Chapter 71

Anna
I lay over the toilet and continue to dry heave. This is the worst punishment I have ever received.
"What have I told you Annabelle? I have warned you over and over again, to come home right after school." Father yells from the other room.
I can hear Jed attempting to calm him down but it's no use. Father's anger has triumphed over everything. I heave once more and lay my head on the cool toilet bowl, hoping my stomach will stop attempting to get rid of the rest of my dinner.
"Darling. Why do such a foolish thing." Mother asks from beside me. I can feel her hand pull my hair, the hair that hasn't been ripped out of my scalp, up and past my face so that she can survey the damage.
I had gotten home late. Father had told me all week that I was to be in the house by six pm each night. I didn't understand why, and he wouldn't tell me, so I disobeyed him. Truth is, I wanted him to react. I wanted him to punish me. The mission was over. Nicholas Cole was in New York, he no longer wanted anything to do with the business, and Jared and Laynie were happy together. I'm sixteen years old and he still acts like I have a chance at changing Jared's future. I was done.
I blink back the blood seeping past my eye. It burns my vision, but I welcome the moisture. Father gave me a beating I would never forget. He beat me badly and I thought it was over. Until pain like no other radiated from the pit of my stomach, poison. My father had poisoned me. If it weren't for Jed, I think he would have killed me. I had come home and seen a few bottles of scotch on the dinner table, I don't know what could have caused father to drink so heavily, because he never did, but whatever it was, it was bad.
"It's all your fault. You had one job. Seduce him and get him to fall in love with you. You couldn't even do that. What's worse, is that your best friend is with him. Do you know why? She is prettier than you, more beautiful, you are nothing but a pathetic, ugly girl."
Although they are mere drunken words, the pain they are causing is destroying my heart. I can feel the heaviness of the night, of my life, weighing down on me. I don't know how long I can keep this up. Jed is twenty-one and is an adult. He could easily leave and tell father to fuck off. Instead, he stays, every night, like a dog waiting for its ever-intending treat. Is that what my life is going to result to?
Father says something to Jed and a second later mother is standing up and moving away from the bathroom. I can feel the whole house shift and suddenly father is standing above me. He tugs my hair and pulls it until I am standing up as well. I scream out in agony, but it is wasted when I get a punch to the gut. I try and topple over but he holds my face in his grasp.
"My daughter, my simple-minded girl. You are going to wish you died tonight." And just like that, my mind finds the darkness.

Another nightmare.
Another memory in order.
Two sixteen am.
I sit up in bed and rub my eyes, attempting to block out the last remnants of a sleep deprived moment. The nightmares are becoming more and more vivid. This time, I could swear I felt the broken ribs, the swollen eyes and lips, and the bruises all along my torso. That was the worst punishment father had ever given me and thanks to my insight with Jed. That was the same night father found out that Nicholas Cole, had played him.
Nicholas needed someone to drive the FBI away from him. When he met father and father told him about the business opportunity he had in mind, Nicholas obliged him, but not in the way father needed. Weeks later, father was being tailed by a FBI agent, although we didn't know it at the time, that person would soon be responsible for putting Jed away.
I hop out of bed and walk over to the restroom. I damp my face with a towel after splashing my face with water and head back over to my lonely bed. I check my cell phone and see no messages or missed calls from before I went to sleep. It was such a long day and the previous night was filled with no sleep that as soon as I hit the pillow sheets, I was out.
I try and go back to sleep but my mind starts wondering. It was a pretty effective week for me. Alan and I were flirting through texts, both excited for our non-date/date on Saturday, and work was busy and profitable. James had explained to me that it should get even busier over the next few weeks. People always got together with friends and family for the holidays and they always wanted to look their best. That was our cue and paycheck.
I had gone down to the address Jed had wrote on the last letter he sent to me but when I arrived, it was an old abandoned mansion. I didn't know what that meant. I suppose he could have wrote the wrong address or been one digit off from being in a hurry, but knowing Jed, that wasn't it. I was supposed to see something when I was out there. Either I was losing my touch, which I seriously doubted, or I didn't spend enough time out there. I have a distinct feeling, that even though father has yet to be in contact with me, that he is having me followed. I couldn't risk finding something without knowing his move.
I walk around my surly apartment and find things to occupy my time and mind. I mop, vacuum, wash dishes and do unnecessary loads of laundry. By the time six in the morning comes around, my body is feeling exhausted and I walk back into my bedroom just in time to see my cell phone flashing. I run over and curse myself for not taking the phone off silent. Jed could have called from the unknown number or even father. I smile with vast enjoyment when I see a message from Alan, telling me to have a sexy day.
