Mess Us Up – Jaxson Kidman Page 0,69
Les says. “What are you doing here?”
“Taking care of Jolie’s broken heart,” Violet says. “Mac really did a number on her.”
“Violet!” I yell.
“Yeah, that’s why I’m here,” Les says.
“For what?” I ask.
“For me?” Violet asks.
“I’m…” Les holds up a finger at me. He looks at Violet. “I’m here for you too, Violet. We can talk in a minute.” Les looks at me. “Got a second for me?”
“Sure,” I say.
I follow Les out of my apartment.
“You know, Violet was asking about Ado,” I say.
“What did you tell her?” Les asks.
“The truth. I don’t know what’s going on with him. Missing? For real?”
“That’s true,” Les says. “He is missing. We haven’t seen him in a little while.”
“How do you think that makes me feel?” I ask. “That I had something to do with it…”
“You didn’t,” Les says. “Shit happens, Jolie. Move on.”
“Move on? You came all the way here for that?”
“No,” Les says. “I came here to put my life on the line for you.”
“Meaning what?”
“Do you love Mac?”
I sigh. “Really?”
“Just answer the question, Jolie,” Les says.
“Yes,” I say. “You know that already. Look at everything that happened. Everything I went through for him. For you guys. Everything you all did for me. And it’s going to come crashing down because I-”
“Hold up,” Les says, cutting me off. “I didn’t ask for a story.”
“Okay…”
“I can tell you where Mac is,” Les says.
“Why do I care?”
“You should. If you love him, you should care. And you should do something about it.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah. Mac is stubborn, Jolie. Really stubborn. You have to hit him hard to get him to listen to you. And Mac likes to destroy things. Around him.”
“That’s my problem?” I ask.
“No. But if you love him, you’ll save him from himself. Right now he’s about to destroy everything with you. For good. I’m not so sure that’s a good thing for either of you.”
“And what am I supposed to do, Les? Just show up and be his hero?”
“Fuck, no,” Les says. “Show up and kick his ass a little.”
I stare at Les.
He’s being dead serious.
I tell my heart to forget about it.
Forget about Mac.
Fuck that.
I open my apartment door and slide back inside.
“See you around, Les,” I say.
“Okay,” he says. “Hey, Violet… good to see you.”
“You’re leaving?” Violet asks. “No…”
I shut the door.
“Jolie, what was that about?” Violet asks. “Can I go talk to him for a second?”
I look at the floor.
“Jolie? Hello?”
I ignore Violet.
I shut my eyes.
I picture Mac with a gun in his hand. I see him attacking Declan. I know what he wanted to do. I saved him from that decision.
Then I picture Mac with me.
Alone in bed.
Just me and him.
The way he looks at me.
The way he touches me.
“Jolie, what the hell are you doing?” Violet asks.
I open my eyes and look at her. “Stay here.”
“What?”
“I have to go,” I say.
“Go? Where? What’s happening?”
“I don’t know what’s happening,” I say. “I just have to go…”
I turn and open the apartment door.
Les is still standing there.
“Ready now?” Les asks.
“I hope I don’t regret this.”
I follow Les to their house.
The big house on the BC campus.
And it’s busy.
There’s people on the sidewalk, in the grass, on the porch.
Aric is at the top step with his arm around someone.
When he sees me, he shakes his head.
“I feel like I’m looking at a ghost,” he says.
“Boo,” I say. “Where is he?”
Aric looks at Les.
I have a sinking feeling going through me.
I walk up the porch steps with Les behind me.
When I enter the house, it’s noisy.
Voices. Music. Laughter. Yelling.
I look forward and see Taz.
His eyes meet mine and he barrels forward.
With his wide shoulders, he just knocks people out of the way. And anyone he bumps into, they don’t say a thing to him about it.
“What the fuck are you doing here, darling?” Taz asks.
Les is then at my side.
“You didn’t,” Taz says.
“I had to, bro,” Les says.
“Where’s Mac?” I ask.
“Look, Jolie, let me do it,” Taz says. “Let me handle it.”
“Handle what?” I ask.
“He’s out back,” Les says. “He’s chilling. He’s got company though.”
“Fuck,” Taz says. “I guess we’re in it now…”
“Company,” I say. “He’s with someone else. That quick?”
“It’s not love,” Taz says.
“Of course not,” I say. I look at Les. “This is what you were talking about. Destroying things…”
“Yeah,” Les says.
“Everyone get out of my way,” I say.
I push by Taz and work my way through the crowd.
I know both Taz and Les are right behind me.
It’s takes me way too long to get to the door.
I look