by Skye Turner
I trace Micah’s face in one. It’s a photo of him and his father and they are in the House Chamber at the State Capitol. He looks about fifteen in it. He’s sitting behind the main desk with a huge smile on his face and his father is standing behind him in a suit with his hand on his shoulder. They are both grinning for the camera.
A throat clears behind me. I turn and almost knock the photo off of the mantle in my haste. An attractive older gentleman is standing behind me with a drink in his hand and he’s watching me. He looks vaguely familiar.
He chuckles. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you. You must be Bradi. I’m Max. Max Stevens. Micah’s uncle.”
Something about this man is telling me to get out of the room, but manners dictate I stay. Smiling, I stand up straight. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Stevens. Yes, I’m Bradi. Micah’s girlfriend.”
He smiles at me, but it doesn’t quite meet his eyes. “Yes, Micah’s girlfriend. He was right. You are a beauty.” His eyes rake me and my skin crawls. “You look very familiar to me, Bradi. Have we met before?”
Keeping my smile in place, I reply, “No, I don’t think we have.”
Setting his drink down and tapping his chin, he contemplates me with shrewd eyes. “No, I’m positive I know you. What’s your last name, Bradi?”
Suddenly, I remember. The breath leaves my lungs and my knees feel like they are going to give out. My eyes widen and I gasp.
He smiles shrewdly. “Ah, I thought so. Bradi St. James, right? Tell me, Bradi, how is Eve?”
My throat closes and I feel like I can’t breathe. “She’s fine. My mother is just fine.”
“Are you alright, Bradi? You seem a little off? Maybe you should sit down.” He gestures towards the couch and my knees are so weak I collapse onto it.
No. No. Noooo. How is this even possible? He’s Micah’s uncle? This is a joke. This is not real. I’m having a nightmare.
Max sits beside me and pats my knee. I pull it away. He chuckles. “So, another St. James is trying to sink her claws into a Stevens. It didn’t work for your mother and it won’t work for you either. You are not the type of people we settle down with. Your mother thought that being beautiful and a wildcat in bed would get her into this family and as you are aware, that didn’t work out for her. Micah has responsibilities and expectations, and though you are beautiful enough, your breeding isn’t up to par.”
I can’t breathe. Maxwell Stevens was the one man my mother ever loved. She had a relationship with him for three years when I was younger and she thought he would marry her. He used her and then when it was time, he dropped her, and married his society bride. He almost broke her. How is this possible?!
I’m speechless, but then the anger rushes in. “How dare you? You think because you’re rich you can talk to me like that?! You used my mother. You made her believe you would marry her and then you left her. You disgust me.”
He smiles and it almost looks like remorse crosses his face before he schools his expression. “Believe what you will, Miss St. James. But of one thing you can be certain, my nephew has promise and drive. He’s going places and you aren’t a part of that lifestyle. He might love you, but loving you could cost him everything. You’re a distraction. He’s not thinking realistically. Are you willing to rob him of his future just to be with you? Because you will. Where he’s headed, you don’t belong. If you love him, which I believe you do, you’ll walk away now. It will hurt him, and he’ll fight for you. He loves you. He’s young and stupid, but has worked too hard to get where he is. If you love him, walk away. You simply don’t fit in our world.”
Shaking my head, I can’t seem to form the words I’m trying to say. He’s wrong. I am good enough. And Micah loves me. He’s wrong.
The front door opening breaks the silence of our staring contest. Micah walks into the room and immediately crosses to me, takes me in his arms, and kisses my hair. “You look gorgeous. Did you sleep well?” Turning his head, he greets his uncle. “Hello, Uncle Max. Nice you could join us tonight. Where’s Aunt Truvy?”
Max looks at me and then at Micah. “Hello, Micah. Truvy wasn’t feeling well, so she stayed in tonight to rest. You were right, Bradi here is beautiful. Quite captivating and smart.” He looks right at me. “It was nice talking to you. Miss St. James. Think about what I said.” He inclines his head to me and walks out of the room.
