When Dreams Come to Life (21 page)

Wait, the driver!

* Who’s the driver, Eoin? *

              Vicki nudges me.

“The police are outside and they’re asking for you.” I put my phone in my pocket with a sigh and decide to face the music. This isn’t going to go well.

I walk up to the officer talking to Trent.

“Excuse me, sir, I-” He cuts me off.
Crap.

“Did you assault this man, Ms. McKenzie?” I grit my teeth and prepare to be arrested.

“I wouldn’t call it assault, sir. I was defending myself. He presented a threat and I acted on it.” The officer looks at me and then Trent, who’s bleeding pretty badly from his nose. Suddenly, the driver interrupts.

“I saw the whole thing, officer. Would you like my statement?” Who the hell sent this guy? He pulls the cop away and I look at Trent with absolute disgust.

“Why’d you hit me, Lea?” Seriously? I’m half tempted to hit him again.

“You’re a piece of nothing, Trent. You’ve done nothing but try to destroy Eoin and I! I couldn’t care less if I have to go to jail for hitting you. You deserved it. I’m done with you!” Trent looks at me with sadness.

For some unknown reason, I suddenly feel a small twinge of guilt for hurting him.

“I came here to apologize and Vicki just starting going off at me. You pulled up right after I got here. She didn’t even know why I was here.” What? I shake my head to try and gain some composure so I can respond. Before I can say anything, the officer and driver approach us.

“Ms. McKenzie, did this man hit you?”
For God’s sake! No, because if he did, I would’ve done more than break his nose, for crying out loud!

“No, he didn’t. I mean, he came at me with that intent but he didn’t hit me.” I know where this is going.

“Ma’am, I’m going to have to place you under arrest if you’re telling me that you hit this man without him hitting you first. Are you sure that’s what happened? You can tell me the truth.”

What the hell is going on? I nod my head to confirm what he’s said, and he cuffs me and reads me my rights.

“Officer, I don’t wish to press charges. Lea was only defending herself because she thought I was going to hit her. Can we please make this a warning?” Is Trent actually
defending
me? Wow.

“No, sir. This is Colorado and in a domestic, one or both parties are arrested.”

“Vicki!” I shout, and she comes running out.

“Call my lawyer and Eoin, quickly. Take my phone out of my pocket.” She grabs it from my pocket in tears. I look at her and smile.

“It’s okay. I’ll be back in a couple hours.” I look over at Trent and he’s crying - at least, I think that’s what’s happening.

The officer loads me into his car. As we pull away, I look out the back window and see Vicki slap Trent and stomp back into the restaurant. I laugh despite the seriousness of my situation. I hope I don’t see her in here with me but I so love her for doing that.

As we pull into the Denver county jail, the officer looks at me in the rear-view mirror.

“I’m sorry, ma’am, but I have to do my job.” I almost want to laugh but decide against it.

“I understand. Can I ask what my driver said to you?” He looks away from my gaze.

“He handed me cash and said to get you out as soon as I can. I intend to do so, too. For what it’s worth,
I think what you did was the right thing. I’m sure the case will be thrown out as well.”

I hope he’s right. Long before the restaurant, I used to be in a fair bit of trouble, but I was young and I promised myself I’d never put myself in that situation.

“We’ll see, I guess. Yes, you have no idea how much he deserved that.” The officer laughs.

“We’ll get you out in under an hour.” I nod and we pull into the Denver county jail. As he helps me out of the car, he slips the cash into my pocket.

We walk through the doors and I can already see my lawyer, Olivia, in the booking area. I sit down in one of the under padded chairs and she approaches me, worry marring her forehead.

“What happened, Lea?” I let out a sigh.

“Trent happened. I don’t want to talk about it here but I will say he deserved it. He came at me so I reacted.” I pull the driver’s cash out of my pocket and hand it to her.

“I think this will cover my bail.” Olivia looks at me with confusion. “It came from the driver who picked me up at the airport. I want you to find out who he is and who he’s working for. All I know is that he spoke to the officer who brought me in, and when I asked him what went down, he told me the driver gave him that money. I want to know why.”

“I can do that. Are you sure he isn’t watching over you for Eoin?”

“No, I’m not sure but Eoin knows I’ve got money. I find it odd that he’d have someone watching me, too.” I think about that for a minute.

He very well could have because of what has happened lately with Trent. If that’s the case, I wish he would’ve told me, though. I don’t like the fact he hired me a babysitter but I guess that also means he’s concerned about me and I love that.

“On second thought, Eoin may have done it to protect me from Trent. Vicki called him after the whole thing with Trent and I went down, so maybe you should give her a call and find out what he said.”

“Okay, what’s Vicki’s number?” I give her the digits and she moves out of my earshot to make the call.

While Olivia is on the phone, an officer collects me to have my picture and finger prints taken.

The more I think about my situation, the angrier I get at myself for my stupid actions. Is this going to affect my restaurant? Is it going to make Eoin look bad?

That thought alone makes me want to cry. Even if the case is thrown out, it still happened. Shit, it’s going to be all over the media. I’m such an idiot! I know better than to do something like this.

How old are you, Lea? What the fuck have you done?
I’m stopped mid-thought by Olivia.

“Vicki said Eoin is really upset and you were right, he sent the driver to keep an eye on you because of Trent. She said he’s not mad at you.” She pauses and looks at me, her mouth set in a firm line.

“What? What else?” My heart starts to race. Olivia must see the look on my face because she laughs.

“Eoin said he’s proud of you for giving, and I quote, that fucker what he deserved.” I let out a laugh,
almost a little too loud because all the guards look at me like I’m a nut.

“Good. When can I leave?”

