by Alison Mello
“You guys did a kick ass job tonight,” Logan says. “We were slammed and I’m glad I went on the heavier side with staff because we could have been screwed. That said, we will not be going lighter on staff next week, so I’ll see you all back here. Our entertainment will be different, but Skyler will be here with me so if you need back up you’ll have it. The crowd clearly loved her so we’ll have her back the following week to sing again and I’ll have a different backup plan if need be.”
Everyone is hooting and hollering for me, and I start to blush as usual. “Thanks, guys.” I try to sound as confident as possible, though I’m not sure I succeed.
“Alright, everyone, let’s finish up so we can all get out of here. Tomorrow night is Thirsty Thursday and another busy night for us.”
“It was pumping in here tonight, huh?” I ask Logan.
“We were busier tonight than we have been on 18+ night in a long time. Now we have to see if it stays that way.”
“I’m proud of you. You did an amazing job at planning and promoting this event. It’s a success because of your hard work.”
“Thanks, sweetie. Now let’s kick all the staff out so we can get home.”
I laugh. “Okay.”
“Everyone, it’s time to get out of here!” he shouts to his crew. They all hand their glasses to Kelly or toss the bottles in the trash. Everyone heads out, and Logan and I grab the last trash bag and head out the door. After locking up, we walk to his car, and the sight we find isn’t what we expect.
His car has been trashed, and I mean totally smashed up. Windows are broken, headlights shattered, taillights broken, dents everywhere, like someone took a bat to his car. He calls the police from his cell phone. While we wait he calls his limo driver to come back to the club to pick us up.
We head back into the club to wait for the police, heading straight to Logan’s office to check out the security footage. He finds the camera covering his car and he can see the figure walking around it. He’s definitely carrying some sort of metal object, probably a bat. He’s bashing the shit out of the car, but because it’s dark and he’s wearing a hoodie, you can’t make out who it is.
I feel bad, like this is my fault. “I’m sorry, Logan. I hope this wasn’t that ass from the bar.”
Logan shakes his head. “He wouldn’t know my car unless he has been watching us. I think it was Troy. He wanted me to drop the charges against him so he could get another job and I threw him out.”
I start pacing because my gut somehow says this was Billy.
“Troy wasn’t wearing a hoodie when he came in; was Billy?”
Skyler shrugs. “No.”
“That doesn’t mean he didn’t ditch it before he came in.” Logan makes a copy of the tape to hand over to the police, and when we walk outside with it they’re arriving, as is our limo. I head to the car to wait while he deals with the police. It only takes him about five minutes before he joins me and we’re on our way home.
Chapter 11
Skyler
I’m meeting up for lunch with Sadie today, and I’m so excited. I haven’t seen her much since the art show and while I was there I didn’t even get to talk to her. It feels like forever since I have seen her. So much has happened since then. I can’t wait to catch up and I miss my friend. I’m sitting in our favorite diner waiting for her, and she’s running late. I sip my diet soda and watch out the window for her when I see her finally pull in and hustle into the diner.
“I’m so sorry I’m late. There’s a major accident and it has everything backed up for miles.”
I stand to hug her. “No worries. I was sipping some soda waiting for you. I miss you so much, Sadie. I don’t get to see you now that you moved in with Jonah.”
“I know. Things with Jonah and me are great, but now that we’re planning the wedding it’s even crazier.” She rolls her eyes as she shows me the binder of wedding stuff she wants to talk about later. “How are things with Logan going?”
“Great. But first I want to know all about the art show.”
She glows as she tells me how wonderful it was. “We had the best night. All of my paintings have sold and I’ve had people contact me to find out when I’ll have more up at the gallery.”
“That is so awesome! I’m so happy for you!”
“Did you know Logan bought one of my paintings?”
“I did. We were looking at them together and talking about them and he really liked the one he picked. As a matter of fact, the guy behind him in line wanted it too, but Logan beat him to it so the other guy bought his second favorite of your paintings.”
“How cool is that!” she squeals.
The waitress comes over to take her drink order and hands Sadie a menu. I already know what I want, and if I know Sadie she’ll be getting a bacon cheeseburger and fries.
“I’m so happy for you, Sadie. Have you been busy painting?”
“Yeah, but I also pulled some of my art from the smaller galleries and put them in the bigger one until I can get some more work done. There’ll be another show in two months and they want me to have more pieces ready so I have to stay focused. So what’s going on with you and Logan?”
“Well, we’ve pretty much been living together since the attack, even though I didn’t give up the apartment right away. Things are going well. He gets me, and it’s like he can read me. He knows if something is bothering me and he’s good about getting me to open up.”
“That’s awesome. I’m so glad I dragged you out with me that night.”
“Me too, because I have seriously fallen in love with him. I haven’t told him yet but I totally will.”
“What do you mean you haven’t told him?”
“We were having this conversation at the house and he told me he loved me, but I didn’t say it back. Then later that day I explained to him that I didn’t say it because I wanted him to know I was saying it because I meant it not because he said it. He seemed quite happy with that and we dropped it.” The waitress returns with Sadie’s soda and we place our orders. I ordered a Rueben and she ordered a bacon cheese burger like I thought she would.
