Shattered

by Alicia Renee Kline

  This earned him a quick elbow from his sister. She then sat on the couch beside Regina. Quinn reached for her, much like he would do with me.

  “May I?” she asked Regina. Within seconds, Quinn had been relocated to her lap and she bounced him on her knee as he clapped. At least someone was happy.

  Quinn looked up at her in awe, reaching for the blue streak that hung down in the front of her blond waves. He gave it a tug and she just smiled. I stood staring at them, trying to make sense of what was going on. My ex-roommate, with her slightly counter-culture style, was a kid person. I never would have guessed it.

  “Show me what he left,” Matthew demanded, bringing me back to reality.

  “I need to tell you something first,” I said, turning to him. “Please don’t be mad.”

  I’d had half a mind to remove the pictures of Chris and me from the packet. It would be bad enough with just the ones of Matthew and Eric, I reasoned. But I’d left the whole thing intact, my stomach churning at the thought of him finding out his best friend had gone behind his back to meet with me.

  His eyes searched mine for explanation. “Why would I be mad?”

  My cell rang, interrupting us. It was Gracie, who demanded I put her on speakerphone so she could hear what everyone else was saying. I obeyed, knowing that there was no skirting around the truth now. Gracie would keep me honest.

  “Lauren, why would I be mad?” he repeated.

  “You haven’t told him yet?” Gracie shrieked from the table. I turned to the phone like she was really in the same room with us, feeling everyone’s eyes on me. Maybe it would just be easier if I let her do it. “Fuck Chris and the white horse he rode up on. You don’t owe him anything.”

  Blake’s head snapped to attention at the mention of her ex’s name. Clearly she hadn’t expected him to be a part of this evening’s discussion.

  I grabbed the photographs off the table and handed them, in their entirety, to Matthew.

  “It’s not what it looks like,” I said as he flipped through them. “He met me after work to talk to me. I don’t know if it was to warn me off of you, or give me an ultimatum, or just to see if I was sincere. Some of the things he told me made me upset. I think I passed his test, or at least he felt bad about it. I mean, you can see that he was trying to make me feel better. Anyway, he made me promise not to tell you about it.”

  “And?” he prodded.

  “And I made him promise not to tell you about Stalker Jeff.”

  I could tell Chris had kept his end of the bargain. If he’d breathed a word of this to Matthew, Jeff wouldn’t have had the opportunity to leave this gift on my doorstep.

  “So you tell my best friend, who you don’t even like, about this and not me?” Surprisingly enough, his tone wasn’t angry, just confused. He kept looking through the photos as he waited for my response. Everything he was viewing now didn’t need my explanation.

  “I really didn’t think it was a big deal. I mean, you had even noticed that the guy had a crush on me from how he stared at us in the parking lot. He said some nasty things about you the following Monday at lunch. He caused a scene at the bank.”

  Gracie was growing tired of me dragging out the narrative, so she felt the need to add her two cents. “Things that he found on the internet because he looked up Lauren’s old address, knowing that you were her old roommate’s brother. Once he found Blake, all roads led to you.”

  “So this psycho knows where I live, too?” Blake asked, now fully engaged.

  “And me,” Matthew added. The swimming pool pictures documented that.

  “And he trailed Lauren down to Indy to spy on her and Eric, too. He’s not your garden variety guy who crushes over someone. He’s obsessed.” Gracie declared. “He probably knows all about me, too.”

  “I’m sorry,” I said, finding no other words appropriate. I had drug everyone I cared about into this mess.

  “You don’t have to apologize to anyone,” Regina said. “What we need to do is figure out what to do next. A restraining order maybe?”

  I shook my head. “We work together.”

  “Not for long,” Blake chimed in, “I’ll call George if you won’t tell him. It’s better coming from you, but he’ll be on your side.”

  “George wanted to fire him on the spot, but Lauren has a thing for second chances,” Gracie added.

