Until I Wake

by Kylie Rae

  Until I Wake

  Kylie Rae

  Published by Kylie Rae, 2021.

  This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.

  UNTIL I WAKE

  First edition. July 31, 2021.

  Copyright © 2021 Kylie Rae.

  ISBN: 979-8201173388

  Written by Kylie Rae.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  October 1st

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Sign up for Kylie Rae's Mailing List

  Also By Kylie Rae

  About the Author

  For the Crowley Kids

  Friends are the ones who support and encourage you. They're the ones to pick you up when you're down. And they've supported me since day one.

  October 1st

  A day of firsts. A new adventure.

  Climb in the car and set the GPS. Time to get out of town.

  Out of state. A new state of mind.

  Driving playlist ready. Take a deep breath and a last look around.

  Then go.

  The cars

  Rushing

  Whizzing

  Zooming by

  An exciting fresh start ahead

  A new beginning

  The colors of the city breath with new life

  But light from the sun reflects off the mirrored buildings

  And

  It’s

  Blinding

  Look away

  Tires swerve

  Tight grip

  Nervous giggle

  Oops

  Is it stuffy in here?

  Don’t panic

  A tingle creeps in at the base of your neck

  Just shrug it off

  Hands clutch the steering wheel

  Relax

  A tight cold begins in your chest

  Just breath

  Eyes flit from place to place

  Stop it

  Grip on reality

  Slipping

  Hold on

  Buzzing in your ears

  There are ants in your brain

  Fog swirls in,

  Choking on your air

  The breaking point

  Sinking now

  The darkness closes around you

  A scream for help

  Water fills your lungs

  Too far now for someone to take your hand

  Plunging lower into the depths

  A searing knife rips into your chest

  You need air

  Beg for release

  There is no fight left

  Let go.

  Chapter One

  Whitney Thompson used her shoulder to open the door into her apartment building’s lobby. The light in the spacious room was somehow harsher than the sunlight on the sidewalk, and she scrunched her face as her eyes adjusted. She crossed the sleek marble floor to the wall of mailboxes, but then her cell phone rang in her back pocket and she jumped. She juggled her bag of groceries and keyring and tried to reach it before it went to voicemail. If it was her mother again, she’d never hear the end.

  “Hi, mom,” she said and cradled the phone between her ear and shoulder.

  “Hi, sweetie. What have you been up to?” Rose, her mother, asked.

  “Oh, just finished the grocery shopping to fill up my fridge.” Whitney fumbled with her small mailbox key and it slipped out of the lock for the second time. Her lips drew together, and she held in the curse that wanted to slip out; she didn’t need a second mom lecture this early in the day.

  “Did you check in with-”

  “Yes, mom, I introduced myself to the neighbors. They’re both really nice.”

  “What are their names?” She demanded through the earpiece to test her. That was a fair question; Whitney wasn’t fond of talking to strangers.

  “Maria Rodriguez on the left with her three children and Vernon Stapleton on the right. He lives alone,” Whitney said as she shoved her mail into the side of the grocery bag. It was probably junk mail, since she’d barely moved in, but still. “Both of them welcomed me warmly to the building.” Whitney hoped her sarcasm hadn’t leaked into her words.

  In all actuality, they’d both been short with her. Maria tried to be polite, but her three toddlers had tugged on her and screamed in the spaces between their conversation, so the door shut rather quickly. But could you blame her? Vernon, though, he’d just been an old grump. Barely grunted hello at Whitney before closing the door in her face.

  “Well, good.” Rose either missed the tone or chose to ignore it. “Did you get the deposit in your account from your father? We want to make sure you’re set until your first paycheck comes in.”

  “Yes, mom. I’m good. I’m great!” Whitney pushed her brown hair out of her face and tried not to sigh. Since she’d moved so far away, her mom was acting a little too anxious. She had to keep bringing up that Whitney was her ‘baby’ and she’d ‘left the nest.’ It made Whitney ill and frustrated just thinking about it.

  “And you’re sure you’re okay?”

  A man in a suit elbowed around Whitney to the mailboxes; she shuffled aside and groaned. “Mom.” Her eyes rolled, and she tried to imply how much she needed to get off the phone with that one word. She tapped her foot and shifted the grocery bag to her other hand. She didn’t want to upset her mom, but she didn’t have the patience for this phone call.

  Luckily, she picked up the hint. “Okay, okay. Sorry. Call me if you need me. I love you.”

  “Love you too, mom. I’ll call you tomorrow after work.”

  Whitney hung up before she could add another question and stuffed her phone into the grocery bag with the mail and walked up the creaky stairs to her apartment.

  She’d woken up to an empty fridge and money burning a hole in her pocket. Not to mention time to kill. Her best friend Robin planned to spend the day with her but had been called away on a ‘work emergency.’ Or that’s what the note on Whitney’s kitchen counter said, anyway. Robin was actually at a museum arguing with herself about whether she should buy a painting; putting her art degree to good use. That’s her kind of work emergency. Gallery owners called to let her know when a particularly interesting piece came in, and she’d rush off to decide if the casino needed it in one of their various rooms or hallways.

