Cheap & Classy (Hide Your Crazy)

by Hardenbrook, T. A.

  Sitting back down on the chair, now facing Reid, I let out a soft sigh. “I said it wasn’t for you, idiot. Your band symbolized a fresh start for me. I moved to Seattle and landed my dream job right off the bat. It was your band that gave me the opportunity to do something that I loved. I got to travel and listen to music. It also helped that I fell madly in love with an arrogant, stubborn, selfish rock star that fronted the band as well. The BL symbolized everything that finally worked out for me. For once, in my life I was truly happy with how my world had come together. I was happy, in love, and finally free.”

  My eyes began to tear as I told my feelings to Reid. Sure, he probably would never understand fully the significance behind the tattoo, but that was okay. Some things had special meaning to some and not others. This was one piece of art that would be with me until the day I died, and if I ever had to remind myself of when it all started, those two little letters on my wrist would tell the whole story.

  “That was beautiful,” Reid whispered as he pulled me back into his arms. I melted into his strong frame as the tears started to fall down my cheeks. Sure, we may not always understand each other completely, but that didn’t matter. As long as we were there for each other, showed compassion, and cared about the other’s feelings, nothing else would matter in the end. “I love you, Molly Anne McGlenister.”

  “I love you, too, Reid Chambers.”

  Reid had carried me up the stairs to his bedroom. Setting me on the bed, he gently instructed me to raise my arms as he slipped off the sweatshirt and tank top I had on underneath. Slowly, I leaned back on the bed and lifted my hips as he pulled on my jeans. Tossing the clothes in a pile on the floor, he slid my body up to the pillows and softly placed the covers over my body. I then watched as he stripped off his clothes and dropped them in the same heap on his bedroom floor.

  Reid climbed into bed next to me and placed a kiss to my collar bone. “Goodnight, Molly Anne. I love you,” he whispered, gently pushing the hair back that had fallen in my face.

  Smiling, I nodded my head and closed my eyes. There was no need for sex tonight, just a peaceful night’s sleep next to the person I loved. Searching for his hand underneath the covers, I wrapped my fingers in between his and drifted off into a deep slumber. Sometimes a girl needed a night of compassion. A moment where everything got put out on the table and nothing was picked up and put back.

  The light had already been spilling its contents into the bedroom for quite some time, when I awoke and rubbed my eyes from the brightness. Reid didn’t have a clock in his bedroom, and I had left my phone downstairs last night after texting Megan, but I knew it had to be late morning. It had been forever since I got to sleep that late; normally only occurring when I was deathly ill. Stretching out my arms, I smiled at Reid, who still peacefully slept next to me. Brushing my fingers down the side of his face, I started to debate with myself if I really wanted to climb out of the warm little piece of heaven.

  Suddenly, a door slammed down stairs. Wondering who it could possibly be, I tossed the covers back and went to my bag to grab a clean pair of shorts. I figured it was just Tiny, probably coming back from one of his many scheduled work outs, but I wanted to be sure. Slipping on a short pair of yoga shorts, I grabbed Reid’s sweatshirt from the pile on the floor and slipped it over my head.

  “What in the fuck is going on?” A tall blonde I recognized from the many tabloid magazines shrieked while standing in the doorway. “We had a deal, Reid. I gave you a little space to get over that infatuation with the tour girl, and then you would come back to me! You can’t fucking tell me everything we went through meant absolutely nothing!”

  “Excuse me? Who in the fuck are you and what are you doing in our bedroom?” My tone was very clear that I wasn’t going to stand there and take her pathetic shit. I don’t know who she thought she was, but that woman was about to have a ‘come to Jesus type meeting’.

  Reid’s head popped up from the pillow as he glared at the blonde bimbo now storming into the bedroom. Swiftly, I stepped into Barbie’s path and intercepted her war path to Reid’s bed.

