Next in Line

by R. L. Wilson

  I flung the door open to the girls’ apartment and Sophie was sitting on the couch next to Dante crying. I turned and said “You need to take Spencer home now.” Dante didn’t say anything. He walked straight past me and grabbed hold of his friend as they walked towards their car. Once they were in I flung the door shut and turned to look at Sophie who was still crying. “Well I hope you’re happy now Sophie” I said. Sophie looked at and glared at me. I knew exactly what she was doing but it wasn’t going to work on me. She didn’t intimidate me at all and we were never close so I didn’t care if I was hurting her feelings. “Just leave Logan. I don’t want to hear your crap.” “I don’t care if you don’t want to hear it but you’re going to. You need to stop all of this shit. Stop punishing Holly and Cooper for something that wasn’t their fault. Cooper tried to support you but you threw that back in his face. You are so lucky that he came and got you the other night when you thought it would be a good idea to drive drunk. He could have let you get arrested and spend the night in a cell but he thought that even though you hurt him, after everything you had been through you didn’t need something like that happening and your way of thanking him is by sleeping with your ex. Cooper lost a baby too, remember? He hasn’t been able to grieve yet though because he has been too busy dealing with your crap so I think it’s about time that you get over yourself and stop being a bitch to everyone” I shouted.

  That came out a lot harsher than I had meant for it to but I was just fed up with all the drama. I was waiting for Sophie to yell something back but instead she just started crying hysterically. Well I guess that I just made this situation worse. I was going to leave but thought that would be a bad idea so I sat down next to Sophie. She calmed down a bit and looked at me. “I didn’t sleep with Spencer” she said as if that made everything better. “Maybe not but I’m sure you can imagine what we all thought when we saw you two out there” I said. “I’ve known Coop for a really, really long time, I know him better than anyone and I have never seen him care about anyone as much as he cares about you Soph. I mean he found out you were pregnant and was honest to god excited about it. He had a pregnancy scare with an ex of his a few years back and he freaked the fuck out, I mean he seriously lost his shit. But then with you it didn’t faze him at all. I don’t know what it is he sees but he sees something in you that makes him ok.” Sophie looked at me tears still slowly rolling down her cheeks. “Soph, I don’t really talk about my childhood but let me tell you about a little bit of it. I was about five or six and I had just gotten home from school. My parents sat me down at the kitchen table and told me they had some really exciting news. They told me I was going to be a big brother. I was over the moon, it was something I had always wanted. Everything was fine for about a month or so. Then one night my mum woke up screaming, she was so loud it woke me up and all I can remember is her saying “Why is there so much blood?” Turns out she had a miscarriage. I didn’t really understand back then, I just knew that I wasn’t going to be a big brother anymore and that my mum was very sad about it. It didn’t take long for the sadness to become anger and she would lash out at my dad. Over stupid petty little shit that didn’t matter anyway. It was about a month after that when Dad and I woke up one Sunday morning only to find that Mum had left us. All she left was her wedding ring. Dad took it pretty hard, and he reflected that on to me. He became a hard ass, I guess it was his way of coping. I resented him for it back then, but now I am older I can understand why he got that way. My dad never got a choice but you should let Coop have one. Don’t just push him away, because one day he will stop fighting for you Sophie and I don’t want that to happen.”

