by Shandi Boyes
Noah Taylor lead singer of the band ‘Rise Up’ in tragic accident.
The café attendant tries to hand me my change, but I can’t tear my eyes away from the television screen. When it flicks to a reporter, she appears to be standing at the front of the hospital. I sprint to the hospitals entrance and see several news vans parked at the front and a handful of reporters standing on the front entrance steps. I quickly dart back to Noah’s room and the instant I enter; Emily’s hungry gaze looks at my empty hands.
“It’s all over the media” I state, as I grab the remote off the bedside table.
“What is?” Emily questions, while I turn on the TV that is hanging above Noah’s bed.
Emily watches as the news reporter broadcasts live from outside of the hospital. I can see the confusion clearly etched all over her face. Once the report is over, I switch off the television and motion for Emily to join me in the corridor.
“Why would they report that?” Emily questions the instant we walk out of Noah’s room.
“I don’t know Emily, but I am pretty sure I know who would have done this” I respond angrily. That fucking bitch Delilah has been constantly leaving me voicemail messages the past few weeks asking if I was aware that Noah had a marriage licence issued in his name. I have no fucking clue how she got my contact details, but I never once returned her calls.
“Delilah” Emily breathes out harshly as she stomps her foot in annoyance.
“That was my first guess too” I admit while murmuring several choice curse words under my breath.
“Will you be okay if I leave you here with Noah for a couple of hours?” I question to the concerned face of Emily.
“Yes” she replies slightly surprised.
“I’ll be back in a few hours, but if anything happens you call me straight away Emily. Okay?” I request while grabbing a hold of her hand, silently telling her not to worry about this. I have Noah’s back and I will take care of this mess.
When she nods her head, I place a quick kiss on her cheek as I bolt towards my car parked in the parking lot.
“One thousand, four hundred and seventy dollars” the parking attendant requests surprised.
“What the fuck?” was the only reply I could come up with.
“The parking rate is thirty-five dollars a day and you have been parked here for six weeks” he responds apprehensively.
“Fuck” I breathe harshly under my breath while I hand him my credit card. I will have to worry about the overdraft fee later.
The instant I pull into the driveway of my house, my dad comes barrelling down the stairs.
“Is Noah okay?” he asks panicked about my sudden arrival home.
I haven’t been back here since the day Noah was transferred to Ravenshoe, not even for Christmas Day. Maggie and Emily’s mom have been doing all of our washing and other than needing clean clothes, there is nothing else Emily and I have needed that required us to step foot outside of the hospital grounds.
“He’s fine. I need that contract you stored in the safe for Noah” I advise while I take the steps two at a time. My dad follows closely behind me as I stride towards his office.
“What’s going on, anything I can help with?” My dad questions as he starts putting his combination in the safe, before opening it, to pull out the contract I was requesting.
The instant he hands it over to me, I start flicking through the hundred plus page document. It takes several times flicking through each page before I eventually find what I am looking for.
“I have fucking got you now” I declare excitedly as I jump into the air.
“Thanks Dad” I yell while quickly making my way back to my car.
****
“I’m sorry Mr Walters, but neither Cormack or Delilah are in their offices at the moment” advises the receptionist at Destiny’s Records office located in Hopeton.
“Can you please try Cormack’s cell again and tell him that Jacob is waiting for him and that I am not leaving this building until I see him” I instruct firmly.
“I’m going to wait right over there” I advise, pointing to the chair located closest to her desk. I wanted her to know that I was going to sit there and continue to hound her every ten minutes until Cormack turns up.
It ends up taking nearly an hour before Cormack finally strolls into the office. When I notice his sullen mood, I initially hesitate in bombarding him, until I spot Delilah following closely behind him.
“Jacob, what are you doing here?” he questions confused.
“Maybe you should ask her?” I reply as my angry glare stares towards Delilah.
Cormack’s eyes flick between Delilah and I, before his shoulders slightly slump.
“Let’s take this somewhere else” Cormack requests while motioning for me to follow him.
Once we walk into the boardroom, Cormack and Delilah take a seat on one side of the table and I move over to the opposite side. I want to ensure I can see her full reaction when she finds out what I have up my sleeve for her.
“What can we help you with Jacob?” Cormack questions formally.
“Fire her, immediately” I reply in a harsh tone while I narrow my eyes at Delilah “And then maybe you will be able to keep ‘Rise Up’ signed to your record label” I continue as my gaze turns back to Cormack.
“Rise Up is already signed to the record label and there is nothing you or Emily can do to change that” Delilah snarls as she smirks at me condescendingly.
“Oh, is that right? The contract Noah signed is currently null and void” I respond, causing Delilah to shake her head and huff loudly.