Micah looks at me. “What did you two talk about? Did he bore you to death with politics?”
Smiling, I reach up and pull his head down so I can look into his eyes. “Nothing. We just had general conversation. Did you get a good tree?”
We had a wonderful night filled with family and love. We ate, drank, and decorated the tree. Micah and his dad talked about the House and an upcoming session and I sat back and took everything in, filing it away. Later that night, I crossed the hall into his room and we made love like we’d never made love before. Then I packed my bags, called Lexi, and left the house without a backwards glance.
Merry Christmas, Micah. Things are better this way.
Chapter Six
Erik
Six years ago
Joe and I have been together for over a year now. Things are great. We love each other and we’re both fully committed. He’s going home to Alabama for Winter Break and I’ll be staying here with Lexi. I don’t like to leave her alone and Bradi is at Micah’s parents’ house.
We’ve decided to hunker down and decorate my dorm room and we’ve grabbed the most desperate, pathetic little tree we could find. Lexi insisted that it wasn’t the tree’s fault it was so ugly and it just needed some love to make it beautiful. So, now I have a six foot tree with hardly any branches and holes all over it and we’re about to decorate it with red and gold bulbs, a gold star, and some icicle tinsel.
We have the radio on continuous Christmas music and we’re both singing along as we sort ornaments. Lexi decides it’s time to start decorating and she starts putting the glass bulbs on the tree. “Lex, are you seriously going to study the tree for five minutes before you place every bulb?”
She turns to me and cocks her hip while sticking out her tongue. “Yes, E. I have to make sure every ornament is in its perfect place. I can’t just throw them up there.”
Chuckling, I reply, “If you say so. I thought the whole point was to just throw them up there. I wasn’t aware there was a method to the madness.”
She’s reaching up to place a bulb toward the top and the DJ’s voice comes through the speakers. “Ladies and gentlemen, a brand new rendition of ‘The Little Drummer Boy’ for all of you Bayou Stix fans. It’s rapidly climbing the charts. Enjoy.” The bulb shatters on the ground as she gasps and we hear the first notes. Running over to the radio, I turn the volume down, and turn to her. She’s rocking on the ground and her eyes are filled with silent tears.
Striding over, I take her in my arms and hug her as she cries. “Oh, love. I’m sorry. I didn’t know that was coming on. Lex, you have to stop this.”
Sniffling and wiping her face on my shirt, she looks at me. “I know. I am doing better, E. I am. But, I can’t… It still hurts.”
Sighing, I lean back. She falls with me and snuggles into the crook of my arm, laying her head on my chest. “I know it does. It’s been almost two years, Lex. He’s not thinking about you, so you need to stop thinking about him.”
Sitting up, she looks at me. Her back straightens. “You think I don’t know that, E?! You think I don’t see the shit in all the tabloids?! I can’t go anywhere without seeing his fucking face! He’s screwing a different woman every night. Fuck him. I’m trying, ok?” She punches the floor and I sit up. “I dated Josh for a bit. I even had sex with him, thinking it would help, but it didn’t. And I’m not like him!” She punches the floor again and I take her hands in mine. “I’m NOT like Jude Delecroix!”
Pulling her to me, I hug her. “No, love, you aren’t. You’re good. I just want you to be happy.”
She kisses my cheek and lays her head on
my shoulder again. “I am happy, E. You, Bradi, and Micah are enough. My heart is full.” Then, she looks at me. “You’re happy with Joe, right? I mean y’all have been together for a year now.”
Laughing, I grab a pillow and hit her with it. “Yeah, I’m happy. I love him. I never thought I’d have someone like him. I’m happy.”
Grinning at me, she says, “I’m happy you’re happy. He’s one hot piece of man meat!”
Just then my computer pings with a new instant message. Laughing, I hop up and go check it. It’s from Joe. “I miss you.”
Smiling, I type back, “Miss you too. Enjoy your trip and I’ll talk to you later.”
Another ping comes through a few minutes later. “Will do. Hey, Erik?”
