Tortured Beginning

by V. M. Holk

  I pull into the front of Sweet Pleasures and feel excitement at the thought of seeing her. I've feeling like this in a long time. I thought I had it once for Tami, but she decided I wasn't the one for her. I had a hard time with it all, I was in love with her. I wanted to marry her and she didn't want to be in such a serious relationship. She felt she was too young to be tied down.

  So after a year together, four months of that we lived together, she was gone. It was almost a year ago already. I shake myself from my thoughts, I don't want to think of her anymore.

  I get out of my car and walk up to the shop door. The bell dings, as I open it and I walk up to the counter.

  "Hi, how can I help you?" the girl behind the counter asks.

  Before I can answer, Jaylah walks out from the back. Our eyes meet and she smiles widely at me. God she is so beautiful when she smiles, I want her to always be like this.

  "Amanda, I got him."

  The girl smiles as she looks between the two of us. She nods, and walks past Jaylah to the back.

  "Hey." I smile at her.

  "Hey, yourself. You want a coffee?"

  "I would love one, please."

  She nods and I watch as she make me one, in a to go cup. She walks around the counter to where I'm standing and hands me the cup.

  "Thanks."

  "Let's go sit over her for a minute, okay?"

  She points to the couch in the corner, and I nod. I follow her there and sit next to her. I know she is thinking about Ben and what will happen today. I set my coffee on the coffee table in front of the couch, and grab her hand.

  I rub my thumb across the top of her hand, in hopes of consoling her. She looks into my eyes, and I'm sure I see a tear in the corner.

  "Look everything will be okay. He is going to jail for a while."

  "I know, I just hate all of this. I want it over and not have to think about it anymore."

  "Well you won't have to after this."

  "Only until he gets out, and then he will be looking for me."

  "I will be here, I'm not going any where. Trust me, okay."

  She nods and stands up when she hears the bell ring above the door. I grab her and pull her back down to me. She looks into my eyes, as I rub my knuckles across her cheeks. I kiss her gently and wipe the tear that falls.

  "I will come see you when everything is over."

  I watch as Trevan walks out the door. I sit back down on the couch and simply sit there. I feel drained from all the emotions I have been having lately. I know Ben is going to jail for a while, but he will get out. And when he gets out, he will be fucking pissed off. I know he will come looking for me. I almost went down and dropped the charges. But I know that Trevan, Anne and Lynette for that matter, wouldn't let me do that.

  I see Anne coming towards me and sits down.

  "You alright?"

  "Yeah. I'll be happy when this is all over."

  "It already is."

  She puts her hand on my shoulder, then pulls me into a hug. I hug her back, grateful she is in my life. I pull away and smile at her.

  "I know, let's get back to work."

  We both get up, and head back to the counter. For the most part the day went pretty quickly. I look up to see that Kayla is here, to close the shop. I'm thankful that we have people we can trust working for us.

  Our business has been picking up, along with the economy. We have been talking about hiring some more people. Also about promoting either Kayla or Amanda to a manager, maybe even both. It would be nice if we didn't have to work so many hours. I know Anne wants to spend as much time with the girls, since she doesn't have them all the time. Plus she wants to spend time with Wyatt.

  I realize, that I have been so wrapped up with myself that I haven't been a very good friend. We haven't hung out and talked in a long time. I know we see each other at work all the time, but it's not the same. I don't even know how her and Wyatt have been doing lately.

  He use to come into the shop all the time, now it's only once in a while. Well I think it's time for us to all hang out. I decide to plan something this weekend, as long as Anne doesn't have the girls.

  I walk to the back and find Anne in the office doing paperwork. I lean against the door opening and wait for her to notice me.

  "Yes?" she asks with a smile.

  "Do you have the girls this weekend?"

  "Actually no. Why?"

  "Okay. Let's plan to spend sometime together. All of us, Lynette, Steve, you, Wyatt, me and Trevan."

  "That sounds great."