I open the contract to the page I was seeking earlier and push it over towards Cormack. Cormack’s eyes lower down to the contract, before they open wide in shock.
“You missed a page” I snarl victoriously.
“So you either fire Delilah right now and guarantee me that she will never work for Rise Up or Destiny Records ever again. Or I will show Emily, who happens to be Noah’s power of attorney, this document and I will encourage her to sign the countries current number one selling band to another record label” I advise firmly to Cormack’s shocked gaze.
“What will it be?” I question. Cormack’s gaze lifts from the document in front of him and turns to face Delilah.
“I’m sorry Delilah but I have to let you go” he advises delicately.
“What! Are you seriously going to let that ape dictate to you? You are the managing director of this company and you are going to allow this brute to bully you into firing me” She snarls angrily as she stands from her chair and narrows her eyes into little slits.
“Be sure to have your desk cleared out by the end of the day” Cormack states firmly.
Delilah’s face reddens with her anger as her nostrils flare, before she storms out of the office dramatically. Once she leaves the room, Cormack flops back down against his chair and he takes in several deep breaths before his gaze lifts towards mine.
“How long have you known about the missing signature?” Cormack questions.
“Since the day Noah signed the contract” I respond.
“Then why didn’t you say something when he was being sued”
“I never got a chance. Isaac interrupted our conversation and offered to pay the amount they were requesting. I knew that Noah’s records sales would eventually repay the debt to Isaac, so I decided to hold off on the information I knew until I needed it. Today I needed it” I reply honestly.
“Well you just saved me from having to find a reason to fire Delilah, so I guess I should be thanking you” Cormack replies as a slight smile forms on his face.
“What happens now?” he asks while looking back down at the contract.
“I guess that will be up to Emily and Noah” I reply before I grab the original copy of the contract and walk out of the boardroom feeling victorious.
I safely return the contract back to my dad’s safe and head back to the hospital, excited that I am going to be able to te
ll Emily about my victory against Delilah today. As I turn to walk into Noah’s hospital room, the first thing I notice is the flashing of lights. It only dawns on me what is going on when I spot the guys’ camera in his hand as he attempts to barge past Emily.
“What the fuck are you doing in here?” I question furiously as I grab the paparazzi by the scruff of his neck and pull him into the corridor.
“Get off me, I am just doing my job” replies the paparazzi while he tries to weasel his way out of my grip. I snatch the camera out of his hand, frantically searching for the SD card. There was no way I was going to have a photo of Noah lying on a hospital bed circulated around the world.
Once I located the SD card, I throw his camera hard to the ground and start stomping on it with my foot. I didn’t know if his camera had an internal memory or not and I didn’t want to risk him having any images on there. I walk over towards Emily and hand her the SD card just as the paparazzi venomously snarls.
“You should just turn off the life support, he would be worth more dead than alive”
Than all I felt was pure rage. He had just said the exact same words Noah’s mom said when I called her to tell her about Noah’s accident. I charged towards him seeing nothing but red as I slammed him hard against the wall in the corridor and began throwing punch after punch against his face. I eventually got pulled off him by two security officers. When I looked over and observe that the paparazzi was smirking at me, I shrugged off the security officers and started attacking him again, knocking out several of his teeth. Smirk now you stupid fuck. My rage was only dampened when I my eyes start burning like someone had just set my eyelids on fire.
“OH fuck” I yell, while attempting to lessen the burning sensation with my hands. Every rub I do, makes it burn ten times worse.
I feel someone wrap their arms around my shoulders, but I can’t see through my burning and puffy eyes, that I shrug them harshly off me.
“It’s just me Jacob” Emily advises gently, before she starts pouring water over my eyes, giving me instant relief.
“I’m sorry Emily” I apologize, not just from shrugging her off me, but for the way I just reacted.
“Don’t you dare apologize Jacob” she replies firmly, as she continues to pour water on my sore eyes.
Chapter 44
Lola
I am in the middle of my shift at Pete’s when I hear my cell phone ringing in my pocket. I explained to Pete the situation with Noah and he has graciously allowed me to keep my phone in my pocket while I work in case anything urgent happens. I quickly hand Bill, one of our regulars, his beer before moving over to the edge of the bar to answer my phone.
“Hello” I state apprehensively, since I don’t recognize the number.
“How is my pretty lady?” Hank questions, causing me to smile.
“I am good Hank, how are you? Do you miss me already? I only left you at lunch time” I question while laughing.
“I always miss having a pretty lady around” he replies making me smile even more brightly.
“Alright enough kidding around, what did you really call me for?” I question.