  Again Sophie just looked at me, her eyes wide. “I’m sorry Logan, I didn’t realise. I have been so preoccupied with what had happened to me I didn’t even think that it had happened to Cooper as well. I don’t even know how to start to fix this with him. Same with Holly.” I ran my hands through my hair. I just wanted to say that nothing she does may fix it. That she honestly could have destroyed things between her and Holly and Cooper never stuck around for girls that gave him too much of a hard time in the past and he had been through more with Sophie than he has with any other girl. But of course that would have just upset her and I would be back to square one with this whole situation, and I really just wanted this to be over. I didn’t handle girls crying very well. It either made me feel extremely guilty if they were crying over something that I did or I just felt awkward. I also wanted all of this to be over so I could go back to my sweet Holly who is sitting all alone probably worrying in my apartment. I loved having Holly all to myself and nothing made me happier than when she calls me her boyfriend. I was having trouble thinking of a time when she has called me her boyfriend and then I realised it’s because she never has. When she was talking on the phone to her parents the other day she kept referring to me as ‘Logan’ instead of ‘boyfriend’. Am I the only one who feels this way? Maybe I was moving too fast. I did tell her that I loved her after I sang to her during Karaoke at the pub that night after only knowing her a few weeks. But Holly had never said it back to me. She just kissed me. Not that I’m complaining because it was a great kiss. Oh great now I’m thinking about kissing her again. Guess I’m going to have to back off. The last thing that I want to do is move too fast and scare her away. I really wanted to ask Sophie but I knew that she wouldn’t know. Sophie and Holly hadn’t spoken in a while because of everything that has been going on.

  My eyes started to feel heavy. I looked down at my watch and my eyes opened wide in disbelief. I had been talking to Sophie for three and a half hours. I looked back over at Sophie who had managed to cry herself to sleep so I got up and quietly left the apartment. I had expected Holly and Cooper to be asleep when I got back but to my surprise they were sitting in the living room. When I walked into the room I noticed that douche Dante was there as well. Why the hell was he in my living room? I could tell by the way Coop had his arms crossed, eyebrows furrowed and standing so he looked as big as he could. Dante didn’t even look at me when I walked in but Holly’s head popped up and she smiled at me. God her smile was truly amazing and it almost made me feel better. Almost. Cooper was leaning against the wall and Holly and Dante were sitting on the couch. Dante was leaning right in towards Holly and had his hand so close to her that some of his fingers were touching the side of her leg. I felt the anger and jealousy go through my entire body and I clenched my hands into fists. I walked over to Holly and I kissed her on the top of her head. Dante kept chatting as if I wasn’t even there. I went and stood next to Cooper. “So what the hell is he doing here?” I asked Coop quietly. “I don’t know. I’ve asked him to go but he won’t listen or leave Holly alone which is why I haven’t left the room. He’s been here for about half an hour now” Coop said loud enough for everyone to hear. Who the hell does this guy think he is? Not leaving when he is asked and what looked to me like bad flirting with my girlfriend. “So why are you here?” I asked Dante. “Well I spent a few hours with Spencer at the hospital. You broke his nose and now he wants to press charges. I think he should too” Dante said looking at both Coop and me. Coop looked at me and we both burst out laughing. Was this guy for real? “Why are you laughing?” Holly asked looking a little annoyed. “Did you seriously not just hear what he said” Cooper asked Holly. “It’s Cooper isn’t it?” Dante asked as he shifted his body closer towards Holly. I felt my entire body go stiff. It was almost as if he was trying to piss me off. Cooper didn’t say a word. “I saw you hit Spencer. I know that you think that you won’t get into trouble because you’re a cop but I am a witness. I saw the whole thing” Dante continued. Cooper dropped his hands to his sides as he took a step forwards and said “That piece of shit hit me first. He assaulted an officer so give it your best shot. Now get out of my house before I force you. I won’t ask again.” Dante was now at his feet and I took a step forward so I was standing next to Cooper again. Holly jumped up off the couch and stood in the middle of us all with her ha
nds up. “Whoa. Seriously guys. Let’s just all calm down. We don’t want a repeat of what happened earlier.” Holly said trying to defuse the situation. Then she turned to Dante and said “Look Dante I really think that you should leave now. This is the third time that Cooper has asked you. I’m sorry that Spencer got hurt but he did hit Cooper first and I will be a witness to that if I have to.” Dante let out a sigh. “Ok then” He said. Then he leaned in and gave Holly a hug never looking away from Cooper and I. Holly gave him an awkward pat on the back and Dante left. Once Dante was gone Cooper turned to me and said “That guy is a fucking creep.” Holly stood there nodding her head.

