After Midnight

by Lacy Hart

  “Yeah, of course we can,” I said with mock excitement. I grabbed some plates off the table and started loading them into the dishwasher.

  Sarah went to washing the pots and pans while Linda put away the little leftovers that there were, making sure to make herself a little something to take to the office for lunch the next day. Sarah tossed me a dish towel, indicating I should start drying the dishes.

  “I can dry,” Linda said, coming over to take the towel from me.

  “Caleb can do it,” Sarah said to her. “You worked hard all day. You can relax while we finish up.”

  Linda leaned in between Sarah and me and smiled at me.

  “Make sure you keep her,” Linda said to me. “I’m going to get changed, and I’ll be right back down.”

  Linda went off to change while Sarah and I finished up the dishes and put everything away. I started a pot of coffee, and it was just ready when Linda came back, dressed in a tank top and shorts. She sat down at the table, and I handed her a cup of coffee and then poured one for Sarah before getting one for myself.

  “What did you two do today?” Linda said to us as she sipped her coffee.

  I looked over at Sarah and smiled, and then picked up my mug of coffee and drank some. I could see that Sarah was blushing slightly.

  “Not much,” I told Linda as I tried not to laugh. I was pretty sure she got the hint, and she changed the subject.

  “Well some of us worked hard today, at least,” she said to me. “Meetings all day long. Speaking of meetings, Caleb, I have papers for you to sign.”

  “What papers?”

  “We negotiated a settlement in Ella’s case. I can’t believe it took this long. It’s been almost two years to the day since the accident…” Linda looked up from her coffee and saw the look on my face. “Oh, God, I’m sorry, Caleb,” she said to me as she put her mug down. I could see Sarah looking over at me with a look of concern as well. “I didn’t even think about it,” Linda said, trying to apologize. “We can talk about it another time.”

  “No, it’s okay,” I said to her, trying to hold myself together. With all that had been going on recently, and with feeling so good, it had slipped my mind that the accident had happened two years ago this coming Thursday. I could feel the sense of dread and guilt creeping back into my mind. It didn’t seem right that I was enjoying life as much as I had been when this anniversary of sorts was right around the corner.

  “Maybe you can come down to the office tomorrow and sign them there,” Linda said as she tried to move the conversation along.

  “Sure, that’s fine,” I answered.

  The three of us sat at the table quietly for a moment before Sarah broke the silence.

  “Linda, could you direct me to your bathroom?” she asked, getting up from the table.

  “Sure,” Linda said. “It’s just down the hall on the right. It’s the second door.”

  Sarah rubbed my back lightly as she walked passed me and headed down the hall. Linda turned to me right away as soon as she heard the door close.

  “Caleb, I’m sorry,” Linda said quietly. “I didn’t mean to bring that up with Sarah here. My head was just going, and it came out.”

  “It’s fine, Linda,” I said to her. “I’m the one who feels like a jerk. I had completely forgotten that… that the day was so close. I can’t believe I did that.”

  “Hey,” Linda said to me. “It’s okay that you did. Ella wouldn’t want you moping around all the time thinking about her. “

  “I get that, Linda, but I should at least respect her enough to remember a day like that. I’ve been so caught up with…” My voice trailed off, and I didn’t finish the sentence.

  “With what?” Linda asked. “With living your life? Enjoying time with someone? Caleb, you have denied yourself the right to enjoy your life for so long. I am so happy for you that you are breaking out of that and have someone that makes you smile and feel good. Don’t shut that off just because you forgot about Ella for a moment.”

  Sarah came back down the hall and into the kitchen and stood next to me.

  “Everything okay?” she asked as she looked at us.

  “Everything’s fine,” Linda said, standing up from the table. “I am going up to my office to do some work. Sarah, thank you so much for dinner tonight. It was wonderful.”

  “You’re welcome,” Sarah said to her.

  Linda came over and gave Sarah a hug, and I could see her whispering something into Sarah’s ear. Sarah smiled at her and nodded.

  “What are you two conspiring about?” I asked.

  “Don’t you worry about it, little brother. It’s just girl talk, something I haven’t had the chance to do with someone for far too long.” Linda bent down and gave me a hug and then went off down the hall to go up the stairs.

  I stood up from the table and took Sarah’s hand and led her out the back door. I started to walk back towards my apartment, but Sarah tugged on my hand and stopped me.

  “Can we sit out here for a little bit?” she said, pointing to a couple of chairs Linda had set up on the patio that looked out over the backyard. “I could use a little fresh air.”

  I pulled the two chairs closer to each other, and we each sat down in one of the wooden deck chairs. The sun had long since set, and the sounds of nature were in all their glory tonight. The air had just a hint of coolness to it, enough to make it perfectly comfortable and enjoyable.

