Chapter 31 - Trying to get my groove back

Keegan’s POV

It had been six weeks since that day in the hospital when my heart was so broken that the nursing staff had to sedate me just to calm me down. I was a former shell of myself. I couldn’t work for a while with my broken ribs and other injuries. Thankfully in my three years at the bank, I had rarely taken a day off, so I had plenty of sick leave and holiday leave at my disposal and considering I hadn’t had to make a mortgage payment in months, I had a healthy savings account at my disposal, even after having to repurchase all of the things that I had left at Ryder’s place.

My days consisted of getting up, watching really bad television the majority of the day and then going back to bed. I had become a bit of a hermit lately. I didn’t even have it in me to sketch or create any of my designs, not that I could for most of that time due to my cast. When the cast finally came off my wrist, and the doctor had given me the all-clear to return to the bank, I stayed at home because I wasn’t sure I even wanted to go back anymore. I took that job to make money to save Grams’ house, and now that it was in both our names and completely paid off, there was no danger anymore.

The other change I made was moving out of Grams’ house. Well, she had kicked me out. She did have my best interests at heart when she did so. She told me that I had given up so much looking after her and the house, it was my turn to start making a life for myself. It also didn’t help that the media vans were camped out at the house. Thankfully Mackenna was looking for a roommate, and I moved in with her when I returned from the hospital. She had been such a support to me since I can home, even when I kept her up with the nightmares that invaded my head every night.

The rent was significantly less than what I was paying for the mortgage, so I could last a while before I had to decide what my next move was. I was browsing job options on Mackenna’s laptop when she strolled in with a take out bag in one hand and some shopping bags in the other.

“I come bearing Chinese, fried rice, garlic shrimp, all your favorites.” She advised, waving the bag around.

The thought of food still seemed to turn my stomach six weeks on. At first, I thought it was all of the pain meds they had me on, and now that I was off all of that, I wasn’t sure what it was. I knew Mackenna and Grams were both concerned about the amount of weight that I had lost as they kept trying to tempt me with all of my favorite foods, but I just couldn’t do it. I ate and drank the bare minimum that my body needed to keep going.

“Pass.” I advised, closing the laptop, “what’s in the other bags?”

She placed them on the coffee table and pulled out a little black dress and some tall stilettos, “Tah-dah.”

“Cute, that will look great on you. Are you headed out tonight?” I queried, but she shook her head and continued to look at me. I knew that look. Nothing good could come from that look. “No, Mac, I’m not interested.”

Mackenna pouted at me, “I have let you wallow in your self-pity for six weeks, Keegs. It’s time for you to get back out in the world.”

“I haven’t been wallowing. I have been healing,” I said, trying to defend myself.

“You have been doing both.” She countered, taking a seat next to me, “You’ve got your cast off, your bruises have gone, and you aren’t in any pain at the moment. It’s time to have a shower, shave your legs, put on some makeup and this cute dress I got you and come out for a few drinks with me and a couple of the others. We are all worried about you.”

I sighed, knowing that she wasn’t going to let this go and now that I had the all-clear from the doctor, I had one less excuse not to join her.

“Fine.” I relented, “Just tonight and just for a few hours, okay.”

Squealing, she clapped her hands together before reaching into the bag and pulling out a carton of Chinese food and a pair of chopsticks, holding it out to be. “Come on, if you are going to be drinking tonight, then you need to line your stomach before you do.”

After an early dinner, we spent hours getting ready to go out. I had been basically living in sweatpants and tank tops for the past six weeks, so I had a lot of work to do to make myself presentable. I showered, washed my hair and shaved everything that needed to be cleaned up before blow waving my hair until I tamed my curls into submission. I wanted a different look different tonight, hopefully, a little less recognizable since my picture had been plastered all over the tabloids for weeks after the kidnapping. It turns out being kidnapped and held against your will, combined with being a basketball players girlfriend, was a massive moneymaker. I guess I should say, ex-girlfriend.