  “See? There’s already documentation of his harassment. That’s even better.” Blake turned her attention to Quinn and flashed a smile in his direction.

  “But it’s just speculation that he’s the one behind this,” I mused. “Do you really think that we could get him fired on a hunch? And if we do, then what? Won’t he be even more pissed off at me?”

  “Then you get the restraining order,” Regina said, returning to her original idea. “You know Brian would look out for you here.”

  “I know, and I appreciate that. But I don’t think that he really wants to hurt me. I mean, if he did, why wouldn’t he have stayed at the door until I answered? He could have pushed his way into the house and done whatever he wanted to.”

  “But George thought he was enough of a threat to make arrangements to have you escorted to your car at night,” Gracie reminded me.

  “Lauren,” Matthew whispered, “why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I didn’t want you to worry. I thought I had it under control. I mean, he’s left me alone for the past couple of weeks. And I knew you wouldn’t like it if you found out that I’d had to defend you at work.”

  “Well, I’m worried now,” he admitted as he set the photos back down on the table. Blake made a motion to reach for them, but Matthew shook his head. “There’s some things you probably won’t want to see.”

  She picked them up anyway.

  He shrugged and made his way back over to me. “You’ve been warned.”

  “So now what?” I asked as he threaded his fingers through mine and squeezed.

  “You’re not staying here tonight,” Matthew said firmly.

  “Then what’s the alternative?” Blake asked. Quinn attempted to grab one of the pictures, but she gently restrained his hand. “No, sweetie,” she cooed. Her voice returned to normal as she addressed her brother. “You take her back to your place? In the middle of nowhere? Or better yet, let’s take her to mine. He already knows where that is, too.”

  “It doesn’t matter where I am,” I said, wanting to throw my hands up in the air out of frustration. “If he wants to find me, he will. He’s proven that by following me to meet Eric. Unless we spend the night at the police station, I might as well just be here.”

  “I’d feel better if you didn’t do that,” Matthew said.

  “Me, too,” Gracie agreed.

  “You’re going to be here with me, right?” I asked suddenly, turning to Matthew. “You wouldn’t leave me, would you?”

  He stroked my hair with his free hand. “Of course not. I’m going with you.” He turned to Blake. “And I suggest that you come, too.”

  “Wait,” Gracie interrupted, “where’s everyone going?”

  “We’re going to Chris’s.” Matthew said.

  “Hell, no, we’re not,” Blake said adamantly.

  “It’s for your own good,” Matthew urged.

  “The guy’s not after me,” Blake backtracked. “If he was, he’d have left random pictures on my doorstep, too.”

  “Blake’s right,” I said, throwing her a bone. “She was just a means to an end. Jeff works in the mailroom. He got my old address – and probably this one – from his connections there. His only interest in her was to get to you. He knew that I lived with her before, and once he found out who owned that house, he found all the other stuff, too. The stuff he was actually looking for.”

  “I’d go along with that,” Gracie piped up.

  Blake gave me a look of gratitude.

  Matthew still wasn’t convinced. “I would just feel better if you were both where I could see you. And Chris will help protect the both of
you.”

  Blake rolled her eyes. “Because he has such a good record with the protection thing and all.”

  The siblings exchanged a meaningful glance. I stood watching as they had almost an entire conversation with their eyes. I’d read about that phenomenon happening between twins – where one could pretty much read the other’s mind and they could talk without speaking – and wondered if it could happen with just a regular brother and sister.

  I supposed it could, for Matthew relented. Blake would be going back to her house, and the two of us would crash at Chris’s. I wasn’t entirely gung ho about the decision, either, but didn’t find myself to be in the position to argue.

  With plans made, Gracie hung up the phone after making me promise to keep her updated. Regina reclaimed Quinn from Blake and she took off, her appetite for gossip still unsated. I felt slightly better that she had gotten some juicy tidbits, just not those that she’d expected. Being stalked had to rate up there with details of sex with a new guy, right?