  "We can figure out all the plans, together."

  She nods and goes back to her work. I turn and make sure everything is done, before I can leave. I walk through the to the front and talk over the closing with Kayla. Once that is all done, I can finally leave.

  I walk to the back, taking off my apron as I go. Anne is in the back, doing the same. We walk out together, and she stops in front of my car.

  "What are you doing tonight?"

  "I don't know."

  "Well I'm having a BBQ tonight, why don't you come over? You can bring Trevan, too."

  I smile, "Sounds good, darling."

  We both get in our car and drive the short distance home. I pull into the driveway and up the path to my front door. Once inside, I hear my cell phone ring. I dig through my purse and finally find it. I see the screen says it's Trevan, and I hurry to answer it.

  "Hello."

  "Hey. Can you talk?"

  "Yeah, I just walked in the door."

  "I wanted to let you know that he got one to three years."

  "Really? Wow."

  "Yeah, he could get out sooner with good behavior. But for now he will be locked up."

  "Well that's great."

  "You okay?"

  "Yeah. Oh, by the way are you busy tonight?"

  "I'm busy with you, sweets."

  I smile at him calling me sweets, "Well that's good, Anne invited us over for a BBQ."

  "Sounds good. Let me get ready and I'll be on my way."

  "Okay. See you soon."

  I hear the click and hurry upstairs, to take my shower. I actually feel a light in my step, knowing Ben is gone for a little while. It also helps knowing that Trevan is on his way over.

  We walk across the street, with a bottle of wine to Anne's house. I see Wyatt's truck parked in front, and also Anne's dad. I'm surprised she is having everyone over. I wonder if she has news, or just wanted to have us all there.

  I walk to the gate to the backyard and walk through it. Once we walk through, Lucy comes and welcomes us. I bend down to give her a scratch behind the ear and kisses. She runs off and I follow her to the patio. Lucy is Mr. Bauman's Weimaraner and she is such a great dog.

  "Hey bitches, I'm here." I yell to everyone and laugh. Trevan puts his hand on the small of my back, I turn and smile at him. "Everyone this is Trevan. Trevan this is everyone."

  All of a sudden, I get run into by Katie and Shannon. They both wrap their arms around my middle and squeeze. I wrap my arms around them and squeeze them back.

  As quickly as they came, they run off again. I see Anne's dad, sitting at the table and I rush over to say hello. I haven't seen much of him since he was home from the hospital. I look to Trevan and he follows me to the table.

  "Well there she is. How are you?"

  "I'm doing good, Mr. Bauman. How are you feeling?"

  "Much better. So who is this?" he asks, pointing to Trevan.

  "Hello. I'm Detective Trevan Ryan," Trevan replies extending his hand. "But call me Trevan."

  "Well it's nice to meet you. It's nice to see our Jaylah, with someone nice." He winks at me as he says it.

  I roll my eyes, "Who ever said he was nice."

  We all laugh, "I'll be back. I have to find Anne."

  "She's in the house," Mr. Bauman replies.

  I nod and walk through the sliding door, into the kitchen. She is at the counter cutting up onions. I set the bottle of wine on the other counter and l
ean up to it look at her.

  "Well. Why are we having a big party?"

  "It's not a party."

  "What the fuck ever. What's going on?"

  "Nothing. Is it okay that I only wanted everyone here?"

  "Yeah that's fine. But I don't buy it."

  "It's the first time the girls are meeting Wyatt. I didn't want it to be just us."

  She sets down the knife and looks at me with worried eyes. I can tell that she is having a hard time with this all.

  "Oh, that's a great idea. "She looks down and shakes her head, I grab her arm gently, "Hey, it's fine."

  "Am I doing the right thing? Maybe I shouldn't have him here."

  "Stop it. The girls will be fine. They are stronger than you think."

  I see her mentally struggling with this, "Your right."

  She picks her knife back up and starts cutting onions again.

  "Do you want my help?"

  "Sure."

