by Lexy Timms
He chuckled. “Do you have a hot date tonight?”
“No, I don’t. I have a date with my TV. I have some catching up to do on my favorite shows before all the fall premieres start. I’ve neglected my shows.”
He threw his head back and laughed. “I don’t think they’ll notice. It’s called having a life and dating.”
“Maybe, but I’m fully invested in the lives of my favorite characters,” she quipped.
“Got it. Well, have a fun night watching TV,” he said with a grimace.
“Oh, I suppose you have a hot date?”
He shrugged a shoulder. “I am going to dinner with Katherine and she’s always hot, so I suppose you could say I have a hot date.”
“You are so sprung. If I knew how to do the whip sound, that would be inserted here,” she teased.
“Ha. Ha. I’m not whipped. Sprung, maybe, but life is good right now. I’m enjoying myself and I know she is as well. I like where things are going,” he said with confidence.
The conversation he had with Katherine earlier was still hanging in the back of his mind. Katherine had sounded a little stressed when he’d talked to her earlier. She said the interview went fine, but he could tell something was off. He had asked her to join him for dinner and she had quickly accepted the invitation.
“I’m happy for you. I can’t believe you have finally found a woman you are this excited about. I was beginning to think you were going to be a bachelor for the rest of your days.”
He scoffed. “You and me both. I’ve never met a woman I have been so instantly drawn to. It truly was love at first sight. It was like my soul recognized hers as being the one before I even knew her name.”
Rachel groaned. “You’re killing me with the sappiness.”
“I can’t help it. I feel sappy. I’m hoping she landed that job. I’d be able to pop over there all the time to see her.”
Rachel shook her head. “You better take your laptop with you. You still have a business to run. You can’t be hanging out at a coffee shop all day.”
“I would never shirk my duties,” he said, before they both burst into laughter.
“Get out of here. Go see your lady, and tell her I said hi,” Rachel said.
He waved and made his way out of the building, anxious to see Katherine. He stopped at a corner florist, waving his money out the window. The old, withered woman rushed over, bringing him a huge bouquet of brightly colored flowers. He gave her the hundred-dollar bill, her eyes bulged when she saw it, before thanking him profusely.
He loved being able to brighten the day of a stranger, especially one who worked as hard as that woman did. He saw her out there on the corner, seven days a week, almost every day of the year. He could afford to give her a little extra.
As he pulled into the small lot in front of Katherine’s building, he kept replaying their very brief conversation. She hadn’t been her usual self. He hoped it was nerves. She was nervous about the job. That had to be it. She’d been in such a good mood when he had left her that morning. He’d been a little bummed she hadn’t come by his office after her interview, but tried not to take it personally. He learned early on that Katherine tended be a lone ranger most of the time.
He jogged up the flight of stairs, the bright bouquet in his hands and knocked on her door. There wasn’t an answer. He tried the handle and discovered it was locked. That was good. He wondered if maybe she was in the shower. He knocked again. Still nothing. A sudden feeling of foreboding washed over him.
“Katherine?” he called out, knocking again, a little harder.
He heard the chain on the door moving, followed by the turning of the deadbolt and finally the lock on the handle before she pulled open the door. She opened the door a few inches. He could immediately sense something was very wrong.
“Katherine? Is everything okay?” he asked, hoping she would invite him in, but by the way she kept her shoulder against the door, it was clear that was not her intention.
She nodded her head. “Fine.”
“Are you ready to go to dinner?” he asked in a gentle tone, handing her the flowers.
Her eyes met his. They had a wild look. She shook her head. “Thank you. These are gorgeous. I don’t think I’m up for dinner tonight. I’m sorry.”
“Are you okay?” he asked again.
Tears filled her eyes, but she quickly wiped them away. “I’m fine. I’m just not interested in going out tonight.”
“I could go pick something up and we could stay in?” he suggested.
She shook her head. “No thank you. I’d like to be alone.”
His head cocked to the side as he took in her appearance. She was still wearing the slacks and blouse he’d seen her in that morning. Her hair was in a ponytail, but it was obvious her hands had been running through her hair. Little strands were sticking out and hanging around her face. She looked frazzled.
“Sweetheart,” he murmured, reaching out to cup her cheek with his hand.
The door opened a little wider. He took advantage of it and pulled her out to him, wrapping his arms around her. He wouldn’t invade her space, but he wanted to give her a hug and comfort her. She let him hold her, his hand gently moving up and down her back. He could feel the tension in the way she was holding herself. This was not the same woman he had been a short eight hours earlier.
“I’m sorry, I know I told you I wanted to go out, but I’d like to stay home tonight. I should have called you and canceled. I’m a total flake. I need some time alone. I hope that’s okay,” she whispered.
She pulled away, not looking at him, her eyes focused on her bare feet.
“Of course, it’s okay!” he quickly assured her.
She took a deep breath and looked down at the flowers. “Thank you for understanding. I know I can be a real pain in the ass.”
“You’re not a pain in the ass.”
She shrugged a shoulder. “Thanks.”