  Once she’d made it to the kitchen, Whitney placed her produce in the bins in her fridge, along with the lunch meat, cheese, eggs, and milk. She stacked her dry goods in the cabinets and basked in the satisfaction of having a full pantry. Then she turned and took in the new apartment; her apartment. It was only a small one bedroom, but she thought it was cozy. Most of the furniture had come from yard sales or discount stores, but it belonged to her. She swelled with pride at the idea of finally doing something all on her own.

  But the moment passed. After only a few minutes, she became antsy. She wasn’t used to having nothing to do, and her mind wandered into unhappy places when her hands were idle.

  So she did the only logical thing and rearranged the furniture. First, she switched the couches. Then she no longer liked the TV placement. She’d relaxed on the plush carpet in the middle of re-shelving her books when Robin burst
through the door.

  Whitney clutched at her chest, always easily startled. “Damn, Robin, knock first or something. Give a girl some warning.”

  Robin laughed. “Sorry, I’ll try to remember that.” She giggled with an exaggerated eye-roll; she’d made that promise many times before. “Anyway,” she swung her bag off her shoulder and dropped it onto the couch before she placed her hands on her hips in a superhero pose, “I bought the painting.”

  “I knew you would.” Whitney straightened her stacks of books with a smile.

  “What order are they in now?” Robin nudged a stack with her toe. The books teetered and Whitney leapt forward to catch them before they tumbled over. She huffed at Robin.

  “By author, alphabetically, backwards. I needed to change things up.” Whitney sped up her re-shelving process in fear Robin would poke at more piles.

  “Well, hurry and finish.” Robin paced in wide circles around the books and her blonde hair bounced on her shoulders with each overdramatic step. “We should get coffee.”

  “That sounds good. The coffee shop from when I visited last month, or did you find something better?”

  Robin had a knack for finding great little coffee spots, but also always found another and another...

  “I’ve been going to a new place for two weeks. It’s a nice shop to sit in. And they play better music. The coffee...” she inhaled deeply, held it, and then let it out slow with a dreamy expression, “is damn near perfect.” Robin rocked back and forth on her heels, dangerously close to the books again. Whitney snatched the last few away before she could get any ideas.

  “Okay, I’m done. Let’s go. Walking or driving?” She dusted her hands off on her jeans.

  “Cool. We’ll walk, it’s around the corner.”

  They stepped into the hallway as the grouchy neighbor, Vernon, passed by with his dog in tow. He glared at them and quickened his steps. Whitney rolled her eyes as she locked the door behind her.

  “Jeeze, what’s his problem?” Robin asked, loud enough for Vernon to hear. He grunted and slammed his door.

  “Who knows? My mom made me introduce myself to my neighbors, and he wasn’t happy with me. I barely said, ‘I’m new to the building,’ before he shut the door in my face.” She shrugged. “He’s just a grumpy old man.”

  “Yeah, there’s a lot of that around here.” Robin glared at Vernon’s closed door.

  “Oh, now you tell me.”

  They laughed as they exited the apartment building. The early afternoon sun warmed their skin and reflected off a car that sat at the curb. An elderly woman yelled through the passenger window and drew their attention.

  “You’re going to make me late for my appointment!” she yelled.

  “Aunt Jane, please just get in the car. You’re the one making you late right now,” the driver of the car pleaded. The young man leaned across the seat and pushed the door open for Aunt Jane.

  “Pfft, if that’s how you open a door for a lady, chivalry is dead.” Aunt Jane fussed as she climbed into the car. “And how do you think you’ll close-”

  As soon as both her feet were in the car, the young man punched the gas, the door swung shut, and Aunt Jane squealed.

  Robin and Whitney had tried to suppress their giggles through the entire ordeal, but this last move had them bent over with laughter. The driver noticed them as he pulled away from the curb and gave them a wave.

  “Well, that was exciting. On to the coffee.” Robin led the way down the street.

  “So, how did you find this one?” Whitney asked as she fell into step beside her friend.

  “You’d have thought I’d find it right away since it’s so close to the apartment, but I hadn’t explored around this neighborhood too much until recently. Then one day I took a walk. I got lost, as usual, and stumbled across the coffee shop. They have books in the windows–like, real ones, not just décor. After thoroughly enjoying a cup of coffee, I GPSed my way back home, since I’d gotten myself all turned around, and I realized how close it really was. I’ve been coming here ever since.”

  “What’s the seating like?” This was Whitney’s favorite part of Robin’s coffee shop discoveries. One place only had bean-bag chairs. Another had those fancy massage chairs. Those were fun until you tried to drink your coffee.

  “Great chairs. I need one for my apartment, and my office. They’re cushiony, but not too squishy that it’s hard to stand back up. They also rock, spin, raise, and lower. Plus, they have this little foot rest that kicks out and adjustable headrests; I love them. I brought a few reports over here on my lunch break the other day because I enjoy sitting in these chairs so much. Maybe I should ask them where I can get one.” Robin always got a little over excited when she was talking about places to sit; benches, couches, chairs, faces... whatever the case may be.

