Make Believe: A Novella (12 page)

“Me too.” I added, trying to keep my voice steady. I was done being blackmailed by Leah. It was time to sort this out. I was about to let her ruin what April and I have because she has some vendetta against Anthony. I had to end this once and for all. I was going to have it out with Leah, and then I needed to tell April the truth. No more lies.

“You guys suck man. G
uess it’s just me and you, Taise,” Murphy said.

“Lucky me,” Taise muttered.

“See you later guys,” I said turning to Murphy and Taise.

“Yeah
, laters,” Anthony added as we walked out the door. We received an uninterested nod from Murphy and a wave from Taise.

“What’s up?” Anthony asked once we were outside.

I showed him the text Leah sent me and saw the shock on his face.

“Still think this is just about you?” I asked.

“I don’t know. Maybe not. There’s got to be a reason why she doesn’t want me to see her, and tomorrow I will find out.”

“Tomorrow?”

“Yeah, I’m going to come in tomorrow. We need to get to the bottom of this, right?”

“Right, thanks Ant.”

“That’s what brothers are for, dude. Now, I got to go before Jess starts calling,” he said and I chuckled to myself.

“And be c
areful, this Leah girl sounds crazy.”

“I know, I will. Thanks man.”

“Let me know how it goes, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

* * *

Walking up to the motel, I had no idea how this was going to play out. I did not have a plan
, but I knew I needed to get to the bottom of this problem. I was relieved when I saw the same desk clerk who was there when I checked Leah in.

“Good evening sir, how can I help you?”
he asked politely.

“I don’t know if you remember me
, but I came in with a friend of mine.”

“Yes.”

“I was wondering if it would be possible for me to go up and see her?” I asked.

“I’m afraid she checked out already.”

“What? When?”

“I shouldn’t really be telling you this
, but since you booked it,” he answered before scanning the reception area with his eyes. He lowered his voice and lifted his eyes up from the computer screen. “She left this morning.”

“O
K, thanks,” I replied, already halfway out the door.

Nothing made sense anymore, why would she s
end that message when she wasn’t there anymore. She really was trying to play games with me. Walking toward my car, I knew what I had to do. I needed to be honest with April.

* * *

Ten minutes later I pulled up outside of the house,
and took a deep breath. Here it goes. I knew she would be mad because I had lied to her, but maybe she would understand why I felt like I needed to.

I grabbed my keys out of my pocket before opening up the front door.

“April?” I called out as I stepped inside.

“Through here,” she shouted
, I locked the door behind me.

“I need to talk to you,” I replied, walking toward the living room.

“Yeah, me too,” she replied. I walked into the room, looked at the two people sitting in the living room, and froze.

“Don’t look so worried, Aiden. I’ve told April everything. No more lies,” Leah smiled
, staring into my eyes.

I had no idea what was about to happen
, but I knew I was too late, way too late.

Chapter 13
: Monday, October 7
th
at 7:00pm

APRIL’S POINT OF VIEW

“I know you think Aiden can save you. I understand, but….”

“Shut up! No more talking.” She
yelled at me as she started to pace again.

I knew time was
running out, and I needed to think fast.

“Killing me isn’t going to help you, Leah. It
is not going to win Aiden or heal your pain. You need help.
Real
help. Aiden can’t help you, not like that.”

“Shut up,” she growled quietly as she moved the broken wood into the corner of the room.

“I get that you are hurting. I really do, but this isn’t the way. You can kill me, but you will not get away with it, then you will spend your life in jail, trapped. Is that what you want?”

“Your reverse
psychology crap doesn’t work on me.”

“What about Jay Jay
? That’s your brother, right? Is this what he would want for you?” She froze at the mention of his name. She didn’t move a single muscle, didn’t even turn around to look at me. “Do you think he would want this for you? Where’s Jay Jay now? Do you want him to visit you in a place like that?”

“Don’t you
ever
say his name,” she threatened and turned to look at me. “You have no right to say his name. Ever!” I watched the speed of her breathing increase as her eyes locked with mine. She looked madder than I had ever seen her. I had nothing to lose anymore.

“He
sacrificed everything for you, didn’t he? Steve wasn’t sleeping, Jay Jay killed him! Do you think he did it so you could be doing this right now? No. He did it so you could live.”

“Shut up!” She screamed as she stormed toward me. Her hand moved so fast that the force knocked
the chair and me straight onto the floor. My cheek was stinging and my arm started to throb as soon as I hit the floor. My wrists were tied up and I felt helpless. I was sure I was going to die. My life didn’t flash before me, instead I just closed my eyes and prepared for the end. It never came. What came was the sound of my phone ringing. We both froze as if a bomb was about to go off. She moved slowly toward me then ripped the phone from my jeans pocket.

“Aiden,” she scoffed, showing me the
Caller ID. She clicked the button before lifting the phone to her ear. “Sorry, but April is a little tied up right now.” Then she hung up. Turning to me with a smirk on her face, she continued talking. “The sad thing is that you still think this has anything to do with Aiden.”

Chapter 14: Four Days Earlier

AIDEN’S POINT OF VIEW

Yesterday was probably one of the most stressful days of my life. Seeing Leah sitting in my house with April last night was just crazy. I should have known that she was the one who had texted me, knowing that I would head to the motel to deal with the situation. I wasn’t sure what her game was, but I can tell you she was the only one laughing.

