Part 21 (1/2)

Frank got out and said, ”I told you we only have $3000.” What! I couldn't believe he was still haggling with the guy! He must have thought that there was something wrong with it for that price.

”Ah yes, so you did, well I will tell you what, I will let you have her for $3000 plus a kiss.” He said motioning to his cheek and my mouth dropped open. Frank looked at him as though he had lost his mind.

”What is wrong with you? Come on Keira this guy's crazy.” And he started to walk away but I smiled and said, ”So let me get this straight, not only will you drop the price from $6500 but you will knock another $500 off for a kiss on the cheek?”

”A kiss by the prettiest girl I have ever seen. Yes of course,” he said and I couldn't help but laugh at his compliment. I mean what an old charmer! But I had to admire his spirit. So I went up to him and kissed him gently on the cheek, seeing something in his eyes that brought back a memory I couldn't explain.

Frank saw this and held up his hands like Bobby wasn't the only one that had lost his mind.

”Mmm...worth every penny!” Bobby said grinning like a Ches.h.i.+re cat. Frank came up behind him and said, ”Ok Casanova, let's sort out the paperwork.”

I got in the car after Frank showed me the basics and I started to follow him home. It felt strange driving again, more so because not only did it feel like a tank but I kept wanting to change gear as I had never driven an automatic before. I smiled all the way home and if I'd known the town better I would have gone for a longer drive. There was so much room in this thing, I think I could have moved in and still had room for a sink! Frank on the other hand was still expecting it to blow up or something. Well I loved it!

When we got back Libby had disappeared along with her car and Frank got worried so he rang her cell, which she didn't answer.

”Maybe she went to the pharmacy,” I said trying to be helpful and not panic. He on the other hand was imaging things that included the words ”Hospital” and ”Emergency.”

He tried her again on her cell and as before she didn't answer. Ok, so now I was getting a bit worried, why didn't she leave a note or pick up her phone. This wasn't like her, unless her stomach pain had turned more serious and she did in fact go to the hospital. I walked into the kitchen and was just about to tell Frank to call the ER but he was already on the phone and it wasn't to Libby.

”No, ok well thanks.” He finished and put back the handset on the wall.

”She's not at the hospital.”

”Ok, maybe something at work came up?” I said and he grabbed the phone again punching in the numbers impatiently. But before the phone could register the numbers the front door opened.

”Olivia, where have you been?” Frank said in a relieved but frustrated tone. Libby looked innocently at our frowning faces and put a plastic bag behind her, Frank didn't notice but I did.

”What, I just popped out for some Peptol Bismal. Jeez paranoid much,” she said as she walked past us and went straight to the bathroom, leaving Frank and I with the same expression.

”Well, I called your cell like a million times babe and guess what...you didn't answer!” Frank was upset, that much was clear.

”I was driving!” She shouted from inside the bathroom.

”Since when has that ever stopped you?” Frank snapped back.

”Well aren't you the one who's always telling me to be more careful! And what's with the third degree?” She asked through the door. I had gone into the kitchen to put the kettle on and also to give them some privacy.

”Well I was worried, I mean you're ill so I just thought that something could've happened...I mean Christ I called the hospital Libs!”

”Oh honey, I'm fine, look I'm sorry if I made you worry.” And with that I knew it was over as I could hear the sound of kissing, so I got up and closed the door which made them giggle like teenagers.

I couldn't help but think that Libby was hiding something, as the rest of the night she was acting... well kind of weird. For starters she stuffed her face full of the beef stroganoff I made and then she tucked into a tub of Ben and Jerry's Phish food!

”Well, it looks like someone is feeling better,” Frank said as he too dug his spoon into the tub getting out some brown goo of chocolate. Frank had filled her in about our trip to Bobby's and she laughed until she cried especially when Frank added, ”Yeah should have seen his s.h.i.+ny head, it looked more like a solar panel for a s.e.x machine! h.o.r.n.y old b.a.s.t.a.r.d!” Then we were all in hysterics.

”Well it looks like Keira is catching everyone's eye.” Libby said nudging Frank as they shared a not so private joke. I just rolled my eyes and took my plate back into the kitchen, saying, ”Kids” as I went pa.s.sed them.

The truth was I was still a bit freaked from what I had seen in Bobby's eyes. I just couldn't put my finger on it but there had been something deep and lurking about the way he looked at me. I tried to shake it off as I did with most things these days, but it still remained at the back of my mind. To be honest ever since I had met Draven I had felt something in my life clinging on, like my mind was being controlled by another ent.i.ty. It had heightened my senses, adding another one, acting like a third eye. It was making me see things that I couldn't explain and who knows, it could even be controlling my dreams.

I know thinking this was crazy but considering the facts, what else was there? That it was just all down to me and my imagination? Maybe the fact that I had seen monsters in people since I was seven had something to do with it. Either way I looked at it, the same conclusion always came up....

There was something wrong with me.

Chapter 25 - Weeks gone by.

Things at the club changed after the Sat.u.r.day that I walked away from Draven. Weeks had gone by and yet not a word from him. It seemed that he didn't take kindly to being disobeyed and my punishment was being ignored. He didn't even look my way when I went by and the pain of this got worse, not better. The one time I thought I was close to receiving a reaction was when he walked past me at the end of my s.h.i.+ft one night. Only instead of a friendly word, I got an evil glare that made my fists clench and my heart pound in my chest. I was very close to screaming at him but thankfully I was still scared of him and my bravery from that Sat.u.r.day hadn't lasted.

