Tear Down These Walls

by Sarah Kay Carter

  “Okay, good luck,” Victoria says. “Call me later.”

  “I will, bye.”

  “Bye.”

  She puts her phone down and sighs. Tapping the keys, she turns her day over to Google and finding all of her sources again for her paper. After five hours, Teagan has printed out a stack of excerpts that she needs. Suddenly, the printer dings the alert that it is out of paper. Instead of riffling through Trent’s things, she picks up her phone and calls him.

  He answers right away. “Did you burn down my house?”

  “Yes,” Teagan laughs. “How did you know?”

  “I had a hunch. Anyway, what’s up? I’m going to be home in an hour.”

  Teagan sits forward in the chair. “I need more computer paper. I didn’t want to start going through your stuff.”

  “You haven’t snooped through all my drawers yet? I am surprised.”

  “Well, I found the drawer with the handcuffs and whips,” Teagan giggles.

  “Really?” Trent laughs. “I would like to know where that drawer is myself.”

  Smiling, Teagan says, “Do you like to tie girls up and have your way with them?”

  “No,” Trent answers. “I’m actually a very gentle lover.”

  “Seriously?” Teagan squeaks. “I wouldn’t have guessed.”

  “This is an odd conversation to have, but, no I have done my fair share of crazy things, but now, I am more about the passion than I am the other stuff.”

  Teagan bites her lip. “I’m not sure what I am. Who knows, maybe I’ll be a dominatrix.”

  There is silence and then, “Seriously?”

  “No,” Teagan scoffs. “I was joking.”

  “Well, if you want to experiment, I am up for anything.”

  “Shut up,” Teagan snaps playfully. “Anyway, computer paper, where can I find it?”

  “If you turn around from my desk, there is a filing cabinet. It’s in the bottom drawer. There’s extra ink down there, too. I don’t know how low the ink is.”

  Teagan does as he says and goes to the filing cabinet. “Found it!”

  “Good,” Trent replies.

  “All right, I guess I will see you in an hour,” Teagan states, as she puts paper into the printer.

  “Where do you want to go eat?” Trent asks.

  “Do you want me to cook? I doubt my clothes are dry.”

  “I can bring something home,” Trent says. “What do you like?”

  “Chinese….chicken lo mein,” Teagan quips. “Yum.”

  “All right, I will bring some home. See you in an hour.”

  “Okay, bye.”

  “Bye.”

  Teagan hangs up the phone and goes back to the computer. Half an hour later, she is finished. Stretching her arms up in the air, she yawns. “I had better go check on my clothes.”

  She grabs her papers and goes downstairs. While she is in the laundry room, the house phone rings. The clothes are still wet, so Teagan wanders into the kitchen. She wonders if she should answer it, but decides not to. The answering machine kicks in, and a few seconds later, a woman’s voice purrs, “Kellen, my love, you need to call me as soon as you get home. It’s important. I miss you. Bye.”

  Teagan stares at the phone. “I thought he wasn’t dating anyone,” she mumbles. “Not that it’s any of my business I guess.” Her heart sinks a little, and she shakes her head. “I need a drink.” With that, she wanders into the game room. There is a refrigerator under the bar. She opens and takes out a beer. As Teagan takes the first drink, the front door slams shut.

  Feeling a little awkward, Teagan fiddles with her bottle. Trent walks past the door and stops. “What are you doing?”

  “Drinking a beer,” Teagan holds the bottle up.

  “Come on, the food is hot,” Trent says, nudging his head. Teagan nervously follows him. He gets to the counter and sets down the bag. When Trent turns and looks at her, he furrows his eyebrows. “What’s wrong?”

  Taking a huge swig of beer, Teagan gulps, “Nothing.”

  “You’re a horrible liar. What’s up?”

  “Ummmm, I thought you didn’t have a girlfriend,” Teagan mumbles.

  “And I don’t,” Trent’s eyes looked puzzled. “Why?”

  “Listen to your answering machine,” Teagan suggests, as she walks to open the food bag.

  Trent gives her a quizzical look. “My answering machine?” With a curt nod, Teagan starts to pull the food out of the bag. Out of the corner of her eye she watches Trent go to the phone. He hits play and listens to the message. When it ends, he turns around, sighing. “That is NOT my girlfriend.”