“I have some news on Jacob” he advises, causing me to swallow harshly.
“Jacob’s been arrested for assault and battery again. I don’t know if he will be able to get out of these charges this time. I know that you say things between you two are over, but I know you care about him and I thought you would like to know what is going on” Hank informs.
I take in several long deep breaths, while I try to rack my brain working out how long ago Jacob assaulted Callum.
“Is he still on his original probation?” I question panicked
“I don’t know; he is cutting it close” Hank responds concerned.
Jesus, if Jacob has been arrested while still on probation, he is never going to have the chance of getting out of jail this time.
“Where is he?” I ask.
“At Ravenshoe Police Station. I’ll meet you there in an hour?” Hank question.
“Yep” I respond before I disconnect the call.
My boss was understanding when I said I had to leave my shift early. It probably helped that I didn’t elaborate that I was actually going to the police station and not the hospital like he assumed. When I arrived at the police station, Hank was already waiting for me on the front steps. The instant I walked into the lobby, I spotted Ryan strolling down the hallway.
“Ryan” I shout, trying to gain his attention. He stops walking and when his gaze lifts, he looks at me with apprehension, before he starts walking towards me.
“I am doing everything I can Lola, but it is out of my hands this time” Ryan advises sullenly.
“Can we see him?” I question. Ryan’s blue eyes stare at mine before he starts shaking his head, causing my heart to plunge into my stomach. He then spins on his heels and starts to walk back down the hallway.
“Is he out of his original probation period?” I yell loudly, forcing several people’s heads to turn towards me. Ryan freezes halfway down the hallway, before he slowly turns around to face me. When he moves back near me, he motions for me to move to the side of the counter, away from prying eyes. Hank follows closely behind me.
“He had one week left. That’s why I can’t help him this time Lola. It is higher than me now” he responds sadly.
“What does that mean? Will he go to jail?” I question panicked.
“Yes, he will most likely be serving some time behind bars this time” Ryan responds while he breathes harshly.
“No Ryan, there has to be something you can do, something we can do to help him” I immediately respond as my heart starts to rapidly beat.
“There is nothing we can do. With his original conviction and now this one, he won’t be able to escape prosecution this time around” Ryan advises while his gaze flicks between mine and Hank’s, before he slowly turns and walks away.
My stomach swirls in protest as I try to contemplate the thought of Jacob going to jail. I can’t let this happen to him. If he wasn’t protecting me to start with, he would have never had his original conviction. I quickly run over to the desk clerk, seeking answers to some questions I have. Once she gives me the answers I need, I turn to face Hank.
“I need your help, but you can’t tell anyone what we are about to do” I advise. Hank’s black eyes look deep into mine before he smiles and nods his head.
“Let’s do this pretty lady” he states while smiling brightly.
I try to take in several long deep breaths as I nervously walk up the stairs to a house I use to call home. When I reach the screen door, I lift my shaking hand and knock.
“Well look what the cat dragged in” says Callum sarcastically as he walks down the long hallway. His eyes roam over Hank, who is standing next to me, before they switch back to looking at me.
“And to what do I owe the pleasure?” he questions while he rubs under his nose and sniffs.
“Can we come in?” I question. Callum’s eyes once again flick over to Hank, before he nods his head. “He looks harmless enough” he mumbles as Hank and I walk past him.
When we walk into the living room, Callum rapidly starts trying to clean up the mess of beer cans and pizza boxes that are covering nearly every surface of the room. The first thing my vision zooms in on is the white powder currently cut into lines on the glass coffee table.
“I thought you were clean?” I question, as my gaze seeks Callum.
“I thought if I was clean you would have come back to me, but that never happened did it?” he responds, while he shrugs his shoulders like it isn’t a big deal that he is using again.
Once Callum moves enough debris from the sofa, he motions for us to take a seat, before he stands next to the fire place.
“What do you want Lola?” he questions roughly.
“I want you to change your statement on the assault that happened nearly two years ago” I reply.
“and why would I do that?” he rebuts as his ey
ebrows raise high.
“Because if you don’t, I am going to press charges against you for assaulting me” I respond confidently. Callum immediately starts laughing as Hank’s dark eyes turn towards me concerned. He then takes in a long deep breath as his narrowed and furious eyes turn to stare at Callum.
“The statute of limitation for assault is two years. That means I still have a week to press charges against you. I have the original statement and photographs that the detectives took when I issued a statement. It clearly shows your hand print around my neck and on my wrist and I am sure when I call them to come and arrest you, they will be very interested to find the white powder you currently have all over the house” I inform firmly while I pull my cell phone out of pocket and start dialling 911.