Destructive Us: A Luxe Novel: 3

by H. Q. Frost

  "He's been like this since he got here at ten. He's going to give himself a hernia," Pam whispered then nodded her head, suggesting Lilith go into his office. "Good luck."

  "Don't fuck me around, Kemp! I will hand you you're fucking ass!" Justin screamed into the phone and Lilith grimaced as she entered.

  Peeking her head around the corner she saw his back was to the door. He held the phone to his ear with his shoulder and kept his hand pushed to his ribs.

  "You're headed for a fucking mistrial, Kemp. This is bullshit! I don't have time for this!" he snarled and hunched from rib pain. He was folded, trying to soothe the ache but was still bitching into the phone.

  Lilith hurried in and put her hand to his back. "B," she

  quietly said with pleading eyes.

  "Get back to me by four," he said into the phone before tossing it onto his desk.

  Lilith's gaze followed the discarded cellphone before looking into his pain stricken face and she frowned.

  Pulling her to him with his good arm he said, "You're the best thing I've seen all day," and kissed her, followed with a wince.

  "B, you can't do this. You shouldn't be at work. You're going to open your incision and your ribs are not going to heal." Her eyes drifted to his ribs and she noticed a blood stain through his blue shirt. "Justin!" she gasped and un-tucked his shirt. "B," she whimpered seeing his blood stained under shirt.

  Justin looked down at the blood with no care. "I'm fine, El."

  Her face turned flush and anger coursed through her. "You're not fine!" she screamed at him and it sent an echo through the entire office.

  Causing unnecessary pain and more damage was asinine and it infuriated her he'd be so careless.

  Justin shut up and stood still, letting her pull his undershirt out and look at his un-bandaged incision. Blood seeped through the sutures; it wasn't healing like she thought it had been.

  "Justin," she breathed his name.

  "I have shit in my closet." He pointed.

  Lilith closed her eyes, taking in a breath before she lost it on him. "You have to relax. You can't be at work. You need to go home and rest."

  "Like hell I do!" he scoffed. "I have a job, El, and I'm going to fucking do it. I've been gone weeks. I need to be at work."

  "You can't be at work." She spoke like he were

  ignorant. "You can't control your temper, and you scream at people, and you throw your arms around, and you act like a complete ass causing yourself more damage!"

  "I'm fine." He pushed past her, going to the closet

  to get a spare shirt and his coat.

  "I want to take you home."

  "I'm not going home." He started unbuttoning his shirt. "We're going to lunch, we're going to talk and you're going to bring me back here. My dad will drive me home after work."

  She was livid and bottling it so tightly her top was about to blow. "Will you calm down?" She breathed steady.

  "I can't calm down, El!" he yelled at her, gesturing toward his desk as if that'd show her why. "They have fucked over three of my clients since I've been gone. I've had four adjournments! You'd think there wasn't five other lawyers working in the fucking place! The continuance date was set for Wednesday! That's fucking New Year's Eve. I've never had a court case on a holiday. I don't know what the fuck's going on here anymore! It's like I've been gone months. I have shit to do." His movements were jerky as he pulled his shirt off.

  "You're going to kill yourself!"

  "I'm not going to fucking kill myself! It's a little cut."

  "You were cut open, Justin. It's not a little fucking cut!" She unclenched her fists and walked to the door. "I'm asking you nicely to please go home, just today, let me take care of that." She gestured to his blood stained shirt. "And just take it easy until the morning. Tomorrow you can lose your shit all you want but please, B, please, let me take you home today. Let me take care of you. Ease my mind that you're going to be okay. I'm worried about you." If she could get him out of there she could work on talking sense into him.

  He stared at her a minute and his office phone began to ring. "I can't, El. Give me a minute." He

  walked to the phone and upon answering snapped, "Borg."

  When Lilith walked out of his office Pam could see the distress all over her face. "I've been trying all day, El. Don't give up on him."

  "El!" Paul called out, hurrying down the hallway. "I need you to get him out of here." The pleading expression on his face made her frown.

  "She just tried, Mr. Borg."

