Elly & Kent - The Complete Story: Includes Books 1-3 (42 page)

She'd clung to Kent and made her life revolve around acquiring and keeping him. She used to have school to fill in the times when she wasn't with him. But after college and marriage she just stayed home claiming she wanted to make a nice house for Kent and that she didn't want to quit her career midyear when she finally got pregnant again. The pregnancy never happened and nine years later here we were. Both of them seemed miserable. But as Switzerland I kept my opinions to myself.

I continued to rub her back and looked over my shoulder into the store once more. "Where did he go? Is he inside?"

She let a humorless laugh escape her throat. "No, he ran off, like a coward. Even after bulking up and getting rid of the geeky glasses he still hasn't lost that trait. He still runs away from confrontation."

"He probably just needed some time to cool off. He'll come back for you."

"Maybe he will, maybe he won't. I won't be here to find out. I'm going to spend the rest of my birthday doing something fun."
 

She straightened up and pushed her long blonde hair over her slim shoulder. I couldn't help but smile. She was an expert at bouncing back.

"That a girl!" I put my hands flat on the bench on either side of me and sat up straight too. She was still about half a foot taller than I was. She turned my way as she dabbed away the runny mascara.

"Elly, why didn't you fight for Kenny?"
 

I felt my cheeks color. I really didn't want to discuss what I considered to be the most embarrassing time of my life.

I shrugged my shoulders and pasted on a smile, "He didn't want me, Jen. He wanted you. He picked you, over and over again."
 

I made sure I emphasized that for both our sakes. It was easy to romanticize the past, and think back and remember things that weren't truthful.
 

"I always thought he wanted you. Sometimes I still wonder if he does." She stuffed the used tissue into her large designer purse and stood up.
 

I stood up too, "You're just hurt. You'll see things clearly tomorrow. Kent loves you. He adores you. How could he not?" I smiled again and reached out, squeezing her elbow affectionately.

She smiled back and sighed softly, looking at the ground in shame. "I'm sorry, Elly. You're right. You're such a good friend."
 

She hugged me, tail between her legs so to speak. I smiled for her sake as she pulled back and straightened up, the rich bitch face back on.
 

"Now for my fun. Do you want to come with?"
 

"I'd love to but I have to be up early for work in the morning. Drink a Long Island for me." I grinned as I watched her walk around the SUV.
 

She opened the driver's side and paused, "Will do! Thanks for coming tonight, Elly. I hope to see more of you and Dave. You two look really great together."
 

She smiled a little, waved and then got in and closed the door. I watched as she pulled away from the curb and sighed heavily. I had one more stop to make and it was going to be too long to walk. When she was out of sight I hailed a cab.

Chapter Fifty-Six

I paid the taxi driver and got out into the dark evening, shutting the door softly behind me. I looked up, tilting my head back, and stared up at the darkened dilapidated tower that I liked to call Kent's brooding place.
 

Whatever had gone down with Jen was surely what had brought him here, if he was even up there. I'd bet tomorrow's breakfast that he was. I slowly made my way up the metal ladder to the top of the tower. I stared into the darkness when I reached the top, trying to make Kent's shape out from the rest of the shadows. The breeze that made the trees sway washed over me, and I shivered.
 

After my eyes adjusted I caught sight of his form. Right on the edge of the tower he sat with his legs dangling over the side. His tie was loose around his neck and his jacket was balled up and resting not far from him looking like a sleeping, disheveled cat. This is where he always came to clear his head. This was where he came to make his decisions and let his anger and frustrations out. The first time I found him up here was after we had a big fight about Jen in high school.
 

I stepped forward, coming up behind him slowly. My heels were the only sound aside from the wind which was still blowing past my ears.
 

"Don't jump. I would be devastated." I hoped my joke would land and sighed when I was unable to get a chuckle from him.

"Jumping is not the hard part, it's the landing at the bottom that sucks. Seconds of freedom and flying, and for what? Pain for the rest of your life? Shouldn't you be off having fun somewhere with Dave?" Kent hadn't looked back at me yet. "Why are you here?"

I sighed softly when I was unable to get a chuckle from him. I sat down beside him carefully. After a fall off a stripper pole a couple of years ago I developed a fear of heights. I dangled my legs over the edge too. I put my hands in my lap and stared at him, my head turned to the side.
 

"I ran into Jen. So I couldn't possibly have fun knowing that my best friend was probably very hurt because his wife returned his gift."

"If she would have bought that dress herself, she would have loved it." He shook his head and let out a defeated sigh. "I bought it for her and she decided it was too much. I should be able to buy my own wife a gift with the money I work so hard for." The muscles in his jaw worked as his teeth clenched together, a bit of anger showing through his usually calm facade.
 

"I think maybe she just wants your time," I clasped and unclasped my hands in my lap, unsure of how he would receive my feedback.

Kent nodded his head. "I know that's what she wants. We tried that already. I put one of the guys in charge of each place and I took time off. Without me being there though business was lacking and was dropping off. No people equals no money. Soon she was telling me I needed to be there. Now you can see why I'm such a fucking mess, Elly." Again his head shook back and forth. "We're not doing well, Elly. Not at all."

Kent may have given up but Jen didn't seem like she had just yet. It was up to me to push my friend to fight. He picked Jen as his first kiss, his first girlfriend, his first everything and I wasn't going to let his momentary anger over a dress cause him to do or say something that was going to jeopardize what he built his most of his life to accomplish.
 

"Maybe not now, but it's obvious that you both still want it to work out. And that's something, isn't it?" I hated seeing them like this. They both needed a push towards each other. Maybe counseling.

