Blood of the Rainbow (50 page)

Trying to keep her mind off her full bladder, Sara went ahead and got dressed, and waited for Jared to get back. Twenty minutes later, when he finally came back in the bedroom, Sara was getting desperate. She wasn’t used to abstaining like that. “Here,” he said, handing Sara a small white paper bag with the Rx symbol on it. She was right. He’d gone to the drugstore.

Sara took the bag and opened it with mild curiosity. She looked at him dubiously. “Jared, I don’t want to do this!” She shoved the bag back to him.

Jared pushed it back to her. “Sara, please, we have to know for sure.”

Sara rolled her eyes and sighed as she reached in the bag. “I don’t even know how to use it Jared.” She stared at the obtrusive box, pulled out another small round box, read the label on it and jerked her head up.

Jared smiled. “I went ahead and wrote you a prescription for contraceptives. As to how to use the EPT, it’s easy. Thirty-minutes and it will be over. Just read the instructions.”

In half an hour we might be over
. “Jared, how do you know this will even work?” Sara stalled. She wasn’t afraid of doing the test. She was afraid of what the result might be, and what would happen if it were positive.

“Are you talking about the pills or the EPT?”

Sara started pacing, trying to control another spasm from her still full bladder. She was beginning to do a little dance. “Both, for that fact….”

“Trust me Sara,” he cooed, knowing just how to make her give in. “They both work. I prescribe them all the time to my patients. Do you want me to come help you?”

“I do not!” Sara was shocked at the idea. “I might be a stupid country hick, but I think I can read instructions!” Sara whirled and headed to the bathroom. As she closed the door, she could hear Jared’s laughter at her hasty exit.

Sara read the instructions, did the test and left it on the back of the commode. They would check the results later. Sara hoped it would finally put an end to Jared’s obsession about not getting her pregnant.

She began to think about how insistent Jared had been about going in the bathroom with her while she did the test. Was it because he didn’t trust her? Did he think she would actually lie to him the way he had to her?

------------

When Sara walked back in the bedroom, Jared was sitting, cross-legged, on top of the covers, in the middle of the bed, reading his mail. Sara sat next to him. She motioned to the pile of mail in front of him. “Anything interesting?”

“Yes,” he said, handing her an envelope. “Your credit card is here.”

“My credit card?”

He smiled. “Yeah, I went ahead and ordered you one when you moved in with me. It has a $25,000.00 limit on it, but I think it will be enough for you. If you need more, I can arrange that too.”

Sara stared at the black credit card in her hand as she tried to grasp the figure he’d just told her. Why would she possibly need more than $25,000.00? The only thing she could think of to say, was, “Thanks.”
Is Jared trying to buy me now?
Does he think he can control me with his money? Does he think I’ll forget about everything he doesn’t want me to think about if he throws enough money at me?

“No problem.” Jared smiled, and continued opening his mail. “Super! The draft for the brochure is here. They’ve sent a copy of the proofs for us to ok. If we like the layout of the brochure, we’re to do nothing, and they’ll go ahead with it. If there’s anything we want to change, they want us to let them know by tomorrow.”

“Wow! That fast,” Sara said, half-heartedly. “I thought it would take a little longer for them to get it processed.”

“Well, the speed at which they got it done had something to do with the fact that we were gone, when they originally requested us to do the photo shoot.”

“Ah,” Sara said, knowingly. “That would make a difference.”

Jared started combing through his hair, his back to Sara. “So how are you feeling this morning?” He softly chuckled. “You were pretty upset with me last night.”

“Other than throwing my toenails up and having an extreme craving for sardines and pickles, covered in chocolate sauce, while you were gone – I’m good.”

------------

Lucy got up, got ready, and sat down to an empty breakfast table. She stared at her cereal, pushing the raisins around her bowl until the bran flakes were nothing but mush. She didn’t have an appetite. She couldn’t stop thinking about Steve, and how last night had ended. Had she made a terrible mistake? Did she have feelings for Steve, and was just too proud to admit it? Or, was she still hanging on to a thin thread of hope that Jared and Sara might somehow break up.

