The Mermaid and her King (19 page)

Skyla

I’m in the kitchen fixi
ng Lee something to eat, and I have the sink water running.

Yelling instant
ly fills the house, and I hear Chase’s voice. I hadn’t heard him knock. I run to the door and slide past my brother as my perfect world comes crashing down on me.

Chase looks as if he wants to die when he discovers that Rock is my brother.
Lee tells me Chase is responsible for Daniel’s death. I’ve never believed that for one second. Bud was responsible for his own poor choices.

Chase tells me he’s leaving me, and I beg him not to. I tell him not to listen to Lee who just keeps running his mouth, s
aying hurtful things about him.

“I don’t care what Lee thinks,
Chase. I know the real you. I know the good person you are. You promised not to push me away again!” I cry out in agony, but he yells at me and leaves.

I go up to my brother and push him wit
h all the strength I can muster, which is a lot since I’m furious with him.

“Nixie
, what the hell is your problem?”

“Yo
u’re the problem. You may know the old King, but you don’t know Chase. You just want someone to blame for Bud’s stupid decisions.”

“Don’t you speak of him that way.”

“Don’t you disrespect him by treating his best friend and me like shit! Do you even know what Chase has done since Bud died?”

“I don’t need to know. He’s a spoiled
, rich boy strung out on drugs who obviously didn’t squeeze enough out of our family, so he’s getting his piece of ass from my sister.”

I slap him
hard across the face. “Get out of my house. Take your damn car and leave!”

“Nixie
, you’re so naïve. You’ve always been too nice and trusting. Go ahead and be with him, but don’t call me crying when you see the true person he is.” Lee gets his stuff in the house and leaves.

I run
until I’m at Chase’s, but the Jeep is gone, and I know he is, too. I stand in his driveway and scream. His porch becomes my bed for I don’t know how long before I walk back home.

Eric
’s parked in my driveway. He gets outs and runs to me, pulling me into his arms.

“Skyla, I’m
sorry. Chase called me.”

I pull away. “Did he tell you where he’
s going? You have to help me find him. I have to get him to see that this doesn’t change things. If anything, I love him more because I know how much Bud loved him.”

“
What the hell happened? He wasn’t supposed to know yet, and he took it worse than I expected.”

“It’s because
Lee showed up. I didn’t get to tell Chase first. I think that’s why he took it so hard and freaked out.”

“
Shit, that’s the last person he needed to see when he found out.”

I wrap myself in
Eric’s arms. I know he’s hurting and is just as scared as I am. “I still think we did the right thing, Eric, so don’t feel guilty. We’ll get him back.”

Eric
lets me go. “Chase said I’m dead to him.”

“
Eric, he doesn’t mean that. You know he doesn’t. How long do you think he’ll be gone?”

“
I’m sorry, but he’s leaving Oahu, and it sounded like he was driving when he called me, so he’s probably on his way to the airport.”

“Then we have to go get him.
”

“
He’ll be gone before we get there. Chase has millions of dollars, Skyla. He can be off this island almost the second his feet touch the airport. He can get first class on the first flight leaving. I think I know where he’s going, but I’m begging you to wait to go there. He needs time. I know how he is when he’s upset and angry, and he won’t listen.”

“
Where’s he going?”

“I imagine he’l
l end up in Maui. He has a home there.”

“He hadn’t ev
en told me about his house.”

“He didn’t want you t
o know. He was going to surprise you with it later. If you haven’t noticed, he loves surprising you.”

I break down again, so
Eric walks me into my house with his arms around me.

“I don’t have
the money to go there right now, but I’ll have it this week. I’m getting some money, and it’s quite a bit.”

“Skyla, I’
ll pay your flight if it comes down to it, but I just don’t want you going there now. You have to give him time. Maybe he’ll come back on his own.”

“
I don’t know how I’ll wait,” I say.

“
We have to have faith it’ll work out. I always knew Chase was a good person. Even when he was making all the wrong choices, he was there for the rest of his friends and me, but since he got clean … I see the great man that he is.

