by Cheri Marie
“Arianna?”
“Yes Tristan?”
“Could I come to the reveal when you take the Carter family to their new home? Stuff like this is why I applied to work for you in the first place. I would love to see their faces when they see what you’ve done for them.”
“Of course you can, you’re very much a part of this too. Without you I probably wouldn’t be able to do everything I do for these families. You help to keep me balanced. I appreciate you so much, I just wanted to let you know that, in case I don’t tell you enough.” I watch as Tristan blushes.
“Thank you Arianna, I really enjoy working for you, it’s very self-rewarding.”
“You’re very welcome,” I smile at her.
The waitress is back with our food and we dig in. I’m not sure why, but today I feel like I haven’t eaten in days. The salad I ordered is delicious and I make a mental note to eat here again sometime. Tristan and I finish up our lunch, pay the bill and then head back to where I parked the car. My good mood turns to panic, my tires have been flattened all the way around. Tristan looks at me, worry written across her pretty face.
“It’s okay, I’ll call Landon. But please Tristan, not a word about us seeing Liam today okay?”
She seems reluctant to agree but she nods her head. I grab my phone out of my pocket and click on Landon, he answers after a couple rings.
“Hey baby, how was shopping?”
“Shopping was great but I have a problem.”
“What? What’s the problem? Are you okay?”
“Yes, I’m fine. We came back to the car to go back to the office and all my tires are flat.”
“What the fuck!” he says through gritted teeth, “I’ll be right there baby.”
“Okay.” I think about asking him to stay on the phone with me as I anxiously look around at my surroundings. I don’t see Liam anywhere, but I get the overwhelming feeling that I’m being watched. Maybe I’m just fucking paranoid. I hardly realize that Landon hasn’t hung up.
“Are you sure everything is okay Arianna?”
I jump at the sound of his voice. “Yes, everything is fine, just get here but drive safe.”
“Okay, I love you. I’ll be there soon.”
“I love you too,” I say then hang up.
I open the trunk and we load the pictures into it. I look around at the streets lined with people again. I still feel like we're being watched and it’s making me uneasy. I try for nonchalant by asking Tristan if she wants to sit in the car while we wait for Landon. She agrees and we climb into the car. I lock the doors and turn on the music trying to ease the building anxiousness. All of the sudden someone taps on the window and I jump. I turn and look relieved that it’s Landon. I climb out of the car and immediately hug him. He steps back and looks at the car.
“Who the fuck would do this?”
“I don’t know,” I tell him. Yes you do my subconscious yells at me, tell him who did it. I ignore the voice in my head; there is no way in hell I am telling him Liam did this.
He looks at me and I think he can tell that I am full of shit. Instead he picks up his phone and calls a tow truck to come tow it to the closest tire shop. The tow truck is there within thirty minutes, they load my car onto the back. Tristan, Landon and I climb into Landon’s car and head to the shop. The guys at the shop take a look at the tires, one looks at me with raised eyebrows.
“Who did you piss off?” he asks.
“No one,” I look down picking at imaginary lint on my shirt. I know exactly who is responsible for this. It surely wasn’t a coincidence that I see Liam in front of the furniture store and then I come back to my tires slashed. I look up at Landon and he’s looking at me questioningly. I glance at Tristan and she’s glancing between me and Landon. I slightly shake my head no at her. I know what she’s thinking. Apparently Landon was watching our unspoken communication because next thing I know he grabs my hand and gently pulls me outside.
“Arianna why don’t you tell me what happened while you and Tristan were shopping?”
“Nothing happened Landon,” I snap at him.
He runs his hands through his hair like he always does when he’s frustrated. “Arianna either you tell me or I am going to interrogate your assistant until she tells me. From the look on her face it won’t take long for her to spill everything.”
I turn my back to him; I can’t look into his face right now. I put my head down and try to fight down the lump in my throat. I’m scared to tell Landon it was Liam. I don’t want him to lose his temper. I don’t want any more conflict, I just want Liam to leave me alone, if Landon retaliates it will only make things much, much worse.
