The Eyes That Own Me (Timing is Everything Book 1)

by Rebecca Fischer

  After I get home from work, I change quickly before Jeremy comes to my room to get me. I listen to his bull about being whipped the whole way to the bar and grill called Deep End. Their motto is getting drunk is like the deep end of the night. Ha. Lame, I know, but they have a good seafood selection, and I'm fucking starving.

  A few hours later, I'm still nursing my second beer bored out of my ever-loving mind. The guys are scattered around the bar between dancing on random chicks and playing darts. Jeremy is still droning on about the girl with the bad B.O. who tried to grab his junk on the dance floor. Shows him right after I had to push some random chick off me earlier when I wasn't even near the dance floor. He didn't stop laughing for five minutes.

  I check the clock above the dartboard and realize Charlie's shift should've been over more than a half hour ago. Why didn't she text me? I feel in my pockets for my phone. Fuck, I must have left it at home when I changed. I turn to Jeremy. "Hey, I need to borrow your phone. I left mine at home."

  Laughing, Jeremy starts making whipping noises at me already knowing whom I’m trying to call.

  When I dial Charlie's number, imagine my discomfort to hear a man's voice on the other end. "Charlie Hanston's phone."

  Without getting too angry, I reply, "This is Matt Reynolds. Her boyfriend. Where's Charlie?"

  "Oh....this is Rob, her boss. She's not really available right now."

  The anger settles in and through clenched teeth, I ask, "What do you mean? Her shift ended almost an hour ago."

  "I actually let her leave at two hours ago once things died down."

  A bad gut feeling comes over me. I get louder. "Still doesn't explain why you have her phone."

  "The cops gave it to me to call her parents and her brother. He didn't pick up, and it'll take her parents an hour to get here," he says quickly. Then his breath hitches as if he said something he shouldn't have.

  Now I'm yelling. "WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN THE COPS GAVE YOU HER PHONE?" Jeremy turns toward me with a confused look on his face.

  Rob sighs. "Ah, shit, man. I told her I wouldn't tell you anything. Your name is kind of off limits at the moment."

  Anger rolls off of me at a stifling temperature. "Fucker, you better tell me where she is and what happened right now, or I will find you to rip your dick off!"

  Another sigh comes when I hear the shittiest words come from him, "We're at the hospital. She came back to the store in tears and asked me to start her semester break vacation a few days early. I could never say no to a girl in tears."

  My stomach drops hearing 'hospital.' I feel my face paling with blood loss, and Jeremy drags me out of the bar while yelling back at the guys that we're leaving. Rob is still on the phone telling me, "I told her to stay and calm down before driving. She said something about getting away from the drama. I tried to stop her, but she peeled out as I ran to her door. I had barely turned around when I heard screeching tires and metal crashing. I looked over to see a truck had t-boned her Jeep."

  I drop to my knees in the parking lot, and Jeremy takes the phone. I can only hear his side of the conversation. It feels as if time slowed down while Jeremy talks to Rob for me. I can't believe I left my phone at home and my woman needed me. What the fuck happened?

  "Which hospital are you going to?" A few agonizingly long seconds go by before he talks again. "Uh huh, okay. Thanks"

  He turns to me to explain, "Her parents are on the way there, and she's not awake. He doesn't think it's a good idea for you to be there."

  "Fuck that!" I get up and run to Jeremy’s vehicle. "Take me to the hospital. I’ll be there for her, and no one will get in my way. I have to know what happened and why she doesn't want to see me. I need her damn it."

  Jeremy gets in his SUV, and I pound on the dash in frustration. Jeremy stops me by shoving his arm across my chest. "Alright! Alright! Calm down, man! She’s at Aiken Memorial. He's going to meet us in the waiting room. Just fucking calm down. It'll work out."

  Jeremy drives me to the ER, and I jump out before he even has a chance to park. I go into the waiting room to meet Rob. He walks up to me informing, "Look, they won't tell me anything because I'm not family. I was near the accident so the cops still needed me for a statement and because I have her emergency contact information on file."