“
I’m praying us telling him that repeatedly will sink into his thick skull. Skyla, I’ve never known anyone who loves someone the way he loves you. He worships you.”

“If you’re right
, then I’ll get through to him. He gave me a key to his place last night. He wrapped it in a box and gave it to me as a birthday gift. He asked me to move in with him.” I smile from the sweet memory.

“Wow, King let
a chick move in his bachelor pad,” Eric says, leaning over and bumping my shoulder with his while we sit on my couch.

“I’m going to stay there in case he comes back.”

“I think that’s a good idea, but it might take a while.”

“Christmas is in two days, Eric
.”

“I know, and I’m sorry. I guess we shouldn’t have chanced waiting this long to tell him. Unfortunately, I don’t think that’ll make him come back sooner.”

He offers me a ride to Chase’s since I need to take several belongings, so I pack some bags and go. I convinced Chase to be with me before, so I’ll do it again.

Chase

I really need a fucking jet. After booking the next flight to Maui, I wait anxiously to board the plane. I should probably go to the mainland, but I didn’t have enough time to prepare for that. I’m not going to be able to leave work and my house that long.

If I kn
ow Skyla like I think I do, she’ll be waiting for my return. Figures the sweet angel still thinks I’m a saint. I can’t believe she’s not pissed at me. Give it time. She’ll come to realize the pain I caused her, and if her brother gets in her head, then she’ll definitely start hating me.

***

I get to Maui and rent a car. I can’t get to my place fast enough. I have so much rage inside me, and I know exactly what I’m going to do when I get there. I walk in and waste no time.

First it’s the lamp on the end table. I throw it across the room, shattering the glass into hundreds of pieces. Then it’s every plate and glass in the kitchen.
I throw a chair and break every picture. 

“
Fuck!” I scream, over and over. I throw or break every item in my house other than the couch and bed until there’s nothing left to destroy.

It was wron
g to waste perfectly good stuff, but if I don’t, I’m going to do something I’ll really regret, something I swore I’d never do again.

Every time I let myself feel the stabbing pain of losing Skyla, I scream at the top of my lungs. This goes on for hours until my throat burns, and it reminds me of the
feel of whiskey sliding down it. I won’t drink. My life is fucked up enough. A gateway drug … a gateway straight to hell.

Surprisingl
y, the police never show from the screaming. I have to wear my shoes from all the glass on the floor. I guess the bright side is that I’ll have plenty to clean up tomorrow to keep me busy.

I find my bed and crash on it, praying that somehow tomorrow
will be better, but I already know it won’t. Life will never be better without Skyla in it.

Skyla

My cell phone rings, and I see that it’s Lee. He’s
tried to reach me for two days, but I never answered. It’s Christmas day, and I start feeling guilty since he doesn’t know I’m staying at Chase’s. If he’s been stopping by my house, then he’s probably worrying about me, so I answer.

“Nixie
, we need to talk. Where are you?”

“I’m at King’s
.”

“Unbelievable.”

“He’s not here. He left the island after you made him feel so much guilt.”

“I don’t feel
sorry for him, sis. Were you even planning on seeing me today? It’s Christmas, you know. Does the asshole still live in that fat house by the beach where Bud died?

“You’re the asshole.”

“Nixie, are you going to stay mad at me?”

“As long as you keep talking bad about him. If you want to speak to me further
, then you’re going to be respectful to me.”

He’s quiet. “OK, fine. Is that still where he lives?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll be there soon.”

“Wait, Lee. I already purchased a lot of groceries for today, so why don’t I gather them up, and we’ll go to my house. I’ll at least cook you dinner today.”

“That would be nice, sis.
I’ll be there shortly.”

I
pack up groceries and wait on the steps for Lee. I’m not about to let him in Chase’s home. I already told Eric I’m not coming to dinner. He was really upset with me, but I knew I needed to see my brother.