She glanced at her watch. “Forty minutes before I have to be at work! What in the hell am I doing? My job is five minutes away! Why am I sitting here staring at a bowl of soggy Raisin Bran that I don’t even want?
Do
I have feelings for Steve? Am I using Jared as an excuse to push Steve away? Because now that Jared is not available, is that why I’m pushing Steve away? Is that what I really want? Lucy – you may very well have made the mistake of your life!”

------------

Jared’s eyes turned crimson. Sara knew two things would make them change that fast, and she doubted sexual arousal had anything to do with it. He whirled, face white with fear. Despite the number of times she’d seen them change color; it still frightened Sara when they turned red. It reminded her of what Myra had said about not getting on Jared’s bad side. “What?”

His pale skin and crimson eyes made Jared look remarkably like a vampire. Sara took a step backwards, “I’m just kidding Jared. I’m fine. I still don’t agree with you, but I’m ok.”

Jared breathed a sigh of relief. His eyes slowly started changing to their original color, but his voice was still tense, agitated. “
Don’t do that Sara!
”

“Sorry,” Sara said. “It’s just a joke Jared.”

“It’s
not
funny Sara,” he groaned.

Sara laughed. “Well, it was funny until you tried to blind me with your eyes.”

“Have you checked the results yet?” His tone hadn’t changed. It was still hard and indifferent.

Sara glanced at her wristwatch. “No, but it’s been about half an hour.  I’ll go see now,” she said, heading for the bathroom.

Jared took her hand, “We’ll both go.”

“You don’t trust me. Do you Jared?”

Jared snorted. “Don’t be silly Sara. Of course, I trust you. I just thought it might be better if we did this together, that’s all.” He kissed her temple to lighten her mood.

They walked in the bathroom, and Sara reached for the probe. She thrust it at Jared. “Since you’re the one that’s so interested in the result – you look at it!”
Now he’s starting to treat me like a child!

“All right,” he said taking it. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, swallowed, and then opened his eyes. Sara turned away, determined not to be a part of this. Jared sighed, “It’s negative, thank God!” he said jubilantly. “We’re ok. You’ll need to start taking those pills now, and until the pills take effect, we’ll just have to be very careful.”

“So,” Sara said, throwing the galling thing in the waste basket by the tub. “Can life get back to normal now?” Sara wasn’t disappointed with the results, but she was disappointed at how happy he seemed to be. If the results had been positive, Sara could have learned to live with it. The question was, could Jared?

“Yes, it can,” he said, leaning down to kiss her.

“Good,” Sara said and moved away. “So what do we do today, then?”

“Don’t you think we ought to get some extra practice sessions in while we can? The gig is awfully close,” he replied.

“Sure, but what about Lucy? Isn’t she working today?” Sara countered.

“Oh, darn! That’s right – she is. Well, there’s nothing to stop the rest of us.”

Sara sighed. “No, I don’t suppose there is….”

Halfway down the stairs, Jared’s cell rang. He looked at the display and put the phone to his ear. “Hi Mom, what’s up?” Jared sounded cheerful.

Sara tapped Jared’s shoulder. “Tell her, I said hi.”

“Sara says hi and sends her love. How are things?” He listened intently. His eyes turned red, and his face flushed with anger. “What? He can’t do that!”

Sara furrowed her brow, questioning him with her eyes.

Jared waved her off, concentrating on the phone call. “So what does he plan to do about it? Surely, he’s not giving up that easy…? Thank goodness for that! He shouldn’t even have to ask Seth!” Jared listened again.  “Yeah, we’re still planning on coming back down as soon as the gig is out of the way. Tell Dad, he has my full support on whatever he decides. All right…. I will…. See you soon, Mom.” He ended the call.

“What is it Jared? Is there something wrong with your father? Mother? Myra?” Sara bombarded him with questions so fast he shook his head.

------------

Steve was awakened to what sounded like a jet airplane, crashing through the living room. Then there was a horrible pounding thud, and cracking sound like a wrecking ball going through a sheet of glass.

He groaned and rolled over on his back. A Bad mistake. A beam of supernova blasted through a tear in the universe, and nearly burned out his eyes before he could get them shut. He whirled over, flinging his foot and smashing it against the bottom of the bed.

 “Shit!” He realized it was the morning sun, flashing through a tiny gap in his drapes. If the window hadn’t been on the other side of the world – across the room - about six feet away, Steve would have gotten up and closed it.

