I glanced over at my phone, which had three missed calls from Caleb. I picked it up and cleared the screen off, not bothering to care what he wanted. It was best for him if I was out of his life anyhow. I did nothing but bring him down. "It's 10:30 a.m."
Jace swiftly jumped up and crawled out of the bed, a worried look on his face. "Oh shit." He ran his hands over his face and yawned again. "We need to get ready for work and fast. The rush
starts in thirty minutes." A smile crossed his handsome face before he leaned down and placed a short kiss on my lips, his breathing soft and even as he cupped my face. "I'll skip a shower so that you can take one. Meet me out front in twenty minutes."
I shook my head still in shock from the kiss. I hadn't expected there to be more kissing involved and I had to admit that it shook me up. I bit my lip and scrambled across my room. "I'll be fast. I promise."
Twenty minutes later, we were both ready and out the door. We hopped into his little black car and arrived at the diner with one minute to spare.
The parking lot seemed very empty for the diner to be busy, but Jace still seemed to rush over to the door, holding it open for us to walk in.
We entered the diner to see Winston and Stacy casually leaning against the counter having conversation. Clearly, we'd beat the rush.
Stacy grinned, flashing us her dimples as she ran over and threw her arms around me. She quickly pulled away and fixed her hair. "Guess who's coming to see me today?" She bit her bottom lip and waited for an ans
wer. She looked so sweet and innocent.
Jace and I both looked at each other and then back at Stacy confused. I suppose that it could've been the guy that she was dating, but I forgot his name, so decided to stay quiet.
Stacy laughed and rolled her eyes. "William," she sang, grabbing her apron and tugging on it. "I saw him last night at a party and he said that you hadn't called him so I asked for his number."
Jace rolled his eyes and headed toward the kitchen. "I think that I'll leave you girls alone." He laughed. "Just be ready for the rush." He looked somewhat relieved as he pushed the kitchen door open and disappeared.
I threw my stuff on the waitress station and reached for my apron as it fell on the ground. "What happened to that...?" I froze when I noticed the letter lying on the ground right next to my apron. I had completely forgotten about the letter until then. The sight of it made me slightly uneasy.
Stacy gripped my shoulder and arched a perfectly groomed eyebrow. "Is everything okay?" she questioned. Her eyes
anxiously watched mine as I pretended to not be bothered by the letter.
Despite my efforts, my hand slightly shook as I grabbed for the letter and shoved it into the pocket of my apron. Then I quickly struggled with putting my apron on. My nerves were overworking, again. "I'm fine," I stammered. "It's nothing."
Stacy tilted her head and pointed down at the little black apron. "Are you sure? What was on that piece of paper? Was that a letter?" She crossed her skinny arms over her chest and waited for an answer. "So?"
Frustrated, I reached into the apron and gripped the letter in my hand.
"It's just something that some crazy lady left for me a few days ago. I'm sure that it's nothing important," I explained.
Stacy looked over as the door opened and a little stubby man walked in. His gray hair was long and messy as it covered his rosy cheeks. The man looked up with warm eyes and waved at Stacy. She waved back and shook her head. "I'll be right back. Don't think that I will forget about the letter," she grunted, and walked away.
I watched Stacy as she greeted the old man and jotted down his order. The letter was now moist as I gripped it with sweaty hands and ran my fingers over the smooth paper. I wasn't sure why, but I had a bad feeling about the letter. There was something so familiar about the woman and the way she'd spoken to me.
I jumped out of thought as Stacy snapped her fingers in front of my face. "Well…?"
I sighed and pulled the letter from out of my apron. I stared down at it, causing my vision to blur. My head spun as I struggled to open the paper. "Fine! I'll read it, but I'm tossing it afterwards. Like I said, I'm sure that it means nothing." I slowly opened the letter and fought for breath as I read the words repeatedly.
"Dammit, Avery," Stacy growled. "What does it say?" She gripped my shoulder and shook me. "You can tell me anything."
I took the letter and crumbled it in my hands. I stared Stacy in the eye before I tossed it into the trash and walked away. I tried to look as calm as possible, but it was the impossible. I wanted to scream. "It's not important," I snapped, as she continued to follow me.
Stacy grabbed my arm as I attempted to walk away. "Is that lady harassing you," she questioned. "We can report her."
I shook her arm off and looked up to see Jace staring over at us. He leaned against the doorframe and studied my face, obviously wanting to know what all the commotion was about. "Is everything okay, Avery?" He lifted an eyebrow.
I looked between the both of them before I took off and ran into the bathroom. I felt as if my whole world was crashing down around me and it was hard to breathe.