My smile is contagious. I can't help the glow I can feel my cheeks creating. Leaving Alan last night was not easy. His pride was hurt, I knew the feeling, and knew that he would prefer to be alone. I was proud that he was able to stick up to his parents, asking them not to interfere and let him deal with it himself, must have been difficult, but I knew that was what he needed. When he told me he just needed some time and space, and that he was exhausted, I simply nodded my head and headed home. I kissed him hard before I left because not only was I going to miss him this week because our busy schedules would keep us apart, but I needed him to know that I never saw him the way those reporters made him out to be. No one in his family does as well, but in the end, that's up to Alan to figure out on his own.
I reply back, telling him to have a good day and to text me later. I head into the shower and get ready for my long day as well. Laynie text me yesterday while we were out walking through the shelters telling me she wants my help, asking if I can go with to see her sister in law's mother, Jessica. She used to be a chef and owner of a café that burned down a few years ago and since she was injured in the fire, she chose not to do anything with the remains of the café. Laynie wants to ask Jessica if she will come over to Maggie's. I know it means a lot to Laynie because it will not only be helpful. It will stay in the family.
I head down the hall after locking up my apartment and stop when I reach the elevator doors. I stare at the contraption that only a couple of days ago, I went insane on. I haven't checked the elevator since Saturday morning. It took everything in me to once again go into the enclosed space and found nothing. I know Sunday are no mail days, but I'm starting to wonder if Jed has someone else delivering the letters into the elevators.
I look at my watch.
Eight forty-six am.
I stare at the contraption heavily. If I look closely enough, I can see the smear of red from my nail polish from me going at the doors with all my might. I shake out a breath and press the up button.
This time it only takes me mere seconds to find the letter. It's right where I thought it would be. Instead of heading back into my apartment, I head to my car and open the letter. I know for a fact that father has my apartment bugged, but I don't think he would think twice about my automobile.
I sigh an exhausted sigh and rub my temples. By far one of the longest letters he has written to me so far. No pictures line this letter this time, but inside the letter, Jed explains to me that he wants to meet up again. I am told to call and request a meeting with him through the prison and once I have the meeting, I am to text the number that he texts me from and let him know the time. The whole letter makes me feel immensely uncomfortable. I still do not know who is exactly on Jed's side, and if this unknown party is even loyal. He could be father's inside man for all we know. Jed obviously feels comfortable enough letting me in on who this person is because my guess is he will allow me to meet him or her.
I sigh once more, then head into work. There is something I need to do first.

"Those will kill you, you know." I say to Chip once I arrive at Creations twenty minutes later. The weather has gotten much more frigid now that the Christmas season is drawing closer. Even with my light jacket covered by my sweater and scarf, I'm still freezing.
"Nah, I'll live to at least a hundred." Chip remarks as he puts his cigarette out. I had texted Chip this morning and asked him to meet me. I know he gave me the picture last week and now I need a bigger favor to ask of him.
"Thanks for meeting me. Need to see if those cameras you think no one knows you put up, caught something the other day. Chip stills for a second but obliges.
"You can come up and watch the tapes yourself, but do me a favor, some day, when all of whatever the hell you are doing right now, ends, you owe me a drink and an explanation of why I can never pull a wool over your eyes." Chip heads inside his gym and I follow behind him.
Once inside, Chip announces he is going to be in his office should anyone need him. Before following him to the corner small space, I look around. I hadn't noticed before, but I have never been inside here.
It's huge. Large brick walls that are corridor to each other. A huge square boxing ring in the middle with weights, machines and matts surrounding it. There is also a pair of double doors off to the side and judging by the steam and half naked men walking through it, are the showers.
I get a tap on my shoulder and turn around to see Chip giving me a questioning look. I nod my head when Chip asks if I'm alright and I follow him into his office.
"Not really good at this kind of shit, but you can kind of see the car from this angle." Chip says as I take a seat at his large oak cherry colored desk that must have cost a pretty penny.
I take a seat and notice Chip only has one angle on his system. If alone I could work with this security system more, but I don't want to show Chip too much.
Never show anyone more than what they expect of you.
Chip must sense my alertness of being alone, because he excuses himself and tells me to call out for him when I'm finished. I nod my head in appreciation and get started as soon as Chip closes the door.

Raul Rampolla. The name I used to cringe to when I was too young to know why. Raul was Nicholas Cole's right-hand man. His muscle when the drug lord wanted to get bloody but didn't want his designer suit getting dirty.
When father and mother first introduced us to the Coles, he made certain that we knew who Raul was to all of us. Father wanted the power Nicholas had, the ultimate ability to control anyone with a flick of a wrist or a deathly look.
Father wanted Raul.
I once saw Raul beat a man to a bloody pulp because he disrespected Nicholas. Jared wasn't home. His mother was. It was in the summer, right before school started for me and unfortunately that meant father and mother brought me everywhere. Jared's mother was in some sort of sewing room when we first arrived, and upon seeing me, asked mother if she could show me what she had been working on. To this day, I don't know if she knew what her husband was up to all those years but after she shut the door and started showing me each and every loud machine she had, I heard loud sounds and a few screams coming from the very room my parents were in.
