by Rhonda James
“No, I’m not okay. Go home Brooke, just please go home.” And then he hung up the phone. I stood there on the dance floor, phone in my hand, looking around and wondering what had just happened. Why had he hung up on me? I was just out trying to have some fun; I wasn’t doing anything wrong. Should I not have said anything to him about the guy? I don’t know. I’m not one to keep secrets, and when I saw his face on my phone I thought it was a great way to get the guy to leave me alone. In hindsight, maybe it hadn’t been the best decision. I sent him a quick text, just to make sure things were okay between us.
Me: I’m truly sorry. I promise I didn’t do anything wrong, he just wouldn’t take no for an answer. I love you.
He didn’t respond.
Sebastian~
I’m sitting at home, working on some new music, when I get the feeling that Brooke is in trouble. I grabbed my phone and called her, she answered right away, and I heard my voice singing in the background of the club, how ironic.
“Hey baby, listen, I need a favor, I have a guy here that won’t leave me alone and he didn’t believe me when I told him about us.” At the sound of her words panic flooded through me, she was in trouble, and I wasn’t there to help her. I knew something like this might happen; I had even warned her. What was it with women, not wanting to listen to anything their men told them? Why did she have to be so stubborn?
“What the hell Brooke? Put him on the phone,” I groaned. How on earth was I going to convince this guy that if he knew what was best for him he would turn tail and run in the other direction?
“Okay, he wants to talk to you.” I heard her transferring the phone to the asshole currently trying to hit on my girlfriend.
I didn’t even give the guy a chance to say a word, I just started in on him with the first words that came to mind. “Listen buddy, I don’t know who the hell you are, or how you came to be hitting on my girl, but I’m going to give you to the count of ten to get the hell out of there or I’ll make a phone call and have your ass kicked. Stay away from her, she’s mine. And if she tells me that you didn’t walk away I’ll make you sorry that you didn’t take my advice. Now give the phone back to her and leave.” I heard him swearing profusely as he handed the phone back to Brooke.
“Sebastian, are you okay?” she asked, her voice sounded small and timid.
“No, I’m not okay. Go home Brooke, just please go home,” I begged her, then I hung up, I couldn’t bring myself to talk to her, I was furious. This was exactly what I had been worried about, and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it, she was there and I was stuck here, completely unaware of what she was getting herself into. I threw my phone and heard it crack as it hit the wall. I cursed loudly and ran my hands through my hair, pulling on it as my fingers worked their way through. After a few minutes, I got up and walked over to my phone, already knowing it had been badly damaged. The screen was completely cracked and when I pressed the Home button the phone lit up faintly. I saw that I had a text from Brooke; I could barely make it out, I strained my eyes and sighed heavily when I read it.
Brooke: I’m truly sorry. I promise I didn’t do anything wrong, he just wouldn’t take no for an answer. I love you.
I tried to type a response but it was no use, the phone was a broken mess. All I could do was wait until morning to get a new one, until then, I could only pray that she was safe, and hope that she knew I still loved her too.
Brooke~
I had to find Jade, I needed to get home. Suddenly, the thought of staying here and dancing seemed like a betrayal to him. It didn’t help that he was still singing to me through the speakers that surrounded the club. How long was this song? Dammit, I never should have answered the phone; I should have handled that guy on my own. What if he was too angry to talk to me? He had never ignored my texts before, I was scared that I had made him angry with me, he had warned me about guys coming on to me and I blew him off, I promised him that he had nothing to worry about. Crap.
I made my way through the crowd, desperate to find Jade, and all the while more guys tried to get me to dance with them, seriously, where were all these guys when I didn’t have a boyfriend? Now, when I suddenly have the best one there is, they all come out of the woodwork. I kept looking at my phone, hoping and praying that he would text me back.
I finally found Jade, dancing with the same guy that had approached her earlier, they were dancing close, and I hated to interrupt her, but I had to let her know I was leaving. I tapped her on the shoulder and when she saw my face she knew that something was wrong.
