Page 4 of Max

“Your Mommy is,” he stopped and looked at my aunt, so I looked too, but she shook her head, and he carried on. “She’s not coming home, honey.”

“Why?” The confusion trumped the fear. She wouldn’t go somewhere without taking me with her.

“She can’t baby. But don't you worry, you’ll come home with us, we’ll take care of you.”

I know I kept asking questions after, I also know he answered all of them as he did over and over for years. But I don’t know what else he said. It was a few years after I could understand and somewhat accept the fact that my parents were killed in a car accident.

He kept good on his promise. I went to live with them, and they did take care of me. But they weren’t mine. I was just someone who had to come to live with them because I was all alone.

They did their best for me not to feel like that. I just couldn’t stop. I was missing an integral part of me, and no matter what, it couldn’t be found again.

After I graduated college and Kiki settled in her job enough for her to move out of their house and into her own apartment, they packed up and went to live in Florida. They still call every week and once a year come to Denver to visit. I still have to do the same.

In the years I spent with them, Kiki was my best friend. That was until Jacob came by. She was always looking after me. She also preferred the boy’s company more than girls. Was first to jump in any trouble she could find, dragging me along with her. She was also the one who would pull me out of any trouble I found myself in. I would love to say that I was a good, quiet and respectful child that expressed gratitude to my aunt and uncle anytime I could. But right until a few months before I met Jacob, I was the opposite. Then puberty hit both of us, and while I was pulling into myself more and more, seeking solace in my sketches and comfort in imagining what my future home would look like, Kiki went whole hog. She was even more outgoing, seeking more of the boy's company and demanded all of their attention. She was by then the number one troublemaker in our group and was also almost always in some kind of trouble. But she still did have my back.

Then Jacob came along. And that changed. She took it upon herself to remind me I have to lose weight, loved to instruct me how I should wear my hair and had a comment that mostly slashed me always at the ready. Her parents tried to put a stop to that behavior, but anytime they did, she became worse. The fact that they compared us in almost everything didn’t help either. Our friendship was hanging on its final threads by that point. And then, Melanie came along.

Melanie and I became best friends almost immediately. We were close, and we stayed close to this day. We had the same taste in music, which meant loud and whatever suited us the minute we played it. The same taste in boys. She admitted that she liked Jacob the moment she saw him, but after finding out we were together, she didn’t try even a second glance. He became her friend, and that’s it.

We went to college together, and in the end, she came to work for me when I decided for once to reach for something that would be mine and mine alone. Two years ago, Kiki came back looking haggard and exhausted. Her parents had enough of her, always asking for money. Her boss had enough of her coming to work late and hungover. And her landlord had enough of her not paying her rent. She was alone, broke, and homeless. We took her in without second a thought. After working with us, she decided to give another go at living alone, rented an apartment, and started dating Logan. It wasn’t long before Logan figured out how Kiki operates, so he cut her loose, but she still came to work every day even if she was late and, more than not, hungover. I knew I shouldn’t enable her behavior. By then, Melanie lost any understanding or patience she had for Kiki, but I couldn’t turn my back on her. She was my cousin. Once she was my best friend. And no matter what, she always had my back.

I met Nico five years ago when he came to my office with his friend who wanted me to design his new house. I ignored Nico the entire time. He did his best to get my attention, but I prided myself with my professionalism and was in full on work mode. Not to mention, I wasn’t interested in dating; Nico or anyone else.

I was content with my life as it was. Living with Melanie, occasionally letting her convince me to go out and have weekly dinner, get out and see my aunt and uncle when they came for a visit.

She was also planning an intervention for Kiki, who became more and more skinny and twitchy by the day. It was a concern, but not one I was confident I should move on. That was it; that was all I wanted out of my life by that point. That, and I secretly started designing my dream home for which I was saving every penny I could. After the meeting finished and I gave my polite decline for a date with Nico, I went out of the room, and completely forgot about him. The next day, he came in with a huge bouquet of red roses and asked me out again. I said no, again. Then the next day he came in, and we danced the same dance. After a week of him coming to my office, bringing me flowers and asking me out, I was drained and told Melanie what was happening. She jumped on the chance of me even talking about a guy, let alone of a possibility of me going out on a date with the said guy. Every day she asked if Nico was at the office. Every day the answer was yes, he was.

By that point, it wasn’t only Nico who was trying to convince me to give him a chance; it was Melanie as well. When she called Kiki and told her what was going on, she then jumped on the bandwagon and did the same. It took Melanie to get me drunk and softly say, Babe, Jacob’s not coming back. You need to start to live again for me to say yes.

It wasn’t like I didn’t date at all. But, she was right. A date here and there and occasional sex was no life at all. I was so intent on waiting for something to happen, that I almost missed it when it did. The next day when Nico walked in, I really looked at him. Black hair that needed a cut a week before, green eyes, square jaw, and lips that were stretched in a smile gave him a bad boy vibe. It took me months to see that while, yes, it was a killer look on him, the smile didn’t reach those eyes. In fact, they weren’t just cold; they were void of everything.

And that was it. That was my life. I had a total of five people in it, one of whom I left standing alone at the altar, waiting for me. So, in truth, I had four. And no place to call my own. I knew Melanie would jump at the chance for me to come live with her. I didn’t want that. I wanted something of my own. I wanted the type of home I spent my days creating for my clients. I just needed to figure out how to go about it, and I needed to explain everything to Nico and hope against hope that he would not lash out.

I didn’t want a repeat of the stairs incident. On this scary thought, the doorbell rang. My first mistake was coming to Melanie’s home, thinking I would be safe there. My second was getting up from that couch, going to, and opening the door. I stood there frozen to a spot, staring at the sight. There, on the front porch, stood Nico in his wedding suit. It was black with thin grey stripes, a grey shirt, and a black tie. If he were any man, any man at all, I would think he was incredibly handsome. But he wasn’t. He was a man who repeatedly hit me, called me names so many times I lost count, and had a habit of degrading me.

“Sweetheart, you missed our wedding,” the sweet tone he used for these words sent a chill down my spine.

His two men started to come after me, but I was already half way down the hall. I started to go the moment Vinny, who stood behind Nico mouthed Run as I finished with opening the door.

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Chapter Three

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Skylar

I was breathing heavily, my heart pulsing in my throat and watching the door intently. I will never be able to explain to myself how the hell I managed to outrun Nico’s goonies and get that chair put precisely as it should have been under the doorknob so that they couldn’t open the door.

Everything in me kept screaming. Get the hell out now! But like a moron, I just stood there and watched the door. I could hear them banging on the wood, trying to open the door, and the voices kept getting louder and louder as they lost their patience. Still, I didn’t move. That is until an arm clamped around my waist, and a hand covered my mouth.

Urgh was only what could be heard of my scream.

Why? Why didn’t I just find a way out? Why had I stood there and done nothing? Why haven’t I found a way out and run?

I clawed at the arm holding me and thrashed, trying to get away, but it was useless.

That is, I did all that until Quiet! And Stop! was growled in my ear. Even if I never heard more than four words in that voice, but never in that tone, I knew it instantly. And instantly, I relaxed.