“What happened? Did the interview not go well?”
She shook her head. “The interview was fine.”
That wasn’t exactly a roaring success story. He had half a mind to go to the coffee shop and asked the manager what the hell he’d done to her. Something clearly wasn’t right.
“Can I get you anything?” he offered.
“No, really, I’m fine, I’d like to be alone. Everything is all a little overwhelming and I just need time to relax and be by myself,” she insisted.
He took a deep breath. “Okay. I understand. Can I call you in the morning?”
She looked up, her blue eyes full of sadness as she gave him a small smile. “Sure. I’d like that.”
He leaned down and kissed her, just a quick kiss on the lips. He didn’t want her to think he was trying to pressure her.
“Take care of yourself and call me any time if you need something tonight. I’ll be here in a flash,” he promised.
“Good night,” she mumbled and closed the door.
He stood there listening as each of the locks was put into place. It wasn’t exactly how he saw his night going. He slowly walked back down the stairs, his earlier excitement evaporated into the cool night air as he made his way back to his car. Once inside, he stared up at the window of her condo. The blinds were pulled, and he could tell there was only one lamp on.
Was she sitting in the dark alone?
He backtracked through the day and tried to figure out where things had gone wrong. She’d been okay on the phone, but he could tell then she was a little distracted. He chalked it up to her being busy at home. She said she’d been doing laundry. When they talked earlier, he got the feeling she was in a hurry to get off the phone. She had insisted then that everything was okay, but now, he knew that wasn’t true at all.
Something was off. His first instinct was to blame Tim. She would have told him if Tim had shown up, of that he was certain. It wasn’t that.
“Go home, Ben,” he muttered to himself before starting the engine and putting the Rover into dri
ve.
The drive home gave him too much time to think. He’d nearly turned around three times and gone back to her place, demanding she tell him what was bothering her but managed to stop himself in the nick of time. He had no right to demand she tell him anything.
“Take it slow,” he said again, pulling in his driveway and parking his car right outside the front door in case she happened to call and ask him to come back. He wanted to be ready.
Once inside his big house, he found himself pouting as he yanked open the fridge to find something worth eating. Nothing looked good. In the back of his mind, he could hear his conscience lecturing him about allowing himself to be the one who felt slighted. This wasn’t about him. It was about her and what she was dealing with. She’d been through a lot and he had to keep that in mind.
It was hard to remember her past when she acted like she had this morning. She’d been happy and carefree and excited about the job. That was the side of her he wanted to see more often. It was one of those two steps forward and one step back situations except he felt like they’d taken three giant steps backward. She had acted like she had the first couple times they had met. She was pushing him away.
He settled on some frozen casserole and popped it in the microwave while headed for his room to change into something more comfortable. With his sweats and t-shirt on, he grabbed his meal from the microwave and headed for the living room. He was going to drown his sorrows in food and TV. As he flipped through the channels in his usual surfing way, he stumbled across the cooking show she loved.
He smiled thinking about her and how enthralled she’d been with the competition. He turned up the volume and did his best to focus on the show. Katherine had quirks, there was no doubt about it. He’d already decided long ago he was okay with her quirks as long as he could be a part of her life. She was still working through some stuff and as much as he wanted to make it all better for her, there were going to be times when she needed the space to handle her own business. He could do that for her.
After a couple hours in front of the television and no word from Katherine, he accepted the fact she wasn’t going to change her mind. She wasn’t going to call him and ask him to come over. He was going to bed alone.
Chapter Nine
Katherine
HER HEART HURT. SHE hated sending Ben away when all she really wanted to do was get lost in the safety and comfort of his arms. He was solid as a rock and never seemed to get angry with her. She knew she was a pain in the ass. Canceling on him at the last minute was inexcusable. She kept trying to work up the strength to go out with him but couldn’t bring herself to do it.
She couldn’t lie to his face and that was exactly what she would have to do if she had to spend any time with him. He deserved an explanation. She couldn’t do it. She grabbed another pair of jeans and shoved them into her suitcase that was already too full, tears streamed down her face as she did so. Life was never easy.
“You can’t take it all, Katherine,” she mumbled to herself as she tried like hell to do just that.
She’d refrained from buying a lot of clothes. With her lifestyle, the goal was to pack as quickly as possible and to fit as much into a single suitcase as possible. With one last longing look at her closet still stuffed with dresses and heels, she closed the door. Maybe she could come back one day and pick up the rest.
“Yeah, right,” she scoffed, knowing that was extremely unlikely and far too dangerous. Tim was making damn sure she never got the chance to be happy. She wouldn’t be able to come back for a visit. If she did, Tim would go out of his way to attack the people she had come to care about. The best thing to do was get away from them and keep from bringing anymore turmoil into their lives.
Dragging her suitcase behind her, she set it in the living room, glancing around the conservative space, trying to figure out what else to take. Her eyes landed on the flowers she had tossed on the table. They deserved to be in a vase, even if she wouldn’t get the luxury of enjoying them. She rummaged around in her sparse cupboards and realized she didn’t have a vase. There was a nearly-empty jar of pickles in the fridge. She tossed out the last remaining pickles, washed out the jar and stuffed the stems of the bouquet inside the jar, filling it with water.