“What is it?” she asked, stepping away from her new friend.
“I’m sorry Jade, but I have to go home, something happened with Sebastian and now I think he’s mad at me.” It was all I could do not to cry in front of this guy who wouldn’t take a hint and back off so that we could talk privately.
“Okay, I’ll go with you.” She took my arm and started to pull me with her.
“No, I don’t want to ruin your night, you stay here and have a good time. Just promise me you’ll be safe and text me if you need anything. I just need to go home and try to get in touch with him, I can’t do that here, I need privacy. I’ll be fine.” I grabbed her hand and squeezed it tight, assuring her that it was okay to stay behind. “Go on,” I nudged her toward the guy and turned to leave the floor.
When I stepped outside the club I was hit with the strong stench of cigarettes. I stopped, fearing that I might run into the guy from the dance floor. I heard deep laughter behind me, and the sound of it made my skin crawl, I knew that laugh.
“I guess your boyfriend thinks you’re pretty special, maybe I need to find out for myself just what he’s trying so hard to protect.”
“Just stay away from me, I told you before that I wasn’t interested.” I kept walking, but he started following me, so I increased my pace, trying frantically to get to my car. His pace slow and methodical, like he knew he had me trapped. I made it to my car and punched in the code, opening the passenger side door and leaning in before he grabbed me from behind. I placed a hand on the inside of the door and held on for dear life, fighting against him and screaming for help, but the loud music from the club bounced off the surrounding buildings, blocking out all ability for my screams to be heard. His hands found my waist and he tried once more to pull me to him, but I planted my feet firmly, grinding one of the heels of my boot into his foot, causing him to let go for a moment, it was all that I needed. My hand found the glove compartment, and I reached in blindly and found what I had been looking for, a can of pepper spray that I kept handy in case of an emergency. I spun around and emptied most of the can in his face; no one heard his screams either. When I finished spraying, I brought up a knee and made hard contact with his groin, making him scream louder and fall to his knees. I threw down the can and stumbled around to the driver’s side door and got in, locking all the doors, and started the car. I backed out quickly, not caring if I hit him in the process; I was so shaken up that it was difficult to drive.
I tried deep breathing, and placed all my focus on Sebastian’s face, I couldn’t stop the tears from falling, I had almost been viciously attacked by someone that I didn’t even know, if he had actually gotten away with it how would Sebastian have felt about me? Would he have been able to look at me the same? Would I? By the time I got home, I still hadn’t heard from him. I tried calling, but his voicemail wouldn’t even pick up. I felt completely helpless and fell back on my bed, trying to piece everything together and make sense of it. I needed to talk to him; nothing would be right until that happened.
At some point I started to doze off when it dawned on me, I could call Chris and maybe he could help me get in touch with Sebastian. I hated to go through his friends to get to him, but I wouldn’t feel right until I heard his voice, I needed to tell him what happened, even if he couldn’t be here, just the sound of his voice would offer me the comfort that I so desperately needed right now.
“Hey, pretty lady,” Chris
spoke cheerfully into the phone. I could practically hear the smile in his voice.
“Hey Chris, how are you? I’ve missed you.”
“I wondered when you were going to call me; I was beginning to think you forgot about me.”
“Well, the phone works both ways buddy,” I attempted to laugh, but it sounded forced, and he picked up on it immediately.
“What’s wrong kiddo?” he asked, sounding like the big brother that he claimed to be. I didn’t want to tell him about what happened after I left the club, I knew Sebastian deserved to hear that first, but I told him about what happened at the club and how Sebastian won’t talk to me now.
“I’m scared Chris, what if he won’t talk to me ever again?”
“Forget about Sebastian, tell me where this asshat is now, I’ll kill him,” he growled, which effectively did make me laugh. “Why are you laughing? This is serious Brooke.”
“I know, but it’s just sweet hearing you talk like that.”