  Anne tells me what she wants done, and then I hear Lynette. Now that we are all here, this will be quite the night. I can hear Lynette, talking to Mr. Bauman. I smile to myself, glad to have all these people in my life.

  I grab the plate of chicken, to have Wyatt put on the grill. I walk over to him, and he smiles back.

  "How are you?" I ask.

  "I've been better. Anne is making me nervous as hell," he smiles, unsure of himself.

  "You'll be fine."

  I turn around to see Steve, Mr. Bauman and Trevan talking. I look in the yard, to see Lynette and the girls playing with Lucy. I walk to where they are and put my arm around Lynette's shoulder.

  "Well how are you?" I ask.

  "I should ask you that. I see you brought Detective Dreamy with you."

  I laugh at her and shake my head. "Yeah. So where are your kids?"

  "They are on vacation with my parents. They took them for two weeks, I thought it would be great. But I miss them like crazy."

  "Damn, but that was nice of them. Where did they go?"

  "They went RVing. Down to the Grand Canyon and making stops in between."

  "Well shit, that's a nice vacation."

  "Yeah. Steve and I have been enjoying a quiet house. But they have been gone a week and I'm ready for them to be home."

  I shake my head as we watch the girls. Lucy keeps bringing them the ball and they throw it for her. We decide to walk back to the patio and join everyone else.

  I grab the chair next to Trevan and put my hand on his knee. He looks over to me and smiles, as he puts his hand on mine. The rest of the BBQ goes by fast.

  I enjoyed everyone's company with great food and good beer. When we get ready to leave, it's late and I wrap my arm through Trevan's, as we walk back to my house. Moments like these, I can actually see myself being some what normal.

  Trevan and I decided to do something, only us this weekend. We always do things with our friends, or we go to each others house. He made plans to go out to eat and said the rest of the night is a surprise.

  Anne and I had gone shopping, which we haven't done in so long. It was a fun day at Lakeside Mall, which normally I don't like doing. We had a nice lunch, and caught up on everything. She didn't talk much about her and Wyatt, so I'm not sure what is going on. I feel like an awful friend, but she needs to figure out what she wants.

  I know those two are meant for each other. They are having a hard dealing with Kyle, at least that is what I think. I might have to go have a talk to him, to tell him to knock it the fuck off. He decided too late to save his marriage, he obviously doesn't understand that.

  I look at myself in the mirror and I look hot, downright sexy. I laugh at myself, hoping Trevan likes it. I bought myself a little black dress. It's form fitting on top with spaghetti straps, and flares out to mid-thigh. I grab my purse and strappy shoes.

  I set them by the front door and I look to see that I have about twenty minutes until Trevan gets here. I step out onto the deck to have a quick cigarette. I sit there wondering what the plan for tonight is.

  I walk back in, in time to hear the doorbell. I hurry to the door and open it. Standing with a dozen coral colored roses, is Trevan. He walks in and hands them to me.

  "Thank you. They are beautiful."

  "Beautiful flowers for a beautiful woman," he smiles at me and I want to melt.

  I walk into the kitchen and grab a vase, from under the sink. I get them situated in the vase, and put them in the middle of the table.

  "You ready to go?" he asks.

  "Yes."

  We lock up. I'm not sure where we are going, so I sit waiting to see where we head. He starts driving to the expressway and now I'm very curious. Once we get on the expressway, I turn to Trevan.

  "So where are we going?"

  "We are going to eat downtown Detroit, at Pegasus. They have the best greek food, if that's okay?"

  "Sure. I love greek food."

  It's a forty-five minute drive into the city and I sit back to enjoy the ride. Not that there is much to see, on this stretch of road. Lots of shopping areas, than closer to the city, houses. Downtown Detroit is a great place to go. The girls and I have gone done to the Casino's. It was so much fun. I also like to go down to the DIA (Detroit Institute of Arts). I have gone down by myself quite a bit and get lost in the art.

