500 Days (29 page)

She lowered the bat but kept it at the
ready. “You,” she pointed angrily. “You have a lot a nerve showing
up here.”

It took me a minute to understand why she
had gone psycho. Then I remembered. I had called her a slut and
basically told her she was a whore for sleeping with me. I was a
fucking idiot. “Alex, I’m sorry.”

She held up her hand, eyes closed, she took
a breath. “Save it. I should have known better.” She opened her
eyes and looked up at me. My heart stopped when I saw the prospect
of tears forming in her eyes. “But it was my choice, right? I knew
the consequences.”

“
Alex…I don’t
–”

She stopped me. “I don’t expect you to
understand and that’s okay.” She was right. I didn’t understand.
“This whole friend thing. It’s not working out for me.”

“
Alex,” I reached for her
but she flinched. Without another word, she turned around and went
back inside the house. I picked up my broken mirror, chucking it
hard across the street and into the trees. In the car I gripped the
steering wheel so tight my knuckles turned white. I peeled away
from the house, going faster than the limit, risking getting pulled
over
,
but I
didn’t care.

Once back at my place, I went straight to my
room, and slammed the door. I paced the room as the anger inside
built. The more I paced the angrier I got. I started seeing red. I
knew I needed to calm down before I did something stupid. I went to
my closet to grab some clean clothes but the door jammed. I yanked
and pulled, but nothing happened. So I decided to take my anger out
on my closet door. I kicked and punched the door until it cracked,
splintered and broke into several pieces.

“
What the fuck is going
on?” Colton asked. I turned to face him, chest heaving, panting. He
instinctively took a step back. He looked over to the mess on the
floor. “What did the door do to you?”

“
It got in my way,” I
growled, breathing heavy.

“
Okay, um…is there
something you need to tell me?”

I kicked off a piece of the door again.
“Cas,” Colton warned, letting me know he meant business now.

“
Alex,” I said.

“
What about
Alex?”

I took a deep breath, trying to calm my
nerves. “I fucked up, again.” I felt trapped all of a sudden, like
I couldn’t breathe. I needed air. I grabbed my keys and left
without another word. Colton tried to stop me. I bolted without
giving him a chance. I drove straight to the one place I knew I
wouldn’t be bothered. I headed to the garage where my bike was
stored. I hopped on, revving up the engine, and took off, leaving
skid marks.

I drove for miles, with no particular place
in mind. My bike was the one and only thing that really helped me
clear my head. With the open road in front of me, I felt alive.
Unfortunately my head was too much of a mess to enjoy my ride. I
turned around at dusk and made it back shortly after the sun had
set. I spotted a familiar silhouette in the garage. Her hair was
pulled back and she was wearing her normal business attire. I
pulled into the garage and cut the engine.

“
At first I thought, ‘to
what do I owe the honor?’ Then I discover your prize possession was
gone and I knew this wasn’t a tea and crumpets visit.”

“
First off you’re not tea
and crumpets material. It’s not in your blood to be socially kind
with anybody except those who have the potential of offering you
money.”

“
Do not speak to your
mother that way. I can still bend you over my knee you
know.”

“
Will it actually be you
or will you hand me off to the nanny again?”

She fixed me with a glare.
“You know I got rid of that trollop the second you moved out.” She
hated when I brought her up. She could quite possibly be the reason
I have an affliction towards women. She was the woman of my dreams,
hell, she was the woman of any thirteen year old boy’s dream. She
had gorgeous long blonde hair, humongous breasts, and a body that
didn’t quit. She was eighteen and saving up for college and she
also happened to be very giving
,
and loved young boys. I was fourteen when I lost
my virginity to her. She taught me what women liked. She taught me
a lot.

“
I wonder what she’s up
to? Maybe I should give her a call?”

“
Over my dead body,” my
mom warned. “Now, are you going to come inside or is this where I
say farewell?” I stifled an eye roll and followed her inside and
straight to the kitchen where she slid over a cup of coffee.
“Hungry?” I shook my head no. She gestured for us to have a seat at
the table. “Wanna tell me what’s going on?”

Despite my bastard of a father, I actually
had a decent upbringing. My mom made sure of that. She wanted to be
a stay-at-home mom and take care of us, but my father insisted she
had to work; which was ironic because his other wives, he insisted
they stayed home. I think he didn’t realize the consequences of
making my mother work when all she wanted to do was spend time with
her kids. She was a very strong, independent woman and she told me
all the time she had my father to thank for that. I think that’s
why he never had any of his new wives work. He learned his lesson
with my mother.

“
I messed up, big
time.”

She sighed. “How much is this going to cost
me and do I need to call a lawyer?”

“
No, nothing like that.” I
got up to get some sugar. “There’s this girl.”

“
Ah, I see,” she said,
sipping her coffee carefully. “Wanna tell me about her?”

I leaned back against the counter, turning
the mug in my hand. I closed my eyes. I could picture her perfectly
in my head. “She’s amazing mom.”

“
So I’m mom now. Must
be
some
girl to
get you to start calling me mom again.” I shot her a glare to let
her know she wasn’t helping. “Sorry,” she smiled. “Please, go
on.”

I took a seat across from her. “I’ve never
met anyone like her. She’s strong willed, confident, and maybe even
a little crazy.” I laughed to myself. “She’s beautiful inside and
out and would do anything for her family.”

“
So why are you here
instead of with her?”

“
Because I’m an idiot and
I keep messing up.”

“
Does she feel the same
way about you that you do about her.” I shrugged. I couldn’t be
sure. Alex was a better actor than I was. “Well, Casper, we
all
do
dumb
shit,” she stood to refill her cup. “I married your father even
though I knew he was cheating on me.”

I looked up. “What? He was cheating on you
from the beginning?” She nodded. “Then why did you marry him.”