  They passed a small bank and rounded the corner when Robin stopped, and Whitney realized there were books everywhere in the next window.

  “Here we are!” Robin said with a smile and held the door open for Whitney to walk in first.

  The air warmed her face and smelled rich with coffee and sugar. Whitney loved it immediately. They maneuvered their way around tables to the counter in the corner, but on the way there, one of the most handsome men Whitney had ever seen stumbled into her. And her face went scarlet at once.

  “Oh, damn,” the man said, grabbed the back of the chair to keep his balance, and somehow kept Whitney from falling as well. “I am so sorry,” he said once they’d both regained their footing.

  Robin laughed and didn’t bother to hide it, as Whitney’s face continued to redden. She struggled to find words. His gold-flecked brown eyes felt like they were piercing into the depths of her soul.

  “Oh, that’s okay,” she squeaked out. She giggled nervously and Robin’s laughter renewed. She grabbed Whitney by the arm and pulled her to the counter.

  Whitney looked over her shoulder at the man. He still looked a little stunned; he shook his head to break out of the daze and glanced at Whitney. But then he smiled at her and waved before he grabbed his jacket and left.

  Robin nudged Whitney in the ribs to draw her attention back to the task at hand. She looked up to the menu, and the words made little sense. She didn’t recognize half of them, and she would swear that there were imaginary letters mixed in.

  “Um, just get me what you got. You’ll critique anything I pick, anyway.”

  “Two of my usual,” Robin said.

  “Okay, that will be $8.42,” the red-headed teenager behind the counter said in a bored voice.

  Robin handed over her debit card. “Go pick a table. I’ll wait here for the coffee. And quit smiling like a dodo.”

  Whitney’s face flushed again. Mr. Handsome floated at the front of her mind and she pushed him away. She attempted a straight face and turned towards the tables to find a pair of empty seats. The room wasn’t very full, but she noticed a few sets of eyes turned her direction and an uncomfortable tingle crept up her spine. They must have seen the collision. She decided a table in the corner would be best so she could recover from the encounter while also being able to hide her face. She kept her eyes on the bookcase behind the table and tried to read the titles on the spines and convince herself that the people weren’t staring at her.

  With her back to the room and the rhythmic whirring of the machines, Whitney relaxed into her seat. Robin hadn’t been lying. These chairs were really comfortable. She wiggled, and the cushion hugged every movement. She smiled and allowed herself to wonder what the chances of running into that guy again were. No pun intended. This was an average size town, but this was an off the path coffee shop. Was he a regular here? Or did he pass by and crave a cup of coffee? Maybe Robin recognized him? She would drive herself crazy if she didn’t stop.

  Robin sat in the chair across from Whitney, their coffees in hand a moment later, and did a great impression of Vanna White with the cups before she passed one to Whitney.

  “Whatcha thinkin’ about
?” Robin asked at once with a smug smile.

  Whitney bit her lip, but plunged on. She needed to know. “Have you seen that guy here before?”

  Robin laughed. “Oh, come on, he wasn’t that cute.”

  “Were you looking at the same man I was?” She couldn’t believe her ears. “He was so tall, and his hair had more bounce than mine. His smile could steal anyone’s heart. And don’t even get me started on his eyes.” Whitney gushed and Robin snorted with laughter. “Well? Have you seen him before or not?”

  Robin was still laughing. “Chill. Yes. He comes here too. I’ve seen him a few times. He has an annoying friend that tries to get my number.”

  “So, I’ll probably see him again?” Her face was still as red as a stop sign, but she couldn’t stop grinning.

  “Wow, crazy much? I’m switching coffee shops tomorrow.”

  Whitney kicked Robin under the table.

  “Hey! I’m kidding! Yes, we’ll come back and stalk him for you.”

  Whitney clapped once. “Goody!”

  “So, anyway, psycho, are you excited about starting your new job tomorrow?” Robin took a sip of her coffee, a smile on her face as she swivelled back and forth in her chair.

  “Ehh.. I’m more excited about seeing you every day again. I’ve needed you in my life,” Whitney admitted, serious all of a sudden.

  “Oh, I was just a phone call away.”

  “Yeah, but that’s not the same. I’ve needed this; sitting across the table from you and having casual conversation. Not calling to tell you about one specific instance.”

  Robin leaned across the table and gave her a quick shoulder hug. “I’ve missed you too. I’m so glad your spur-of-the-moment visit turned into you moving up here.”

  “Yeah, who would’ve thought my deep desire to see you on my weekend off would lead me to remember how much happier I am when you’re around.”

  “Not to mention my ridiculously amazing tourist guide skills to show you the great things here you can’t find back home.”

  Whitney laughed and felt truly at peace for the first time in a long time. She took a drink of her coffee and relaxed into her chair.