“That was how you felt in high school, and that was why you never spoke to me again?” I was sad that he felt this way.
“Yup.” I saw the hurt in his eyes. Yet, I felt paralyzed, I didn’t know what to say to him.
“I’m happy that you came into this room, and that we have connected.” Oh god, this was what I came up with. That seemed so impersonal. What I should have said was that I didn’t care about money and the whole class structure, I cared more about the person’s heart, his integrity and honesty. I clearly didn’t have all my wits with me.
“Like I said it was long time ago. Now it’s my turn to ask you questions. I want to know more. What happened to you?” He knew what the doctors had on file, but that was very little considering the circumstances.
I told him about my husband and he got the bright idea of looking him up on the Internet. I should have thought of that myself, but I was preoccupied with my rehabilitation efforts.
His hands were flying over the keyboard and the tip of his tongue was sticking out of his mouth. He probably didn’t even know he was doing it. His concentration was broken with his mouth falling open with whatever he had found.
“I’m a big girl and I can take whatever you can dish out.” I was putting on a brave face, but I was worried about how the outside world continued to move forward without me.
“I have some good news and some bad news.” I was thinking it was better to hear the bad news and then feel a little bit better with the good news.
“I’ll take the bad news first to get it out of the way.” He wanted to say something, but he couldn’t find the right words.
“There’s no easy way to tell you this. Your husband Andy petitioned the court a few months ago to legally divorce you. I know it’s a shock, but it’s only part of the story.” He had my undivided attention and I was glued to every word he was saying.
“You’ve come this far and it would seem foolish not to go all the way.” I was giving him the license to say anything without having me come down on his head for being the messenger.
“This is the part I think you should read for yourself.” He came over and laid the warm laptop on my lap. I thought that he was exaggerating the importance of this information, but I was about to learn betrayal came in many forms.
It wasn’t even a month later after he had petitioned the court and received a quickie divorce that he was marrying another woman. It wasn’t just any woman. I would have probably understood had it been anybody other than my… SISTER. Somehow she had used my condition to weasel her way into his good graces.
“I’m in a bit of an emotional tailspin at the moment.” He was right there with his hand on my shoulder and I leaned against him with my head on his chest without even thinking about it. I closed my eyes and tears just streamed down my face as if I had no control over my eyes anymore.
“I know this is a shock, but you are strong enough to rise above it. Here let me tell you the good news.” He handed me a tissue to wipe my face.
Travis read another article from the web. The only bright spot was the good news about my clothing boutique and how my partner, Sheila, had been making it the hot spot in town.
I was a big believer in recycling. Clothing that was old and out of style was coming back. What was old was becoming new again. It was a testament to Sheila and her willingness to persevere without me. She could’ve easily used my condition to stake a claim to the business and push me out entirely.
I could understand the reason why she hadn’t come to visit. She passionately hated hospitals and had every reason to feel they were a death trap. Her boyfriend went in for a mild headache and never left. I was there for her when they found the tumor in his brain. It wasn’t fun watching her age prematurely before my eyes.
“I can’t believe my own sister had the nerve to fly in on her broomstick like some kind of vulture to pick at the bones. I know we don’t get along, but to stoop to this level...” I was out of words. I wanted to find her and throttle her to the inch of her life in front of my husband. I still couldn’t get used to the idea of her calling him ‘husband’.
“I hate to say this, but you missed an important piece at the very bottom.” My heart stopped when I saw they were expecting their FIRST CHILD!
I had to believe this was a shotgun wedding and somehow her impending motherhood had come about doing a moment of weakness. She could’ve been there to comfort him and one thing led to another. It was only a scenario. I didn’t know the full story until I got it from the horse’s mouth.
“Just when I thought it couldn’t get worse. I hope you don’t mind, but I think I would like to be alone.” I couldn’t help but to let the tears fall. He seemed to understand how he was overstaying his welcome.
“I’m here for you. It’s ok to cry, just let it all out.” He handed me the box of tissues and gave me a hug.
“No, I need time to be alone to sort this out in my head.” I was an emotional wreck and I didn’t want Travis to watch me cry myself to sleep tonight.
“Let me leave you my number. You can call me day or night,” he wrote down his number on the notepad by my bed, and continued, “you never know and this might be a blessing in disguise. I know it doesn’t seem like it right now. If he really loved you then he would have never turned to another.”
There wasn’t much he could say to lift my spirit. It was like I was staring into the abyss. My whole world was spinning on a different axis, I could no longer see the sun.
“Whatever feelings I had for Andy is DEAD and gone. He is going to have to answer for what he did with my sister. I am not going to sweep this under the rug and let them live happily ever after.” I wasn’t going to lay down and take this. I was more determined than ever to accost them on their own turf.
