Forever & More: The Friend Zone series (17 page)

“Is this something that you know in your gut is what you need to do to be whole?” It’s like she’s been inside of me, reading my thoughts, and feeling my emotions.

“Y-yes,” I whisper.

“Well, get up here and let’s get this over with.” I listen to her direction as she pokes and prods my abdomen. I try to calm myself as she listens to my heart and checks my blood pressure. She motions for me to lift my shirt and I do. The warmth of the fabric is replaced by the cold gel she squeezes on my stomach.

The small shock to my system is so worth it when I hear the heartbeat. For some reason, the beating of my child’s heart reminds me of a humming bird’s wings, fast and frantic on the inside but calm and beautiful on the outside.

“The baby’s perfect, Chloe. You follow Doctor Jacobs’ orders and keep ya nose clean and all of this will work out, sweetie. You’re going to be a phenomenal mother, you’ll see.” She helps me from the bed. The moment my feet are on the floor I wrap my arms around her neck and squeeze her tight.

“Thank you,” I whisper into her neck. She laughs and pats my back, never rushing to remove herself from my grip. I pull away and look at Sara.

“You coming with me or do I need to call a cab and sneak out?” I’m only half joking about my calling a cab.

“Is this really important to you? Like you won’t be able to sleep at night important?” Her tone is sorrowful. I know if I go, she’s going and neither of us really want to do this, but I just have to.

“Yes, Sara, this is something that if I don’t do, I’m going to regret it the rest of my life. Now are you with me or what?”

She thinks about my question for a moment. “Let’s do this.” She sticks her fist out and I meet it in a fist bump.

“Now how the hell are we going to get Harley to take us?” I ask.

“You leave that to me.” The confidence in her tone worries me.

“I am
so
glad I’m not him right now,” I state. My only response is her wagging her eyebrows.

Sally leaves and a moment later, Harley walks into the room. He looks nervous, and he has every right to be. I ignore them and grab my bag, moving to the other side of the room next to the door.

“Baby,” Sara says in a sing-song tone.

“No.” He points at her. “No.” He moves his finger to me. “Fuck no. I’m not taking you, I’m sorry. I told Skye I would take her home,” he says.

“He can’t tell her what to do. They’re not together anymore!” Sara shouts. Her words cause my heart to rip open, but she’s right. He can’t tell, ask, or demand me to do anything anymore and it kills me. I want to crawl up in a hole and die.

“Chloe, I’m sorry, I didn’t think about what I said. I didn’t mean—”

I hold my hand up to her, silencing her words. The tears come like they always do; the harder I fight, the harder they flow. He’s gone, we have no future together anymore, and he’s done with me forever. What have I done? I drop to the floor in a heap and Harley rushes to my side.

“Chloe, quit crying. Please quit crying. It will be okay, I promise. You’ll see it’s going to be okay,” he coos in a soft voice. I just happen to look up and make eye contact with Sara. She mouths an
I’m sorry
and it’s then that I realize her plan. That bitch! She’s going to use my grief to get him to take me to the courthouse. It’s a brilliant but evil plan.

“Shhh. It’s going to be okay.” Harley helps me stand up. My palms rub the liquid salt into my already raw skin, causing it to sting.

“You quit crying and we can go do something. Anything you want to do, we can go do. Just stop crying, okay?”

Sorry, Harley, but Sara just played both of us and it worked like a charm. I suck up the tears and the instant that I wipe away the last tearstain, he’s caught on.

“No! I’m not taking you up there. You wanna go so bad, find another way,” he says with finality. I move past him to the phone.

“Wait, what are you doing?” he asks.

“If you’ll move, then I’m going to use the phone,” I respond. I look to Sara. The bitch is watching us with amusement.

“Who are you calling? Skye’s in court so he can’t answer.”

“Jesus, who are you, my fucking father?” I throw the words at him before I can catch them and they hit their mark.

“Fuck.” He rakes his hand through his hair.

