Beautifully Broken (The Broken Series Book 2)

by Ruff, K. S.

  Kadyn was the last person to leave. I fetched his coat from the library and handed it to him as I walked him to the door.

  He lifted my chin with his finger as he forced me to look up at him. “Don’t be mad, Kri. I just want to make sure you’re safe. You need to start thinking more critically about the things that are going on around you.”

  “I know,” I whispered. “But I don’t want to live in fear all the time. I don’t want to be negative, distrustful, or suspicious of every person I meet.”

  Kadyn sighed as he released my chin. “Just try, Kri. Try not to give everyone and everything the benefit of the doubt.”

  “Okay,” I relented. “I appreciate the fact that you still care, Kadyn.”

  Kadyn gave me a curious look. “I never stopped.” He turned and opened the storm door. “I’ll be standing here until I hear the deadbolt.”

  I held back on the eye roll as I pasted a grateful smile on my face. “Fine.” I closed the door between us and purposely delayed locking the door.

  “Kri,” he growled from the other side. Suddenly, I heard his key push through the lock. The bolt slid into place. I had totally forgotten he had the key.

  I smiled. It was impossible to stay mad at the guy. “Thanks, Kadyn,” I called through the door. “Have a good night.”

  The girls had helped me clean the kitchen earlier, so I turned the lights off and walked upstairs. I had indulged in three glasses of wine, so I thought it best to forego the sleeping pill. I scrubbed my face, brushed my teeth, and tumbled into bed.

  The wine quickly drew me to sleep, but it didn’t hold me for long. Two hours later, I woke in a cold sweat. In my dream, some nameless, faceless person followed me to my car. The more I quickened my pace, the more he quickened his pace. I was afraid to turn around and terrified he’d reach me before I got to my car. I shook miserably as I considered the options: Tom, Justin, a terrorist… the missing partner from Michael’s firm. Each alternative was worse than the last.

  I was still shaking when I stumbled into the bathroom for a sleeping pill. I returned to the bed and hugged the pillow that still smelled faintly of cedar and cloves. The pill worked quickly. I didn’t wake again until seven a.m. I sat up in bed and looked around my room thoroughly confused. I could have sworn the smell of cloves had grown stronger. Still exhausted, I flopped down on the pillows and drifted back to sleep.

  * * * * * *

  The next few weeks were a bit chaotic. I completed the training required to become a certified mediator, so most of my mornings were now spent squirreled away in the library, furiously pouring through textbooks and writing midterm papers. I was still attending class every afternoon and Thursday evenings. I continued to struggle with nightmares, and there were still days when I thought I could smell Michael’s cologne. I loved the smell, but the random bursts of fragrance were driving me nuts.

  One day I finally broke down and conducted a search for the source of the smell. I couldn’t identify it on the towels or on any of the other sheets that I pulled out of the linen closet. It wasn’t in the closet where my clothes now hung. I could smell it faintly on the duvet that covered the down comforter in my room, but not on any of the other beds in the house. I wondered if it was some masculine brand of laundry soap or a special linen spray. But then I began smelling the fragrance in the library and the sun room. There were a lot of things in the townhouse that reminded me of Michael’s home in Paris, so I wondered if the smell of cedar and cloves was some sort of repressed memory or a coping mechanism that made me feel closer to Michael.

  I pursued a number of activities that I thought might help ensure my sanity. I began playing with the plants in the sun room, dividing herbs, cleaning leaves, and repotting some of the flowers. That took all of three days, so I bought a yoga mat and joined Marie for an early morning yoga class. I wondered how logical it was to drag myself out of bed at five-thirty a.m. for a six a.m. yoga class, especially when I crawled back into bed the minute I returned home. I didn’t have to be at school until three o’clock or later, and I was having so much trouble sleeping that I couldn’t afford to give up the early morning hours of sleep, which is where I seemed to fare best.

