Pinkie Promise

by Sarah Clay

  The illuminating yellow light atop of the cab pulls on to the street and I know it’s time for me to go. I take a step back from him, watching him frown towards the cab.

  “I was dropped off at Cooper's apartment and then I walked, all over town. I didn’t call you or get your calls because I’d left this” I pull my handbag up in the air “in your office. So I walked back there and when I got there you had left. Once I saw your missed calls I thought it would be better if we spoke in person. Obviously, that was a big mistake.”

  Shuffling further away from him and closer to the road, I wait for the Cab to pull up in front of me.

  “Just come inside and talk to me. Please. I was angry earlier, I was worried, but I shouldn’t have said the things I did. Just… just come inside.”

  I don’t look back at him, instead, I watch as the car pulls up in front of me and comes to a stop, before stepping off of the curb and opening the back door.

  “Liv?” something in his voice forces me to turn and look towards him, but I can’t meet his eyes.

  “I’m sorry Jackson, I can’t do this right now” I confess before climbing into the back seat and shutting the door. As soon as the car pulls away I let the tears fall freely again.

  ∞

  “Jackson is calling,” Cooper calls out from the kitchen.

  I’d been at his apartment for a couple of days now and hadn’t really left.

  I wasn’t going into their offices; I wasn’t going out anywhere actually.

  I knew Coop was worried about me, but he was also relieved. Knowing nobody could get into the apartment without being let in. He was content with knowing I was at least safe.

  He’d been pissed when I’d told him what had gone down and he’d assured me his place would always hold an open invitation for me to stay.

  I knew it must have been hard on him, his sister and his best friend.

  But there wasn’t much I could do to change what had happened. If I could, I would.

  Absolutely, I missed Jackson completely. He had quite quickly become my favorite person. But the words he’d spoken that night, had hurt me. And I guess I was choosing to hold on to that.

  To some degree, I knew it was hurting more because there was some truth to what he was saying, but I wasn’t ready to accept that completely.

  I still without a doubt did not suspect my father, maybe at some point, I did.

  But not now, it just didn’t make sense.

  “Livvie, did you hear me… Jacksons calling” I look up to see him standing there waving my phone in the air.

  He passes it over to me and I decline the call.

  Sighing as he comes and sits beside me, “He’s miserable sis, he’s back to being a real arsehole at work and he won’t stop following me around asking me how you are.”

  I frown at his words; Jackson was not an arsehole. He was caring and sweet, funny and charming, he was thoughtful and sexy… oh so sexy. Sure he did arsehole things sometimes, like declaring my father didn’t love me or letting his ex-girlfriend kiss him.

  “Livvie?” Coops voice cuts me out of my thoughts.

  “Hmm” I wasn’t sure what he had said, too busy thinking about his business partner.

  “What is it that’s stopping you from taking the guys calls?” I chew on my bottom lip thinking it over.

  “You’re both sporting these devastated faces, you admitted that he might be right about dad’s true intentions with you and treating you like a piece of furniture. Hell, is it Victoria, because you walked in on her kissing him?”

  I look over to him, gauging his expression.

  “Sis you’ve got to know that he’s not interested in her, it was a stupid call on his part to let her into his place, but Victoria has no chance.”

  I shake my head in confusion “what do you mean? they were hooking up before I was in the picture, she has some chance.”

  Coop throws his arm over my shoulders and pulls me towards him.

  “I’ve known Jackson for years now and I have never seen him so infatuated with anyone in all that time. The guy hasn’t been able to keep his eyes off of you from the moment you arrived here. Before you showed up there was no way he would have worked from home or missed meetings, the business was everything to him.”

  I shrug under his arm, not knowing how to respond.

  “What I’m saying is, Jackson had these walls built up so fucking high that no one was getting in, but all it took was one look in your direction and he carved out a fucking door solely for you, so you could freely enter. Victoria didn’t stand a chance against that.”

  He laughs at my bemused expression.

  “I know you feel the same way about him, so what I’m asking is, why are you here and not there? I know there is more going on in that little head of yours Livvie.”

  I smile at my big brother. He was the one I would talk to about all my petty dramas back at home. It felt so familiar to be doing so now.

  “The way I feel about Jackson scares me I’ll admit, but the whole time I’ve been here I’ve had this constant cloud hanging over me. I ran away from dad when I should have stayed, I should have waited for him to calm down and then had an adult conversation with him.”

  Cooper frowns at me, but I continue talking.

  “And then I’m here and you go away for work, and I’m invading Jacksons space; practically forcing him to accept me into his life. Then these threats start coming and there’s someone watching me, then my car. All of it.”

  Coop waits for me to collect my thoughts.

  “I can’t help but think that if it all happened differently, then Jackson wouldn’t have gotten so caught up. And what if we never figure out who this person is, what if…” I trail off.

  I pull out from under his arm and stand, walking over to the windows.