I leave Chase a note in case he comes home. I don’t want to leave his bed, but I can’t desert my brother
on Christmas Day, no matter how mad I am at him. We get to my place, and I start removing food from the bags. Lee’s studying me as he leans against the kitchen counter. I feel his eyes on me no matter where I move.

“Why are y
ou at his place if he’s not on the island?”

“He asked me to move in with him on my birthday. I have a key.”

“Dammit, Nixie. Please don’t.”

“Lee, I love him. I’ve loved him almost since I met him
. He might’ve saved my life, too. Some guys stopped me on the beach one night and told me that I couldn’t leave. King ran them off. I really believe they were going to hurt me.

“
He’d been watching me walk on the beach for months because he worried about me being out there late at night, and he didn’t even know who I was.”

“Why the hell were yo
u out there, Nixie?”

“I feel closer to Bud
when I’m near that spot. King went to rehab right after Bud died and has changed. If you only knew how well he treats me. No one has ever loved me as much as he does. I can’t be without him, and I’m determined to get him back.”

“I can’t accept that
. You deserve better. You two really had no idea about your connection with Bud?”

“No.
Well, I figured it out a few weeks after we met, but I didn’t tell him for this very reason. I was going to tell him tomorrow, but you came home early. Since Bud gave us all nicknames, they didn’t know me by Skyla or you as Lee. I didn’t know them by their real names, either. I only made the discovery because I found a picture of Bud in King’s house.

“Don’t you se
e how this was meant to be? We were all brought together without even knowing. Bud’s friends have really been there for me. I don’t understand why you think they’re evil.”

“Bud
would never want this.”

“You’re wrong
. Let’s just drop this. I want to spend time with you, and then I want to get back to his house in case he comes home.”

After d
inner, Lee drops me off at Chase’s, and I can tell he hates it. He’ll have to get over it. I go inside and see that Chase is still gone, so I call Brooke in California.

“Merry Chris
tmas, Nixie. How are ya?”

“Not good, and it’s too much to tell over the phone. I really need you right now. Could you come here right away if I pay your ticket?”

“It’s Christmas Day.”

“
I know. I meant in a couple of days. I really need you.”

“
Yes, but I can’t let you pay my way, and I don’t have the money. I don’t feel right asking Rob since he pays for so much already.”

“Please,
Brooke. Let me buy your ticket. I miss you, and I need my girlfriend.”

“
Rob’s going to freak out, but I still have a couple of weeks before school starts, so I guess I could.”

“Thank you so much. I get my
trust money tomorrow, so I’ll purchase your ticket then.”

“OK, girl. Get it set up.”

***

Chase ha
s been gone for three days. I’m definitely depressed. I quit my job for him weeks ago, and I don’t start school for two more weeks, so I have all day and night to miss him and worry.

I’ve
stopped leaving him messages. All I do is lie in his bed and cry. I hear a knock on the door, and it’s Lee.

“Sis,
I have your check, and don’t you want to spend more time with me before I leave?”

“Can you take me to the bank? Also, can you take
me to the airport tomorrow to pick up Brooke?”

“Why is Honey coming here?”

“To be here for me. I don’t think you’re grasping how serious of a situation this is. It’s my life we’re talking about, and I plan to spend the rest of it with Chase. I love him and miss him. Brooke’s coming here to support me.”

“OK, fine, but
you need to sign these papers for the trust. Don’t blow this money, Nixie. It’s your future.”

“Really, Lee? I’ve always been careful with my money since I’ve never had much of it.
I am buying Honey’s ticket though since she can’t afford it. That’s worth every penny. Let me get my shoes, and we’ll go to the bank.”

Lee just doesn’t get it. He hasn’t loved
anyone the way I love Chase or King. Who the hell knows what we’re supposed to call each other now. I always called Lee ‘Rock’ until Bud died, and he’s always called me ‘Nixie’, but just like for Chase and his friends, it’s been too hard for me to call Lee and Brooke by their nicknames. Bud named Brooke ‘Honey’. Lee has no issue with calling us by our nicknames, so I guess it’s time I get back to doing the same.