  “Go pack some stuff,” Matthew commanded once the three of us were alone.

  I nodded, letting go of his hand and retreating to my bedroom. Blake followed me, obviously wanting a chance to talk to me in private. When we were in my bedroom, I latched the door behind us.

  “I’m sorry,” I said again, “I didn’t think that it would come to this.”

  “Matthew is freaking the hell out,” she said unnecessarily.

  I nodded and grabbed my overnight bag out of the closet. “I know. I swear there’s nothing going on between me and Chris. The pictures look bad, but we can’t stand each other.”

  “I could tell. That has to be one of the most awkward hugs ever captured in the history of film.”

  I snickered as I stuffed a pair of pajama pants and a tank top into the bag. Nothing too sexy tonight; I was going to be a guest at some almost stranger’s place. In fact, since Matthew and I had been together, I hadn’t had the use for pajamas at all. It would feel almost weird to not sleep in the nude.

  “Chris told me some stuff,” I said as nonchalantly as possible.

  “Okay.” Blake crossed her arms and plopped down on my bed.

  I kept rummaging through my dresser drawers to avoid looking at her long after I was packed. “He let some things slip on purpose to see what my reaction to them would be. I think, anyway.”

  “Like?”

  “Like alcohol wasn’t Matthew’s only vice. He didn’t mention what exactly, only that there were drugs involved. And women. His exact words were that Matthew was a man whore.”

  Blake stifled a laugh. I hardly thought that any of those statements were humorous, but whatever.

  “Maybe it’s fitting that we should end up together,” I continued on, “seeing as how we both have been classified as whores now.”

  This threw her into a complete fit of laughter. She sprawled across my bed, tears streaming across her cheeks. When she had recovered, she sat back up, wiping the moisture from her eyes.

  “My God, Lauren,” she gasped, “I’ve missed you.”

  I turned to her, completely serious. “So is it true?”

  She sighed. “When my darling brother was pulled over, he also had quite the assortment of prescription pain medication on him. Which, as I’m sure you have figured out, were not technically his so to speak. Realizing that he was already in deep trouble, he copped to the possession charges which were later dropped as part of his plea bargain.

  “He could have been in a lot more trouble, Lauren. Technically, he stole Chris’s car, too. I guess that would have been hard to prove given the fact that he had a set of keys for it. But if Chris would have wanted to, he could have pressed charges. Instead, he told the cops that he’d given Matthew permission to take it. So I guess I reluctantly have to admit that he did help protect Matthew. But only slightly.”

  “So back to the drug thing. How bad was it?”

  Blake shrugged. “It was a phase. Purely experimental. He was never hard core about it, and if you’re worried about now, don’t be. One of the conditions of his employment is random drug testing and they do it quite frequently. He would never risk it now.”

  I felt like a weight had been lifted off of my chest. I knew in my heart of hearts that the truth wasn’t as bad as Chris had made it seem and Blake had just confirmed that. His words had made me jump to conclusions that should have been quickly discounted.

  “And the women?” I said hopefully.

  This elicited a smile. “You’d have to ask him about that one,” she demurred.

  “We’ve had a little conversation about that already. I’ve narrowed it down to a number somewhere between two and ten million.”

  “I’d say that’s accurate.”

  “Well, now that we’ve cleared that up, I guess it’s time to head.”

  “I’m sorry, Lauren.”

  “For what?”

  “That the two of you can’t seem to catch a break. And that I wasn’t here for you when you decorated your house.”

  “Gracie helped,” I said in my own defense.

  “It’s not a bad effort. It’s just that I could have done better.”

  Because the situation totally called for it, I stuck out my tongue at her.

  We emerged from the bedroom to find Matthew pacing the floor in the living room. He was wound tightly into a ball of nervous energy, and here Blake and I were cracking jokes. Our expressions immediately sobered.

