“You’re amazing,” she whispered, as her finger trailed a path down his chest.
“Right back at ya, Mo. I have never felt more complete in my life.”
Which was true…at this moment, Parker could die a happy man.
Chapter Eleven
**Molly**
Three weeks! Three weeks, Thanksgiving, and living in the same apartment with Luke and nothing! Not one damn thing. The tension in the apartment was beyond dysfunctional. Luke slept in Winnie’s room, on the floor with a blanket and one of her stuffed animals, nothing else. He woke up every morning, brewed coffee, went for a run, and disappeared for the day. He would come back around six at night, fully fed and ready to hit the sack again. They nodded to each other in passing, never saying much, only acknowledging the fact that they knew there was another living, breathing human in the apartment.
Molly spent Thanksgiving with Jane and Brady, even though Luke’s family invited her over for family festivities. Not wanting to be in one of the most awkward situations of her life with Lucy in the picture and Luke possibly showing up, Molly took Winnie and spent the holiday and following weekend at Jane and Brady’s place. They hosted a Thanksgiving dinner for those who didn’t want to go to their homes. Marc, Patty, Michael, Albert, and Reed, Jane’s cousin, all showed up. Seeing Reed after her sex binge before Jane’s wedding was a little awkward, but they just laughed about it, even though Molly was cringing inside from thinking about the drug and alcohol-induced state she’d been in only a few months ago.
Spending time with her closest friends and Winnie was really what she needed to re-energize herself and get ready for the upcoming week of being back in the same apartment with Luke. They could not have been more supportive, given her unfortunate situation. They kept telling her to hang in there and offered encouraging words, telling her how strong she was, how she was such a brave woman for fighting for Luke, for fighting for her family, rather than just giving up. Molly only wished her fighting was making some kind of impact, but all it was doing was taking valuable time away from her daughter.
Unfortunately, once the festivities were over, Molly had to take her beautiful daughter back to Luke’s parents because Luke’s mental state was still questionable. Even though he hadn’t done much, or said much, the hollow look in his eyes was concerning enough. It was like having a zombie walking around in her apartment, but the hottest fucking zombie ever.
Many nights, Molly crawled into her bed, pulled out her vibrating friend and thought about the man that was only a room away, how she wished his hands were all over her body, worshipping her. She needed a release and it was the only one she could find for the moment, so her imagination would have to do for now.
Standing outside of her apartment, Molly took a deep breath before she opened her door. When she walked in, she found the apartment to be completely dark and quiet. She looked down at her watch to confirm the time, it was a little past six o’clock; Luke would be getting ready for bed. His car was outside, so why was the apartment dark?
Fear started to form in Molly’s head as she set her suitcase down and started toward Winnie’s room, forgetting to turn on the lights. Visions of Luke, splayed out on Winnie’s floor with a gun to his head ran through her mind as she grabbed the handle of Winnie’s door. She was about to open it when, out of nowhere, she was knocked to the ground and pinned to the floor.
“Make one move and I’ll cut your mother-fucking head off,” seethed Luke, as he pressed her head into the ground with one hand and held her hands that were now behind her back with the other. He was cutting off all the circulation to her arms and he was pressing her head so hard into the carpet, she was afraid she might blast through the ceiling of her neighbor’s apartment.
“It’s me, it’s Molly!” she shouted into the carpet, trying to twist her lips to the side so he could hear her. She was trying to think of her self-defense moves she’s been learning over the past couple of weeks for instances like this, but there was no use, Luke’s strength outbid hers easily. Little good those classes were.
The feeling of being pressed into the carpet was all-too-familiar and frightening as Molly fought against Luke’s restraints. Connor had warned her about this happening again. He told her having Luke in the apartment wasn’t the best idea, but she knew in her heart she needed Luke to stay with her, even if that meant putting her life in danger.
Luke twisted Molly’s wrist, as she heard a pop, which made a scream escape from her mouth. Pain shot through her arm as she could no longer feel her left wrist.
