Page 19 of Hale's Pawn
“Good. Just…” he hesitates. “That’s all. Do right, stay strong, and be a Bishops, even if you are a Hale now. Get it?” my dad says.
“Got it, dad.”
“Alright. I love you. Bye.”
“I love you too,” I say, even though I don’t believe that he loves me. He just says it to say it. I shut my eyes.
“Thought I’d find you out here.” My entire body freezes up.
“Eli…” I whisper. “What do you want? Just leave me alone.”
“I’m trying, but it’s not easy. I planned on proposing to you, you can’t just expect me to let you go. Even though it makes me question if you ever even saw a future with me, the way you’re prancing around with Oran.”
My brows crease. “Prancing around? I don't even go out of the house much.”
“Your channel, your videos on that channel. You let that man degrade you by fucking you live while you’ve never even really posted me like that. Yet, you didn’t want to expose me to your world? Those are your words, by the way. I practically bent over backwards so that you could be happy, and now you’re telling me to leave you alone?” Eli laughs. “How ironic.”
“Well, this conversation is moronic. I don’t have to explain myself to you anymore. We aren’t together. Just leave it alone. Leave. Me. Alone.” I enunciate each word.
The longer I’m out here with him, the worse it’ll get. I don’t want his blood on my hands no matter what. Plus, the more he acts like this, the less I want him.
“I have one last thing to say to you, and then we’re done,” he says with a mean glare. “I want you to know that you don’t deserve me. You can’t ever come back to me now, and I understand that, but one thing you need to know is that I did everything. I did right by you, even though you were damaged. Fucking broken.” I take a step back like he just slapped me. “What kind of girlfriend won’t let me see her fucking back? You never let me touch you like that. You kept so much from me and kept me on a need-to-know basis. I really tried. Fuck, how could I fall for someone who doesn’t even know what love is? Has anyone ever loved you, Ainslee? Huh! WHO THE FUCK HAS EVER LOVED YOU?”
His words make me angry and I react. I slap him hard and tears escape my eyes. Fuck these emotions. I open my mouth to say something, but I can’t. Instead, my chest hurts in such a bad way that I can’t focus. I step back again needing to...I don’t know. I turn to walk away, but my body feels like it’s locked in place. I try not to cry out, but the pain intensifies. I drop to my knees, feeling the ground beneath me. “Ainslee! Ainslee! Ainslee!” Eli yells my name out.
“9-1-1…” I manage to say. Something is seriously wrong with me. I can’t hold it in anymore as I sob loudly. I feel like I’m being ripped apart.
I hear someone else coming towards us. “What’s wrong?” It’s Esme.
“I don’t know she just...I’m taking her to the hospital!” Eli says as he gets down and picks me up in his arms. I try to tell him to let me go. I don’t want to go with him, but I pass out from the pain. It’s so unbearable. I can’t handle it.
ORAN
I sit where Ainslee was sitting earlier, waiting for her. I look up to see a teary eyed Esme running towards me. “Oran! Oran!” She gets to the table, causing a commotion. “It’s Ainslee…”
I stand. “Where is she?”
“She… He.” I place my hands on Esme’s shoulders to calm her and keep her steady.
“Breathe. What happened?”
“She was on the ground, crying, clutching her chest. I don’t know, she just… she was.”
My body shuts down as Esme gives me the bad news. I don’t know why I’m expecting the worst right now, but I forget whatever it is I was supposed to ask as I run towards the front entrance. When I get outside, I spot her little handbag and phone on the floor. I pick them up, holding them tight in my hands. “Where THE FUCK IS SHE?” My voice booms and I don’t care.
Jagger comes outside. “What is it?”
“It’s Ainslee,” Esme offers.
“What’s wrong with her?” Jagger asks.
“I don’t know, but Eli took her to the hospital,” Esme offers up.
“He DID WHAT?” both Jagger and I say at the same time. I know for him it’s more of a shock that Eli didn’t tell any of us, and for me, it’s simply... why the fuck was he around her again?
Jagger grabs me by the shoulder as Karessa joins him. “Karessa, I’m going to need you to drive. I’ve been drinking and I don’t trust Oran to drive,” Jagger says. “No offense,” Jagger says to me.
I look down at my trembling hands. He’s right.
