RANSOM

by Faith S Lynn

  A knock on the door brings me out of my stupefied condition. “Come in.”

  My mother’s tiny frame comes through the door, and she has this odd look on her face. “There is a woman at the door that says she is your friend, but I have never seen her before.”

  “I’m really not in the mood to deal with any of my friends. Just tell whoever it is to come back later.”

  “Well…” Mom eases out of from the door, “I tried that already.”

  “But you know how painfully persistent I can be,” I hear just before the door is pushed completely open and Jen walks in. “Plus, I figured you could use a real friend.”

  I walk up to her and give her the biggest hug I can possible give. “You couldn’t have been more right!”

  “Sage, don’t forget your manners. Introduce me to your friend,” Mother scolds.

  “Oh, sorry Mom. This is Jennifer, Jen this is my mother Joan.” Jen puts her hand out to shake Mother’s, but my mother just stands there looking at it, like it’s Edward Scissorhand’s hand or something. So I give it back to her, “Mind your manners, Joan.”

  I can tell by the way her face strains that she doesn’t like that I reprimanded her, but I don’t care. I think a dose of her own medicine will be good for her. She shakes Jen’s hand, but yanks hers back quickly. “Alright, you girls have fun. I’ll be downstairs.”

  “I see where you get your resting bitch-face from now,” Jen says and nudges me with her elbow.

  “Funny. Ha-ha,” I joke back at her.

  “Oh, you know that I love it!” she says just before she takes off running and dives face first into all the pillows in my bed. “Oh.My.God. This is like freaking heaven! Can I move in with you?”

  I lay down on the bed beside her. “Sure, but I don’t think you could tough it out here long enough to enjoy the bed.”

  Jen’s blonde head pops out from under the mountain of pillows and she smiles, “Have you not learned anything about me yet?” She turns to her side and props her head on her hand. Something draws her attention across the room and she asks, “Is that what I think it is?”

  I don’t even have to look at what she’s talking about because I know it’s the dress by the direction she nods her head. “Yep.”

  I can’t help but notice the almost cringe before she asks, “So, when is the big day?”

  “There isn’t going to be one. I called it off last week.”

  “Really?” The false sadness doesn’t get by me here either. “Why not?”

  “I walked in on him and Amanda…well, I would say having sex, but I don’t think it can be called that. So, I called it off. End of story.”

  “I’m sorry, Sage.”

  “Then why do I get the feeling that you are relieved to hear it?”

  “I’m not, but I’m not shocked. If you recall, Lynkin did tell you that was going on for quite a while.”

  I don’t believe her. “Yeah, he did. How is he?”

  “To be honest, I’m not sure. He has been moping around his mom’s house a lot the last few days. I went by last night after I left John’s house to see him, but he wasn’t home. Chrissy said he hasn’t been doing much of anything. Helps her around the house, then leaves for drives and comes back hours later to just go to sleep,” she fills me in.

  I sit up with my back to Jen and run my hands over my face, then look back up at the beautiful hand crafted, lace bodice gown hanging up across the room. It’s a shame for such an amazing thing to be wasted. “Do you know anyone that needs a last minute wedding dress?”

  “I may just have the perfect person!” Jennifer says with a sly look.

  “Oh? And who might the lucky young lady be?” I ask.

  “You’ll know soon enough. Just don’t get rid of it anytime soon. Okay?”

  “Anything for my bo!” I tell her with a wink.

  Sage

  “I wished I would’ve met you a few years back. This is heaven,” Jen comments about the spa we are at as she takes a sip from her cocktail.

  I can’t help but laugh at how excited she is about everything here. I guess if me being here hadn’t been a natural occurrence my whole life, I would probably get just as excited. “I’m glad I could bring you.”

  “You and me both!” She takes another pull from her straw. “What I want to know is what the hell is going on with you.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “This whole week that we have been hanging out, it’s like your mind is elsewhere. Granted, I haven’t really seen you in your world until this week, but I know you aren’t the zombie type of gal. Someone that just lets life pass her by,” she pauses. “So what’s eating at you?”