“Fine have it your way,” he says through gritted teeth. He turns on his heel and heads back inside. I try to stop him but it’s too late. I watch in horror as Tristan spills everything. Landon glances out the window at me and my heart drops into my stomach. I can see his jaw tense, the rest of his body following suit. When Tristan has told him everything he strides back out to me. I look at Tristan and she mouths “I’m sorry.”
“Arianna, why the fuck didn’t you tell me you ran into Liam?” he says, his voice harsh.
“I didn’t think it was relevant. He didn’t try anything, we didn’t even speak we just saw each other through the furniture store window,” I put my head down. I feel like I’m being scolded like a child.
“You didn’t think to mention him when you came back to your car with slashed tires?”
I can feel tears prick at my eyes, “I’m sorry. I just didn’t want you to overreact.”
“Overreact?” he over enunciates the word, taking a step toward me. I slowly lift my eyes to meet his, those beautiful hazel eyes are smoldering with rage behind them. “You should know, when it comes to you there is no such thing as overreacting. I would do anything to keep you safe,” his voice is laced with guilt.
“I know,” I whisper. We just stand there looking at each other. Suddenly the door to the shop opens and Tristan walks out with my keys in hand.
“We can go, your car is finished,” she says as she hands me the keys.
“Wait, I have to pay for it.”
“No you don’t, I paid for it and I don’t want to hear any argument about it,” he growls at me. I feel a tear run down my cheek and quickly wipe it away. He’s being harsh towards me and it hurts my heart. I nod to Tristan and we head into the parking lot and climb into my car. Once we're seated inside I let the tears flow. Tristan grabs my hand giving it a reassuring squeeze. We sit there until I can pull myself together and then head off to the office.
I’m infuriated that Arianna lied to me again. She promised to be fucking honest, but when I asked her if anything happened she lied to my fucking face. I had to get the whole story from Tristan, though I’m thankful she was so eager to spill her guts. The rage is pulsating through me. I want to go rip Liam the fuck apart! I’m short with Arianna, even though I feel bad for snapping at her I’m still pissed and just need some time to cool down. I climb into my car, running my hands through my hair; pulling it in frustration. I don’t understand why the fuck she can’t be honest with me. Maybe she thinks she’s protecting you jackass, my subconscious sneers at me. I don’t need protecting. All I want or need in life is for her to be by my side and to keep her safe.
I look across the parking lot at Arianna in her car, watching as she wipes away tears from her beautiful face. My stomach turns to knots. What a fucking asshole I’ve just been to her. I promised I would never hurt her and now she’s crying because of me. "Fuck!" I punch the steering wheel of my car. Fucking idiot. I watch as Arianna and Tristan pull out of the parking lot and turn in the direction of her office. I pull out behind them, wanting to make sure they make it back safely. I slow down as they reach the office, I know Arianna knows I’m there but she doesn’t even look in my direction. My chest tightens, God I hope I haven’t seriously fucked this up. I head back to the office to finish up the day. All I can think about is Arianna. I gra
b my phone and send her a text…
Arianna, please forgive me for acting like an asshole. I was just frustrated that you didn’t tell me about seeing Liam. I understand that you were just trying to protect me from doing something stupid. I did overreact, just… if anything were to happen to you… I could never, ever forgive myself. I’m sorry.
I wait for a reply. Five, ten minutes pass… nothing. Twenty minutes later I hear my phone ding. It’s her, I mentally prepare for her to tell me to go fuck myself. I open the text and read it.
I understand why you were upset and I forgive you. But you were so cold towards me, it felt like you stabbed me in the gut and twisted the knife when you wouldn’t even look at me.
Her words hit me like a ton of bricks have been dropped on my chest. I thought about replying but I couldn’t, I needed to go to her. The need to hold her in my arms and beg her for forgiveness is overwhelming. Grabbing my keys and my phone I race to her office. Tristan is sitting at her desk when I walk in, she glares at me. Shit, guess I pissed her off too. She nods at me to go ahead in. I walk in and stop; Arianna has her knees pulled up to her chest and she’s crying into her lap. Rushing over to her I drop to my knees in front of her. Panic rising, it’s killing me seeing her like this, and knowing I’m the cause of it.
