by Milly Taiden
“Do you think I’m stupid?” he exclaimed.
“No, I just didn’t want any problems,” Vinnie admitted, placing his hand back on the door frame.
“Baby, I’ve been really nervous about the wedding. I needed an escape,” Janelle said, taking Brad’s balled up fist in her hand.
“Are you and he sleeping together?” Brad furiously asked.Vinnie groaned.
“You guys, do this in your own home--in front of God and everybody,” Vinnie said. This whole Janelle thing had just worn out his last nerve. He also knew Brad was involved in martial arts, and he definitely didn’t want to get involved in that.
“No, I want to know what the deal is!” Brad yelled.
“Yes, we slept together, several times actually. But I still want to marry you,” Janelle said, innocently. She acted as if it wasn’t a big deal. But Vinnie knew that it was a big deal as Brad came charging at him. He swung his fist, sailing fast for Vinnie’s gorgeous face.
“Now, Brad!” Vinnie shouted, ducking just in time for the man’s fist to hit the doorframe. He winced in pain, giving Vinnie just enough time to grab him at the elbow and wrench his arm behind his back. He used his other hand to press on his head and neck, guiding him down the hallway.
“Is that what you do?” Brad asked. He was bent over and out of breath, seething with anger.
“It was an innocent thing, I swear, Brad,” Janelle spoke up from the doorway.
“You need to get him out of here, and I don’t want to see you around here anymore. I told you this was going to happen,” Vinnie instructed. He was getting angry as Brad fought against his hold to get loose. This guy knew nothing about him. He’d been a trained fighter for as long as he could remember. Brad had no idea what Vinnie could do to him.
Brad pushed into him, not budging Vinnie in the least. Vinnie took several calming breaths as he dodged yet another punch to the face. Janelle let out a scream as Vinnie choke slammed Brad to the hallway floor, dropping him like a bag of cement. Pinning him in place, he looked at Janelle one more time to take her fiancé far away from him—Vinnie was close to beating him to death.
***
Everly made her way to Vinnie’s condo. She was tired of holding out hope that he’d leave her mind anytime soon. He hadn’t yet and she wanted to see him.
“What is going on?” she asked.
Vinnie was holding a guy down who was desperately struggling to get free.
A pretty, curly-haired girl stood frozen in terror next to his door. It didn’t take her long to figure out who she was. Everly had seen her a couple times taking dance lessons at the studio. Everly slapped Vinnie’s arm, prying his fingers off the man’s throat.
“Everly, what are you doing here?” Vinnie asked, getting up and forgetting Brad the moment he laid eyes on her.
“I wanted to see you. I didn’t think you would be busy beating people up; I can come back,” she said, admiring his handsome-as-ever face.
“No, no I’d love to talk to you,” he assured her. He’d been waiting for the moment to tell her just how he felt. He was finished being stubborn.
Brad pushed past Everly, running down the hallway. He’d had enough of this guy. He was unable to take him on by himself and he had nothing to say to his fiancée.
Janelle, on the other hand, wasn’t out of things to say. She walked up to Everly and stood nose to nose with her.
“Vinnie and I were sleeping together. Just thought you should know before you make any rash decisions. Goodbye, Vinnie.” She flipped her hair off her shoulders, put a smile on her face, and hauled off and punched Vinnie right in the mouth.
Everly flinched at the impact of the girl’s fist to Vinnie’s mouth. Then she was out of there, leaving Vinnie with a shocked look on his face to go with his split lip.
“Shit!” he yelled, feeling for blood. Everly laughed, knowing how much Vinnie admired his own face.
“Come inside, I’ll help you clean it up,” she said.
Vinnie wasn’t the least bit impressed that she’d found humor in his injury.
“I can’t believe she punched me,” he grumbled, as he searched through the medicine cabinet. Everly was standing in the doorway waiting. She wore her hair in a ponytail atop her head. The belt of her jacket was tied tightly showing off her tiny waist. Her floral scent filled the room. God, how he’d missed her.
“Did you really think she wouldn’t? What were you thinking, Vinnie?” she asked.
Vinnie shook his head. It pained him to look in the mirror at his swollen lip.
“I wasn’t thinking. I missed you and I was stupid. What can I say? I’m an ass.” He winced as he dabbed his face with a towel.Everly watched him miserably try to tend to his own wounds. She couldn’t be mad at him. Poor guy looked miserable trying to fix up his injury. She turned on the water and wet a washcloth.
“Cold water stops bleeding,” she said, pressing it carefully to his mouth. He avoided her eyes, ashamed at what Everly had just witnessed.
“This is going to be worse in the morning,” he whined. His body seemed to deflate as he exhaled hard and long.
“Just be glad that’s all you got,” she mumbled.
“What’s this?” Vinnie asked, pulling at the chain of her locket to get it free.
“A gift from my mother. It came in the mail along with a letter. Kind of healing and she had nice things to say about you,” she admitted as she opened up a Band-Aid. Vinnie stared down at her, towering over her small frame as she worked to bandage his face.
“Wow…I always thought she hated me.”
“No, she loved you. She thinks you’re a good guy, too,” Everly said.