“You will figure this out. I know this is a lot to ask, but do you suppose it’s possible for us to still have our daily talks? I hate to say this, but they made me feel better. I will perfectly understand if this is as far as you want to go with this… this…I don’t even know what to call what we have. Friendship at the very least I hope.” The only thing I knew for sure was that I still wanted him in my life.
“I’m not sure there is a label to put on it but maybe that’s a good thing.” He gave me a big bear hug and I felt this sensation of warmth come over me in the heat of the moment. I wished he didn’t have to let me go, I needed that hug.
He picked up his laptop and gave me a meek little smile of encouragement on his way out the door.
He raised his two fists and I knew without him saying anything that he wanted me to fight. I wanted revenge and the best way to get over somebody was to get under somebody else. I could think of only one man who fit the criteria. Travis Parker.
Everything that had happened in the previous minutes felt like a bad dream I was going to wake up from. I knew things had changed and I was going to have to evolve to accept the impossible. Andy was supposed to be ‘The One’, the love of my life, yet he had found his happiness with my sister. I wanted to stick my head in the sand and forget, but there was no way I could.
CHAPTER 6
Travis
I hated to wait and it was a mind numbing exercise in futility to sit in a car in the freezing cold about to invade somebody’s personal space. The information I had received from Olivia gave me a possible location to where I would find the car I was looking for. It was a black sedan like any other car on the road with some rust and a fair amount of horses under the hood.
The neighborhood was quaint and there were mothers strolling with their babies bundled up in strollers trying to get them to sleep at this late hour. It was twilight and I was waiting for the right time to move in without being seen. I knew calling Harper to be a second set of eyes was like throwing fuel onto the fire.
The street lamps were on and I was in the only spot down the road with the lamp above me damaged with a well-placed rock. I still had it after these many years. I was a growing concern in the baseball industry un
til I blew out my shoulder.
I couldn’t obsess over something that didn’t happen. It would’ve driven me crazy to think of the millions I would’ve made in endorsement deals over the years.
“This isn’t exactly what I had in mind when I mentioned I wanted to be with you tonight.” Harper was wearing black jogging pants with reflector bands around her thighs. She accompanied it with a black spandex top and a sweater zipped up.
“I’m sorry this is a disappointment, but this is the kind of help I need at the moment.” I had given her hope by inferring after we were done with this job she could join me in a walk down memory lane.
I was hoping something would come up to prevent the possibility of having to fulfill my part of the bargain. I wasn’t going to wish any ill will on my mother. She was already dealing with enough. I knew the phone call was inevitably going to come sooner than later. It wasn’t fair of me to hope she would use this time to take her last breath.
“I’ve never been able to say no to you with the promise of sex on the table.” She got out with her iPod and began jogging down the sidewalk watching for anything that would bring a halt to my home invasion.
I was beating myself up over the decision to call her. I probably would’ve been better to do this on my own. I was playing on the premise there was strength in numbers. I was very good at being a one-man army. I didn’t need the hassle or entanglements of involving Harper in my business.
I couldn’t think straight after being caught off guard with Aurora waking up. She had become important to me, but I had yet to determine how far and how deep those feelings went.
I observed Harper from the comfort of the warm car with the heat pumping through the vents. I had the radio station of oldies playing through the speakers. It wasn’t loud enough to attract attention. This was an old car that I could turn off the headlights while it was running. I had a piece of black tape over the dome light inside the car.
She circled the block and came back without losing her breath. She got in quickly and closed the door. Her hands immediately went for the heat of my pants. I jumped at the startling sensation of freezing cold penetrating my lower extremities.
“I would say you should wait another hour before everybody goes to bed. Don’t even think about walking down the street at this time of night. I’m sure you’ve already figured out the mechanics of what you’re going to do.” I always had a plan and a backup in case it was necessary to utilize it.
“I have everything I need in this bag. The security system is one I have bypassed several times in the past. It should be a cakewalk but you’ll never know.” I was soaring high on the adrenaline running through my veins.
I had contingency plans and I was going to masquerade as someone less threatening. I was setting a course for success and hopefully avoiding any kind of misfortune. Harper would inform me of any variable I hadn’t accounted for.
I was wearing a security uniform on in case I was caught and had to talk my way out of it. I could be a silver-tongued devil with a disarming smile. It was necessary to pretend I belonged there.
“So far there isn’t any sign of a police patrol in the area. We’ve been here almost two hours and no red flags have gone up on the play.” I was about to do something I swore to myself I was never going to be caught dead doing again.
“I shouldn’t be long. Once I have the car, then you can follow from behind until we get a safe distance away from the house.” The car was apparently a work in progress, but the family’s Facebook page confirmed the engine was running at tip-top efficiency.
There wasn’t any heat, but it was an easy fix with someone of Harper’s mechanical know how. She could take apart and put together an engine blindfolded if necessary. It was nice to know she was on my side even though her main purpose was to see me naked again.