  “Hey,” Teagan says, putting up her hands. “It’s none of my business.”

  “I have no feelings for that woman,” Trent mutters, the disgust in his voice obvious. “But I sadly have to call her back. Excuse me.” He disappears out the doorway. Teagan takes all the food out and goes to get plates. When everything is set up, she sits down in a chair and waits. A few more minutes go by when Trent finally walks back in. He doesn’t look very happy. His eyes have lost the warmth they had just minutes before when he walked in the door.

  Teagan says, “I wasn’t sure what you wanted, so I waited.” He pulls out a chair and plops down, but he doesn’t say anything. “Okay,” Teagan exhales, as she grabs the lo mein.

  Suddenly, Trent rubs his face. “She only has my home number. If she wants to call me on my cell, she calls a number at my office, and it transfers to my phone. I don’t let her have direct access to me.”

  “Why?” Teagan asks.

  “Just because,” Trent grumbles. “My office sends an alert to my phone if she calls there.”

  “So, why do you talk to her?” Teagan inquires.

  “I have to,” Trent sighs. “Anyway, that’s all I will say about that, but she is not in my life in a romantic sense.”

  “So….why have her in your life?” Teagan asks, completely confused.

  Putting food on his plate, Trent doesn’t say anything. Finally he murmurs, “Sometimes, we have no control over who is in our life. This is one of those instances.”

  “Awkward,” Teagan exhales, before she drinks her beer.

  “So….” Trent starts. “Did you get all the info you needed?”

  “Yeah,” Teagan sighs. “I just have to go to the computer lab and work on it this weekend. They have stupid hours, so I am getting up at 6 a.m. Saturday morning. Yyyeeeaaahhhh!”

  “That wasn’t sarcastic or anything,” Trent laughs.

  She gives him a look. “Really, do you want to get up at 6 a.m. on the weekend?”

  Chuckling, he says, “Sometimes I wake up that early.”

  “Work?”

  “Yeah, work,” he replies quickly. “But, you won’t have to go to a computer lab.”

  “Why?” Teagan asks. She takes a bite of her lo mein. “Mmmmm, this is good!”

  “It’s from this little place by the office,” Trent states. “Eat up; I will be right back.”

  Teagan chews slowly as he gets up and walks away. She leans over and looks down the hallway. Trent disappears around the corner and then comes walking back into the kitchen. He hands her a purple and black computer bag. “What’s this?” Teagan mumbles between chews.

  “Open it up and look,” Trent instructs as he sits back down.

  As she raises an eyebrow, Teagan unzips the bag, and looks in it. “This your lap top? Are you letting me use it?”

  “No, it’s your lap top.”

  Snorting, Teagan says, “One, my laptop was destroyed, and two, it wasn’t this nice.”

  “No, that’s your laptop. I’m giving you one,” Trent states matter-of-factly.

  “Bull,” Teagan snaps. “I am not taking a computer from you.”

  “Even if it has all your writing on it?” Trent calmly inquires without looking up at her.

  “What?” Teagan whispers.

  “Scott is our tech guy. He saved everything on your hard drive. It is now on that compute
r.”

  Dumbfounded, Teagan stares at him. “You saved my writing?”

  “I suspect so. Everything from your hard drive is on there,” Trent retorts, pointing to the computer.

  Without a moment of hesitation, Teagan sets the bag down and jumps over to Trent. She sits on his lap, wraps her arms around his neck and gives him a death grip hug. Trent grunts as Teagan whispers, “Thank you.”

  He rubs her back and replies, “You’re welcome.”

  “You have no, no, NO idea what this means to me.”

  “Must mean a lot because you are sitting on my lap with no underwear on,” Trent chuckles, looking down where their bodies are touching, mere inches from indecency.

  “OH MY GOD!” Teagan yells, standing up, flattening the shirt over her body.

  “There was fabric between us,” Trent states with a huge smile.

  Pointing behind her, Teagan says, “I think my pants should be dry by now. I’m going to put those on.”

  “Are you sure?” Trent says, eyeing her up and down. “I like this look, makes a man happy.”