  I don't usually go downtown to eat, I'm excited to enjoy this with him. I love going to Red Wing games, or the Detroit Tigers and I have always wanted to go to a Lions game. I'm not a huge sports fan, but there is nothing like going to watch a game live. Maybe we can do that this fall.

  We get to our exit and I'm thankful he knows where he is going. He drives down a few streets and we reach Greek Town. He pulls into the parking lot and pays the attendant. Once we are parked, he runs to my side and opens the door for me.

  Being with a cop, makes me feel even more safe being down here. Like I said, downtown is fine, you just have to be careful on the outskirts of town. That is where all the crime is.

  I loop my arm through Trevan's and we walk the block and half to the restaurant. Once inside, the hostess greets us. Trevan gives her his name for the reservation he made. We sit and I order a glass of red wine. It's their house wine and the waitress said it was very good.

  Once we order our food, I sit back, taking a sip of wine. I savor the taste of it and close my eyes. I've always enjoyed a good tasting wine, I don't drink it often enough. I open my eyes to see Trevan looking at me, a smile comes across his face.

  I smile back, "What?"

  "Nothing. I was enjoying watching you."

  "Yeah," I smirk back at him.

  "Don't do that. You need to let people in you know."

  I don't like the tone in his voice, but I don't want to ruin our night. I take another drink of my wine, trying to wash away the anger.

  "I'm sorry, I don't want you to be mad. I know it's hard, but you are worth it. I hope you realize that."

  "Okay. Let's leave that alone for now, I don't want to get into a fight."

  I can see the hurt in his eyes, "Fine."

  I sigh, not liking where things have gone. We were having a nice evening. Why does he feel like he has to fix me. I don't want to go down this conversation.

  "So what is the big surprise for after dinner?" I hope to change the subject.

  He smiles, "Do you really want to know, now?"

  "Well, yes." I lean forward on the table and smile widely at him.

  "We are going to see Wicked."

  I actually jump up and down in my seat. I am so excited, I had mentioned once that I really wanted to see it.

  "Oh my god. Thank you so much, I can't believe you did that."

  I lean over the table and kiss him hard on the lips. He looks up at me and laughs.

  "Well I guess you are happy."

  "I have wanted to see that for so long, I can't wait."

  The start of an argument forgotten now. My mind was only on the evening ahead. The waitress brings our food and we talk happily with each oth
er.

  I was worried that the evening was going to be lost when we were at dinner. I only want her to be happy and she can be, if she lets herself. I don't understand, why she won't even talk to me about any of it. I have never been in that situation, but I deal with people who have all the time.

  I put my hand on the small of her back, as we walk out of Fox Theater. I was entranced watching her. She was so enthralled in the show and I loved to see her like this. Once out of the theater, I listen to her talk about how much she loved it.

  She has kissed me a dozen of times on our way back to the car. This is how I would love to see her all the time. Happy and content with the world, enjoying herself.

  I open the car door for her and help her into the car. I walk over to my side and start the car. I glance over at her, before I back out. She smiles back at me, looking very content.

  I wake up in the morning and smile over at Trevan. The night before is almost like a dream. I haven't enjoyed myself that much in a long time. We got back to my house, and I wouldn't take no for an answer, he was coming in.

  Once in the house, I thanked him thoroughly for the wonderful date. I know I seem like a kid, but this was the nicest evening I have had with a man. I was shocked that he remembered I said I wanted to see Wicked. That was so sweet, I wanted to jump him in the restaurant.

  I don't want to think about our almost fight. Eventually I'm sure he will want to talk about it, but I'm not ready to do that with anybody right now. I want to enjoy what we have together, there is no need to complicate things with my past.

  I don't know much about his past, and I don't ask him to share it with me. Is it to much to ask that I don't want to share?

  I get out of bed, kissing him gently on the cheek. I go into the bathroom to quickly do my business. Once done, I go downstairs and make a pot of coffee. Still savoring my happiness from last night, I step outside.