Page 81 of The HalloQueen

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I drove to my rental in silence. The rain had started again during the short drive and visibility was low, making me more cautious than usual and I white-knuckled my steering wheel. It may not have been exclusively the rain making me anxious. I hadn’t been here since the attack, and while I was itching to take back my normalcy, I was scared. I was scared enough that I circled my block half a dozen times in hopes of finding a parking spot closer to my house than the spot five blocks away that was sitting free. The world was so still. The moon was hidden and the trees were darkened by the autumn rain; it was dark out and even the idea of walking the few blocks home made me pick my cuticles and reach for my phone when I pulled into the spot five blocks away. It was too far to go in the dark. It was too far to go in the rain. It was…it was scary. I should just call him. I could call him and he’d walk me home, no questions asked. Swallow my pride and call the man. My stubbornness wasn’t worth dying in the street for. I was scared and he could fix it. The simplistic word, “scared” felt wrong and it was coated with rage that that awful female had ruined my illusion of safety in the world. A film reel of all the different ways I could end up in the hospital again in the distance between my car and house tormented me while I tried to lose myself in the rhythm of the raindrops hitting my car so I could psyche myself up, messing with the finger support on the back of my case while I tried to grow the balls to call my bodyguard.

My passenger door opening had me screaming and jumping out of my skin and a hand clamped over my mouth. Grabbing my heart, feeling as though it was going to explode out of my chest, I ripped the hand off with my other. Tears immediately began pouring from my eyes, as though my emotions had been waiting for my facade to crack.

“Fucking hell, Thomas, you scared the shit out of me! Don’t sneak up on me like that! You almost gave me a heart attack.” I took deep, unsteady breaths, trying to soothe myself, when he cupped my cheek, wiping my tears, and I felt his tender caress in my mind, slowing my heart and regulating my breathing. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m sorry, amour, I didn’t mean to frighten you. I didn’t want you walking to your door alone.”

I flopped my head against the headrest, looking sideways at him. “How did you even know where I was?”

“Don’t ask me questions you don’t want to know the answer to, Bels.” I glared at him and he weakly added, wiping another tear from my face, “I’ve been keeping an eye on you when the sun goes down. I never intended to invade your space, I just wanted to make sure you were safe and I swear I’ll stop once we find her but-”

Practically jumping over the center console, I grabbed his shirt and pressed my lips to his. He hesitated at the crazy woman throwing herself at him, but quickly melted, bringing his strong hand behind my head and pulling me into his body.

“Thank you. I was…thank you for keeping me safe. Thank you for knowing what I need without having to ask.” My phone had been in my hand about to call him to walk me into my house, and he had been there the whole time. Every time I’d been scared of the world since he’d met me, he’d been there to watch me. I could pretend to be indignant and angry that he was stalking me, but all I felt was relief, and I wasn’t going to push him away pretending to be anything but grateful.

He softly kissed the side of my mouth again and smiled, stroking my arm lovingly, “Can I drop you off at your house and park the car? The rain isn’t going to let up. I can take you home and make you some soup.”

That made me laugh, “I haven’t been home in over a week, I’m sure all the food is bad.”

He blushed and reached between his legs to pick up a grocery bag that smelled deliciously of basil, “Tomato soup and grilled cheese? Seemed like something you’d enjoy on a rainy evening. I’m not above earning your forgiveness with food. I’ll cook for you forever.”

I nodded, “so you never intended to invade my space, but you have groceries?”

Thomas shrugged, “It’s just soup, I figured even you would be able to handle reheating a can if you wouldn’t let me in. But,oui, I did bring a few extravagant things purely out of optimism. One of those being a microwave lava cake that I thought sounded fascinating in the store, and a teenager alarmingly overshared that they were her favorite on her period, so I knew it had to be good. The teenagers nowadays have no filter - it’s very odd - but also, period-approved lava cake? That can only be a good thing,oui?”

I smiled and nodded, “switch spots with me.”

He jumped out of the car and ran around to the driver’s side while I climbed into the passenger seat and he pulled us back onto the slippery road to go back to my house.

“Annabel, I am sorry. You know that, right? I am sorry that I didn’t communicate and-”

“It’s okay. It’s okay, Tommy” I repeated, grabbing his hand and drawing circles on it with my thumb, “it’s not a coincidence that I feel more comfortable now than I have all week. You’re my walking, talking, Xanax and I’ve missed you. You make me feel better.” It was true, my anxiety had all but disappeared. I was aware, I knew that someone out in the world wanted to hurt me, but I trusted that with him by my side he wouldn’t let me die. He wouldn’t let her bleed me dry. “I sincerely hope that you’re not just sucking all my emotions away to make me tolerate you, but I do appreciate your calming effect.”

He shook his head, “I can’t manipulate our desire for each other, I’ve told you this from the beginning. And after reflecting and dealing with this bullshit, I promise you to never take away your anger or manipulate my way out of an argument with you. We will communicate, be it with words or our bodies, but I will not have us shoving shit under the carpet and ignoring it while it grows into something unfixable. I’m not letting miscommunication take you away again.”

“That’s a very nice, if not unbelievable statement.”

“We are a work in progress Bels. Let me cook you dinner while you shower and warm up and then we will talk,oui?” He slowed the car to a stop outside of my building.

“Oui.”

He arched a brow, “are you speaking french now?”

I shrugged and reached for the door handle, “I am apparently a French guardian of monsters so I should probably try to learn.”

Thomas’ dark eyes turned molten, “I can teach you all kinds of dirty French things to whisper to me in the dark.”

Before he could elaborate more, I grinned and jumped out of the jeep, heading up to my darkened stoop, unlocking the door and darting inside, kicking off my wet shoes and leaning to the wall to turn the chandelier on. My heart warmed seeing my place, even with the boxes in the corners and the new dust bunnies. “Tim?” I called, walking into the living room in my socks, happy to see my trinkets and fuzzy blankets. I couldn’t wait to curl up with one and an awful harlequin romances I’d gotten at a garage sale. It felt like I had come home, and it hadn’t felt like that before I’d spent time away from it. “Tim!” I called again, walking through the dining area and into the kitchen, plopping down my purse on the island, making kissy noises, and searching for him. His bowl was full, and I thought he would come running at the sound of my voice, but I couldn’t find him.

I headed to the stairs, continuing to make noises for him to come find me, thinking maybe he’d fallen asleep or accidentally locked himself in one of the bedrooms. “Where are you, baby? Mommy’s home!” Sure enough, at the top of the stairs, the bathroom door was shut and I could hear the sound of his soft paws against the door, asking to be let out. I opened it and smiled, but he immediately sprinted off down the stairs instead of stopping to talk to me, “how long were you locked in there, Timmy?” I poked my head inside and was thankful not to find a giant mess of cat poop I’d have to clean up, but I’d never known him to get locked in somewhere before. Maybe Shannon had put him in there so she’d be able to find him?

The wind blew harder outside, and rain pelted the antique windows. The lights flickered and I frowned, walking toward my room to strip out of the wet clothes so I could get back downstairs so I could find my box of emergency supplies before Thomas got back and needed to be reinvited inside and the power went out.

Peeling the wet clothes off me and tossing them into the hamper, I grabbed what I called my widow robe which was floor-length silk with black fur around the neck and wrists. It was luxurious and I’d paid too much for it, but it did make me feel like I’d gotten away with killing my cheating millionaire husband, so it was worth the expense for the boost in my confidence. I took my space buns down, jumping slightly when a crack of lightning flashed outside the large window in my room.

“Easy, Bels, chill out,” I muttered to myself, starting to brush out the wavy mess of purple hair in front of the mirror on my dresser.

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