JODY’S POV
I should’ve known he would be there. I mean, that fact was pretty obvious. If we were going somewhere to see Marcus, then naturally he would be there, or at least somewhere nearby. So why was I still shocked to see him there?
Seeing him there, his shirt half-buttoned and him drifting in and out of consciousness, did a series of things that I didn’t like to my heart.
I was supposed to be over him, wasn’t I? Why was I feeling these hard tugs to my heart then?
When the woman smiled at Grace and introduced herself, I realised it was just that Grace had jumped to conclusion as I had guessed. I knew Connor loved her too much to do anything that could jeopardise what they had, and everyone except Grace seemed to see that.
My legs took me to Marcus’ side, and I didn’t bother fighting them. I used my hands to straighten his head to face up. He opened his eyes slightly and his luscious lips curved a bit. His left hand reached up and caressed my face.
“Jody love.”
It was everything. That he addressed me with ‘Jody love’, that the voice with which he said it was so weak and husky, that his eyes, while he spoke, had the most loving look ever. It was everything.
My knees bucked and before I knew it, I was in his laps, inches from his dashing face. I loved this man, I loved him so much. Wasn’t it high time I stopped fighting it?
His head rolled to back and hung heavily, reminding me he was terribly drunk. I put two and two together and decided it was best I took him home. Besides, he looked too hot to be left alone. Too hot to be cast aside.
I looked around to ask the bartender to help get him to my car, it could end up a suicide mission if I tried to myself, but he was nowhere to be found. There was no way I could leave him here, so I started to do the only other thing I could do.
I tried to pull him up. To be honest, I couldn’t believe myself too. It was such a stupid fruitless move. I was glad when I saw Grace was returning from where she went to talk to the woman. She could help lighten the weight.
Sadly, Grace didn’t spare me as much as a glance. I saw her staring worriedly at Connor and realised she had her own cross to bear also.
With Marcus’ arm over my shoulder, I tried to pull him up again but at a point it felt like my shoulder was going to break. At that point, I couldn’t help but cry for help.
“Grace, I need a hand.”
Grace, like the sweetheart she was, quickly came to my aid. Her intervention made carrying Marcus possible but not much easier. By the time we put him in the car, literally dumped him inside with rage, we were panting like we had just finished running a marathon.
Then we had to go carry Connor too and put him in Grace’s car. When I returned to my car finally, I was inches from collapsing. Why were these men so heavy anyway? A little less number of kg wouldn’t have hurt them to not have, would it?
I drove home panting and fuming from stress.
……………
CONNOR POINT OF VIEW
I woke up on a small bed, in a tiny room painted white, opposite which stood a wardrobe and shoe rack, and instantly knew where I was.
The first time I woke up here, it was unfamiliar and made me nervous. The first time I woke up here, I was so dishevelled and ran away. Neither of these was the case anymore.
That made me just lay there and think. So much had happened since then. So much had changed. So much had been revealed.
I couldn’t wait to leave here the first time I arrived, but here I was not wanting to move an inch.
That time, I was an incomplete guy who was languishing the pain of having lost his mate seven years earlier and now… Grace and I weren’t fully settled yet, but I was sure we would be. Eventually. We were meant to be, and we would find a way, would always be together no matter what fate threw our way.
Last night, I had blanked out once I saw Lena called Grace. She most likely wouldn’t come, I believed. But then she had come. I wasn’t conscious but I had felt her presence at once. And my heart fluttered. When she took the trouble of carrying me to her car, I wanted to, but couldn’t bring myself to full consciousness. I was just so moved by everything. I was partly scared that if I did awoke she might change her mind about bringing me with her.
“Mr Chaddonay, you’re awake, aren’t you?” I heard Grace’s voice question. She was in the room and had seen my eyes flutter open. Did she watch me all night?
If she did, that would make me feel guilty. She barely slept at all because of her lifestyle yet here I was, diminishing her sleep time further…
“Mr Chaddonay,” she called again. Her tone was softer this time and kind of hesitant.
“Ms. Budweiser,” I said in return, my voice sounding soft and unlike itself.
“Don’t… ever drink without me either. If I can’t drink with anyone besides you, you shouldn’t drink with anyone that isn’t me either.”
“My bad, Ms. Budweiser. I was enveloped in my sad feelings and wasn’t thinking straight.”
At this point, I rested on my side with my head propped on my hand so I could stare at her. The little ache in my head momentarily seized once I laid my eyes on her.
She sat on the little couch opposite the side of the bed, a small cup in her hand. She was wearing a white silk robe and her hair flowed down the sides of her make-up-less face. To put it minimally, she looked exactly like the angel she was.
Grace. This woman I loved so much.
The goddess mother of my amazing Laurel.
She got up from the couch and knelt by the bed, handing me the cup. I noticed with glee the ring on her finger and drank the cup contents in a hurry. She collected the cup when I was done and left the room without a word. That worried me a little.
Was she mad at me?
With the events of last night and the trouble she went through because of me, it wouldn’t be a surprise if she was.
I sat up, thinking of the things I was yet to atone for. A situation that was yet to be explained popped into my mind. I knew it was a very sensitive issue that I had to deal with at once. I stood up and left the room, entering the sitting room.
A little bundle of joy jumped on me at once, raising my mood from twenty to a hundred at once. As I played with Laurel, I wondered how I ever survived or lived my life when she wasn’t in it. The past where she and Grace weren’t in my life now seemed so bleak. It was certainly a place I never wanted to go back to.
I would hold onto them no matter what it cost. I would make sure my little family worked.
Grace showed again and I spoke immediately. “There’s someplace I need to take you guys to. Right now.”
Grace looked at me hesitantly but didn’t say anything in return. Hence, our journey began.