“I’ll break the other if you make one more sound. You only speak when I tell you to,” Luke threatened into her ear. “Now tell me, who the fuck sent you?” Molly didn’t answer right away, not sure what to say and Luke took that as defiance as he slammed her head down into the floor once again, pressing his palm against her temple and gripping her hair. “Tell me!” he shouted.
Tears streamed down Molly’s face as she tried to figure out what to say. She gathered up her courage and tried to speak in her soothing, teacher voice.
“Luke, it’s me, Molly. Please, you’re hurting me. Please let go.”
The grip on her wrist and head tightened just a bit, making Molly cringe for what was going to happen next, but then a slew of curse words flew out of Luke’s mouth before he got up off of her, relieving the pressure from her body.
Slowly, Molly got up off the floor and cradled her wrist that she couldn’t move. She scooted to the corner of the living room and looked out to the apartment. Luke was pacing the floor, running his hand through his hair and mumbling to himself. The picture in front of her was something she never thought she would see. From the moment she first met Luke, he was a strong alpha male who didn’t take no for an answer. He was confident and commanded the attention of everyone when he walked into a room, but looking at him now, he was none of those things. He was lost, confused, hurt, guarded and struggling. It broke her heart to see him like this and she wished there was something she could do, but looking down at her wrist and feeling her eye start to swell up, she wondered if this was it for them, if there was no turning back to where they came from. She wondered if this was her breaking point.
Not wanting to disturb him, Molly grabbed her suitcase, keys, and purse and headed for the door. She needed to get to the hospital and stay away from him for the night to think about her options, because what was happening between them right now wasn’t working. She really needed to consider her options. She wanted to save Luke, desperately, but there came a point where she needed to consider if she needed to save herself first.
“Where are you going?” Luke asked, charging after her. Molly flinched as he came up right next to her, scared out of her wits as to what he was going to do next. The hollow look that took up residence in Luke’s eyes cleared away as regret took place. “Fuck!” he screamed as he turned and punched a hole straight through the wall. After Luke’s return, Molly confirmed that there was no way in hell they were going to get their security deposit back.
“I need to go,” Molly said weakly, trying not to puke from the pain running through her arm.
“Where are you going?” Luke asked with actual concern. Concern! She couldn’t let it fool her, even though she saw a small glimpse of the caring man she once knew.
“I have to go to the hospital, Luke, and then I’m going to stay at Jane’s.”
“Why?” Luke asked, as he looked down at the ground, not able to look her in the eyes. This was one of the longest conversations they’d had in weeks and it wasn’t the best conversation ever…him asking why she needed to go to the hospital when clearly he’d just broken the fuck out of her wrist.
“I think you broke my wrist.”
Complete shock ran across Luke’s face as he looked down at her arm. His brow creased as he gently grabbed her hand and lifted it up. Her wrist was now the size of her calf from being so swollen.
He looked up at her and said, “I did this?”
It boggle
d Molly’s mind that Luke could be so cruel, so lost in one moment and so coherent in the next. Did he really not remember what happened two seconds ago? It was so confusing for Molly to see Luke like this, so disoriented.
In response to his questions, she just nodded her head while pulling her wrist away.
“Fuck.” He looked up at her and said, “I’m so sorry, baby. I don’t even know what to say. I can’t believe I fucking did that to you.”
Baby? He was apologizing? His voice was heavy with sorrow but clear, very clear, like the Luke she knew was coming through. A tear fell down her face from frustration and from being so damn confused. The way he looked at her right now made her think there was hope, that there was a chance that the man she needed in her life was going to come back.
“Shit, what am I thinking?” Luke ran to the kitchen and grabbed a bag of ice. He then proceeded to cradle her wrist and place the bag of ice over it. When he looked up at her face, he noticed her swollen eye as well and shook his head. “Jesus, Molly. I’m so damn sorry, so fucking sorry.” He gently touched her face as he examined what he had done. She could tell he was suffering inside, not from his flashbacks, but from what he had done to her.
