1 | Chase and Break
“I don’t want to hear it.”
“Aaliyah, please,” Rosalyn begged, following behind her. “Just hear me out.”
“There’s nothing to hear out. I’m not going. And nothing you say is going to change my mind.”
Rosie huffed, crossing her arms before flopping down in the nearest booth. Wild brunette hair unfurled from the bun at the back of her head, fawning across her forehead. She’s exhausted, her normally brightened brown eyes are red with black bags lining them.
“Daxton and I will be there. He won’t try anything.”
Laughing, Aaliyah threw down her cleaning towel to wipe away the stray crumbs on the table. “Is that why you think I won’t go with you? Because I’m afraid Kallen will try something?”
“Yes.”
“I’m not afraid of him,” she confessed. Though the words thrum a chord deep inside of her. She’s not afraid of Kallen. No, she’s never been afraid of him.
“You’re afraid of yourself.” Understanding dawned on Rosie’s face like the sun morning on the horizon. She twisted to the side and crossed her legs, grabbing a sticky menu from the condiment holder sitting against the foggy window. “I can respect your decision to stay away for a while, Liyah, but it’s been months. And none of us have heard a word from you.”
“Oh, now you’re concerned about hearing from me? I thought you’d all be happy to get rid of me after my dumpster fire of a husband rifled through your town with fire and chaos.”
“Aaliy—”
“I killed people, Rosalyn! No one should want me anywhere near them.”
“You didn’t kill anyone, Aaliyah. Liam Russo did.” She shot to her feet, securing her hands around Aaliyah’s face until her knuckles turned white and the blood leeched from her fingers. “He is the monster, not you.”
“Yeah, the monster I can never get rid of.”
“Is that why you’re working in this crappy diner? Trying to hide?”
“No.” Aaliyah spat, sliding into the booth to sit. “I’m not hiding.”
“Kallen said Liam isn’t a problem anymore. You can live your life, enjoy it. Have some fun for once.”
Scrunching her nose, Aaliyah glared at the tabletop. Rosalyn’s hands made her chin and mouth ache, and she vehemently yanked away, massaging her jaw. Sadness eclipsed Rosalyn’s features. She missed her friend. She wanted her back home, where she belonged.
“Some life.” A laugh tinted with fury escaped Aaliyah’s mouth. “Liam may be dead, but he destroyed everything and everyone on his way down. Plus, we still have no proof he’s actually gone.”
“If he wasn’t dead, I’m sure he would’ve kidnapped you a long time ago.”
“Or, maybe he’s waiting for the perfect moment to pounce?"
“And what moment would that be?”
“I don’t know.” Sweat dribbled down Aaliyah’s neck and shoulders, making her white and hot pink uniform cling to her shoulders and breasts. “I feel so gross.”
“Only you would start working at a shitty diner 45 minutes from Kallen instead of setting up house with Liam’s billions.”
“I don’t want his money.”
“Then what do you want?” Rosie asked. “Have you even thought about it? All I see when I look at you is a woman going through the motions. There’s no fire, no passion — nothing! This sadness, rage, depression — whatever it is — will kill you, Aaliyah.”
“My mother’s therapist said the same thing.”
Rosie raised an eyebrow. “You spoke to your mother? When?”
“A few days ago.”
Stomach churning, Rosie reached out to grasp Aaliyah’s hands as she collapsed in the booth across from her. Both of them were sick with worry, falling under the strain of exhaustion and frustration. Where was life supposed to go now? Everything was in shambles.
“How is she? How is your sister?”
“As well as can be expected, I guess.”
“And that means…?”
“My mom is in therapy, but she’s pretending everything is gravy and perfect. She refuses to talk about what else happened in the warehouse where Liam kept them both, but I know it’s worse than I think.”
“And Myrah?”
“Currently in an asylum.”
“Wait—What? Since when?”
“Since she nearly beat a guy to death on the side of the road who looked like Liam.”
Wincing, Rosie dropped her head. “I’m so sorry, Aaliyah. What can I do?”
“Tell Kallen to leave me alone.” Aaliyah hissed. “Tell him what happened between us is over and it’ll never be fixed. Tell him I want nothing to do with him!”
“But you love him.”