It wasn’t pretty, but the flowers were all that mattered. She put the jar in the center of the table and smiled. She was going to truly miss Ben. He was an amazing man. She hoped he would forgive her one day for running out on him, but it was for the best. She would drag him down if she stuck around. Tim wasn’t going to sign the papers and fade into the background. He was going to be front and center in her life for the rest of her life.
She checked the clock on the microwave. It was after nine. It was time to go. She grabbed her purse and her suitcase before walking to the door. She stopped, remembering the cell phone in her purse. She couldn’t take it with her. She quickly swiped through the pictures of Ben, smiling as she remembered every moment the pictures had been taken. She closed her eyes, committing the pictures and the memories they held to memory before powering it off and leaving it on the kitchen counter. Tim couldn’t stalk her if he couldn’t find her. It was a mistake she’d learned the hard way. The cell was too easy to track. It also meant leaving Ben and Talia behind in every way, but it was for the best she told herself.
She took one last look at the place she’d been calling home the last few months and headed for the door, her heart heavy. Once again, she was on the run after a single text message. It was bullshit that Tim had so much power over her. It made her feel helpless in one way, but powerful in another. By leaving Ben, she would draw Tim away. If Tim did what he always did, he would chase her and leave Ben alone. That gave her the power in one small way.
She locked the door behind her and carried her suitcase down the stairs before walking to the street and hailing a cab. As the cab drove away, she had to put forth a strong effort not to look back. Looking back didn’t do any good. It only made her sad and miserable. It was always looking ahead, getting ready for the next adventure.
“The bus station?” the cab driver asked, looking at her in the rearview mirror.
“Yes, please,” she said, ignoring the look on his face.
She knew she looked like she was running away. It was the look she had endured many times over the last two years. At least this time she wasn’t fleeing with bruises on her face or her arm in a sling. This time she was getting out while she had time to minimize the damage. She only hoped it was enough to keep Ben from being hurt. When the driver pulled to a stop, she handed him a twenty and climbed out of the backseat. She hated taking the bus, but it was the easiest way to move around without being tracked.
She walked towards the ticket counter, wondering where to go next. That wasn’t something she had taken the time to think about. Her mind had been so focused on fleeing, she hadn’t thought about where she would flee.
“Did you need a ticket?” the woman asked when the person in front of her moved away with his ticket in hand.
Katherine looked up at the board. “Um, yes.”
“Where to?” the woman asked impatiently.
Katherine had no idea. Her stomach was twisted in knots. “Uh, Seattle,” she mumbled, pulling out the cash she always kept on hand for these kinds of emergencies.
The woman took her money and handed her a ticket before directing her to the right terminal. The bus didn’t leave for another hour. The waiting was the hardest part. It always made her worry she would get caught. It was one of the many reasons she always chose to run away at night when most people were tucked into their homes. Katherine wheeled the suitcase along behind her, the wheels spinning in a soothing hum across the tile floor as she headed in the direction of the waiting area. She looked at the two rows of blue, plastic seats and tried not to groan or grimace. No matter what city she was in, the bus stations were never her favorite place to be. She looked around. This was where she would spend the last hour of her life in San Francisco. It wasn’t
the ideal memory she wanted to leave with.
Resigned to her fate, she found a seat somewhat away from the other passengers waiting to board the bus. Her eyes roamed around the gloomy area. Unlike an airport, the bus station always had a much more desolate feeling. There weren’t any happy reunions or people rushing to make their flight. It was a completely different atmosphere—one she had come to dread.
Her stomach was in knots, but she knew she had better get something to eat. The last thing she’d eaten had been that sandwich at Ben’s place. The memory of him watching her stuff her face brought a smile to her lips. People were always surprised at how much she could eat when she was hungry. She made it a point to eat healthy most of the time, so she could pig out now and again.
With another look around at the vending machines she made up her mind to grab some snacks. The bus trips were long and boring with only greasy spoons or gas station stops for food. In her mind, that was one of the worst ideas. Who thought greasy food was a good option for people stuck inside a bus for long hours?
She made her way to the small, overpriced convenience store inside the bus station and picked up a few granola bars, a pack of peanuts and a few bottles of water, shoving everything into her large purse. This was the exact reason she always kept a huge purse on hand. Another trick she had learned from her many escapes.
She made her way back to the chairs and sat down, trying not to think about Ben. It felt wrong to be leaving without a goodbye, but if she told him what was happening, he’d try to convince her to stay. He’d assure her it would all be okay, and that he could afford to be sued by Tim. She shook her head. Ben was convinced that the money was no big deal and he had no trouble writing checks to solve his problems. She knew he would never understand that this would never go away. Tim would keep coming back, wanting more money and demanding more of her.
“You look like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders sweetie,” a middle-aged woman said, coming to sit beside her.