by Jayton Young
“No, it’s okay. My older sister was a dancer in Vegas. She did pretty well for herself on stage and ended up being a headliner. Well several of the hotels were after her to come to them and sign a contract, so she hired a manager. He helped her get a huge deal; they started dating, and married all within a couple of months. Tina, that was her name, was head over heels for him. The whole family, though we didn’t agree at first because of the short courtship, went to the wedding and supported her on her big day.” He took a deep breath and let it out. “I saw little things that made me question how good he was for her, but he had charmed everyone else and they all loved him. No one would listen to my protests. He had to be with her at all times. He chose what she would wear, what she ate or drank; he just had to be with her the whole time and control everything she did. I tried to talk to her about it, but she always defended him, so I ended up leaving it alone. About six months after they got married, we stopped hearing from her, so I went to check on her. She was bruised when I saw her, but said it was from the rehearsals, that all dancers fell and stayed bruised. Travis didn’t know that I was there, and when he got home, he started beating her because he thought she had called me. I came out and put a stop to it, fighting him myself. I was able to knock him out pretty easily since he was drunk, but when I went to check on Tina and get her help, she wasn’t moving. When he had slammed her against a wall during their fight, it was hard enough to cause bleeding in her brain, and she died as a result.”
I was speechless. I didn’t know how to comfort him. I had been through stuff like that, so I knew sorry didn’t help. The part that really broke my heart is that I could tell he blamed himself. “You know that it is not your fault, right?” I asked as I hugged him to me.
“Yeah, I’ve heard the spiel. I’ve even given it a few times, but there’s always the thought in the back of my mind. What if I had stopped the wedding, or gone to check on her sooner? Why didn’t I make her leave when I first saw the bruises that day?”
“You know better than that. She wasn’t ready to admit there was a problem, or maybe he was holding something over her head, but she wouldn’t have taken the help.” I told him softly. “I didn’t until it was almost too late. Hell, it was too late for my mom. There was just nothing you could have done.”
He sat up from me, wiping moisture from his eyes so it wouldn’t be able to fall. “Look at me; and here I was supposed to be making you feel better, but end up crying on your shoulder.”
“That’s alright, Doc. I’m here for you, just as you are for me. I’m okay now anyway.”
He smiled and nodded, picking his food back up to finish eating.
“I’m glad to hear that.” We looked over to the door to see Garret standing there with his hands in his pockets. “Can I talk to you?” He asked.
When Doc faced me again, he had a scowl on his face. He must not have thought I was ready to talk to Garret yet.
“It’s alright.” I told him.
His look softened a little, but I could tell he still didn’t want to leave me with him yet, just in case. He gathered the tray, but left me my drink. “Call me if you need me.” He said and kissed my cheek before walking out with the tray in hand.
I looked back to Garret and could tell he regretted what had happened. The look on his face; I knew I would never be able to stay angry at him. I got up, went over to him, pulling him into the room, and shut and locked the door.
Chapter 15
I was having the most wonderful dream. I knew it was a dream because my mother was there with me. Garret and Mrs. Chambers were there also. We had all had a nice dinner and were talking, but I really didn’t notice what was being said. I was just enjoying the family atmosphere that had been absent from my life for some time.
Garret was next to me on the couch of Mrs. Chambers’ living room. He turned and smiled at me as he slid off the couch and onto one knee. I covered my mouth in shock and looked at my mother to confirm it was really happening. She was crying, holding hands with Mrs. Chambers, so I knew he was for real.
He opened a royal blue velvet box to show a huge diamond ring surrounded by emeralds. “Will you do the honor of being my wife?”
I couldn’t speak for the lump in my throat, so I nodded; throwing my arms around his neck, probably squeezing the life out of him.
The next thing I know we are on the beach in front of a pastor putting the rings on each other’s finger.
The next minute we were in a cottage on the beach and I was at the French doors watching the sunset on the ocean as the waves rolled onto the sand when Garret came up behind me. He started kissing the back of my neck as he undressed me slowly. When I was completely naked I could feel the he was in a similar state of undress behind me. I could feel his erection digging into the small of my back.
Garret slowly walked us backward until we were on the bed in the same position, him spooning me from behind. His hands ran over my body, one stopping to knead and massage my breast, rolling the nipple in between his fingers. He was sucking on the skin right beneath my ear. I knew he was leaving his mark on me, and I could bring myself to feel anything but the arousal he was igniting in my blood, making it pump faster and hotter. His other hand roamed down to my mound, sliding his fingers into the slit and over my clit on their way to my core where he started a rhythm of in and out strokes, still stimulating my clit at the same time. The fire inside me was building and getting more intense. I felt the flames about to consume me, and finally I exploded as I called out his name.
