Is that King?
“She hated not being able to help out today, but you know your sister, there can only be one chief inside her kitchen,” he chuckles again.
Who is he talking to?
“Brother, you need to get your ass home, the boys are getting tired of playing babysitter,” another pause. “Yeah, well, that was before she went and turned all bitchy.”
Is he’s talking about me? Wait, who—Hudson!
He was talking to Hudson about me.
“I told you the other day—”
Hold up! My mind screams, the glittering bitch I’ve never met rears from the back of my mind. Did he say what I think he said? I step towards the door of the room he currently occupies and cautiously open it. King’s back is to me, so I push the door open further and step inside. I know he’s heard me but he doesn’t react. I walk up behind him, and take the phone out of his hand.
He spins and his eyes pin me. We stand face to face before I realize this was a set up. He wanted me to hear him on the phone. He knew I was in the bathroom and had chosen this exact room next door on purpose.
“King? Hello?” I can hear Hudson’s voice over the line. My heart swells instantly but I refuse to go soft, not until I’ve said my peace. King nods and takes a step back.
“You selfish son of a bitch,” I hiss into the phone.
“Alice,” Hudson’s deep voice sounds shocked. I don’t care and I don’t want to hear what he has to say.
“How dare you think you have the right to ask about me? You’ve been gone for two weeks and I haven’t heard a single word from you or about you,” I say keeping my voice controlled. Everything I’ve been feeling the last few weeks begins pouring out of me. “I’m out of mind with worry and grief. I can’t sleep. I can’t eat. I’ve been sick with fear. Maybe he doesn’t have cell phone reception where he is and he’s afraid to use a phone booth because a sniper might attack. Maybe he is trapped in a deep hole in somebody’s basement while the stranger and his yappy dog lowers a bucket full of lotion, all the while yelling at him to put the lotion on. Maybe he’s...dead, swimming with the fishes. But then if you’re dead, surely we’d have been contacted by some form of law enforcement. That is if there is a body to identify.”
“You’ve been watching too many movies,” he chuckles.
“This isn’t funny Hudson,” I say louder. I’m shaking now as it continues to gush out of me. “I know how crazy I sound, how unattractive this is and maybe that’s why you haven’t called. Truthfully, I know I did something wrong Hudson and you should know I can barely stand to look myself in the mirror right now because as crazy as I feel on the inside, trying to figure it out, I don’t want to see what I look like on the outside.”
“You aren’t crazy, though you might sound a little crazy quoting movie plots to me,” I can still hear the amusement in his voice. He wasn’t taking this serious enough, he needed to.
“Maybe you’ve finally realized what I’ve been telling you all along and you’ve decided I’m not worth it,” I hear the sharp intake of breath but I can’t stop. Years of pent of frustration and heartache push me to keep going. “You promised me. You said you’d never do anything to hurt me. You said you’d never make me cry. You’d never make me feel small and insignificant. You lied.”
“Precious,” he says softly but I won’t have any of it.
“Don’t call me precious,” I bark.
“You’re right.”
“Damn straight I’m right,” I huff and the adrenaline rushes through my body fueling me. Wait, what?
“I hurt you,” he admits softly, making my breath catch in my chest. I can hear the strain in his voice. “It was wrong of me not to keep in contact with you. That being said, I didn’t do it because I don’t care about you or because you aren’t worth it. You are baby. I didn’t call because...I’m scared and you make me feel things I haven’t felt in a long time, if ever.”
Shit, did he just say what I think he said? How can I stay mad at him after that?
“I miss you,” I whisper, tears burning my eyes. With the anger and fear now purged from my body, I can feel the words as he says them.
“I miss you too,” he replies and I believe him.
“When are you coming home?”
“I was just talking to King about that,” he chuckles. “My flight leaves tomorrow afternoon.”
“Is it over?”
“Until the trial, yes it’s over,” his words send a shiver of elation through me. He’s coming home tomorrow! “I told King, I’m putting in for some vacation time.”