  “You think that once the dust settles after we find out who is harassing you… because we will Liv, we will find out who it is” he sighs “anyway, you think that he might start to realise that how he feels about you was purely because of forced circumstances”

  I turn to him slightly and nod, “I know he cares about me, but what if I let myself fall all the way and then he’s not there to catch me in the end?”

  Coop pushes up from the sofa and comes to stand in front of me, taking my hands in his.

  “Livvie, while you’ve had a better childhood than most, you’ve never really had a normal one. Dad has always been so career driven, that he never really knew how to support you when you needed it. And it didn’t help that I took off to college when I did.”

  I grip his hands, cutting him off.

  “I am so proud of you for going Coop, don’t ever think that I’m not.”

  He grins over at me “I know you are Livvie, but that’s the thing, everyone in some way or another has left you. Dad left you in every aspect a father could leave prior to walking out the door. Mum, while she didn’t have a choice; left you before she even got to know you. And me, I left you when Dad and I got into that last argument and my stubbornness stopped me from being there for you as much as I should have been. We all left in some way or another and I think that’s why you’re scared now.”

  Coop reaches up and wipes the tears from my face.

  “I don’t think you really believe that Jackson doesn’t feel as strongly about you as you’re making out; I think you just want to believe it. So then you can take that possible hurt, that you could feel one day, out of the equation.”

  I nod against him as more tears begin to flow. He stops talking, wrapping me in a tight hug. And for the first time in a long time, I cry it out; on my brother’s shoulder.

  ∞

  It had been a week since I’d last seen Jackson, it was the longest we had gone without seeing each other since meeting. Coop had been amazing, letting me stay at his place and bringing work home for me to do.

  I hadn’t been back into the offices since the night I picked up my handbag.

  But today I didn’t have a choice
, Cooper had some parcels couriered over to me this morning with some work that was pushing its deadline, but half of the pages were missing.

  He wasn’t answering his calls and I didn’t want to let him down after everything he’d done for me.

  I was dressed in a tight pair of jeans and a white tee, I’d thrown a mini leather jacket over the top and paired it with some white converse. I’d been successfully online shopping all week since Jackson was keeping my clothes hostage until I’d speak with him.

  Apparently, he was becoming increasingly irritating at work.

  Tony had even called me at one point and pleaded with me to answer his calls just so he would shut up.

  I wanted to talk to him, I missed him so much.

  But I wanted to speak with my father first. I’d finally called him, but it diverted through to his voicemail, I’d left a quick message apologizing for not answering his calls, but telling him I was with Cooper and I was ok. I’d told him I needed to speak with him and asked him to call me back when he could.

  I’d ended up missing his return call while I was in the shower, but he too had left a voicemail. Informing me he would be finishing up a business deal and flying into town in a couple of days.

  I hadn’t mentioned it to anyone yet, I wasn’t sure of the reaction I was going to get.

  Cooper tried to be as understanding as possible, but he was always in protective big brother mode.

  I hadn’t spoken to Jackson, obviously; but based on our last conversation, I was sure he wouldn’t be too happy either.

  I’d thought about telling Tony a couple of times, but I hadn’t wanted to put him in the middle again. So I was sitting on it for now.

  But he is exactly who I run into while standing outside of the building.

  “Liv?” I look to my left as Tony saddles up beside me and grins, “Good to see you.”

  I offer a small smile before looking back at the doors of the building.

  “You have a thing with watching doors or are you coming up?” I smirk at him before nodding, trailing along behind him as he holds the door open for us.

  As I walk through the lobby with him I spot Victoria straight away.

  She’s not glaring at me this time. Just looking at me with a confused stare.

  Tony rides with me up to the 11th floor, all while talking to me about different projects he was working on.

  I got the feeling he was trying to distract me so I didn’t take off, because for a guy who doesn’t talk much; he hadn’t really stopped.

  “Coopers out of the office all morning, was he expecting you?” I frown at that; he was here not even an hour ago when he’d had the files sent over to me.

  “He sent me some work he needed to be finished up as soon as possible, but there was a bunch of stuff missing from the files.” I notice his eyes widen in surprise, but he nods in understanding.

  “It’s okay, I’m sure I can locate them without him,” I notice him glance towards Coopers closed office door and back to me before agreeing.

  “Yeah, they’re probably in his office, if he sent them off earlier he probably just got distracted and didn’t include them.” I offer a smile before moving in that direction.

  “I’ll catch up with you later, yeah?” he calls after me, I shrug my shoulders in response, not really sure if I would or not.

  But he’d already turned back towards the lifts seemingly not waiting on an answer.

  Walking into Cooper's office I pull up short when I see who’s leaning against the window, looking out at the city.

  He must hear the door open because he spins around so fast, I’m sure he’s going to fall.

  When he catches sight of me he breathes out a heavy breath, a look of relief swarming his features.

  “Liv.”