“I did.” She agreed, voice wobbling to hold onto the stale lie. “I did love him and I don’t know why, but I refuse to be with the man who arranged my sale to a man like Liam Russo.”
“You don’t know that is true. Liam could have lied.”
“Yeah, he could have.” Aaliyah rose from the table as the door dinged. “But I doubt it.”
Rosalyn bid her goodbye a few minutes later, sauntering out to her brand new car wearing a grim expression. For the last few months, she’d made the trip to the small oceanside town where Aaliyah ended up. She was struggling to pick up the pieces of her life.
Nothing made sense.
If what Liam said was true… then everything — everything — with Kallen was a lie. How could he have been so cruel? So thoughtless? And what was his aim?
“Who was she?”
“A friend,” Aaliyah answered, turning away from the dirtied glass front door to glance around the nearly empty diner where she worked. Cracked red and white booths surrounded a generous elbow-height bar top. Chipped linoleum tiles crunched under her sneakered feet as she walked, heading for past the blinking, dated neon signs, and crooning jukebox to find the payphone.
“I didn’t know you had friends, Aaliyah.”
Rolling her eyes, she walked away from him to get space. His presence brought the hairs on the back of her neck straight up. With a shiver, she closed her arms around herself.
She groaned under her breath as the man followed. “I have friends.”
“Like her?”
“Yes.”
“Interesting.”
“Is she single like you?”
“I don’t remember telling you I was single.”
He smirked, eyeing her. “I’ve never seen a man come in here for you before. So, I just put two and two together.”
“You put two and two together?” She mimicked. “I wasn’t aware you could count so high, Tim.”
Rage colored his skin red. “You know, you’ve got a smart mouth."
“And you’ve got a useless one, but I don’t complain. Could you leave? I’ve got a call to make and I’m not too keen on eavesdroppers.”
Mouth floundering, Tim sputtered unintelligent mess.
“Everything okay over here?”
Aaliyah sent a thankful prayer upstairs when the new busboy, Travis, interrupted Tim’s interrogation. Brown eyes met hers anxiously. Sending Travis a soft smile, she nodded as her teeth disappeared behind the plushy maroon curtain of her mouth.
“No, I need to make a phone call, but Tim can’t or won’t take a hint.”
“Why you—” He clenched his jaw and straightened. “I’ve got a good mind to teach you something you’d never forget.”
“Tim, she wants to make a phone call. Step away.” Travis stood up to him, arms and legs shaking like a chihuahua in the winter. “Leave her alone.”
“Mind your own business, whelp.” Tim sneered, breathing heavy stinky breath on him. “She needs a strong hand to break her.”
Those words sent a familiar shiver down her spine, but she refused to curl and hide. Aaliyah relaxed her shoulders and crossed her arms, letting the annoyance wash over her like a flood – like armor. With steely eyes and twisted lips, she refused, sharp as a whip.
“The last two men who thought they had a strong enough hand to break me are dead.” Tim’s eyes popped wide. “Want to try your luck? I’m interested to see if I can make it 3 and 0, in favor of me.”
“Tim!” Another gruff voice called. “Get your ass back to this kitchen and finish those dishes before the early dinner rush comes.”
What the old manager considered to be a rush on Wednesday was the neighboring town’s popular kids who popped in after school. They came in a pack of 20 or 30, wearing their blue and white letterman jackets and shorts. She hated working on Wednesdays, Tim was bad enough, but the football players leering at her made her skin crawl.
“We ain’t done, tits.”
“You better hope we are, otherwise you’ll be looking at the ceiling of hell a lot sooner than you planned.” He doesn’t respond with words, just a hawkish look over his shoulder as he trudged off to follow Ralph into the back.
“You alright, Aaliyah?”
She smiled at Travis again, friendly but not flirty. He returned it, close-lipped. Apprehension swam across his features and he turned to walk away, stopping at the bar counter to throw one last look her way.
“Is what you said true?”
Tipping her head to the side, Aaliyah studied him with furrowed eyebrows. “Is what true?”
“What you said about those men? That you killed 2 of them?” His voice gained strength as he continues to speak. “Did you really do it?”
“Now, now, Travis, a lady never tells her secrets.” She cautioned, winking. When he walked away, she dropped the bravado with a pained sigh. Just a few more months and she’d be free from this place, and she couldn’t wait for that day to come.