  “Your family is wonderful, Caleb,” Sarah said to me as she reached over and took my hand.

  “They are pretty good, I agree,” I told her. “They are both smart alecks, but they’re lovable.”

  Sarah laughed and squeezed my hand. She could see that my mind was wandering.

  “You know,” Sarah said, standing up from her chair and coming over and sitting in my lap, putting her arms around my neck, “It’s okay if you want to think about her, or even talk about her. It’s only right that you would want to. I’m… I’m not hurt by it.”

  I held Sarah close to me, and she put her head on my shoulder.

  “Thank you,” I said to her softly.

  “For what?”

  “For everything,” I said to her. “For this last week, for what you have brought into my life, for helping me to see what living should be like again. I had lost that along the way, and you have given that back to me.”

  “I think you knew you needed something before I came along,” she said modestly.

  “I knew it, but I didn’t want to do anything about it,” I told her. “You have made me want to make myself better, to be the man that I used to be and need to be again.”

  Sarah kissed me lightly and smiled.

  We sat in the chair together and held each other, taking in all the night had to offer and spread out for us.

  “This is living,” I said quietly as Sarah nuzzled into me.

  24

  Sarah

  I didn’t want these last three days to have to come to an end. The time I had spent with Caleb, either just us or with his family, made me see just how much I had been missing out on in life. To have someone that cares about me, who I am, and what I do is something that I have lacked for such a long time, and now that I had it I didn’t want to give it up.

  Even though I was waking up Wednesday morning still in Caleb’s bed and in his arms, I knew it was back to the “real world” for me today. I had needed the last three days as an ideal escape from the problems I was having at James’ house, but I was going to have to confront all those issues at some point. I had no idea what I was going to do once I got home, what I would say to Denise, or what I should say to James. I asked Caleb for some advice about it as we sat at the kitchen counter and had breakfast.

  “He’s your brother, Sarah,” Caleb said to me as he took a bite of his eggs. “He deserves to know the truth. I know if it was me and Linda knew something like that, I would have wanted her to tell me about it. Yes, it will be painful for him, but you’re his family. Tell him what you know,
comfort him, and let him decide what path is best for him to take after that. That’s all you can do.”

  “I guess you’re right,” I replied, not completely thrilled with the answer. I knew it was the right thing to do, but I was already getting a knot in my stomach just at the thought of having this conversation.

  “And what about Denise?” I asked Caleb.

  “What about her?” he said. “You don’t owe her anything. She hasn’t exactly gone out of her way to make your life pleasant. If you ask me, she gets what she deserves out of this.”

  “That doesn’t make it any easier for me, Caleb,” I told him. I toyed with the eggs on my plate more than I ate them, worrying about what waited ahead for me at some point over the next day or so. “I hate the idea of tearing the family apart like that. James and Lizzie will be devastated, and I feel like it will be my fault.”

  “It’s not your fault,” Caleb said to me, putting his fork down and taking my hand. “She did this to the family, not you. You have nothing to feel guilty about. I know it won’t be easy for you, Sarah. Do you want me to be there with you?”

  “No,” I said to him. “I think this is something I will have to do on my own, as much as I don’t like it.”

  “If something goes wrong, or if you feel uncomfortable, you know you can always come back here. Just go to work, and I can meet you in the morning and walk you back here. I wouldn’t mind that all.”

  Caleb came over and hugged me close to him, and I felt safe and secure in his arms. I knew I could count on him to help me and that I could come back here if I needed to, but I really wanted things to work out well at home. If I were lucky, maybe Denise would have packed up and left before I even got there today, and I wouldn’t have to be the one to break the bad news or confront her at all.

  I spent the rest of the morning going over some homework assignments I had to do for school. It was nice to be able to sit in the comfort of Caleb’s apartment and feel relaxed while I worked. He gave me my space and sat in his chair reading a book and then answering some emails of his own while I worked. I had done enough work so that I had gotten far ahead now in most of my classes, but it was good to go on and get assignments and message with professors about things I would need to do before the end of the semester in just a few more weeks.

  By the time I had finished everything, it was getting into the afternoon, and I knew I should head back to the house. Caleb had planned to go to Linda’s office to sign his paperwork, and he offered to drive me back to the house so I could get settled and get ready for work tonight. I felt nervous from the time we got in the car, and the anxious feelings were rattling me as we got closer and closer to the house.

  When we were coming up to the driveway, Caleb stopped the Jeep in the middle of the street.

  “What are you doing?” I asked him, looking around to make sure nothing was wrong or no one was behind us.

  “If you don’t want to do this, don’t do it,” Caleb told me. “I am sure you can go to your brother’s workplace, talk to him, and arrange to get your stuff if you don’t want to be there. Don’t feel like you must step into that house. If her car is in the driveway, we can just go on our way, okay?”