I looked at my reflection in the mirror as my eyes threatened to spill more tears at the thought of being an ex-girlfriend. I refused to cry anymore about that man. He didn’t deserve it. Instead, I concentrated on my make-up instead. I applied a foundation and a bronzer to give my skin the golden hue it normally had when I wasn’t held up in a house for a six-week period. Then it was time for the dark smokey eyes, fake eyelashes to add some dramatic flair and a rich wine-colored lipstick to my lips.

The dress that Mackenna had chosen for me was beautiful, but it was a lot shorter than I had worn before, so much so that there was no way I was bending over tonight or I would be giving everyone a free show. The silky smooth satin material clung to my body, clinging to what few curves I had left after my weight loss. The top of the dress was a halter cowl neck, and the back was non-existent, leaving nothing but skin as I could not pull off a bra with it.

When I walked out to the lounge room with my shoes on and my clutch in hand, Mackenna wolf-whistled at me, “Damn girl, someone’s got their sexy back.”
I struck a little pose, pretending to be happy and excited about the night ahead when all I wanted to do was crawl into my bed and go to sleep. But I figured that if I gave her a couple of hours tonight, I could sneak out early, and she might stop stressing about me for a few weeks.

The club she was taking me to was one of the best in town and usually had a line around the block to get into, but Mackenna’s friend was working the door, so we got in there pretty easily. While the rest of the girls were up on the dance floor having fun, I was camped out on the couch that we managed to get, nursing my first drink compared to the others who were at least three drinks ahead of me. They tried to get me out with them, but I was just not in the mood.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a man approaching my seat, praying silently that he would just keep walking. Unfortunately, I was not that lucky, and he stopped right in front of me.

“Is this seat taken?” He asked, not waiting for an answer before he sat down, “I’ve been watching you for a little while. I feel like I know you from somewhere.”

Don’t get me wrong. He was a good looking guy, 6’0, sandy blonde shaggy hair with blue eyes and an alright body. I just wasn’t interested.

“I don’t think so,” I advised, taking a sip of my drink, trying desperately to get Mackenna’s attention so she could come and rescue me.

His eyes widened, “You were dating that basketball player weren’t you? I saw your picture in a magazine.”

“If you don’t mind, I would like to be alone,” I told him, hoping he would take the hint.

He muttered something under his breath, I think I heard the words stuck up bitch amongst others, but he took the hint and searched for another conquest.

Sighing to myself, I pulled my phone out of my bag, hoping that if I appeared busy, I would be left alone. When my phone lit up, I saw four missed calls from Faith which had me worried as it was close to midnight. When I got my new phone, I made sure I got in touch with Faith. I wanted her to know that just because Ryder and I weren’t together anymore, it didn’t mean that I didn’t want to still be part of her life. I went outside, where it was quieter to return her call as the last call was only a few minutes ago.

She picked up on the first ring, and I could tell she was crying. I could also hear some loud banging in the background. “Faith, what’s going on? Are you okay?”

“No.” She sobbed, “it’s Ryder. He’s drunk, and I can’t get him to go to bed. I’m worried he is going to fall and hurt himself.”

I muttered a string of curse words as I tried to think, “Can you call a car and go to your friend’s house? Surely he will pass out at some stage.”

“No. I don’t want to leave him.” Faith replied.

I took a deep breath, “Okay, I will be there soon. Can you let security know I’m coming?”

I hung up from her and went inside to say goodbye to the other girls, Mackenna wasn’t too pleased to hear where I was going, but I was doing this for Faith, not Ryder.

As the cab got closer and closer to its final destination, I started stressing out. What the hell was he thinking getting blind drunk around his little sister. I had never seen him have more than two drinks when Faith was around. I didn’t know what I would find when I got to the house, but I knew I would get out of there as quickly as possible, even if I had to take Faith with me.