  I nearly beg. "Please tell me what happened."

  He takes a deep breath. "After I heard the crash, I ran to her car to check on her. Someone was already on the phone calling 911. Apparently, she saw the crash when trying to cross the street. The truck just barreled through the red light into the passenger side when Charlie was trying to make a left turn. Since her side wasn't caved in, I got her door open to check her pulse. She wasn't awake but the pulse was strong. I think she hit her head on the window because she was bleeding down her temple. Her arm and shoulder looked messed up. The driver of the truck was stuck to her seat with the air bag deflating. She seemed okay so I stayed with Charlie until the paramedics arrived."

  That original pit in my stomach keeps getting bigger. I'm still so confused. "Fuck, do you know why she was crying in the first place?"

  Rob shakes his head. "No. After I let her clock out, she got a call about you, and said she was going to find you at some bar to talk to you and get your side."

  "What the hell? This is messed up."

  "Her roommate's on her way. I was calling her when you called since her parents said they were an hour away at some charity event. She got a hold of Charlie's brother and should be here any second."

  Nodding I say, "You can go now if you want. I know she's not your favorite person."

  He responds with a remorseful look. "It's not that. She's amazing at her job. So much that the owners are even talking about giving her my job once she graduates or move her to a different store. I've been there ten years, but she's the best employee."

  I look him dead in the eye. "She was planning on quitting after our program ends next year because of you."

  His face is determined when he says, "When she comes back things will change. I want her to succeed. I heard about her plans to run her own place, and she has the community backing her. Even if she will be the competition, she deserves her own business."

  I like that he said when, not if, about her coming back to work plus supporting her goals. At that moment, Kylie and Aaron come in. They walk up to us and Aaron says he's going to find out what's going on.

  Kylie tried to ask what happened. Neither of us knew her injuries, but Rob explained everything he told me. Kylie's eyes are starting to tear up when she asks him, "Will you please try and be nice to her? I don't think she can take anymore."

  Rob just bows his head. He walks out then her gaze turns to me, and she looks angry. With a scary voice, I turn fifteen-years-old again like when I stole my parents car. "What the hell is wrong with you and your friends? Was she some sick game to you guys for the last few months? Let's see how long the young coed can go for you? What's your prize for humiliating my best friend?"

  Jaw dropping at her accusations. "What are you talking about?" I point to Rob's departing figure. "HE told me she got a call about me at the bar. I left my phone at home, so I am completely in the dark. Someone help me here please."

  Giving me a weird look, Kylie starts her story. "Someone called Bree from the bar saying you were all over some trashing looking girl and then sent her a photo of it too. She forwarded it to Charlie just to give her a heads up. She called me saying she was going to go to Deep End to see for herself. She wanted to give you the benefit of the doubt. She was still on the phone when she pulled up. One of your friends stopped her in the lot saying you already left with the girl. I could hear him trying to stop her from going inside, so she just decided to go back to work. She asked me if I could pack early for our vacation so that she could get some distance from the drama."

  She stifles some tears before continuing, "The guy said some really cruel stuff to her about how your friends wanted to see how long it would take for the youn
g coed to fall in love with you and that she was a small town lovesick puppy. He told her that y’all put her picture on a dartboard before leaving with the girl you were with."

  What a clusterfuck. I sit down on the nearest bench and Kylie sits next to me. I'm trying to piece all of this together.

  "One chick did come up to me and tried to dance with me. I was trying to push her off, but she grabbed my hand and spun into me doing a weird dance move." I face Kylie. "I would never do that to Charlie. I love her."

  Thinking it over, I'm trying to think which guy left at any point, but the bar was so busy. "Did she say which friend it was?"

  "No. She was already going to work to talk to Rob."

  Still confused. "If she thought my unknown friend was full of shit and gave me the benefit of the doubt, why did she end up leaving?"