  Spring Break ushered in warmer weather and a much needed reprieve from my studies. I suddenly found I had nothing to do. I began taking my morning coffee out to a bench overlooking the river, but I seldom saw the Potomac when I looked out over the water. Instead, I saw the Tuileries Garden, the Musée d'Orsay, and the Seine. I would think about Michael an ocean away and wonder if he was sitting looking out over the river near his house.

  Early one Saturday morning, I grew disgusted with myself for sitting on the bench when it left me wallowing in so much pain. That was the day I decided to drag my yoga mat outside. People were biking and riding the trail and playing ball all along the river. I didn’t think it would be terribly out of place to do yoga out there in the crisp morning air. So, that’s what I did.

  I was in the warrior two pose when I heard Shae’s voice call out behind me. “Hey, Kri! I didn’t know you lived around here.”

  I stumbled out of my pose. Shae was standing on the trail, straddling her bike. She swung her leg over the seat and pushed the bike toward me. We met halfway, near a bench.

  I pointed toward my house. “I live in that townhouse over there. Do you live around here?”

  Shae shook her head. “My apartment is on Washington Street. I ride my bike on this trail when the weather is nice, but doing yoga by the river looks like an even better idea.”

  I grinned. “You should join me some time. I feel kind of silly out here doing this all by myself.”

  Shae took a long pull from her water bottle. She wiped her lips with the back of her sleeve. “Have you received your midterm grades yet?”

  I nodded. “All A’s, thankfully, although I’m not sure how I managed to accomplish that in the research methodologies class.”

  Shae smiled. “Me too. You know, it’s funny I ran into you this morning. I was planning to call you this afternoon. Have you found a job yet?”

  I shook my head as we both settled onto the bench. “No, but I haven’t been trying very hard. School has been so consuming.”

  Shae took another drink from her water bottle. She gazed out over the water before turning toward me. “I started working for an NGO called Seeds for Peace two weeks ago. They’re based out of DC. They work to develop conflict resolution skills among young kids and university students in conflict ridden countries.”

  I propped my feet on the bench and tucked my knees under my chin as I hugged my legs. “Wow. That sounds amazing. Do you like it?”

  “I haven’t gone on any peace-building missions yet, but yes. The people who work there are a lot of fun to be around. Some of the staff develop sports programs that bring kids from conflicting neighborhoods together. It’s just like Dr. Rubenstein said, the positive exposure helps build trust and tear down enemy images that are passed down from older generations. The sports program helps these kids see they aren’t all that different from one another. Seeds for Peace is managing a number of these projects in Africa and in the Middle East,” she explained. Her admiration for the program was clear and certainly understandable.

  “That sounds so exciting. Is that what you were hired to do?” I asked as my head popped up from my knees.

  She shook her head. “No, as fun as that sounds, I’m working on the school angle. I’ve been hired to go into universities to train students how to resolve conflict without violence. The end goal is to empower a subset of university students to help resolve conflict among their classmates and to start conflict resolution programs in high schools and middle schools within their communities. It’s basically a train the trainer program.”

  I grabbed Shae’s hand and squeezed it gently. “Shae, that’s perfect. You’ll be great at that.”

  Shae tilted her head as she silently studied me. “They want to hire another instructor for the university program. They asked me t
o scout out potential candidates at ICAR. You and I work so well together at school, I was hoping you would consider applying for the job.”

  My eyes widened in surprise. “Do you think they would hire me?”

  Shae nodded. “I’m sure they’d hire you if I put in a good word, especially with those grades, Kri. E-mail me your resume, and I’ll see what I can do.”

  I couldn’t hide my excitement. I jumped to my feet and immediately began pacing in front of the bench. “That would be awesome, Shae. I really enjoy working with you. The program sounds fantastic. How soon can I start?”

  Shae’s smile wavered, just a little, as she patted the seat next to her.

  I studied her as I sat back down.

  She took a deep breath. “There are two negative aspects of the job that you should consider before applying, Kri. First, they pay peanuts. We’re talking barely above the poverty level. Second, it’s going to require some travel, so you’ll have to clear that with your professors when those trips come up. I think they’ll be supportive since you would be gaining valuable field experience that will strengthen your education and increase exposure for the ICAR program.”