“Like what?” he asked innocently, unaware of how he had come across.
“Like my protective big brother, it’s nice.”
“Well, that’s what I am now right? That’s my job. But seriously kiddo, are you okay?”
“I will be once I talk to Sebastian. Can you please help me get in touch with him?”
“I’ll go over there and knock some sense into his butt,” he grumbled.
“Chris,” I scolded, “just see if he’ll call me. Do me another favor, please. Tell him that I love him, okay?”
“You got it sweetie. If I can’t find him, I’ll call you back.”
“Okay, thank you.”
I had waited an hour before my phone rang, I grabbed it, hoping it was Sebastian, but it was Chris, probably telling me that he couldn’t locate him.
“Hey Chris, I take it you didn’t have any luck reaching him either,” I answered.
“Brooke, it’s not Chris.” My heart pounded in my chest.
“Sebastian! Oh my gosh, I thought you weren’t ever going to speak to me again. I’m so sorry baby, you were right about guys like that, I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you,” I cried.
“Baby, it’s okay; I’m not mad at you. I just needed some time to cool off.”
“But you wouldn’t answer my text or my calls, I thought you hated me,” I sniffed loudly, unable to contain my sobs.
“Oh honey, I could never hate you; I love you. I couldn’t respond because after I had talked to that asshat I threw my phone against the wall, and it broke.”
“You what?” I giggled. “You threw your phone? Why Sebastian Miles, I had no idea you had such a temper on you,” I teased.
“Yeah, well the thought of some other guy trying to hit on my girl made me a little jumpy.”
“What did you say to him?” I had been curious about that at the time the guy walked away swearing.
“I told him if he didn’t walk away and leave you alone that I would make a few phone calls and make his life miserable. Did he leave you alone?”
I sat there quietly, not sure how to tell him what had happened without him getting mad again, I didn’t want him breaking Chris’s phone too, then I wouldn’t be able to talk to him at all tonight.
“Brooke, what aren’t you telling me? He did leave you alone, right?”
“At first he did.”
“But…” he prompted.
“I told Jade I was leaving and that she didn’t need to come with me, she had met a guy, I left the club and he came up behind me and told me that whatever you were protecting must be pretty good, so he wanted to try it for himself.”
“Son of a bitch,” he muttered loudly. I heard more swearing and a loud crash before he came back to the phone, breathing heavily. “What else happened Brooke?”
“Is everything okay over there? I’m not going to tell you anymore unless I know you can control yourself. Things were a bit hairy, but I’m fine now,” I declared.
“I’m sorry, I just feel helpless being so far away. I’m okay, just finish your story, please,” he urged.
“Well, I started walking quickly toward my car, trying to get away from him, but he followed me, kind of slowly like he was hunting me or something, and I got into my car, but he grabbed me from behind and tried to pull me out of the car. I fought him off, we struggled for a bit before I was able to stomp on his foot with the heel of my boot, that caused him to let go of me for a moment, long enough for me to grab my pepper spray out of the glove compartment, and I emptied a whole can in his eyes and kneed him in the groin. I peeled out of there and left him on his knees in the parking lot. I never looked back.”
“Dammit Brooke, I was worried about something like this. Are you really okay? Do you need to go talk to somebody? Shouldn’t you report this to the police? Do you want me to come there?” His voice trembled as he asked me that last part; I could tell that my close call had shaken him, maybe even more than it had shaken me.
“I’m fine, honest; I just need to take a shower and wind down. I feel better just knowing that we’re okay. I couldn’t stand not knowing how you were feeling; I hate that I upset you.”
“Baby, there was never a moment tonight that we weren’t okay, I just needed to calm down. I was ready to throttle that guy before, now, if I was there, I might have killed him. When you with me I promised that no one would ever hurt you again, and with you so far away I’m not able to keep my promise, that kills me. I want to take care of you and protect you, I don’t know how else to explain it, but I feel like that’s what I want to do with the rest of my life.”