  “It’s nothing, really. I’m sure I’ll be over it soon enough.”

  “Girl, you can’t pull that shit over on me. I will beat it out of you if I have to.” When I raise my eyebrows at her, she shrugs her shoulders and says, “You have been warned.”

  “The thing is, I need someone to talk to that wasn’t personally involved, but I don’t want to weigh you down with this either,” I confess.

  “Why would it weigh me down?” Jen asks, pensively.

  “Because it’s about Lynkin.”

  “Now you have to tell me. Go on, spill,” she says, sitting up in her chair and placing her drink on the table between us. I tell her everything I learned from my father about Richard’s scheming. She doesn’t blink or show an ounce of emotion as she absorbs every last detail of what I say, until I start talking about the details regarding Lynkin and why he was let go. “That son of a bitch! He is the reason Lynkin lost his job and couldn’t find another?”

  “Yeah, pretty much.”

  “I have to go. I have to tell this to Lynkin! It will change everything,” she says.

  “No, you can’t do that,” I say.

  “And why the hell not? You can’t tell me that even with the feelings you have for Lynkin, you will still let your selfish-little-brat side keep something as important as this from him,” she questions.

  “Feelings…I don’t have any feelings for Lynkin.”

  “Oh that’s right. You’re the heartless witch that Lynkin kidnapped still, right? So, if you didn’t develop feelings for him in the small amount of time you two were together, then what does that say about me?”

  “I’m not heartless. And, what was that last part supposed to mean?”

  “It means that if you don’t feel anything for him after spending days and nights on end together, then there is no way that you see me as a friend.”

  I can tell by the tone in her voice and the way it cracks at the end that she is hurt. “You are so wrong. Ok look, I lied. I do have feeling for Lynkin. Big ones. And I do care for you as a friend. You are the only one out of all my friends to come and check on me and see that I was coping with everything alright. You and Lynkin have shown me what real compassion is like.”

  A sly grin spreads across her face. “And?”

  “And, I couldn’t be any happier for it,” I admit.

  “And?” she asks again.

  “And what?”

  “Go ahead and admit that you love us.”

  “I love you both. There, you happy now?”

  “Nope,” she says, shaking her head once.

  “Why the hell not?”

  “Because I don’t understand. If you love Lynkin, and you aren’t getting married now, then why aren’t you at his doorstep?”

  “It’s not like I haven’t thought about it. But, with everything that has happened, I just don’t think it can work,” I tell her.

  “Whatever. I swear, you two are so much alike it is unbelievable. I know Lynkin and his whole life, if he wanted something he wouldn’t stop til’ he got it. Whether that be a toy when he was little, a grade in school, or even an internship at one of the most idolized companies in the south. But you…you he is pushing away, and I don’t get it. And you, I may not have known you your whole damn life, but I know you aren’t the type of woman to lay down and w
atch something you want pass you by without a good fight,” she shouts, and I can’t help but to notice the vein that pops out in her forehead.

  “Keep it down,” I shush her. When I see the vein go down with her fit, I finish, “Just drop it. Okay? It’s not going to happen.”

  Jennifer doesn’t say much the rest of the time at the spa, and when we get to the house she walks straight for her car. Before she can rush off, I wrap my arms around her and tell her that I love her. I think she is shocked, because I could feel that she goes stiff on me. Eventually, she turns to me with a smile and says she loves me too.

  Spending all day at the spa is great and all, but it is so relaxing that all I want to do when I get home is sleep. I climb the staircase, walk down the big vacant hallway to my room, and change into soft, silky nightgown. Once under the covers, I think about how much happier I was this week than I have been since I have been back home. Knowing that I have a friend like Jen in my life to be there for me, whether it is to tell me what a bitch I am being or just to comfort me when I need it, is an indescribable feeling. But, I am still not completely happy. I know why, and it won’t do me any good denying it. Everything that Jen was saying earlier struck deep, because it was all true.

