My chest heaves as I struggle to catch my breath. I stomp out of the bedroom and head for the kitchen, the freezer specifically. Levi is hot on my trail. I can hear Star sobbing from the back bedroom, and something inside me breaks. I just don’t care. The one person I’ve loved unconditionally for virtually my entire life, has once again betrayed me, in the worst way. I can’t bring myself to look at her, or talk it out again. It may have been a long time since the first time I caught her with Blue, but now that it is front and center, in my own fucking home, I know for a fact this isn’t something that only happened once or twice.
Levi stands in the entry of the kitchen, shielding me from the men leaving. My brother stops behind Levi, and I can see out of the corner of my eye how protective Levi has become.
“Fuck off. She is my sister and I want to talk to her,” Blue mouths off at Levi. He doesn’t reply, but he doesn’t back down. He simply waits for my reaction.
“Blue, you aren’t anything to me. Get the fuck out of my home.”
Levi turns toward Blue, and I watch attentively. My brother clearly hasn’t been taking care of himself. His light brown hair is greasy, hanging just below his eyes. He has lost a lot of weight since the last time I saw him, but then again, it was so long ago that I don’t even know what normal is for him anymore. But the most notable thing about him is the fact that he is clearly strung out.
“You heard Seven. She said get out. If you don’t leave willingly, I will have you hauled out of here by the fucking police.” Levi is trying to be polite, and I can tell he’s holding back. His fists clench at his sides as he sways from one foot to the other. I open the freezer and pull out the bottle of Jameson’s I have hidden behind the ice machine. I unscrew the cap and bring the entire bottle to my lips. I take a large swig and shake it off as the amber liquid burns down my throat, giving me a moment of clarity. It used to be Seven and Star against the world, and now a very bright half of the dynamic duo is gone. For good.
Star walks past the kitchen and I can hear her sniffles. “I’m so sorry, Seven. I never wanted you to find out. I am so sorry.” She continues crying, as she tries to make it into the kitchen, to me.
Levi stops her and her mood shifts. Instead of crying hysterics, she could spit venom.
“Who do you think you are?” she yells at him, as she tries to push past him to no avail. “She will walk away from you just like she walks away from everyone else in her life. She will leave you with nothing. Broken and alone. That is what Seven James does. She doesn’t love. She destroys.” I must admit, her performance is Oscar-worthy.
He laughs in her face, taunting her. “Well, I guess if she walks away from me, I will be bitter and heartbroken. But one thing I won’t do is betray her like you have.” Before I can see what happens, I hear a loud slap echo though the bare kitchen. She slapped him, right across the face.
“GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY HOUSE!” I scream at the top of my lungs, then crumple into a ball on the tile floor. Star walks into the elevator, and out of my life. Hopefully for good. I can’t move. I just sit on the kitchen floor with my legs closely pressed to my heaving chest, my arms tightly wrapped around my knees. Dazed and confused. Wondering how my life became so fucked up.
I hear his footsteps before Levi sits down next to me on the floor. He wraps his arms around me and whispers into my ear, “I am so sorry, Seven.” I lean my head against his shoulder, and just let him hold me. His hands rub up and down my arms. I need this, more than I could ever imagine. What would I have done if I came home, alone, to that? Sometimes fate has a fucked up way of throwing people together, but I know whatever it is that Levi and I have, I need it.
In the past ten minutes, I went from having an awesome, lifetime best friend, to being alone with a man with whom I have no idea what the future holds, and it scares the shit out of me.
Ring ring, ring ring, ring ring, ring ring, ring ring.
My phone won’t stop ringing. I look over to see a picture of Star on the display for the fifteenth time tonight. She is relentless, but I refuse to pick up the phone. After every call, she sends me a text, knowing I will read it. Because I am just a fucking glutton for punishment. Always have been. It is like a train wreck; I just can’t help but look.
I am so sorry. Please hear me out.
Seven, please don’t throw our friendship away over this.
You don’t understand. This isn’t how I wanted my life to be.
Please, just talk to me.
The list goes on and on. I am exhausted, and I just want to go to bed. I turn my phone off, not caring if I miss anything important, business-related. They can get a hold of me in the morning, when I return to reality.
I curl up in the arms of Levi, and for the first time since he climbed into my bed a week ago, I don’t sleep soundly. I toss and turn, keeping him up all night. Somewhere around four in the morning, my body says fuck you and throws me into a coma until my alarm scares the shit out of me at a quarter to seven. I can already tell this day is going to fucking suck.
“Miss James, come in. Have a seat.”
Kate Harris is an older woman, slightly grey around the edges of her dark chestnut hair. She wears a pair of thin, metal-framed glasses she continuously pushes up her nose, and for some unknown reason, she has a pencil stuck in her hair. Not exactly a fashion statement, but whatever.
“Thank you for handling this all while I was called away in London. If you could have even seen the mess over there…” I let out a small laugh while I sit down in the office chair, cross my legs, and wait for her to begin the meeting I was dragged into this morning. My first morning back in the States, when I have a disgustingly huge pile of shit to sift through on my desk.
“We have taken your complaint very seriously, Miss James. While you were gone, Mr. Alexander was asked to take a short leave of absence as we worked internally to find the best remedy for the situation. Seeing as he is part owner of the company, we just can’t fire him.” She’s pissed; I can tell already. Maybe Daniel came on to her over the years, too. She’s older but it seems like his taste is anything with a vagina.
She takes her glasses off, and rubs her eyes, clearly stressed, before picking them up and putting them back on. “We have very little in terms of options. The other board members have not opted to buy out his shares. They are loyal. We can offer him a severance package, but cuts would have to be made all around the company, and I don’t see that being a wise choice.” She pauses again, and I think it finally sinks in. She’s telling me there is absolutely nothing she can do about this whole fucked up situation with Daniel.
“Unfortunately, Miss James, there is nothing we can do.” Of course. I should have known better than to think taking the high road would ever get me anywhere. But karma is a bitch; in fact, it is one of the only beliefs I have in my fucked up life. So I am going to continue waiting for the universe to bite Daniel Alexander right in the ass.
“I understand, Kate. You did what you could; unfortunately, it is an uncomfortable situation all around when someone like him is untouchable. I appreciate all of your hard work while I was away. If that will be all, I am going to go tackle the giant pile of work I need to get through today.” I leave her with a polite smile. No need to take my rage out on her, since she did nothing wrong. If anything, she went above and beyond her own job description trying to get rid of this fucking menace.