When I got home last night
, April told me Leah had explained everything — about her, her “abusive boyfriend,” and that I had helped her by putting her up in the motel. She told April she had asked me not to tell anyone because she was ashamed. She conveniently left out the part where she took fake pictures and practically blackmailed me. That was the moment where I should have come clean, right? Wrong. I chickened out. Having that small taste of what it felt like when I thought April knew everything, made me think I couldn’t risk telling her. She seemed happy last night, and more importantly, we were back to normal.

I didn’t get a chance to speak to Leah about her sick games
, but I would today. As soon as she comes in, I’m asking her to leave. I still can’t figure out what her deal is, but I no longer care. I just want her gone, out of our lives forever. I’ll find out what the hell she wants and send her packing.

The knock on my
office door made me to lift my head. “Come in.”

“Hey,” Ant said,
walking in.

“What are you doing here?” I asked in confusion.

“I’ve come to see if I recognize psycho girl, remember.”

“Oh yeah. She was at my house last night,” I
whispered, leaning back in my chair.

“What the hell? What is this girl’s problem?”

“Beats me.”

“Are you sure you don’t know who she is?”
he asked.

“If I knew who she was
, don’t you think I would have said by now?” I asked angrily.

“Alright, chill out, I’m just asking. I’m on your side remember,” he said
, taking a seat in the chair across from me.

“You’re right, I’m sorry. It’s all getting out of hand
. I don’t know what the hell is going on anymore,” I mumbled.

“I know
, and that’s why we’re going to get to the bottom of it. I want to ask you something anyway.”

“Sure, what?”

“Well, I was thinking of taking Jess out for a meal or something. We haven’t really been anywhere since Ella-May, and I was wondering if you and April are ready to start testing out you Godparent babysitting skills?” he chuckled.

“Yeah, why not
. But you two aren’t going to end the night creating an Ella-May part two, right?”

“Funny,” he said, picking up a pencil from my desk and hauling it at me. “No, Jess would kill me
. She already reminds me every day that I ruined her body.”

“Nice,” I chuckled. “So when are you planning this little romantic meal then?”

“Next weekend. Is that good for you?”

“Yeah, I’ll talk to April
, but it should be fine. Who would have ever thought it, Anthony the romantic,” I teased.

“Shut up man! You make me sound like a girl.”

“That’s because Jess wears the pants….”

“No
, she does not,” he interrupted. I raised my eyebrows and just stared at him.

“O
K, maybe she does a little bit, but don’t ever tell anyone that I ever said that, especially her. I like giving her that little bit of power. It’s sexy. No other girl’s been able to do that, you know?”

“You’re so whipped
, but yeah, I get it,” I laughed.

“Whatever, man. Right, I’m going to use
your
toilet,” he said as he winked at me.

“You are aware that your office is just across the way, right?”

“Yeah, so close, but yet so far,” he chuckled and headed into the restroom attached to my office. Sometimes I’ve spent late nights here, and it comes in handy to have it.

I recogni
zed the gentle knock at the door as soon as it came.
Leah.
I was mad as hell after last night, but decided to play it cool.

“Come in,” I said loud enough for Anthony to hear.

“Hi, I wondered if you had a minute,” Leah said, closing the door behind her. The way she spoke and acted suggested the past few days hadn’t ever happened. I didn’t know whether this girl was actually crazy, or just a really good actress.

“A minute? Oh yeah
, I’ve got loads of those. What do you want Leah, or how about we start with why the hell you were in my house last night?”

“I can explain
, OK.”

“Explain away, I’m all ears,” I said, leaning against my mahogany desk.

“Look, my intention wasn’t to cause trouble, Aiden.”

“You could have fooled me,” I muttered.

“What I did in the motel was out of line. I just got caught up, and you were being so nice. I just wished I had that, but it was clear you would never be interested in a girl like me, so I guess I wanted payback, but it wasn’t right. That is why I wanted to clear things up with April — to make things right.”

I started to laugh to myself, causing a bemused look to cross her face.

“That was beautiful. Great acting there Leah, but I’m not buying it, not anymore. See, if that was the truth then how about we go back to the fake bruise and the imaginary abusive boyfriend, hmm? Where do they come in? The nice girl act died a long time ago, so how about we get real here?”

“You want real?”
she asked with a very nasty look on her face.

And there we have it ladies and gentleman...the real Leah.

Walking right up to me, she took a deep breath.

“I can give you real Aiden, well I can give you more than
Barbie at home can. I mean she’s so sweet and so innocent, how pathetic. She welcomed me into your home with open arms. I wonder how she would feel if she were to find out about us, hmm?”

“There is no
us,
Leah. You’re delusional,” I growled.

“But that’s not the story the pictures tell, is it
? Then there’s the fact that you had the chance to tell your story last night, but you chose to lie, again. What do you think your precious fiancée would make of that? Do you think she’s really going to believe you after you’ve lied so many times already?”

“And what makes you think she’s going to believe you
? I don’t know what your game is, or what you want, but screwing with my life is not something that you should do,” I said, furious.