Falling In

by Stark, Avery

  He ran over and grabbed her arm.

  “I thought that I might find you here, but not like this. What the hell were you thinking?”

  It was a good question, but one that she didn’t have a satisfactory answer to. So instead, she shrugged her shoulders as Liam lifted her back to her feet and started to dust her off.

  “Let’s get out of here,” he said and pulled her back toward the dock.

  “Wait,” she groaned and rubbed her face as they walked up to their boats, which sat against each other. “What about Arthur’s kayak?”

  “I’ll tow it behind us and drop it off later today. Don’t worry about it.” He pointed for her to sit down in his boat. “I’ll take you to my place and clean you up a little.”

  Audrey quietly climbed into Liam’s kayak and pressed her hand against the weeping cut on her leg as he tied the two boats together and paddled them back to town.

  ---

  Liam sat outside of the shower at his peaceful home on the beach and patiently waited for Audrey to clean off. When she was done, he carefully wrapped her in a towel and briskly rubbed his hands up and down over her arms.

  “Feel better?”

  Needing to experience his affection again, she stood up on the tips of her toes and kissed him once.

  “Now I do.”

  There was already a first aid kit on the counter. It’s fresh, plastic packaging sat just a few inches away from where he missed the trash can but didn’t bother to pick it back up. He was more concerned with her.

  “Lemme see that cut,” he said and kneeled down by her side. “Ah, it’s not that bad.”

  Liam tore the paper packaging open and patched up the inch-long gash.

  “There. And you don’t even have to pay me back for the bandage.”

  Audrey looked down to where his hands cradled her leg and responded, “Good, because I wouldn’t have anyway.”

  “Hey now,” he stood up but let his fingers glide all the way up over her body. “A hospital would charge you hundreds of bucks for that kind of service.”

  A sliver of truth slipped past her lips, “And they probably aren’t nearly as good looking while they do it.”

  His stroked his chin playfully and replied, “I’m glad you’re starting to see things my way.”

  She smiled, but her eyes were heavy. Even as she stood next to him in nothing but a towel, the need for sleep threatened to put her out right there.

  By then, the light that made it through the narrow bathroom window was fading fast. The trip back didn’t take very long--his house sat on its own, little bay on the same side of town as Kim’s house--but by the time Audrey dried off, threw on one of Liam’s baggy shirts and flopped down onto the couch, there was little energy left for her to do anything else.

  “Here,” Liam said and handed her a granola bar as he joined her on the large sectional. “You need to eat something.”

  As much as she appreciated the gesture, Audrey took three bites before her eyelids started to sink shut. Sensing her impending slumber, Liam slid the snack’s foil wrapper out of her fingers and lifted her head. He set it back down onto a pillow that he carefully positioned under her head.

  Audrey passed out in seconds with an unbecoming snore that proved just how exhausted she was. Liam smirked, stroked her wet hair and settled in to watch over her with only his massive TV (and Audrey’s noisy snore) to keep him company.

  Chapter 8

  Audrey raised her head up from the leafy ground of Atsena Otie Key with a groggy groan. It took a few seconds for her to realize that she was back, pinned under the mill’s crumbling beams.

  “How did...”

  She looked around but couldn’t finish her question. A creeping sense of panic felt like it was about to crush her windpipe shut, not just because she was somehow back, but because she could feel something beyond the trees; something that was watching.

  As before, she pulled her legs from beneath the dusty pile. This time, however, nobody was there to save her. No knight in shining armor or tattooed musician in a kayak. It was just her, the dead island and whatever else was out there.

  She croaked, “Liam?”

  Met by silence, she pulled herself off of the ground and scanned the landscape. There were no birds like last time; no distant calls or honks. Even the trees were noiseless, though their leaves ruffled and danced in a wind that she couldn’t feel.

  A noise that she dreaded hearing wafted through the trees beyond the mill and beckoned her closer. Audrey looked toward where the sound came from but couldn’t make herself move closer. Instead, her feet started to carry her away from it and back toward the dock.

  Before long, her brisk walk turned into a jog. She could feel something coming for her but it took a minute before she could muster the courage to turn around and see what it was.

  Only a couple of yards behind, Max took strides toward her that bordered on un-human. Audrey stifled a surprised yelp and tried to run faster, but somehow she knew that no amount of speed would allow her to get away.

  After finally gaining the last foot that separated them, Max reached out.

  “No,” Audrey cried as the glass embedded in his hand re-opened each and every one of her healing wounds.

  Max squeezed her tighter and dug the shards deeper than he did the first time as he replied with a hiss, “Yes.”

  “Please,” she begged. “Let go. It hurts.”

  “Good.” Max said stared her down with pupils like saucers. “That’s what happens to whores like you. What’s the sorry boy’s name?”

  “Fuck you.”

  He responded with a sinister smirk, “Fuck me? You’ll never do any better than me.”

  “He’s twice the man you are,” she practically spit the words at him.

  Max’s face changed in front of her eyes, shifting and re-settling into an arrangement that was more familiar.

  “How do you know?” Liam asked and licked his lips.