I fell down to the floor of the bathroom and reached up with shaky hands to lock the door behind me. "Oh shit! Oh shit!" I gripped onto my messy hair and leaned into the door.
"Avery," Jace said into the door. "Please let me help you. You can talk to me."
I tightly closed my eyes and took a deep breath. It was then that I realized that I wanted Jace's help. I needed his comfort. I almost craved it. I reached up and unlocked the door. Then I stood up and walked over to the sink, leaning against it.
A few seconds later, the door opened and Jace walked in with a worried look on his face. He walked over and placed both of his hands on my shoulders. Then he looked me in the eye and sighed. "Tell me what's wrong."
I looked into his green eyes and suddenly felt safe. As if he could make everything go away, but I knew that wasn't possible.
I quickly looked away and prepared to tell him the story. "Remember that creepy lady from a few days ago?
Jace just nodded in understanding.
"She left me a letter the other day," I whispered. "I knew that I knew her from somewhere. I just knew it.” I slammed my fist into the sink at the memories.
Jace's arms stiffened as he gripped onto my chin and forced me to look into his eyes. "Tell me," he demanded. "Who is she?"
I closed my eyes and let out a soft cry. "She's my aunt," I cried. "My father's sister."
Jace pulled me against his chest as my body trembled in fear. He ran his hands over the back of my head and pressed his lips against my hair. It made me want to cry even more. "I won't let them hurt you again," Jace said stiffly. "I promise," he whispered, his lips pressed into my hair.
I felt my heart stop at his words. I looked up into Jace's eyes as he reached down and wiped the tears off my cheeks. I wanted to believe it. I really did. "I wish I could believe that," I whispered.
Jace just sighed and held me closer.
"Oh… is that right?" The sloppy woman crushed her face against mine while pressing her sharp fingernail into my forehead. She suddenly pressed with so much force that it caused my neck to bend into my father’s shoulder. "You little bitch," she spat. "You owe me some damn money. That shit is not cheap."
I stiffened up and flared my nostrils as my father tightly gripped my hair and yanked me into the side of the bed. I attempted to reach out for the bedpost, but missed and ended up landing on the floor with my face pressed into the frame of the bed. I let out a soft cry as the pain shot through my body and caused my body to quake with fear. "Aunt Pam," I stammered. "I'm sorry."
Aunt Pam gripped a handful of her stringy hair and shook her head back and forth. Then she bent down on one knee and looked me in the eye. Her eyes seemed distant and lifeless. "I don't give a shit." She turned away to face my hopped-up father. "Henry, I told you that you should've aborted that little bitch in the first place."
Then next thing I knew her rough hand connected with the right side of my swollen face. "I will get you back someday. You will pay for this shit one way or another.
"Avery."
I shook my head, in a daze, and looked up to see Stacy standing just inches from my face. She delicately brushed her blond curls from out of her worried eyes and then reached out to grab my arm.
Not wanting to be touched, I shook her arm off and ran my hands over my face. I was too shook up to handle being touched. "I'm sorry," I whispered.
Stacy pursed her pink lips and placed her hands in the front of her apron. She stared at me for a few moments before she pulled her hands out of her apron and held out the crumpled up letter. She looked down at it with a pained look on her face. "I'm
sorry, but I needed to know what this letter said. You're my friend and I care about you."
My heart raced and I wanted to vomit.
She smiled weakly and placed the letter into my open palm. "What does that mean," she questioned. "The letter said
'they know where you are and you will always belong to them. Love Aunt Pam.'
please tell me. Are you in some kind of trouble?" she questioned, with frightened eyes. "I'm here for you."
My eyes wandered down to the letter and my heart dropped down to my feet. At least that was what it felt like.
"I can't...," I mumbled. Then I ripped the letter up and shoved it back into the trash. I pushed it down to the bottom of the can and made sure that it was lost in the mess forever. "It's complicated and probably not worth your time. Just forget about it," I demanded.
"But-"
"I mean it." I cut in, looking up to see Winston poking his head out from the kitchen. His white hair covered most of his face as he attempted to hide. He thought he was slick. "I'm fine and we have work to do." I put on a fake smile and nodded my head. "We have a lot to do today. It's almost rush hour and Jace is depending on us."
Stacy gripped my wrist and pulled me over to the corner by the waitress station. Then she grabbed my chin with her other hand and forced me to look her in the eye. "Listen here. You can resist all you want, but I won't give up so easily." She paused and tilted her head to the right. "I care about you. Jace cares about you. You will tell me what is wrong," she demanded.
I forced my gaze away from Stacy's intense stare and looked down at my feet. I had never in my life had someone be so damn persistent and I wasn't sure how to handle it.
