by Nicky Shanks
The two women gasp once we pass Oliver’s door and I think it’s because he’s opened it and he’s waiting to save me, but once the cold metal of the gun presses against my bare neck, the panic returns to my body and I start to vibrate with nerves.
“Casey, please just let me go,” I beg him. “I won’t press charges, I’ll let you run. Just leave me here.”
“Listen to her, kid,” Mrs. Atchley chimes in. “Put that damn gun down.”
Veronica steps forward. “You don’t want to hurt her, Casey. I know you don’t.”
He shakes his head and screams. “Everyone, just stop! We shouldn’t have come up here and now we’re leaving. She can get new things to replace what she’s lost.”
“Oliver!” I scream as loud as I can. “Help! Oliver!”
Casey backs us up before his body goes solid like a rock. “Tell me who my real father is.”
The women stop and look at each other; Veronica takes a deep breath. “If I answer your questions, will you let her go?”
“No.”
She takes a few seconds to think about what she’s going to do. “Take me with you. I can answer your questions and know that she’s safe.”
“No, just answer the fucking question.”
“Casey—”
“Answer the question!” he screams, and Oliver’s door finally pops open. Instead of Oliver’s tall body coming through the door, Lucy steps out and gasps loudly. Casey starts to laugh uncontrollably and tightens his grip on me. “Well, would you look at that.” His body heaves behind me. “It looks like Oliver misses you terribly, Julie.”
Lucy’s eyes widen when they meet mine. “I came over to talk to you, Julie, I swear. Oliver called me when you left so I could set the record straight and when I got here, you hadn’t come back yet. I swear nothing happened, Julie—he was drunk and all he could talk about was you. I tried to kiss him, he didn’t kiss me back, and all of this happened before I even knew you.”
“Yeah, but Oliver knew he had a girlfriend,” Casey answers for me. “He knew what he was risking.”
“I’m gonna fucking kill you.” Oliver’s rough voice swoops around Lucy. He comes into view and so much anger has built up in his eyes that they turn black. “Don’t you dare fucking touch her for another second—let her go. Julie, come here.”
I start to go to him, but Casey pulls me back. “She’s coming with me. You’ve put her through enough damage, don’t you think, brother?”
Oliver’s eyes fill with fear when he notices the gun pressed against my neck. “Casey, look, I know we have our problems, but I know you love her, okay? Put that damn gun down.”
Veronica steps forward, thinking Casey isn’t watching her anymore. “If anyone takes another step, I’m going to shoot them.”
“Oliver, don’t move!” I squeal and try to stand as still as I can. “Veronica, wait!”
Veronica stops dead in her tracks. The gun makes a clicking noise and the group gets more nervous, begging with Casey to let me go. All I can think about is what my life is going to be like once he puts me back into the car; I’m not letting him shoot anyone over me.
“Everyone, just calm down,” I manage to say with a loud enough voice to shut them up. “Just let us go. I don’t want anyone getting hurt.”
Oliver wants to move so badly it’s killing him. “I’m not letting him take you. That’s not even a fucking question, are you serious?”
Oliver takes a step forward and Veronica follows next to him. Lucy cowers back inside Oliver’s apartment, and I pray that she’s calling for help. Mrs. Atchley scowls behind everyone; she knows she wouldn’t be much help in this fight.
“I told you to stay put,” Casey growls. “Now, instead of shooting you, I’m going to shoot Julie if you take another step forward.”
“No, no, no! Please, Casey, don’t!” Oliver’s eyes meet mine and for a split second, I get a strange feeling that he’s going to do something stupid. “Shoot me! Don’t shoot Julie, shoot me!”
Tick, tick, tick.
Three small seconds.
That’s all it takes to make everything come crumbling down.
One.
Casey thinks about what Oliver is offering him: a chance to get him out of the way so he can truly have me.
Two.
Casey makes his decision and loosens his grip on me to focus on what he’s going to do next.
Three.
He shrugs his shoulders. “Okay.” The sound his voice makes my body cold as a loud bang fills the hallway and people start to scream. There’s so much commotion that all I can see is Oliver lying on the ground and Mrs. Atchley screaming for help. Everything rings inside my head and someone grabs my arm and pulls me away from Oliver as I’m screaming his name.
“Is he shot?” I shake Lucy as she shuts the door to the apartment behind us. “Where did Casey go?”
“I don’t know! I called the cops before he shot the gun—who did he shoot?”
“We left them out there, Lucy!” I dash for the door and start to unlock it, but she wrestles me to the side. “No way! I dodged bullets just to pull you inside. We’re waiting for the cops!”
I growl and push her aside, unlocking the door and peeking my head into the hallway.
He shot Oliver. He really shot him.
I feel weird and lightheaded and there’s a pain in my chest that’s so hard to ignore that it’s blinding me. There’s blood everywhere on the floor and Veronica lies next to Oliver, both of them with their eyes closed. It’s hard to tell where the blood is coming from. Most of it is pooled around Oliver, and as I kneel down, I’m pushed aside by paramedics who arrive and start working on them. Someone shines a light into my eyes and it’s like I’m in a tunnel.