Vinnie surveyed her work in the mirror, resting his hands on the sink as he took a good look at his face.
“So you’re feeling better, you said? That’s good…very good,” he said.
The idea of her being back to her old self filled him with hope. He wanted things back to normal, the way things used to be with them.
“It is good. I missed you, so I came to see you, see how you’re doing. From the looks of things, you’re not doing very well,” she blurted out.
“I missed you, too. Can we please forget that mess back there?” he asked, turning away from his reflection.
“You got beat up by a girl.” Everly laughed as Vinnie playfully pushed her.
“I can’t breathe!” she proclaimed, laughing and wiggling out of his reach.
“Yeah, what a hoot. I’ll not let you go until you apologize for poking fun at me,” he said, not willing to let her pass.
“I’m sorry I made fun of you,” she said, pursing her lips and trying to keep from breaking out into laughter again. Holding her hands in the air as a sign of surrender, he gave in and let her leave the bathroom.
Charley and Adrian
Charley typed away at her computer, lost in a tornado of work. So much had piled up since she took time off to be with Adrian. It was definitely worth spending time with him, but she wasn’t happy to see all the work she had to catch up on.
“Here’s your coffee,” Reeves said, coming into the room. He took a seat watching her fast at work, her fingers moving like lighting.
“Thanks,” she said, bringing the hot brew to her red lips.“It’s been quiet here without you. How did the visit go?” he asked. He felt deceived when he saw her furrowed brows and the lack of eye contact she usually gave him.
“It went uh…well,” she said, not giving any details.
“Where did you get that locket? It’s beautiful. Your boy toy?” He was digging. Talking with Charley had a way of adding a little excitement to his otherwise mundane life.
“My mother…got a box the other day,” she absently rambled.
“Your mother?” Reeves asked, confused. The phone rang, instantly pulling Charley from her work.
“No, I got it,” she said, fanning Reeves hands away from the telephone.
***
Adrian lay sprawled out on his bed wearing only his gy
m shorts. Clutching the phone to his ear, he was ecstatic to hear her voice again.
“Hey beautiful, catch you at a bad time?” he asked, playing it cool.
“Just the same as every other time, but I can always make time for you,” she said, sending a big smile his way.
“Good, so how would you feel about me coming back soon?” He wanted to see her and he wanted the necklace.
“That sounds great, but I don’t think I will be able to take any more time off. You may be hanging out at my place alone a lot.”
“That’s fine,” Adrian said, sitting up on his bed. His brother, Angelo, traipsing around in his living room caught his attention.
“When were you planning on coming?” Charley asked.
“Um…hey, let me call you back, okay sweetheart?” Adrian said, already hitting end before she could protest.
Angelo was in his kitchen now, rifling his cupboards for food, snagging a bag of chips.
“What’s the deal?” Adrian asked, setting the phone on the counter.
“Got a few useful pieces of information for you. Dad is being released in the morning. Your guess is as good as mine. And Mom sent Andre off to visit that girlfriend of yours. Word got around that all those Harpers were sent packages, and Mother is on it like a moth to a flame, dude,” Angelo said, shoving a handful of chips in his mouth. He couldn’t hide his excitement as he relayed the information to his brother.
Adrian struggled to contain himself, his mouth sucked of all moisture. He felt defeated, nothing stayed hidden for long.
“This is not good,” he finally said, rubbing his fingers against his temples.
Angelo leaned back on the counter, smiling away.
“Uh, for you, not so much, dude. He’s going to find out you’re the one who helped Mom off that broad. I’d get far away from here,” he said, laughing. Angelo found way too much entertainment in this. He felt he was untouchable, and, for the most part, that was true.
“He’s not going to figure it out. Even if he did, I’m his son,” he insisted. Maybe if he said it enough, he’d begin to believe it himself.
“Where you going, Bro?” Angelo called from the kitchen, watching his brother stalk off.
“I’m packing,” he said, pulling the suitcase from his closet.
Quinn
The toilet in the stall next to Quinn’s flushed, bringing her back to reality. She hovered over the toilet seat, bracing herself with her hand against the stall. She’d been called in to cover a shift and as upset as she was to pull herself out of bed, she got up and went to work anyway. She needed the cash.
And now, instead of eating food on her lunch break, she was in the restroom peeing on a stick from the pregnancy test she’d purchased. Peeing and praying at the same time. Her period was late, and if the results were positive, she was in a world of trouble.“Please, God,” she said out loud, pulling up her shorts. She tapped the handle with her toe and flushed the toilet. The swishing sound of the flushing water helped to drown out all that was flying around in her mind at the moment.
“Quinn! We need you out here, right now!” her boss yelled, cracking the door.
She bit her tongue and stepped out of the stall, waving the test strip around like you used to do with film from a Polaroid camera. She prayed the results were negative.
“Come on, come on,” she whined. When the bathroom door swung open, she panicked and tossed the test strip into the garbage, and rushed out the door.
She hadn’t taken the time to see the results. Panic hit her anew as she thought back to having sex with Vinnie. What if she was now pregnant as a consequence of that stupid lapse of judgment? She covered her mouth ready to puke; she would never live such a thing down.
