Page 57 of Scandalously Yours

Alessia

I’d had the most magical night with Kristopher, and this morning wasn’t bad either. I was in such a state of bliss that I doubted anything could wipe this sappy smile off of my face. For the first time since we started seeing one another, we didn’t even have to hide the fact that we were together. It was like a heavy weight had been lifted from atop my shoulders and once his divorce was officially official, we could shout our love from the rooftops of the Empire State Building if we so chose to.

My goofy grin got wider until my phone rang. I knew from the ringtone who it was. Not sure why she was calling me, or what it was concerning, I looked apologetically at Kris. He understood that I needed privacy and gallantly offered to get our coffee while I answered my grandmother’s call.

Once he walked away, I greeted her. “Grandma. Is everything okay?”

“Yes, darling. I didn’t mean to worry you. Earl wanted me to check in on you.”

“D-did he remember me again?” I asked, and if he had, this morning couldn’t get any better.

“Not quite. He was sitting there talking to the television while I was drinking my coffee. Out of nowhere, he wanted me to call you to see if you were okay. I’m not sure why, and when I tried to ask him, he just got very agitated. Now, he’s outside pacing back and forth on the porch.”

I wouldn’t be upset at his partial lack of memory because the fact that he even remembered me in any fashion had me smiling even wider. “I’m doing good. Tell Grandpa I made it back to the city.”

“I will,” she replied. “I’ll let you get back to—”

She was about to hang up, and remembering something else, I interrupted, “Hold on. Will you also tell him that I took his advice and things are better than ever? I can’t thank him enough for pushing me the other night.”

I heard her cluck in disapproval. “You know how your mother and I feel about that advice. We haven’t told your father yet, and we won’t. Just be careful because we would hate for you to get hurt anymore than you’ve already been.”

I loved her and my mother for their concern, but neither of them knew Kristopher the way I did. I was sure once they met him, they would be as captivated as I was. Well, maybe not as much, but I knew they would love him nonetheless. “Stop worrying. I’m not going to get hurt.”

“I hope not. I have to go. Just remember that we love you, and we want you to get all the happiness you deserve, Alessia.”

“I love you all too, and as I just said, I won’t get hurt.”

The line disconnected and as I put the cellphone back into my purse, a voice had me straightening up immediately.

“I wouldn’t be so sure of that, whore.” I spun around and took an involuntary step back when I noticed the gun in Hayley’s hands. “Get into that alley or else I—”

“Put that away,” I told her, then looked frantically around. From where Hayley was standing, no one would be able to see what she had in her hand, so no one would know she was holding me at gunpoint.

“I make the orders, now get into the fucking alley, or else I’ll paint the sidewalk with your blood.”

I glanced toward the café, hoping and praying Kristopher would see the two of us and call the cops. Hayley was obviously unhinged. I was afraid for my life, but I refused to cower in front of her. As she fingered the trigger, however, I also wasn’t prepared to test her either. I threw my hand up in surrender.

“Okay,” I tried to appease her. “I’m going.”

There was a thin alley right between the café and the dry cleaners that I had stopped in front of moments earlier to take my grandmother’s call. I slowly walked backward into it, all the while taking stock of any place where I could duck if need be. My father had taught me a lot about self-defense, and both of my parents actually had insisted on me taking courses on how to defend myself before I moved to the city for college. They had been worried about me getting mugged in the subway or some darkened hall. I’m pretty sure my boyfriend’s psychotic ex had never crossed their mind when imagining all the dangers that could be befall me in New York City.

I needed to try to deescalate the situation, however, Hayley was getting more agitated. She waved her gun around and I was more concerned for some passing pedestrian than I was for myself. I could reason with this woman. I would have to find some way to, or else things could get messy.

“I’m in the alley. Now, put the gun down.”

She smirked, and it was the feral kind that had me slightly quaking in my sandals. My gaze stayed on her the whole time. I didn’t know where Kristopher was, but he would come out and see us soon enough. Of that, I was sure. As I looked at this woman, I could see from a distance away how bloodshot her eyes were. And that wasn’t even the worst thing. Other than the day at the hospital when she falsely accused Kristopher of abusing her, I had never seen her looking as frazzled as she was right now.

She always seemed so put together in photographs. I’d never so much as seen a single hair out of place, but right now her blonde mane was all tangled and frizzed out. For her to be seen out in public like this was one concerning thing, but knowing she had a gun when in that frame of mind was downright terrifying.

“What do you—” I went to ask, and she nearly shrieked which made me take another step backward. I was midway past the dumpster and another few feet would provide me a spot to duck in case she actually tried to pull the trigger.

“I do the talking. You’re going to listen to me, then you’re going to beg for your life.”

Despite her assurances that I would do what she wanted me to do, something still spooked her. I wondered briefly if she had been following me and Kristopher. She had to have been in order to find me so quickly. I hadn’t heard any gunshots while on the phone call to my grandmother, so I was sure she hadn’t done anything to hurt her ex. Still, I couldn’t gamble on that. I needed to get myself out of this predicament, and not have to depend on Kris to do it for me.

The more I looked at her, the clearer it all became. I had worked in emergency rooms long enough to recognize the signs of cocaine use. Beside the bloodshot eyes and paranoia, she exhibited poor judgment, aggressiveness, dilated pupils, and an overconfidence that those in a drug-fueled rage often did.

“You don’t want to kill—”

---