  I looked out over the river and quietly considered the advantages and disadvantages surrounding the job. Finally, my eyes returned to Shae. “I think this kind of work would be extremely rewarding. I’m not sure how long I can afford to live on peanuts with the cost of living here, but I could swing it for a year or two. I’ll e-mail my professors to see what kind of flexibility they can offer with my studies when we have to travel.”

  Shae’s eyes sparked with excitement. “Good. We only travel for two to three weeks at a time. You might want to let them know we have a trip scheduled to Ukraine in June.”

  “Ukraine,” I murmured, thoroughly fascinated, “as in the former Soviet Union?”

  Shae nodded. “Yes. We’re supposed to take a Russian immersion course in May.”

  My eyes widened. “Russian? They’d pay me to learn Russian?”

  Shae laughed. “If you can call it pay!”

  I smiled as I felt another piece of my life slide slowly back into place.

  Shae nudged her shoulder against mine. “So, Kri… any idea who that gorgeous man is with the long dark hair? He keeps looking over here like he’s some sort of dark angel. He was watching you do yoga when I first rode up.”

  I immediately began looking around. “Where?” I asked curiously. I hadn’t noticed any men with long dark hair.

  “Don’t be obvious when you look, but he’s sitting on the bench by the trees to your far right,” she noted softly.

  I tried not to be too obvious, but I had to turn around to see that area of the park. My mouth fell open in shock. “That’s Rafael. He used to be my bodyguard,” I replied in a tone that was bordering on dumbstruck. My eyes were still wide when I turned back around to look at her.

  Shae gaped at me. “You had a bodyguard? Why?”

  “My fiancé… ex-fiancé,” I quickly corrected, “pissed off some very bad men.”

  “Do you think your ex is still paying him to be your bodyguard?” she asked, thoroughly intrigued.

  I turned back around and stared at Rafael in disbelief.

  Rafael lowered his iPad. He smiled one of those smiles and waved, like I shouldn’t have been at all surprised to find him sitting on a bench in my neighborhood.

  I continued staring at him while responding to Shae’s question. “Either that or he’s having a hard time letting go of the job.” My pulse quickened as Rafael stood and began walking toward us.

  “And the angry but fine looking black brother who’s heading our way?” Shae prompted with some amusement.

  I turned to look at Shae. She nodded over her left shoulder. Kadyn was walking determinedly toward us. My eyes widened even more. Shae was right. Kadyn looked pissed.

  He was still three strides away when he spoke. “Kri, why aren’t you answering your phone?”

  I looked questioningly at him. “Because I left it charging inside? Why? Is something wrong?”

  He scowled. “Cenia and I have been trying to call you for over an hour. You were supposed to meet us for breakfast at my place, remember? The scavenger race starts in thirty minutes.”

  I slapped myself on the forehead, then quickly jumped to my feet. “Oh crap! Kadyn, I totally forgot. I came out to do some yoga. Then I ran into Shae. I’m so sorry. I completely lost track of time.”

  Kadyn nodded at Shae as he reached for her hand. “You must be Kri’s friend from school.”

  She shook Kadyn’s hand and grinned. “One of many,” she assured him. “What kind of scavenger hunt are you doing?”

  I glanced nervously at Kadyn as I explained. “It’s an urban race where you compete in challenges and solve puzzles spread all over DC. Proceeds from the event benefit Saint Jude’s Children’s Hospital.”

  “I’m sorry to interrupt, but everyone’s sitting in Habib’s car waiting for us,” Kadyn interjected.

  “Habib is driving?” I asked in surprise.

  “Of course. Who knows DC better than Habib?” Kadyn scoffed. “Besides, if Habib drives, it frees the rest of us up so we can decipher the clues.”

  Shae nudged me before nodding toward Kadyn. “Competitive?”

  I laughed. “Oh yeah. Big time.” I looked for Rafael as I turned to retrieve my yoga mat. My heart sank when I discovered he was gone. I couldn’t believe he would leave without coming over to talk to me. I blinked back tears, suddenly hurt that he had found it so easy to walk away. I fought to regain my composure while rolling up the mat. I walked hurriedly toward Kadyn. “Is it okay that I’m wearing yoga clothes?”