  A warm trail of tears flooded down her dirty cheeks as she struggled to free herself from his grip and cried, “No. Let me go back to the mill. It isn’t supposed to be like this.”

  He pushed her up against a tall Cedar tree and pinned her back against its rough bark. After that, he leaned in so close that she could feel his hot breath as it rolled down over her collar bone.

  “Sorry,” he said and ran his hand from her thigh to her neck. The glass was gone, but it was still painful. Audrey tried to pull her head away, but that only made him angrier, so he pressed down harder. “I’m not done with you yet.”

  The marshy backdrop started to fade to black as she gasped for air and struggled under his grip. Her eyelids suddenly felt heavy and her head began to bobble back and forth. Audrey glanced up to the face of her captor, whose face somehow changed back to Max’s furious scowl.

  “Imma get you back, Audrey. You wait and see.”

  Audrey jerked up from her spot on the couch so abruptly that she almost fell right off. Her struggle also stirred Liam from the opposite end, where he passed out after making sure that she was settled in with a pillow and blanket.

  “Audrey?” Liam lifted his head from his pillow. “Are you okay?”

  “I, uh,” she said and pulled the soft gray blanket away from her legs. “Yeah. I just forgot where I was for a minute.”

  “You were saying something in your sleep last. Something about the mill again.”

  Audrey nearly choked on her own spit as the awful visions from her dream world bubbled back to the surface.

  “What?”

  “I couldn’t really make out the rest of it. Do you always talk in your sleep?”

  “Only when I’m stressed,” she answered honestly. Seeing Liam’s slight frown, she backpedaled a little. “Not over you. It’s just other stuff.”

  “It’s cool,” he said and set his head back down. “I know how life can be.”

  Audrey sat up and immediately had to pee.

  “Excuse me for a sec.”

&nbs
p; “No problem. Make yourself at home.”

  Audrey quickly walked past Liam and grazed the tips of his messy hair with her fingers as she went, eliciting a smile from his sleepy face.

  Back in the bathroom from the night before, Audrey quickly handled business and went to wash her hands. While she finished up, her cell phone beeped from between her feet. It was hidden in a pile of her dirty clothes.

  She’d forgotten about it completely and, once she took it out and looked at the screen, she wished that it never would have beeped in the first place. Another voicemail from Max waited to ruin her day.

  Though she was still shaken by her dream, Audrey sat down on the edge of the tub and listened to it. Before her husband could even start talking, it was obvious that he had been crying.

  “Audrey.” He paused and sniffled. “Look, I’ve had some time to think about what happened, about what I did to you. I drank way too much that night. I wasn’t myself.”

  “Obviously,” she mumbled under her breath.

  “I was wrong and I’m sorry. I honestly didn’t think that I could ever do something to hurt you and even if you can find a way to forgive me, I just want you to know that I will never forgive myself.” He breathed into the phone heavily, like he was trying to keep from breaking down. Each exhale was jagged and short. “I’ve also had a lot of time to think about you and me...about our marriage. Maybe things don’t have to end this way, you know? Not yet, anyway.”

  From her spot on the side of Liam’s tub, Audrey lowered her head and rested it in the palm of her hand. She already knew what was coming next and, though she didn’t believe that it was possible, it was only going to make things more complicated.

  “Maybe,” Max went on and sighed. “Maybe we can work things out. Please call me.”

  There was a soft click and she lowered the phone from her ear.

  In an instant, his apologetic tone and caring tenor started to affect her. It was all too easy to go back to the love that they once shared. There were so many years invested into their marriage that it gave her all kinds of memories to choose from. Her brain flipped through them like a rolodex and stopped abruptly on the night when Max proposed.

  It wasn’t a fancy affair, considering that the two of them just graduated and were about to start their careers. Audrey went to work at KPW and Max started in a position at his father’s investment company that was made just for him. Not long after, he went out and bought the nicest ring that he could afford and presented it to her over Chinese food and some cheesy movie that she couldn’t remember the name of.

  At the time, it was one of the sweetest things that she ever saw. There was something more honest and simple about the way that he did it; like it didn’t need to be some kind of grand production. Audrey could still faintly remember the excitement and joy that she felt as they drank two bottles of wine and made love under the buzzing static on their tiny TV that night.

  The happy memory of them together made her shoulders sink down. But as much as she wanted to sit and sulk for the rest of forever, Audrey knew that she still had someone waiting for her.

  She gripped the phone in her hand and wandered back out into Liam’s large home. The pungent aroma of coffee filled the open floor plan, but her sexy crush was nowhere to be seen, so she followed the sound of the warm brew as it percolated.

  Beyond the living room, Liam waited in the well-appointed kitchen with his elbows on the counter and a tablet in his hand. Both parts of the house shared a long window that allowed a perfect, unobstructed view of the bay.

  “I was about to send out a search party,” Liam said and looked up from the news site that he was browsing.

  “Sorry,” she said and dropped her phone onto the counter. She was still dressed in one of his shirts with just panties under. There was nowhere else to put it. “I got distracted checking my voicemails.”

  “You had your phone with you yesterday? I’m surprised it still works.” He set his device down and locked the screen. “You hungry?”

  She wrapped her arms around her stomach and replied, “I might kill a man for some eggs.”