  “Chris is waiting for us,” Matthew said as if he was debriefing us. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his keys, tossing them to Blake. “You get yourself home; we’ll get my car later. Take your phone with you everywhere, and call one of us if anything happens.”

  “Or you could just drop me off at home on your way,” Blake suggested.

  Matthew held up his finger to silence her. She took the hint. “We’re taking Lauren’s car. I’m driving; give me your keys.”

  I fished them out of my purse and handed them over. It was clear this wasn’t up for debate.

  “If he would come back over here tonight to try something, I don’t want her car here. He’ll see that she’s not here, and he may decide to get creative. If he’s following us, we’ll lead him right to Chris’s.”

  “But he knows your car, too,” I reminded him, risking the fate of being shushed.

  “Yes, but if he’s watching as closely as we think he is, he’ll know that you’re not in it. Why would you not drive your own car?”

  “The same reason I didn’t take it to Indianapolis. To make someone jealous. I think it worked.”

  Blake giggled once, then immediately quieted. The three of us just stared at each other for a moment, then sprang into action.

  “Okay, I guess this is it, then,” Blake said softly, “don’t do anything stupid.”

  She hugged both of us tightly, as if it was the last time she’d ever see us again. I certainly hoped that it wouldn’t be.

  “Same for you, sunshine,” Matthew said, his voice cracking slightly over his term of endearment for her.

  She disappeared out of the front door and we headed to the garage, eager to begin yet another sleepless night, this time at Chris’s place.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  I was getting goose bumps. I rubbed my bare arms with my hands in an effort to warm my skin, then reached over and flipped off the air conditioning. It was odd to sit in the passenger seat of the Sonata; I’d never done it before.

  I turned to look at my chauffeur. His silhouette was visible in bits and pieces, depending on how the streetlamps illuminated the interior. I couldn’t miss the fact that I could see the tension in his jaw, in the way his fingers gripped the steering wheel.

  I placed my left hand on his shoulder in a gesture of comfort. I felt the muscles in his arm tense and I pulled away. Within seconds, he removed his right hand from the steering wheel and placed it on my leg.

  “I’m sorry,” I said reflexively. I’d said it so many times tonight it was becomin
g my catch phrase. I wasn’t even sure what I was apologizing for anymore. There were so many things.

  “Thirty-seven,” he said in response.

  I closed my eyes and tried to make sense of his words. Had I asked him something before? Was he giving me directions to Chris’s place? What was he talking about?

  All those questions were succinctly summed up in my reply. “Huh?”

  “You are number thirty-seven. You said you didn’t want to know, but you were lying.”

  “Oh.”

  I really wished he would stop dropping pieces of relationship trivia in random places. It totally caught me off guard. I wondered if this was how it would always be between us. If he would wait until I was fully distracted by something else and then blindside me with a bombshell. If it was, then maybe my stance on Googling him should be reconsidered.

  I bit my lip as I debated if thirty-seven was a lot. In some ways it seemed like it was, though I wasn’t hyperventilating at the knowledge. Perhaps my subconscious was telling me that it wasn’t anything to be too concerned about. I resisted the urge to pull out my cell and ask for Gracie’s opinion. I’d text her later.

  “That’s it? ‘Oh’?”

  I shrugged. “I have nothing to compare it to. And we can’t change the past, can we? So it’s pretty much a moot point.”

  “If I could change the past, there are a few things that I would do differently,” he conceded. “And a couple of things I’d change for you, too. I wouldn’t have done what I did, and your mother would still be alive. We also wouldn’t be deciding what to do about a stalker because he never would have met you.”

  “But if those things hadn’t have happened, do you think we’d still have the same connection? Do you think we’d have found each other anyway? I mean, if you hadn’t have gone to jail, you might still be drinking and partying and you might be on number two hundred.”

  He laughed despite my less than flattering vision.

  “I would have changed when I met you,” he said sincerely.

  “But what if I wouldn’t give you the time of day because of who you were?”