by J N Owens
“You aren’t. You know that. Just for a little while. Please.”
“You know I don’t need a babysitter, right? I’m fine. I promise.”
“I know. But I’m not. You scared me last night. So, for my sanity can you please stay here with me? Also, will you please think about sitting down and talking to mom and dad?” She smiles the sincerest smile I have seen in a while from her.
“Okay. For you. Only because I love you. I will think about talking to mom and dad, but I’m not promising anything.” I jump up and hug her.
“Thank you.” I am so relieved now that she will be here with me. I may get some rest. And I can keep that dick head away.
We get Emory settled in, Noah helps me go to her apartment and get some of her things for her. She goes back and forth between being happy and miserable. She breaks down crying for no reason at all or she is sitting around laughing and joking like it’s any regular day. I am really worried about her. I decide that maybe what she needs is a distraction. She doesn’t have anything to keep her occupied right now. She has been at the house about a week when I come down for breakfast with my laptop. I get a cup of coffee and get her to come sit with me at the table. I open my laptop and we get to work on a resume for her. Next, we get to work looking for any job in her field. There are quite a few. She got her degree in graphic design. This area has a ton of options for that field. We send her resume to about ten different companies that are hiring. Some of them would even allow her to finish up her masters while she works which would be the best for her. She seems to be in a much better mood once we finish. I really think she just needed something to look forward to. Now, we must wait and see. I tell her to spend the day making a list of all the things she wants to accomplish. Big or small, it doesn’t matter. Just write down everything she wants to do, whether it be in her personal life or professional. She looks skeptical, but I tell her to trust me and she just laughs. I head out to work feeling a little better about leaving her.
22
Finley
It’s been quiet for a few weeks since Emory has been here. It worries me. I have felt better about Emory with her here. I am really glad Noah’s friend, Alex, is supposed to be in town next week. I think it will be good for her. Although, her mood has improved in the last week or so. She has had a few interviews and has a few more coming up. Also, She has been on her phone more than usual, and I am wondering if she has met someone. I don’t want to be too nosy because I guess it’s really none of my business. She will tell me if she wants me to know, right? Of course, she will. I just notice she walks around smiling and laughing while she texts. It concerns me because it wasn’t that long ago, she was crying over dick head Danny. I can’t decide if I like Dick Head Danny or Douche Bag Danny better. I’m going to have to think on that. Maybe Dildo Danny, No Dick Danny? I’ll come back to that. It could get fun.
I look over to Em as she smiles at some text she reads and looks genuinely happy. I’m not too concerned with the time frame of this, but I don’t want her thinking she has to depend on someone else for her happiness. I want her to become happy with herself first. Then find someone. She deserves love.
* * *
She walks past me again giggling, while she texts on her phone. I can’t take it anymore. I have to ask her.
“Hey, what’s going on? What’s so funny.” I palm my face. Oh my God, I sound like a meddling mother. I instantly regret asking her anything. “Never mind. Forget I asked. It’s none of my business.” I smile at her. She stops though and looks at me for a second. She gets a small smile on her face.
“Do you really want to know? You won’t be mad?”
“I would never be mad at you.” She sits down next to me on the sofa.
“OK, well, the thing is, I was on that dating app, you know the one where you swipe?”
I nod to her,
“Yeah I know the one.”
“OK, well I met someone. He is handsome, smart, and I think he really likes me. For me. I mean I sent a picture but only of my face. So, he can’t really judge me on my big ass. We haven’t met in person. I’ve been holding off because I want to just get to know each other. I’m hoping that if he gets to know me well enough first, then he won’t be put off by anything physically. Ya know?”
“Em, listen to me. First of all, if they are a good person and worth your time, they won’t be put off by you physically no matter what. Besides, There is nothing wrong with you physically, I have told you this a million times. Second, I hope you are careful and know what you are doing. I don’t trust those dating sites. So please be careful. When you do meet him please be extra cautious, do it in public where there are others around. OK?” I plead with her. For some reason I have a bad feeling in my gut. And I learned to listen to those.
