“It’s Kaine’s car. He probably called for it while we were in the elevator.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I know my best friend.”
It seems like the perfect segue.
“And… how well does he know you?” I say, remembering Kaine’s comments scattered throughout the night that he might know more about me than I know about him.
“You have to understand, Malynda, he literally scooped me up out of the gutter.”
“You didn’t answer my question.”
“He knows everything.”
“So everything he said was true? Were you… were you really that much of a wreck?”
“What did you think? That I was just going to let you go? I meant my promises to you, Malynda. Every single one. One letter wasn’t going to change that. So yes, everything he said was true. He knows everything.”
“Including we being together now?”
“I didn’t tell him but I’m guessing he’s caught on.”
“He doesn’t seem too pleased about it.”
Xavier doesn’t reply, just squeezes my hand and leans over, brushing his lips against mine. I forget everything for a moment, falling into his arms, remembering how I’m already becoming addicted to the comfort it brings me.
I swivel around on the leather seat and lean back against his chest. It’s warm and blooms against my body as he takes deep breaths.
All these years I’ve lived a life of my own creation. My real name, my past, locked behind a door in my mind. I didn’t think I was ever going to be confronted by it again.
But here it is.
The implication that Xavier wasn’t safe with me stings like a drop of acid down my sternum. But he’s right.
And I know I should end this, before we fall too far.
But I can’t.
“Mmmm,” Xavier mumbles low into my ear and I turn to see his eyes fluttering closed as his head bobs forward, his cheek against my forehead.
I pull his arm tighter around me, and let myself dream.
Just one more day.
***
“Wake up, sweetheart. Wake up, it’s just a dream!”
“Don’t go!” I hear myself scream. My mouth is bone dry, almost cracking at the corners where I’ve opened my mouth to scream.
“What? Go where?”
“Just… don’t go,” I plead, wrapping my arms around his neck, burying my face in the sweaty crook of his neck.
“Shhhhh, it’s okay. I’m not going anywhere.”
“You promise?” I ask him, even though I know it’s unfair of me.
“A hundred times. I promise it a hundred times,” he whispers, running his fingers up and down my spine.
I forget how many times I ask him to say it again, but it’s still there, soft in my ears, as I finally fall back asleep, taking him with me into my dreams.
Him
“Mr. Kent, where should I take this?” A lanky teenager in a hard hat and hi-visibility vest rolls a rusty wheelbarrow filled with broken glass over to me.
“Firstly, if you call me ‘mister’ anything again, that hard hat isn’t going to save you,” I scowl. He just grins and doesn’t look the tiniest bit afraid of me. Ah, to have the confidence of a 16-year-old. “Secondly, ask Gabriel over there. He knows better what’s going on. I’m just here for the muscle.” I flex my bicep and he laughs as he goes. “And hey, I’ll give you $5 to call him ‘Mr. Sinclair’ though!” I call after him.
I watch as the kid rolls the wheelbarrow over and says something to Gabriel who then looks up sharply at me and throws me the finger.
I chuckle and return the favor, before returning to the pile of bricks in front of me that need moving to the giant bin parked out front. The construction is well past half-way and at the rate we’re going we shouldn’t have any trouble being ready for our grand opening a few weeks from now. It should coincide with the new school year, a perfect time to provide a safe space for the kids.
To keep the labor costs down as much as possible, Kaine and I come down whenever we can to help out. It also means we can keep an eye on what’s going on, and get a work out in the interim. Truth is, when the place is up and running, I think it’s going to be hard to keep us away from this place. I can already feel myself attached to it, my breath embedding in the walls.
“Seriously? Your pile has barely moved at all!” My boss yells at me as he rolls his wheelbarrow past me for the third time since I’ve been here. Like me, he’s left the Armani suit home for the day and is dressed in just jeans. Unlike me, he’s wearing a hoodie while I’m in a plain white T-shirt.
“Wha? I have delicate hands. I’m not a peasant like you!” I yell after him.
“And does Mr. Delicate Hands have time for a quick lunch break?” A sweet female voice asks behind me.
“Well, that all depends on what the lunch includes? And whether it wants the hands to be delicate or rough.” I say even before turning around and seeing Malynda’s face.
She’s holding a picnic basket in her hands, and I can see the champagne bottle’s neck poking out from under the blanket. “Hi.”
“Hi,” she says back, a smile stretching from ear to ear.
“What are you doing here?”
“I had to drop off some plans for Jade so I thought I’d bring a picnic and you could watch me eat it.”
“Wow, what an offer. But I think you’re bluffing, I bet you’re really here to watch me.” I make a show of picking up some bricks, flexing every muscle I have, straining with the effort.
“Wow, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you look so… manly. Maybe I should just sit back and watch you pour water all over yourself.” She wiggles her eyebrows and it’s so cute I can’t help but laugh.
“Your wish is my command. But it’s much more fun to pour water over you when you’re wearing a white T-shirt,” I flirt back, enjoying the banter. It’s been over a week since the dinner at Kaine’s house and she seems to have stopped worrying too much about the revelations of my life in the time we were apart. We were supposed to spend the day apart and get some work done, but I’m glad she couldn’t stay away. I’d been planning to sneak away and steal some time with her anyway.