Back to Life
Back To Life
By Mellie George
Text copyright ©2013 Mellie George
All Rights Reserved
This book is a work of fiction.
Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the
products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any
resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely
coincidental.
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For Casey…forever missing you and
your crazy laugh, gallons of milk in the fridge, Mountain Dew, Pizza King subs,
Chicken noodle Sundays, dragonflies, and either making me laugh or making fun
of Tracey crying at every single salon meeting, *wink*. You are irreplaceable,
angel.
Table of
Contents
“Come
on, don’t go,” I whined loudly, straining to be heard over the music. “It’s New
York City. Surely she can take a cab.”
He squeezed
my hand and gave me an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry, sweetie. She’s my boss, I
have to. She’s completely trashed. I can’t just leave her there, and in her
state she’d never be able to hail a cab. She’d just fall over into the street.”
“And right
into the path of oncoming traffic. Maybe then she’d stop calling you to come
pick her up from bars and clubs at two in the morning. Babe, it’s our
anniversary! Can’t you just climb off the white horse for one night? For me?”
I asked angrily. I could see the confliction in his eyes as he was trying to
decide what to do. My heart thudded painfully in my chest, reminding me that
once again, he was leaving me to run to her and be her little slave, and on our
one year anniversary, no less. I knew that this woman was constantly hitting on
him, and I wasn’t worried that he’d ever betray me, but this was getting really
ridiculous. After a few long seconds, instead of waiting for him to answer, I
waved my hand angrily in the air. “Whatever, just go. I’ll just head home and
hang out with Marissa. She’s probably still up.”
“Baby,
I’m so, so sorry. I will make it up to you, I promise.”
“Doubtful,”
I pouted.
He
smiled warily, and leaned in and kissed me. “I will, you’ll see. I am just
going to drop her off at her apartment, so I shouldn’t be long,” he said,
sliding on his coat. “See you back at your place?”
“Yeah,
fine. Bye,” I said, rolling my eyes. This was supposed to be the most amazing
night of my life. Mason had proposed earlier in the evening, and we had been
out celebrating and I hadn’t gotten to give him his gift yet. I had been
planning on surprising him when we went back to my place…looks like that wasn’t
going to happen now.
He
looked back at me, a warm smile spreading across his handsome face. He walked
back to me and pulled me in to his chest and kissed me deeply. After several
heated moments, he pulled away and looked lovingly into my eyes. “I love you so
much, Rory Shaw.” He lifted my left hand to his lips, and kissed the huge
sparkling diamond he had placed on my left ring finger earlier in the evening.
Despite
my anger, I found myself smiling too. “I love you too, Mason Callahan. And your
apology better be big.”
Backing
away from me, he said with a suggestive wink, “You know me, baby. I always go
big,” and he placed his hand over his heart and then pointed up to the sky.
“I
know, from your heart and past the stars,” I said, and even though I was
disappointed, I still smiled at his silly gesture. With a wave, he flashed a
dazzling smile at me and turned and walked out.
As
I stood out in the middle of the dance floor, suddenly everyone around me
started to disappear, and I was alone with the music loud and lights flashing.
Where had everyone gone? Just as suddenly, the music stopped and a huge
spotlight from above turned on, and I was blinded. Then, just as quick as the
light came on, it shut back off and everything went black. “Hello?” I screamed,
and I was answered by a loud popping sound, people screaming, and sirens in the
distance. As I ran toward the sounds, I tripped and started falling down, but
the ground was nowhere near to break my fall….I felt like I would never stop
falling…
Rory
The
alarm clock started beeping loudly, jolting me awake. I sat up in bed with a
start, my heart racing and I was covered in a cold sweat. It took me a minute
to remember where I was and as soon as I did, I realized the alarm clock was
still beeping. I reached my hand over to the night stand and turned it off. I
sighed as my heart rate began to return to normal. Running a hand through my
long, dark auburn hair, I pulled up my knees up and rested my elbows on them. There
is only one reason I would wake up with my heart pounding out of my chest and
covered in perspiration. I must have had the dream again. I’m glad I didn’t remember
it this time though. I was already trying every day to forget about it, and
having it fresh in my mind the first thing in the morning would be difficult to
face. After taking a few deep breaths, I decided to throw myself into the day
in order to distract my mind from wandering and I flew out of bed. Thankfully,
I had laid out my clothes for the day the night before, so that didn’t require
any thought. I grabbed the neatly folded pile from the wicker chair next to my
dresser along with a clean bra and panties from my dresser drawer, and headed
to the shower. After turning the water on, I slid out of my pajamas and tossed
them into the hamper. I stepped into the shower, and immediately cursed out
loud. It was borderline ice cold. Damn it, Marissa must have beaten me to the
shower this morning. From the other room, I heard soft shouting, “Sorry, Rory! I
didn’t think you’d be up so soon, just give it a minute!”
“Whatever, you
better have fucking coffee ready for me when I get out!” I shouted back, and I
heard her mumble in agreement. As I waited for the water to get somewhat warm,
I stared at myself in the mirror. I wasn’t a shallow person by any means, but I
had to admit I had a halfway decent body. My ivory skin, which was well
decorated with tattoos and a few piercings, complimented my long dark red hair,
which I got comments on often. Being a hair stylist, getting complimented on my
hair was both expected and rewarding. It fell in long cascading waves around my
face and rested just at my breasts. My eyes traveled up from my heavily
tattooed naked body to my face, which didn’t seem to match the rest of me. My
reflection wasn’t one I recognized anymore. Where there once used to be bright,
lively chestnut eyes now were tired, sallow eyes that looked older than they
were. Maybe it was because they had seen more than someone my age should see.
