Page 118 of Another Love, Another Time
When I turn it over to see what the frame holds, I almost drop it. It immediately brings tears to my eyes. It’s the picture his mom took of us at his eighth birthday party when we both dressed like our favorite superheroes. In the picture, we are hugging each other with big smiles on our faces. That was before Melissa took my thunder with her gift.
“Why would he have this on his desk? Why would he want to hide it from me?” I question. I wipe the stray tear from under my eye and place it back in his drawer. I make sure I have my two pills, return to my chair, and swallow the pills.
I decide to shake off my thoughts about the picture. I’ll ask him about it later.
~~
Auggie comes in, sits down, and places a folder on top of our pizza box.
I ask around a mouthful of pizza, “What’s this?”
“Proof, but we can’t use it.”
I’m disappointed, but we probably have all the evidence we need already. I really think that after this deal with JD, we can arrest her, especially after talking with the DA today.
I pick up the file. Auggie opens the box and grabs a slice of pizza. As I’m looking through, I see that his ex-partner was having an affair with the mayor of Hannibal. I’m assuming that when she started getting threats from Melissa, he helped her get transferred.
“Are they still seeing each other?” I ask.
“She says no, that once she transferred, their relationship ended. She said we could use the information but wanted us to use it as a last resort. She knows she should never have gotten involved with a married man, but she doesn’t want to hurt his wife and kids if she doesn’t have to.”
“We’ll keep it in our back pocket.” I drop the files on the table, grab another slice of pizza, and turn on Rookie Blue.
~~
A few more weeks go by. JD is coming down to sign the deal put together by the DA. I’ve had two lawyers look over it. I’ve sent it to JD, and he’s had a lawyer look over it too.
As long as JD provides all the information and doesn’t lie, he will get immunity. They will use that information to arrest Melissa for orchestrating my attack. We also provided the information from Auggie’s ex-partner, just in case they need it and will begiving her a heads-up. I’m sure she will let the mayor know as well.
I also had Auggie provide all the messages and voicemails Melissa has been leaving on his phone. The captain wanted to keep a patrol car outside of my house when Auggie is not with me, but I declined. I can take care of myself.
Auggie continues to stay in the guestroom. Even though I want to keep this professional, it’s nice having someone to hang out with. I’m still trying to keep him at arm’s length.
Last week, we went grocery shopping, and when I came out, someone had slashed my tires. I’m almost positive it was Melissa, but when Auggie had the store pull the tapes, we couldn’t tell. I could have handled it, but it was nice he was there to help. He went back inside the store, bought four new tires, got them replaced, and went through tapes.
The store also put our stuff in their pickup area so our food wouldn’t go bad. I wanted to kiss him that night for everything he did, but I didn’t. “Why wasn’t he like this growing up?” I question.
After reviewing the tapes, he was convinced it was Melissa too. We could see a figure whose face was covered.
He had completely cut Melissa out of his life. Will that last? Can I trust him? I really want to trust him.
I’ve been stressed about the deal for JD. Auggie noticed and brought me my favorite dessert the other night. He’s slowly breaking down my defenses.
We have fallen into somewhat of a routine. We wake up and run or work out together in the morning. We drive separately to work. We never know how our day will end up, but we havestarted taking turns cooking or bringing something home to eat. Then, we watch TV and talk until we go to our separate beds.
I have noticed that he has started sitting closer to me. Every once in a while, I’ll lay my head on his shoulder, but it hasn’t gone further than that. I like being close to him, and I feel giddy when he’s near. I feel things I’ve never felt with anyone else, but I stomp those feelings down. We still have a lot of work to rebuild our friendship.
Tonight, he’s going to be a little late. He’s putting his house on the market. We’ve agreed he can stay with me until he finds something else. He’s going to meet with the realtor to go over what he needs to do to get the house ready.
I started supper a while ago, and I anticipate him coming home any minute. “Home.” I cannot believe it. He’s only here temporarily, and I’m already thinking of this as his home.
I roll my eyes at myself. The timer goes off, and I pull the enchiladas out of the oven. I’ll wait for Auggie before eating. I walk into the living room and queue up our show.
I glance at my watch, and since he’s a little late, I’ll send a quick text.
River: How much longer? Waiting to eat.
I wait another ten minutes. Fuck it. I’m hungry. I plate up my food and put on the game. I may eat without him, but I won’t start the show without him.