He turned his head and looked at me for a long moment. His eyes were red rimmed and it was obvious that he'd been crying.
 

"It's just hard, Elly. I work so hard to give her the things she obviously wants, but she just doesn't seem to enjoy it. I...I--," his words broke off as his gaze turned back out towards the city.
 

This was hard for me too. Seeing him in pain, wanting to comfort him, but refraining. I hadn't touched him for longer than thirty seconds since the night of his bachelor party.
 

"You're not happy and she's not happy," I swallowed the lump in my throat as I looked at his tear stained cheeks. "You need to do what will make you happy, Kent."
 

"I just don't want to think about work. I just want to play a video game or watch a movie," he shook his head. "I just want to have some fun for once instead of worrying about everything else."

"Then close your expansion stores and keep the most lucrative one open. Take your life back and let Jen know that X is how much money you're going to make. Then take time to play a video game or watch a movie." I sighed softly, the fight leaving me as quickly as it had come. "I work a lot too, Ken. Two jobs. But I still manage to find time for fun. I'm not sure that this is all her fault."

"I already told her I'd get rid of one and wouldn't open the other. She told me no. I've had offers on the business, but I've turned them down. I've tried, Elly. I have."

"It's
your
business, Kent. And it's
your
life. You need to stop letting her steamroll it, if that's what you feel she's doing here."

I watched him, letting him run what I'd said through his mind a little longer. I turned my attention to the city landscape, it all looked so small from up here. Perspective was everything. From my perspective Kent was tired of Jen being unhappy with everything he'd tried to give her. And Jen was tired of feeling alone in her marriage.

Kent sat there for a moment before he finally spoke up, "I got some Mountain Dew at the house and I DVRed an old scary movie. You game?"

I opened my mouth to accept right away but paused. What would Jen think if she came home and saw me with Kent watching a movie on their couch? Would she care? Was she allowed to care? I was just his friend. But I had told her that I was tired and needed to get home for my early shift tomorrow. And shouldn't Kent be spending this time with Jen to try and work things out?
 

"What about Jen? Shouldn't you ask her first? She also mentioned to me that she wanted to have some fun tonight. Maybe you two could spend some time together?"

He scoffed. "Then that means she was going to go out with her girlfriends. That means no dudes allowed. Sounds like that clears me to hang out with my best friends. Yeah?"

"....I have to get up early for work in the morning?" I had to try to use the same excuse on Kent as I did with Jen, at the very least. "You should call your other friends instead, like Mike or Paul..."

"It's been too long since I've hung out with you, Elly. Sometimes when you get pulled knee deep into life you forget the important things, like your real friends. I have to get up early too. I have some businesses to sell and some life to recapture. C'mon, I'll even sweeten the deal with a pedicure."

I hesitated. I had purposely not spent time alone with him in any setting outside of his office. My fatal mistake was looking him in the eye. Seeing the hope and desperation there, I couldn't resist any longer. I sighed and turned around, crawling a bit away from the edge before standing up.
 

"Fine. No toe nail painting, though." Even if I went over to his house, it didn't mean I had to have him touching me. It was basically the same thing as me touching him and it was a very non-platonic thing to do.

"What, don't paint your toenails anymore? You used to bug me about that all the time." Finally he chuckled as he pushed back from the edge and grabbed his jacket. He stood up and moved towards the ladder, waiting for me to join him. I closed the distance between us.

"That was back in high school. I pay someone to do it now," I hated lying to him but it was easier than the truth. I stood next to the ladder and looked down briefly. "You have to go first. If I fall I want you to be there to break it." I smiled innocently to him.

Chapter Fifty-Seven

Kent was starting to come out of his emotional funk.
 

"Alright, well I guess that will work. I'll make sure not to look up then Miss I'm-Wearing-A-Fancy-Skirt."
 

I knew he was being serious. He was always proper and gentlemanly, even when we were teenagers. But he probably was just like that with me because he saw me as a friend, like one of the dudes. If I didn't keep reminding myself of that I might let my old feelings resurface. They had to stay buried deep. I didn't want to be hurt like that again.

"You'd better not."
 

I waited for him to start down and then headed down behind him. Once he was halfway down I screamed, looking down to see if he was going to look up. When he looked up and spotted the black thong under my skirt he blushed, his cheeks burning with his embarrassment. I didn't get to see them for more than a second though before he was looking down at his feet, concentrating on the task at hand.
 

I grinned at my victory, "You owe me next week's allowance."

"Bah, playing on my chivalry to get money out of me. You never did play fair!" Kent chuckled as he reached the bottom and stepped back to wait for me to come down the rest of the way.
 

I huffed softly when my heel connected with the ground. "Oh, thank God, I made it! I wish you'd pick a less vertical spot to lick your wounds. Are you going to call the cab or do you want me to?" I already started pulling my phone from my purse, shivering as the wind sent a gust over us.

I felt something sliding over my shoulders. I gazed at the jacket that Kent was no longer wearing and looked at him, his tie was slightly blowing in the breeze.
 

"Call a cab? We could just walk. It isn't that far."

I pulled the jacket closed in the front and slipped my phone back into my purse. "Thanks. Let's go before my feet fall off."
 

We walked beside each other, untouching and then I heard him chortle. "Feet fall off. You want a ride?" He pointed to his back with his thumb. "First one's free, then you owe me lunch."

I laughed softly and shook my head, "No, thanks. I'll survive." What was with him wanting to touch me all of a sudden? He went from not even looking at me during dinner to wanting to grab my ass and call it a piggy-back ride. I mentally tried to count how many drinks he'd had. It hadn't been enough to make him drunk.