Desire: Love and Passion - By Lesia Reid Page 0,37
he came home. They had joked. How could he have changed so drastically in just a few short hours?
“Miss Barnes,” Simon caught up to her.
She stopped.
“Is everything okay?” Simon asked.
“Yes, yes,” she said struggling not to sound like a whimpering child.
“Where are you going?”
“Home.”
“Hang on. I am calling Giles. He can take you home.”
“I’m okay,” she said and resumed walking.
While Simon walked alongside her, begging for Giles to pick up the phone, Willow punched in the security code that would open the gate.
Simon could not leave his post, but he could not let her go walking into the woods in the dark. He breathed a heavy sigh of relief when Giles came on the telephone. While he was busy explaining himself to Giles, Willow was off the property. She was gone, her robe barely visible in the darkness before dawn.
The sound of a vehicle behind her did not stop her trek. The car came to a halt and someone came out.
“Willow.” It was Cassandra.
Willow turned to look at the woman standing in front the car, the headlights turned off at the moment.
“Where are you going?” Cassandra asked.
“Home.”
“Where is James?”
Willow wanted to yell something, wanted to yell she was not his keeper, that she didn’t care where he was. She said nothing.
“Come on,” Cassandra said. “Giles can take you home.”
“No,” Willow said. “I can walk.”
“If you decide to walk, then I’m going to have to walk with you,” Cassandra said. “And I’m sure the last time we were both on a treadmill you spent twice as long as I did.”
“You don’t have to walk with me,” Willow said. “I know my way.”
“Listen, I don’t know what happened between you and James, but I’m sure he would prefer if we took you home.”
“And I am certain he doesn’t give a damn,” she started laughing as she said it. It was a crazy hysterical laugh that echoed through the quiet secluded piece of real estate.
Once she started laughing, she couldn’t stop. She turned to keep walking and had a terrible case of the giggles. She wanted to cry, wanted to feel sorry for herself, but instead, all she could do was laugh. Another car came up behind the first. Willow didn’t even notice it. She did not see it through her blind laughter.
She felt strong hands on her shoulder as she tried to walk in a straight line on the narrow road. It was him.
She turned and punched at him. She shook him off.
“Don’t you touch me,” she snarled.
“Will I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t -.”
“Don’t say anything,” she warned. “Don’t say a word.”
“Will,” he tried to pull her into an embrace. She pushed against him, pushed away from him and started walking again.
He reached for her, and she swung at him. He caught her hand but her long camera came around and clocked him on his side.
“Stop it,” he said.
“Let go!” she screamed at him.
“Stop it,” he said again. “You know I wasn’t myself.”
“Oh you were yourself, alright. Now let go or I swear there will be no rock you can hide under ever again.”
He let her go.
“Don’t ever come near me again,” she said. “And here’s a suggestion, you want your privacy, move. And you better make sure when I get up tomorrow morning my car is in my driveway.”
“I love you,” he said.
“Don’t say that!”
“I love you,” he repeated.
“Fuck you!” she spat at him and walked away.
Chapter 12
No one followed her after that. She heard the engines behind her as she walked home. She saw the lights fade back into the darkness when she closed her front door.
Willow stayed home that morning. She spent most of the time in bed crying. She had promised herself after David that no one would be able to hurt her again. No one would take away her strength and reduce her to less than nothing. She’d broken that promise. After getting home, she had scrubbed herself clean in the shower, but no matter how hard she scrubbed, no matter how raw her skin became, she could not scrub away the memories of being with him. She sobbed uncontrollably when she thought of the things she’d done with him. Yet, it was impossible for her to hate him. It had taken every ounce of strength to walk away from him after his apology.
She unplugged her telephone after his fifth phone call. She turned off the cellphone and wrapped herself under her heavy blanket.
When Saturday spun around, she was feeling much better. She got