you, JByrd! I couldn’t let that happen,” I blurt. Jeff rises to his feet, considering the scene with trepidation. He turns towards me, pointing to the closet.
“Get dressed. Grab anything you can’t bear to leave behind,” he says urgently, grabbing his jeans and slipping into them.
“W-what do you mean? Get out of here, Jay. You ain’t got no reason to take the fall with me,” I respond. He grabs a set of clothes from the closet, throwing them at me. He steps over Tommy’s dead body, reaching out to cup my cheeks in his hands.
“As long as I’m alive, you won’t take the fall. We’re going to get dressed, we’re going to get in my car, and we’re going to drive as far as the roads will take us,” he says gently, leaning in to capture my lips in a kiss. I press my hand gently to his chest, and he winces at the pressure on his injury.
“You’re hurt, baby,” I whisper, tears pooling in my eyes. In that moment, it feels like my whole life is crashing down around me. Jeffrey forces me to meet his gaze, which is surprisingly calm considering the situation.
“The cuts will heal. Nothing fixes a broken heart. Come on, let’s get out of here,” he urges. I hesitate a moment longer before pulling on the outfit he’d grabbed for me. I grab the pistol that I’d used to shoot Lopez, and JByrd looks at me with a curious expression.
“If we’re going Bonnie and Clyde here, I’m going all or nothing, baby,” I murmur. He chuckles, grabbing me by the arm and leading me out of the apartment. It’s in the worst part of town, and if fortune is on our side, no one has called the cops yet. JByrd and I slip into the parking lot unseen, hopping into his car. He considers the gas gauge, turning a smile upon me.
“A full tank. We’ll put some miles between this shithole and ourselves. Hopefully we have some time before the cops start on our trail,” he chuckles. Though I’m stricken by how calm he seems, in a moment a similar sense of calm washes over me. In spite of what I’d done, I felt no remorse for what had happened to Tommy. He’d been holding me captive for years it seemed, and he’d said it himself: I would never be free as long as he was alive.
“You sure you’re willing to… goddamn, JByrd, you’re giving up your life for me,” I manage weakly. He shifts into reverse, pulling out of the parking spot and speeding out onto the highway. The blood that had poured from his wounds has slowed to a steady trickle, though it seems the bleeding won’t stop altogether any time soon.
“Felicia, ever since I laid eyes upon you, trapped under that car with Tommy, I was sure of one thing,” he says calmly, glancing into his rearview mirror as he cuts through the back roads out of town.
“What’s that, baby boy?” I inquire, feeling my cellphone vibrate. I consider it for a moment, rolling down the window and tossing it out. He seems to get the same idea, tossing his own phone as well.
“I knew from the moment I saw you, that without you in my life, it wasn’t a life worth living. I don’t know if you believe in love at first sight, but…,” he trails off, glancing at me with a smile.
“For you, I made an exception,” I retort slyly, a sensation of giddiness rising up within me. While the future ahead isn’t clear, I realize that I finally have my freedom. Moreover, I can share that freedom with someone who actually loves me. “I love you, JByrd,” I say, the words feeling strange in spite of the truth behind them. “I haven’t loved anyone since my mom and pop, but I know this for sure. I’m head over heels for my pretty boy,” I smile. He chuckles, reaching onto the center console to take my hand. I grip his calloused one in mine, staring at the road ahead of us. We’re approaching a large sign at top speed, and I smile as I read the words inscribed in white upon it.
“You are now leaving Atlanta, Georgia,” I murmur aloud, and Jeffrey chortles, tightening his grip on my hand.
“You are now entering your new life. How do you feel about that?” he prompts, and I hesitate for a moment as I consider my response. Life as a fugitive might not be what one would consider your classic, happily-ever-after scenario. Our story was anything but your classic fairy tale, however. I lean over the center console, pressing a kiss to his cheek. He grins before he presses the pedal to the metal, speeding down the highway. As Atlanta’s skyscrapers fade into the distance behind us, and the scenery screams past my window in barely visible streaks, I realize that I can’t imagine another person I would rather be with in that moment. Though I know there may come a time that we crash and burn, I also know that in that moment, I couldn’t ask for anything better.
“I feel good, JByrd. As a matter of fact, I feel pretty fantastic.”
THE END
Bonus: Mistaken
A contemporary romance short story
Chapter One: James
James looked out the window to the crammed parking lot for the tenth time in as many minutes. Although it was filled to bursting with vehicle after vehicle after vehicle, none of them was the one he was looking for.
If his coworkers noticed his restlessness, they hadn’t said anything. Granted, most of them were busy with their own clients, chattering up a storm between the snicks of their dutifully sharp scissors. The salon was busy today, as it often was before a long weekend, but it was lacking in a very specific person.
