Kim marches over to me, hands on hips as she stops in front of me, stopping me from taking another step. “I don’t think so.”
“Kim, Michael is pissed and seeing Cal here will push him over the edge. Oh God, I should never have involved you guys.” All of my doubts rush to the surface, and I start to berate myself for letting the two people that I love the most in the world get so tangled up in my problems.
“Yes, you should. We’re your friends, Lucy, we love you, and we both want to get you as far away from Michael as possible.” She grabs my shoulders and squats down slightly so our eyes are level. “Cal will be fine. I will be fine. But you won’t be if you don’t let us help you. You know that you can’t fight him alone, Lucy.”
“But Cal…” My tears fall, drenching my cheeks.
“Stop worrying. Cal knows what he is doing, and he’s doing it because he wants to.”
“How can you both be so brave?” I whisper, needing to understand their confidence.
“Oh, honey,” Kim says, pulling me towards her for a hug. “I can’t speak for Cal, but this has nothing to do with being brave. The difference here is that I’m not scared of Michael, whereas you are, and after everything he has done, I would be surprised if you weren’t scared. He plays on your fear, and he knows that he can’t do that with me or Cal.”
“I’m tired of being scared.”
“I know,” Kim says as she hugs me a little tighter.
I don’t want to be known as this person. I have to show Michael that I am ready to fight.
The only trouble is, I have no idea where to start.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Holding on
A few long, tense minutes pass before Cal comes back into the room.
“He’s gone,” Cal informs us. I breathe a sigh of relief, but I’m pissed that Cal put himself in harm’s way.
“Why the hell did you go out there?” I ask, my eyes wide, my voice high-pitched.
“Because there was no way that he was coming in here.”
“Yes, I know, but fucking hell, Cal, he’s not above hurting you to get to me.”
“I’m gonna go and get some more drinks,” Kim says as she scurries from the room. She clearly doesn’t want to watch me have an epic meltdown at Cal.
“All that matters is that he’s gone, Lucy,” Cal says calmly, walking towards me.
“He’s not gone.”
“He was escorted out by security. I watched him leave.”
“In person maybe, but not up here,” I say, tapping the side of my head. “What if I can never get rid of him? What if I spend the remainder of my life looking over my shoulder?”
Right now, that prospect seems worse. The not knowing, the uncertainty.
“It won’t seem like it now, but in time you will move on, and you’ll be able to move past all of the hurt and anger.”
“I wish I could believe that,” I whisper, my emotions getting the better of me as I start to sob again.
Cal takes me in his arms and holds me as I tremble violently.
“I’ve got you,” he says softly, tightening his hold. “We’re going to get through this, together. Michael will pay, and we will live happily ever after.”
Happily ever after seems so far away.
If only I had the same amount of belief as Cal.