“Quinn!” her boss yelled again.
“I’m right here, geez!” she snapped. She tied her apron back on and took the tray from the counter.
Gia gave her a sympathetic smile, hurrying along to the kitchen. She hated her job as much as the rest of the staff.
The House
A patrol car pulled up in front of the Harper residence. Two officers made their way up the unshoveled sidewalk.
The first officer rapped on the door, kicking the pile of newspapers to the side.
The light from the other officer’s flashlight shined to the end of the porch.
“Hey Jim,” he called out, kneeling down.
“I think I found the neighbor that’s been missing,” he said.
“Well, there she is, frozen like a popsicle,” Jim said, surveying the body. He pulled at the bushes to get a better look. The idea of murder in his town thrilled him to the core. He’d been on the force for over ten years and he hadn’t seen much.
“Yep, leave it to this family to add a little excitement to this town,” he said as he spit out of the side of his mouth. The snow continued to fall steadily, their footprints already covered. Now they just had to make sense of what had happened to the woman found frozen in the snow.
Ethan
Ethan knew what he was doing was wrong, but he didn’t care. He looked over his shoulder as he inserted the bank card into the ATM machine. Punching in a four digit number the machine buzzed and spit his card back out—wrong pin number. He shook his cold hands as he tossed around different ideas of what the pin could be.
“January, April, May, and July,” he said, pushing the number for the birthday month of each of his mother’s children. Bingo! He quickly did a balance inquiry, waiting patiently to receive a receipt. It was just like his mother to use the four kids’ birthday months
Out it popped and he snagged it in a rush, feeling spooked as if a million eyes were on him.
“Are you kidding me right now?” he asked himself, as he stared at the balance.
“There’s no way! Banks don’t hold that much money for one person,” he insisted, folding the paper and sticking it in his pocket.Ethan told himself he was doing the right thing as his finger punched the first button. The machine started up, the loud whirring exciting his insides as it dispensed all that was allowed to be withdrawn at one time. He gave another look across the empty parking lot, seeing his truck waiting for him off in the distance.
Everly
Everly carried the pizza inside and sat it down on her dining room table. She was tired after a full day of singing and rehearsals for an upcoming show. She planned to have a later dinner, take a hot bath, and then go to bed. Before she could even get started, her phone rang. Taking a look at the display, she saw it was Vinnie. She was excited to see he was calling. They’d been through a lot lately, and she realized now that she did indeed love him. She knew she didn’t want to live a life without him in it.
They didn’t always see eye to eye, but what couple did? She hit answer on her phone. “I thought you would be too tired from the show tonight to even call me,” she smiled into the phone. She figured that was probably the farthest thing from the truth. “Nothing would ever stop me from calling you,” he told her. “I would love to see you right now.”
She hugged herself as she walked around the room, her feelings for Vinnie feeling new and wonderful.
“You should come over. Not having you in bed at night has felt so wrong.”
“Then I am on my way,” he assured her.
She ended the call and did a quick clean up to her place. Vinnie didn’t need to know she’d been surviving on takeout and ice cream since their breakup. She changed into something a little more attractive, combed her hair, and spritzed his favorite scent on her neck. Then she sat on the couch and waited for him to arrive.
Quinn
Quinn sat in her bathroom chewing at her nails as she waited for the pregnancy results. She was so ready to put herself out of this misery. She tapped a foot on the floor, ready to jump out of her skin. Pregnancy would ruin her life right now. No way would she ever consider an abortion. Her phone chimed, indicating enough time had passed to get the results. With shaking hands, she lifted the test strip up to see what it revealed. She fe
ll back against the toilet and released an enormous sigh of relief. She wasn’t pregnant. For once in her life, luck was on her side.
The door opened and she quickly swept everything off the counter and into the garbage. It was too late; he’d already seen it. Jordan just stood there staring at her.
“What’s going on?” he asked, even though he already knew. He just stood there staring at her, arms crossed knowingly across his chest.
“I was just making sure…” She didn’t even finish her sentence; she just moved past him and went to the kitchen.
She opened the refrigerator.
“As far as I knew we’ve always used condoms and you said you were on birth control.”
“Money’s been tight.” She leaned down to stare into the refrigerator until Jordan slammed it shut and took her by the shoulder forcing her to look at him.
“So you stopped taking birth control…fine. Most people don’t take a test when they practice safe sex. And as far as I know we haven’t had any accidents.”
“I was late,” she insisted. “I just wanted to be sure. “ His grip on her tightened and then he released her because he didn’t want to hurt her.
“How long are you going to lie me?” he asked.
“What are you talking about?”
“You’re lying to me right now, Quinn.”
She scoffed and turned away from him, speechless.
“I know for a fact you slept with that asshole back in Ohio. I’m not as stupid as you like to think that I am.”
She spun around, her hands in her hair. It hurt to hear Jordan say it, even though they were in the privacy of her apartment.
“It was a mistake.”
“I was hoping that you were going to tell me that you were sorry.” He shook his head. “Because if you said that, I was pretty sure there was a way I could get over it. Because for some fucked up reason, I really love you.”