Page 49 of Need

“I know,” she responded, lowering her head. “I’m sorry.”

“I trusted you. As a friend, you should have known what I expected when I had you escort Brianna. I’m disappointed.”

Her head lowered further. “I know.”

“You aren’t to leave her alone like that again, Lily.”

She didn’t speak, but I knew she’d heard me.

“She’s recovered from Saturday for the most part,” I answered, somewhat forcefully, continuing to remind myself that it wasn’t really Lily’s fault.

“I’m glad.” Lily was still walking on eggshells, which was good. She should feel bad. “Let me help?”

Considering that I couldn’t reach Brianna this morning, I had an idea. “Brianna isn’t answering the house phone or her cell. She may still be sleeping, but you could go spend the day with her. I have a meeting this afternoon.”

“I can go now.”

“If she is still sleeping, then let her rest. If she’s up, have her call me.”

She nodded.

“I’ll be home early. You can help her make dinner, and have it ready by four o’clock.”

“Anything else?”

“That should be it,” I said. She turned to go and I added, “She had a rough night, Lily. Don’t let her out of your sight for long, please.”

Again, she nodded, and then she was gone. I felt a little better having Lily with her, but this day could not be over soon enough.

Brianna

It took all of thirty seconds after my eyes had opened for me to start crying. I remembered everything. He’d been wonderful last night. It felt so good having him touch me like that. And then...

The tears fell harder. Why did I have to be such a mess?

His note hadn’t helped. Well, it did, but it made me feel worse.

After a long cry, I’d finally gotten myself out of bed, taken a shower, and made myself breakfast. Most of my food went uneaten, however. I just didn’t have an appetite, and every few minutes I had to fight another wave of tears.

The clock read nine thirty when I decided to start cleaning the house. I needed something to keep myself busy, and it was the best idea I could think of. Why couldn’t Brad be coming over today? He would have been able to keep my mind off things. Instead, I was left to my own methods. Dusting seemed like the perfect distraction until a spot on the kitchen floor caught my eye. For some reason it bugged me, and I had to remove it before I did anything else.

With a bucket of soapy water and a sponge, I lowered myself to the floor and started scrubbing. It took some effort, but eventually there was no sign of the spot I’d seen.

I leaned back on my heels just staring at the floor. My mind once again filled with the pain I’d been trying to push away. It wasn’t working, and I didn’t know how to fix it.

I wanted to call him. He told me I could call him anytime, but I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know where to start.

Just then, the main phone rang, causing me to jump. The sudden movement landed both the bucket of soapy water and me on the floor. I was now a wet mess.

Without thinking, I tried to get up and ended up slipping on the sponge I’d also dropped on the floor. I went flying forward and landed face first in front of the stove. My cheek hit the marble tile with force. Tears were now stinging my eyes for an entirely different reason.

Stephan’s recorded voice came on, picking up the call, as I began slowly sitting up. I touched the part of my face that had hit the floor, and I winced as the machine beeped and the caller began speaking. My head rose as I once again heard Stephan’s voice coming through the answering machine, only this time he was the caller.

“Brianna?” There was a long pause. “Call me, please. I’d like to speak with you this morning.”

I heard the click as he hung up the phone, leaving me not knowing what to do. Should I call him back now? Later? I wanted to talk to him, but what would I say? Plus, I couldn’t talk to him this way.

While I was debating what to do, the cell phone in my pocket began to vibrate, making me jump again. This time I managed not to fall or bang into anything.

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