“
Because I thought I loved
him and we will do anything for those we love to make them
happy.”

I stood up and wrapped my arms around her in
a comforting hug. “I’m sorry you had go through all that.”

“
It wasn’t all bad. After
all, I got you and your sisters out of it. The three best things
that came out of that disastrous matrimony.” I smiled, giving her
another squeeze. She turned around to face me, taking both my hands
in hers. “Casper, whoever she is, I’m sure she’ll forgive you. Of
course if she’s as smart as you claim she’ll run if she knows
what’s good for her. And if you’re anything like your father,
you’re screwed.”

“
Thanks,
Prudence.”

“
Prudence, what happened
to mom?” she teased. “Casper, treat her right and fight for what
you love.” She placed both hands on my cheeks. “No matter what.
Never stop fighting, you understand?” I nodded. “If she’s not worth
fighting for then she’s not worth your time.”

“
Thanks…mom.” She smiled.
I gave her a kiss on the cheek and started to make my way
out.

“
Casper?” she called.
“Next time, wear a helmet or you’ll have my wrath to deal
with.”

“
Yes ma’am.” She scoffed,
hating when I called her ma’am. I smiled, feeling better about
venturing out here. I decided to take my mom’s advice and fight for
what I wanted. I will
find a way to get
Alex to forgive me and I won’t stop until I make her
mine.

**************************************************************************

The club was packed. With
everyone being back for the school year
,
the place was slammed with bodies.
Gus had warned us ahead of time that we should enter through the
back to avoid the chaos. As much as I wanted to see Alex it wasn’t
worth the risk of trying to fight the crowd
,
and I knew she would be too busy
to talk. When Gus had intercepted us at the front, I asked if they
could send some drinks back to us before the show. He usually
complied with our requests and since it was packed he had no
problem letting us put in a large order so we could hang out in the
dressing room. I also personally requested that Alex and Declan be
the two that brought back our order.

We slipped into the rear entrance without
any interruptions. Down the wide hall and to the left was a large
storage area that Gus had converted into a dressing room so the
bands that played would have a place to hang before and after a
show if they wanted. Inside were two large ugly, yellow, pleather
couches, a few chairs here and there. In the back corner was a
decent size bathroom with shower and on the right was a small
vanity with dingy bulbs lining the mirrors on both sides. I walked
over to the table over by the mini fridge and grabbed some water.
One of the bouncers was standing outside the door to keep out any
unwanted guests. We had a list and if you weren’t on it, you
weren’t getting in. That rule tended to get bent a lot at the end
of the night. For Greyson all it took was a chick to flash her tits
and she was welcome.

I myself usually always had a few ladies on
the list, but tonight there was only one girl I wanted to see and
she didn’t need to be on the list. Not able to sit still, I got up
to go to the bathroom. I splashed some cold water on my face and
stared at my tired eyes in the mirror. I planned on begging for
forgiveness. I heard Declan’s voice through the door. I dried off
my face and stepped out of the bathroom. I almost stumbled back. I
forgot how incredibly sexy Alex was in her uniform. I felt myself
smiling just at the sight of her. She looked up and her eyes
instantly narrowed. Unfortunately she was not happy to see me. I
thought maybe she had cooled off, but the daggers she was shooting
me from her eyes told me otherwise. This was going to be harder
than I thought. Even Declan gave me the stank eye. “I don’t know
what you did but you better fix it. Alex has been on the warpath
since that stupid party and is taking it out on innocent
people.”

“
Why do you automatically
assume it was me?”

She grabbed my nipple and
twisted, making me jump. “Because ever since she met you she has
been ten times more temperamental. So you need to fix this because
I’m tired of dealing with her crazy
-
ass mood swings.”

“
You think maybe she’s
just on her period?” She twisted harder. “Ow, ow, okay. I’m working
on it.” She let go and straightened out her wig, but not before
fixing me with a glare.

By the time 2am rolled around I knew it was
safe to head out to the front. There were still a few stragglers –
as always – but at least now I could see Alex. I took a seat down
at the bar in front of her. She looked up narrowing her eyes when
she saw me. She grabbed a rag from the shelf and started wiping
down the bar. Alex’s head shot up at the sound of glass breaking.
“Great.” I looked over my shoulder at the culprit. He was some punk
kid I’ve seen around. Alex threw down the rag and grabbed a broom
and dust pan, walking over to the table to clean up the mess.

When she bent down to clean up the broken
glass the guy knocked over another beer, spilling it all over Alex.
She stood up. “That’s it. You’re done, get out.”

He laughed in her face. “Just go back to
your job of cleaning the floor, wench.” I stood up, ready to knock
this guy out when Declan pushed me back down. I knew Alex could
handle herself, but I still didn’t like the idea of it.

Alex pushed herself up and
stood in front of the douchebag. He leaned back giving her a cocky
smile. She hooked her foot around the leg of the chair and gave a
hard yank. The idiot flew backwards, smacking down on the floor.
“Gus, trash is ready to go out.” The guy picked himself up off the
floor and dusted off his pants. He glared at Alex and took a step
forward. I pushed Declan aside and started to make my way over to
Alex, but before I got to her
,
the guy’s friend put a hand on his shoulder and
he took a step back. He smiled cockily at Alex and slammed into her
shoulder as he walked away. I was about to knock this guy out when
Larry stepped in front me, putting a hand on my chest.

“
Let it go
Cas.”

I sat back down and waited.

Colton informed me he was going to stay and
wait until Declan was finished so he could walk her out and make
sure she got home safe. I up ended my beer and tossed the empty in
the trash. “I’m out,” Alex shouted, ducking under the bar.

“
Make sure Larry walks out
with you,” Gus called.

“
I’ll be fine,” she said,
waving her hand over her head without turning around.