  Kadyn eyed my outfit appreciatively. “Works for me.”

  I gave Shae a quick hug. “I’m sorry. I gotta go.”

  “What I wouldn’t give to be you for just one day,” she whispered back.

  I pulled away in surprise. “Trust me. You don’t want to be me… not even for a day. We’ll talk later,” I promised as I ran to catch up with Kadyn. He was already walking toward the back of my house.

  I caught up with Kadyn just as he rounded the corner to Habib’s car. Habib was standing next to the driver side door looking anxious. He smiled when he spotted me. “Kristine!” He pulled me in for a quick hug as I approached the car. “It’s good to see you. We were very worried about you.”

  “This is your car?” I asked, thoroughly confused.

  Habib smiled. “It’s my brother’s car. Kadyn told me they don’t allow participants to use cabs in this race… but they didn’t say anything about off duty cab drivers in unmarked cars!”

  I narrowed my eyes at Kadyn. “You just couldn’t resist bending the rules, could you?”

  Kadyn bit back a smile as he opened the back door of the car and nudged me in next to Cenia. He slid in next to me. I waved to Phil who was in the front seat. Habib pulled away from the curb as soon as Kadyn’s door closed.

  I tucked the yoga mat behind my feet. “Sorry guys.”

  Phil turned around in his seat. “Did you grab your phone?”

  I shook my head. “No. I’m sorry. I was outside, and we didn’t waste time going into the house to pull it off the charger.”

  Phil smiled. “No worries. I brought Marie’s cell phone just in case. I figured your phone was dead when you didn’t answer earlier.” The guy thought of everything.

  I smiled gratefully as Phil handed me the phone. “Okay, so what’s the scoop?”

  Cenia began the briefing. “There are close to six hundred participants this year. The race starts in the National Mall. We need to check in to pick up our clue sheets and map. The race should take two to three hours to complete. Part of it is on foot, and part of it requires transportation.” Cenia leaned forward and patted Habib on the back. “That’s were Habib comes in.”

  Habib had a huge grin on his face when he glanced back at me. “I’ll drop you off wherever you need to go, and I’ll keep the car running outside to take you to the n
ext location. That way you won’t waste time trying to find parking.”

  Cenia continued. “We’ll be receiving clues and updates on our smart phones. We can use our phones to conduct research as we try to solve the puzzles. We’ll also use the phones to text pictures to a designated number, so we can document our completion of tasks.”

  I grasped Kadyn’s knee as Habib turned abruptly onto an exit ramp and raced down I-395. “We’re essentially solving anagrams and cryptograms, making fools of ourselves in front of total strangers, and eating weird stuff?” I summarized questioningly. It had been some time since we registered our team, Justice League, and I hadn’t spent much time looking over the sponsor’s website.

  “Some of the challenges will involve riddles or brain teasers. We have to compete in some physical activities. Canoeing may be required in the Tidal Basin. There may be some cycling, and they’re planning an extreme challenge this year, which I suspect will require some sort of fear factor type feat,” Kadyn clarified.

  I shook my head. “I’m not eating maggots, and I’m not crawling into a tank with spiders.”

  Phil turned around in his seat as he joined the conversation. “We have to complete twelve challenges all together, but we have to be smart about how we proceed. There is a 30 minute penalty for anything we get wrong. We need to be fast, but we have to make sure we’re answering the puzzles correctly.”

  “The first 25 teams to finish the race qualify for the national championship. First place receives $300, second place $200, and third place $100, not like that really matters,” Kadyn interjected.

  I nodded. “I’m happy knowing the event benefits St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital. What are the odds we can place in the top twenty-five?”

  “Not good,” Cenia admitted grudgingly, “especially since this is our first year in the race.”

  “Oh, I wouldn’t say that,” Kadyn warned as Habib pulled into a no-parking zone near the Washington Monument. “We’ve got ten minutes. Let’s go!”