Then he saw it.
A practical, sky blue car with a dent on the left-hand passenger side.
It took a good five minutes for it to find a spot, but eventually the vehicle settled and his appointment struggled out.
She was wearing her hair in an overly tight bun, as usual, and flipping through a packet of papers as she walked. Her mouth was drawn into a thin line and the look in her eyes was reading from across the parking lot as intensely focused.
And she was utterly beautiful.
James turned away from the window and casually walked to his chair. He didn’t want to seem overexcited by her arrival. After all, if there was one thing he had learned by observing five years of interactions in the close-knit Salon D’etre, it was that the client-professional line was a thin one but it needed to be observed religiously.
The door chimed and he turned to greet her as she stepped in.
“Kathleen, you made it,” he said amiably, flashing what he hoped was a welcoming and not creepy smile.
“Sorry I’m a bit late,” she said, her voice low with just a hint of a rasp through it. “Meeting ran over and I just couldn’t get out.”
“It’s alright. It’s tough being so important.”
She laughed and lightly joshed his arm as she settled into his seat. He caught the faintest scent of her pomegranate shampoo and smiled. He had recommended that to her when she had first visited, about on
e year ago. He still remembered the moment vividly.
He had been stuck by her the moment she walked in. She’d been dressed in an ill-fitting business suit obviously designed for a man rather than the curvaceous woman that she was. It just kind of sat on her figure rather than complementing the womanly softness she had to her. James would hate to admit how often he thought of squeezing that softness between his calloused, well-worn hands, and he quickly banished those thoughts yet again.
“The usual?” he asked, gently taking out her hair tie.
“Yes please! You don’t know how much I’ve been needing this, Jimmy.”
“Hah, I can imagine.” His tools were already laid out and he went about their usual routine of a trim, color touch-up, wash, and a blowout. He knew that her hair would be right back into its controlled bun tomorrow, but he knew for tonight Kathleen would enjoy her free waves and bounce. “So, what have you been up to since we met last?”
“Oh my God, you would not believe how hectic this month has been.” She started to go into a long tale starting from the previous month, and James listened intently, watching her perfect mouth as she spoke. She just had such an animated sort of energy to her. Like she could be faced with any sort of hurdle and just shatter it to pieces. Her ambition was invigorating, but also a bit intimidating in a way.
“So, what about you? Are your sisters still boy crazy?”
James let out a short laugh, surprised that she had remembered with everything else on her already overloaded plate. “You would not believe it. You know Solstice has a boyfriend now? She’s in fourth grade. When I was in fourth grade I was…” Picking up bottles at the college for grocery money. “Busy trying to figure out how not to let my voice crack.”
She laughed. “You would not believe the dork I was in middle school. And high school. And college to be honest. For the semester I went there, that is.”
That particular revelation surprised James. “You didn’t finish college?”
“Nope, not at all.” She let out a bit of a sigh. “I’ve been on my own since I was seventeen, and between the bill and the homework it just wasn’t worth it. I went to a job fair and the next thing you knew I was on the road to my current career.”
“That’s… that’s pretty amazing.”
“You think so? Most people say I made the wrong decision.”
James shrugged. “People will have their opinions. I know what I think and I think you do as well.”
“Hah! You’re not wrong. Goodness, you really know how to make a person feel brilliant, you know that?”
“That’s probably because you already are brilliant and I just like to make sure you don’t forget it.”
She laughed again, a merry, reverberating sound and James couldn’t help but smile as well. His world was a bit rocked learning that she hadn’t graduated. He had assumed that she was a Masters-holding, unstoppable force of nature who was so far out of his league that he might as well be Pluto.
Then again, she was still so far above his level that it didn’t really matter. Because, after all, she was his client and he was just her hairdresser.
Chapter Two: Kathleen
Kathleen ran her hand through her hair yet again as she drove home. She lived for these little appointments every month and she didn’t know what she would do without them. No matter how hard and fast the world turned, she would always have these little moments of respite to cling to.
Of course, it didn’t hurt that she had a raging crush on her hairstylist.
It was silly of her, yet no matter how much the businesswoman reminded herself that the tall, green eyed man would never be interested in her, the feelings still remained.
She had never been much for crushes; they were a waste of time and energy, and she had always felt as much. But it hadn’t taken long for her to become utterly enamored with the lanky man. He just had this calmness to him that put her at ease like nothing else. He listened earnestly, and remembered everything she said.
