I grab a nearby backpack and stash the laptop with the flashdrive in the largest pocket. I make my way over to him and remove his phone from his jeans. Since I don’t have any idea how much of me is saved onto his phone, I do complete wipe and throw the phone on the floor. I stomp on the device until it’s just a bunch of broken glass and plastic.
I did it.
I run out of his room and head towards the front door. Only half way through the living room, I heard the rapid footsteps of someone approaching behind me. I lunge at the door but Jake grabs me away from it and throws me down on the floor, sending my purse and the backpack with the laptop sliding across the living room.
“You bitch, I don’t know what you did, but did you really think you’d get away that fucking easy? I’m trying to help you and you try to steal from me?”
Jake sends a stinging slap across my face and plunges two of his fingers down the neck of my shirt and with his other hand rips it down the middle, revealing my breasts covered only by a slipping bra. In another quick movement he tore my bra off. I try covering myself from him but he holds my hands down.
I shout for help at the top of my lungs, but the only response I receive is some laughter from Jake.
“You think anybody’s going to come for you? I have this house for a reason. Seclusion. My nearest neighbor is a mile away, Callie. But don’t worry. I’ll make this as enjoyable as possible.”
Jake continues to hold my down while he manages to slide his pants far down enough to reveal the shriveled up shrimp he calls a cock. My worst fears are realized when he starts trying to remove my pants while he disgustingly runs his tongue up my body.
My screams don’t stop the entire time he’s assaulting me and they’re finally answered.
Somebody slams their body against the door a few time, finally making Jake stop and put his pants back on. He gets on his knees just as Declan successfully kicks down the door with Sheila right behind him. The both of them stare at us with disgust and fear in their faces.
Disgust quickly turns into rage as Declan hops over me and tackles Jake to the ground. During the ensuing fight, Sheila picks me up off the ground and buttons my jacket.
“Wait”, I shout breathlessly. “The backpack.”
I escape Sheila’s caring embrace and make a break for the backpack. I ensure that the laptop didn’t fall out when the bag was dropped on the floor and equip it.
Before running back to Sheila and away from this horrible situation, I look over at Declan and Jake’s fight. To my dismay, it seems as though jake is somehow getting the upper hand. He’s like The Hulk. The angrier he gets, the more powerful he becomes. Declan is able to land some major blows against Jake’s midsection but this doesn’t do much to slow him down. I shoot my gaze back down to the living room for and search for my purse.
The second I find it, I walk over to the fight and yell at Declan to cover his face as I cover mine. Jake looks up at me and gets some pepper spray directly into his eyes. This sends him flying right off of Declan and onto the wall. The would-be rapist uncontrollably slams himself against the floor and walls of his home while he shrieks into the night.
“You girls get out of here. I’ll deal with him”, Declan declares with clenched fists.
I nod at him, allowing to do whatever he wishes to do to Jake. For a moment after seeing him fall unconscious, I was actually worried that the melatonin laced cupcake may have killed him. Just for one moment, I worried for his well being. But right now, I want Declan to cave his face in so Jake can look as ugly as he on the inside. I leave him and continue walking away from the action as I hear some crunchy blows landing on an already wailing Jake.
The cracking noise of his crumbling skull starts to turn into a more gooey noise, making me believe that Declan may be taking care of Jake for good but the punches slow to a halt just as Sheila takes me in her arms and walks me through the threshold to her car. We sit in silence for a second to recover from what had just occurred.
“We should go, right? Are you okay? Should we go?”
I don’t have very many words to say to Sheila. I was nearly raped by my own stepbrother. He held me down. He did everything but penetrate me and it would have happened had I not kept on screaming. Sheila and Declan saved me. After raping me, who knows how far Jake could have gone. He was clearly unhinged. He deserves every single direct punch to the head Declan delivered. He deserves much, much worse.
“You’ve got the backpack, right”, I ask Sheila.
Sheila removes it and shows it me. I nod upon seeing it and close my eyes for a moment. The darkness helps me focus. I’m able to gather my thoughts and recollect the events of the night. I hope this is all worth it.
“It’s Declan”, Sheila shouts looking at through the rear view mirror.
I turn towards the house and see a weary Declan walking out with some very bloodied and bruised knuckles. There’s no way to discern whether it’s his or Jake’s blood dripping from his still clenched fists, but there’s a lot of it. There’s some folded up cardboard sticking out of his pants.
I leave the car and slowly walk towards him. He notices me and turns in my direction when I’m only a few feet away from him. His chest is bouncing from his heavy breathing, but he seems to relax a bit when he gets a good luck at me. He grabs the cardboard from his jean’s waistband and hands it over to me.
“Best not to leave any trace that we were in here”, he says breathlessly.
I grab the cardboard and unfold it. It’s the pastry box I brought the cupcake in.