“I will lightly tap the horn twice if I see anything out of the ordinary. Get in and get out quickly. It touches me deeply that you called me first.” She had proven to be a valuable asset several different times during moments similar to this one.
“Nobody is as good at looking for something that stands out from the crowd than you. I would ask you to go with me, but I don’t want us to be falling all over each other in a blind panic.” Cool hand was my nickname and it was a moniker I took pride in.
“It’s rare to find someone who can perform under immense pressure.” I didn’t try to move away from her when she manhandled my goods. It seemed important not to make her angry. There was no wrath like a woman scorned.
“I think that’s the main reason why the boss had me on such a short leash. He knew that he could count on me in these types of situations.” I opened the door silently and slipped out. I followed the ditch between the properties.
There was a small stream along the back side of several properties. I stayed close to the bubbling sound to mask my footsteps in the dark. There was a full moon and it made it easier to navigate without stubbing my toe on a rock.
The water was partially frozen, but the sound of it was still as loud as ever. I was at the fence warning of an attack dog. It made me hesitant to climb over, but I had knowledge that the dog had been put into a kennel for a week.
I made sure by poking my head over the top to see the chain lying aimlessly with no snarling Cujo to rip off my leg.
I used my jaguar like agility to make it over to the other side without breaking a stride. A motion detector put me in its spotlight. Anybody else in that situation would have frozen like a deer in the headlights. I simply reached out and unscrewed the light bulb. I bathed myself in the comfort of the darkness.
There was still that slim possibility they had hired someone to house sit. I wasn’t going to take the chance of finding somebody coming downstairs for a drink of water. It was a known fact people who went on vacation depended on loved ones to fill the vacancy.
A family member was less likely to steal anything or damage the property. Olivia didn’t mention anything of the sort, but it could’ve been a last second decision.
I carefully and quietly made my way around the house peeking in every window to see if there was any sign of life. I kneeled on the ground and put my hand up to my eyes to look into the basement. The window was freezing cold and I could feel it through the black gloves on my hands.
I was looking at an extensive gym with some of the most expensive equipment money could buy. I almost laughed out loud at the absurdity of having that kind of equipment inside a family residence. They probably used it once and it was forgotten about.
The next window was a family room with a huge 60-inch television adorning the wall. There were surround speakers. It most likely made you feel like you were at the movies.
I would’ve gone through one of those windows, but the wire around the frame was a dead giveaway they had spared no expense in protecting what was theirs. I wasn’t looking to get my hands on anything more than the car. I had a one-track mind and I wasn’t going to deviate from the plan I had put together.
I almost tripped over a garden hose, but I managed to keep my balance while looking like a drunken idiot. Thankfully, there was nobody there to see how stupid I looked. I didn’t curse or scream any kind of obscenity to awaken that one neighbor in the area that slept with one eye open. There was always one night owl.
The blue metal roof went with the blue shutters on the windows. I found my way back around to the back door. I fiddled with the lock knowing once the door opened the alarm was going to sound. It was a little frustrating and had been quite some time since I had the occasion to put my skills to work.
The beeping of the box had me flipping the box on the security system open in front of me. I knew exactly what I was looking at and there were no surprises.
I was able to safely introduce the master code to the Security System and deactivate it before the company would come looking for answers. I took out my penlight and surveyed the kitchen to find a rack of keys by the door leading to the garage.
I opened
the door and found the car covered with a white tarp. I unloaded what I had in the bag and would soon assemble the metal rods into the shape of the car. The house was at the end of the block surrounded by a lush evergreen of forest.
I opened up the garage manually and rolled the car into the driveway in neutral. I quickly went inside and used my photographic memory to make it look like the car was still there under the tarp. It wasn’t perfect, but the security guards would flash their light in the window and move on.
I got in and the interior was ripped to shreds like a wild dog had been trapped inside. There was no radio and the gaping black hole where it was supposed to be still hadn’t been installed. I noticed before getting in the tires were brand new and probably cost more than the car itself.
There was no way to know if the engine was going to turn over until I put the key in the ignition. I held my breath and turned it to hear it coming to life. It would’ve been nice to hear it rumble, but putting my foot down on the accelerator would have been a foolish thing to do.
I drove away barely touching the pedal on the floor. I kept watching the windows to see if a light was going to turn on. Nobody seemed to be awake. I drove by Harper with her turning around and following me from behind.
CHAPTER 7
Aurora
I wasn’t able to sleep that night and the news that I had received about my husband and sister getting together wasn’t easy to accept.
The clock on the wall flashed 4:25 AM. It was very early and I felt like I was wired on too much caffeine. I hadn’t had a drop. My mind was racing a million miles an hour. I was playing over the many different scenarios in how it was going to go confronting my sister and my husband. None of them were fulfilling and some had me killing them in a blind rage.
Kiss Me : A Modern Sleeping Beauty Retold (A Modern Fairy Tale Series Book 2) Page 4