The force of nature that was Trish had left Aimes and me alone with our mouths hanging open.
“Uh, dude, I gotta tell ya… I love my mom, but your mother-in-law is kind of…” Aimes hesitated to finish her sentence.
“Awesome!” I grinned.
“Yeah! So, let’s see… one p.m… Dr. Phil or Days of Our Lives?” She asked.
“Days. Definitely Days.” Aimes and I had spent many an afternoon watching the long-running soap opera. “You be in charge of the NASA television and I’ll make you a plate. Iced Tea?”
“Apparently straight vodka is off the menu for a while so… yeah.” She giggled.
“I feel your pain, my friend. I really do.” That wasn’t really true. I was just joining her in our new found sisterhood of being knocked up. It was a very new revelation for me, but she was all cute and popped out tummy. I let her choose her dress, which was an empire-waist, off the shoulder lilac with a silvery lilac ruching across the bust. It was so beautiful and suited her perfectly.
When we sat down, our plates full and Bo and Hope talking about characters we didn’t know (but if we watched for a few days, we’d be completely caught up on the last eight years) and women began to mill around us. They were quiet and non-intrusive, but the number of bodies in the room had tripled. My shoes were untied and socks were slipped off. That’s when I realized the table we were sitting at was really narrow. So narrow, a small stool was in front with a foot-spa and my feet were being what felt like, worshipped by someone that thought my feet were the most sacred, lovely feet in the universe.
God it felt good.
“Dude, you are totally drooling.” Aimes started to laugh at me.
“I have never been so tired in my entire life.” I admitted.
“Grab a cat nap whenever you can. It’ll pass in another three or four weeks. I promise. Do you feel sick at all?”
“No.” I ebbed out. “But if I had a dollar for every time I’ve had to pee today, I’d have at least twenty bucks and it’s barely two now!”
Her quiet laughter as she chewed was making her stomach bounce up and down. “That’ll pass too.” She said finishing her bite. “But just you wait, the sex… oh my God, the sex.” Her head thunked on the back of the chair.
“Oh, I’m already there my friend. And the problem, well, not a problem exactly but one more day of this and Cole would be asking questions. He knows something is up. I can tell.” Our mutual amusement was winding down again. The woman at my feet was doing her thing and as my eyes closed I turned my head in Aimes’ direction.
“Aimes?”
“Yep.”
“I’m going to be okay.”
“I know, babe.”
“You never have to worry again.”
She didn’t answer straight away this time. When she did it was almost a whisper. “I know, babe.”
***
I didn’t know how long I was asleep but when I woke up, I was laying down on a bed. “Dear? We just need to finish your hair and you can get dressed.” I felt the bed move next to me and when I opened my eyes, Trish, Aimes and Richard were all looking at me.
“How long was I asleep?” I asked on a groggy stretch.
“Three hours, dude. Three of ‘em.” Aimes and her mocking laugh left the room.
“I feel like someone just transported me from cloud to cloud to cloud and now I’m here. How did I get here?” Trish nodded toward her husband, my future father-in-law and that was all I needed to know. “Can we have a moment alone, Trish?”
“Sure dear. We’ll get your hair done whenever you’re ready. Rochelle is a whiz with hair.” She smiled, the room cleared and the door shut behind her leaving me alone with Richard Carlyle.
“Anika.” Just my name. He could have said “gargle” or “stamp” but it was the way he said it, with such warmth, that I knew he wasn’t the ogre I thought he was when we met.
“I hated you when I first met you.”
“You had every reason to hate me.” He said matter of factly.
“I don’t hate you now. I thought you should know.”
“I’m glad, Anika. I think you’re lovely.”
I actually felt my cheeks begin to heat. “Thanks.”
“Was there anything else?” He asked.
“I know something happened. That night, Christmas Eve. Something happened or has happened or is happening. Thank you for keeping it from us. Maybe Cole knows, but I suspect he doesn’t know everything. If anything else happens… please don’t tell him, Richard. If there is any way to keep tomorrow pure for us, please…”
He gently put his hand on my belly. “Before you react, she didn’t say anything, but I ran into your doctor and he assumed I knew. At this point I’m guessing Cole is the only one who doesn’t know. Your secret is safe with me, don’t worry. I made a promise to my son that I would fix this and I will fix this. You and my son and my grandchild will always be safe, Anika.”
“Don’t make me cry, Richard. I mean it.”
He gave me a small, gentle smile. “I wouldn’t dare. Now we better get you ready.”
He left the room and I stretched out like a snow angel on the great big bed. I lifted my hands to look at my beautiful finger nails which I now had. They’d been touched up and looked perfect. The ring sparkled as I moved my fingers in little waves and I was so happy. I took that moment and let it all come back to me: Evan. How I loved him but it was almost like looking through the window of a bakery and seeing a fancy piece of cake. You order with high expectations and when you finally get that taste, something is missing. Then there was Lisa: a friendship that was brief and not really a friendship at all. We had good times and she and Aimes and me had so much fun together but again, something was missing. This led me to Joe. Joe wasn’t gone. I was pretty sure of that anyway. But I knew I would be safe from him. Everyone in my life now made sure I was safe. Finally, my mother: this should have been the day she bought a special dress, maybe even wore a hat. She would hold a tissue to her eyes and tell me how much she loved me… no. That would never happen because she was gone and even if she was alive and well, I felt nothing for her. No remorse for the mother I should have had, no anger for what she did and allowed to be done to me. She was beyond this world and I never, ever would give her another thought.