“Thank you, Declan.”
He shakes his head slowly. “What were you doing, Callie? What… I’m glad you’re safe but what happened? Sheila tried to explain it to me but then we heard you screaming and we just ran inside.”
“I’m sorry. But… I got your designs back. We have proof that a crime was committed. We can go to the cops with this”, I tell him.
There is a long pause between us. I’m not seeing much of an expression on his face. He’s got the thousand yard stare, but I can tell that he’s nonplussed about me continuing to pursue his stolen work. But surprisingly, Declan looks over at me and thanks me.
“I should have… I’m sorry. I was really sensitive. I should not have pushed you out of my apartment without hearing your defense and… Thank you for caring so much about me that you put yourself in danger. Just… don’t do it again.”
“Thank you for saving me”, I tell him.
“Do you want to go back to my place? We should probably leave the scene, but if you would like to talk a bit more, I’d be open to it. But you don’t have to. You’ve been through a lot today and I don’t want to put you through more distress.”
“Believe me”, I tell him, “nothing will be as distressing as the trauma I just survived. I’d love to go home with you. I definitely can’t go back home to an empty bed right now. I need someone. I need you, Declan.”
“I’ll be waiting in my car.”
The two of us embrace. Despite the horror I endured, this feels comforting. Being in his arms is like being swaddled by two firm pillows. He kisses the top of my head and whispers in an almost inaudible voice that he’s so glad I’m safe. I look up at him and kiss his lips. He seems shocked at first but he doesn’t back away. Declan, instead, holds me close and reciprocates the tenderness.
We split ways for a moment so he could get the car started and I could retrieve my purse and Jake’s backpack from Sheila.
“Are you going to be okay with Declan”, she asks.
“I will be. Thank you so much for helping me with everything, Sheila. You’re the best. I’m certain nobody else I know would have helped me drug a cupcake. If there’s anything I can do for you, you let me know.”
“A raise would be nice. I’m kidding. Just get home safe and get out of here. Who knows when Jake is going to wake up… if he’s even alive. You should probably ask your guy there.” She raises her hand and places it on my face. “You’re going to be okay, Callie
. Take care of yourself and feel free to call if you need anything.”
Sheila drives off into the horizon like the hero she is. I truly would not have been able to pull off anything that happened tonight if it hadn’t been for her. She may have to get a raise.
Declan helps me into his car and transports us back to his apartment. We’re sitting in silence but it’s not an uncomfortable. After the night we’ve had, there’s not much that can be said that would carry any weight. The best thing for us to do right now is get some much needed rest.
When we arrive, the first thing I do is go into the bathroom to grab the first aid kit he thankfully owns, like a responsible adult. Declan washes his hands off with cold water revealing some significant damage done to the skin on his knuckles. I suggest that we should shower before I take care of his hands, and after closely inspecting his still bleeding hands, he agrees. We strip down and hop in the shower, still not exchanging many words.
I step out of the shower first and get the first aid kid ready. Declan steps out soon after an sits on the toilet allowing me to take care of his hands. I place them over the sink to run some alcohol to disinfect the wounds completely.
“This is going to hurt”, I warn him.
“I know. I’ve seen movies, heh. Thank you, Callie.”
I clean his wounds and dress them with the gauze tape though I fear that he may have to get some stitches. I’m just a baker, though, I don’t know much about wounds or whether or not a person needs sutures. I know very basic first aid and that’s all I can provide at the moment.
The two of us then move on to his bedroom where we lay on top of the covers looking up at the ceiling before finally breaking the prolonged silence.
“Let’s go sailing tomorrow”, Declan suggests. He doesn’t turn to look at me, he keeps his eyes trained onto the ceiling of his bedroom, almost hypnotized.
“Sailing?”
“Yeah. We have a lot to talk about… Again. I think the most productive conversation we ever had was while we were on the sailboat.”
I think about it and come to the conclusion that he’s right. I don’t have the energy to talk about any serious subjects at the moment. Tonight has been far too much.
“Sounds like a date.”
Chapter 15 - Declan
“Hey, aren’t boats supposed to have names?”
I stop untying the rope and look up at her. “A name? Uh, I already think it’s a bit weird to personify objects as female, naming them would just take that to the next level and I’d rather not.”
“Alright. But Forrest Gump did it”, she jokes.
“Yeah, well, he wasn’t really known for his brains, was he?”
This manages to get a laugh out of her which is comforting. She seems different today, no longer wearing the bloodied and tattered clothes from yesterday but a spotless yellow sundress. Callie seemed so traumatized last night, rightfully so. I’m glad to see her smile and joke. Knowing she wasn’t broken by almost being a victim of a downright atrocity strengthens my image of her as a strong woman. She’s a much stronger person than I could ever be. Though that doesn’t excuse her from putting herself in that situation to begin with. I have to make sure phrase that a bit differently when I ask her about it so as to not sound as though I’m blaming her for being assaulted.