“You’re such a mom. Thank you. I will be very careful. And you’ll see, this is a good thing. I can feel it.” She is beaming.
“Okay Em. I believe you. And you know I’ll support you, whatever makes you happy.”
Noah comes in the next afternoon, he is sweating, having just finished his afternoon run. It’s a beautiful Saturday in the city. I am working on the vegetables for gumbo. When he grabs a bottle water out of the fridge, he sidles up next to where I am at the sink leaning in and kissing me. He makes a point to rub his sweaty face and neck all over me.
“Ewww gross. You’re all nasty. Go shower. Then come rub all over me.” I push away laughing. He walks away laughing.
“You love it when I sweat all over you.”
“Only when we are making the sweat together.” I call out to him as he makes his way up the stairs. I finish washing the vegetables in the sink, I put them aside and start on the roux. My phone buzzes, I look over and I have a message from Emory.
Em: hey just wanted to let you know I won’t be home till later. Going to Layla’s.
Don’t wait up.
That was weird. She usually isn’t short like that with me. But alright. Good for her. Noah comes back down, fresh and clean. He kisses me on my neck and goes to cut up the veggies for me.
“Don’t cut them as big as last time please. Remember what I said about dicing. They need to be small.” I look over at him smiling. He rolls his eyes and laughs.
“Yes ma’am.”
I get everything finished and put in the pot. I place the lid on and leave it to simmer for a while. We sit down to watch some football and just enjoy the nice fall weather.
“It’s just us tonight. Emory went to Layla’s.”
“Oh really? What can we get into all on our own?” He raises his eyebrow at me. I just laugh.
“Nothing. I’m exhausted. This watching every step she takes, trying to be aware of her every move has me wiped. I know I can’t be there all the time, but I’m just so worried.”
“I know, babe. You are going to have to pull back at some point. Have you ever considered you might be smothering her?” My whole body sags.
“Yes. And I hate it. But I would die if anything happens to her.”
“I know you would. But it’s not your fault. None of it is your fault. You have to stop feeling responsible for everything.”
“How do I do that? Because I do, feel responsible. I have always taken care of her. I don’t know how to stop.”
“She is grown. You have to let her live her own life.” I shake my head.
“Yeah. Okay. I get it. I’ll try to do better. I promise. Anyway… Are you ready to eat?” I stand up to go into the kitchen and he follows.
“Yes I am. It smells amazing.”
We eat and talk more about how we can help Emory without being so over whelming and suffocating. Once we finish, we both wash the dishes and wipe everything down. I love that he always helps me. We make our way back into the living room to watch the end of the game. I lay across Noah’s lap and end up falling asleep on him. He wakes me up to go upstairs. I check the time to see it’s after 1. It’s not an odd thing to stay at Layla’s till early morning but I still worry.<
br />
“Did Emory get back?” I grumble half asleep as we head up the stairs.
“No but I’m sure she is fine. She is with Layla. Don’t worry so much. Let her have a night out. You just relax. You deserve a night without worrying so much. Come on.” We get into bed and I’m back asleep before I think twice about it. I hadn’t realized how much I had been worrying and how much it had affected my sleep. I have been exhausted.
I end up sleeping till almost noon Sunday. I crawl out of bed making my way downstairs. Noah is sitting at the table reading the paper drinking coffee. That means he hasn’t been up long either.
“Hey babe.” I stop to kiss him before I get coffee. He runs his hands up under my robe over my bare ass. He raises an eyebrow.
“Well. And a good morning to you too. Are you completely naked under that robe?” I smile.
“Why, yes I am.” He scoots his chair out from the table pulling me down onto his lap to straddle him. He unties my robe, opening it, revealing my breasts. He lightly runs his hands across the top of my breasts thumbing my nipples, gently teasing them as he leans in and kisses me. I grind over his morning erection. I reach down between us releasing his perfect cock from his joggers, it springs up between us. I run my finger over the moisture sitting on the tip. I bring it up to my mouth and lick it off then going back to his mouth, I can never get enough of his mouth on mine. He reaches down between us, as I lift, and places himself at my opening. I move down on top of him. I grab hold of the back of the chair and start to move up and down. He wraps his arms around my back helping me move on him. My tits rub up and down on his chest from where he has pulled me so close. The feeling of being so close, and so full from him is overwhelming.