I looked at my ring again and recalled the first time I saw Cole. How beautiful I thought his eyes were, how his hair was too long in the front, how he smelled… how I denied all of this to myself. But it all happened for a reason and I would truly do it all over again to be where I was now.
“Anika? Are you ready for Rochelle?” I heard from the doorway.
I smiled down at my hand. “Absolutely.”
Cole 29
Cole
The morning had been exactly what I needed it to be. I wanted to make sure Anika knew she wasn’t just loved, she was adored by me and it wouldn’t end in a month or a year or ten years: I was going to love this woman, worship her, until my very last breath.
She had gotten up earlier, went into the bathroom and came back to bed, falling asleep almost instantly. I knew we had to be ready by eleven at the latest. I turned, checked my phone and knew we had just over an hour.
I could do a lot in an hour.
But this day was about more than just making love to my future wife, which I would be doing eventually, no doubt about it. It was about us. Together. Everything we’d been through had almost been worth it to be right where we were now. I would gladly do it all over again and I knew she would say the exact same thing but that’s not what I wanted for her. I wanted her to have the dream come true.
I wasn’t sure how she would feel about having a bath as soon as she woke up. Her bags were ready, all her clothes, everything she needed for the wedding was either packed or already where it needed to be. All that was left was throwing on casual clothes and being taken to have her hair and make-up done. That was it.
I carefully left the bed, knowing Anthony would’ve done ev
erything perfectly. I ran downstairs and quickly came back, making quick work of my task before she woke.
“Anika?” I breathed into her ear. “Anika?”
“I was having a dream about this man-angel… he was really slutty.” I laughed while she stretched then stopped for a second. “Oh…” she let out on a happy sigh. “I’m getting married today!”
“Open your eyes, baby.” Her beautiful grey eyes met mine and the smile in them was undeniable. “I have a surprise for you.”
She looked over her shoulder to see what I’d done. “Oh, Cole.” She squeezed her eyes closed but it didn’t stop the little tears falling down her cheeks.
The entire floor was covered in fake snow. Yeah, it was silly and corny but no matter what, I wanted her to have snow. “Sit up, baby.” I leaned over and grabbed breakfast which consisted of everything bagels from our favorite place downtown and two huge vanilla lattes.
“This is perfect. Thank you so much. What time is it?”
I grabbed my phone and told her, “You have half an hour.”
“What?! Cole that’s not nearly enough time. I need time! I’m a girl, I’m a quick girl but this is my wedding day!”
“Anika?” I said in a soothing voice. “Clam down, everything is already done and you know it.” My soothing voice was not doing what it was supposed to.
“But I had plans for you this morning. We didn’t make love yesterday and I wanted to, you know, wake you up with my own kind of special breakfast where I eat you.”
She was panting but I started laughing. “Anika. Stop talking. Eat your bagel. I told you, I have big plans for us at the cabin. Waking up with you, this is exactly how I wanted to start today and it’s just going to get better. And just so you know, yesterday morning is not something I’m going to forget… ever.” I loved this girl and her nervous energy.
We ate our bagels, we kissed, we drank our coffee, we kissed, she got dressed but explained she had to wear Ugg boots because, “I don’t want a sock line and I can’t wear thongs because it’s too cold and I can’t wear my Chucks without socks because I don’t like having sweaty feet in shoes like that.”
I wasn’t sure why I needed this explanation but I got it.
My mom had called to say she would be out front with the car but she wasn’t going to come in. She would just honk. The beep sounded and we stood behind the closed door, about to part ways until she walked into my arms to become my wife.
“So much I want to say to you, Anika.” I held her face in my hands. “I love you, it’s not nearly enough but those are the only words I have.”
“Me too, baby. Me too.” She closed her eyes and put the weight of her head into my hands, “Oh! I almost forgot!” She reached into her giant bag and pulled out the jewelry box I’d seen before. “I’m going to call you from the room, before I walk down the aisle. I want you to put this box in your tux jacket. Answer your phone and then open it when I tell you, okay?”
“You sure you don’t want me to wear whatever’s in here?”
“I’m sure. I better go. Kiss me Cole Carlyle.”
She closed her eyes and leaned into me and I kissed my beloved and soon to be bride. “God, how lucky I am.”
“I’m the lucky one, Cole.” She smiled brightly and opened the door.
“Anika…” I began. I knew something was going on and still hadn’t been able to ask her.
“Cole. It’s okay. Everything is okay. I’ll see you in three hours. Don’t be late.”
“Love you, baby.”
“I love you too.”
***
“What the fuck, Dad?” I was furious. My father had just taken me away from, well, all the guys hanging out: my future father-in- law, brother-in-law, best friend, Nico… what the fuck was going on?
“Cole, don’t argue with me. Let’s go up to the room. Now.”