  “Slow your roll,” Liam laughed and took down a pan, which was suspended with many others over their heads. “I don’t think murder will be necessary. Not over eggs, anyway.”

  Audrey elbowed his side playfully.

  “That depends on how good your eggs are.”

  “Well then,” he twirled the pan around and leaned in close. “How do you like prison?”

  “Can’t say I’ve been.”

  Liam set it down and went over to his fridge, which was clad in stainless steel like all of the other appliances. He dug around and pulled out a few different bowls and boxes.

  “I guess now’s as good a time as ever.”

  “I bet,” she laughed and watched as he came back and set down an arm-full.

  “Is there anything you hate?”

  “That’s actually a decent sized list, bud. Care to be more specific?”

  “Food,” he said and glanced up at her with a smile. “Is there any food you hate?”

  “Unless you’re planning on putting some sea bass in there, you should be safe.”

  “Well that’s a relief,” he responded and whipped a bunch of eggs together.

  It didn’t take long for him to throw together two matching omelets that were filled with leftover vegetables and some diced ham from his fridge.

  Audrey leaned back against the counter and watched him work. The dexterity with which he handled his tools was sexy in its own right. Something about his confidence and skill--which Audrey knew full well extended into other areas--made her unable to tear her eyes away.

  With every flick of his wrist, the uncomfortable feeling that Max’s voicemail inflicted got pushed to the back of Audrey’s mind. By the time that breakfast was ready, she’d almost forgotten completely.

  Liam grabbed two plain, white plates out of the cupboard and dished the meal out, carefully resting the tines of a fork under each. Then he picked up both and motioned toward a sliding glass door on the other side of one of the marble counters.

  “You wanna eat outside? I’m pretty sure the bugs will only get about five percent of it.”

  Audrey laughed and rubbed her bare feet on the tile floor.

  “I can live with ninety-five percent of an omelet.”

  “Perfect,” he said with a smile. “Can you grab some juice out of the fridge?”

  “Of course.”

  She took a glass pitcher filled with the orange liquid, plus a couple of glasses from a drying rack by the sink and ran over to open the door for him.

  Outside, the slowly-rising sun peeked over a line of trees to the right and cast long, stretching shadows over the wood deck. At the east end, a small table faced the spectacular view. There was a solitary chair opened up and another that was folded and leaned against the railing.

  “Do you eat out here often?”

  He set down the plates and opened the chair up for her.

  “Pretty much always,” he said. “In fact, I’m not sure I’ve used my dining room table in years.”

  Audrey poured each of them a glass of juice and settled in. She leaned over and took a big whiff of her breakfast with a groan of approval from both her throat and her gurgling stomach.

  “I don’t blame you. It’s amazing out here.”

  With her fork, she sliced off a decidedly un-lady like chunk of the omelet and shoved it into her mouth. Right away, the pillowy eggs gave way to the salty ham and fresh veggies, turning her mouth into a party of different flavors and textures. Everything about it was perfect; like she was being served by a professional chef who just also happened to be hot.

  When she finally looked up, she was embarrassed to find Liam was watching her.

  “Sorry,” she said and flicked the corner of her mouth with one finger. “This is just amazing.”

  “Try the juice,” he said and pushed her glass toward her. “I just squeezed it yesterday.�
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  She raised the cup to her lips and let the cool fluid glide like silk down her throat. As it danced past her taste buds, it tasted like the sweetest nectar. It was so refreshing that Audrey knocked back half of it at once.

  “Christ,” she exclaimed and set the drink back down. “That’s probably the best OJ I’ve ever had.”

  “I know,” he said with an ornery smirk. “It’s like this state is famous for oranges or something.”

  Audrey playfully kicked him under the table, allowing his coarse leg hairs to tickle the bottom of her toes. Really, it was just an excuse for her to touch him again.

  “You know what I meant.”

  Liam winked at her and started to work on his own plate. For a little while, the only sounds were a flock of distant birds and the tinkering of forks against plates.

  Audrey ate greedily, but as good as the food was, she found that her thoughts were elsewhere. Between bites, she glanced up to her chiseled companion and wondered about him. Where did he come from? Who was he, really?

  Though it made her nervous, she couldn’t stop herself from asking.

  “So where are you from?”

  Seeming surprised, he looked over the yellow chunk on his fork and flung the messy hair from his eyes.

  “You really want to know the details?”

  “Of course I do.”

  He set the utensil down and folded both arms onto the small table.

  “Well I was born and raised in Colorado. And I use the term ‘raised’ very liberally. My folks gave me up when I was almost 3, so I spent a lot of time bouncing around foster homes.

  “When I was like 15, me and a couple of guys that I’d managed to maintain contact with started dicking around with instruments in the park. We did it for a long time just for fun but managed to land a gig a couple of years later. I think I was just a hair over 18 when we played.

  “Anyway, a label manager stumbled across the bar and, well,” he took a quick bite and swallowed it down. “The rest is history.”

  “Wow,” she said softly. It never crossed her mind that he had been through more hard times than her until he told his story. Right off the bat, Audrey was both sad for him and intrigued. “So what happened to the band?”