“I love that you want to take care of me, that you love me that much. I never knew that kind of love existed, and I never thought it would find me. Being on this side of that, knowing how you feel, I’ll be honest with you, it’s a bit overwhelming but now that I’ve seen what that kind of love looks like, and know what it feels like, I don’t ever want to be without it. So, thank you for loving me like that.”
“Thank you for letting me love you like that, and for loving me the same way in return. You are everything to me Brooke; I don’t ever want to lose what we have. You make my whole life brighter. You’re like my sunshine, and just like I need the sun, I need you to survive.”
“I love you,” I sobbed quietly. “You always say the best things. It’s no wonder you’re so great at writing number one songs,” I laughed through my tears.
“You know, I’m writing a song about you.” he declared.
“You are? That’s so sweet, can I hear some of it?”
“Nope, you’re going to have to wait; it’s not finished.”
“I’m so thankful that you came into my life.”
“Babe, I feel the same way. Are you sure you’re going to be okay?” I thought it was so sweet the way he doted on me; a girl could get used to this type of care.
“I’m positive, I just heard Jade come in so she’ll keep me company.”
“Brooke, I’m glad you called Chris and had him come find me,” he whispered.
“Me too. Night baby.”
“Sleep tight, and don’t forget to lock your door.”
“I know, I’ll go check it right now,” I promised.
“You better,” he admonished.
“Good grief, I told you I would,” I chuckled softly. I heard him mumble something about difficult women, and it reminded me of when we had first met, and we had bickered back and forth about him buying me dinner.
“What was that?” I asked playfully.
“Nothing.”
“That’s what I thought.” He laughed and hung up the phone.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Sebastian~
It’s been nearly three months since Brooke headed back to Michigan, I won’t say that it hasn’t been hard having her so far away, because it has, but somehow we’ve managed to make it work long distance. In the beginning, I was sending her little presents here and there, and she would do the same to me, each of us trying to outdo the other. For a while, it becam
e a game to see who could give the best surprise. We sent each other little trinkets, scheduled morning coffee deliveries, I sent her that outrageously large bouquet of her favorite flowers, and she had sent me various baked goods that she prepared and had overnight shipped to me so that they would still be fresh. My favorite treat so far had been the homemade English toffee, which my Mom had told her was my all-time favorite candy. She won huge girlfriend points for that move.
Today was Sunday, which meant a weekly drive to Manhattan to spend the afternoon with my family and the guys in my band. Each week I had visited since Brooke left, my Mom had always pulled me aside to check on me, as only a Mom can do, and today was no different, I had barely made it through the door when she corralled me into the den.
“Sebastian, honey, have you talked to Brooke today? How is she doing?”
I laughed, shaking my head, “Hello to you too Mom.” I knew what she was up to; I just liked giving her a hard time. My Mom was the kind of woman that never met a stranger, or ever had an enemy, everyone who met her fell in love with her immediately, including Brooke. Since she left, Brooke called my Mom on a weekly basis to check in and get advice on the ins and outs of making me happy. That always made me laugh, I wasn’t too sure how it was that Mom always knew exactly what I needed, but she did, and she passed all of that inside knowledge to Brooke in order for her to please me and keep me around. I knew what Mom was doing, Mom wanted me to find a wife, and she was grooming Brooke to fill that role. I sat back and pretended that I wasn’t hip to her ulterior motives, partly because it made her so happy to be doing it, but mostly because I was secretly hoping for the same happy ending. I had never shared that with Brooke, but in my heart I knew she was the only one for me. One day I planned on making my intentions clear.
“Oh, I’m sorry dear, you know me, I just have to check in. How are things going?”
“Everything’s good Mom, I talked to her this morning, and we were texting this afternoon. She says hello and that she loves you.”
“She’s such a sweet girl Sebastian; you need to make an honest woman of her. Is that something you two have talked about?” I rolled my eyes and groaned up at the ceiling, I heard this every week.