“Hey, I’ve got a gunshot wound over here—they’re about to pass out!” I hear someone say.
I close my eyes and drift away.
Chapter Seventeen
Brandon
Heather flutters around the house, picking up and putting away laundry while she hums. I like the sounds she makes, in and out of the bedroom—they comfort me in some small way. For two days she’s reassured me that no matter what the paternity test says—the one I took two nights ago before we headed home—she won’t leave my side. I don’t expect her to help me raise a baby I have with someone else, but it’s looking like she doesn’t really care what I expect anyways.
Vern used some of his pull around town to get the lab results back sooner, and they promised him they would have them back to us by this afternoon. It’s nearly noon and I keep checking the emails on my phone like it’s life or death.
“Hey, do something to take your mind off of it.” Heather hums around me and dusts the coffee table. “It’s not going to do you any good sitting here worrying about it. You’ve made peace with what your decision will be if it goes either way…what else is there?”
“I wouldn’t mind having a baby.” I blush and she smiles at me. “I just don’t want one with Rachel. She’s immature, and it’s going to be a fucking horrible eighteen years.”
Heather laughs. “You made this bed, you gotta lie in it.”
“I’m glad you’re here with me, babe.” I wink at her and playfully slap her ass as she passes me. “I better start looking for another job…something in another field.”
“You can try for jobs at local firms—maybe Vern hasn’t blacklisted you just yet.” She tries to comfort me by looking at the bright side. “Maybe he’s been too busy trying to figure out who the father of his slutty daughter’s baby is to say anything.”
I shrug. “I can try. I have some contacts I can reach out to.” She kisses my forehead and I click a few buttons on my phone, looking up numbers of other law assistants I’ve networked with over the years. Of course, I don’t have a good rapport with a lot of them, but Nate, my former best friend, would be glad to hear that I’m changing and becoming a better person…I hope. Maybe he can appreciate that enough to help me weasel into his level at Brown and Di
ckenson, the second-largest firm in the state of New York.
Brandon: Hey, can we talk?
I wait a few minutes and don’t bother waiting for a response any longer.
Brandon: I wanted to catch up. Can you get together?
He replies almost instantly.
Nate: What do you want? Chasing Julie again?
Brandon: No, Julie and I are friends. I’m with a girl named Heather now.
A few minutes pass before he replies, and I think that’s fixed whatever problem he has with me.
Nate: Good for you.
Brandon: I’m looking to change firms. Think you can put in a good word?
There. Straight to the point.
Nate: No.
Well, he’s straight to the point too.
I push the call button and let it ring a few times before calling right back. I know if I blow up his phone that eventually he’ll have to answer and hear what I have to say.
“What, Brandon?” he booms when he finally answers. “What do you want?”
“Hey, ease up, man. I just want to talk to you.” I look around to make sure Heather isn’t listening; I don’t want her to hear me beg for a job. “Look, I know I haven’t been a very good friend lately—”
He snorts. “Lately? Try never.”
I grit my teeth and do my best to stay calm and not tell him off. I need something from him, and the old me would’ve just berated him until I got what I wanted, but now, I want to do this the right way.
“Okay, that’s fair. Things have changed, Nate. A lot has happened, and I’m not the same person I was when we last saw each other.”
“I heard about what happened at Trumbull’s place,” Nate tells me. “No one is going to touch you after what you’ve done.”
“What did he tell people?”
Nate hesitates, but some sort of loyalty apparently kicks in. “How much money did you steal?”
The burning in my stomach intensifies, and the anger bubbles harder. “I didn’t fucking steal any money. Trumbull found out that Julie and I were getting a divorce and injected himself into my personal business. Oh, and Rachel is pregnant, so there’s that.”
Nate gasps. “She’s pregnant? Dude, I told you not to go down that road with her. She’s empty and cold-hearted; she’s going to take you for everything you’ve got.”
For a minute, it actually sounds like Nate feels sorry for me enough to help me out. I plan out the conversation as he’s talking badly about Rachel—I should probably be upset that he’s talking shit about the possible mother of my child, but I’m not because everything he’s saying is true.
“I took a paternity test; I find out today if it’s mine,” I tell him. “That’s not what I’m worried about.”
“It’s not? It fucking should be!” he hisses. “You don’t want to be tied to her forever.”
I rub my jaw and make sure Heather hasn’t come in the room. “Yeah, I know. I’m more worried about work. I quit Trumbull’s office and cleaned out my desk. Heather wants to say in Rockford because she just started school and she got a new job, and I want to stay with her.”
Nate notes the change in attitude. “I don’t know, man, you’re going to be a hard sell. You’re going to have to go far and wide to find a firm that Trumbull hasn’t talked to.”
“Can you try? Come on, Nate, we’re still friends.”
He takes a few seconds to think about it, and I can almost hear the discussion inside of his head. “I’ll see what I can do, but don’t hold your breath. Trumbull already has half the city against you, man…he’s pretty pissed if he’s making up stories about you stealing money.”