  Cha

  pter Thirteen

  Holly

  I woke up in the morning feeling pretty terrible. I had a sore throat, blocked nose and a headache. I jumped out of bed and got dressed in my work clothes. I grabbed my keys and craft stuff for the children at work and dragged myself next door. Logan answered the door the usual way when he knew I was the one who knocked on his door and that’s with a big smile on his face. I tried to smile back but I was too concerned with how bad my body was feeling this morning. “You ready to go?” I asked trying to breathe through my mouth as I spoke. I had asked Logan yesterday if I could see where he worked and seeing as how I only had a four hour shift today, I thought it would be a good idea if I dropped him off at work and then when I went back to pick him up I could see what cop Logan was like. When we got to my car I unlocked it and Logan opened my door for me. He was so cute. I half giggled and half whined because giggling hurt my body. I watched Logan walk around the front of the car, his eyes never leaving mine. He looked so sexy today in his jeans and button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up and the bottom of his tattoo visible.

  Once Logan was in the car I turned the key to start it. I jumped and screamed when some music was blaring on the radio. I quickly turned it right down and grabbed hold of my chest. “Wow, you really like to party in your car don’t you?” Logan said chuckling. I looked him in the eye and said “That’s not my music. I don’t listen to music like that.” I ejected the CD out of my CD player and written on it was ‘only for you’. What is going on? This was weird and to be honest I was kind of scared. Logan took the disc from me and read what was written on it. “What does this mean?” Logan asked me. “I have no idea. I don’t know how it got in here. I’m the only one with a key” I explained to him. “Could Sophie have done it?” “No. I haven’t seen her since that stuff happened with Spencer and Dante three nights ago.” Logan examined my face for a moment. I think he was trying to tell if I was joking or not. “Okay well let me just take it to work and I’ll get Coop to look at it. Maybe he did it as a joke” Logan said smiling at me. I think he was trying to make me feel better but it wasn’t working.

  By the time I got to work I was feeling so much worse. My body kept going from hot to cold and I was wiping my running nose every few seconds. “Good morning Holly” I heard from behind me. Oh great. This really isn’t going to be a good day. I turned around to face Mr Sullivan standing close behind me smiling. This guy was a little creepy. “Good morning Mr Sullivan” I said as I wiped my nose. “Oh gee. You don’t look well” he said. “Do you have a temperature?” he asked as he put his hand to my forehead. Was this guy for real? I pulled my head away from his hand and took a few steps back to widen the gap between us. I really didn’t like being close to him. He seemed hurt but I didn’t care. He didn’t seem to understand that I wasn’t interested in him. “Well I should probably go now before I’m late for work. Bye.” “Bye” I replied.

  I spent my entire shift sitting on my own in a corner cutting out some bow ties for the children to decorate for their fathers for father’s day. Once I was done with that I started cutting out some other shapes and pictures for the children to decorate. I don’t think anyone really wanted to be around me today. They were all afraid that they would catch whatever I have. I was so happy when my shift ended. I had run out of things to cut out so I had pretty much cuddled up in the corner just coughing and wiping my nose. I think that it is safe to say that I’m sick.

  I had a bit of trouble driving to Logan’s work because my body was aching and it just didn’t want to move. I felt the butterflies start flapping around when I started walking up to the police station. I didn’t even know how to find Logan. I was relieved when I saw Cooper out the front of the station talking to some other officers. A huge smile spread across Cooper’s face when he saw me and he gave me a giant hug. He kissed me on the forehead like he always does now when he sees me but pulled away quickly and looked down at me. “Holy shit Holly. You’re on fire. Are you feeling okay?” He asked me. “Um yeah I’m okay” I replied but Cooper just screwed up his face. “You look like hell.” Wow, he really knew how to talk to a woman. After Cooper introduced me as his little sister that he never wanted to the officer’s he walked me inside keeping his arm around my waist as if I was going to fall down at any moment. Logan wasn’t at his desk so Cooper sat me down in front of his and handed me a glass of water. “But I’m not thirsty” I argued. “I don’t care. You’re not well so you need to drink. Logan will kill me if I let anything bad happen to you.” I took a sip of the water and said “Well I suppose that is what you do for the little sister that you never wanted.” Cooper just chuckled. “I’ll go and find Logan. You just sit there and drink your water. Oh and here, you’ll probably need this” Cooper said as he pushed a box of tissues towards me.