  "He won't let me." Lilith looked at his office door and they heard Justin yell again; she jumped a little. "I'm sorry." She had to get out of there before she heard anymore. It was killing her that he was hurting himself with unneeded stress.

  She was out of the building before Paul or Pam could stop her. Paul stammered and Pam turned for the door to stop Lilith, but she knew it was probably too late.

  "Son of a bitch," Paul muttered, walking to Justin's office door. "Son," Paul said loud enough for Justin to hear him. Justin put his finger up while he listened to the person on the other end. "Justin," Paul said after waiting a few minutes, but Justin did the same thing. "Goddammit, boy!" Paul screamed at him. "You're fired until you get your girlfriend back and you're healed!" Paul bumbled down the hall red-faced, cursing under his breath the whole way.

  Justin stared at the doorway baffled. "Kemp," he said into the phone. "Kemp!" he said a little louder. "I have to call you back." He hung up even though Kemp was still talking. Walking to his doorway he looked left then right down the hallway. His eyes met Pam's. "Where's El?"

  Pam looked at the blood on his shirt and understood why Lilith had been screaming at him. "She left, Justin."

  "What? When? Just now?"

  "No, ten minutes ago when you chose work over your health and her," Pam mumbled turning back to her

  computer.

  Justin quickly grabbed his coat and Pam pointed to the door Lilith walked out of. He ran outside but looking up and down the streets, he didn't see her.

  "Fuck," he groaned, hunching over from the pain in his side. "Ah! God," he moaned, squatting while tightly shutting his eyes and scrunching his face. His hand pressed to his wound while he tried to catch his breath. "Fuck," he mumbled getting to his feet and stumbling back into the building.

  "Mr. Borg!" Nancy gasped, standing from her desk.

  "Yeah." Justin nodded, collapsing into one of the guest chairs. "Get my

  dad." He stayed hunched over with his hand to his stomach, trying to calm down

  to ease the pain but his heart was racing because Lilith walked out on him.

  "Hello, sex kitten," Ashley answered Lilith's call.

  "Hi, beautiful. What're you up to?"

  "Me and Tomo are looking at wedding invitations," she said then let out a squeal in a most un-Ashley type of way.

  Lilith chuckled. "Okay, babe, have fun."

  "Wait. Lilith?"

  "Hmm?"

  "What's up? You need something?"

  "Just company but I'll catch up with you. Tell Tomo I said hi."

  "Okay," Ashley said softly, not sure if Lilith really needed company or if she was just bored.

  Lilith almost called Caesar but she knew he was on schedule. Richie came to mind, but he was working too. Her and Ian were fighting and he was at work as well.

  "Hello?" Kurt answered, sounding like he was

  woken up.

  "It's almost three, you know that, right?" she snickered.

  "In the morning?" he muttered.

  "No, Kurt!" She laughed. "I'm assuming you're not at work. I'm sitting outside."

  "Come up," he mumbled, not getting out of bed.

  "What door?"

  "Come through the shop, my door's unlocked." He hung up, rolling back over, never opening his eyes.

  Lilith walked into the shop, there was a man she didn't recognize and Kate was working on a client.

  "Hey, El," Kate said. "I just have to say tha
t was fucking awesome what you did to Layna on Christmas. You're my fuckin' hero."

  "That was embarrassing." She let out a sweet giggle.

  "No way, that was awesome. Way to stick up for

  your man. I can't believe the bitch hit him when he couldn't even defend himself by blocking the shot."

  When her client's intrigued stare met her, Lilith slipped

  away as Kate began to tell the story. She walked up the dark stairs then entered the dim apartment where Kurt had sheets over the shades to darken the room. He was sleeping on the pullout couch in the middle of the living room.

  "Kurt?" she whispered but heard him snoring. Hopping onto the

  dilapidated springs she nudged him. "Get up!"

  "Go to sleep!" he groaned at her.

  "Get up!" She pushed him again.

  "Go to sleep!" he yelled grabbing her hands. "Go to sleep, El, shh." He pulled her down and wrapped his arm around her.

  Lilith gave in and eased into his pillow, she could feel his steady breaths on her jaw.

  "Kurt?"

  "Hmm?" he mumbled, barely awake.

  "Can we talk?"