I rushed out to see what was happening and there he was, Raul Rampolla beating a man, someone I hadn't even seen come into the house, to a splinter of a person. At first, I thought I would get into trouble. Maybe I wasn't supposed to be seeing any of this, but when father grabbed me, held my face tightly with his hands and told me that this was the business I would one day help Jared inherit, and made me stare at the rest of the horrible scene, I knew this man was not one I would ever want to cross.
"See the guy I was mentioning?" Chip says coming into the office. Even though I was facing the door, my mind was elsewhere, so Chip startles me when he walked inside his office.
"Yeah, I do. Same guy you saw, different angle. The driver isn't seen. I don't know who it might be, but thank you, for showing me this."I shut down the computer and walk over to Chip.
"Yep, just glad I could tell you who the fucker is. You recognize him?" I nod my head, but don't give him any more information than that. Chip gives me a stare letting me know he knows what I'm doing but lets me walk past him.
Once I get inside Creations, I check my phone.
Nine eleven am.
Just a few minutes late for my shift. Meghan meets me half way to my office so that we could talk about a few upgrades I have thinking about doing to the salon. Her brother in law is a contractor and since Jared has been so busy, and mostly doesn't work on small businesses, I told her I would go through him. After an hour of speaking about new floors and an upgraded pampering room, I finally find myself with peace in the confines of my office.
Checking emails, making phone calls, confirming appointments, it all no longer feels like the highlight of my day. I used to crave my day, it was my escape into the normal world.
I catch myself wondering what Alan is doing each moment of the day, where he went to lunch, what his class is learning today, even something as stupid and pathetic as to wonder if he is thinking of me. I have become one of those girlfriends. Girlfriends. The word seems to foreign to me.
Even though I don't have the right intentions, I couldn't help but smile, just like I can't help it now, when I think of how proud he was to announce us to his parents. I wanted Sunday to be a surprise for him, and although my father has yet to be in contact with me, I don't doubt he knows Alan and I are together, or that we went out to the shelters on Sunday. What I wasn't counting on was the reporters or the story of Amari.
I have known the Kings all my life, and it feels strange knowing they went through this huge ordeal without any of us knowing. Makes me think of what poor Alan must have went through. He has always felt the need to be protective and strong. That must have been a moment that nearly broke him, and not telling any of us, must have driven the knife deeper into his heart.
My stomach grumbling alerts me that it must be nearing lunch time. I check my clock on the wall above my office door and see the time.
Two-fourteen pm.
I've been in the office for hours. I know that I have been neglecting my duties here lately so today was a bit of a catch-up day, but I didn't think I would get this carried away. I stand up and head to the breakroom but am caught off guard when I see someone that has been on my mind for the last few hours.
Alan stands right in front of the customer service desk speaking with Samantha. My smile is all consuming and I practically run over to the front desk to greet him. Before I can meet him, I'm cut off by a barely dressed Delilah shouting his name.
"Alan? Oh, my goodness. What are you doing here?" This bitch's voice gets so damn high I swear I can blow balloons up with her breath.
Alan swivels his head from Samantha over to Delilah and his smile nearly falls off. That small falter of movement is all the confirmation I need that the happiness spurting from Delilah's large ass, is one hundred percent one sided. Alan isn't here for her, he's here for me, but I for one, want to know how they know each other.
Jealousy is an ugly bitch.
Alan comes around the corner, thanking Samantha on the way and meets me half way. Delilah gives me the evil eye once he reaches me and I take the opportunity to really smother in the green-eyed devil sitting on her shoulder. I grab Alan's light blue dress shirt and my lips find his in a hurry. I don't think, I just react when his lips begin moving with mine and don't stop until I her a few cat calls. When I open my eyes, Alan is smirking and as much as I want to smack it right off his smug face, I smile back. Delilah is nowhere to be seen by the time we come up for air and when James comes over and tells me to go to lunch and take my prince charming with me, I oblige.
"I can't believe Delila works here." Alan says as I drag him towards my office. I can't explain my feelings right now, but I know I need to get him alone and quickly. My lady bits feel like they need to grind against this man.
"Anna, if you are just getting your purse, I intended on paying when I showed up here." I hear him speaking but my mind isn't comprehending his actual words.I drag him into my office, shut the door behind him and claim his lips once more.
His hands are everywhere. My hips, my back and then tugging at my hair. He knows I love that. I pull his neck farther down and deepen our kiss. I have never felt this kind of exhilaration in my life. Delilah knows him, she thought he was here to see her, and according to her brightened face, she has a bit of a crush on him. Every thought I had when seeing her attempting to flirt with him, had one booming word collapsing over itself again and again in my mind. MINE.
