Aimee surrendered and got up, her head hurt to touch. She stood in front of the mirror and looked at her face. The knot and cut were on the left side of her forehead, just above her eye. She stared and then decided to take a photo. She was going to send it to LJ later.
Lexi and Piper knocked on the door. “You ok?”
“Yeah, come in.”
Lexi covered her mouth. Not only was Aimee’s face bruised, her arms looked horrible too.
“I have to find a different shirt. But first, do me a favor and take photos of my arms.”
“Why? Did you decide to press charges?” Piper took her phone, while Lexi looked for a shirt with sleeves.
“No. I plan to send them to him later, when he gives me a hard time about not wanting to be alone with him.”
There was no use to try to cover up her eye today. She just wore a fedora hat and shades. She was a little dizzy after walking down the stairs, so she took a seat in the chair.
Piper went to get her some coffee and something to eat. “You guys don’t have to wait on me, I can get it myself. I just need a minute.”
“We don’t care.” Piper came and sat beside her. “Are you really going to see LJ?”
“I can’t break up with him over a text.”
“Yes you can, send him the pictures we took of your face and arms with a caption that says I HOPE YOU GET THE PICTURE WE ARE SOOOOOOOO OVER!” Lexi grinned.
“Yes, because that sounds so like me. I am going to meet him in public and break up with him. I will be fine.”
Aiden entered the room. “Then I will be two tables away, ready to beat some sense into him if he touches you again.”
Aimee stood and grabbed her purse. “The last thing he needs to see is you there.” She had a frown on her face, which told Aiden she wishes he could go.
“Well we will be close, at another restaurant. Keep your phone in reach at all times.” Colin opened the door. “We need to go. I am driving Aiden to pick up his car at the dealership when we are done at the clinic.”
Aimee completed the scan and then seen Dr. Adkins, who told her the scan was fine. She had a concussion. He gave her orders to take it easy for the next two days and she will be good to go to class when they start on Wednesday.
She took a long nap when she got home, then she sent a text to LJ that said. Hey I am sitting at home with a major headache and two very sore arms. I have to take things easy for a few days. Doctor’s orders. I can’t meet you until the weekend. By the way, here are some pics of the gifts you left me last night.
Her text was approved by Piper and Lexi. LJ sent her a text back telling her he was busy until Saturday. Unless she wanted to join him for the first year student dinner. Not the exact ideal date to dump someone, so she text him back, no, her bruises and steri-strips would clash with her dress and told him she would meet him at Dolli’s Delegacy in Birch Park at 4:00pm on Saturday. He wanted to know why she wanted to meet there. She told him she liked their food and the park was calming to her. She wasn’t lying, she needed to be somewhere calming and she loved their food.
When Aiden and Colin returned, Aiden went to his room and stayed for two hours. He came out in time to help Colin and the other guys with dinner. The girls, including Kelli, watched some of Aimee’s old eighties movies.
Things were not the same between Aimee and Aiden. It was going to be a weird week. After dinner, everyone went to the living area. Aimee looked at all the couples sitting around the room. “You guys don’t need to stay here. Go out and have a good time.”
It took some convincing, but they left. Aiden started to go back to his room. “Where are you going?”
“My room. So, I can give you your space.”
“Aiden, please, we need to fix this.”
“When do you meet LJ?”
“Saturday at Dolli’s Delegacy. Why?”
“That is a good place to go.”
He sat down on the chair and Aimee came and sat on the table in front of him. Her hazel eyes had tears in them. He wanted to hold her right now, but he knew she would resist him.
“Aiden, this morning, when we kissed. It was great. I don’t want you to think I feel otherwise.”
“But…”
“But, there are so many buts, one is that we live together here.”
“We have no access to each other’s rooms.”
“Last night, when I showered in your and Colin’s bathroom, I realized how easy we really did have access to each other’s rooms.”
“I can move out.”
“Seriously. I can’t let you do that.”
“I’ll still be here, except to sleep and shower.”
Aimee shook her head. “If we get together now, then everything Ava said about me is true.”
Aiden leaned forward and lifted her head up, so she was looking him in the eyes. “Not one word Ava spoke about you was true. You did not come here with the intention to steal me from her.”
“No, I didn’t.”
“Aimee, you can’t worry about what others will think. Especially Ava or LJ.”
“I didn’t say anything about him.”
“I know how Aimee Pittman thinks, remember?” He took her hand and lifted her in his lap.
“Aiden, we live in different countries that has an ocean between them. How do we make that work?”
“We have two years to figure it out.”
“I have a company to run that is based in Savannah, Georgia.”