  “Excuse me, but I asked who the hell are you,” I threatened again, this time clenching my fists at my side so I didn’t pop the girl right in the face. Sure, she probably had a few good inches on me, but I doubted that woman had ever been talked to like that in her pretty little life. I refused to back down to a woman who came storming into our bedroom like a god damn hooker tornado in the morning.

  “What in the hell are you doing here Cassy?” Reid’s voice shook the large room.

  I breathed a little sigh of relief when I realized he wasn’t excited to see the tramp in his house either.

  “You said we were just taking a little break, and then I see this little ugly skank on your arm at the music awards. I brushed it off as you were just stirring up some buzz for the management label, but then I heard you were photographed around town the last couple days. I wanted to come over here and make sure it ended.”

  “Bitch, you have another thing coming if you really think coming up into this place barking orders and running your damn mouth is going to get you anywhere. Check yourself, because if you don’t I for sure will.”

  Reid grabbed either side of my shoulders and quickly shuffled me behind his body.

  “Please, you little snit. You can do nothing for this man. I, on the other hand enhance his career. So why don’t you just grab your shit and leave?” Cassy looked at me smugly and crossed her lanky arms across her chest.

  “We were never together, Cassy. It was simply a publicity stunt that carried on a little too long for my liking. So you are the one that needs to leave, like now.” Reid’s voice was now at a whole new level when Tiny appeared in the door way.

  “You really want to ask me to leave, Reid? Maybe I should just tell your little slut all about……..”

  “That’s fucking enough, Cassy! Get out of my house.”

  “Funny thing about this little scene here, Reid, is you have way more to lose than I do,” she said with an evil smile that spread across her ugly face.

  “Tiny, get Molly out of here,” Reid demanded, his body tense and rigid.

  “Yes, Tiny, please take the trash out for us. Thanks,” Cassy mocked as I stood there in shock.

  “Reid, wait, what?” I babbled, reaching for his arm before he shrugged it away. Tears started to gush down my face as Tiny apologetically grabbed my hand and pulled me out the door. “I don’t get it,” I cried. Tiny led me carefully down the stairs and through the house for the garage.

  “I’m so sorry, Molls,” Tiny sighed, opening the car door and instructing me to get inside.

  “I don’t fucking understand, Tiny,” I said between sobs. Not only two minutes ago Reid was yelling at Cassy to get the hell out of his house, and now I was in the fucking car with Tiny as he drove me out of there.

  “Give me one second, and I’ll go grab your bag,” he said with a frown.

  “Don’t worry about it,” I said softly, refusing to make eye contact with the man. My heart was once again breaking, slowly shattering as I still had no fucking clue as to what had just happened.

  “I’m going to take you home now,” Tiny said softly as he backed the Suburban out of the garage. I nodded my head as the tears continued to fall. There was no fixing this kind of solution. Everything I thought I had was finally over and gone, and I had no clue how it all happened.

  Chapter 30

  Numb, and not the feeling you get for sitting on your ass for too long.

  It had been exactly two days since I had spoken to Reid. There was no contact between the two of us. No phone call, no text message, no email, just nothing. My body felt numb. My head spun in circles. My heart broke with every single move I made. This wasn’t how I envisioned my future. This wasn’t how my relationship with Reid was meant to turn out. As much as I wanted to tell myself that it was going to be okay, I knew deep down there would never be another opportunity to feel the way I did. Sadly, this
was the end of my happy days.

  “Hey Molly, you need to eat something. I can make you some soup if you want; maybe a grilled cheese?” Megan asked softly as she entered my darkened room.

  I hadn’t made a sound since Tiny carried me up my apartment steps and knocked on the door until Megan let him in. She had completely freaked out when she saw me in that first state, still red-faced and hysterically sobbing. Megan helped Tiny deposit me in my room and lovingly tucked me into my bed. Kissing my head softly, she promised she would check on me later and turned off the light before shutting the door. She had come in at least twenty times that day, and another five or six times during the night. Each time she asked me what was wrong and if I wanted to talk. The first day I just cried. However, the tears had finally dried up before it got dark outside, leaving me to just blankly stare at the far bedroom wall.

