Ugly(146)

The police are here within moments, and Trent is screaming at how Max beat him.

Peter comes out to see why there are police cars and an ambulance out behind his store.

“What happened?” he asks as one of the police officers whose separated Max from me and is taking his statement.

“Trent attacked me, told me he was going to kill me.” Although I can see Trent lying on the ground, I feel nothing for him. He’s rolling around, yelling and crying, but I don’t feel a single thing toward him. I don’t feel the knots in my stomach I used to feel when he hit me. I don’t even feel my pulse hammering through my veins in anticipation of the next blow. I’m completely numb toward him. I have no inclination to go to him and to make sure he’s alright. He’s nothing to me, and I feel just that toward him. Nothing.

“How’s the head, Lily? Your eye looks bad.”

I can already feel my eye swelling, and I know within an hour or two, it’ll be much worse. “I’ve suffered worse.”

“No more suffering.” He walks over to the police officer who’s cuffing Trent and he says something to him. He shakes hands with him, then heads back over to me.

“What happened?” I ask.

“Look up there.” Peter points to the back of the building and I look in the direction. And I see them. A cluster of cameras. “You see them.”

“I do,” I say, as I smile and shake my head.

Max stops talking to the police officer and comes over to me. “You need to get looked at,” he says as he points to my eye.

“No need, it’s not that bad,” I say. “But Peter just gave me some great news.”

“Which is?” he turns to Peter and asks. Peter just points to the cameras and Max lets out a chuckle. “But you still need to get looked at. Come on, I’m taking you to the hospital.”

“But the police?”

“We can go down after you’ve been looked at and give them your statement.” Max leads me to his car, and Peter is already walking with an additional police officer back toward the store.

“I’ll be glad when today is over,” I say as I relax back in the plush black leather seats of Max’s car.

“So will I,” Max adds as we drive toward the hospital.





What a difference a month makes.

As it turns out, Trent didn’t break anything of mine. Max, however, did manage to break two of Trent’s ribs. With the surveillance out in the back of the store, and what Trent said to me, he was arrested for attempted murder.

In turn, it all fell apart for Trent. Audrey pressed charges against him, and he ended up losing his job at the hospital where he was working. They didn’t want a felon working for them. His trial isn’t until toward the end of the year, and Trent is being held in prison until then.

Katherine has been such an integral part of my recovery. She’s been working with me extensively and I’m managing to get through it all.

Peter and Dale were right. I ended up receiving three more offers from publishing companies. And in an hour, Max and I are going to go see the one I’m most interested in. “Are you nervous?” Max asks as he brings me over a hot chocolate.

“You know what? I’m actually not. I’ve been approached by a lot of publishing companies, and I either have to travel, or I can’t keep working on my own list. And if I don’t get a job with one, well I’m busy enough to be able to leave the store if I want to. I’m booked three months in advance with now over twenty on a waitlist. So, no, I’m not nervous.”

“It makes me happy to see you happy, Snowflake.”

“You’ll have to think of a summer name for me, and alter them when the seasons change.” I put my laptop on my lap and finalize the last part of a read-through before I need to send it to my client.

“Did you hear what I said?” Max asks.

“Huh? Were you talking?”

Max stands and goes into the kitchen. “We’re going to be late,” he says as he points to the wall clock above the TV.

“Crap,” I holler as I place my laptop down and run into my room to get changed. Where did that forty minutes go? I change and go out to the family room where Max is chuckling to himself, leaning up against the kitchen counter. “Come on, stop standing around,” I tease as I head out the door. Max follows, laughing at my complete disarray.

We get down into the parking garage and Max jogs ahead, opening my door and waiting for me to get in before he jogs around and reverses out of the spot. “You don’t need to be nervous.”

“I’m not.” But really I am.

“Ha. You could’ve fooled me. You’re fidgeting and you keep fixing your hair. You look beautiful, and I’m sure they’ll be a good fit for you.” I nonchalantly shrug my shoulders, as if it’s not a big deal. “There you go again, pretending you don’t care.”