I glance over my shoulder to see Lexi sweeping the broken ornament into a dust-pan, before quickly typing out a reply. “Yeah?”
There’s no reply so, frowning I get up and go take the pan from Lex. As I’m emptying it into the trash can, I hear the sound I’ve been waiting for, and race back to the desktop to read. “I love you, ok?”
I know he loves me. That’s a little weird. And why did he call me Erik?! He always calls me EJ.
Lexi sees me frowning at the screen and walks over. “What’s up, E? Why the frown?”
Shrugging and shaking my head to clear it, I turn to her and smile. “Nothing, love. Joe just seems a little off. I’m sure it’s nothing. So, are we decorating this tree, or what?”
Looking at the computer once more, I turn as she grabs my hand, and we decorate the rest of the tree.
We fall asleep lying on the floor in the glow of the tree lights. My mind is wandering at Joe’s last message as I drift into sleep. Why would he write the “ok” at the end of it? And why did he write out my name?
The ringing of Lexi’s cell phone wakes us up about 2AM. She starts and reaches blindly for it before mumbling a sleepy “hello.” She sits up and I can immediately tell something is wrong. “Wait… no, stop… slow down…. What happened, Bradi? Are you sure? I think you should wait until the morning and talk to him first… No… Ok… Of course, I’ll come get you. What’s the address? Ok, I’ll be there as fast as I can…”
She looks at me and I see the worry in her eyes. “I have to go get Bradi. Something happened. She’s leaving Micah.”
Wait, what? Bradi is leaving Micah? Why? Those two are made for each other. What the hell happened?
“It’s 2AM, Lex. I’m coming with you.” I’m already pulling my shoes on and grabbing a sweatshirt. “What happened?”
Lexi is wringing her hands. “I don’t know. I just know she needs us to come get her. We’ll figure it out. Let’s go.”
We head out to Micah’s parents’ and neither of us speaks. As we pull through the massive gates and reach the house, we see Bradi waiting outside. She heads straight to the car. Getting out, I grab her bags and throw them into the trunk. “What’s going on, Bradi? What did he do?”
She looks at me and I am shocked by the complete desolation I see on her face. “Nothing. He didn’t do anything. I just don’t want to be with him. I don’t want this.” She gestures towards the house.
Something is not right. What the hell happened?
She looks at me and I see the pain in her eyes. “Can we just go, E?”
Shaking my head and throwing one more look over my shoulder at the house, I gesture for her to get in the car. The girls huddle together in the back seat, whispering, as I take them back to the dorm.
Bradi refuses to come to my room, since it’s also Micah’s room, so we head to theirs. As she kicks off her shoes and curls up under the covers, we hear her cry herself to sleep.
The feeling of foreboding I got from Joe’s message intensifies.
At 6AM the next morning, Bradi’s cell phone starts ringing. One call after the other, for over an hour. Then Lexi’s phone rings and Bradi tells her to ignore it. Finally. at 7:30AM, my cell rings. Micah is my friend. I’m not ignoring his call, and so I take it in the hall.
Running my hand over my face to prepare myself, I answer, “Hello.”
Immediately, I’m greeted by a frantic Micah. “Erik! Bradi is gone! She left. She left me! She left me a note. She’s not answering her phone. Why is she not answering her phone? Neither is Lexi. What the fuck is going on? Why did she leave me? Is she with you? What the hell is going on?”
Once I can get a word in, I start. “She’s ok. She’s here. Lexi is with her. I don’t know. Dude, what happened?”
After ten minutes of talking to him, I head back into the room and face the two girls. Bradi is sitting in the middle of her bed, hugging a pillow, and Lexi is looking helplessly at me. I speak. “Bradi, Micah is frantic. He doesn’t know what happened or why you left. What happened?”
She turns her head and glares at me. “Nothing. I just don’t want to be with him. This weekend showed me that.”
Crossing my arms, I look at her incredulously. “You ‘don’t want to be with him?’ No offense, Bradi, but you’re full of shit!”
