Chapter 44
Edward woke up to the sound of his cell phone going off. His wet towel was in a ball next to him and his body was tangled in the sheets on the hotel bed. His head pounded but he forced himself up. He pulled his phone out of his pants pocket and answered it just before it stopped ringing.
“Hello.”
“What the hell did you do last night? Where are you?”
“Joseph,” he said, trying to pry his tongue from his dry mouth. “I’m at the hotel across from the bar.”
“Well, whatever you did to Bethany, don’t bother trying to see her again.”
“I wasn’t planning on anything of the sort.”
“She hates you, man.”
“When have I ever dated a woman more than once after sleeping with her? I know what they want, Joseph and I know what they expect. I just happened to beat this one to the punch before she got there. It’s not my fault that I hurt her feelings by doing so.”
“Not cool, man.”
“No, it’s probably not.”
“She was a nice girl. You might have had a chance with her.”
“They all seem nice in the beginning. You didn’t see her after we got to this hotel room.”
“Well, maybe you’ll have to fill me in on the details,” he snickered.
“Some other time, maybe.”
“You sound like hell.”
“I have definitely felt better.”
“You okay?”
“Not really. I can’t do this anymore.”
“Do what?”
“Treat women like objects. I can’t. I’m not going to become that person.”
“Eva really messed you up, didn’t she?”
“No. She opened my eyes.” Edward jumped up off the bed and started gathering his clothes. “I know what I have to do.”
“You need me to come get you?”
“No. I’ll catch a cab. I have some things I need to do. I’ll call you later.”
“What are you doing, Edward?” Joseph knew he was up to something.
“I need to get her back.”
“Eva? Dude, she is gone.”
“Yes, Eva.”
“Listen, man. Let me come get you. I can be there in fifteen.”
“No. I told you what I was doing. I need to find her and I’ll go to the ends of the earth to do it.”
“I think we should talk about this.”
“Unless you are going to help me, there’s nothing to talk about.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know yet, but I’m going to start by flying to Morocco. Don’t try to talk me out of it.”
Edward left the hotel room and took a taxi to the travel agency. It took him a while, but he was able to purchase a direct flight to Morocco for that night. He headed back to his apartment and when he arrived, he paid the cab and reached into his pocket for his key. Walking up the steps he noticed the front door partially open. His heart started beating harder. He ducked back and crept up to the top step, keeping close to the door and peeking inside as he crept closer. Not seeing anyone inside, he tried listening but heard nothing. He didn’t know if the intruder was just inside the door or if they already took what they wanted and left.
Why didn’t my alarm go off? Where the fuck are the cops?
He, very slowly, opened the door, his eyes glued to the inside and anything that moved. He positioned his keys between his fingers so he had something to defend himself with if he needed to.
With the door open enough to get through, he darted his head inside and quickly looked around. Nothing was out of place.
Odd, he thought.
He crept inside and quietly went to the hallway closet. Opening the door with extreme caution, he crouched down and set the combination on the three-foot safe hidden on the floor. He opened the door and slid his hand inside. When his fingers wrapped around the cold steel butt of his pistol he could feel his heart pounding out of his chest. He slowly stood up, keeping his eyes on the front room as his fingers worked the cylinder on his gun. Once he confirmed it was loaded he carefully closed it and held it up to his shoulder.
He peeked around the corner, noticing his bedroom door was partially closed. Knowing he kept his door open all the time, he knew the intruder had gone in there. He kept a sizable amount of cash in another safe in his bedroom closet but it was virtually impenetrable.
He slid out of the closet and crept closer. When he got to the middle of the living room he heard noise from the bedroom confirming there was someone still inside. He froze and cocked his gun. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled his cell and called emergency. When they answered, he set the phone down on the stand just outside his bedroom and crept closer to the door. He inched his feet closer, his eyes wide open and his adrenaline moving at a high rate of speed through his veins. When he couldn’t get any closer without being seen, he slammed into the door, driving it open so hard it cracked into the wall.
“Don’t move, mother fucker!” He held his gun outward toward the intruder who was in his closet. He could only see the back of the guy’s jacket and the only conclusion he could reach was that the guy was small enough that Edward could most likely wrestle him to the ground instead of shooting him. “I wouldn’t move if I were you. The only thing closer to you than I am is the pistol I am holding in my fucking hands,” he spat. “My finger is on the trigger and I’m itching to pull it, so just give me a reason.”
The guy didn’t move. Edward looked around the room then fixed his eyes on the intruder.
“Back up, slowly and put your hands in the air.”
When the intruder started to turn around, something fell from his hands and shattered all over the floor. The small figure jumped as the chards of glass slid across the wooden floor. Edward moved closer, confused at what he witnessed. The intruder wasn’t a guy at all. The long and slender fingers he saw as they raised into the air were those of a woman. He moved closer until the glass crunched under his feet, causing him to look down. Pieces of glass covered a picture that lay at his feet. He reached down once he realized the picture was of him and Eva at the park. He picked it up and looked back up at the woman.
“Turn around.” His demand was softer.
She slowly turned around and looked at him, petrified with tears in her eyes.
“Eva,” he whispered. He lowered his gun and wanted to run to her, but he didn’t know how she felt. “What happened? Why are you here?”
“I had to see you,” she sobbed. She squatted down, picked up a large piece of the thin glass and held it in her hand.
“The picture frame,” he exhaled.
“Yes. When I received it, I was leaving for Morocco that day. I left it on my bed with no intentions of keeping it. I got to the bus station and had to turn around to get it back before I left.”
“So, you did go to Morocco?”
She nodded. “I took it with me. I was so angry at you for not explaining everything. You have to know that finding out the way I did about killed me.”
“I’m sorry. I just didn’t know how.”
They walked over the broken glass and sat on the edge of his bed.
“I know that now, and I was selfish. I wanted the best of everything. You, Morocco, college, even the life you had before you met me.”
“I could have given all of it to you.”
“I was angry. But it was more than that. I did some things, some things I’m not proud of, some things that can get me into a lot of trouble.”
“Eva, you don’t have to….”
“Yes, I do. Please listen to me.” She backed away from him when he stepped closer and reached out to touch her. “I want to tell you that I heard what you said in my house at the university that day. About changing who you were to get away from the reputation you were forced to live up to and get what you truly desire. I get it. It just took a while to sink in I guess.”
“How did you get in here? I have alarms. I could have shot you.”
“Your friend, Joseph helped me.”
“Joseph?”
“He met me here and let me in when I told him who I was. Actually, I think he would have picked me up and ran with me over his shoulder if I let him.”
Edward smiled at the thought of it. “He’s a good friend.”
“Letting strangers into your apartment? Yeah, I can see how that would make him a good friend,” she said, confused.
“He was just trying to stop me.”
“From what?”
“Nothing. So, how was Morocco?”
“The country itself was amazing. The culture there is so much different than what I’m used to.”
Edward nodded, hoping she would continue.
“Gerald wasn’t so amazing. In fact, he was horrible. I wanted to go with him so he could teach me and show me what he has experienced, and all he wanted was sex.”
“What happened?”
“I cold cocked him in his nose and walked away from him.”
Edward chuckled.
“For all I know, he could still be in Morocco. I did what I wanted to do there and went back to Oxford soon after.”
He couldn’t help but notice her holding something back.
“What else?”
“What?”
“There is something you aren’t telling me, something you need to open up to.”