Page 4 of Searching for Hope

Taking a step back, I tilt my head to the side, daring him to chase me in through the crowded room. Jericho’s jaw bulges as he grits his teeth.

“Berkley,” he says again, his voice so deep it’s a growl. “Stop,” he orders.

I don’t. I push my way through the crowd, glancing back to see if he follows. I know it’s stupid of me, but with the events of the last few weeks, I think some sort of rebellion is understandable.

When I reach the door, he’s still standing where I left him. His gaze is so dark and filled with rage, I almost stop and go back, but with a surge of courage or stupidity, I open the door, run down the red-tinged hallway and out into the street. The bouncer looks up at me in surprise. I look both ways down the road but nothing is familiar.

The bouncer’s eyes narrow as I lift my skirt and pull my phone out of the holster strapped around my thighs.

“No pockets,” I say as I press the buttons.

I expect Jericho to come bursting through the door at any moment and my heart races a little faster as the phone rings. Finally someone picks up.

“Berkley?” A hesitant voice says.

I give a nervous laugh. “The one and only.”

“Where the fuck have you been? I’ve tried calling like a thousand times.”

“Okay, Adele.” I chuckle at my own joke. “I’ll explain later but for now, can you come pick me up? I’m in the city.”

Once I’ve given him the address, I place my phone back in the holster and undo the clasps of the choker, letting the strip of material fall to the ground. The temperature is a lot cooler than when we entered and I fold my arms over myself, trying to keep warm.

“Everly?”

I whip around at the sound of my old name. Michael Gorman stands on the footpath, mouth open and his eyes running over me, his arm slung over the shoulder of an extremely well-dressed woman.

The color drains from my face. Michael is part of my former life. Someone I haven’t seen since the day my life was turned upside down.

“My god, that is you.” He tugs me into an embrace. “How long has it been?” Laughing, he pulls away and holds me at arm’s length. “Well, you’ve certainly grown up.”

Michael makes no effort to disguise the way he looks over me. His eyes travel from my head to my toes, lingering on the plunging neckline of my dress to the point that I almost want to cover myself.

I glance toward the door, hoping to see Jericho striding over, a storm in his eyes. But no one comes.

I must manage some sort of response as Michael keeps talking, asking about my family, my father, all the things I’ve avoided talking about for the last few years. I find myself laughing and smiling, almost battering my eyelashes as the old Everly rears her head. I slip back into the old role easily, even as I curse myself for doing it.

“We should catch up.” He pulls a business card out of his pocket. “Call me,” he says, and then he saunters off down the street, his arm slung over the mystery woman again.

“Who was she?” I hear the woman ask.

“Just someone I used to know,” is Michael’s reply.

I watch his back, feeling an odd twinge of nostalgia for the time when my life was simpler. When I wasn’t known as the daughter of a monster. When my life was as simple as wanting nothing more than Michael Gorman’s attention. I could have been the woman walking by his side. Just as he’s about to turn the corner, Michael glances back at me. There’s a flash of longing in his eyes that makes me wonder if he too is thinking of what could have been if my life hadn’t been blown apart.

I toy with his card, flicking it between my fingers. Part of me wants to chase after him. He belongs to the world we so desperately need to be accepted into. But the other part of me doesn’t want to be that girl again.

By the time Dominic pulls up to the curb, Jericho hasn’t burst through the door. He hasn’t come looking for me. I try to squash down the part of me that’s disappointed. For a moment, I had visions of him storming outside and tossing me over his shoulder.

Dominic’s eyebrows lift high as he takes in my outfit but he doesn’t say anything until we’re in the car.

“Well it’s good to see you’re alive.” There’s an air of annoyance to him, as though he’s truly offended I didn’t keep in contact.

“I didn’t know we were that close.”

Dominic frowns. “It would have been nice to know you were okay. I went from seeing you every day to you vanishing into thin air.”

“Sorry. There isn’t any reception to make calls.”

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