Apart from my nights of being ignored at the club, my days had found a routine. I would spend my time juggling college and working, with the occasional night off, spending it with RJ and the rest of the gang. My problem was that the more time I spent with Jack, the clearer he was making his intentions. I tried to talk to RJ but it fell on deaf ears as she would have liked nothing more than for me and Jack to become an item. It made me wonder how differently I would feel for Jack if I had never laid eyes on Draven.

I had soon got used to my new car and was loving the new found freedom that went with it. I took it in turns with RJ driving to College and it didn't take long before my glove compartment was filled with RJ's favourite CD's. Of course she preferred it when I took my car, as unlike hers, it didn't sound like a lawnmower on crack! She showed me all around the town and I took her out to eat at a Mexican restaurant to say thanks. It felt good to do this again, making me feel less like a teenager and more of the adult I was. We all went to the movies one night and they all laughed at me when I had called it the flicks. However, Jack's flirting never went unnoticed as he made every effort to be near me.

I felt as though I belonged, a feeling I hadn't felt for a very long time. But at the back of my mind were my own demons inching their way to the front, never letting me forget the sense of security that I felt when I was near Draven. It would only stop when I was at the club making me feel as though I had come home. A piece of me was empty and that hole would only be filled when I was there. It was like the building itself was one giant ent.i.ty that fed from my emotions. It wanted me there, it wanted to keep me and it was using Draven as the key.

Then one day everything changed and I was once again thrown into a world I didn't understand. It had started just like any other day, the only difference being that Jack had asked me on a date and this time I couldn't find any more excuses to give, so I agreed. I was caught in the middle of a war with my mind and heart. Both wanted different things. My brain convinced me that after two weeks of silence and being ignored finally convinced me that Draven didn't want anything to do with me and no amount of wis.h.i.+ng it, would make it happen. My heart, of course, didn't want to give up, so it hadn't been an easy decision. I just kept telling myself it's only a date, what's the worst that can happen?

We had arranged for Friday night as I had the night off due the day s.h.i.+ft I was going to do on Sat.u.r.day. I had never worked the club in the day before so I wasn't really sure what to expect. I wondered if Draven would still be at his table as surely they couldn't just sit there every day and night, could they?

I had two separate friends.h.i.+ps with Sophia; there was the usual everyday one in cla.s.s and the other very different one at the club. She had tried to explain it once to me but I told her that she didn't need to explain anything and that I fully understood why this was. She had a position to uphold and couldn't spend the time talking to me when I was working. After all she was one of my bosses.

It wasn't as if she just wouldn't acknowledge me, she would always wave and occasionally she'd come up and say hi but you could tell it was frowned upon by her brother. In cla.s.s though we acted like normal friends, laughing and joking about Reed, and she would do her usual trick of asking a million and one questions about me but never revealing anything about herself. She remained a mystery just like her brother. She never once mentioned him and I never asked.

She did however ask about Jack, the day that he asked me out.

”I noticed you were talking to Jack before cla.s.s, any development there?” She said as she twisted a black barrel curl around her finger.

”Yeah kind of, he asked me out this Friday night and I finally said yes.” She didn't look shocked, as if she had been waiting for it, knowing all along what he felt for me.

”Umm that's nice, you're not working then?” There was something off about her tone but I couldn't put a finger on it.

”No, I have the night off but I'm in on Sat.u.r.day,” I said trying to figure out her expression.

She quickly dropped the conversation as Reed entered the room. My relations.h.i.+p with Reed had smoothed out after the misunderstanding was rectified and the evidence that my work was always handed in early and above all always received a good grade. This wasn't only down to the fact that I wanted to prove a point, in truth it was more down to whenever I spent any time alone with myself, my thoughts would be consumed by Draven and the only way to stop this was to set my mind on a different course. As a result I was ahead in all my cla.s.ses.

It was Thursday and I was working at the club tonight. I got in from college to find Libby home already and cleaning again. Lately Libby had been acting weird, ever since her stomach bug. She would clean constantly and eat everything in sight. I didn't understand her behaviour, as she had never been one of those cleaning freaks or one for over-eating. Granted before I came to live with them, there was mainly junk food and a microwaveable meal on every shelf of the freezer but they were also fitness fanatics. But Libby had stopped doing yoga and gave up her Pilate's cla.s.s at her health club.

I was on my way upstairs after saying h.e.l.lo to the bottom part of her as her head was stuck in the oven cleaning it like a woman possessed, when it hit me! I ran back down the stairs flinging my body round the corner so fast that I almost slipped and shouted, ”You're pregnant!” Her head emerged from the foamy oven and she smiled.

”I knew it! Why didn't you tell me?” I shouted not being able to contain my excitement. She got up and pulled off her rubber gloves, throwing them into the sink. I couldn't help running up to her and giving her a big hug.

”WOW, too tight, too tight” she said as I squeezed my arms around her.

”Oops sorry, but come on tell me, does Frank know?”

”No and I don't want you saying anything, not yet.” She said holding me back by my shoulders so she could look me in the eye.

”Ok I won't but why? Is he not ready?” I asked not believing the question. I knew that he was ready to be a dad, anyone could see that when he was around other people's children... he loved kids!