"Fuck, Anna. You've got me hard babe. If I were to know just coming here to surprise you with lunch was going to get me a kiss like this, I would have done it a lot sooner." Alan says breaking the kiss.
I laugh in his face and shy back a little. I guess I did practically maul him when we came in here. I can't completely help it though. Now that we are together, and I have a plan to stop father, so he can never hurt Alan, I feel like I can finally breathe easy and be with Alan the way I've always wanted to be.
"Sorry, guess I missed you more than I thought."
"That or maybe you are dying to know how I know Delilah, and you were out there making sure none of the other lionesses were able to take your poor defenseless little gazelle." I smack his chest when he laughs at his own corny joke.
"So, you want to tell me how you know medusa?" Alan simply smirks at my nickname for her, he has no idea that's one of the kinder nicknames I give her.
"She's my neighbor. I had no idea she worked here though, although now it makes sense why she dresses the way she does in the winter."
"Hey, I don't require my employees to dress like homeless hookers, Delilah is one of those sexy wonderers or something, she dresses the way she feels, and people seem to like it, so I allow it, she's mostly covered by our apron anyways."
I don't tell Alan how much of a relief it is to hear that he only knows Delilah in passing coming to and from his apartment, but I think he can tell judging by that obnoxiously sexy grin he's sporting.
"So, you're here to take your girl to lunch?"
I grab my purse behind me and he extends his hand out to me. He has no idea how much I secretly love his gentlemanly gestures. I always tell him that I hate them, that they are nothing but little valentine's day quirks from people who just started dating in high school, but I think Alan knows me well enough to know how I really feel about them. Just like he knew about me wanting to know his and Delilah's situation.
Alan and I walk to Luigi's and once inside Alan walks over to the corner table we sat at before while I go and put our order in. I had asked Alan to pick the table because I wanted to know if Laynie had a chance to speak with Luigi about his expansion into her restaurant.
"Luigi, the usual please, plus a BLT and cobb salad." With a nod Luigi starts grabbing bacon and some bread while I palm the credit card in my hand that Alan gave me.
"So, Anna. How's things sugar?"
Luigi is originally from Puerto Rico and was the first person to graduate from high school in his family. His father was the original owner of Luigi's and when Luigi got old enough, he took over right after high school. He has done amazing with the place and has had many offers to buy, but he wanted to keep it in the family. Luigi has three children. His oldest, Simon was just accepted to the University of Ohio and his other two children want nothing to do with the deli.
That is part of the reason why he wants to see if he can give some business to Laynie. At least his recipes would be going to someone that would appreciate them like he did. Last thing he wanted was to have someone buy his café, just to tear it down and make a parking lot or something.
"Going fine. Has Laynie agreed on your partnership?"
Luigi gives me a warm smile and nods his head. Laynie has eaten here with me plenty of times and loves his food like I do. If anyone can make sure his family's legacy continues through his food, it's Laynie Cole.
The food is ready, and when I turn around I see Alan looking over at me strangely. I smile and head over and before I can say anything he beats me to it.
"My dad texted me. Looks like he has this family interview thing for the campaign and he wants me there to do it."
"Oh wow, that's pretty early in the campaign. Are you going to go?" I know he just started the school year and hasn't gotten any kind of break yet. The school most likely won't have a break until just before Christmas.
"Not sure I'll even be able to. Christmas break isn't for another couple of weeks, but it looks like I would only need to take Friday off. It's on Saturday and then I can fly back home Sunday afternoon. I know I'd be able to do it, it's more about what I would be going for that has me a little nervous."
He's talking about what those reporters did to him yesterday. I don't want to hurt him, but he must know that those people are vultures and that they will dig anything they can up. He made his wrong right and he got help. Alan is now a recovered alcoholic and Edith forgave him the moment she awoke from her coma. It's time Alan forgave himself.
"Alan, don't you think you're being a little too hard on yourself? I mean, everyone has a dark past they don't want people to know about. Yes, yours has more of a nightmare to it, but other than that, you are perfectly normal. Hell, I'm sure they dipped into your parents and saw that they had you the year they got married, to some American's, sex before marriage is a terrible sin."
"Yes, I know that Anna, but people will understand my parent's situation. Most will except that because they have been in their shoes or know someone that was. But I'm the bad guy in my story. I'm the big bad wolf that Edith had to come across one fateful night. How do I accept that?"
His face contorts to agony when he says her name. I know he feels one hundred percent guilty for what happened that night, but the truth is, I was the one to blame. I'm also the one that didn't say or do anything to help him when I noticed him spiraling out of control. I saw the signs and didn't help my friend. This time, I plan on being there for him his whole way back to recovery.
"Why don't I go with you?" Alan looks up at me in shock and after a few seconds gives me the smile I love to hate. That damn smirk I want to muse my lips with.
What have I gotten myself into?