  "Yeah," he whispered still half asleep.

  "Can you stop hurting me?" She pushed his arm that was locked around her. The grip loosened and he softly put his arm around her. Yanking his pillow more toward her, she grabbed his chin. "Are you awake?" She shook his jaw.

  "Wide awake," he grumbled keeping his eyes closed.

  "Justin's going to kill himself."

  "Metaphorically or actually?"

  "Well it's not a metaphor for something," she said like he were an idiot.

  "I'm fuckin' tired, El, just tell me."

  "He's out of the hospital."

  "Prick," he muttered.

  "He got out today and went right to work."

  "Prick," he repeated, still not fully awake.

  "I went to pick him up for lunch and he was screaming on the phone and he hurt himself and was bleeding from his incision. It's not even healed yet! That should be healed—"

  "You smell like honey," he interrupted her.

  "Kurt!" she snapped. "Focus. We're talking about Justin."

  "Right, go on."

  "So I asked him to just go home today. Let me get him

  cleaned up." Her phone began to ring but she ignored it. "I just wanted him to relax at home today, ya know? But he won't. I asked him to do it for me and he pretty much told me I'm not more important than his job."

  "Nothing is." Kurt's eyes didn't even flutter. "He's a good lawyer for a reason."

  "I understand that but I'd put him before my job. I have been! I've put my job on hold to spend all that time in the hospital with him. You know what? Screw doing it for me, just go home so you don't die. How hard is that?"

  "Hard." Kurt nuzzled into her shoulder more. "He loves his job. As much as he says he hates it, he loves it."

  Growing hot from Kurt's body heat, Lilith slid her coat off. While she

  took her coat off he rolled over and lit a joint. It didn't take long for the room to

  fill with smoke. She didn't even have to hit it to get high.

  "Do you think I'm wasting time on Justin?" she quietly asked.

  "What?" That was the most reaction she'd gotten out of him yet.

  "Do you think we're too similar? Too stubborn or hardheaded?"

  "Yeah, you guys are similar." He was mellow once again. "But that guy loves you, El. Don't give up on him."

  She smirked because it was the same thing Pam said to her.

  "You love him?"

  "Yes!" she snickered. "Of course."

  "Then why would you ask such a stupid question?" He laid his head on her shoulder. "Can we sleep now?"

  "No!" She giggled pushing him. "Let's do something!"

  "Aren't you high? Should I get out my bong?"

  "Kurt!" She started to push him from the bed.

  He managed to pin her down and stare into her

  eyes. "You're a good girl, El. Justin really deserves you." He kissed her forehead then pushed away. "Alright, get up, let's do shit."

  Lilith jumped from the bed and happily approached the window, pulling a sheet down to let light in.

  "God," Kurt groaned blocking his eyes. He picked up his phone. "Dammit," he muttered plugging it into a charger.

  Lilith pulled her phone from her coat pocket

  seeing there was a missed call from Paul.

  "Yes it's her!" Paul snapped as he was answering her call. "El?"

  "Paul."

  "Hi, El. I had to bring him to the hospital to get him stitched up. He's on antibiotics again because they think he has an infection and that's why he's not healing properly."

  "Is he okay? Are you at the hospital?" Her heart was pounding but her mind wouldn't catch up thanks to the pot.

  "We're at his place. He'd like to see you."

  "I'll be right there."

  "Thank you," Paul said before hanging up.

  "Kurt!"

  "What?" he yelled from the bathroom, urinating with the door open.

  "I have to get to Justin's. He had to get stitches. I can't drive, I can't even see straight. Kurt, get me to Justin's!"

  "I'll get you there, chill out." Exiting the bathroom he said, "Get your coat on. Don't freak out either. He's fine and I'm going to punch him in his ribs when we get there."

  "Don't you dare touch him! Don't even play around. He's hurt, Kurt."

  "I've seen what you'll do if someone touches him." He smirked, remembering her attacking Layna. "Your car, mine's outta gas."

  Lilith handed him her keys and walked to the door, anxiously waiting for him.

  "You're hair's all disheveled like we just fucked," he

  said as they went down the stairs.

