by S. K. Lessly
Broken Promises
S.K. Lessly
Broken Promises © copyright 2019 SK Lessly
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This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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Broken Promises
Ethan and Alexis became the best of friends overnight. They met when they were kids and shared a love of all things science, computers, and freeze tag. True love blossomed but was never allowed to flourish. Promises were made but never kept. Ethan moved away, leaving Alexis brokenhearted.
Fast forward to now.
A class reunion has brought the once best friends back together. Unfortunately, Alexis and Ethan aren't the same people they were in school. Bitterness, pain and rejection has taken root, leaving the once thick as thieves friends, at odds. Or so they think. The more time they spend together, the more they realize the love they once had for each other didn’t die; it lay dormant, ready for its chance to flicker to life.
All they needed to do was sit back and watch the sparks fly. Except, once again, fate has other ideas.
Has too much time passed for these two childhood friends? Has the pain of broken promises become too great to overcome? Or can they get past differences and tough obstacles to be together?
Both Alexis and Ethan will come to a crossroads. The question is, which road will they choose… a life together or a life apart.
Prologue
He came into the interrogation room, his sardonic green eyes chilling me to the bone. I couldn’t explain what was happening or what happened. How did things change so quickly? How did he change so quickly?
He strolled to the open chair across from me, pulled it out, and lowered himself casually, as if he hadn’t just rocked my world.
God, who is this man?
I thought I knew him. We had been friends over a decade ago, lost each other, but had recently connected. But now… I didn’t know this man. He wasn’t the boy that worked on science fair projects with me, played tag up and down our neighborhood with me. He wasn’t the high school savior who used to have my back in school when I was bullied. And most of all, he wasn’t the man that I had fallen in love with…twice.
God, I was so cold…
I shivered uncontrollably, goosebumps fluttering all along my chilled skin. I would like to blame the temperature inside this room for the chills, but I knew that was only half of the issue. The other reason was fear. For the first time ever, I felt afraid under his scrutiny. Forget about him being the bad cop. No, he was more like worse cop or deranged cop. Or hell, maybe he was all of the above.
My heart was beating a mile a second, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that this might be the last moment I lived on this earth.
“Turn the thermostat down in this room. It’s hot has hell in here,” he instructed to no one in particular, but I assumed he was speaking to the people behind the one-way mirror.
The rush of cold air coming from the vent above me hit my exposed skin with a vengeance. I propped my feet up on my chair, bringing my legs to my chest. I wrapped my arms around myself, hoping it would preserve at least some of my body heat in an effort to stay warm.
I had no idea what was going on or why I was here. I hadn’t gotten any answers from the other guy. I was hoping I would get some answers from him, but the look in his eyes told me that wasn’t going to happen. I was at the mercy of … I didn’t know who he was right now—Dr. Jekyll? Mr. Hyde? I had no clue. And from the look in Ethan’s eyes and his body language, I didn’t think he was going to tell me.
My so-called friend folded his arms in front of his wide, muscled chest and looked at me for a moment. I wanted to sit up and show my defiance, but I was too damn cold. My teeth were even beginning to chatter. This man didn’t seem to care in the least. Yup, it would seem he was playing the role as worse cop or an asshole. Probably both.
“This is how it’s going to go, Alexis,” he said finally, his voice distant, cold, hard. “You will answer all my questions and tell me what I want to know, or there will be consequences. This silence thing you have going will end now. I have no time to play games with you. I don’t have time to go through a series of questions to get you feeling comfortable with me. That’s not what I do. You missed that opportunity when Lance left.”
He leaned in the table, arms still folded. “No, you are going to talk under your own free will or I’m going to make you and rest assured, sweetheart, you don’t want that to happen. Regardless, life as you know it is over. As of right now, your life is forfeit.”
I said nothing. My body trembled, and it had nothing to do with the temperature. It was from his words and the look of boiling rage on his face. I had never seen this side of him and it was freaking me out.
I started to rethink my earlier thoughts about my rights. I was sure they didn’t exist in this room or this building. I also knew I was screwed. From this point, even if I decided to talk or answer their questions, he wouldn’t believe a word I’d say. It was clear he thought I had done something or knew something.
I hadn’t done anything in quite some time. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to help myself in this situation. Yeah, I was screwed big time.
The folder in front of him opened. He pulled out the same three pictures from the folder and spread them out on the table.
He looked at me. “Who are they and what do they have planned? Look at the pictures.”
I said nothing. I looked at him instead of the pictures. I’d seen these pictures before. Bringing them out again wasn’t going to bring back any memories. I guess he didn’t like my silence or the fact that I wouldn’t look at the pictures because the next thing I knew, he was up, moving around the table and heading straight for me. He slammed his hand down right in front of me, causing me to jump clear out of my skin.