Suddenly, my heart started aching. It felt as if it was being crushed. I didn't know what to do, so I freaked out. "You want to know what's wrong?" I shouted. "I'm a worthless piece of crap that came from a worthless family. Don't waste your time on me. You're too good." I paused to choke back the tears. "Jace is too good"
Stacy's eyes went wide as she reached out and attempted to wipe the tears from off my face. It almost looked as if she were about to cry. "Avery-"
"No! Don't," I breathed. "Don't worry about me. I've always kn
own that this is all that I’ll ever be. Just a nobody." I slammed my fist onto the counter and then reached over, grabbing my purse off the waitress station, palms sweaty. "I'm out of-"
"Avery."
My heart stopped and suddenly it was hard to breathe. His voice always had that effect on me. It was like poison slowly running through my veins killing me bit by bit. Like a drug that I couldn't get enough of even though I was almost down to my last breath.
Jace took a step forward and grabbed my hand. He slowly trailed his fingers over my face and backed me into the wall. My heart stopped again if that was even possible. "You can't leave," he whispered. "I need you." His warm breath kissed my lips as he bit his bottom lip and placed both of his hands around my face. They were warm and soft to the touch. Too big for my fragile face, although I wanted to bury myself in them. "Breathe. There is no one here but the two of us. Breathe," he whispered.
I slowly took a deep breath and squeezed my eyes shut. I just wanted to disappear. I shook my head back and forth and fought back the tears. I hated looking weak. "I have to go," I said breathless. "I need to get away from here. You have to understand."
Jace pushed me harder into the wall so that I couldn't move at all. He took a deep breath and ran his thumb over my lip. "I can't let you leave," he stammered. "Not now that I have you closer to me than I ever thought to be possible. I want to take care of you." He pulled his hand away from my face and squeezed his hand into a ball. He looked as if he wanted to punch something, but he didn't.
Instead, he released his grip on me and leaned into the counter. He looked up at Winston and Stacy and shook his head. "I'm sorry, guys. This shouldn't be happening here. This is personal stuff. I apologize."
Winston gave Jace a nod and stepped back into the kitchen without a word. He knew better than to get involved. Things were complicated.
Stacy just looked back and forth between the both of us confused. "I don't know what..." She trailed off when the door to the diner opened and William stepped inside with a huge grin on his face. She looked into my eyes and shook her head, in shame. "Oh... Williams here. Great timing," she murmured.
William quickly walked over and reached for Stacy's hand. "Hey, guys," he said, nodding his head at the three of us. "Nice to see you, Avery." He blushed slightly as he looked around the diner, noticing that something was off.
I looked over at Jace to see him turn his head away and run his hands through his hair in frustration. Then I looked over at William and nodded my head. "Hi, William," I said softly, not wanting him to know what was going on.
Stacy looked at William and frowned before she gripped his hand tighter and nudged him in the side. "Let’s leave these two alone," she said stiffly.
I waited for them to sit down in an empty booth close to the back of the diner, before I pulled the strap of my purse back up my shoulder, staring at the back of Jace's head. I felt helpless and I had to do the only thing that I knew how to do. "I hope that you understand why I must leave. It has nothing to do with you." My voice shook as I said my last words. "I will be gone by the time you get home."
I saw Jace's shoulder stiffen at my words. He stood there motionless, holding his breath with his hands tightly gripping the counter as I walked away and out of the diner.
Once outside I paused and looked back at the door. Some part of me hoped that Jace would come rushing out asking me to stay. The bigger part of me knew that I had to leave before I could drag Jace down with me. My parents knew where I was and it would only be a matter of time before they came into the diner searching for me. I couldn't be there when that happened. A small part of me was afraid of being sucked back into their lives. Leaving was the only thing that could save me and keep Jace away from their demented ways. I didn't want them to hurt Jace in any way. I wouldn't allow it.
I hesitantly pulled my phone from out of my purse and stared down at the black screen. Then with my hands shaking, I hit the power button and scrolled down to his name. The only one that would be willing to come to my rescue now. Caleb.
He answered the phone after two short rings and I could tell by his desperate tone that he would say yes to anything that I asked. "Caleb," I stammered.
The phone was silent for a moment before he answered. "Yes, Avery."
I took a deep breath and glanced back over at the door of the diner. It was clear that no one was coming to stop me. I couldn't wait any longer. My parents could already be on the way for all I knew. "Can I stay with you for a while?" I asked, struggling to keep my voice strong and steady.
I heard Caleb breathe into the phone before answering. "Yes. I'll come get you now." He sounded relieved. "I'm so happy that you called."