The Everlasting Chapel (14 page)

“
We’ll have to talk about
this later,” Michael says. “Now I’m going to be late for my
meeting.”

“
You just said you weren’t
in a hurry.”

“
Because your friend with
benefits showed up.”

I roll my eyes. “He knows where I stand. And
we’re only friends. No benefits anymore.”

“
Let’s see how well you
take it when you meet Alexa.”

“
What’s that supposed to
mean?” I ask. “Is that supposed to be some sort of
threat?”

“
No.” He walks over to the
door while running a hand through his hair. “Can I come pick you up
afterwards?”

“
I’m staying here tonight.
I want to be here when Anne wakes up.”

“
Then I’ll be here. Once
this all tides over though, we have to talk.”

“
Oh, believe me, I’m
counting on it,” I say.

13

I feel a hand gently shaking me. Opening my
eyes, I see Michael’s face in front of me. I give him a smile
trying to make sense of where I am.

It takes me a moment to remember what
happened, but when I do, a surge of terror rips through me. I
abruptly sit up on the small couch and look over at Anne. She’s
still sleeping. I exhale.

I ease my arms around Michael’s neck.
Feeling his warmth and smelling the distinct smell of him puts me
at ease.

“
Thank you for coming. I’m
sorry about earlier,” I say. “You must know that I love you and
only you.”

“
I’m sorry, too.” He
presses his lips to mine, the heat sending shivers down my spine.
“I just wasn’t prepared to meet him, and when I saw what he looked
like, it made me feel…” He stops.

“
You can say it,” I tease.
“Jealous.”

He smiles, but doesn’t repeat the words.
Obstinate asshole. His apology is enough for me right now, though.
I guess it will just take time to learn how to trust again.

“
Still nothing?” He glances
over his shoulder at Anne.

I yawn. “No.”

“
What can I do to best
support you?” he asks, stroking my hair back.

“
Stay.”

His eyes turn soft. “Okay.” He sits down on
the couch and pulls his legs up. I sit between his legs and lean
back, and we fall asleep.

* * *

I wake up when Michael stirs beneath me.
Looking out the window, I see the pre-dawn sky light up with bright
pink and orange clouds.

“
I have to get to work,”
Michael whispers into my ear. He kisses my cheek and squeezes
me.

I stretch my hands above my head and sit up,
planting my feet on the ground.

“
Did you sleep at all?” I
ask.

“
I was in and out.
You?”

“
Pretty well, considering
everything.” Although my back feels very sore.

“
Can I get you anything
before I leave?” he asks.

“
Coffee?”

He leaves and comes back with an extra large
cup of caffeine, a banana, a bagel and cream cheese, three trail
mix bars, and two bottles of water. He kisses me, tells me to call
him when I’m ready to go home, and then he heads back home to get
cleaned up.

Anne’s parents, Sherri and Don, arrive at
7:30 a.m., and although Anne has shown me family pictures, I hardly
recognize them at all. Both have red eyes and dark circles
underneath them, and Anne’s mom is already crying when she walks
into the room.

Dr. Kent walks in behind them, and gives me
a condescending look.

“
I’m Scarlett, Anne’s
friend from work,” I say, reaching my hand out to
Sherri.

“
I’m Sherri,” she says,
offering me her hand and a nod. “Thank you for staying with her.”
Her face crumbles into a thousand shades of grief, and she sobs for
a moment.

Instinctively, I wrap my arms around her.
“They say she’ll make a full recovery.” I realize it will do little
to soften the horrible act of violence against her only daughter,
but maybe it will give hope.

So many questions pop up in my mind, like
how will they take the news of her working as a stripper? What will
happen to Anne moving forward? I want to stay at the hospital until
she wakes up, be there for her when she remembers what horrible
things happened to her, but I know it’s time for me to leave Anne
to her family.

Sitting out in the hallway next to the
hospital’s entrance waiting for Michael, I see Spencer approaching
me. He sits down next to me.

“
Do you need a ride
anywhere?” he asks.

“
No thank you. Michael is
coming.” I turn toward him. “Is she really going to be alright?” My
voice is trembling.

“
Dr. Kent thinks so. But
she’ll need a skilled counselor and a good friend to help deal with
the aftermath. Being attacked like she was, she’s going to suffer a
lot of emotional trauma. She could have night terrors, suffer from
depression, or anxiety attacks, among other things. The more
support she has, the quicker she’ll find her center
again.”

I nod. “But she’ll have to deal with it for
the rest of her life. It’s just so unfair.” I try not to start
crying, but it’s useless, and when I feel the tears coming, I bend
forward and press my palms to my face.

Spencer gently strokes my back. “It is
completely unfair. I wish there was something I could say to make
it better.”

“
I’ll take it from
here.”

I lift my head, and see Michael standing in
front of me. Spencer and I rise to our feet at the same time, and I
throw my arms around Michael’s neck, sobbing into his chest.

“
I would appreciate it if
you kept your distance,” Michael says to Spencer, his body rigid
like a board, as he pulls me closer.

Outraged by his possessive behavior, I pull
away. “I don’t need this right now, Michael. He was just comforting
me because my best friend was nearly murdered last night, and he
wanted to assure me she was going to be okay.”

Michael’s upper lip curls.

“
I’ll see you later,
Scarlett,” Spencer says.

“
Will you call me if
something happens?” I ask.

“
Of course.” Spencer
smiles.

I give him a nod, and watch him as he
leaves. Michael and I walk in silence to his car, and once we
arrive, he opens the door for me.

When he gets in on his side, I can’t keep
quiet anymore. “You know, Spencer’s a friend of mine, and I’d
appreciate it if you would respect that.”

“
What am I supposed to say
when he has his hands all over you?” he snaps.