Hell, I was only twenty-five, but to me I felt like I was ten years older. The
past four years had aged me in more ways than one, that was certain. If I had
learned one thing in all that time, I definitely wasn’t the old Rory Shaw
anymore.
Four
years before, I had just gotten engaged to the love of my life, Mason Callahan.
He was a lawyer and worked for Mitchell, Sterling, Jacobs, and Darling in New
York City, and was on the fast track to a partnership. We were each other’s
polar opposites, and that’s why we worked so well. He was all business with his
suits, ties, and briefcases, where I was all creativity with my vibrant colored
hair, tattoos, and piercings. We were an odd pair, but I loved him more than
any man in the world, apart from my older brother, Brody. We’d only been
together for a year when everything happened…
My
reflection started to get cloudy, and I wondered for a moment if I was losing
my mind. But, then, I realized that it was just the fog from the heat of the
shower, and that meant that the water was finally warm enough. I turned my face
from the mirror and stepped inside the hot shower, and tossed my head back,
letting the warm water pour over me.
I
walked out through the living room and toward to the kitchen, toweling my hair
dry as I walked. Marissa looked up and met my gaze, and her eyes were
apologetic. “Rory, I am so sorry. I didn’t know you were getting up so early
today.”
“Well,
I’m opening the shop this morning and I have a regular client coming in first
thing when the door opens, so yeah. I was getting up early this morning,” I
snapped, sitting down at the table. I pulled the black hair tie wrapped around
my wrist and tied my damp hair into a messy knot on top of my head. It would
have to do for the day.
Marissa
put a mug of hot coffee in front of me. “I must have forgotten. I didn’t
realize I had been in there that long.” She took a long drink from her coffee
mug and cautiously sat down across from me. “Rory, are you all right? You seem
a little cranky this morning, even more than usual.”
I
took a long drink of my hot coffee. Marissa always made great coffee…the
stronger the better for me. After I swallowed, I looked at her apprehensive
face and sighed. “I’m sorry. I guess I just didn’t sleep well last night.”
Placing
a warm friendly hand over mine, she said, “You had the dream again, didn’t
you?”
I
shrugged. “I must have, thank God I don’t remember if I did,” I said, a shiver
running down my spine.
“I
figured. You are usually are like this when you do. Are you going to be okay?”
Marissa asked, a hint of nervousness still in her voice.
I
saw fear and worry in her expression, and I immediately softened. “Of course I
will. Thanks, Marissa.”
She
smiled at me, saying, “For what?”
For
what? For being my best friend, for being here for me when no one else was
(including most of my family), for letting me cry and break down and being
there to catch me when I fell hard... “For the coffee, of course,” I said,
winking at her.
I
had known Marissa O’Neal since we were in ninth grade. My family had just moved
to the small town of Selma, Indiana from Chicago. I was new in town, and coming
from a big city, I stuck out like a sore thumb in such a tiny town. My older
brother, Brody, fit right in. He was lean, muscular, and athletic, and had
every girl drooling. I was the girl with the crazy colors in her hair, dark
black eyeliner around her eyes, rock band tees, and a bad attitude. Being taken
from my hometown where I was comfortable and blended in to a tiny little
farming town about an hour and half from Indianapolis was like being dragged into
my own personal hell. I was a frequent visitor at the principal’s office during
my time there.
On
my fifth day of high school during lunch period, I was sitting with Brody at a
table and was eating a salad when all of a sudden I heard high pitched
laughing. Cackling was more like it. There was a group of blonde, snotty
looking girls standing in the lunch line, laughing and sneering, and standing
in front of them was a tiny girl with long, light brown wavy hair, holding her
tray in her hands. As she walked to the cashier and fished a twenty out her
pocket, one of the girls behind her said, “Wonder how she got that?”, and
another girl said, “She probably traded food stamps for it,” which sent the
group into hysterical laughter. As I looked at the girls’ face, a single hot
tear shot down her cheek. Brody must have heard the comments as well, and his
eyes followed mine to this girl being laughed at. After seeing the livid
expression on my face, he winked at me and stood up and walked to her. Surprising
everyone, he wrapped his arm around her shoulder. As if everyone wasn’t already
shocked that this beautiful boy was taking an interest in a seemingly mousy
girl, he leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. “There you are, finally. You
want to sit with me and my sister today?” he asked. His other arm was extended
toward where I was sitting. I gave a cheery wave, and batted my eyelashes at
the group behind her, giving them a sarcastic look. If I was sure I could get
away with it and no one would see I would have flipped them off.
Her
face turned a deep scarlet red, and her big blue eyes widened to the size of
quarters. I eyed the snobs that were standing behind her, and their eyes moved
from Brody and the tiny girl to me, and they took turns looking at each other.
I saw one of them mouth, “That
freak
is his sister?” He glared at them,
and they seemed to cower in response. Brody turned back to the girl and smiled
at her. “S-s-sure,” she stammered, and with his arm still around her, he led
her to our table, pulled out the chair next to me, and took a seat next to her.
He smiled warmly at her, and said, “I’m Brody Shaw, by the way. It’s nice to
meet you. This is my sister Aurora.”