I realized that I was no longer dreaming. I lay there panting, trying to catch the breath stolen from me by that explosive climax, when he lifted my leg up and guided his shaft into my depths. His cock taking the same slow torturous pace his fingers had taken, sliding in as far as he could go before hitting the end, and then sliding back out only to do the same again. I felt his hot breath on my neck before he started licking and kissing it again before I turned my head to clash our mouths together. I pushed my tongue into his mouth, reaching behind me to run my fingers into his hair and the clenching my fist to bring him closer, which was virtually impossible, but I was so lost in the ecstasy of the moment, I didn’t care. He groaned as he returned the kiss, his thrusts getting faster and harder. I arched into him to give him better access and the movement brought both of us to completion. He grunted his release as I screamed mine.
We lay there for a few moments, just basking in the sensations we had just experienced together. He had lowered my leg into a more comfortable position and was holding me tightly to his chest.
“Mmm. I could really get spoiled waking up that way.” I said in a lazy, husky voice that didn’t even sound like it belonged to me. He chuckled behind me, squeezing me a little.
He backed up enough to turn me to him. “Thank you so much for giving me another chance.” He had such a serious look on his face.
I thought back to last night. I had forgiven him for not telling me. I knew I had over reacted about the whole thing and had apologized to him for it.
He had never lied to me, and from I had heard from Doc and listening to them talk yesterday, I knew that anonymity for the members was crucial. And I could understand why. If these people were helping others like me, then there would be a lot of crazy exes and stalkers after them for info if they could find out who they were.
“I guess I’m still just afraid that I’ll end up trusting the wrong person again. But I do know that you are not the wrong person.”
“That’s completely understandable, and thank you for your faith in me.” He kissed me lightly on the lips, them feathering over mine when he whispered an “I love you”.
“I love you, too.”
We got up and showered together, and then dressed for the day, finally coming out of my room around one o’clock in the afternoon.
“Finally, you two are out.” Claire exclaimed. “I want to do some shopping. How about us girls take a day to ourselves.”
That sounded really good. I
hadn’t really bought myself anything lately, and I especially wouldn’t mind shopping in Victoria’s Secret for some things to surprise Garret with. A smile spread across my face and Claire hopped up and down like a little girl.
We ended up going to Oglethorpe Mall. It had all of the stores we were interested in. I was more of a Macy’s, Belk kind of girl while Claire liked Forever 21, Cache, and more of the boutique type stores. We shopped all day and had had to unload bags in Garret’s SUV, that he insisted we drive, three times before we picked up dinner at Sbarro. Afterward we each got a Cinnabon roll.
“We have had someone following and watching us for a while now. NO! Don’t look, and don’t panic.” She grabbed my hand as I tensed up and was about to turn to look. “It’s not your ex; I’ve seen pictures of him, but whoever it is has been on out tail for most of the day.” She said as she took out her cell phone. “I didn’t think too much on it at first because he’s gone into his own stores and shopped, but he has shown up wherever we have been, and now he’s sitting over there staring at us.” She had dialed Stefan as she was talking to me and was telling him what was going on.
“He has buzz cut dark blonde hair, is built like a football player, around six-one six-two.”
As I heard the description, I knew who it was. “Claire, it’s alright.” I turned around in my seat to see Jamie sitting about five tables back from us. When he saw me looking, a big grin broke out on his face. He got up, grabbed his bags, and headed to our table.
“It’s been driving me nuts today.” He said as I got up and hugged him.
He sat beside me and we started talking. I was going to introduce Claire, but she was still talking on the phone with Stefan, but it was too low for me to hear what she was saying.
“What’s been driving you nuts?” I asked, sipping from an espresso from Starbucks.
“I have seen you all over the mall today, but I couldn’t get a good enough look to see if it was actually you or not.” He said sheepishly. “I could see her,” He gestured to Clair, who gave a small smile. “But I’ve never met her, so I still didn’t know it was you with her.”
“This is my best girlfriend, Claire. She’s on the phone with her boyfriend.” Claire shot me a look telling me she was shocked that I had said that. I shook my head, smiling at her. I guess she didn’t like labels. But we all knew they were together.
“Where is your man?” He asked.
“Oh, we decided to have a girls’ day out; just us shopping and splurging on things we shouldn’t be eating.” I told him, not really answering.
Claire had hung up by that point and offered her hand to him. “Hello, I’m Claire St. John.”
He shook her hand and gave his charming smile. “Jamie Lane. Very nice to meet you.”
“Quit flirting.” I nudged him. “I told you she’s taken.” Looking back at Claire I explained to her who he was. “Jamie is the ex-boyfriend from Tulsa I had told you about.”
“Yes, I remember.” She said vaguely. She held a smile on her face, but I could tell she had a problem about something.
We talked for another few minutes before Claire told me we needed to get going. We had been gone for a good six hours.
“Can I speak with you for a minute before you go?” Jamie asked. I looked over to Claire, and she got up and started to walk away.
“I’ll be right over there.” She said as she pointed to the mall map console not too far away. I knew she didn’t want to let me out of her sight.
Jamie watched her get far enough not to be within earshot before he turned to me and spoke. “Are you and boss man serious?”
“Yes, Jamie, we are. I love him, and he loves me.” I told him. I still liked Jamie, but I had never felt as strongly for him as I did for Garret.
