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YESTERDAY'S DREAMS
Chapter Three
The steady, rhythmic typing echoed into the hallways and corridors of the H.O.P.E. center as Katheryn put the finishing touches on the flyer design for the upcoming fundraiser Alex had put her in charge of. Everyone had their respective duties. And the computer genie had her task without hesitation. As soon as she was satisfied with the results, Kath pressed the print button and waiting patiently by the printer, her hand lingering over the large box waiting for some sort of response. Tired of waiting, Katheryn suddenly her the door to the center shut and decided to let the printer make up its own mind.
Alex met her halfway, her face drained from its usual joy.
"What's the matter?" Katheryn asked concernedly.
"It's Sarah," Alex sighed. "She was raped, Katheryn. And the worst part is that she doesn't remember a thing. She can't remember what her attacker looked like. I hope she'll be okay on her own. She's been through an awful ordeal."
"Wow," Kath replied, equally concerned. "That's horrible. How's her son taking it?"
"Not good, I'm afraid. But Trent tried to put him at ease. I think he's doing better now. He stayed at the Malloy's overnight while Sarah stayed in the hospital."
"That's good."
"Yes, it is. Hopefully Tommy talked to him some more. He really blames himself."
"It's not his fault, Alex."
"You're right. But he's a sweet boy, Kath. He loves his mom dearly."
"That's good. Well, I have those flyers printed up like you requested," Kath briefly changed subjects. "If that is all for today, I was wondering if I could head home? I have a short stop to make before I go home tonight."
"Absolutely," Alex beamed, gave Kath a hug and said goodnight.
Meanwhile, Katheryn had a few ideas up her sleeve for the rest of her evening that she couldn't tell anyone about and hoped no one would find out…especially Carlos Sandoval. She'd be heartbroken if even a small amount of her plan managed to slip out to him. And considering how close she was with everyone that would not be a hard task to accomplish.
Katheryn left the assigned place of her errand more aggravated than ever. Not only did they not have what she needed. But they were no longer in business to begin with. She was thoroughly confused why such a place would have the need to close up shop so suddenly within months of having a booming business. But the matter was no longer up for discussion as Kath left it behind, deciding to stop by Uppercuts for a moment before she went home.
Immediately, Kath was happy to see Butch's bright and welcoming face along with Molly's as she planted herself at the bar and waited for a drink that Butch insisted was on the house. She needed a bright spot in her evening for sure.
"So did you do that thing you needed to do that you couldn't tell me about?"
Kath nodded, running her hands through her hair with an aggravated sigh. "Yeah. Didn't happen."
"Oh," Molly shrunk back. "Sorry."
"It's not your fault."
"Still. I have a feeling I know what it involves. So my condolences."
"Thanks," Kath said lamely and sipped on her drink once Butch handed it to her. She savored it a moment before turning back to her best friend. "Any word from Trent or Carlos?"
Molly shook her head. "Nope. But Trent did call the apartment earlier right before I left. He said something about a police report needing to be filed. He said you'd know what he was talking about."
"Yeah, I do. I guess the help they hired hasn't arrived yet."
"Must haven't. I still can't believe they actually hired someone."
Katheryn held back a laugh. "Yeah, they can be picky sometimes. But they're men," she breathed quite frankly. "Plant a man like Carlos in the middle of a room full of pretty women, and a decision won't take long to be made."
"True." Molly let a smile slip. "But it doesn't matter how many girls turns his head, Kath. He'll always be looking at you."
"Stop it," Kath blushed. She ended the conversation by finishing of her light drink and standing resolutely. "Want to come with me? May take a while to sort through their mess up there."
Molly too was forced to hold back a laugh this time, following her best friend behind the bar and up the stairs to Thunder Investigations on the next floor. The twosome was nearly to the top of the stairs when they heard a noise and shrunk back quickly beneath the minimal cover offered to them.
"What was that?" Molly whispered from behind Kath.
Katheryn shrugged. "I don't know. I think it came from the loft." After waiting to hear another noise for a few seconds, Katheryn climbed the last step and scanned across the room. "Oh, my Lord," she whispered, this time in shock as she looked at how clean the place was. "Molly, get up here. You've got to see this."
