I couldn't imagine spending a day at work with all these thoughts flittering through my mind, but the reality was I was new in my position and couldn't risk missing a day. I forced myself off the bed and made my way to the bathroom to get ready for work.
To have thought I could spend a day working while I had visions of Preston riding a freaking motorcycle in paradise was ridiculous. More than once I was caught by a co-worker in a daze and my productivity was atrocious. Not only was I mentally consumed with reasons and ideas as to why Preston would even be in Hawaii, my body was like a drug addict who'd just broken their sobriety – I was craving a fix.
I made my way home from work and just wanted to go inside and open a bottle of wine. As I approached my apartment door, I could hear Becky's voice softly coming through the walls and I was immediately relieved I wouldn't be alone. But then I heard a man's voice and my heart started to beat faster in my chest.
Again, my shaky hand inserted the key into the lock and when I got the door opened, I was confounded by what I saw in my living room.
Becky was sitting on the couch and on the other side was Ryan. I didn't even bother stepping inside, I just gave them both curious looks and let my mouth flop open and then snap shut, much like a guppy. I couldn't even string words together to make a sentence.
"Lena, why don't you come sit down," Becky said as she patted the cushion next to her. Ryan didn't say anything, but eyed me warily.
I couldn't explain why I did what she asked, but I had nothing better to do than listen to what she obviously had to say to me. I placed my purse on the floor by the door and walked slowly to the couch, sitting next to her, my head moving back and forth as my eyes jumped from Becky to Ryan.
"How do you two know each other?" I finally managed to speak as the most obvious question came forth first.
"We've known each other a while," Ryan said.
"Yeah," Becky countered, looking directly into my eyes.
"But how?" I whispered. I had a feeling whatever they had to tell me was going to change everything I'd built here in Hawaii. All I'd worked for here, the effort I'd put into moving on and making a new life for myself was going to come crashing down around me with their words.
"He's my brother."
My eyes bounced back and forth between the both of them as my eyes bulged. "Your brother?"
"Her older brother," Ryan added.
"Why didn't you tell me your brother lived here?" I asked her.
"It's a long story, Lena. I promise I'll tell you everything. I just need you to promise you're going to hear us out. That you're going to listen to us before you make any rash decisions about what we tell you." Becky was looking at me with pleading eyes as she spoke.
"What is this about?" I whispered.
"Lena, you have to promise," Becky urged.
"Fine, I promise I'll listen."
Becky's eyes moved to Ryan and she nodded at him slightly, then leaned back against the couch.
"Lena," Ryan started, "we were sent here to protect you." He paused and looked at me as if he expected me to bolt at his words. I looked at him blankly, waiting for him to continue. "She's been here longer than I have and sought you out, made sure you roomed with her so she could keep an eye on you. I came a few weeks later, just to make sure I could cover you when she couldn't." He looked over at Becky and she nodded slightly again, seeming to corroborate what he was saying.
"And you're brother and sister?" They both nodded at my question.
"Only," Becky said hesitantly, "my name's not Becky and he's not Ryan."
"Wait, what?" My eyebrows scrunched up and my forehead wrinkled in confusion. "Why would you lie about your names? And who sent you here?"
"We knew if we told you our names, you'd know who we were and not want anything to do with us," the man whose name I no longer knew answered.
"So, what's your name then?" I asked him.
"I'm Parker."
"And I'm Piper."
My stomach bottomed out at their admissions and my heart nearly flew from my chest.
"You're Preston's brother and sister," I said quietly. Much quieter, in fact, than I wanted to say it. I wanted to scream at them. "Why are you here? Why did he send you?" Surely Preston was behind this, but I couldn't fathom why.
"He wanted me here with you until he could be the one with you," Piper said softly.
"And I came a few weeks ago because, even though he was trying to make his way back to you, it was taking him longer than he anticipated." Parker exhaled loudly. "He just wanted to make sure you were safe."
"Why?"
"Well, that's really his story to tell."
I looked down at my lap to where my hands were laying. I was wringing my fingers together so hard my knuckles were white. I flattened my palms on my thighs and rubbed them on the fabric of my pants down to my knees, trying to calm the nerves that had come over me.
"He's here, isn't he?"
Parker nodded. "He's next door in my apartment."
"Your apartment?" I exclaimed. My body tensed immediately, warring with itself. My nerves came alive, knowing he was so close, but my body fought the urge to run to him, to be with him again.
"He moved into the apartment we first looked at," Piper said.
"Are you serious?" I couldn't believe what she was saying. "Why the hell would the two of you uproot your lives to do this? To be my roommate," I said, gesturing at Piper, "and to go running with me?" I said, looking to Parker.
"Again, we can't tell you the whole story," Piper started, "but it's my fault we're all in this mess."
"And he's our brother. Once he told me what you mean to him, I couldn't not help him."
"What I mean to him? He lied to me! He ruined everything! He thinks he can send his little sister and big brother in to clean up his mess? What an asshole." I stood and started pacing around the living room. How dare he? How dare he! I let out a frustrated breath.
"He's not asking us to clean up after him. He wanted us to make sure you were all right until he could make it to you himself." Parker's voice was soft and I knew he was trying to calm me down while also trying to protect his brother.
"This is all one big farce," I whispered. "If he wanted me, or wanted anything that you've said in the last five minutes, then why didn't he just come for me himself?" My heart ached at my own words. Even though he'd ruined everything, it still hurt that he never came for me. Each day that passed without contact, without hearing his voice or feeling his touch, it was just as painful as hearing that he'd been involved with Derrek from the beginning.
"That's his story to tell, Lena," Piper said, her voice equally as soft as Parker's.
"So what now?" I said as I unconsciously wiped an errant tear that had streamed down my face. I didn't want to cry. I hadn't cried in so long. And even though I knew eventually the dam would burst, all the tears I'd held back would eventually seep through the cracks in my walls and the flood of emotions would crash through me, I didn't want this to happen because of Preston. I didn't want to be surrounded by strangers, because that's who Piper and Parker were to me: strangers. They weren't the people, the friends, I thought I'd gained since being here; they were people, pawns, placed in my life to manipulate me.
"Well," Piper said, the word drawn out slowly, "if you'd like to speak with him, he's waiting next door to talk to you."
I scoffed at her words. "I have to go to him? After all he'd put me through, I have to go to him?"
"He doesn't want to force you to do anything you're not comfortable with," Parker said cautiously. Obviously, they could tell I was dangling precariously from a ledge, about ready to drop into a chasm of all kinds of crazy.
"Oh, he doesn't want me to be uncomfortable?" I asked with snark dripping from my voice. No sooner had the words left my mouth than I turned and yanked the front door open, my strides long and hard as I made my way next door, heading for the apartment I had been in a month previously.
Without pausing, or even thinking anything through fully, I grabbed the door handle and forced the door open. Luckily, it was unlocked, so my dramatic entrance was just as I imagined it, doorknob crashing against the wall and all. I was breathing hard, shoulders rising and falling with my angry breaths, when my eyes fell upon Preston's face for the first time in nearly two months.
He was sitting on a couch, his elbows propped on his knees, his head bowed, resting in his hands. The first thing I noticed was his dark hair and how messy it was, pointing in every which way. When he heard me explode through the door, his face snapped up and I was immediately drowning in the darkness of his eyes. He looked surprised, bewildered almost. As if he was seeing something he hadn't dared to believe existed before.