“I was hoping we might have a chance to try again.” He said hopefully.
“I’m sorry. I don’t see it happening. Of course I can’t tell the future, but we are doing very well right now, and I for one don’t want that to change. As I said, I love Garret very much.”
I could tell he really didn’t like my answer, but he nodded. “Can we be friends at least?”
I thought it over, and wanted to friends with Jamie. He was a really sweet guy, but I had to warn him. “You might not want to be my friend right now, Jamie. It seems as if Chuck, or somebody, has found me again. I have already been shot and poisoned by him trying to get to my friends. I don’t want you to get hurt again.”
“What do your friends say about that?”
“They are helping me to try to stop him.”
He thought about it for a minute before turning back to me. “I haven’t been able to get you out of my head for the past couple years. I’m willing to risk it. I’m not alone this time either; I have my family to help me, so I should be alright. I just don’t want to lose you again. If a friend is all I can be, then I’m willing to take what I can get.”
We exchanged phone numbers and said goodbye. I told Claire what was said as we drove back to Stefan’s house. When we pulled up, all three guys were there to help with our bags.
Garret came up to me and gave me a kiss and put an arm around my waist. I reciprocated and asked what he’d done that day.
“We spent the day in the game room having different competitions. You know guy stuff.”
We all went in and after Claire and I put our bags up, we decided to do a movie night. It was real nice because Doc seemed to really be getting along with Garret and Stefan now. I was so happy with the change.
Garret stayed in my room again, but I had trouble going to sleep. I was thinking about my dream from the previous night. I did love Garret, but I had never thought about marriage. Now I couldn’t get it off my mind. Would he ever want to marry me with all the baggage I have trailing everywhere I go?
When I woke the next morning, I had a text from a restricted number that had come through at three in the morning. I opened it to read.
Let the fun begin.
I immediately showed Garret, but even before he could say anything, his phone rang. His face paled during the conversation. When he hung up, he turned to me.
“Ma’s house has been burned to the ground.”
Chapter 16
“Are we all ready to go?” I asked Claire as she came down the staircase. We all had been rushing around, trying to leave as soon as possible to go see what was happening. Garret and Stefan had decided that if the attacks were going to start, that we all needed to stick together. There would be less chance of one of us being cornered that way.
“I don’t know where the other two went, but I haven’t seen or heard from Doc this morning. Has anyone informed him?” She asked as she searched her coat and purse for something.
“Garret said he would tell him to get ready.” I watched as her search turned almost frantic. “What exactly are you looking for?”
“I can’t find my phone. I’ve already searched my room. I don’t know what I did with it.”
“When was the last time you saw it or used it?”
“Last night at the mall was the last time I used it, but I put it in my purse when I was done.”
“Are you sure?” I asked. “Maybe you dropped it?”
“No! I put it in my purse. I know I did.” She said. I could tell she was getting upset. I could understand because she used that phone for everything. It was her alarm, PDA, held her schedule, and of course all of the numbers she had stored.
“Did you not put it on the charger last night?”
“No! I fell asleep down here watching TV with Stefan and I guess he carried me upstairs, so I never thought about it.” She said. “I’ll find him and ask if he knows where it is.”
“See if I know where what is?” Stefan asked as he and Garret came into the entryway from the direction of his office.
He and Claire started talking as I went up to Garret. He put his arms around my waist and pulled me to him, but he had a grave look on his face.
“Is something going on?” I
asked him. “Something other than the fire?”
“Have you talked to Doc? Did he come see you or call last night or this morning?”
I shook my head as I became worried. “Why? Where is he?”
“I don’t know. When I went to find him this morning, he wasn’t in his room. All his stuff is still there, his laptop and such. Stefan looked at the security log, and it says he left at two fifteen this morning. Now he’s not answering his phone.”
I started to panic. “Maybe there was an emergency at the hospital?”
“No, we called there. He hasn’t been there since his accident.”
“OH my God, Garret! We have to find him!”
“Don’t worry. We’ll look after we see what going on at Margie’s house.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When we got there I went into shock. I was pulled back four years ago when I had seen the same thing happen twice. I thought about what happened to Jamie, and even though I knew nobody had been there, I couldn’t help the panic attack that consumed me. I couldn’t breathe, black spots were forming in my sight, and I couldn’t hear anything going on around me. All I heard was my frantic heartbeat.
The house was still smoldering. It was completely gone except for the garage that was somewhat detached. The only thing that connected it to the main house was an enclosed hallway. I saw all of this, but in my mind I was seeing Jamie’s shop.
I had watched as the firefighters carried him out straight to the waiting ambulance. The only reason I had been there was the fact that Chuck had sent me a text, just as he did this time.
Would I ever be free of this nightmare? Would I ever be able to have friends and not have them suffer from my past? I felt like I should just end it and let it be done, but that would let him win. I was stronger than that. I had someone who actually loved me now. I had people who cared about whether I was alive or dead. I was no longer on my own.
