Adele
Alex places both of his hands on my face and gives me a passionate kiss. When he pulls away he rests his forehead against mine and I hear him take a deep breath. He doesn’t want to leave me and I don’t want him to leave. I just can’t have him hiding in the damn closet when Garth comes back into the bedroom. He climbs out the window and I close it behind him. I lay my head against the cold glass as I watch him walk away from the house. A few minutes later, Garth comes marching into the bedroom and he glances at me as he sits on the edge of the bed. He snaps his head towards me and narrows his eyes.
“Has someone been in here?” he asks and I glance around the room praying that Alex didn’t leave anything behind.
“No. Why do you ask?”
“It smells like aftershave,” Garth says as he stands up and walks over to the closet yanking it open. I close my eyes thankful that I told Alex to leave.
“I don’t smell anything,” I tell him and he walks over to me and tilts my chin up to look at him in the eye. I decide to turn the conversation around to him hoping he would forget about the aftershave.
“What do you think about Maryann? Do you think she could really be alive?” I ask him as I pull away from him and walk over to the window.
“I should ask you that question, Adele? You were the last one to see her. Did she fall out of the boat or did you let her walk away?” Garth asks me and I turn towards him shaking my head.
“Do you think if I let her walk away I would have gotten involved with you? That I would marry my best friend’s husband?” I practically yell at him and he stalks closer to me as he starts to unbutton his shirt.
“You’re being a little bold aren’t you, Adele? Who the hell are you yelling at? Garth comes within inches of me and we hear glass shatter and a car alarm goes off. The alarm sounds very close and Garth turns his head and walks towards the window to peek out.
“Damn It! Someone just smashed my car window!” he yells as he runs out of the bedroom and rushes outside to check his car. I run outside behind him and see that a brick is laying on the front seat as Garth opens the car door to grab it. He looks at the brick in disgust and throws it to the ground swearing and I jump at his intensity. “Do you want me to call the police?” I ask him and he nods his head no.
“I think we should call them,” I cautiously tell him, not wanting his anger aimed at me.
“I said NO cops, Adele!” he grits out between clenched teeth. I think back to Alex telling me about Garth being wanted for bank fraud so I suppose he wouldn’t want the police involved. As Garth stares at the broken window, a car starts down the street and bright lights hit us. Garth looks towards the car and starts to walk towards it. When he is a few feet from the Suburban, the front door to house slams shut. Garth and I both jump in shock and he walks back towards the house and grabs me by the arm. Garth grabs the door handle and pushes, but it doesn’t open. He closes his eyes laying his head against the door.
“We're locked out.” He groans. I turn to look back at the Suburban that still has its bright lights pointed toward us. Garth turns towards the bright lights and stretches out his arms in disgust. I can tell he wants to be fearless, but he is getting a little freaked out. I would be too if I wasn’t certain that Alex is behind all of this. He said that Garth wouldn’t touch me tonight and at this rate, I am safe. Garth and I walk around the house looking for a window that we can climb in. I am already certain that the bedroom window is open since Alex crawled in once, so I am sure that’s the one we’ll go in through. Once we are at the bedroom window, Garth successfully lifts it and crawls inside. I roll my eyes as I crawl in behind him because it never occurs to him to help me inside. I am not sure how both Maryann and I fell for this selfish bastard. Garth locks the window behind me as we hear a cabinet from the kitchen slam shut. We both look towards the bedroom door and Garth looks back at me. I wonder if he is going to send me out to check for burglars? Garth walks to the closet to grab a baseball bat and peeks of the bedroom door as another crash comes from the other room. I start to follow Garth as he walks towards the bedroom door. As if he suddenly cares about my safety, Garth lifts his hands telling me to stay in the room.
A few seconds later, I hear shuffling and more crashing. I hear Garth shouting and I hear scraping across the floor. I cover my mouth as I stand next to the door listening for any signs that I need to do something. I don’t want to call the cops because what if it is Alex out there? I don’t want him to get in trouble and the last time I mentioned the cops, he advised me to never do so again. I close my eyes and start to pace the bedroom when I hear the bedroom door close. I stop moving realizing someone is in the room with me. I slowly turn around and come face to face with a very much alive Maryann.
I start to cry the minute I lay eyes on my best friend. The best friend that I mourned years ago. The best friend whose abusive husband I married and has made both of our lives a living hell. I stare into her eyes and notice that hers also hold tears. I walk towards Maryann and wrap my arms around her as she does the same. I jump as I hear a door slam in the other room and Maryann and I both look towards the bedroom door. She grabs my hand and walks me over to the bed and we both sit on the edge. I can’t believe I am sitting next to my best friend.
“I can’t believe you're alive,” I tell her and she smiles and shakes her head.
“I’m so sorry, Adele. I should have told you about Garth. If I would have you would have never ended up in the same situation.” She says as she wipes a tear away and I sigh and do the same. Maryann is right that I would have never gotten involved with Garth had I known. However, it was my choice to get involved. I wasn’t forced into anything.
“I made my own choices, Maryann. I can’t blame you for any of them. I am just so glad you’re ok and you did get away.” I tell her as we listen to the small commotion in the other room and we both glance towards the door
“We are both going to be okay, Adele. I am not sure how you got involved with the Mafia, but I have a feeling they’ll look out for us both.” I gaze at Maryann incredulously at the mention of the Mafia.
“What makes you think they are Mafia?” I ask her as she starts to laugh. I realize that Alex told me, but he wouldn’t tell her, would he? How close did he and Maryann get while I was away?
“Alex told me. He really loves you, Adele.” Maryann says and I start to laugh at the statement. I know how I feel about him, but highly doubt Alex has those feelings for me.
“He does, Adele. He wouldn’t have gone through all of this if he didn’t. Let’s be honest, the man is hot and I am sure he doesn’t have to do all of this just to get the girl,” Maryann laughs and glances towards the door. I narrow my eyes and glance at the door too.
“What’s going on out there Maryann?” I want to know, but at the same time, I don’t want to know.
“They are dealing with Garth,” Maryann says and I suddenly have goosebumps.