She was far too busy for a relationship anyways, she reminded herself as she strode into the door of her apartment. Between reports for her contact gig, renewing ads, and reviewing possible partnerships for her growing business, she hardly had time to eat -let alone dive into the complicated and often exhausting world of dating. One would think all those missed meals would do a little to decrease her waistline, but she never seemed to be able to shake the soft doughtiness about her and she certainly didn’t have enough time to go fight it out at the gym.
Sighing, she peeled her business suit from her body and hopped in the shower to get rid of any errant hairs that had managed to wiggle their way around the protective cape that Jimmy always so carefully put about her neck. Thinking about his face being so close to hers, and his strong, adept fingers gently brushing her skin as he ensured the bit of plastic was secured made her face flush and a very certain sort of throb issue from her lower half.
“Calm down, Kathleen,” she reprimanded, grabbing her shampoo. “He’s not into you. He’s nice because you’re a client and he’s a good person.”
Just before she was about to wet her hair and dump the product in, she remembered that she had only just had it done. Setting the shampoo back on the shelf, she shook her head at herself. Even when he wasn’t around, Jimmy certainly had a way of wiggling into her head just so. “Relax. He’s like this with all of his clients, whom I’m sure also have crushes on him too. Stop obsessing.”
And yet no matter how much she told herself that, part of her was engaging in a full-fledged fantasy about what the lanky man would look like with that button-up shirt of his strewn out on the floor instead of on his frame. How those strong arms would feel wrapped around her middle. Those callused fingers squeezing her just so…
It felt mildly disrespectful, and she knew she would be wearing one hell of a blush on the next time she saw him, but she was already down the rabbit hole so she might as well enjoy the trip. As she went to bed, she allowed herself to fully sink into the elaborate scheme her mind was whipping up. She managed to lay still for several moments and just enjoy the ride before she grew flustered and found herself reaching for a certain battery-operated friend she usually kept under her pillow.
Perhaps one day she would have the real deal instead of the artificial version, but tonight was definitely not that night.
Chapter Three: James
A month passed much faster than he anticipated it, rent and utilities applying their unpleasant sting as usual. Of course, his sisters weren’t helping. It was drama club season for Anna, soccer for Bella and concert-prep for Solstice in addition to them pestering him every five minutes over whether or not he had asked Kathleen out yet.
He hadn’t intended for them to find out about his client, but that boat had sailed a year eaarlier when a babysitter had gotten into a car accident, forcing him to take his brood to work. Thankfully his coworkers didn’t mind at all, and the sitter was able to recover within a few days. Naturally the galaxy had to make it so it was the one day Kathleen would be in his chair, but she had hit it off with the girls like they were peas in a pod.
His sisters had instantly noticed his changed demeanor around her. That was the downside of being so close with the pubescent little devils; they could read him like the same books their teachers assigned to them. They managed to keep their incessant wave of questions until he took them home that night, but after that it was a near constant deluge.
He appreciated it, he did. He understood that they just didn’t want him to be alone; however, he didn’t mind being single. He had spent his life since he was seventeen taking care of the three souls entrusted to him and that was plenty fulfilling for him. He didn’t need a girlfriend or anything else like that distracting him.
…even if he couldn’t get Kathleen out of his head.
The door chimed and he looked up to see it was indeed his favorite client. But instead of wearing her normally broad smile, her eyes were red and her nose had that tell-tale blush of someon
e who had just been crying and was trying to hide it.
He was over to her in less than a second, hardly aware that he had even moved. “Are you alright?” he said, touching her arm gently.
“Oh, yes. Fine, fine. Why do you ask?”
“Are you sure?” he murmured, eyebrows knitted together. He had never seen her like this and it was quite alarming. Kathleen was the epitome of strength and always a step up on any obstacle in her path.
Yet… this meant she was trusting him, right? To show him any sort of weakness when she was normally so armored for any battle she might face, certainly that had to mean something.
“Would you like to take a seat then?”
She nodded and he lead her over to his chair, going about like everything was business as usual when it very clearly wasn’t. Next came the cape, which she accepted without a word.
“So, the usual?” he asked, regarding her carefully in the mirror.
“Yes.” It seemed like things might have started evening out and whatever was bothering her was going to remain a mystery. “So, how are the…the…” She cut her own words off and her shoulders began that distinctive shudder that went along with someone trying to repress their tears.
“Would you like to go outside for a touch?” he asked as softly he could. “Get some fresh air?”
“Yes.” she whispered quietly, standing up so quickly that the cape tore away from her neck. James followed after her, concern riddling through every bit of him. He’d never seen her act remotely like this and all sorts of thoughts were flying through his head, from family death to job loss to cancer scares. He was working himself up into a worried frenzy, but she just wasn’t saying anything to assuage his fears. Not that he should be the center of attention at the moment considering she was the one crying, but he had never been one for suspense.