Steve slowly sat up on the side of the bed. His stomach felt like a rumbling volcano, threatening to erupt at any second. He glanced at his bathroom door – judging the distance in case he had to make a run for it.
What the fuck is wrong with me?
What’s wrong with my damn foot?

It was at that time his pounding head, and throbbing foot reminded him. After he’d had a kicking match with the snack bar – it won – he’d finished the last of the Jack Daniels. Not quite half a bottle. To ease the pain of his damaged ego, and drown a painful memory, he’d taken well over ten shots of Jose Cuervo. “Now why in the hell would I – oh yeah – Lucy.”

Last night, he’d decided to declare his undying love to her, and it went straight south. How could he possibly think he would ever be able to compete with Jared? He was nothing but a grease monkey, drum playing misfit. He didn’t have a large fancy mansion, or a flashy new BMW sitting in his garage. Hell, his garage was crammed full of motor parts and beer bottles, and he didn’t even own his own home. Well, not entirely. It belonged to him and his older brother Carl. “Give it up Steve,” he moaned as he stepped out of the shower.

After he’d dressed, he carefully made his way into the kitchen. For once, the smell of frying bacon smelt more like a wet dog. Carl sat the tower of pancakes on the table and looked up. “Man – you look like….”

Steve held up his hand. “Yeah, and I feel like it too,” he interjected as he ambled to the coffee pot. “How can you call yourself a brother, and let me do what I did last night?”

“Hey, when somebody tries to use their foot as a wrecking ball – brother or no brother – I get the hell out of the way.”

Steve gingerly sipped his mug of black coffee. “I wasn’t talking about that.”

Carl’s eyes lit. “Oh… you mean Lucy. Steve, I told you before you did it, how she was likely to react.”

“Yeah, but she kissed me back – both times! When we were out on the lake, I thought maybe. But then she turned away. Then when we got back home, I don’t know, I guess I lost it. She was rattling on to me, about how stupid I was for waiting this long to tell her. I just grabbed her and kissed her again.”

“What happened then?”

“She slapped the shit out of me and stormed across the street. She’ll probably never speak to me again.”

Carl sighed and sat to the table. He started piling pancakes and bacon on his plate. “Telling her this close to a gig was not a good idea either little brother.”

“Yeah, I know. Jared is gonna blow a gasket, and I’ve probably fucked things up for the rest of the band. What if Lucy won’t play with us anymore? Poor Sara – I’m such an asshole! What am I gonna do?”

Carl shoved his mouth full of food. Steve waited for him to answer. Carl took a sip of coffee, and then looked at Steve. “I’d say you’d better get yourself over there, and try to patch things up with her.”

Steve jerked his head up. “What? I can’t talk to her, not after what I did last night. That little wildcat has got one hell of a temper.”

“Do you still love her?”

“Well – yeah – I do – but….”

Carl finished his breakfast. “Then get over there and do something about it.”

“She doesn’t want me. She wants Jared – as always.”

“But Jared is engaged to marry Sara – her niece. Steve… Lucy is never going to be with Jared. He’s obsessively in love with Sara. That was his grandmother’s ring on her finger. We both know what that means. Lucy is just going to have to realize her chance with Jared ended the day Sara pulled into her drive – maybe even before then.”

“I know Carl! I know – but try telling Lucy that. She doesn’t love me, and she never will. I’m the idiot here.”

“Steve… you were the one that introduced them.”

Steve sighed deeply and poured another cup of black coffee. He turned. “Like I said. I’m the idiot here.”

------------

“Calm down, Sara. There’s nothing
wrong
with Dad. Mother is fine, and so is Myra. Dad approached Seth about what we talked about when we were in Arizona. Seth is being, I guess the best word to describe it is, mean.”

“How so?”

“I don’t know the whole story. All I know is that he’s trying to prevent my father from calling a Council hearing on our family’s behalf.”

Sara furrowed her brow, shaking her head in disbelief. “Can he do that? Can he stop your father from addressing the Council?”

“It would depend on how much my father is willing to risk. Seth, being the head of the Council, has a lot of power, but he doesn’t rule absolutely.”

“Then what did you mean by what you said?”