He had a hold of my arm so tight I was sure I’d have a bruise. “Let go of my fucking arm, Dad.” I demanded.
“When we are in that room, I’ll let go but not a moment before. Now please, be quiet.”
“I’m not a fucking kid, you asshole. Now tell me what the fuck is going on?” I couldn’t yell because there were people everywhere, eyes everywhere. The last thing I wanted was to make a scene.
Before I knew it, the door was closed and locked behind me. My father, making a quick inventory of the room grabbed a chair and wedged it under the lock of the door… the only entry in. He then went to the window and checked the locks and came back toward me. “Stay away from the window, Cole.”
“It’s happening. He’s here.” I stated.
He said nothing, just paced and took his phone from his pocket, “Talk to me.” He said. It wasn’t his normal commanding way. He was scared. I could hear it in his voice.
“Dad… Anika?”
He held up his hand for me to wait. It was one of those times that I knew, no matter what I wanted, he was doing what needed to be done just as he did when she was abducted.
“Good. Yes. Update me every minute. If I don’t receive an update every minute I will assume something is wrong. Text, call I don’t give a fuck but do one of those.” He ended the call. “I told you I would fix this, Cole. I promised Anika neither of you would be affected by anything else. We were prepared for any and all eventualities; one of those scenarios is in play and being dealt with…”
“Anika!” I screamed.
“Is safe. She has two agents in the room with her and one outside the door.” His phone rang. “Yes. Oh God.” He held up his hand to me again, knowing I would want to know what the fuck was happening. The call was ended. “He took David downstairs. Serena is here. She was in hiding.”
I crouched down and put my hands over my face. “Fuck…” I let out on a quiet exhale.
The phone rang again. “Yes.” I watched his face change over the course of what felt like an eternity but was only a few minutes… excruciatingly, long minutes. A knock came at the door. There was a rhythm to it though. Dad went to it, motioning for me to stay back against the far wall. He made a similar knock, a different one followed and he removed the chair. He slowly opened the door and Olaf was inside with us.
“Cole, my friend, it is over.” I fell to the wall behind me and slid to the floor. For weeks I had worried. I believed my dad would do everything he could to prevent harm coming to Anika or myself, but the worry was always there like a fucking snake ready to strike.
“Stand up, son. You’ll wrinkle your suit.” He smiled at me, the confidence he usually had was firmly back in place. His phone rang once again and he moved away to have a conversation he did not want to me to hear.
Olaf stood next to me as I rose to my feet and hugged me when I was fully upright. It wasn’t the most macho of things we had ever done, but Olaf and I had a history. I held his hand when his father was dying. He had come back from, God I couldn’t remember where he was but he had to take four planes and travel a total of thirty-three hours when I attempted suicide. Then there was that time in Berlin with those four women during a launch party for something or other… but he knew my pain, I knew his and a hug between us was more than alright; it would have been an insult to push him away. “David had his hand broken. He won’t be able to play at the reception.”
“She’ll know something happened, Olaf. Anika’s smart. She already figured out that Serena and Joe were still out there, or Joe was anyway.”
“Cole, Serena. She finished it.” The finality of his words sent a chill through me.
“Did you see it happen, Olaf?” My poor friend had seen his share of fucked up shit and I hated he might have seen this.
“No, but I heard it. It’s over, Cole. This is my hotel and it’s an old one with catacombs and tunnels. No one will ever know of this save the people that were in that room and none of them will ever talk, I promise you that. It’s over, Cole.”
Not a minute later, there was a knock at the door. My father rushed over, opened it and in walked all the men that we
re previously downstairs. We all just stood there, my father making everyone move to the sides so he could quickly get out. David walked over to me, his hand bandaged. The room was heavy with silence but David was smiling. “This is what should have happened in the first place, Cole.” He pulled me closer and we walked toward the window. I hesitated for a moment but when I realized my dad was gone; the danger was gone and continued.
I wasn’t sure what to say, I mean, I didn’t have the whole story, but luckily David sensed this. “Cole, listen to me: this is your day, you and Anika, and I can’t imagine how nervous you must be regardless of what happened today.”
“What did happen today?” I interrupted.
“Well, we all had a conversation about that and decided that is something you and Anika don’t need to know. Ah, that reminds me, Nico wants to talk to you though. Cool guy.”
“Yeah, he is.” I stood there, stunned and without the ability to speak. David patted me on the back, a smile never leaving him as his dad; also smiling led him away with a gentle nod to me. I got it, everyone was happy. Life was going on and no one wanted whatever had happened to mar the occasion.
I stood there knowing Nico was on his way over to me when something caught my eye outside. I looked at the unmistakable sight of Serena. She stood outside a black town car, darkened windows and lifted her head. Her head turned to my window and she held her hand up, palm out and then laid it on her chest. Almost like she was saying a pledge. Then she turned her body to the side and repeated the same thing. Just then, my phone rang. I knew immediately it was Anika.
“Cole?” Her voice was a whisper.
“Anika.”
“Are you seeing this?” She asked.
“Yes.”
“It’s over.” She said softly.
Cole (The Leaves) Page 23