  I nodded in agreement and felt my stomach tense up as we crept closer to the house. Caleb turned into the driveway and the only car there was mine, parked in the same spot it always was. I felt some of the gut-wrenching ease.

  I bent over and gave Caleb a long kiss.

  “I’m going to go in, go up to my room, get back into my routine, and we’ll see where things go from there,” I said to him.

  “Okay, you have my cell number if you need to message or call me,” he told me. “You will be fine. I’ll come by the diner tonight, okay?”

  “Okay,” I said. “Thank you, Caleb, for everything.” I went over and kissed him deeply again. I then took a deep breath, grabbed my backpack, and got out of the car.

  I made the long, slow walk down the driveway towards the front door of the house. I turned the handle lightly and felt the front door was locked. I looked back and saw Caleb was still waiting in the driveway to make sure I was okay. I waved to him that it was okay to go, and he backed out of the driveway and left.

  I turned the handle again just to make sure it was really locked, and it didn’t budge.

  Well, that’s a good sign, I said to myself and fished my keys out of my purse and unlocked the door.

  I opened the door quietly, even though I knew no one was home. I shut the door, hearing it make its usually creaking sound, and then quickly went up the stairs. My sneakers squeaked on the wood steps as I went up. All I had to do was get to my room, go in, and lock the door and stay there until it was time for me to leave. I tapped out a quick message to James to let him know I was at the house and I would see him tonight at dinner before I opened the door to my room.

  I pushed the door open as I was looking down at my phone, seeing the reply from James as a simple “Ok.” When I looked up, Denise was sitting at my desk. I gasped loudly and dropped my phone on the floor.

  “Welcome home,” she said to me with a smile. She stood up from my desk and came over to me and picked up my phone, holding it in her hands.

  “What… what are you doing here? Why are you in my room?” I said shakily, feeling fear pounding through my body.

  “Oh, I brought my car in for an oil change and tune-up today. The man at the shop was nice enough to give me a ride back home, so I’ve just been relaxing. As for why I am in your room, why I was just waiting for you to get back. I heard the car in the driveway and saw you out there kissing your friend quite passionately, so I knew you were here.”

  “Please, get out of my room,” I said, trying to control my temper and gain control of my thoughts. My body felt frozen in place just inside the door while Denise fiddled with my phone in her hands. She glanced down at the screen to see I had sent a message to James.

  “Oh, it was nice of you to send a message to James like that. He has been so worried about you,” Denise said sharply. She scrolled through my messages on my phone.

  “What are you doing?” I asked her, trying to grab my phone back, but she just snatched it away at the last second.

  “I was just checking to see if you had said anything else to James lately,” she told me. “No phone calls to him either, I see. That’s good.” She then took my phone and pushed into her pants pocket.

  “Give me my phone back,” I said to her, trying to sound strong, but I could hear my voice quivering.

  “I don’t think so,” she snapped. “Have a seat,” Denise said pointing towards the bed. “You and I need to have a little talk first.”

  I slowly moved over to the bed and sat down as Denise stood in front of me.

  “You were the last person I expected to run into at the restaurant,” she said in a huff. “We’ve been going there for months, hiding out in the corner, and never saw anyone I knew, and then you come walking into the place. At first, I was worried that you would go running right to James and tell him what you saw, but when nothing happened that night, I knew you weren’t strong enough to do anything about it.”

  “I’m going to tell him,” I shot back. “I’m telling him tonight when he gets home.”

  “No, you’re not,” Denise said with a smirk. “Even if you think that your boyfriend has somehow given you a backbone, you won’t do it. “You know why? Because of these.” Denise turned and picked up a folder off the desk and waved it in front of me. She opened the folder and showed me the pictures inside. The pictures that were all too familiar to me from back then.

  “I already told Caleb about those pictures,” I said to her. “He doesn’t care about that.”

  “Yes, I figured you probably did talk to him about that, letting him know how broken you are. But the great thing about technology today is that you can make pictures look any way you want them to look if you have the right skills. Thankfully, Jared does know the right people to do things like that. He was able to
take your pictures and your face and create a whole new set of photos that I think your boyfriend might want to see.”

  Denise flashed a few of the pictures towards me, flipping through them, and I was aghast at what I saw. Pictures of me, or at least pictures that had my face on them, doing all kinds of lewd things, things I would never even think about it. They had even doctored up some of the pictures that were of me from the past, making them seem much more profane than they really were.

  “I am sure your Caleb would love to see these, along with everyone down at the diner, like your boss and your friends. Maybe your professors might like them too. Oh, and of course your parents, I would never leave them out of this.”

  Hot tears were bursting down my face. I couldn’t believe what was happening, that I might have to relive this again, but only a hundred times worse this time.