“I’m going to come Noah, fuck, come with me. I want to feel you.”
He lifts me up and slams me down on the table, lifting my legs and slamming into me. I wrap my legs around him and hook them over his hips, so he doesn’t have to hold them. He reaches forward grabbing hold of one breast, he grips it so tight its almost painful. He uses the other hand to work my clit, flicking it with his thumb. My back arches off the table. I reach out and grab the edges as my entire body stiffens. I let out a cry, almost a scream. My orgasm is so intense I can’t hold back. My whole-body shakes, my hips buck and push into him. I feel him tense and his cock pulse as he releases inside me. I can feel his warm release inside me. I love the feel of him flowing into me.
“Finley, your amazing.”
His hands run from my shoulders down my breasts to my hips over my thighs. He grips my thighs, pulling them off his waist. He moves slowly inside me, holding onto my thighs, pulling me closer as he slowly drains out every drop of his essence. He makes the longest slowest movements in and out. With the best little moans, almost growls coming from deep in his chest. He drops my legs and reaches forward pulling me up to his chest, he wraps his arms tight around me while he kisses me hard, pushing his tongue deep in my mouth. He pulls back and looks at me.
“I love you, Finley Grace.”
“I love you, Noah Christopher.” I smile up at him as I make my way off the table. He hands me my robe and I pull it on. He puts his pants back on and goes to make me a cup of coffee.
“I’ll be right back.” I head to the bathroom to clean up. When I get back, he is right back in his chair like nothing happened. I smile at him. I could get used to this. The kitchen wipes are out, so he clearly wiped everything down. Yep, I could get used to this.
“How did you sleep last night?” he looks up at me and smiles.
“Great, I always do when I’m next to you. How about you? Do you feel any better today?”
“I slept like a rock actually. I feel much better. Have you seen Emory yet?” He looks over at me like I’m crazy.
“No, actually I never heard her come in. I thought maybe she had stayed at Layla’s. Did she let you know anything?”
Oh shit. I don’t feel good.
“Are you sure she isn’t here?”
“No. So don’t freak out. I am sure she is fine. I know you and I know what you’re thinking. So, calm down. Until we talk to her stay calm.”
I just shake my head, biting my lip trying to hold the tears in. I don’t know what it is, but all of a sudden, I can feel it. I know somethings wrong. Something is wrong with me. I have been crying over everything lately. However, now, I feel like I have a reason to cry.
“Okay.”
I run out of the room up the stairs into Em’s room. It’s empty. Fuck fuck fuck. I run back downstairs and grab my phone. I call Emory. It goes straight to voice mail.
“Emory Justice you call me now. Call me back. Now! I need to know you’re okay.”
I hang up and call Layla. It’s past noon so I have waited the required number of hours. It rings I swear a hundred times, probably an exaggeration, then she answers.
“This better be a damned emergency.”
“Where is Emory? Is she there with you? What time did she leave last night?” I hear her take a deep breath like she is trying to wake up, I can hear her move around.”
“What are you talking about? Fin, I haven’t seen Emory since last weekend. What is this about?” I drop the phone and vomit into the sink. Noah is there instantly.
“Babe, are you okay? Please calm down.”
“She wasn’t there. She didn’t go there.”
He helps me rinse my face. I run upstairs and throw whatever clothes I can grab on which ends up being yoga pants and Noah’s tee shirt. Then, I run. I get out of the house and into my car before I notice Noah is there beside me. I don’t know where I’m going but I start the car. I have no idea where to go. Where do I look?
“Fin, what are you doing? Where are you going?”
I don’t even look at him, I can barely see through my tears. I’m very near the point of hyperventilating, so I can’t answer him. Nothing will come out. I open the door and vomit again. There isn’t anything left to vomit, just bile at this point. But I’m dizzy and so nauseous.