  “You know it,” Teagan quips, cocking her hip to the side. “I’m still going to put my pants on.” She turns and walks away.

  “Bummer,” she hears Trent laugh. Teagan shakes her head and goes to grab her clothes. Her shirt and bra are still damp, but her jeans and underwear are dry. She slides them on under Trent’s shirt. When she walks back out there, Trent smiles. “Couldn’t give up my shirt?”

  “My top isn’t dry yet,” Teagan replies. “Plus, this is really comfortable.”

  “I tend to think so. It was a gift.”

  Teagan smirks and sits down. “Well, you should definitely thank whomever gave it to you.”

  “I have.” Trent points to her plate. “Eat up.”

  “Don’t worry, I will; this is delicious,” Teagan murmurs as she takes a bite.

  They eat quietly, though every time Teagan looks up, Trent is staring at her. Finally, she bursts out laughing, “What!?”

  “Nothing, I am just trying to make you uncomfortable,” Trent chuckles.

  “Thanks,” Teagan snorts. She picks up a fortune cookie and chucks it at him. Trent snags it midair without even looking. “Wow,” Teagan exhales.

  “I’m quick,” Trent declares, tossing the cookie back at her. “So, it will take something really fast to catch me off guard.”

  “Obviously,” Teagan mutters. She opens the fortune cookie and reads, “What you have been looking for may be right in front of you.” Teagan tenses up but finally laughs. “Fortune cookies are so stupid.”

  Trent clears his throat, “Yeah, I had one once that told me I was going to have a bad day tomorrow.”

  “Really?” Teagan gasps. “That’s weird and mean.”

  “You know what they say about fortune cookies,” Trent states, grabbing one of his own. “You are supposed to add ‘in bed’ at the end of the fortune.”

  “What I have been looking for is sitting in front of me in bed?” Teagan snorts. “Yeah, okay.”

  “No, it should be what you having been looking for in bed may be right in front of you,” Trent murmurs, giving her a look. His eyes are back to being warm, and Teagan flushes a bit at the heat from his gaze, not missing the suggestive nature of his comment.

  Teagan shoots a look back. “Shut up, Trent. What does your fortune cookie say?”

  “New opportunities may arise. Do not let them pass by.”

  Bursting out laughing, Teagan exclaims, “You can’t let opportunities pass you by IN BED. Oh my god.”

  “Anyway,” Trent chuckles, shaking his head. “Are you finished?”

  “Yeah, I’m stuffed,” Teagan retorts, patting her stomach.

  “I am glad that you eat. I hate it when girls don’t eat because they think it impresses guys.”

  Scoffing, Teagan rolls her eyes. “I’m not that type of girl. I am the type of girl to take the leftovers back to my apartment because my poor college ass can’t afford to eat out a lot.”

  “That is more than fine,” Trent replies. “I think we can go over there now.”

  She stands up and starts to clear the dishes. “I’m so afraid to go home.”

  “I will be there to help,” Trent states. “It won’t be so bad.”

  “Yeah,” Teagan exhales quietly.

  A half an hour later, they are driving over to her apartment. Teagan has her shirt in a bag, and she is clenching it, twisting the plastic between her fingers. “You need to relax,” Trent declares in a soft tone. “This will all be all right.”

  “That’s easy to say,” Teagan mumbles, looking out the window.

  When they pull up front, they see a guy working on the front door. “I called your landlord and ripped him a new one. They are fixing the lock.”

  “That’s good,” Teagan replies glumly. She opens the door and gets out of the truck.

  Trent walks around to her, and they walk to the building. The handyman lets them in the door. Teagan looks up the stairs, not wanting to go up and face the music. Finally, she takes the first step. “It’s going to be okay,” Trent reassures her.

  “Whatever you say,” Teagan snaps slightly. “Sorry, I’m just scared.”

  They get to her door, and Trent reaches into his pocket. He holds out a key ring. There are two silver keys on it. “There are all new locks on the door.”

  “Thanks,” Teagan says, taking them from him. She puts the key in and opens the door. “God,” she starts. “You can still smell the spray paint.” She flicks on the light. Her hands quickly come up to her mouth, and she gasps.

  “It’s not spray paint that you smell,” Trent murmurs into her ear.