  "Seriously? Really? Fix it." She ran her fingers through her hair.

  "You're making it ugly." He slapped her hand

  away then played with her hair himself. "You're still ugly." He shrugged pushing open the door.

  One of the guys in the shop watched them intently.

  "Put your dick away, Alan," Kurt mumbled, taking Lilith's hand.

  "Bye." Lilith wiggled her free fingers at Alan. "Bye, Kate." She smiled while Kurt pulled her out of the shop.

  "You owe me a hundred," Alan said to Kate.

  "They weren't fucking! You're a turd."

  "She looked freshly fucked. Exactly how I pictured she'd look." The piggish grin on his face made Kate scowl.

  Having smelled pot she rolled her eyes. "She was high."

  "Just fucked," Alan muttered.

  "I hope he's okay. They said he's infected."

  "With what?" Kurt feigned terror and began to laugh.

  "Idiot." She giggled hitting his arm. "His wound has an infection. He had to go back on antibiotics. My poor, B."

  "What's that mean? B?"

  "I don't know."

  "Like Borg?"

  "Partially." She nodded.

  "Lame." He rolled his eyes and looked out the windshield again.

  "You're lame."

  "Just call him Jackass."

  "No. He's not a jackass."

  "You just said he's a jerk!"

  "I did not say that!"

  "You did!" He laughed. "In my apartment you

  said he's a jerk."

  Lilith began to laugh uncontrollably; she was definitely high. Kurt

  smirked watching her and the road at the same time. He pulled up to the gate

  and punched in the code. Lilith jumped out when he stopped the car.

  "I'm just gonna park," he dryly mumbled, rolling his eyes.

  She quickly walked into the house. "B?" she called out

  then saw Paul step into the doorway from the kitchen. Judging by his expression, Justin was wearing him thin.

  Lilith smiled at Paul, hoping to ease the scowl on his face but she didn't wait around to see, she walked past him and over to Justin.

  "B, you idiot." She put her han
d to his chest.

  "I'm sorry, El," he said with desperation. "So sorry." He kissed her.

  Paul walked away, not wanting to stick around for the show.

  "I just want to take care of you. I want you to get better." She ran her thumb over his bottom lip and he kissed her finger pad.

  "I know, ZP. I was being fucking stupid. I'm sorry."

  She pushed her lips to his but her dry mouth cut the kiss short.

  "Justin, I'm going now. I will call you this evening," Paul called to him.

  "Yeah, alright."

  "Thank you, Paul," Lilith said, walking to the doorway of the kitchen.

  He gave her a tiny smile and nod. "Take care of that boy."

  Kurt walked past Lilith, slapping Justin on his shoulder.

  "Fuck off, man," Justin groaned.

  "I'm going to punch you in your ribs. Stand up, take it like a man. I told El I'm going to punch you."

  "You were with her?"

  "What'd you think? I came because I care?" Kurt chortled. "She came over because her boyfriend's a real asshole and got her upset. Don't worry, I dried her tears

  with my cock."

  Justin furrowed his brows, about to take a shot at Kurt's chest but Lilith walked back into the kitchen.

  "B, sit down. Are you hungry? Do you have food?" She opened the refrigerator then slowly looked at him. "You have no food. You have…ketchup."

  "I've been on vacation." He smiled at her. "You went to Kurt's?"

  "Yes." She narrowed her eyes at him. "So?"

  "Nothing." He shrugged.

  Not liking his accusatory tone she glared at him for a few minutes before saying, "I'm going to go to the store."

  "You just got here!" he complained.

  "And I'll be back. You have nothing, Justin. I'm hungry."

  "I'll come with you."

  "I'd rather you didn't."

  He stared at her, wanting to argue but didn't want to make her upset again.

  "El," he said when she turned to walk away. "Are you high?" He noticed

  her eyes were bloodshot and she seemed lackadaisical.

  "Not anymore." She smiled and walked away.

  "Where you goin'?" Kurt stopped her.

  "To get some food. You going to stick around? I'm going to cook."

  "Then hell yes I am! I'll come with you. I'll drive."

  "I can drive." She giggled.

  "El, you asked me to drive you here because you couldn't see straight."