Chapter 8:
Hailey opened her eyes to see the sun shining in. She grabbed the sunglasses that had been left on the night stand, and got up to shut the blinds. She made her way to the small kitchen steadying herself on the wall. She made a pot of coffee and slid on the counter waiting for it to brew. She picked up the phone and dialed one of the many numbers she knew.
"Yeah?" A groggy voice picked up.
"Am I working tonight?"
"You're hung over aren't you?" Greg asked ready to laugh
"Maybe a little." She answered after turning down the volume on her phone.
"You're not working, hun." He sighed. "But I need to be there tonight so can I go back to sleep?"
"Yeah, sorry, call me before you leave ok?" Knowing she wouldn't get a response she hung up. She knew he would call and therefore he didn't need to justify with an answer. She poured a cup of coffee and took some aspirin. She tried to think of what happened last night. "There was the concert," she thought out loud. Then she looked down and saw her autograph and laughed. "And that too. Then the club. Dancing, kissing, Oh God I kissed him again." She wasn't sure about Nick, she liked him but she wasn't good with relationships. But oh God could he kiss. His pouty lips, the way his tongue danced around with hers. Her thoughts were interrupted by a shrill ringing noise. She grabbed the phone next to her and picked it up.
"Hello?"
"Hey sugar." She immediately dropped the phone. The voice sent chills up her spine. She picked the phone back up, better to show strength than fear.
"What do you want?" She asked cursing herself for not be able to control the trembling in her voice.
"I am going to be in town next week, and I thought we could get together for a drink." He said knowing exactly what he was doing to her.
"I don't think so Jacob, I mean there's this little thing called a restraining order." Ha! She could deal with him, although a conversation over the phone was slightly easier than face to face.
"C'mon sugar you don't still need that do you?"
"As long as I'm alive."
"You know we use to have this great relationship."
"Until you killed my two best friends." Anger was now setting in, she could never forget what he did.
"They never proved it. Besides we were engaged, you shouldn't have been a little whore always hanging out with those two limp dicks."
"What is wrong with you. Get over it, and if you come near me or call me again I will take this to the police." why was she still talking to him, 'hang up'. She told herself.
"That's right you have connections now right? Little miss CSI. You know sugar, you might not want to anger me. Wouldn't want anything to happen to little Greggo." And he hung up.
"FUCK!" she yelled and she threw the phone across the room. It hit the wall and shattered into four chunks. "What am I gonna do?" If she told Greg to be careful he would ask why and want to know the whole long story. She could go to Brass or Vega, but she had no proof yet that he was bothering her. She was scared and frightened. "You're not allowed to cry over him. Do not let him win." she scolded herself. She went into the bedroom threw on sweat pants, a t-shirt, and her running shoes. She locked up her tiny apartment, went down two flights of stairs and took off running. She ran for miles. She had been running ever since she could. When she thought about the phone call she ran harder. It was the only way she wouldn't cry. She ran until her legs felt like rubber, and then she ran some more. She finally collapsed onto her knees. She was going to burst into tears at any moment. She looked up at the street sign and couldn't believe where she was. She picked herself up and although her legs begged her not to move, she walked down the block to the house she knew all to well. The house that was always there to welcome her. The one place she could always turn to. She placed a shaky finger on the bell and pushed.
She could hear someone mumbling something, and then what sounded like someone knocking into a piece of furniture. There was some cursing and then the door opened. "Hailey?" He questioned, not expecting her to be there.
"Hey. I was just in the neighborhood and I thought I would stop by."
He looked out to the curb and noticed her car wasn't there.
She followed his gaze. "Yeah, um, that. I was running."
"You ran fifteen miles just to be 'in the neighborhood'?"
It was then that he saw a tear streak down her face. She looked up and he could see the scared, sadness in her eyes that he had only ever seen once before. "I really need to talk to someone."
He took her close to him and closed the door. He let her cry not saying anything, just lending her his comfort and safety.
