The Promise (57 page)

She
begins to shake her head furiously at me as the tears continue to run down her face.

“Chase, I’m so sorry. I really am so
,
so
sorry. You have no reason to forgive me or even believe me. I know I’ve been horrible to you and I wish I could fix it. I feel terrible. I don’t know what had even gotten into me that night at the bar. It’ just … seeing you with her just snapped something inside of me. I know I was a horrible girlfriend and I deserve everything you feel for me right now. I know I don’t deserve your forgiveness for the things I’ve done to you. I still want you to know that I really do regret what I’ve done,” she says and after crying quietly across the table for a few minutes, her eyes eventually meet mine. “Do you believe me?”

Despite everything she’s done, I d
o believe her. I’ve known Lauren a long time. Admitting fault and crying aren’t things she does easily or for attention, ever.

“I believe you,” I say with a loud, exhausted sigh. “I still mean
t everything I said but … I believe you.”

“Can I fix it? Do you want me to talk to her?”
For the first time since Sophie and I broke up, I laugh.

“No
, Lauren! I don’t want you to fucking talk to her!” I say, looking at her like she’s nuts. She smirks back, as though in understanding. “You need to stay the hell away from her. You think she was mad at the bar?”

“Yeah she probably wants me dead,” she agrees quietly.

“Yeah, you’re probably right.”

“Do you think y’all wi
ll be able to work things out?”

I let out a long, disappointed sigh and shrug.
“I really haven’t got a clue,” I confess to her. “That picture fucked things up pretty bad, Lauren. Where the hell did you even get it?”

“It was from when we were still together.”

“Well obviously it was from when we were still together, Lauren. We both know I didn’t cheat on her but I just don’t understand why you still have it.”

“You know what they say
. Sometimes you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone,” she says sadly while shrugging her shoulders.

“That’s a shitty way to live your life, Lauren,” I say bluntly as I throw back
another shot.

“Yeah, I know,” she agrees before meeting my eyes. “I hope she’s smarter than I am and knows what she ha
d before it’s too late.”

“It’ll never be too late for her, Lauren.”

“Wow,” she says surprised. “Did you ever feel that way about me?”

Maybe I should lie to make her feel better, or worse for that matter, but that’s
just not me.

“No,” I admit, shaking my head. After watching her nod her understanding, she swallows hard
as her eyes begin to glaze over.

“Then I hope she won’t make you wait
for too long,” she says as she rises to leave. Pushing the chair back under the table, she turns until she’s facing me again. “I’ll see you around, Chase.”

“Goodbye Lauren.”

***

A couple of hours and countless shots later, I’m completely hammered and still have an hour before Drake is set to pick me up.

The waitress makes her way back over to me with a glass of water, while offering to call me a cab, but I inform her that my ride is on its way before she walks back away.

My phone dings an alert
, telling me that I have an incoming call and when I look down to check the caller ID, I almost fall out of my chair. Sophie’s face is filling my screen and I frantically hit the call button to answer her.

“Sophie?” I slur into the receiver.

“Hey,” she answers quietly. I stand slowly so I can head outside where I’ll be able to hear her better. I signal to the waitress that I’m stepping out before making my way through the doors, , sitting with my back against the brick wall once I make it down the steps.

“God
, Sophie,” I breathe for what feels like the first time in two weeks. I can’t hide the sob that escapes from my throat.

“Chase?”
she begins and I don’t miss the quiver in her voice. I nod stupidly before I realize that she can’t even see me. “Are you okay?”

“I am now,” I choke out. “I can’t believe you’re really talking to me right now,” I admit. “God
, Sophie I miss you so much, Baby.”

“Have you been drinking?” she asks.

“I had to Sophie,” I admit. “I’m a fucking mess right now. Please don’t end us, Baby. I’ll do whatever you want just please don’t leave me. I can’t live without you. I would never cheat …”

“Can we not talk about this over the phone?” she asks, her voice
breaking slightly.

“Of course, Baby. Whatever you want,” I agree immediately. “When can I see you?”

“Maybe we should wait until tomorrow when you’re a little more sober,” she answers. I really want to kick myself right now for drinking so much.

“I can come tonight
—” I offer but she immediately cuts me off.

“No,” she says. “You don’t need to
be driving right now, Chase.”

“I’m not. Drake’s picking me up,” I tell her. “I’m at Logan’s on the other end of town and he’s picking me up at one
o’clock.”

“Okay,” she says quietly. “
Well, that’s only another half an hour then. Stay there and call me when you wake up, then maybe we can take things from there.” 

“I will, I promise,” I say. “I love you so much, Sophie.”

“I know you do,” she says quietly. “I guess I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Sweet dreams
, Baby,” I whisper down the phone before sliding it into my pocket as soon as she hangs up.

After sitting here in a daze for a few minutes, I slowly rise and
make my way back inside to pay my tab.

Once
I’m paid up, I walk towards the door again but pause when I hear yelling from over in the far corner of the bar. I glance over my shoulder and see a scruffy looking redneck holding Lauren up against the wall by the elbow. She can’t see me, but I can see the fear in her eyes as he says God only knows what into her ear.

“Lauren
!” I call out and in the next instance, her red, teary eyes meet with mine. “You okay?” The redneck turns to face me with a sneer crossing over his face.

“She’s fine
!” he spits back at me.