“
It wasn’t like that at
all, and you know it!” I say. “Shit, Michael, I don’t need this
right now. Can’t you just see past your own insecurities and think
of what I need for once?”

“
I’m not going to let him
creep his way back in and take advantage of you just because you’re
vulnerable right now,” he says.

I feel my heart beating in my head, I’m so
mad. “He’s not trying to do that!”

“
Any guy would try to do
that after they’d been with you, Scar,” he says.

“
Just because you would do
that, doesn’t mean he would.” Suddenly, something inside of me
snaps. “That’s it! I’m taking the bus home.” I open the car door,
and get out.

“
Scarlett…” He gets out too
and follows after me as I dash down the parking garage. Running
beside me, he says, “Please don’t do this. Just let me take you
home, and then I’ll leave you alone.”

I stop, and face him. “I don’t want you to
leave me alone. I want you to accept that I have friends of the
opposite sex. I want you to trust me that I only want you!” I
shout.

“
If you expect me to be all
chummy with—”

“
I don’t expect you to even
like the guy, just be fucking civil!” I yell.

He closes his eyes and thinks for a moment.
When he opens his eyes, I see how conflicted they are, and for a
split second I suddenly panic, afraid he’s going to tell me it’s
either Spencer or him.

“
Okay,” he says. “I promise
I won’t bring it up again. And when I meet him, I’ll
be…civil.”

At first I’m speechless.

“
I don’t want this to cause
a rift between us. And you’re right. It is selfish of
me.”

“
Okay,” I say, slightly
baffled he agreed to it, but still upset he throws this kind of
shit at me when Anne’s in the hospital.

“
Can I please drive you
home now?” he asks, his voice tender.

I step toward him as my anger simmers down.
Taking his hand, I interlace my fingers between his.

“
Yes,” I say. “I’m sorry I
got so upset.”

His eyebrows gather in the center. “It’s
just when he touches you…when I think about him touching you…”

I gaze into his eyes, and peering deep into
them, it’s as if I can see to the very bottom of his soul. I see a
man who needs me just as much as I need him, and a man who will do
whatever he can to hold onto me.

“
I don’t want to lose you
again,” he says.

Is it really true that he is afraid of
losing me? I press a hand to his cheek and look into his worried
eyes. “And you won’t.”

He dips his head down and catches my lips
with his, kissing me lightly, the silky smooth and wet sensation
causing me to melt into him and forget all the anger.

14

When I get inside, Vivian is up making
breakfast.

“
Good morning,” I
say.

“
Good morning to you,
Scarlett. How is your friend?” Her expression turns from pleasant
to concerned.

“
She…” I clear my throat
and will the tears down. “She’s in really bad shape, but the
doctors are saying she’ll make a complete recovery.”

Vivian rests her hand on my shoulder and
gives me a sympathetic look. “That’s good to hear. I hope she
recovers quickly indeed.” She huffs. “Your father is very tired
today. You might want to go see him. It would brighten his
day.”

I haven’t had as much time for him as I
would have liked. I head upstairs and go into his bedroom. The
curtains are drawn shut, making the room a dim, lifeless prison,
and the news is on the TV.

Although my father’s eyes light up when he
sees me, I can tell by the way he slowly moves his body that he’s
tired. I sit down on his bed.

“
How’s Anne?” he
asks.

Tearfully, I tell him as much as I know. He
tells me there was a story about her on the news, saying it
happened outside of where she worked at a local gentlemen’s club.
Immediately, my heart is in my throat. I never told my father where
Anne worked or that we worked together, and he doesn’t say
anything, but the way he said it makes me think he’s waiting for me
to volunteer information, which I’m not going to. Where Anne works
is none of his business.

“
Anne is such a sweet girl.
I never realized she had such an…unbecoming profession,” he finally
says.

“
She did it because she had
no other way to pay her bills. She never completed or even attended
college, and as you know, her parents disowned her because they
believed her to be an immoral slut,” I say bitterly.

“
It’s a shame she turned
out to be what they labeled her as.”

“
She’s not a slut!” I yell,
suddenly feeling extremely protective of her.

“
I’m sorry. That’s not what
I meant. If she only would have had supportive parents who saw her
potential, she might not have been…as inclined to take such a lowly
job.”

“
She did it to pay the
bills, not because her parents didn’t believe in her.” I realize
I’m speaking more of myself than her. Anne’s reasons were similar
to mine—she needed to make money.

“
If you worked in such a
place, I would have been completely devastated,” he
says.

And there it is: his honest to God opinion.
I already figured he’d say that, but hearing the heaviness in his
voice—the utter despair—when he says it, I know I’ll never be able
to tell him the truth. It might send him to his grave. Not wanting
to dwell on the subject, I ask him, “How are your chemotherapy
treatments going?”

“
Better than expected. When
my mother went through them, I remember how sick she was. Today’s
medicine has improved a lot, and they’re better able to figure out
exactly the right dose.”

“
You and Vivian seem to be
getting along well,” I say.

A coy smile appears on his lips. “Yes, she’s
as good a caregiver for me as she was for you. Thank you.”

“
Well, I need to get ready
for work,” I say standing up. I kiss him on the cheek, and head for
the door.

“
Scarlett?” he
asks.

I turn around and look him in the eyes.
“Yes?”

“
I’m glad to see that
you’re back with Michael again. This time…I have a better feeling
about it.”

“
Me, too,” I
say.

The next day goes by without incident. I
work my normal shifts, and wait impatiently for the phone call from
Spencer letting me know Anne has awoken. He never calls. And he
doesn’t even have lunch with me, but texts me and cancels due to
emergency surgeries, and extra shifts. Part of me wonders if he
canceled because of how Michael treated him at the hospital,
although knowing Spencer, I come to the conclusion that he’s just
really busy.