I thank him and hang up the phone, never expecting to hear from him again. I hear someone outside and I hurry to look out the window. A courier is walking up the steps with a large envelope in his hands. I chose not to trust the lab that Trumbull was using, so I paid an extra five hundred bucks to use a private lab and get my own expedited service as well.
The courier doesn’t have time to knock on the door before I open it and take the envelope from him. He looks shocked as he hands the clipboard out for me to sign and I put my name to it, closing the door on him before he can even speak. Not having any time to worry about formalities, I rip open the envelope and take out a thin folder of documents.
Scanning them takes a few minutes, but then I have my answer.
“Heather!” I call out for her. She answers from upstairs and I take the steps two at time, frantically searching for her until I see her black hair disappear into the master bathroom. I make a beeline for her and startle her enough for her to drop her toothbrush in the sink.
“Hey, slow down!” She laughs and picks the toothbrush back up, rinsing it off. “What’s wrong with you? Is there a fire?”
I shake my head and thrust the papers toward her. “A courier came. I have the results.”
She opens the papers and reads through them a few times before looking back at me. I’m not quite sure what I was expecting her to say, but her expression isn’t giving away anything.
“What do you think?” I cock my head and stare at her. “Are you okay with this?”
She nods and smiles. “Of course I’m okay with this…is this from the lab you used?”
“Yes.” I take the papers from her and stuff them back into the envelope. “Looks like Rachel is going to have to figure out who her baby daddy is, because it’s not me.”
Heather jumps into my arms and I admit…I want to fucking cry right now. It’s not that I don’t want to have children—I just don’t want children with someone I only wanted sex from. I never intended on dating or marrying Rachel, and I sure as hell didn’t plan on it when I found out her baby could be mine.
“So, she was screwing other guys when she was screwing you.” Heather shakes her head. “Have you been tested for diseases?”
I feel disgusting almost instantly. “No, I never thought about it. Maybe I should get checked before we have sex again to make sure.”
She blows a raspberry and starts to wash her face in the sink. “I’ll make an appointment to get checked out too, just in case.” I silently watch her rub her hands together to make the face wash soapy. She applies it to every inch of her gorgeous face and gently washes it back off. It’s like a song, the way she does things sometimes. She knows I’m watching her but she doesn’t care; I think she likes having an audience fixed solely on her.
“I’m sorry you aren’t able to go to the Children’s Gala.” I clear my throat and hide my hard dick inside of my pants by shoving the papers over it. “I know I already said that, but—”
She waves me off and dries her face. “I don’t care about stuff like that anymore. There’s more to life than money and fancy galas. It’s just taken me a bit to realize what life is really about.”
I let a low growl escape my throat. She’s taken off her crimson tank top and leggings and stands in front of me in nothing but a matching pair of red lace panties and bra. “Like what, exactly?” I lick my lips and lean on the doorframe. “What’s life about, Heather?”
“Life is about being with the person you can totally be yourself around…the person who accepts you fully for who you are and whatever bullshit that comes with you. That’s why I’m not taking that job at Rita’s and I’m moving with you to California.”
I nearly choke. “I wasn’t aware we were moving.”
“I overheard your phone conversation with your friend. I don’t know what your old boss said to make you untouchable, but it sounds like it worked. How bad is it?”
I lower my eyes to the floor. “Pretty bad. He told the community that I stole money from him.”
She isn’t surprised. “Well, I know that you didn’t, and I’m on your side. If we have to move so you can continue working in the field you love…then that’s what we’re going to do.”
“You’d do that for me? What about your job and school?”
“Of course I would. I’ll go anywhere with you, Brandon. I l
ove you. I can get another job wherever we go, and I’m sure my credits will transfer too.”
I don’t have to think about my answer.
“No, we’re staying here. I’m not taking you away to a place where we don’t know anyone just so I can run away from my problems. I slept with Rachel and fucked Julie over—now I’m paying the price for it. I can always try something new, right? I may even go to school too.”
Heather giggles and pulls on a pair of jeans, making me frown. I try and hide my scowl as she finds more clothing and pulls a sky blue blouse over her head, laughing at my turmoil. “We’re stuck in a bad movie or something, doesn’t it seem like? Let’s just get over ourselves and figure this out right here, right now. I don’t want to regret our decision later, so let’s talk about it.”
“Like adults?” I snicker. “When did we become mature adults?”
She shrugs. “Let’s just try it. Look, I don’t want to move anywhere, but I will if you want me to without any resentment or regret. I really want something of my own, and my interview with Rita went so well she offered me the job on the spot. I guess Lucy stopped coming to work or something, I don’t know, but the point is…I’ve never had something like this, just for me.”
I hold up my hands to stop her. “You don’t have to explain, babe. Decision is made: We’re staying here. End of discussion as far as I’m concerned.”
“Are you sure you won’t regret that? What if, let’s say ten years down the road, you’re stuck at some crappy job you hate and resent me for making you stay?”
I glide over to her and scoop her into my arms. “Trust me, I won’t regret it. You’re my soulmate, Heather. I never want to be without you, therefore…we’re staying in Rockford. A job is a job, but you are you.”
She snorts. “Whatever that means. As long as you’re sure…”