“Damn it, Alexis. I’m not playing with you. Look at the fucking pictures!” he yelled. I felt my body start to shake. I looked down at the pictures and shook my head.
“Do you know who they are?” he inquired, his voice eerily calm, as if he didn’t almost bust a blood vessel from yelling a second ago.
“No,” I finally said, whispering my answer, shaking uncontrollably.
“What did you say?”
“I said, no.” My voice came out a little louder but it was still laced with fear. I didn’t even recognize my own voice; it sounded foreign to me.
He hovered over me menacingly and I couldn’t stop my body from shaking. I closed my eyes, trying to calm down. It wasn’t working. The rage rolling off him was pulling me under like quicksand, crushing the life out of me as I struggled to break free.
Finally, after what felt like forever, he stepped back, rounded the table, and took his seat again. But before he sat down, he pulled out his gun and held it in his hand.
“This is how things are going to go,” he announced, the gleam of the gun threatening and promising. “You’re going to tell me what I want to know. You’ll be truthful. If you do that then things will go smoothly. I won’t get pissed. But lie to me and no more Mr. Nice Guy.
”
No more mister nice guy? Is he serious? This his him being nice?
I shivered again.
“I don’t have time to play games with you, Alexis. You’re in deep shit and the faster you cooperate, the better off you’ll be. Fuck with me and well… I don’t have to finish that statement, do I? Talk. And be smart. You know I can tell when you’re lying.”
He leaned back in his chair and placed the gun down in front of him, the barrel facing me. “Now, tell me how you know them. Did they come to you and ask you to do something for them? What?”
I looked at him, still trying to piece together what this was all about, but I was coming up blank. I looked down at the three pictures and still nothing came to mind. Then… something came to mind.
It was the same thought I had in the cop car a little bit ago. But again, I pushed those thoughts aside. It wasn’t possible. They couldn’t know. He couldn’t know. I’d been careful. I was always careful. Unfortunately, knowing my misdeeds and these three in the pictures weren’t related did little to settle my nerves. I was being truthful. I didn’t know them. I had no freaking idea why he was asking me about them. But hopefully, I’d find out.
Not willing to risk exposing myself, I placed a confused look on my face and replied, hoping for a little clarification, “I don’t know how else to say this to you. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You don’t?” he said, then picked up his gun.
Now, I didn’t know much about guns, just what I saw in the movies. However, I did know he was holding a Glock. I also noticed his finger brush up against the safety mechanism on the side of the gun, which told me he was armed and ready. My eyes went wide and I looked at him.
“I told you I can tell when you’re lying to me. You want to test me then by all means.” He leaned back and folded his arms. “What are these three planning to do with the weapon?”
“Ethan, I told you. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You hacked into the DOD to steal the specs of this weapon.” He pulled a printout from the folder that looked like plans for some type of rocket, I wasn’t sure.
I shook my head, but he continued, pointing at the three pictures. “…for these three right here…”
“No, I didn’t,” I argued, still shaking my head.
“You bypassed top security to get…”
“No,” I exclaimed trying to speak over him. To be heard. It wasn’t working.
“…the first part of the designs.”
“I’m telling you; I didn’t steal this weapon…” I proclaimed. He ignored me and kept talking. This was infuriating.
“You took five hundred thousand dollars as payment and placed it in this off-shore bank account.” He showed me another printout he pulled from the folder then placed another paper on top of that. “Then you received the last payment last night when you delivered the final design.”
I kept shaking my head. “No, Ethan. I didn’t do this.”
“Don’t lie to me, Alexis. We have proof.”
He pulled another picture from the folder and showed it to me. It was of my porch. Someone was sitting there with the very same clothes I had on, right now. The picture was grainy, but I could make out the figure sitting there with a laptop on a person’s lap. I studied the picture further and found a time stamp at the far bottom corner. It had yesterday’s date and the time was eight pm. An eerie feeling started creeping up my spine.
He pointed at the picture but kept steel eyes on me. “This is you sitting on your parents’ porch with your laptop on your lap.”
I shook my head. “That’s not me.”
“You hacked into the DOD at 8:15pm last night.”
“I didn’t hack into anything,” I told him, trying desperately to get him to hear me. But he just kept on talking as if I hadn’t said a thing. It was beginning to piss me off.
“You also transferred one million dollars into this bank account at 8:45pm after you delivered this weapon to its buyer.”
“No.” I shook my head vehemently. “I didn’t do that. That’s not me.”
He laughed this time and it sent chills down my spine. “That’s not you?”
“No,” I repeated, my voice firm. “That’s what I’m trying to tell you. That’s not me. I didn’t hack into anything yesterday and I damn sure didn’t transfer any money. I don’t know what—”
Before I could blink, I was on the floor clutching the side of my face after a huge bang exploded close to my head. I thought the side of my face freaking exploded. The sound was so close, I just knew blood would start gushing any second.