I gently grab her ankles pulling her legs down, she looks at me, her eyes are swollen and red from crying. Slowly I reach up to caress her face, half expecting her to pull away from me but she doesn’t.
“Oh Arianna… baby, I’m so sorry. Please, please forgive me.”
She closes her eyes, I reach up and plant light kisses on both her eyelids and then cautiously I kiss her lips. I’m relieved when she kisses me back. She breaks from our kiss and rests her forehead on mine.
“I forgive you,” she whispers.
“I know I don’t deserve it, but thank you.” I kiss her again, standing up I pull her up into my arms.
“Come on, let’s get you home.” I drive her home, calling Damien and Ashlan to fetch her car. Ashlan gives me the third degree but I tell her I’ll talk to her about it later. We reach Arianna’s, I climb out going around I open her door and she climbs out. I take her keys and unlock the door for us. We walk inside, I take her hand and lead her up to her room. I walk into the bathroom, turning on the tub. Filling it and adding a couple drops of lavender essential oils to help her relax.
“Baby, I’m going to make it up to you for being a mega asshole. I ran a bath for you. I want you to get in there and relax. I’m going to go downstairs and make us dinner, I’ll come up and get you when it’s ready okay?”
“Okay, thank you,” she says and kisses me sweetly. I watch as she undresses and climbs into the bath. Resisting the urge to climb in with her I go downstairs to cook.
When I reach the bottom of the stairs Ashlan and Damien come walking in; oh great here we go I think to myself. Ashlan tears into me like I expected her to, just like Arianna did to Damien. They really have each other’s backs and I’m thankful that Ari has such a good friend. I explain what happened, Ashlan calms down some but now she’s pissed at Arianna.
“Where is she?” she asks me.
“She’s in the bathtub relaxing.”
“Well, me and her are going to have a little chat!” she says as she stomps up the stairs.
I don’t want to have anything to do with that conversation. Damien and I walk into the kitchen and start pulling stuff together for dinner.
I’m relaxing in the bathtub when I hear someone come into the room.
“Arianna!”
It's Ashlan, and she sounds pissed. Landon must have told her everything that happened today.
“Yea Ash, come in.” She comes walking in and takes a seat in the bathroom chair next to the bathtub. I can tell by the look on her face I’m about to hear it.
“Seriously Arianna, what the fuck were you thinking? As soon as you saw Liam you should have called Landon or the police, someone!”
“I know Ashlan.”
“Then you get pissed at Landon for being upset that you didn’t tell him you ran into Liam? I’m not taking his side because frankly I’m mad as hell at him for making you cry, but you should have just fucking told him. All he wants is to keep you safe.”
I can’t say anything. I put my head down, feeling like I’m being scolded again, but I deserve it. I grab the loofah and start to wash my body.
“I know you were trying to protect Landon, hell I thought he was going to kill Liam the last time he encountered him. Surely this time would be worse.”
I shoot her an evil glare but she ignores me and continues, “But you can’t handle Liam on your own. None of us want to lose you and Liam is obviously dangerous. God forbid you run into him, but if you do at least call someone, it doesn’t have to be Landon but at least someone.”
“I will, I swear it.” I rinse off, she hands be a towel before she heads out of the bathroom. When I hear the bedroom door shut, I walk out of the bathroom and into the closet. Grabbing a pair of comfy pajama pants and a T-shirt, I slip them on and make my way downstairs. The kitchen smells amazing and I notice Damien has taken up helping Landon. It’s nice to see the men in the kitchen making dinner for us. Ashlan and I sit at the breakfast bar and watch the guys finish up while we sip wine. Landon notices I’ve come downstairs. Coming over to me he plants a light kiss on my cheek and then goes back to what he’s doing.
They finish up cooking and we move to the kitchen table to eat. We all chat about what we’re going to do for Thanksgiving and Christmas, avoiding the events of today. Both holidays seem like they are only a few weeks away and I have no clue what to get Landon. We finish up dinner, Ashlan and I do the cleaning up while the guys relax on the couch watching TV.