“What kind of wedding info have you started collecting?” I’m secretly hoping she isn’t going to turn into bridezilla or make us wear ugly dresses.
“I have collected pictures of dresses I like, hall decor, DJ names, florists, and stuff like that. Jonah swears he can get the DJ from the club, but I don’t know how he’ll do that when he’s at the club on Saturday nights.” She makes a disgusted face. “Oh yeah, Jonah told me that the creep who attacked you showed up at the club the other night.”
“Yeah. What Jonah doesn't know is that someone bashed in Logan’s car that same night and we don’t know if it was Billy, since we saw him at the club, or Troy, since he’s pissed at Logan for not dropping the charges. Not knowing which one it was is killing me.”
“Oh my god, no way! That would totally freak me out! Was Logan pissed about his car?”
The waitress returns with our food and tells us she’ll be back to check on us shortly. I continue with my story while we eat.
“Nah, he has insurance and it isn’t like he can’t afford another one. The thing was destroyed, headlights, windows, taillights, everything. Someone pretty much took a metal bat to it and beat every inch of his car. He called the police and arranged for his limo driver to come back for us and take us home from the club.”
I start blushing thinking about the amazing sex we had in the limo on the way home.
“What are you thinking about?” Sadie asks, shoving her burger in her mouth.
“What? Nothing.” I shove a french fry in my mouth so I can think of something to change the subject.
“Bullshit. You were biting your lip, and red is creeping up your neck.”
I give her a sideways grin and drop my voice so no one will hear. “We had the most explosive sex in the back of his limo on the way home.”
She laughs at me. “I would never say this in front of Jonah bu
t Logan looks like he’s pretty killer in the sheets.”
“In the sheets, on the couch, in the office, in a limo, it doesn’t matter where it is, he’s incredible.” I smile and add, “He always takes care of me first, and that’s something I have never had before.”
“That is awesome!” Sadie smiles back at me, and I can tell she’s genuinely excited for me. “I’m glad that Jonah and I still have good sex, because I don’t know what I would do if it faded.”
“I can’t see anything changing with Logan and me either, and our schedules are so great, especially now that I work at the club with him. We get our time apart when I’m off, but when I’m working I still get to see him and I have him take me home after work so I’ll never be alone. I can’t believe we’ve been seeing each other for a few months already. Time is moving quickly, especially now that we have set a routine.”
The waitress comes to remove our plates and asks if we want another round of drinks. We both say, “Yes please,” and Sadie flips the binder open. The first thing she has in the binder is the different locations that she would like to get married and different color options she would like.
“I’m thinking about a spring wedding, and if I can line up a place I’ll do it this coming spring because Jonah and I want to be married sooner rather than later. Jonah is asking Logan to be his best man today.” She shows me the coral color dresses she’s thinking she’ll probably go with.
As we’re talking, I have a strange feeling, like someone is watching us. I look up around the diner and see nothing until movement outside catches my eye.
“Oh my god, he’s here.” I grab my phone.
Sadie says, “Who?”
I casually nod toward the window. “Look at my car.” Logan’s phone rings; he answers right away. “Hey, sweetie, what’s up?”
“Logan, he’s here leaning on my car. He knows my car.”
“Shit! You’re at Trisha’s right?” He’s trying to sound calm, but there is panic in his voice because we’re basically sitting ducks.
“Yeah, Sadie and I are inside.”
“Don’t leave the diner. And call the cops. We’re on our way.”
“Okay, we’ll wait for you to get here.”
I hang up and call John, the police officer that came the night Billy attacked me, since he gave me his card. I inform him that Billy is leaning against my car and has been stalking me. I tell him about how I saw him in the club while I was onstage but didn’t report it because, despite being on camera, he got away. He tells me to hold on for a second while he calls for backup and to keep an eye out in case he leaves. They need to know what he’s driving.
“Sadie, Jonah and Logan are on their way. They want us to stay in here. We’re all going to go to Logan’s and hang there where they can keep us safe.”
“I have a good mind to go out there and kick this guy’s ass.”
“You tell her to stay put and do not go anywhere near him!” John yells into the phone, apparently hearing Sadie’s comment. “What if he’s armed?”
“John heard you and is yelling for you to stay in the diner, so stop,” I say to Sadie, then address John. “He’s getting in a beat up pick-up truck. It looks like a Ford, two doors, and it’s a dull black. It looks pretty old, but I have no idea what year it is. He’s driving toward the building with no front plate so I have no idea what else to give you. He drove around the back of the diner to leave. He must have seen me on the phone.”
“I’m almost at the diner now. Stay put until Logan gets there, and I’ll try to catch up with him. I’ll call you guys a little later to update you.”
“Thank you, John.” I end the call. “He said he’s almost here and he’s going to go after him. wants us to stay put until Logan and Jonah get here.”
“We might as well look at the binder some more and talk about ideas.” She flips the page.
“Have you called any of these locations to see if they are available and get pricing?”
Sadie shakes her head. “I was hoping maybe you would help me with that.”