Even though Molly knew it wasn’t okay, she needed to comfort him, she needed to hold onto this moment, this very rare, lucid moment with her soul mate, with her Luke.
She looked up at him and placed her good hand on his face and said, “I know, Luke. I know it’s not you who did this, I know it’s the demons you’re fighting. I know this is not you.”
Luke leaned in and placed a gentle kiss on her lips. “Thank you, Molly.”
That was all he said for the rest of the night as they went to the hospital to get her wrist fixed and set back in place. She had a pretty pink cast holding everything together. Luke didn’t go into the hospital with her and Molly wondered if it was because it would only draw up triggers, but when she left the hospital and looked for his car, she found Jane instead, leaning against her car.
Molly walked up and didn’t say a word, just stepped into Jane’s warm embrace and cried on her best friend’s shoulder.
**Lucy**
“When do the two new girls get here?” Lucy asked, as she finished placing her things back on her desk that they’d moved into Patty’s office. They were sharing an office, for the time being, until Jane could find a new space in the big city of Atlanta. They wanted a small, welcoming area like Decatur, but there weren’t many options in the artsy neighborhood. The two new girls Jane hired temporarily were going to have two desks, back to back, in the entryway where they would greet customers, take care of day-to-day tasks and be the “office managers.” Basically, they were the offices bitches…whatever Patty, Jane and Lucy needed, they would get.
Even though Patty had an office to herself before, she was more than happy to share with Lucy. In the back of Lucy’s mind, she knew if the shoe was on the other foot and she was the one who had to share her office, she wouldn’t be as accommodating.
Although, nothing fazed Patty these days; she was head-over-heels in love with Marc and there wasn’t a day that went by that she didn’t walk into the office with an I-just-had-hair-raising-amazing-sex-with-my-hot-boyfriend look on her face and a certain kind of strut to her walk. Lucy was jealous because Patty’s life seemed so easy, so seamless. Lucy wished her life was that easy, instead she had to deal with, not only Connor and Austin, but the bitch-slut, Molly, as well.
Thankfully, she didn’t show up to Thanksgiving, so Lucy didn’t have to act fake all day, even though she was prepared to put on a good face for Connor. She patted herself on the back for putting forth an effort, even though it wasn’t needed.
“They should arrive any minute…” Jane said, as the door to the office chimed and two girls in their early twenties walked in, holding giant designer bags and looking like absolute perfection in their heels and pencil skirts. Lucy pushed her glasses up as she looked down at her bloated self in a maternity dress and flats, knowing full-well that she looked like the Friar of Frumpville, The Princess of the Vagabonds, and Heiress to the Lazy and Crazy. She looked like a real peach.
Lucy hadn’t taken part in the interviews…that was more Patty, Jane, and Albert, who was doing consulting work for them. Just from the look of the two girls, Lucy knew they weren’t going to get along; they were straight from bitch-row, plucked from the TV show Gossip Girl, ready to raise some hell.
“Sloan, Kasey, I’m so glad you’re here,” Jane cooed, as she ushered them into the office and toward the conference table where Jane had beautifully set out some coffee and pastries for their morning meeting.
The girls all sat down and grabbed a coffee, Jane and Lucy settled for tea. Jane lifted the tray of pastries to the girls and they turned their noses up at the flaky delicacies.
“We’re watching what we eat,” one of them answered, as the other popped a tic-tac in her mouth. Lucy rolled her eyes and Jane set the tray back down, away from Lucy’s reach.
“Well, I’m not watching what I eat, hand those bad boys over so Mama can stuff one down her face,” Lucy said, as Jane looked at her oddly. Lucy grabbed a cheese Danish and stuffed half the thing in her mouth, while smiling and nodding about how good it was. Both of the girls looked at her as if she forgot to take her medication this morning.
