- Aiden -
wasn’t sure how I was going to confront Chelsea about whether she was being unfaithful or not. I suppose I had to just come right out and ask her. After all, no matter what I said, she would fly off the handle.
Then she would either punish me by admitting that she fooled around on me, an admission that would probably piss me off to a frightening extent, or she would deny it. No matter what, it was going to be a long and exhausting night.
Needless to say, I was in no hurry to go home and have that conversation. Which I figured was fine, especially considering that the more time I gave her to decompress after her casting call earlier- if there even was a casting call- the better.
I decided the best thing to do to prepare myself would be to lift my spirits as high as I could before going into World War twenty seven, not that I’d counted how many of Chelsea and my fights constituted World War status. But I figured it was high twenties at least, maybe even more by her standards.
Anyway, since it was a weeknight and I wasn’t really in the mood to get drunk, I decided my best option was to swing by and see Lucy. Maybe she would give me a haircut. Maybe I could give her a ride back to her apartment. Either way, I could count on her to take my mind off the epic bullshit that was going to go down when I went home.
I pulled my car in the lot down the street from her salon and walked around the corner. As I swung the door open, a little bell rang and I stepped inside.
Lucy was standing behind the counter in front of her boss and her face was whiter than I’d ever seen it.
“Aiden!” she said, running over and throwing her arms around me. “How wonderful of you to stop by!”
“Nice to see you, too,” I said.
She lowered her heels down to the floor and looked in my eyes just long enough for me to pick up on the fact that she was totally panicked. Then she turned around. “Chuck, I’d like you to meet my boyfriend, Aiden. He’s one of those MMA fighters, the kind that kick the shit out of people for a living. Isn’t that right, honey?” she asked, looking up at me and slipping her arm around my waist.
“Yeah,” I said, wondering what the fuck Chuck was up to that would cause Lucy to make such a claim. “That’s right. There’s nothing I enjoy more than breaking a few ribs.”
“Oh, don’t make that face, Chuck. Aiden would never hurt anyone outside the cage unless they did something to upset someone he cared about.”
“Of course not,” I said, putting my hand on Lucy’s shoulder. “I’m a very peaceful man- unless someone hurts my Lucy. Anyone that upsets her is going to get a trip to the hospital at the very least.”
Lucy let out a laugh so forced and ridiculous I started to laugh, too.
“Remember that time I broke that guy’s jaw, honey?” I asked, trying to stay in character. “Just because he hurt your feelings?”
She kept laughing hysterically and put a hand on my chest. “You do have a tendency to overreact.”
Her boss stayed behind the counter, looking increasingly freaked out by our giddiness.
“Anyway,” Lucy said, catching her breath. “It’s a shame you two can’t get to know each other better.”
“Why’s that?” I asked, wondering if I should break his jaw.
“Because Chuck was just leaving,” she said in a tone I’d never heard from her. “Weren’t you, Chuck?”
“Yeah,” he said, looking down and scrambling with some things on the other side of the tall desk.
Lucy hugged her arm around my waist so hard I was afraid I’d have to peel her off.
No one spoke while Chuck collected his things.
As he headed for the door, Lucy reached her arm out and he dropped the keys in her open palm. “Have a nice night,” he said, not looking at either of us.
“Nice to meet you, Chuck,” I said, sticking my hand directly in his path.
“You, too,” he said, his eyes bulging out of his head as I squeezed his hand in a vice-grip.
As soon as the glass door closed behind him, Lucy buried her face in my chest and burst into tears.
I put my arms around her back and held her up against me.
As soon as her breathing slowed, she turned her head and pressed her ear to my chest. “I’m sorry I dragged you into that. I just didn’t know what else to do.”
I put my hands on her shoulders and leaned back so I could look at her. “Dragged me into what? What’s going on?”
She shook her head. “He’s out of control. Like he doesn’t know that no means no, ya know?”
“No, I don’t know.” I walked her over to the chairs by the front window and sat her down. “What happened?”
“He’s just a fucking pervert. I told him to take his hands off me. I told him I was going to call the cops, and he- he-” she hiccupped.
“He what?” I asked. “Did he hurt you?”
“He told me I wasn’t going to call anybody and then- then-”
“Spit it out.”
She lifted her watery eyes towards me. “That’s when you showed up.”
I grabbed her and pulled her against my chest again, regretting that I hadn’t broken his nose when I had the chance... Or at least his arms so he’d have no choice but to keep them to himself. “I’m so sorry, Luce.”
“You don’t need to be sorry. It’s my fault. Fiona asked me if I wanted her to stay, and I told her to go home and order pizza.”
I shook my head. “You need to readjust your priorities.”
“I know,” she said, straightening back up.
“Has this kind of thing happened before?”
She shrugged. “It happens all the time but-”
“What do you mean it happens all the time?”
“Like he’s always copping a feel when he shouldn’t but-”
“What?! Why didn’t you tell me this before?”
She put her hands in her lap. “It’s not the kind of thing you tell people.”
“Yes it is,” I said. “It is definitely the kind of thing you tell people.”
“Usually it’s harmless though. Like he’s never been aggressive like that so I just put up with it because I know it’s only temporary. As soon as I have my own place, I won’t have to deal with his shit.”
“Is it just you he’s inappropriate with?”
She shook her head.
“For fuck’s sake Lucy-”
“Please calm down, okay? This is my problem. You have enough to worry about.”
“Nothing I have going on is more important than you being safe at work.”
“I can take it from here. You’ve done enough. Honestly, the guy is a total coward. You playing along just now probably sorted him out.”
“I want you to promise me that if he doesn’t cut it out, you’ll tell me.”
“I promise.”
“Cause I really will break every bone in his body if that’s what it takes to keep him from harassing you.”
She smiled. “I know, Aiden. Thanks.”
I sighed. So much for feeling better. I was coursing with so much adrenaline I was flying.
Then again, maybe that was a good thing. Maybe a little perspective was exactly what I needed. After all, I was way more pissed at Chuck than I was at Chelsea. And now that I’d had a chance to think about it, I realized that nothing Chelsea did or didn’t do could ever hurt me as much as someone hurting Lucy would hurt me.
Lucy was a like a limb to me, an extension of myself.
Which is why upChuck better hope he never runs into me again.
Because there’s nothing I wouldn’t do to protect her.