“Is that Blue’s car?” Colleen asked. They were sitting at a stoplight next to the mall and across the street was the second location of DeMarco’s Auto Repair and right there, in the parking lot, was Blue’s car. Chelsea stared at it until the car behind her honked and she was pulled from her reverie. “You should go and talk to him,” Colleen said. “We know Terrance is back at home. This might be your last chance.”
Chelsea nodded and turned the car around and pulled into the parking lot.
“Go, I’ll wait here,” Colleen said.
With a deep breath Chelsea stepped out of the car and into the harsh daylight. She felt shaky all over and sick. She didn’t know what she was going to say to Blue. She just wanted to see him and be with him. Her heart was pounding as she approached the glass doors and pulled them open.
Three chimes rang out as Chelsea walked into the auto repair store. The store was bright and airy and there were about fifteen cars in the shop. Several men stood underneath various cars as a receptionist smiled brightly at Chelsea.
“Can I help you?”
“No,” Chelsea answered. She had seen Blue; she was sure of it. She had seen the back of his head as he had walked away. She left the receptionist and walked back towards where she had last seen Blue.
“You can’t go back there!” the receptionist called out, but Chelsea continued to ignore her and walked back into the shop.
The men working on the cars glanced up at her as she passed, but she ignored them all, she was here for one reason. She turned the corner and saw Blue where he was hovering over an open hood and helping another man work.
“Blue?” she asked as she came up behind him.
“Chelsea,” Blue answered. He looked around the garage as he walked over to her and took her by the hand and pulled her back into a small office closing the door behind them. “You can’t be here,” he said.
“Terrance is at the house. I got my mom out. Then we saw your car and I wanted to see you. I had to see you,” Chelsea couldn’t help herself and she wrapped her arms around Blue. She grabbed him in a deep hug and pulled him close and rested her head against his chest. She could feel the tha-thump of his heart in his chest as she leaned into him.
He put his arms around her and stroked her back with his hands. “I missed you,” he whispered. “It hasn’t even been a day yet, but I already missed you. How crazy is that?”
“Not so crazy. I missed you, too,” Chelsea said and she pulled herself away from him so she could look up into his eyes. But his arms were still wrapped around her. They were still touching, still connected. “I ended all that crazy nonsense with Ryan,” Chelsea said. “You were right: it was wrong and I was lying and I’ve put a stop to it. I don’t know how my manager is going to spin it. It never really was a relationship, we never even met, but at least now it’s over. We don’t have to declare anything to the media, but I want to be with you and only you. I don’t want to have a fake relationship with anyone. I want to have a real relationship with you.”
Blue tucked a stray strand of hair behind Chelsea’s ear and cupped her cheek in his hand. “You didn’t need to do that,” he said. “I shouldn’t tell you how to run your business.”
“Yeah, but I’ve realized that you still have to have your standards in business. You can’t just lie to people and make stuff up and do whatever you want. That’s no way to run a business or live your life. When my mom confronted Terrance he kept telling her it was all just business and he couldn’t understand how she couldn’t look past that. I don’t want to be anything like Terrance. I’m not going to let making money compromise my morals.”
Blue smiled and he leaned down and kissed her gently, tipping her chin up to meet his lips. Chelsea felt his scruff on her soft and smooth cheeks and she kissed him deeply, wrapping him up in her arms again. There was a loud bang from outside and they quickly separated, shocked from the noise.
“I talked to Jamie. Terrance put her on the phone,” Chelsea said. “She sounded scared, but all right and Paul is going to try and get the Feds involved. You might not have to fight, Blue.” She took his strong hands in his and held onto the tightly. “I don’t want you to have to do this.”
“But I do have to do this,” Blue said quietly. “I can’t see any way to get out of the fight.” He pulled away from her. He was out of her reach and Chelsea watched as he reached for the doorknob.
“No!” she said, launching herself at the door and grabbing the knob before Blue could. “Please, Blue. Talk to me. Say something.”
“I’m gonna get Jamie back,” he said. “No matter what it takes, I’m going to get her back. But you have to go. You can’t be seen here. I’m sure by now someone has called Terrance. I don’t want him to hurt you, Chelsea. And the only way he’s agreed to do that is if I stay where he can see me and I do the fight. If he shows up and you’re here, he might take you, too.”
“He told me the fight’s been scheduled for three days from now. I’m just supposed to not see you for three days? Do you know how long the last twelve hours have been? Besides, Blue, this is a fight to the death. I believe in you, but...” but what? She couldn’t finish her thought. She couldn’t say the words out loud.
What if Blue died? What if the other guy was bigger and stronger or more desperate? Anything could happen in the ring, Blue could slip or blink at the wrong moment and the whole thing would be over. He could die, or be seriously injured. And if everything went in his favor, he would have to kill another man. It would be murder; how could Chelsea ask him to do this for her?
“You have to move, Chelsea,” Blue said as he put his strong hands on her shoulders. “I have to go back out there before anyone gets suspicious and calls Terrance.”
But she refused to move. She refused to let go of the doorknob because letting go meant she was condoning what would happen next. If she let go, Blue would have to fight. She just needed to keep him here in this tiny locked room for as long as possible. She needed to keep him here where she could see him.
“Do you remember when we were in our junior year and we broke into that office building late one night?” A rare smile crossed over Blue’s face as he replayed the memory in his own mind. “We wanted to get to the roof, because it was the tallest building in town and we wanted to see the view. So you picked the back lock and we took the stairs...”
“And then we discovered that no one in that building locked their doors.”
“We ended up in that lawyer’s office eating hamburgers on some solid mahogany table. I remember thinking that the office building was so glamorous. Something about the tables and the computers, it all seemed so grown up to me. Isn’t that funny? I remember walking through the halls, imagining I was a president or CEO or something. That was my dream that night, to be the CEO of some crappy company in Snowbird, Idaho. I think about that night all the time,” she said looking up at him. “I wrote a stupid song about that night, and it’s on my album.” She shook her head and smiled at the memory.
“Do you remember when we were on the roof?” Chelsea continued. “The whole, crappy city was stretched before us. We found our houses and we were leaning over the ledge. I remember looking over at you and you were looking at me with this look on your face and I swore that you were going to finally kiss me. I was so nervous. I was worried I was going to throw up on you.”
“Then the alarm finally went off and we ran,” Blue finished looking deeply in Chelsea’s eyes.
“I feel like we’re always dealing with these missed moments. I don’t want to miss any more moments with you. I want you to come back with me, but I know you can’t. It feels like we’re on the roof again and we’re so close to being together, but something is always tearing us apart. I don’t want anything to keep us apart.”
“It’ll be okay, Chels. Look, they gave me the number for the people holding Jamie. I told my father he had to give it me so I could make sure she was okay. I’ll call and you can talk to her, and soon...this will all be over.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket and Chelsea was so desperate to talk to Jamie she let go of the doorknob and reached for Blue. They kissed again, one last time with his hands tangled in her hair.