  She shrugs. "I'm not sure. She just wanted to see for herself. It was like high school all over again. She may come off as put together most of the time, but she still has triggers. You saw what happened that one day after work. She was in a daze the whole night."

  I don't know much about her high school years, but I remember internally falling apart seeing her so sad, lost, and confused for the first time since we've met. I nudge Kylie to elaborate about her story. Aaron is walking back to us, stops, and stiffens when he hears me ask, "What happened in high school?"

  His body goes rock solid as he grimaces out, "Fuck, I can't hear this again."

  We stop talking and both look at him for any update on her. He tells us she's in X-Rays and the doctor was occupied at the moment. He walks back to the nurses’ station, and I look over at Kylie.

  She hits her head on the wall behind the bench. "She normally doesn't tell people because it happened on her eighteenth birthday. A day that was supposed to be entering adulthood. If it had been any other time, she probably would've just let it go. She's still embarrassed by it. If people ask directly, she always tells the truth. She can be mad at me later, but I can see you care for her."

  I look her dead in the eye. "Yes, but I also I love her. Big difference. I've told her about my ex cheating on me. I'm just wondering why she didn't tell me what happened before."

  "Because it was more than just being cheated on. Our senior year of high school, she briefly dated this 'bad boy' Jordan. He was two years younger than us, drank and smoked, but he never did it around her. Strangely, he treated her well, made her happy, and got along with all of us. We didn't have cause for concern. They had only been going out for a month, which in high school time is like a year. The week of her eighteenth birthday was also Homecoming week. Charlie was in band, so she was crazy busy with rehearsals for the parade and the game. After the parade, a few girls from one our classes told Charlie they heard Jordan was making out with a girl in the park during the parade. She asked him what happened, and he denied it. Since it was just hearsay, she gave him the benefit of the doubt. That's why she wanted to talk to you."

  I really want to kill this kid. Fighting past the lump in my throat, I urge her to continue. "Keep going please."

  "She was too busy to deal with Jordan because senior band members had a lot of obligations. She had a lot on her plate with band, volleyball, and soccer that year, but our coaches were flexible for Homecoming. The Homecoming dance was on her actual birthday. All she wanted was her close friends at dinner and the whole day turned into a crapshoot."

  Kylie's face turns angry before she continues. "Our 'friends' were bitching at her because she didn't make a dinner reservation. Like practically cussing her out for 'ruining their last homecoming'. The place she wanted to eat at told both of us that they no longer took reservations, only walk-ins, and with our party, it was a forty-five-minute wait. Jordan wasn't even there yet, and no one could find him. He showed up almost an hour late, brought her the creepiest present, and barely spoke to her. One of our friend's moms finally got us a table at another restaurant, but Jordan was still being cryptic. Charlie had texted me that no matter how the night went, she was breaking up with him in the next few days because of the secrets. She thought he smelled like pot and Charlie cannot stand the smell."

  The knot in my stomach is getting bigger. "I'm really not liking any part of this story, but I need to hear it through the end."

  "At the dance, Jordan just kept walking off. All of a sudden, Charlie looked really pale. Before I knew it, she ran to the bathroom and got violently ill. She got food poisoning, and we all felt so bad. We went to find Jordan to tell him we needed to take Charlie to the ER. We didn't know she came out and followed us. We found him grinding on some chick. He turned the girl's head and started making out with her while grabbing her chest in front of everyone. Turns out, Charlie saw the whole thing too before getting sick again."

  I can feel my jaw closing up and right now, I'd love to punch something. I can't fucking believe someone could do that to another human being. Even some loser high school punk like this Jordan guy who was only sixteen at the time. I don't care how old you are, you don't fuck with people like that. It's common fuckin' decency. I know what Kelly did was fucked up, but Kylie was right. This goes far beyond that.