  I love Lynkin with a passion that can’t be explained, something that I have never felt before. Who knows if I ever will feel like this about anyone else? Am I really going to let this gorgeous, kind-hearted man slip right through my grasp? This morning, the answer would have been a ‘yes’. But as I lay here fighting sleep, each time my eyes close I see his face. I see his honey brown eyes looking at me, and I know that answer is a ‘no’ now. It won’t be as simple as just going to him and living happily ever after though. I will have to deal with Richard and get him out of our lives first. Permanently.

  Lynkin

  “Wait, wait, wait. You are telling me that it’s Dick’s fault that everything I worked for was flushed down the drain?” I ask Jen. She came over today for the first time since I told her to go check on Sage. Okay, so maybe it was to spy too, but it paid off.

  “That is exactly what I am saying. Yes, Mr. Donovan did fire you. He took the easy way around all of this, but if you add all of the details of the story together, he was just trying to protect everyone with the least amount of damage,” she reasons.

  “That’s just crazy,” I state dumbfounded.

  “There is more.”

  “More?”

  “Yep. Last week, when you saw Sage, she didn’t tell you the night before she had her engagement party. Did she?”

  “I don’t want to hear this,” I tell her and put both of my hands up to stop her from going on.

  “Yes, you do,” she informs me. “Halfway through it, Richard went missing and her father hinted to her that she needed to go find him. So she did, and found him with Amanda.”

  Finally! That ass hat didn’t deserve her in the first place. Then, it dons on me that Beauty could be hurting, and I needed to put my selfish thoughts aside. “How is she handling that? Is she ok?”

  “That is why I said you needed to hear this. She is fine. She realized when she walked in on them and she didn’t get angry about it, that she never really loved him in the way that she should love someone she is going to marry. Then, she called off the whole wedding.”

  “What? Really? But how come she didn’t tell me that when I went to her house that day? Why was she still so worried if he saw us together?” I ask, confused.

  “I’m not sure why she didn’t. As for why she was worried about him seeing the two of you together, I really think she is afraid of him. I mean, think about it. What could he hold over her father’s head to keep the man from turning him over to the law or firing him? Why would he let you go to protect you? I don’t really know for sure. Hell, maybe he is a phsyco,” she says with a shrug.

  “You really think he would hurt her?”

  “Like I said, Lynkin, I don’t know. It is just a vibe that I got from her anytime she talked about him.”

  That is all I needed to hear for me to make up my mind. I am going to pay Richard a visit.

  I set up a fake meeting with little ol’ Richard for today. I called his office phone and told him I was a new business owner from Texas, and I was expanding my company further east and would like to set up a corporate account through him. He, of course, agreed, and I asked him to meet me for lunch here at the bar. Jennifer and I talked to the owner and told him what I was doing, so it’s just going to be the three of us here.

  I purposely sit with my back to the door. I don’t want him knowing who I am until it’s too late. I look up when Jen enters from the back, tying her apron around her waist, and asks, “Are you ready?”

  She bobs her head up and down real fast and I see her swallow before she answers, “Yeppers. Sure am. Game on.”

  “Game on,” I agree.

  Ten minutes later and we are still waiting on him. I doubt if he even shows at this point. Jennifer asks how he even has any cleints if he is late all the time. Just then, the door opens and shuts. When I hear that his footsteps get closer, I stand and face him. At first, he puts his hand out to greet me.

  “It’s nice to meet you…” Then, it clicks who I am, and he pulls his hand back. “You? What the hell is this?”

  “It’s a ‘Come to Jesus’ meeting, Dick. Now, please, sit. We have a lot of business to discuss,” I say in a professional tone.

  He grabs both sides of his suit jacket, and pulls them forward, and replies, “I have no business with the likes of you, Conner.”

  “Oh, but we do.” I take a step forward and lean into him. “Like I said…Sit. Down.”