  “What happened!?” Teagan yells. She steps into her apartment and looks at it in awe. Everything is fixed. The walls are newly painted. The furniture has been replaced. The whole apartment is clean. Teagan turns to Trent. “What did you do!?”

  “I told you I would help,” he smiles and raises his eyebrows.

  “This isn’t helping Trent!” She exclaims. “This is insane!” Teagan turns around in a circle, holding her head. “Trent, this is new furniture! I can’t afford this.”

  Shaking his head, Trent says, “It’s not new. It’s furniture we had after we remodeled the office. It was sitting in a storage unit.”

  “I can’t accept this!” Teagan stammers.

  “Everything has been replaced.” Trent strolls over to the kitchen and opens up the cabinets. “The small stuff is the only thing I purchased - dishes, cups, so on and so forth. Check this out.” With a smile, he pulls out one of the mugs. “You are free advertising for TPS.” The mug is black with TPS written in bold white letters. “So now if your friends need security, they can look at your mugs and be like, hey!”

  Teagan laughs. “Because my friends need body guards.”

  “You never know,” Trent smirks, as he puts it back. “Those are for strategic advertisement.”

  “I don’t even know what to say,” Teagan whispers, running her fingers through her hair. “I’m speechless.”

  “You can say thank you,” Trent says simply. “There is nothing else to say.”

  “Thank you isn’t enough.”

  He shrugs his shoulders. “It is for me.”

  Teagan walks over to him and places her hands on his chest. “Trent, I will repay you somehow.”

  “You can cook me dinner sometime,” he replies softly.

  “Or like a hundred dinners,” Teagan snorts back. She looks up into his eyes, and they stand there for a second. Finally, Teagan wraps her arms around him and hugs fiercely. “You’re incredible.”

  “I wouldn’t say that.” He wraps his arms around her and kisses the top of her head.

  They stand there for a moment in a quiet embrace. Teagan savors it. It has been a long time since she has felt safe enough to touch a guy in such a manner. Finally, she pulls away. “Well, I don’t even know what to do. There is nothing to do! Looking up at Trent, Teagan shakes her head
. “I have to repay you. I can’t take all this, and I definitely can’t take a computer!”

  “The computer you can have because TPS doesn’t need it anymore. We upgrade every year,” Trent counters.

  “Isn’t that an abuse of your company’s funds? I can pay something.”

  “No,” he laughs. “We didn’t need any of this stuff anymore. We would have donated it anyway.”

  Raising an eyebrow, Teagan says, “Really? You donate these things?”

  “Yup,” Trent replies. “Most of it anyway.”

  “See, I should pay you!” Teagan exclaims.

  Trent chuckles. “No, I refuse to take your money.”

  “I will think of something to do for you,” Teagan sighs. “You just wait and see.”

  “I’ll wait in suspense,” Trent teases. “As for the dishes and such, Jess picked them out. So, if you don’t like them, she has receipts.”

  “Jess?” Teagan questions

  “My cousin, the receptionist,” Trent replies. “She said this was the best assignment I had given her so far.”

  Teagan shakes her head. “How did you get this all done today?”

  “I started last night when you passed out. I paid some of my team members to come over here and do this. They had no assignments today.”

  “Well, I want to throw a thank you party for them,” Teagan declares seriously. “I can cook and host a party like no one’s business.”

  “That is fraternizing with clients,” Trent sighs.

  Rolling her eyes, Teagan says, “I haven’t paid you for anything, so I’m not a client.”

  “True, and I did pay them out of pocket,” Trent chuckles. “Fine, you can have them all over for a thank you party.”

  She is about to say something when her phone rings. She looks down and groans, “It’s Isaac.”

  “What’s wrong with Isaac?” Trent inquires.

  “He likes me,” Teagan exhales. “Hold on a second.” She answers the phone and presses it on speaker. “Hello?”

  “Hey, how late are you going to be up?” Isaac asks.

  Teagan looks at the clock. It’s 7:45. “Probably for a few more hours, why?”

  “I didn’t want to call at midnight if you were going to be sleeping.”

  “I have class in the morning,” Teagan replies, completely confused. “Why would you call me so late?”