I read the label on the bottle.
Laricoxin.
My name was printed above the description and directions.
“Get him some water please,” Olivia demanded of Kit, sending my temperature through the roof.
“You go get the water, Olivia. You knew I needed it before you stormed through my crib yelling my name.”
“She’s here to help, right? Or have I missed something?” She looked from me to Kit.
I watched with flared nostrils as Kit inhaled, prepared to speak up for herself. But, instead, a chuckle fell from her lips. She was in sheer disbelief. I wasn’t far behind her. Olivia had grown a set of balls in the last month and a half and forgotten who signed her check.
“No, you are. And don’t ever forget that shit. If you have trouble doing so, I will allow her to remind you.
“Maybe you need to go back out of the door and come back in this bitch after you have a good look at the address on the brick out there. Don’t speak to her that way. Not today, not ever. Understood.”
She nodded, catching my drift. I didn’t have to explain any further. What was understood didn’t have to be explained. Olivia wasn’t new to my lifestyle. She knew exactly what type of time I was on with Kit.
“Sam–” she yelled. “Water for Fohr.”
“Coming right up, boss man.”
“I ca– I will get i–”
“You won’t,” I told Kit.
She was desperate to separate herself from me as her discomfort grew. She hadn’t been immersed in my lifestyle yet. It had only been us for the last month and a half. It was a swift adjustment that neither of us were quite ready for. Coupled with the call I’d just received and my sweet baby was overwhelmed.
Sam disappeared. Olivia walked me through the home that she knew better than me at one point. But, I’d learned more about the pad since being here with Kit. We all huddled in theboardroom. Kit pressed her back against the wall upon entry. I quickly got lost in the new rules and regulations Olivia was spitting in my direction.
Precautions needed to be taken before the game could continue, but there was so much money on the line. The league were continuing the game, although people’s health was at risk.
FOURTEEN
I watched from afar as Fohr’s team huddled around him, throwing one demand after the other. After the tenth rule, he was no good. He was lost in the new concept of baseball. For now, everything he’d ever known had been changed. Everything except the game itself.
The connection we’d developed over the last month and a half was fading with each word his team spat in his direction. And, with each passing second my discomfort grew. I was beginning to feel as though I didn’t belong. I was simply a fly on the wall, taking up space that wasn’t required.
Slowly, as they fired off new pieces of information, I slid across the wall until I felt the cold air from the hallway hit my back. Fohr’s head was in a faraway place, allowing me to slip from his boardroom unnoticed. I rushed down the hallway, up the stairs, and into the bedroom I’d called my own since the first day at his home.
I dumped my things into my suitcase several pieces at a time. Neatness was the least of my worries for now. Leaving the place that had been my safe haven over the last few weeks and entering my truest, safest place was my only priority. It was tailored for moments and feelings and fears just as the ones I was currently experiencing.
Within ten minutes I’d packed away my things and was carrying them down the stairs two suitcases at a time. At the bottom of the stairs they gathered until I was ready to pack them away in my car. I was so lost in Fohr’s world that I’d forgotten mine existed. It was blissful, we were blissful. But, reality had kicked us both in the gut without mercy.
Not only had he received a call from a previous lover, but his team had stormed his place and insulted me in the process. In no time, he’d be on a plane to some place and I’d be home, again, where it all had begun. Life was set to resume and I was still stuck on our time together. I wasn’t ready for it to end, but I didn’t have much of a choice.
So, quietly, I stored my bags, started my car, and pulled out of his driveway with my heart on my sleeves. Soundlessly, I made the journey to the home that would bring me the peace I needed to think better. To see better. To feel better. And, to listen better to the small voice in my head serving as a reminder that no matter how reality sat in, what Fohr and I shared was real. To better suppress Olivia’s question and reminder of my position in Fohr’s life.
Numbness led me to my driveway. I didn’t have the strength to bring my bags in, so I let them rest where they were. I entered the door, welcomed by the familiar scent of my home.
My, I’ve missed you.
But, I miss his more.
Fohr’s place had began to feel too much like home. He was beginning to feel too much like home. Having him snatched from right in front of me was disheartening. Though his absence wasn’t final, it was overwhelming.
A text message vibrated the phone in my purse. I dug around inside, finally retrieving it after a struggle. My heart pumped with hope. I was prayerful of the appearance of an unknown set of numbers on the screen.