She jumps off of the bed and pokes me in the chest, then she shoves me. “Fuck you, Erik! Maybe you should worry about your own love life and stay out of mine. I tried the relationship thing, and it doesn’t work for me. I don’t want to be with him!” Then she starts throwing things into a bag.
I stare her down the entire time. I don’t know what’s going on, but something is. And what did she mean “worry about my own love life?” She brushes past me and heads to the door. I grab her arm as she walks past. “Bradi.” She won’t look at me. So, I shake her a little. “Bradi!” She pierces me with her green eyes and I stagger at the raw pain in them. “Bradi?” I question.
Shaking her head as tears roll down her face, she whispers, “Let it go, Erik. Just let it go.” She reaches for the door and opens it. And runs straight into Micah.
He gasps and reaches for her arms. Looking at him, she says, “I don’t love you and I don’t want to be with you, Micah. Don’t call me again. I’m sorry.” Then she brushes past him and leaves him staring after her in the hallway of the dorm on Christmas Eve.
Lexi looks helplessly from Bradi’s retreating figure to Micah and then to me. Taking his arm, I lead him to our room as Lexi sighs and closes their door.
Once in our room, I settle a shell-shocked Micah into a chair and grab the bottle of Jack he keeps hidden in the desk. Opening it, I hand it to him. He never even looks at it, just swallows. And then takes another swig.
Finally, the silence is too much and he looks at me. He looks like shit. “What the fuck happened, Erik? What did I do?” His voice fades on the last word.
Rubbing the back of my neck, I just look at him. “I don’t know. Something happened. You have no idea what?”
Shaking his head, he takes another shot. “No. I don’t know. We were fine. When we went to bed last night… we were fine. I have to go back. Home, I mean. I ran out of there after talking to you. But, my mom keeps calling. I have to go home.”
Taking the bottle from him, I squat down. “Do that, man. I’ll bring you home. You can’t drive like this. Go home, spend some time with your family. Try to enjoy the holidays. I’ll see you soon and you can call if you need to. Just give her some space for a bit.”
He groans. “She lied.”
I’m taken aback. “What?”
He looks at me and his eyes are wild, but glazed. “She fucking lied. She said she didn’t love me. She lied.”
Standing him up, I can’t help but agree with him. But right now, I have to get my roommate and friend home for Christmas.
Chapter Seven
Bradi
Six years ago
God, I hurt. I should probably get up. But, why? Three days of staying drunker than shit to avoid the pain… I need to get up.
I’m at my mom’s house. Of course she’s not here and there are no decorations, but that works out well for me. I don’t want to celebrate the holidays anyway. I need to go to the store. There’s no food in this hou
se and my stomach desperately needs nourishment. I should probably also check my phone. Where is it again?
After taking a shower and brushing my teeth, I find my phone thrown under the couch. I have seventy-eight missed calls. Sighing, I hit delete on all of them and grab my purse. My phone is almost dead, so I plug it into the cigarette lighter to charge. My thoughts are too loud, so I turn up the radio and try to drown them out.
The phone rings and I glance down, expecting to see Micah’s number, but it’s Lexi. I answer and we talk for a minute. She asks when I’m coming back and I tell her tomorrow. She then tells me that Micah is coming back tomorrow, too. I almost drop the phone as the pain shoots through my stomach so intensely my hands go weak. I reassure her I’m fine and tell her again I’ll be back tomorrow. I need to make sure he gets that we’re done.
In the store, I grab a few things to make sandwiches and use my fake ID to get some wine. As I head to the check-out, I bump into someone because my mind is elsewhere. I lose my balance and almost topple over, but large hands steady me to keep me from falling and then I hear, “Hey, Bradi.”
Looking up, I see the face of Mack, Micah’s frat brother. He’s always looking at me and though he’s attractive, he’s never done anything for me. He’s also a jerk and sleeps with anything that’s willing. And he’s been hitting on me for over a year.
I reply, “Hey, Mack.”
His eyes trail my body and he smirks. “What are you up to?”