When I didn’t feel anything pouring down the side of my face, I cautiously rose and my eyes grew wide as hell as I took him in. Ethan stood there, his gun in his hand, his dark, cold and freaking deadly globes making me shiver with fear. Did he just…? My eyes went wide when what just happened finally settled in my mind.
Holy crap. This freaking motherfreaker just tried to kill me!
Good God, I was in trouble.
Chapter One
Alexis
Go home, Alexis! Just go home!
That was what I kept telling myself as I sat at this table alone, watching my fellow ex-classmates make fools of themselves. The DJ was spinning tunes from ten years ago, throwing everyone back in the past. Metallic gold and silver streamers and balloons hung from the ceiling and walls, and there were streamers circling the tables, all in an attempt to decorate this dilapidated school gym.
Laughter and chatter, mixed in with the sounds coming from the two large speakers at the front of the DJ table, should have filled me with excitement and joviality. Instead, I was trying to think of how to escape this torture.
I had made the mistake of going to my ten-year high school reunion knowing damn well it would be a mistake. I should’ve known better. The years I’d had in this town, with these people, were the worst. The thing of it was, when I heard about this reunion, I had assumed things would be different. I’d matured, after all; I had figured they did too. I’d changed for the better and since I was awesome, I’d assumed they had turned into awesome mature adults just like me. Boy, was I wrong.
Tonight, my plan was to show these people how I survived the high school bullying and came out on top. For one, I had long since traded in my pigtails and glasses, shedding the boring, dull look for something way better. I had Lasik surgery done to correct my eyesight, and I wore my natural hair straight most of the time, or wild and curly. If I pulled my hair into any ponytails, it was only one and it was stylish.
Two, I grew into my body—thank goodness—producing pretty decent-sized breasts—more than a handful—a nice sized apple-shaped booty, and generous hips. To add to the package that was me, I was a smart, successful business woman with a pretty hefty salary, a substantial 401k plan, and a profitable stock portfolio. Yup, I was ready to show them they didn’t best me. I won. I was here.
But sitting here among the throng of my peers, I felt just as invisible as I had in high school. Nothing had changed. I was still the awkward, nerdy girl and instead of wearing this knock out black halter dress that showed off all my great attributes, it felt as if I was wearing baggy jeans, a long sleeve tee, and pigtails.
I had walked inside my old high school’s gym about an hour ago with my head held high. I had gotten a few questioning stares, which made me feel great. However, that attention died the second everyone saw my nametag. Once word got around who I was, I was dismissed just as easily and just as fast.
So much for things changing, Lexie.
Not getting a warm and fuzzy reception from my peers, I should have turned around and left. But, for some odd reason, I didn’t. Instead, I proceeded inside the gym, my head down, and found an empty table in the far corner. My new plan… to stay in my seat for the rest of the night.
Being in the back of the gym did allow me the fortitude to survey the scene before me. There were some familiar faces I recognized immediately. Those fa
miliar faces did one of three things: they either threw a chin lift my way, sneered at me, or ignored me completely. Among those who had recognized me, ironically, were the banes of my existence in high school.
First, there was Amber Barr who, by the way, still looked fabulous. She and I had been besties in elementary school. However, the moment we entered middle school and she came into her own—i.e. her boobs came in—catching all the boys’ attention, she dumped me like a bad habit.
I would describe Amber as the mean girl, similar to the ones in every teen movie ever seen—and adult movies too, I would assume—if the snide looks she was sending my way were any indication. Add her posse, Sam, Carrie and Cynthia, and you had the perfect bitch mean crew.
Amber, the queen B herself, had been a very pretty girl in high school and from where I sat, it carried over to adulthood. She was what I would call a bleach blonde bombshell. She was at least five-foot-six with a nice body, big boobs, which in my opinion looked fake, and legs for days. She was thin, but as always, she still had the boys eating out the palm of her hand. Tonight, she was surrounded by her band of mean girls, all of which were just as gorgeous as Amber, and all were dressed in the tightest dresses ever made.
Then there were the popular jocks of our school, my other greatest fans, Clint Fusco and his buddies Jerry, Steve, Charlie, and Donnie. Even from where I sat, it looked like time too had been somewhat kind to them. They still seemed obnoxious and arrogant, but for the most part, they were still attractive.
Clint used to be the better looking of the group. He had been the captain of the football team, quarterback, and town star. He was tall and blond with perfect teeth and back then, a great body. He still had a decent body, from what I could tell, however, I could see he had also aged quite a bit in the face and well his abdomen too. Life must have been hard on him. I grinned at the thought, hoping I was right.
It went without saying that Clint and Amber were an item all throughout high school. As I studied both Amber and Clint, I wondered if they were still together. Probably. Those two seemed like the type to want nothing better in their life but each other.