“Sure. We can call as soon as we get to my place. That way you can print them out and see what’s in your budget and what isn’t.”
“My parents said they would give us money toward the wedding though they can’t afford to pay for it all, so we have to make sure the place isn’t crazy. We aren’t having a huge wedding since neither of our families is big, but still this is LA. Everything is expensive. Unless you're rich and famous, then they give it away, which never made sense to me, by the way. You’re rich so you can afford anything, but because they want you at their location they’ll give it to you for free just to say you got married there.”
I roll my eyes at her. “They should charge them so they can afford to give better rates to us poor people.”
Sadie bursts out laughing. “If only!”
A moment later Logan and Jonah come running through the door like we were under attack and they had to protect us. “Where is he?” he asks, panting like they ran a marathon.
“He left in a black pick-up truck while I was on the phone with John. He went to follow him and asked us to stay here until you guys got here. He said he would call us later with an update.”
“Okay ladies, let’s get out of here so we can get home and you two can continue planning Jonah’s funeral.”
“Screw you, man,” Jonah says, nudging his arm angrily.
“Wait, Logan, I haven’t paid the bill.” I nod over to my waitress, who brings the bill over.
Logan hands her a fifty, telling her to keep the change. We head out to my car and find my tires are slashed. Logan makes a call to have my car towed and my tires replaced before we head back to his house.
“We’re going to drop Sadie’s car off at our place and then we will head to yours,” Jonah tells us.
“Cool. We’ll get some takeout for dinner later,” Logan calls to him as I get in his car.
“I’m glad you called me as soon as you spotted him,” he says when he gets in.
“It was weird, Logan. I had this feeling of being watched, and when I looked outside there he was, leaning against my car. I hadn’t even noticed he slashed my tires.”
He glances at me quickly. “Don’t worry about the tires. They’ll be replaced and your car will be back at the house tomorrow.”
“Thanks, Logan.”
He gives me a sideways grin. “It’s no problem, love.”
I can’t help but grin. That is the first time he has called me that.
“I have to admit this guy is starting to creep me out a bit, and now that he knows my car I can’t help but wonder if he bashed your car too.” I shake my head. “I hate we don’t know if it was him or Troy.”
“I know, and I promise I’m doing what I can to figure that out.”
I look out the window, trying to think about why he would be doing this. I mean seriously, telling a guy to keep his hands to himself is hardly a big deal to be carrying on this way. There has to be more to it. I try to think about how long this guy was hanging in the bar and if I could have done something more to piss him off, but I’m not sure. I know he’d been hanging around with his friends for a while and they get pretty drunk on sports nights. As a matter of fact, I cut off one of his friends one night because he was drunk and being obnoxious, but I don’t think I’d ever cut him off other than the night he attacked me.
“What are you thinking?” Logan asks, drawing my attention back to him.
“I’m trying to figure out why this guy is doing this. Clearly there has to be more to it than I shut him off and told him to keep his hands to himself. It wouldn’t make sense for him to continue carrying on like this over something simple like that. I also don’t believe he doesn’t remember anything from the night before. I think that’s a crock of shit and he just said that to make it look like a drunken accident.”
“You're right, but unfortunately until the cops do their digging, we have no idea why he’s doing this. Have you ever noticed h
im at any of the clubs you sing at?”
I stop to think for a moment. “No, but with the lighting it isn’t always easy to clearly see faces. He could hide out in a corner of the room and I would never see him. I can’t help but think there’s more to this, and I wish I knew what it was.”
We pull up to the building and get out of the car. As we approach Greg, Logan lets him know we have guests coming and they’ll be arriving shortly. He tells us to have a nice evening as we head toward the elevators.
Once we are inside I head straight for the fridge and pour myself a glass of Moscato. I don’t usually drink this early in the day, but my nerves are on edge and I need to relax. I’m finally going to have a night with our friends relaxing in our home, and I want to be able to enjoy myself.
Logan walks up to me, taking my glass and placing it on the counter. “You know I’ll keep you safe right?” I look to the floor for a moment. “Skyler, look at me.”
He raises my chin so I’m forced to look at him and he kisses me gently, never taking his eyes off mine. “I love you and I’m not going to let anything happen to you. If I have to hire security for when I’m not around I will, but we’re almost always together so don’t stress it, okay?”
“And who is going to protect you? What if he comes after you, Logan? I can’t stand the thought.”
“Listen to me, love. If things start to get out of control, I’ll get security for both of us. If that’s what it takes to make you feel safe and you’ll be happy then that’s what I’ll do. For now let’s wait to see what John says when he calls a bit later.”
He kisses me a bit more passionately this time and then gives me the big hug I need. The phone rings and it’s Greg letting us know our guests have arrived and are on their way up. Sadie and I hug and Jonah and Logan shake hands. I offer Sadie some wine since I’m drinking already and I offer Jonah a beer. They both accept and I hand them their drinks. Sadie and I take our drinks and head to the balcony to look over the rest of the binder. She picks up where she left off with flowers and dress ideas and so on. We make a few phone calls to see who has availability for the spring and get some prices.