“Pretty much. Let’s go.” I bounce to the door. My back is facing them, but I don’t have to see them to know that Sara is proudly wearing a shit-eating grin.

“You’re a good man, baby.” I hear a smack and I’m happy he’s been rewarded.

“Whatever. You both owe me huge! Skye’s gonna be pissed.” Sara’s chair squeaks against the floor so I know they’re right behind me. For the first time in my life, I feel brave. I’m ready to face this demon and put it behind me. I have a baby on the way, a life to live, and a relationship to mend.

We get to Harley’s old muscle car. I climb into the back seat and impatiently wait for him to get Sara loaded. My leg nervously shakes, causing the car to vibrate.

“Jesus, Chloe. Get that shit under control before I get off up here. I’m sure you don’t want to witness that,” she jokes.

“You’re fucking disguising, you know that?” I reply. Harley climbs in and the car roars to life. He sits for a moment, either enjoying the purr of the engine or trying to figure out a way to back out of taking me to the courthouse, probably a little of both.

“Let’s go.” I rush him. I don’t want to let him think about it more than he already has. I know Skye’s gonna be pissed at him, but I really don’t care at this moment. There’s only one thing I’m worried about right now and that’s making sure Todd gets what he deserves. I want to witness every second of him realizing that he’s going to have to pay for what he’s done to Sara, Tom, and myself.

We pull out of the parking lot. The leaves on the trees have all withered up and died. I hadn’t even noticed it happening. Normally I would make sure that I spent as much time as possible outside to watch the beautiful explosion of colors as the season changed, but I’ve been so wrapped up in pity that I missed it all. The world around me has changed rapidly and I didn’t even notice.

Cars pass by in a blur as we head to our destination. Children with their parents walk along the sidewalks, enjoying life at a normal pace, slowing down the hands of time and enjoying it together. One day, that’s going to be me with my hummingbird. A smile tugs at my lips, love tugs at my heart. Everything feels like it’s finally falling into place; there’s only one thing that’s missing in my happily ever after, and that’s Skye.

I’m going to get him back, I have to. I just need to find a way to get him to listen to me to see that I’m not the monster he’s come to think of me as. We pull into the parking garage and begin winding our way around the dark trail until we find a spot on the fourth level of the deck.

When Harley shuts the car off and climbs out, I almost knock him over in my rush to get out of the back seat.

“Shit, Chloe, chill out for second, will ya?” I know he’s annoyed and angry so I don’t respond with words. My leg starts jumping anxiously again while I wait for him to pull the lever to move the seat forward.

When there’s enough room for me to squeeze past him, I do just that. I ignore their shouts to wait on them, there’s no time. I race to the elevator, and when I get there, I start jabbing the button over and over again as if it would make the cart arrive quicker.

When the doors open, I jump in. Harley is still getting Sara in her chair when the doors close and Sara’s swearing is cut off. I ride down two floors before the cart stops again. I slide back against the wall to allow the new passenger to climb in. To say that I’m shocked to see Jay climb on the car would be an understatement.

“Oh, hey, boss lady.” She smiles at me. It’s not an aggressive smile, it’s more like she’s got something to hide and it hits me wrong. I didn’t care for her when I first met her and the grin is not helping. I realize I haven’t responded to her question, but I really don’t care. The new Chloe isn’t going to feel obligated to be nice to make someone else comfortable.

“How are you?” Her voice is sticky sweet and clinging to my nerves. I respond to her question this time. Seems innocent enough, also, I want to know why she’s here.

“I’m good,” I respond in a monotone.

“I’m sorry to hear about what happened. When Skye told me you had tried to hurt yourself, well, I just didn’t know what to think. You didn’t really seem like that kind of person.” Wait, Skye told her what happened? He wouldn’t. Would he?

“When did you talk to Skye?” I ask cautiously.

“Um, he came to the building to get your things. Let’s see, he told me you tried to kill yourself and that y’all had broken up.”

