Elaine’s parents reached out…
Dear Pat and Sue. They accepted me as one of their own. They loved me like a son. And I disappeared on them, cut all communication, didn’t even say Elaine was pregnant or that she died because of me.
“They couldn’t call themselves?” So, I could ignore them. Anna sends me one of her unimpressed looks. The one that tells me she knows I’m deflecting.
“You know they don’t have your new number. Don’t play the dumbass with me.”
Yet, Mark had it.
Now that I was part of the entourage of the biggest band on the planet—Dan Darling being my brother-in-law and Lars Trouble, the stepfather of Aito—I had to follow a strict security protocol to ensure the safety of my son and the band. So I had to change my number, again. I did so when moving to New York, five years ago to cut ties. I did it now to protect my son. You could never be too careful. Elaine’s death had taught me so.
“I’m not going back to Virginia, Anna! I’ve avoided that state for five years, and I’ll continue to do so for the rest of my life.”
I couldn’t go back, but I wasn’t ready to tell her so.
She had pestered me about grief counseling and therapy since she’d fallen in love with Dan and decided I needed help.
I didn’t.
I had everything under control.
Mostly.
I wasn’t engaging in any relationship. I was raising my son as a single father, fortnightly. I was working the job of my dreams, having opened my own bar, Absinthe, a few years back and having it become the hangout of Dan and all his friends. I was holding on, making grief my bitch, and for that to continue, I wasn’t setting foot in Virginia.
“Funny, you would say that Le Pew,” I cringe, hearing my call sign and the voice attached to it. “Twilight was very clear that I might need to drag you by the balls, but my sole mission right now is to bring you back to the Old Dominion.”
“Muffin,” I roll my eyes. “What are you doing in New York? Don’t you live in California now?” Muffin, aka Jackson Cole, handsome asshole, CEO of Cole Security Forces, former SEAL stands before me. I could be glad to see him if it wasn’t for the reason he announced. “Traitor,” I tell my sister, who’s smiling at me.
“You know I could never resist Mark,” she shrugs.
“Who can?” Jackson laughs before jumping over the bar and coming to hug me. Jackson and I were never as close as Mark and I used to be, but we were still friends, I guess. Mark was my swim buddy, and even if we never went on a mission together, we hung out quite a bit and were happy to work together once we both left the U.S Navy. My injury didn’t allow me to continue doing what I loved the most, but I became a consultant and stayed in Virginia to still be at the heart of the action.
It was a good life until it became a nightmare.
“So… you’re a dad now, I hear?” Jackson says, his chin pointing toward the carrier while clapping me on the shoulder.
“Yep. I’m terrified.” I laugh, but it falls flat. Jackson and Anna both look at me with worry, and I curse myself for using the wrong term. After what I went through, I can never say I’m scared or feeling any emotions of fear. It creeps people out. “What I mean is that I never thought I would become a father, a single father, and raise a child with someone as opinionated as Naomi.”
“How much can I extort from you so I don’t repeat your words?” Anna smirks, trying to diffuse the tension and care that fills the room.
Anna and I are thick as thieves. Always there for each other. She knows more than anyone. She’s the only one that knew Elaine was pregnant when she died. My sister has saved my ass a number of times even when she’s mad at me because I’ve slept with one of her friends. To be fair, I’ve slept with them all but one. Not my fault, she has surrounded herself with beautiful girls since high school.
“Don’t you have enough money? You have to extort the poor bar owner that I am?”
“Well, that’s the other reason Mark needs you in Virginia, and I’m here to drag your ass down there. You’re the best at what you do, and we need your help with a high profile personality who doesn’t seem to be what he claims. We’ll pay you, of course…”
“Of course… But not enough money can make me go back to Virginia. You know it. Mark knows it. And Elaine’s parents should know better than throwing a memorial for their daughter. She would have hated the idea.” I finally put the glass down on the bar and walk away, to my office. Going to Virginia means talking about her, seeing our friends, visiting her parents, shaking the hands of people who loved her, loved us, and I can’t.
I can’t be the Oliver they knew. I can’t be the Oliver I used to be. I killed him the same day I killed my fiancée. I destroyed him the same way I ruined my life.
“Ol,” my sister knocks quickly and appears before me with my son in her arms. I already know what she’s going to tell me, and I don’t like it, but I also know I have no counterargument to it.
“Go ahead, give me your lecture,” I sigh.
“You keep saying you’re healed and all good to go, but by refusing to set foot in Virginia, you show me that you aren’t. So I’m going to put my foot down and be extremely clear with you. If you’re as good as you claim, then you’re going to Virginia because Pat and Sue need you there. Also, Mark and Jackson have a job for you. Or, I’m dragging you to