As Molly stepped up beside Kath, both of them observed what appeared to be a brand new entry area for the firm. In the front of the building by the entrance was a large L-shaped desk complete with a new computer, a printer in the corner, a few filing cabinets, and enough fuzzy pens to outfit a small army.
The two girls although in shock were sent flying back down the stairs as soon as they heard another noise.
"Okay, there we go," a young, feminine voice alerted them followed by a sound of some object snapping shut forcefully.
"That sounded like a magazine clip!" Kath exclaimed just above a whisper. "Don't move, Molly. I'll take care of this."
Before anyone knew what had happened, Katheryn charged forward, overtaking the stranger to the ground. The stranger yelped and wrestled as Kath yanked something from their hands and held the culprit down to the floor. As soon as she had the perpetrator secured, she looked down at her hands in sheer and unadulterated shame. She was holding a wireless headset in her hands. In other words, it was not a weapon of any sort.
Completely embarrassed, Katheryn slowly stood up and off of the young lady and allowed her to get up with a helping hand from her. "I'm so sorry. You must be Kimberly."
The woman was reluctant about taking Kath's hand but gave in anyways. "Yeah. Lucky guess." Kimberly coughed and waited for Kath to hand her back her headset. "Thanks," she shrugged as she situated her headset on her head. Then she raised a finger in Katheryn's face, pushing her back a few inches. "Look! I don't know who you are, and I should probably call the cops. But seeing as clearly you mistook me for someone else, I'll let it slide. But my bosses will be hearing from me about this! And you didn't even have the dignity to use the front door. So if you'll excuse me, I have some calls to make. We're still getting this place set up for business. So please, see yourself out before I call Butch. 'Kay?"
Just then like an answer to an unasked prayer, the door open and in walked Trent and Carlos, the latter pulling off his sunglasses to observe the scene before him, blatant confusion glazed over his face as to why Kim looked absolutely peeved.
Trent was the first to step in between the ladies and gestured to Kath, "Kim Sutter, I'd like you to meet the two women who get the most credit for keeping us in line most of the time. Katheryn Beaumont and Molly Mason."
"Yeah," Carlos cleared his throat and reached a hand around Kath's waist, "I just asked this girl to marry me. If she's been up to no good around here, we might have to call the whole thing off," he joked.
Kimberly glared at Trent. "You could have told me before I made an absolute fool out of myself!"
"Sorry," Trent apologized, quelling a smile.
"Fool?" Katheryn chuckled wryly. "I'm the one that just tackled your new secretary from across the room thinking she was a thief. I think I'm the one to blame here."
Kim's perky grin preceded a scoff. "Yeah, I guess you're right."
"Wait," Carlos held back a laugh on the verge of spilling over. "You did what?! You tackled her? To the floor?!"
"I'm sorry," Kath blushed. "It was an innocent mistake. I just thought…"
Trent raised a hand, careful to end what was a simple misunderstanding before it carried on any further. "It's okay, Kath. We should have explained more. That was our fault," he finished, staring at Carlos for emphasis.
"So," Katheryn cleared her throat. "Do you still need that police report, Trent?"
Trent smiled. "Yeah. I guess I can handle it now though." With that, he ambled in between the girls to his office to open his laptop and take care of the report.
Meanwhile, the three girls remaining talked for a few minutes while Carlos went downstairs to ask Butch something.
Once Trent was finished, Molly excused herself and met Trent with a surprise kiss as he stood from his desk.
"What was that for?" Trent asked, curiously pleased with the gesture.
"No reason," Molly grinned. "I actually was wondering if we could talk."
"Is everything okay?"
"Yeah. I just have a question."
"Shoot."
"Not here," Molly insisted.
"Okay," Trent glanced out of the office at the others. "I have to stop by the grocery store for mom. We can talk on the way. I'll give you a ride home."
"Sounds good," Molly acknowledged with a smile barely on her face.
Once Carlos returned upstairs, Kim pulled him and Trent aside to discuss some necessary business while Kath and Molly enjoyed a cup of coffee in the loft. Apparently, Kim had them all set up with new cell phones and such. Judging by the looks on Trent and Carlos' faces, Kath hoped their pocketbook would survive the new hire.