“So do you want to go first”, she ask me losing her smile.
“I do have some questions to start us off. But feel free not to answer if any of these questions make you feel uncomfortable or--”
“Stop right there, Declan. I’m through hiding anything from you. I’m an open book, whatever question you have, I’ll answer it, no problem.”
“That’s fine”, I stutter, “I just don’t want to ask a question that takes you back to uh… being underneath Jake.”
“Just ask your questions.”
“What were you doing?”
“I was… getting your flashdrive back.”
“Why?”
“For you. You weren’t answering any of my calls, or texts, and you had kicked me out of your house. I figured that the only way I’d be able to get through the walls you were putting up would be by getting the flashdrive back so you can finally get some justice. Jake and Miranda wronged you and got away with it scott free. You may not care, but I do. You didn’t deserve what the two of them did to you and I don’t understand why you’re letting them get away with it. So… I took charge.”
She makes a strong case. Had I not been so standoffish and immature she wouldn’t have had to take action in such a roundabout way.
Callie continues to explain her plan. “At the charity event last week, Jake was drunk out of his mind. That being the case, I tried to get him to give up some information about what Miranda had done to you or how it was that she stole your money without leaving a trace. I didn’t really get an answer for either of those questions since the situation kept changing due to Jake’s drunkenness, but after a while I was able to get him to admit that he had designs that didn’t belong to him. I interrogated him further and was able to locate the flashdrive that contained what they had stolen from you.”
Nothing else in the world exists around me right now. Only Callie and her words, echoing in my head over and over again. She continues explaining her plan, blowing me back further. Poison, pepper spray, a hidden camera. She’s like a spy.
“Callie, that’s amazing. And you did all of that for me?”
“Yeah.”
“It was… thank you, but don’t ever put yourself in that kind of danger again. Jake is a… You’re just really luck that Sheila and I got there when we did. I don’t know if he’d murder you, but he was about to rape you and when it comes to atrocities like that, I think that once you commit crimes, it becomes a slippery slope.”
Callie nods her head but then turns my own question at me. “So what were you doing there?”
I knew I’d have to explain myself but being asked so blatantly blindsided me, more or less. I felt my cheeks reddening. But, I had no reason to be embarrassed. It’s not as if I was casually stalking her. Callie’s own mother asked me to confront her and it was just pure coincidence that I ran into her just as she was getting into a car. My attempt at explaining this without making myself come off as a stalker are successful but Callie still chooses to chide me about it.
“Stalking your ex, huh?”
I shrug. “Yeah, but… Your mom did sort of ask me to.”
“That sounds like her”, she says breaking into a smile again. “I’m sorry that she bothered you. I swear I didn’t put her up to it, she just… she’s like that.”
“Don’t worry. Like I said, it’s because of her that I was able to make an appearance and save you. Besides, your mom is a very special lady. Not everyone can get me out of my depressive states. She gave me the kick in the ass I needed.”
“Not literally, right?”
“Right, though I feel like I was just one protest away from one.”
She takes a pause and looks up at me. “What was your plan when you heard me scream? You could have called the cops.”
“There’s no way the cops would have gotten there in time. Besides, while Sheila didn’t get the chance to explain everything, she was able to tell me that you were planning to steal something from Jake. And that would have muddled things up. You could have gotten arrested yourself.”
“Wait, that reminds me. How did you run into Sheila?”
“Well, I followed you up to Jake’s place but when I saw that you were meeting with Jake of all people, I thought it was enough proof to be sure that you had been lying about not being after my money. I sped off right when you walked in but stopped when I saw that Sheila’s car was less than a block away. I got out of my car and asked her what was going on, and she tried her best to explain the situation up until we heard you scream.”
“And then you came to the rescue”, she says with a smile. I then notice her furrowing her brow inquisitively. “Say, you didn't kill Jake, did you?”
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“No, of course not. I mean, if he rushed himself to the hospital after the beating then I'm sure he's fine. Well, as fine as one could be after having their teeth bashed in.”
Truth be told, I hadn't thought much about the state I had left Jake in. I knew I gave him the worst and only beating I've had to deliver but at the time, I wasn't at all thinking about the possibility that I could end up killing him. The image of Callie standing in the doorway and looking back at me flashes in my mind. That's what kept me from doing irreparable damage to Jake's skull. I wouldn't want Callie to know me as a murderer.
She leans on me and give me a kiss on my chin. I hold her in my arms and look straight out into the ocean. Now that we’ve cleared up the specifics of the messy night the two of us, there’s just one question left to ask.
Two Bad Bosses_An MFM Menage Romance Page 44