“Don’t forget, you also have a company here, in Neahovia, to run as well.”
Aimee laid her head on his shoulder. “Why does everything in my life always end up being so complicated?”
“Because you love a challenge and, without one, you would be bored.”
Aimee slid off his lap and stood by the chair. “Aiden, I don’t know what to do here. I don’t want to ruin our friendship.”
“Aimee, relax. I am not asking you out or to be my girlfriend. Not yet. I know we have things to work through first. Like, for instance, you need to break up with LJ, for what he did last night and the dates before that, not because we kissed and have feelings for each other.”
“Thanks for reminding me of that. It helps with the guilt.”
“I know, that is why I reminded you.” He stood and took her hands. “Aimee, the kiss we shared this morning, is now my favorite memory of my life. With that being said, it is causing us to have this conversation sooner than either of us wanted to. I have been in love with you since the day I saw you singing with your hair in a towel. The past year I have come to realize how much I love you.”
Aimee grinned at him. “Yeah, you stole a piece of my heart that day and every day since.”
“When I ask you to be my girlfriend, everything will be right.”
“How do we get back to how we were up till the moment we kissed?”
“Like this.” He put on a comedy movie popped popcorn and fixed tea. They watched the movie like nothing happened.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Saturday afternoon arrived quickly. The first few days of school were behind them. Aimee and Aiden had most of their classes with the friends they had in a study group last year, Julia, Leo, Milton, and Ruby.
She had gotten pretty good at covering her bruises and steri-strips, but today, she wanted them to show. It had nearly been a week since the incident and she was still bruised pretty badly. She fixed her hair and put on a pair of cut off distressed khaki shorts and a pink and tan striped tank. She slipped on her sandals and slid her hair back with her sunglasses.
She sat at a table outside in a very crowded part of the restaurant. She could see the kids playing on the playground and a group of men playing soccer. She ordered her food and sat drinking a tropical smoothie.
LJ was about five minutes late. He looked around the crowded area. “Why in the world did you pick here to sit?”
“Because I like the view of the park.”
“I am going to have to stop letting you pick out what
to do on our dates. Where is a waiter?”
“They will be here in a second.” He was making it so easy to break up with him. He had no idea he was destroying any guilt she may have about breaking up with him.
“I can’t believe you didn’t try to cover those bruises. And a tank, seriously have you seen your arms?”
Aimee nearly choked on her smoothie. “I can’t believe you have the nerve to ask me that.”
He leaned back on his chair and slid his sunglasses on his head. “You can’t seriously blame me for your fall.”
“Yes, I can. I have lots of bruises and cuts to prove it.”
“Aimee, I don’t know what that group of friends of yours convinced you, but…”
“First of all, my friends are like family to me. They care about me. Secondly, I have your hand prints bruised on my arms as evidence you pulled me down.”
“I was trying to catch you when you started falling.”
Aimee was getting furious. She could not believe he had the gall to try to convince her she fell and he was trying to catch her. The waitress brought her food before she could comment.
“I need to place an order.” LJ was very rude to the poor girl. When she took his order, he turned to Aimee with a look of disgust and evil in his eyes.
“You ordered before I even got here and didn’t think to order for me?”
“I was hungry.”
He grabbed her wrist. “Well, you will wait until my food gets here before you eat.”
She pulled her wrist from his hand. “Ok, that is it, I have had it. I wanted to be nice and talk rational to you, but you just threw that out the window.”
The waitress came and brought his drink. Aimee had no clue what he was drinking, but she could smell the liquor from her chair. “Can I please get a takeout container?”
The girl looked at her and then LJ. “Sure. Would you like a fresh smoothie to go as well?”
“Yes, thank you.”
LJ didn’t wait for the waitress to walk away before he started yelling at her. People were looking at them, Aimee just wanted to get her food and go.
“What are you up to, Aimee? Why did you get your food to go before I even had mine served? What is out the window?” He hit the table with his fist, causing her to jump.
The waitress came over quickly with the container and fresh smoothie. Aimee slid her a fifty dollar tip because of how LJ was acting. The girl looked more scared than Aimee felt. As she put her food in her container, she wished she had taken Aiden up on being here.
“Stop packing your food and talk to me, Aimee! Now!”
Aimee closed the lid and stood, taking her bag and to go things. “LJ, I am not going out with you anymore.”
He stood and looked at her. If people could have steam coming out of their head, she was pretty sure it would be pouring from his. “What do you mean?”
“I am breaking up with you. I am sorry, I never should have agreed to be your girlfriend.”