Molly watched Dallas pass by and held the silence captive for as long as she was able to until she began to feel Trent's eyes on her every few seconds. She knew he wouldn't pry and was resolved to let her speak when she wanted to.
"I never did apologize for the other night," Molly began slowly, glancing over at Trent as he drove.
"You don't need to apologize," Trent insisted. "You didn't want to talk about it. It's okay."
"I know. But I don't feel it was right for me to go off on my best friends like that."
Trent looked at her long enough to nod and then turn his eyes back to the road. "Okay. Apology accepted then. Is that all you wanted to talk about?"
Molly almost nodded yes until she remembered what Katheryn had said. "No. That's not all. What happened to you as a kid…Was it bad?"
Trent's widened eyes as he watched the road gave him away. He immediately realized what Molly was trying to refer to so subtly and wondered who tipped her off.
"I'm sorry," Molly shook her head. "I shouldn't have asked."
"No," Trent quickly interjected. "It's okay. I just didn't expect it. That's all."
Molly held the silence as she kept her eyes fastened on Trent. If he wanted to speak, then so be it. If not, that was his choice too.
Trent gently cleared his throat, took a right turn, and then opened his mouth to speak. "I was around twelve years old at the time. Carlos was around ten. We were with a few other boys at this other kid's house just hanging out. Then one of our friends there starts talking about his favorite show on TV at the time. I think it was a cop show or western or something. Anyway, the kid whose house we were playing at suddenly mentions that his dad just bought an awesome new pistol the week before. All of us were excited. We wanted to see it so bad. So we bribed him to go sneak it away from his dad's dresser since his parents were away. While he was gone, we started arguing about who could hold it first. When the kid returned, we were in awe. He started passing the gun around. But I was too eager. So I reached out for it. The other kid had a death grip on the pistol so much that we began a tug of war on the thing. Next thing I knew, the gun went off. We stood there and watched the life drain out of him. He was gone by the time paramedics came."
"That—that's terrible." Molly was shocked. Trent had never told her this before. But beyond her surprise, she wondered how he had managed to move on from such a tragedy. "How did Carlos cope?"
"He was shocked just like the rest of the boys. But eventually we went our separate ways for a while. I met Walker, and he got rowdy for a time." Trent flashed a smile that faded just as quickly. "I've never been able to fully get past it. But I get by."
Molly wasn't quite sure how she was supposed respond. As a result, the car fell silent as they continued their drive. Trent didn't seem to mind one way or another. And Molly couldn't quite read his face whether or not he was fine or not.
It wasn't until they had finished their grocery store errand and had arrived at the Malloy house nearly an hour later that Molly finally decided to speak up again. She glanced at the evening sky as she got out of the car with an armload of grocery bags and followed Trent through the side door of the house to the kitchen.
Molly set the bags down in a heave and touched Trent gently on the arm, drawing him back from leaving the room. "Thank you for telling me," she offered simply.
As he stopped and turned around, Trent immediately knew what she meant and smiled faintly. "You're welcome. It's in the past. That's where it's going to stay."
"I know." Molly's voice was gentle as she tried to block the images of that boy from her mind. "And since you've told me about what happened to you, I think I owe you an explanation for why I went to New York."
"No, you don't owe me that, Molly."
"Yes. Yes, I do. I went because I was scared to death. I blamed myself for that boy being killed. Nothing like that had ever happened to me."
Unable to find the right words, Trent pulled Molly closer, holding her by her shoulders as he looked into her eyes. "You didn't pull the trigger, Molly. It wasn't your fault."
"I know. That's what Kath told me. But I still felt so incredibly guilty. But you, Trent, you went through something far worse than I did. I may could never forgive myself, but somehow you managed to. I know now I don't have to run from the guilt anymore."
Trent drew Molly to his chest and held her as she let a few tears slip away. It was as if he could feel the weight of her guilt as they held each other close. The feeling reminded him of the way he had felt those many years ago. Neither of them would ever be able to change a thing about what happened to either of them. But between the two of them, they had the one thing that would heal them both. Love.