MADI CLOSED THE door to her room behind her and placed her arm over her forehead as she leaned on the door. A quick trip to the bathroom ended up being an hour-long session with a freshman who didn’t know how to tell her parents she didn’t want to come home for Thanksgiving. Madi had tried to get her to leave the bathroom, but she insisted they talk there as she applied three layers of makeup.
She sighed and sat down at her desk. She lifted a couple of papers and glanced around the room when she couldn’t find her phone. She strained to reach for her purse without having to stand. She pulled it from the bed and the entire contents dumped onto the floor.
“Fuck sticks.”
As she scooted to the floor and reassembled her purse, she noticed a missed call from Jake on her home screen. “Dammit!”
She slowly lifted herself onto the bed as she listened to his message.
She’d wondered why he hadn’t called this morning. He was sick? She hated being so far away. She should have been there to take care of him. She desperately wanted to call him back, but stopped herself, knowing if he was ill, he needed to rest. He’d spent so much time worrying about her that he probably wasn’t taking very good care of himself. Madi stared at her phone for a few minutes and scrolled through her texts from Jake. She heard the ping of a new email on her computer, but she ignored it as she opened her photos. The selfie of Jake and her at the Chinese restaurant was priceless. She adored him.
Her computer pinged again, then again and again. Madi sighed. Her mom must have found some interesting videos about babies for her to watch. She was always sending her stuff to make her laugh. As she opened the laptop, it continued to ping with email after email.
“Jeez, Mom, take it easy!” she said with a giggle.
Just as she was about to open the folder, there was a frantic banging on her door. “Madi? Open the door. Open the door right now! Please open the fucking door.”
Madi jumped up and swung it open. Rob and Kendra burst into the room and Kendra grabbed a hold of her arms, forcing her to look into her eyes.
“Are you okay? Are you okay?”
Madi stiffened as she gaped from Kendra to Rob. Even Rob seemed concerned.
“What? What happened? What’s going on? Is he here? Oh my God, did he hurt Jake?”
Kendra and Rob exchanged glances before Kendra took a steadying breath. The emails continued to ping on her laptop.
“Mads, sit down.”
“No!” Madi broke away from Kendra’s hold. “Tell me right now. Is he hurt? Oh God… is he…”
“Jake is fine,” Rob interjected. He seemed extremely uncomfortable.
“Is it Peter? Is he here?” Madi asked, frantically spinning from Kendra to Rob and back again, hoping someone would answer.
“As far as we know, Peter Markum is sitting in his hotel room in L.A. as we speak. There’s no danger, Ms. Ryan.”
“Why did you just call me Ms. Ryan again? If everything is fine with Jake and Peter’s not a threat, why did you come rushing in here? Is it my mom?”
Kendra pursed her lips as she took deep, steadying breaths. She seemed to look to Rob for some sort of comfort. He turned his head to her and shook his head as if he didn’t know what to say.
Madi threw her hands in the air. “For the love of God, will one of you please tell me what’s going on?” Her emailed pinged again and Madi edged through them toward the sound.
Kendra wrung her hands and Madi pushed Rob to the side as she opened the email on her computer. There were multiple emails, all from the same source. Madi glanced back to Kendra and Kendra rushed toward her. “No! Don’t open it!”
It was too late. A picture appeared on her screen in slow motion. It was Jake. He was lying in a bed. He wasn’t wearing anything, and Allison Gregory was naked on top of him. She was bent over him with her mouth pressed to his.
Madi slid down into her chair as she found herself gasping for air that wouldn’t come. Kendra reached for her hand and Madi pushed her away, opening the next email.
She could clearly see Jake’s face, eyes closed, mouth open, with Allison Gregory’s breast in his hand as she bent back on top of him in ecstasy.
Madi clicked from email to email. Each was a different picture. A different angle. A different method of torture that she couldn’t seem to stop inflicting upon herself. With each new image, Madi felt the knife in her chest dig a little deeper. The sobs began to rack her body and soon, she only saw the blur of Jake’s face. Her body shook as she heaved. Kendra reached for her, but Madi sprung up, covering her mouth with her hand, racing into the hall.
Kendra darted after her as Madi thrashed open the door of a stall and vomited violently. Kendra pulled back Madi’s hair as she twisted to close the door behind them. She rubbed Madi’s back as she heaved until there was nothing left. Madi gasped for air and sobbed at the same time. She dry heaved for several minutes before Kendra wiped her mouth with some toilet paper and flushed the toilet. A broken, deflated Madi slouched into her arms as Kendra opened the door. They stammered out of the bathroom, and Rob gathered Madi into his arms and carried her into her room. He laid her on the bed and placed his hand on Kendra’s shoulder.
“I’m outside if you need me. Just call. I’m not going anywhere.”
Kendra nodded as she climbed alongside Madi and spooned her, hugging her tightly to her chest. The sobs began again as Madi replayed the images of Jake’s deception and infidelity. She’d given him her heart. It wasn’t easy to give. He’d promised. She’d trusted. Deep down inside, she knew she’d never be enough. She knew it was just a matter of time. He lied to her. He lied again. He’d taken all of her, leaving nothing in his wake. He’d taken it all. Love took it all away. Love takes all, including your soul.
