Page 36 of A Different Form of Oxygen
I must have been more tired than I thought. I wake up abruptly to the dim room from the sun fading. I slept the whole damn day away. My rumbling stomach reminds me I haven’t eaten since breakfast. Gavin will be lecturing me about that if he finds out. Picking up my phone with an unopened text message from Gavin has me smiling.
Gavin:Good morning my Beautiful angel. I miss you already.
My phone beeps again with another alert and I didn’t know how quickly that smile could fade when I saw an email from an unrecognizable address with the subject,I found you. With blood rushing out of my body, my fingers shake around my phone, my eyes reading those words repeatedly.I found you.
If only I would have deleted the message and not read it. It would have made it easier to forget. It would have made the silence in my house less unnerving. The loud thump of the air conditioner has me jumping up. Sharp prickles line my skin, raising the hair on my arms. No matter where my eyes land, I can’t escape the words.I found you.
It didn’t take long for me to run to the kitchen and grab my keys before slamming my door shut behind me. I leave my driveway in a hurry. Needing to escape to anywhere but there. Reading that email made me feel as if David was in that very room, watching me. I had a hard time even glancing out my window, afraid I’d see his face on the other side. It wouldn’t be the first time. I head to the place I always did when I felt David’s shackles trying to weigh me down, a place I could that reminded me I am free from David.
The drive to the tattoo shop felt like it took forever, but here I was sitting in the chair so I could feel something other than David in my head. I flinch at the coldness of the needle and Drake lets out a laugh.
“Well, if you can’t make it past the needle touching your skin, I doubt you can make it going through it.”
I roll my eyes. “It’s not my first rodeo. It was just cold and caught me off guard. Continue, I’m ready now.”
He arches a brow, bringing the needle back to my skin and this time I stay still, focusing on the softness of the chair beneath my body. Letting the pain from the needle be the only thing I think about. The sharp piercing sensation doesn’t last long and is replaced with a throbbing soreness. Drake cleans around the site of the piercing.
“Well, you took that like a champ, almost as if you weren’t even here when it was happening. Let me grab you a mirror.”
For a minute I wasn’t there, and I wished I stayed gone from my reality. I ran my finger over the new silver stud in my nose. The restlessness inside me always caused me to make drastic decisions. I usually got a tattoo or got a new piercing to help calm my nerves, and the pain helped me focus on things other than the constant commotion in my head. After stumbling across an email from the last person in the world I wanted to hear from, David’s words from old memories came flooding back.“You will always do what I say won’t you, you are not allowed to do anything to your body I don’t approve of. It belongs to me. Not to you or anyone else. Don’t ever forget that, sweet boy.”
The instant I was free of David, I wanted to do all the things he forbade me to do, all at once. The more I did, the further away I felt from David’s clutches. Reading that email gave me back that feeling I hadn’t had in a long time.The pure unadulterated terror of being near David. The message I deleted earlier still remains in my head.“I will always find you; you will always belong to me no matter where you go, my sweet boy.”
Drake holds up a mirror in front of me taking me out of my reverie. “What do you think?”
I grip the handle tightly, touching the cool metal of the stud shining in the mirror. “It’s just what I needed. Thank you.”
“Great; you know about after care for piercings, right? Make sure you soak it in saltwater solution while it’s healing for a few minutes at a time, twice a day.”
“Got it. Thanks again, Drake.”
“Great; you can head to the front and Stephanie will be more than happy to take care of you and any time.”
I smile, a slight sting pinging against the skin of my nose as my lips stretch wide. “Until next time then.”
I hop out of the chair, searching for Stephanie, until they land on a distracted Gavin. The pain in my chest is excruciating when I think of what I need to do to make sure he remains safe and as I hate doing it, I’d rather break his heart than have something worse happen to him. I didn’t expect to tell him now. I can’t do it here, not with Drake around and strangers coming in and out of the shop. My breathing becomes heavy and with a racing heart, I move closer to the front desk. Unable to form words, I clear my throat instead. His brown eyes move from the computer to me. The movement of his chest rises and falls heavier than before and his eyes widen.
“Hey there, Angel. Where have you been hiding all day?”
I touch my nose with the tips of my fingers, bringing his attention closer to my face. It’s almost as if his eyes are burning a hole into my skin. Having them on me for this long is too much so I finally say something.
“Hey, Gav. I just came from the house. I fell asleep earlier and time got away from me. I need to pay for my piercing. I was looking for Stephanie. Do you know where I can find her?”
He smiles, warming my insides. “I’m Stephanie for the next hour. She is on break. I can get you taken care of, Angel.”
He chuckles at his own words. “Your payment, I mean. I can take care of your payment. As much as I’d like to take care of other things, I’m sure neither my brother nor Drake would be too pleased about it.”
I attempt a smile back, but my mouth is no longer wanting to move into that position. “Great; I got my nose pierced.”
His attention is back on my nose. “I see that, it looks nice. Adding to the collection, I see.”
I nod. “Here’s my card.”
I know he can sense the tension of my face based on his worried filled eyes. “Is everything okay, Angel?”
That name. I can’t help but melt every time he uses it. It makes this even harder. I shake my head.
“I’m fine. Look, we should talk later, okay? Give me a call when you’re done or maybe stop by.”