  I didn’t feel like talking. There were no words to express what happened. I had no clue what had transpired at Reid’s place that morning, other than he told Tiny to get me out and those were the last words he spoke to me.

  “Sweetie, you really need to eat and drink something. I’m worried about your health, Molly. If you don’t get something in your system soon, you could be heading for real danger.” Megan gently ran her hand through the tangled mess of my hair as I continued to sit there and stare at the white wall. “Well, I’m going to go make you some soup, and bring you a water bottle. Please, for the love of our friendship, at least drink some water.” She waited for a response, but silence continued to fill the air. Megan slightly shook her head as she walked out of the door and carefully closed it. I listened for the click of the nob before I shut my eyes. If I could manage to fall asleep before she came back, then she wouldn’t keep bugging me on eating and drinking. I didn’t want to do anything but lay there and sleep. Maybe after two days, I could finally master that task.

  I was woken up by a man’s voice calling my name. “Molly, I need you to open your eyes for me. Molly, open your eyes,” he repeated over and over. I could hear him, but he sounded so far off in the distance. Forcing my eyes open, I could not focus on a single thing. My vision was blurry and my head felt like it weighed a million pounds. “That a girl, Molly; stay with us,” I heard the man say again. Letting my eyes close slightly, I tried to stretch my body out, but found it firmly strapped down to something. My mind started to panic slightly, but everything was still so foggy that I couldn’t put together a cohesive sentence. “This is ambulance two-fifty-five. We are transporting a twenty-six year old female, severe dehydration and malnutrition. ETA fifteen minutes.” From the jumbled words that were floating around in my head, I knew I was being transported somewhere. However, my brain could just not function from the lack of care I had been giving myself the last couple days.

  “Molly, stay with us, Hun. I need you to start talking to me,” the man’s voice said loudly again.

  I wanted to scream that I was okay, but words never formed in my throat. All I could do was let my eyes fall closed once again, and let the darkness pull me under.

  I could hear the beeping of machines while lying in my bed, but my eyes were still too heavy to open. My whole body was sore, making it painful to even wiggle my little finger. Something had to have happened to me when I was sleeping, because not eating or drinking couldn’t possibly make me feel this bad.

  “Yes, Reid, I had to fucking call nine-one-one, you jackass. No, she is not okay. What part of the ambulance had to take her did you not understand?” Megan’s voice whispered from across the room angrily.

  I had never heard that woman raise her voice at anyone during the time we worked together, but I almost felt bad for the fucker on the other end. Sure, it was the man who broke my heart again, but for some reason I still felt bad for the asshole.

  “No, you can’t just show up here and expect it to be all better. So help me god Reid, I will get a restraining order on you if dare show your damn face at this hospital. You’re damn lucky I called to tell you what happened at all, you are the sole reason Molly fell into a downward spiral.”

  If it didn’t hurt to smile, I totally would have. Megan was verbally lashing the idiot who apparently wanted to come and make it all better again. Well, the only way it would be okay was if he drove himself off a bridge. I would also settle for a shark attack, sky diving and his parachute failed, getting hit by a car while jogging, or that blonde Cassy chick pummeling him with her spiky hooker shoes.

  “I’ll let you know if anything changes, and I’m serious about you not showing up here.” Megan apparently ended the call as the room became quiet again. Sleep was starting to take control of my body once again, as my mind slowly started to drift off. “I am so sorry, Molly,” Megan’s voice cracked as I felt her take my hand. Before the sleep could take me, I gently squeezed her hand, silently letting her know I appreciated everything she had done for me.

  “Alright, bitch. Next time you decide to go all manic and stupid, please just tell me. I’d rather take a spur of the moment trip to Vegas, get completely wasted, marry some Chip and Dale dancers, and come home not knowing our last name before you stop taking care of yourself again,” Danielle lectured as she dropped a bag onto my hospital bed.

  “Sorry. I didn’t really plan on this whole thing to go down like that,” I snarled, grabbing the bag and rifling through it. Thankfully, Danielle had brought me some comfy clothing to be released in.

