everything I do
pisses her off. Kellie will bitch about me flaking out again. Pandora won’t
know I wasn’t there ’til I get back because she’s been off doing a Sucker Punch
Sunday memorial with Brian. Carly will be ticked I didn’t tell her I was
leaving. We were supposed to go to the movies tonight.” The four girls were
Autumn’s best and only girlfriends. Sometimes it felt as though they had her in
their crosshairs, waiting for her to mess up. She was always screwing up
without meaning to.
“What about the trial?”
Autumn’s stomach clenched and she glanced around.
There was what Sammi really wanted to know. She could tell
by the way he slid the question in there when she wasn’t expecting it, asking
as casually as he would if they were talking about lunch.
A little over a year before, Autumn’s coworker and bestie
Pandora had become the fixation of her ex-boss and former fiancé, Robert. It
had escalated quickly from stalking to straight-up attacking Pandora, then to
driving his truck into the old So Inked shop and torching it in the middle of a
going-away party for Carly. The incident had left Carly partially paralyzed and
in a wheelchair. Autumn had walked away with scratches, a dislocated arm and
nightmares for weeks. How Pandora and Carly slept knowing Robert was alive,
even if he was behind bars, was beyond her.
“Fuck.” How had she forgotten? She grabbed her drink to
moisten her mouth.
“What?”
“The pretrial shit. It started today. Fuck me.” Autumn put
her glass down and ran a hand through her hair, except she had it up in a clip
so she pulled locks out. Sometimes she had the brain of a goldfish. Give her
five seconds and she forgot everything.
“Damn. I knew it was coming up soon, but I didn’t realize it
was this week.” His face creased in worry.
“We were going to close the shop today and go in for
whatever they were doing. Fuckity, fuck, fuck, fuck.” She pulled the clip out
of her hair and wound it back up.
Sammi reached for her hands, holding them between his. “Hey,
you guys went through a lot because of that asshole. You don’t really want to
be there.”
“No, but Carly and Pandora are going to have to be part of
the whole mess.” And she wasn’t going to be there to sit beside Carly.
I’m a shitty friend.
“Hey.” He tugged on her arms. “You can’t do anything about
that now. When the trial starts we can both go. He’s going to get put away for
a long time.”
Autumn nodded. There was no doubt that Robert would be out
of their lives, but the whole process just seemed to drag that inevitability
out.
“Let’s get something to eat, okay?” He grabbed a menu from
their side table and held it out between them.
* * * * *
Sammi watched Autumn put away a whole sandwich. She’d been
quiet while they ate, but the way her foot bobbed in time to the music made him
think she had moved on. He hoped so. This trip was supposed to be about fun.
They could figure out the details back home later. As much as he wished things
could be different, trying to solve them now would only ruin the remainder of
the trip.
He ate the rest of his grilled no-frills sandwich and
relaxed into the chair. Recently he had been having some nausea after eating,
but it hadn’t bothered him since yesterday. It was a pleasant surprise, and
he’d take it while it lasted.
In fact, he felt pretty damn good.
“Want to go for a walk down the beach?” he asked Autumn.
“Sure. Should we take our stuff with us or run it up to the
room?” She swung her legs off the side of the chair and dug her toes into the
sand. The bikini she’d worn to the beach had more coverage than the one she’d
worn that morning, and there was an iridescent quality to the pink fabric.
Part of him was glad she was more covered up, that he was
the only one who got to see those swirling tattoos around her nipples. He
wanted to trace the lines with his tongue, find out just how sensitive the
piercings made her
pisses her off. Kellie will bitch about me flaking out again. Pandora won’t
know I wasn’t there ’til I get back because she’s been off doing a Sucker Punch
Sunday memorial with Brian. Carly will be ticked I didn’t tell her I was
leaving. We were supposed to go to the movies tonight.” The four girls were
Autumn’s best and only girlfriends. Sometimes it felt as though they had her in
their crosshairs, waiting for her to mess up. She was always screwing up
without meaning to.
“What about the trial?”
Autumn’s stomach clenched and she glanced around.
There was what Sammi really wanted to know. She could tell
by the way he slid the question in there when she wasn’t expecting it, asking
as casually as he would if they were talking about lunch.
A little over a year before, Autumn’s coworker and bestie
Pandora had become the fixation of her ex-boss and former fiancé, Robert. It
had escalated quickly from stalking to straight-up attacking Pandora, then to
driving his truck into the old So Inked shop and torching it in the middle of a
going-away party for Carly. The incident had left Carly partially paralyzed and
in a wheelchair. Autumn had walked away with scratches, a dislocated arm and
nightmares for weeks. How Pandora and Carly slept knowing Robert was alive,
even if he was behind bars, was beyond her.
“Fuck.” How had she forgotten? She grabbed her drink to
moisten her mouth.
“What?”
“The pretrial shit. It started today. Fuck me.” Autumn put
her glass down and ran a hand through her hair, except she had it up in a clip
so she pulled locks out. Sometimes she had the brain of a goldfish. Give her
five seconds and she forgot everything.
“Damn. I knew it was coming up soon, but I didn’t realize it
was this week.” His face creased in worry.
“We were going to close the shop today and go in for
whatever they were doing. Fuckity, fuck, fuck, fuck.” She pulled the clip out
of her hair and wound it back up.
Sammi reached for her hands, holding them between his. “Hey,
you guys went through a lot because of that asshole. You don’t really want to
be there.”
“No, but Carly and Pandora are going to have to be part of
the whole mess.” And she wasn’t going to be there to sit beside Carly.
I’m a shitty friend.
“Hey.” He tugged on her arms. “You can’t do anything about
that now. When the trial starts we can both go. He’s going to get put away for
a long time.”
Autumn nodded. There was no doubt that Robert would be out
of their lives, but the whole process just seemed to drag that inevitability
out.
“Let’s get something to eat, okay?” He grabbed a menu from
their side table and held it out between them.
* * * * *
Sammi watched Autumn put away a whole sandwich. She’d been
quiet while they ate, but the way her foot bobbed in time to the music made him
think she had moved on. He hoped so. This trip was supposed to be about fun.
They could figure out the details back home later. As much as he wished things
could be different, trying to solve them now would only ruin the remainder of
the trip.
He ate the rest of his grilled no-frills sandwich and
relaxed into the chair. Recently he had been having some nausea after eating,
but it hadn’t bothered him since yesterday. It was a pleasant surprise, and
he’d take it while it lasted.
In fact, he felt pretty damn good.
“Want to go for a walk down the beach?” he asked Autumn.
“Sure. Should we take our stuff with us or run it up to the
room?” She swung her legs off the side of the chair and dug her toes into the
sand. The bikini she’d worn to the beach had more coverage than the one she’d
worn that morning, and there was an iridescent quality to the pink fabric.
Part of him was glad she was more covered up, that he was
the only one who got to see those swirling tattoos around her nipples. He
wanted to trace the lines with his tongue, find out just how sensitive the
piercings made her
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