“It will be about ten minutes before we can go,” Olivia replies. I rub the back of my hand across my eyes. “Oh, and Lea, there’s media outside. I’ll ask the guards if we can leave out of the back door.”

“Great. This isn’t going to go well. I really hope they’re not at the restaurant. Crap, what if they’ve already spoken to Trent? Damn it!” I hang my head in shame at myself. Olivia rubs my back in a soothing gesture.

“It’s okay, Lea. We’ll get this thrown out. I’ll do everything in my power to make sure the judge knows what you did was the right thing.” All I can do is give her a small smile in response so she gets up to do some paperwork.

A deputy walks us to the back door where Olivia’s car is waiting with the passenger door open. I slide in and close the door.

As we pull up to the street, I look towards the entrance of the jail and there are about ten different news’ teams waiting at the front doors.

One of the reporters looks in our direction and starts to run over towards the car.

“Olivia, go! Now!” She looks over, noticing the advancing reporter and screeches out of the alley, nearly hitting an oncoming car.

Damn it!
I know she got at least one picture but it couldn’t have been that great of a shot.

I stare out my window and watch the rows of shops as we go down the 16
th
Street mall towards my apartment.

I close my eyes and picture Eoin. He’s the only thing that can calm me and I want to hear his voice so bad. I want to hear him tell me he’s not mad, that everything will be okay. I feel my eyes burn and fill with tears.

“It’s going to be okay, Lea,” Olivia says, handing me a tissue.

“I hope so. I just feel stupid. Are my things at the apartment or do I need to get Vicki bring them by?”

“She’s there waiting for you. The doorman said there weren’t any reporters there, either, so let’s hope it stays that way.” I wipe my tears away and look up the street. My sky rise is in view and the streets are clear of any media frenzy, thank goodness.

Olivia turns into the garage and I see my driver from earlier standing next to both of our cars. I’ve got to thank him for all help but make it clear that I don’t want him lurking everywhere I go. Although, it might be nice to have him drive me around until things calm down a bit from this mess.

Olivia parks and the driver walks over to open my door for me.

“Hi, I’m Lea, but you probably already know that.” I extend my hand and he shakes it.

“Scott. It’s nice to meet you, Lea.”

“I just wanted to thank you for your help earlier. I really appreciate it.”

“No problem, it’s why I was sent here. If you’d like, I can drive you around for the time being,” Scott adds, as if he’s read my mind. I smile.

“Yes, I think that would best for now. Thank you again. Have you organized a place to stay yet?”

“Yes, I’m all set up. The doorman let your friend Vicki into your residence thirty minutes ago and I helped bring your things up.” I smile and thank him again before turning to Olivia.

“Are you coming up?”

“I’m headed to the office to file a dismissal and release a statement to the press.”

“What will it say? I want to make sure Eoin isn’t mentioned in it at all. If they ask about him, say nothing. He’s got nothing to do with this and I already truly hate myself for putting him in this position.” I feel myself tear up but choke them back.

“Lea, don’t worry. We’ll get this taken care of in no time. Eoin has already said he’s not mad at you, so just go upstairs and relax. I suggest you stay away from the restaurant for a few days, too.”
No! Absolutely not!

“I’m going to the restaurant tomorrow whether you like it or not. I’ll have Scott drive me and he can watch the door, if it makes you feel better. I just have to get back in there. Jessie needs some time off, Olivia.”

“Okay,” she replies with a sigh. “Just don’t answer any questions. If you see Trent, call the police. I’m going to file a restraining order on him as soon as I get to the office. It will include Conrad’s and here.”

“Okay. Let me know how everything goes. Thank you for coming so quickly.” I hug her and head up to the apartment. Scott follows me to my door.

“Here’s my cell number, the name of the hotel I’m staying at and my room number. What time would you like me to collect you tomorrow morning?”

“I’d like to leave by five, if that’s okay?”

“Of course. Try to have a good evening.” He gives me a smile and heads back downstairs.

I walk inside and lock the door behind me. Vicki runs up to me and gives me a bone-breaking hug.

“Are you okay? What’s going to happen? What’d your lawyer say’s going to happen?” she blurts out, her Australian accent stronger than ever. I laugh.

“I’m not okay. I’m mad at the mess I’ve caused not only for myself but for Eoin. I’m not sure what’s going to happen. Olivia said she’s going to get it thrown out but who knows? I
do
know that I want to forget about it for now and have a few beers.” Vicki runs straight to the fridge and I can’t help but laugh.

“Here,” she says as she hand me a beer. “Cheers! I’m glad you did that to the jerk! He’s lucky I didn’t smash him, too, after the cop took you away.”

We clink bottles and take a sip. I flop down on my couch to give Maxx some love. I’ve missed my animals. My cats join us, too, rubbing against Vicki and I - they know something’s not right.

“Your phone’s been blowing up with calls from your mom, your sister and Crystal. Oh, Eoin said he’d call in a couple hours, too.” She hands me my phone and
I look through the call log. I decide to do a group text message to everyone, telling them I’ll call them later.

I send Eoin a text as well, letting him know I’m home and okay. I wait to see if he texts back but there’s still nothing after a full five minutes. I know he’s mad at me, I can feel it.

“Did Eoin sound mad when you spoke to him?”

“No, he sounded concerned, but he did sound peeved about Trent.” I look at her.

“Are you sure? I’m worried that he just didn’t want to say how he really felt because he was nervous about making me even more upset.” Vicki leans over gives me a kiss on the forehead.

“Shh, it’ll be all good. I ordered us some take out and it should be here soon.” The moment she finishes her sentence, the doorbell rings.

We look at each other, wide-eyed, and Vicki makes her crazy-eye face at me. I do it back and we burst into a fit of laughter. She gets up to answer the door and laughs all the way.