“I wasn’t asking you, Jackass,” I say
, taking a step closer as I look to Lauren again. “Are you okay?”

“Why don’t you mind your own fucking business, asshole?”
he spits again. This guy really doesn’t want to be pushing his luck with me tonight.

“Mickey, please
…?” Lauren tries to reason with him but the next thing I know, the guy draws back before backhanding her.

Lauren has done a lot of terrible things
in her life, but no woman deserves to be treated like that. There’s no way I can walk away and leave her here with him.

I toss my jacket down on the table
that’s beside me before grabbing a hold of his arm, spinning him around quickly and punching him as hard as I can in the face. Watching as he falls backwards, Lauren comes to stand in front of me, shock covering her entire face and holding a hand up to her mouth before I tell her to go and wait outside.

“She ain’t leavin’!” Mickey
yells, which makes me turn and kick him in the stomach once before then punching him in the face again. He passes out on the floor as the bartender comes out from behind the bar.

“You better get out of here before the cops show up,” she
tells me with urgency. I look to her in surprise and see her winking back at me. “That bastard had it coming. I didn’t see anything, Sugar.” She adds, holding her hands up in front of her as though she’s the most innocent person in the whole world.

“Thanks,” I
tell her as I grab my things, before hauling my ass outside.

Lauren is standing alone
in the corner of the entrance way. When she hears me stepping outside, she turns to face me and I notice that her lip’s bleeding.

“Thank you,” she says quietly
.

“Do you need to go to the hospital?” I ask her
but she just shakes her head at me.

“No,” she smiles weakly. “
Believe me, your girlfriend hits harder than Mickey does.”

“Yeah, she’s got a pretty mean right hook,” I agree. “You might want to get out of here. The cops are on the way.”

“He was my ride,” she says and I shake my head, mentally cursing myself. I can hear the yelling traveling out from inside the bar and realize that Mickey must have woken up. He’s most likely pretty pissed right about now.

I can’t leave her here.

“Get in the truck and I’ll take you home.”

“Are you sure?” she asks
, seemingly surprised by my offer.

W
alking around to the front of the truck, I know I shouldn’t be driving yet but between Sophie’s call and Mickey’s bullshit, I’m not nearly as drunk as I had been earlier. I think I’ll be okay if I take it slow. I pull out onto the road and head in the direction of Lauren’s place, staying silent for a few minutes.

“I know it’s none of my business but what the hell are you doing with a guy like that, Lauren?” I ask
her.

“All the good ones in Rockport are taken,” she slurs.

“Maybe you should think about relocating,” I mutter under my breath while shaking my head. “Do you still live in the same place as before?”

“Yeah,” she
answers me, remaining quiet for a few more minutes as I make my way onto the highway. “I can’t believe you did that for me.”

“Well I wasn’t gonna let the guy beat the hell out of you, Lauren,”

“Thank you,” she whispers and I nod slightly before glancing over to ask her a question. Before I can though, she’s across the seat, trying to climb into my lap. Her breath is reeking of gin. I push her off of me and throw her a glare.

“What the hell are you doing?” I ask a
s she leans back over to sit beside me again. “Lauren, stop it!” I tell her, pushing her back over to the other side of the truck while trying to keep the wheel straight. She moves around in her seat, until moments later, she pulls her panties out of her skirt with a smile.

“Come on, Baby. Don’t you miss me at all?” she
asks as she pushes her way back towards me.

“No! Now stop!” I yell again
while righting the wheel, but she doesn’t listen to me.

“I won’t tell anyone, Chase,” she
insists as I continue to shake my head at her advances. Before I can respond to her ridiculous offer, she’s crawling back across the seat again.

“Lauren! Stop!” I s
hout out, but it’s too late. She falls forward and catches the steering wheel as she tries to break her fall.

The truck swerves wildly
and across the lanes so quickly, I’m unable to regain control. The last thing I see as the front of the truck slams into the metal railing is the glass from the windshield shattering everywhere. I feel myself flying forward, my face hit the steering wheel with full force.

The very last image to cross through my mind, is of
Sophie’s beautiful green eyes, before complete darkness sets in

***

Sophie

After I
end the call with Chase, I’m immediately feeling better just having heard his voice and knowing that he still wants to be with me.

After thinking of nothing else for almost two weeks, I know in my heart there has
to be a good explanation for that picture.

I have no idea what it was, but
having spent a lot of time thinking about everything, I can’t see him ever cheating on me.

I don’t feel this way about many people in my life, but I know without a shadow of a doubt I c
an trust Chase and that he’d never intentionally hurt me.

He’s proven himself to me time and time again
and the least I can do is hear him out. If he admits to me that he has been unfaithful, then I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it, but in my heart, I know that it’ll never happen. Chase loves me and that’s a fact. I know it like I know the sun rises each morning and sets each night.

I climb out of the shower and dress in my tank top and cotton sleep shorts before braid
ing my wet hair and walking through to the kitchen.

I grab
myself a bottle of water and settle myself down on the couch to watch a rerun of Friends while waiting for Ana to get off of work.

Since she and Drake have been on the outs, she’s been picking up extra shifts
in order to stay busy and tonight she’s the one having to close up.

I
’m dying to tell her about my talk with Chase and really want to thank her for supporting me through yet another emotional breakdown.