“Do you have any idea what you’re going to get Damien for Christmas?” I ask Ashlan.
“I don’t have the slightest idea. What about you? Any idea what you’re going to get Landon?”
“Nope,” we both giggle and decide to make a date to go shopping for our guys. Once we’re done we head into the living room and sit down.
Landon pats his lap, “put your feet in my lap.” I do as he says, grabbing one foot he starts to massage them. It feels amazing,I could get used to this. He finishes the first foot and moves on to the other. We finish the show we were watching and then everyone heads to bed. We climb into bed and Landon pulls me close to him, my back to his front and buries his face in my hair. We drift off to sleep, leaving this horrible day in the past.
The next day at work is amazing. We’re at the Carter’s new home waiting on the furniture to be delivered. I realized I had forgotten to get a dining room set and Ashlan kindly donated the brand new one she had just bought before she moved in with me. She is truly amazing. The truck arrives on time; Tristan, myself, Christopher and his team get to work putting all the rooms together. When we’re finished I have to resist the urge to cry. Everything looks amazing! Christopher’s team had pulled together and bought all the kitchen appliances, pots and pans, and a dinette set. We're doing a last minute walkthrough, then I’m ready to go pick up the family. I use Christopher’s SUV and head over to the Condo; calling ahead to let them know I’m coming.
“Hey Mrs. Carter, it’s Arianna. I wanted to see if I could pick you and your family up, there is something I want to show you.”
“Absolutely!”
“Great! I’ll be there in ten minutes.”
“Okay, sounds great. We’ll be ready.”
I pull up outside and beep twice; they come down and climb into the SUV and we’re off. When we pull up in front of the house they all look confused.
“What is this place?” Mrs. Carter asks.
“It’s just a place I’m using as a temporary office for now.” The kid’s spot the swing set that we had built in the backyard.
“Mama, can we go play?” the kids ask Mrs. Carter, she looks at me for an answer.
“Sure go have fun!” I say to them. Mr. Carter opens the door for
them and they climb out running over to the swing set.
We all climb out of the truck and Christopher meets us at the door.
“Hey! Thanks for coming,” he says.
“Mr. and Mrs. Carter, this is Christopher; he’s a big benefactor for my organization and helped with the construction of this place. They both shake his hand and say hello.
“Why don’t you call the children in, we have cookies and we can give you a tour,” I say to them. Mr. Carter walks outside and calls the kids to come inside. We walk through the house, they’re completely in awe.
“This place is gorgeous!” Mrs. Carter says.
“You think so?” I try to swallow the lump in my throat as I imagine how she is about to react.
“Absolutely, I would give anything to have a house like this.”
“Well..... that’s great!” I call Tristan, Christopher and his team into the living room where Mr. and Mrs. Carter and I are standing. I put my hand in my pocket and pull out the keys to the front door.
“You see, we’re absolutely thrilled that you love it because it’s yours.” I extend my hand with the key in it to them. Mrs. Carter looks at my hand, then at all of us, then at her husband.
“Ar-Are you serious?”
“Absolutely!”
She starts to cry and Mr. Carter has to catch her to keep her from collapsing.
“Thank... thank you all so much!” she chokes out between sobs. Mr. Carter extends his hand to shake all our hands while he cradles his wife in his other arm.
“We can’t thank you enough,” he says.
“Yes you can, you already have. You spent two long tours in Iraq fighting for this country. This is the very least we can do for you; so thank you soldier.”
Tears spring from his eyes and it takes everything in me to hold myself together. This moment right here, this is why I created Angels for Heroes. This is what it’s all about. I look at Tristan and the rest of the group, they all have tears in their eyes. We stay for a while and chat with the family. A couple of the guys help Mr. Carter go to fetch their stuff from the condo and move it into the house. At about one in the afternoon, Tristan and I say our goodbyes and head back to the office. The ride is quiet back to work. I think it’s because Tristan is still trying to reign in her emotions. This was the first time she had come with me to help a family, and I can sense the pride she feels.