“Pregnancy hormones,” Jane said apologetically. Lucy just slouched in her seat and licked her fingers as Jane made introductions. Lucy was tempted to pat her belly and belch, but held back, she didn’t want to look like complete trash.
Sloan and Kasey were both recent graduates, with minimal event planning experience, but looking to learn. They were sorority sisters–go figure–and had graduated with honors, which was surprising, given the French manicures on their nails and their perfectly-combed hair. Maybe they majored in appearance, because they nailed that, Lucy thought, as she looked them over while finishing off her Danish in two bites, a pregnancy record for her.
“We’re so glad you’re both here,” Jane continued. “As you can see, both Lucy and I are pregnant and will be due within a month of each other, so we’re going to need a lot of extra hands around here. Patty and Albert, who you met in your interview, will be in charge while Lucy and I are out. Albert will be in charge of bringing in business, meetings, etc. and Patty will be in charge of all logistics. Right now, Lucy and Patty handle the events together, while I oversee them; they’ll be showing you two the ropes, while I work closely with Albert.”
Lucky bitch, Lucy thought to herself. She would love to just work with Albert; life would be so much easier, not that she didn’t like working with Patty, she loved Patty, she just didn’t think she would like hanging around Sloan and Kasey very much.
Sloan had perma-bitch face, the poor girl. She was average height and had brown hair and brown eyes that freakishly matched her hair perfectly. It was almost odd. Kasey had strawberry blonde hair, pale skin and light blue eyes, almost like Patty, but with more of an Emma Stone kind of look. Sloan was more bitchy-looking than Kasey, but Kasey had a good nose snub, Lucy could tell.
Lucy zoned out as Jane talked about the company and everything that they did, what their duties entailed and how they were going to start incorporating the girls into their daily operations. The whole time, Lucy silently talked to the cherry Danish in front of her, asking it if it wanted a permanent home in her belly, because she was more than happy to oblige.
“Oh my God! The Braves’ Christmas Party!” one of the girls shrieked, pulling Lucy away from the eye-fucking she was giving the Danish.
“Yes, but as professionals, we don’t let such celebrity events affect us, right?” Jane semi-scolded.
Both the girls nodded their heads, but were not very convincing. Lucy stepped in, since she was irritated, hungry and ornery.
“Listen, you knew when you girls took this job that you would be working with celebrities; we pride ourselves in, not only being able to keep their events out of the public knowledge, but also prov
iding them with a professional, non-fan-girl experience. Do you understand?”
Jane eyed Lucy, but then turned to Sloan and Kasey for their confirmation in understanding.
“Yes,” they both said at the same time, while nodding their heads.
Lucy inwardly smiled as she thought about just putting the two girls in their place; her job here was done.
Bitch-face, aka Sloan, raised her hand and said, “Can I just say one thing before we go back into professional mode?”
Jane laughed and said, “Please, by all means, gush.”
Sloan transformed into a gushing fan-girl as she said, “Brady and you are so amazing together,” Sloan complimented Jane. “And Marc, oh my God, he is so hot,” she said to Patty, who smiled at the compliment. “But I have to say, my heart is set on the one and only Austin Lee. I’ll be marrying him one day, I just know it in my bones.”
Every muscle in Lucy’s body tensed as she listened to Sloan go on and on about how attractive Austin was, how he was the epitome of every male and how his face was plastered all over her dorm room. There was no reason for her to be getting…jealous? Was that the annoying feeling she was experiencing? Jealousy? As Sloan gushed over Austin, Lucy sat back and ground her teeth together.
“Off limits,” Lucy mumbled, as she picked at the cherry Danish she was eye-fucking earlier.
“What was that?” Sloan asked, all perky with her flat stomach and cute smile…stupid bitch-face.
“Hey, can I talk to you for a second?” Patty asked as she practically lifted Lucy out of her chair and guided her to their office. Patty shut the door quietly and turned toward Lucy. “What is your deal?” Patty asked with her arms crossed.
“What?” Lucy asked innocently.
“You know what. Why are you being nasty out there?”