  That one word has me gnawing at my bottom lip. I force my eyes to look away after a few moments of devouring the very sight of him.

  Moving over to Coop's desk, in search of the missing files.

  “Looking for these?” I hear Jackson ask softly after a couple of minutes.

  Glancing over my shoulder, I notice he was now holding a folder with the project name marked accordingly on it. Standing up from the desk and turning to face him.

  “How did you…” I squint over at him when I see the worried expression he’s wearing. All the puzzle pieces fall in to place, “you sent half the files?”

  He cautiously takes a step towards me. “It was the only way I could think of to see you, you won’t answer my calls, Coop made me promise not to show up at his apartment. But I’m going crazy here Liv, I had to see you.”

  “Now that you’ve seen me, are you going to give me back my clothes?” I try for casual, but even I can hear the uncertainty in my voice.

  A small smile appears on his rugged face as he steps towards me.

  “Even if I wanted to, I don’t think Charlie would let me.”

  At the mention of Charlie's name, I feel a sadness creep over me and it must show on my face because Jackson steps even closer, brushing my hair back behind my ear.

  “He misses you too baby.”

  I don’t move away from his touch; my body is pleading with me to lean into him.

  “I’m so sorry Liv, I should never have said the things I did.” I look into his eyes; all I can see is sincerity, but I don’t know what to do with it.

  “I should go, get started on that” I motion towards the file he still held in his hand.

  He reluctantly releases it to me but doesn’t take a step back. I can’t get out of the office unless I either shimmy over the desk or he moves aside.

  “I can’t give you back your things” he whispers into the room. I frown up at him in question.

  “If I still have your things at my place, then there is a chance you’ll still come home… but If I give them back, then there’s a chance you never will.”

  I close my eyes with his admission, biting down on my lip to stop myself from sealing our mouths together, crying or both. He must pick up on my feeling of unease because he steps back.

  “Can I walk you out?”

  I don’t open my eyes, but I do nod.

  We ride down to the ground floor in silence, I can feel his eyes on me though. Never straying.

  I do my best to stay looking forward, but every now and then, I cast a glance in his direction.

  He is just as handsome as I remembered, with this time apart I was sure I must have been exaggerating. He’s sporting a 5 o’clock shadow which is a new thing for him and he looks a little deflated.

  But, he is just as incredible looking as I told myself he was. When the doors open he waits for me to step out first before following close beside me. I hear his footsteps stop just before he tugs on my hand. We’re in the middle of the lobby and our change of momentum causes others to bump around us, passing by.

  I turn around to look at him, holding the folder against my chest.

  He doesn’t speak straight away; he just stares down at me. Cataloging everything about me in the moment.

  “Have you had any more threats?” Shrugging my shoulders, I notice he stiffens a little beside me.

  “Just a couple of texts. No more photos or destroyed cars.”

  I see his shoulders relax a little at my attempt at a joke. I know I need to tell him though, but I can’t look at him when I do.

  “I spoke to my dad, well kind of.” I continue looking down at my feet. “He’s coming to town in a couple of days. I’m going to see him.” I quickly admit before I can wuss out.

  When I look up from my feet he’s scrutinizing gaze is locked on me, obviously attempting to reign in his reaction.

  “Why didn’t Cooper tell me?”

  Blowing out a breath to steady myself before I answer, I know he’s not going to like it.

  “Because I haven’t told him” When Jacksons features harden, I quickly rush out “yet, I haven’t told him yet.”

  Jackson looks away from me, pulling his hands through his hair.


  “I’ll come with you.” He finally offers, looking back at me.

  I had hoped I wouldn’t have to see Dad alone, but I wasn’t so sure having Jackson with me was the wisest idea either. I shake my head a little before he reaches out and unlatches one of my hands from the folder I had a death grip on.

  “Liv, please. Let me be there for you baby.” I can hear the pleading in his voice and see the frown lines etching his perfect skin.

  Before I get a chance to answer him, we’re interrupted by none other than Victoria. Again. Sauntering up to us, standing closer than necessary.

  “Jacky, you’ve got a phone call on the main line…” I roll my eyes at her intrusion and ridiculous nickname. He looks from me to her.

  “Take a message.”

  But Victoria doesn’t budge, “They said it’s important, they sound agitated. Mentioned something about taking their business elsewhere…” I hear him sigh before he looks back to me.

  “Just wait here, don’t leave okay… just give me one second, yeah?”

  Clearly worried I’m going to take off, I’m pretty sure if I don’t agree to wait then he won’t take the call, and by the sounds of it; he really needs to.

  I nod and he reluctantly let’s go of my hand to walk over to the front desk.

  “I’m so sorry to hear about you and Jackson splitting up Olivia, it must be difficult for you being around here now.”

  I offer a fake smile in return for her fake sincerity.

  “Girl talk though, I’m sure that you packing your stuff up and moving will make it easier on Cooper and Jacksons working relationship. When did the boys mention that was happening?”