“Finley, stop. Let me drive. We can go wherever you want. Just let me drive.”
I put the car in park and let him take over. I’m in the passenger seat trying to get control of myself.
“Go to Ems.” I hoarsely tell him.
He heads in that direction. I pick his phone up out of the console and send a message to my dad that I know something is wrong and to start looking. I give him the details and hope he can help find her. We get to her apartment and I run up the stairs, I bang on the door. I didn’t even notice if her car was there. I use my key to open the door and fall to my knees. Something happened here. Her furniture is turned over. I notice blood on her door frame and her doorknob. There is a busted vase and chair knocked over by the kitchen. This is not normal. I scream, calling out for Noah. He comes up behind me, standing in the doorway for a split second before reaching down to grab me. He pulls me from the apartment.
“Fin, you can’t be in there, if something happened you can’t mess with any evidence the police could find.” I push at him to get him off me.
“Fuck You. Do you think I care about evidence?” I’m screaming at him as tears rundown my face, into my mouth. “I have to find my sister. What if she is hurt? She could be scared. She is alone. This is my fault. I’m supposed to protect her.” I’m screaming at him. It’s not his fault but he is the one here to take it. And he does. “Do something, please. Call my dad. Call the police. Fucking do something.” I push him and yell, he grabs me and pulls me into him. I am crying hysterically. He wraps me in his arms, and my heart starts to calm.
* * *
“Shhh…Finley calm down. Please, calm down.” He pulls back taking my face in his hands to look in my eyes. “Look at me, listen to me. I know this is scary as hell. We will find her. We will find whoever did this. I promise, but you have got to stay calm. Freaking out isn’t going to help her. Do you understand? You have to stay calm. She needs you right now, but she needs you sane. Can you do that?” I just nod. “Alright
good. Now just breath babe, okay.” Then he leans down and kisses me, through the tears and snot.
He lets me go so he can call my dad and the police. I turn to go back inside to see it again. I have to look, there has to be something that will tell us something that happened, anything. I walk into her apartment and start looking around. There is a crack in the wall, maybe someone was pushed. I have no idea how to tell what happened, but everything is pushed around in here. Things are broken and busted. I make it to her bedroom, and I gasp. Oh my god, what is going on? What has happened here? How? How has this happened to her? Her always perfectly neat bed is in shambles. The sheets and blankets pushed around and half on the floor. Is that blood? Is it her blood? I turn and look at the door, the casing is splintered and the door itself is busted. Someone kicked this in to get to her. Something glimmers to my left. I move to the side of her bed, it’s a kitchen knife. Oh fuck. Someone really attacked her. Oh shit. The app. It’s that guy from the app. I turn and run to get Noah.
“Noah, hurry.”
“Finley? What is it? Are you okay?” He comes running in.
“The app. The dating app. He took her.”
“Slow down. What are you talking about?”
I’m winded, not from exertion but just the overwhelming feeling of being so scared.
“She was on that dating app. The swiping one. She said she had met someone. I think he came here. Someone took her. We have to find her.” He looks terrified.
“We will find her. The police and your dad are on their way. He called Davis as well.”
It’s been 2 days, and nothing. How can there be nothing? No fucking sign of her. Not a word. Nothing. Who just takes someone like that? How is there absolutely no trace? How did no one see anything?
We are all sitting in my living room. My parents are here with Layla, we have all just been sitting around, waiting. There is nothing new, not a damn fucking word. I have been throwing up constantly. I can’t keep anything down. And I’m so fucking tired. I can’t think straight, I am scared like I have never been scared before. I feel like something is so wrong. I can’t sit still, I hate this, I want to do something. But there is nothing I can do. I don’t know where she is, and this feeling of complete and utter helplessness is horrible. I feel like my entire body is going to crumble at any minute. Layla keeps watching me. She pulls me to the side and takes me upstairs to take a break from everyone. When we come back downstairs everyone has a completely different look about them. I look from face to face.