  “How about a ‘thank you, my very best friend, for bringing me something to wear other than the nasty hospital gown they got me in?”

  “I’m sorry I’m so bitchy,” I apologized, giving Danielle a weakened smile.

  Thankfully, I finally came around the second day after I was brought in. After several bags of IV fluids, and a full day of monitoring what I ate, the doctors had given the okay to release me. However, somehow I had agreed to see a counselor and talk about what had happened. I didn’t understand why I needed to see someone. I knew exactly how this happened. The man I thought loved me, had his penis up in some blonde and broke my heart again. I ended up in the hospital because I was so broken down that I didn’t eat or drink for apparently three days. Telling someone wasn’t going to make the situation any clearer in my head. I knew the facts, I faced the consequences, and I was going to force myself to move on.

  “Are you ready to bust out of this joint? I am really wanting a hamburger from Dicks.” Danielle laughed, kicking her feet up on the tall hospital bed.

  “Yeah, just let me get my clothes changed and the IV pulled.” Hitting the nurses call button, I waited for someone to magically show up in my room. “I need to get unhooked please,” I mentioned, holding my arm up to the nurse as she entered the room.

  “Not a problem, Sweetie. Let me grab some supplies and I’ll get that puppy right out of you,” she said with a warm and caring smile.

  I forced myself to return the gesture. It was always easier to fake the emotion then try and explain why you couldn’t show it. A couple minutes later, the nurse had the IV line removed and I was wandering into the bathroom to put on the clothes Danielle had brought for me.

  “Molly, here are your discharge papers. This paper here has the therapist’s number. You have an appointment scheduled for tomorrow at three in the afternoon. Please do yourself a favor and see her,” the nurse commented as I walked back in the small hospital room.

  “Thank you,” I replied, taking the papers from her outstretched hand.

  Glancing at Danielle, I motioned for the door and slowly shuffled for the exit.

  “Damn Molly, you are walking like an old geezer.” Danielle laughed, snatching the bag from my hand and walking beside me.

  “Fuck you,” I grumbled.

  “You can thank me later for the extra batteries I put in the bag.”

  Damn you, Danielle.

  Megan was home by the time we walked in. Dropping my bag in the entry way, I shuffled myself over to the couch and collapsed down on it.

  “We brought dinner, and
breakfast, and well, probably lunch too.” Danielle shrugged as she sat the large take out bag on the counter.

  “For some reason, Danielle seemed to think we needed twenty double cheeseburgers,” I stated, pulling my feet up under me tightly.

  “Well, Snatch, you were in the hospital for not eating. Buying a fuck load of beef was the sensible thing to do. I wanted to make sure you had food in this place.” Danielle laughed as she opened a wrapper and started to chow down on another burger. How that woman managed to eat as much as she did was a scientific mystery. I knew she didn’t work out, considering breaking a sweat was a dirty four letter word in her vocabulary.

  The doorbell rang and all three of us froze suddenly. Who in the hell would be showing up at our apartment, considering everyone I cared about was already here? “I’ll grab it,” Megan said tentatively. Nodding my head, I held my breath as I listened for who was at the door.

  “She doesn’t want those,” I heard Megan tell whoever was out in the hallway.

  “Please, Megan, just take the flowers,” Tiny’s large voice filled the apartment entry way.

  “I’ll take them, but don’t be surprised if you see them being chucked out the window when you get down to your car.”

  “Thank you,” Tiny said as I heard the door click. Megan came walking around the corner with a simple bouquet of lilies. Orange lilies to be exact.

  “I tried to tell him you didn’t want them, but he insisted,” Megan said cautiously, eagerly waiting for my response.

  “Just put them in water,” I sniffed, trying hard to not let my emotions run ramped. Silence filled the air for a couple seconds as both Danielle and Megan just stared at me. “Well, they are too pretty to chuck out the window,” I offered with a small smile. Megan nodded her head and busied herself in the kitchen, looking for a vase to put them in.