  He doesn’t budge for a few seconds. When he does, he lets out a mocking laugh, “Fine, I will amuse you and sit, but I am leaving after I finish my drink. So make it quick.”

  He waves Jen over, and orders two glasses of scotch. As she walks away to get them, I notice Richard checking out her ass. If I hadn’t been ready to beat him to a pulp already, I am now.

  “You are a piece of work, you know that?” I seethe.

  “It’s nice of you to notice, but I don’t swing that way if that was what this little meeting was about,” he says, full of himself.

  “Have you lived with people despising you your whole life that you just can’t tell when someone can’t stand you? No, that is not what I wanted to see you for. This is about you spreading rumors about me to anyone that would listen, this is about why I was fired.”

  “Seriously? You are wasting my time,” he says before he kicks his drink back and stands.

  I follow him to my feet and push him back into his chair. “You will not leave this bar until I say you can. And when you leave, it will not just be the bar, it will be this town, this county, and even this state.”

  “The hell I will!” He tries to jump up, but I push him back down. “Why do you think I would leave town simply because you tell me to?”

  “Because if you don’t, I will let inform the cops about the little money squandering scheme you have going on under the table at Southern Hospitality, and because there is nothing left for you here. I am giving you the opportunity to leave on your own. If I have to make you leave, I promise to rip your entire life to shreds like you did mine.”

  "Come on man, I did you a favor. One day, you would have fucked up and embarrassed yourself anyway. I saved you the embarrassment. You didn’t belong there with us. Besides, you have no proof of my hobby,” he says snidely, then reaches over and downs the other glass of scotch on the table.

  “Obviously you don’t belong there either, considering you had to threaten your way into the circle. None of them can stand you.”

  “It doesn’t matter if they can stand me or not. I bent them to my will and got what I wanted, didn’t I? I have an honored position at a very prestigious company, I will never have to want for money, and soon I will be married to the sexiest woman in the South, who also, happens to be the daughter of one of the most renowned men in business
around here. I am set.” The finger that was pointed at his chest turns to me, then he finishes, “You, however, are out of luck.”

  I know I probably shouldn’t, but I can’t stop it once my arm is drawn back. I sock him square in the nose, causing him to fall backwards in the chair, smacking the ground with the back of his head on the concrete floor.

  “I am not the one out of luck. Sage called off your engagement. You can’t keep using her as your little magic wand to get what you want anymore,” I shout as I stand over him.

  “Do you really think that I am going to let her get away from me that easily? She will marry me, and I will use her as I please.” He gets to his feet and continues, “If I want her father write it in his will that I get his portion of the company when he dies, if Sage has to have an accident to make that happen. If I come home from a hard day on the job and need a release, I will get it if I have to tie her down bed and put my dick in every single hole until I do.”

  I fight the instinct to hit him again. It’s one of the hardest things I have ever had to do in my life, but I do it. I have to keep the bigger picture in mind. I wave to Jen, who has this mortified look on her face, to bring us two more drinks. I pick up the chair I knocked Richard over in and offer for him to sit. He is reluctant, until Jen walks over with our two new drinks. She sets them on the table, quickly grabs the empty ones, and goes back to the back room. The whole time, he is watching her every move. He takes his seat and grabs the glass once she is out of sight.

  “You and I aren’t all that different,” he states.

  I watch him wipe some blood off from under his nose and don’t even try to hide the satisfaction it gives me. “Oh, yeah? And how do you see that?”

  “Because, we are both willing to make something of ourselves, no matter what we have to do,” he says.

  “No, you’re wrong, because you don’t mind who you step on and hurt to get what you want and I do. I don’t put myself above anyone else, I think everyone is equal.”

  “What a crock of shit. You and me, we aren’t equal. There are people like you, and then there are people like me.” I watch as he finishes this glass of scotch and stands. “I am finished listening to this. If you try to contact me again, I will call the cops on you for harassment.”