  "That's not even the entire story." Kylie's eyes are still glazed over with tears that are starting to fall. I can tell all of this is like reliving it for her. "She washed up, went to grab her stuff, and insisted we stay. Her car was at my house so she called her mom to come get her. Before she left, Jordan came into the snack area, acting all innocent, and she broke up with him in front of us. She didn't say she saw him, only to bring her stuff from his house to school on Monday for her. Then she just walked out. He started calling her a bunch of names as she was walking away, but I know she could hear him."

  I'm officially pissed. "This kid just got away with it?"

  An evil smile comes on Kylie's face. "Oh no. Those of us who stayed and cared about Charlie ripped him a new one. The next week at school, he only gave her a few things back. By the end of the week, he was still being stubborn. After class, before band started, we went to his house. He walked up with his arm around a different girl. A girl he knew Charlie wasn't a fan of. She yelled at him to get over to his front door to let her in, and they went inside. A few minutes later she came back with the rest of her stuff. Supposedly, she slapped him."

  "Well, I'd like to go a few rounds with him, and he's barely legal to drink now."

  "Ha, at least we know she actually slapped him. He came to school on Monday with a hand shaped bruise on his cheek. Aaron still wants to beat him up because when he found out a few days later, he went ballistic. He was stationed in Biloxi so he was already mad he missed her birthday. After we had graduated, Aaron kept tabs on him and Bryce blackballed Jordan around the community center and anonymously called in his fake I.D. Jordan tried to get her back a few months after the drama saying he was scared that she would leave him for college and because she wouldn't have sex with him even though he knew she wasn't a virgin. A few years ago, he knocked up some girl, but then got arrested for dealing. As far as we know, he's still in jail. Our 'friends' bullied her in class the rest of the year about how she shouldn't pick places to eat for senior lunches and smelling like barf. She ended up skipping our senior prom because the immature douchebags said they didn't want to be puked on during prom. They even put sardines in her locker to make it smell and left airsick bags on her desk. She didn't deserve any of it. Luckily, half left the city or don't talk to us anymore. They were mad I chose her side."

  Trying to process everything, I feel worse that my amazing woman dealt with so much on what should've been a milestone weekend for her. I already knew about her college dating life and was glad all of the bullshit led her to me. Some stuff still isn't making sense, though.

  Confused, I ask, "It still doesn't explain why she wanted to leave a few days early away from me and believed my 'friend'. I will find out who it was by the way. They obviously did this to hurt both of us."

  Giving me a stern look, she answers, "Matt, you know he
r. She is a rational person. Yeah, Jordan and our high school group messed with her head and self-esteem. You've seen that firsthand. She didn't deserve to be humiliated on her birthday and in front of a room of our classmates. She wanted physical proof. When it was denied to her, plus your friend intervening with the stuff he was saying, the drama became too much. She wanted to clear her head and get the truth once things calmed down."

  With conviction, I tell her, "I will be talking to her tonight or tomorrow. Right now, I just want to see her."

  Aaron walks over to us, his head hanging low. Kylie gets up, goes to him, and he put his arms around her. Bending to put his head in her hair, he hugs her harder. I could see the man holding on to his lifeline.

  I need mine. I need my angel.

  I lean my elbows onto my knees, letting my head drop. Aaron sits down next to me, and Kylie walks to the bathrooms.

  "What'd they say?"

  He scrubs his hands down his face. "Left shoulder is dislocated, left wrist is shattered, bruised knee, twisted ankle, and a possible concussion. They’re almost finished with running tests.” He looks over at me with a dead serious face. "Dude, did you do it?"

  As strong as I can muster without yelling, "No. I love your sister, and I would never do that. I will find whoever fed her this information."

  "You were at Deep End, right?" I nod. "I know a few bouncers there. We can ask them. I like you, man. I mean it is still a little weird that you're older than me, but I liked the change I saw in her over the last few months. She needs someone that puts her first."

  "She always comes first for me."

  I laugh at my own little joke, which earns me a glare and a slug in the arm from Aaron. "Dude, still my sister."