He grabbed her arm and she placed her food on the table. She was jerking, trying to get free from him. He was inches from her face. She thought, by being in public, he would not do this. “What I am hearing, is you found out your precious roommate is single and you want him, just like Ava said.”
“No! What brought this on, is how you treated me at mini golf, on the phone, in the parking lot at my flat, and right now, I am no MAN’S punching bag, so let go of me.”
“No!”
“LJ, people are looking at us. Let go before they call the police or something.”
He released her arm, but shoved her in her chair. “Let them.” He slapped her face.
“NO WOMAN SPEAKS TO ME LIKE THAT.”
She could feel the blood trickling down her chin. He busted her lip, at the very least. The next thing she knew, he had her by the arm, dragging her across the patio away from the others. She was screaming for help and he turned and hit her in the face with a closed fist, knocking her nearly to the ground. No one offered to help. So much for humanity.
The rest of what happen was a blur. Some man came out of nowhere and sacked LJ. He wrestled LJ to the ground and held him there. He was shouting things at LJ, but Aimee couldn’t hear him. She was leaning against a table and a woman put something cold on her face. She wanted to find her purse, she needed her cell, but her vision was too blurry, she couldn’t make anything out.
LJ got up and the guy walked him to his car. He came back to Aimee and looked at her. “Are you ok, honey?”
“Yeah.” Her vision was clear now.
“Don’t try to stand just yet.” He reached behind him, Aimee could see a silhouette of the woman handing him a cup.
“Drink this tea.”
“Thanks.” Aimee sipped on the best tea she had ever tasted. “This is delicious.”
“It is an old family recipe. Did you drive yourself here?”
“I walked. My flat is four blocks away.”
“You don’t need to walk back alone. Do you have someone to call?”
“Yeah.” Aimee dialed Lexi’s number, she did not want James or Aiden here. “My friend Lexi is on her way.”
“Good. We will wait here with you till someone shows up.”
The waitress came running over to her. “When I heard someone say they seen an injured girl near the bushes, I knew it was you.”
“Thanks for coming.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Where did he go?” Aimee was looking around.
“Who?”
“He left. The gentleman…” Aimee turned to her right, but he was gone. “I don’t know where he went, but some man came out of nowhere sacked LJ to the ground. He yelled at him. I couldn’t make it out and then he ran off.”
“Did the man leave you?”
“No. He was right here. Him and his wife. She put this ice bag on my face and got me this tea. It is very good I would love to know how to make it.”
“We only serve regular brewed tea and I don’t see a cup or an ice bag.”
“Ok, anyway, they stayed here with me. He told me it wasn’t safe to walk back to my flat and to call a friend to come and get me.”
“I don’t know how to say this, but he hit you pretty hard. The people who found you, said you were alone and talking to yourself.”
“So, you think I am as crazy as LJ?”
“No. I am saying he hit you hard. He must have knocked you out.”
“I don’t know.” She held her head. “My head does hurt.”
The waitress walked Aimee back to her table. “I had the chef make you a fresh to go order. I will go get it for you.”
“Thanks.” Aimee sat at an empty table, no one was looking at her like she thought they would be. She laid her head on the table, it was really hurting.
Lexi came running on the patio with Jaxson, Colin, Aiden, James, and Piper right behind her. “Aimee, are you ok?”
Aimee looked up at Lexi and laid her head back down. “I told you to come alone.” Aimee looked at the guys. “He is gone.”
The waitress appeared with Aimee’s container. Aimee took it and tipped her again. She wanted to refuse, but Aimee smiled at her. “You put up with too much today because of me. Please, take it. I really feel that God wants you to have it.”
Aimee started to leave with her friends and then turned to the waitress. “Your name is Mia, right?” The girl nodded. “Mia, I think the man and his wife were my Guardian Angels. I also think God had you be my waitress for a reason today. We attend Wise Chapel and would love for you to join us.” Aimee handed her a track with the church information.
“Thanks, Aimee.” She watched Aimee leave and then looked down at the tip. Aimee gave her three hundred dollars. She had to sit down. Her rent was three hundred and fifty dollars. If she didn’t pay it today, she and her nine month old daughter would be homeless tonight.
She could also now afford to use her other tips and paycheck to buy formula and diapers. She only had enough diapers for today. Mia looked a
t the sky, she had never been much of a believer, but today changed that.
Chapter Seventeen
Lexi took Aimee straight to the clinic were Dr. Adkins worked. He examined her and informed her that, though her face may look worse, no permanent damage had been done; and, she didn’t appear to have a concussion. He could not explain why her vision was blurred. The hit to the face just aggravated the injuries from the fall.
BREAKTHROUGH (Love's Not Easy Series Book 2) Page 15