  I smiled and watched as Cooper walked around the corner and out of site before grabbing some tissues and blowing my nose loudly. Once I was done I looked around me and realised a few other officers at their desk were looking at me. How embarrassing. I don’t think I’m making a good impression. I put my legs up on the chair and hugged them tightly lying my head on my knees to try and relax when I heard some laughing. I looked up to see Logan and Cooper standing on the other side of the desk smiling at me. I weakly smiled back at them and then rested my head back on my knees. “You really aren’t well are you?” Logan asked me as he stood next to me and softly started stroking my back. “No, I’m fine” I argued but I wasn’t fooling anyone. “Why are you here? You should be at home in bed” Cooper asked. “She wanted to come and see where we worked and what we do” Logan replied. I’m glad he spoke. I was having trouble finding the energy to do anything. “Well she can do that another day. Go home Holly” Cooper said. “No” Logan snapped and I suddenly lifted my head and looked between the boys. “I don’t think it’s a good idea that she is alone right now” Logan replied giving Cooper a strange look. “I am able to put myself to bed guys” I said. “We know you are” Cooper replied. This was strange. They obviously knew something that I didn’t. “Well what’s going on then?” I asked. “Well, Cooper didn’t put that CD in your car this morning which means someone else got into your car and did it” Logan explained. “Until we know who did this prank I would just feel better if someone was always with you so we know that everything is alright” Logan said. Cooper scoffed and Logan glared at him. “Okay, fine I’ll go home and go to bed but can I please just sit here for a little bit until I find the energy to drive myself home?” “Absolutely not” Cooper said. “You’re sitting at my desk and you look contagious. I need you to leave so I can clean everything that you have touched. I don’t want your germs” Cooper said.

  “Fine then” I said as I got to my feet but had to grip hold of the desk. I must have gotten light headed from standing up too fast. Logan quickly grabbed me around my waist to help me stay upright. “Take her home Logan. I’ll cover for you if the chief gets mad” Cooper said to Logan. “Well what about my um, project that I’m working on?” Logan replied. “I’ll keep working on that too” Cooper said as he handed me the tissue box. I knew there was something going on that they weren’t telling me about but I felt too crappy to even try and figure out what was going on. Logan kept his arm around me the entire way back to the car which was good. I got to lean on him so I didn’t have to try
and walk as much. Logan placed me in the passenger seat of my car and put my seatbelt on me as I attempted to lay down as much as I could. “Last time I checked, I need to sit in the driver’s seat to drive” I joked. Logan laughed before saying “You can’t even keep your eyes open so you’re driving wouldn’t be very good and I don’t want to have to give you a ticket for reckless driving” Logan said. I smiled at Logan’s poor attempt at trying to make me feel better and handed him my keys.

  I woke as we pulled into the car park in front of the apartments and Logan carried me inside. When we got inside Logan placed me nicely on my bed and put his hands on my forehead. “You’re really burning up” he said. “Yeah I’m pretty sure the little girl from work the other day gave me her flu. Isn’t that nice of her?” I replied. Logan walked into the kitchen and I could hear him rustling through some things. A few minutes later he came back into my room. He handed me a glass of water and some aspirin. “Take this. It will help you with your fever” he said. I hated taking tablets. They would always get stuck in my throat or I wouldn’t swallow them properly and then I’d almost vomit. I didn’t want to tell Logan that though. I would feel like an idiot saying something like that to him. I took the aspirin and tried to hide the fact that I hated it. Logan kicked off his shoes and jumped into the bed next to me. He put his arms around me and pulled me in tightly. I fell asleep quickly after that.