Are you fucking kidding me? How could he? Why would he tell her all this stuff about me?

“It’s not going to be weird, is it?” What the hell is she talking about?

“What are you talking about?” I have no clue what the hell she’s going on about.

“Well, I just don’t want it to be weird that Skye and I are talking and I work for you and all. I don’t want to lose my job over some guy.”

“Hold the hell up! You and Skye are dating? As of when?” It’s taking all I have not to throttle this woman.

“The day I saw him in the building. I thought he already told you. I’m so sorry, I had no idea. I thought you were cool with it.”

“So you’ve been seeing him since the day I was admitted?” My voice is shaking with rage.

“Yes, I thought he told you! I don’t want to lose my job and he told me you’d be okay with it. That’s the only reason I brought it up.” She reaches for me but I back up.

“No, it’s not oh-fucking-kay. And fuck no, you don’t have a job!” I scream at her. Without realizing it, I’ve taken several steps toward her, landing me nose to nose with her. Just as I’m about to unleash my wrath on her, the doors open and she backs out quickly, heading in the same direction I’m going.

“Where are you going?” I call from down the hall.

“Where do you think? I’m going to give
my
man the support he needs during the trial.” She smiles maliciously. So now I’m at an impasse, do I go inside and do what I know in my heart is the right thing? Is my need to testify greater than my urge to wrap my hands around both Skye and Jay’s neck and choke the last breath from their lungs?

Am I strong enough for this, I’m not so sure. Just when I thought the dust was settling, another shit storm comes in and stirs it back up. I stand outside the wooden doors, wondering what to do. I can hear low murmurs coming through the doors, then a loud, boisterous voice announces that court is back in session.

Fuck it, I’ve got this. I will deal with Todd now and Skye later. I can do this. I continue to chant this phrase over and over as I open the large wood doors. I repeat it over and over again, as I walk into the room, and say it again as I walk down the aisle with prying eyes glaring directly at me. I can see the questions rolling around in their heads. Who is she? What’s she doing here? I say my chant again when Todd’s hateful glare lands on me.

Regardless of the brave face I’m putting on for everyone, on the inside, I’m scared shitless. How am I supposed to go through this when one glance from that monster can cause my knees to knock together in fear? I remove him from my view and look at the twelve strangers on the other side of the room. Even from my distance, I can clearly see the look of confusion and question rolling off their features.

Many of them already know who I am, so why I’m here shouldn’t come as a surprise to them. It’s the ones that don’t know who I am that’s going to get the shock. The closer I get to the front of the courtroom, the bigger the back of Skye’s head gets. His head turns slightly to the right looking toward the jury, unaware of my approach.

“Ma’am. Please have a seat, court is order and you are disrupting my proceedings,” the judge chastises me.

Skye’s neck cranes in the opposite direction to see who the judge is speaking to. When his eyes land on me, they go wide with shock. My nervous stomach is working itself up into a frenzy. I slide into the nearest pew, which is just behind Skye. He stares at me, but the shock has been replaced with new, unreadable emotions. I look to my lap to get away from his stony gaze.

The ring of a hammer being pounded against heavy wood causes me to jump. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Skye adjust his focus forward. A man on Todd’s right stands and requests to approach the bench. The judge grants his request but asks that the man at the opposite table approaches as well.

Their hands and heads move animatedly, but their voices can’t be heard. My heart starts to beat erratically when the judge’s gaze lands on me. From across the room, I can see the many questions swirling in her chocolate eyes. My heartbeat is thumping in my ears so loudly I don’t hear the judge ask me to stand.

I come to my senses when I feel a familiar hand touching my arm.

“Chloe, you’re needed up front.” His voice is emotionless, but his eyes betray his tone. For a moment, my body softens to him until I hear a female cough from the other side of the room. I look in the direction of the noise and see Jay sitting there, smiling.

I jerk my body away from Skye and stand. I don’t give him a second glance as I exit the pew and approach the judge.