6.
As the day wore on, she didn’t hear anything from either Locke or Pete, and her anxiety started to kick in. She found herself pacing the halls of her home and obsessively looking out of the windows. She had done what Locke had asked and placed Pete’s packed bags on the driveway. She must be crazy, asking a potential murderer to come and get rid of an abusive and annoying boyfriend, but she was so past her limit with Pete she didn’t see another choice.
She had already decided she was also going to leave the firm. She didn’t want to be surrounded by those awful men any longer. After reconnecting with Locke, she had a new-found confidence. She realized that if he had gone from boy next door to fully fledged badass, then she could become anything she wanted. And what she wanted was to quit law and find her true calling. She had never been one hundred percent happy with her career choice. She had fallen into it almost accidentally. She wanted the nice cars, to be well paid, to be able to afford a good home and support herself financially without the help of a man. But when she got all of that, she realized she hated the job. It wasn’t for her. She didn’t like the people she had to be around and that was just the clients, so when the other partners started to make her feel like shit, she knew it was time to call it a day.
Locke was a small complication now. He had come along at a time when she was impressionable and open to suggestion. Everything about him seemed so exciting, and it made her feel like she was seventeen again. If he could scare Pete off and promise her his arrest was a mistake, then she was his. Hell, even if he was a murderer at this point she was so hot for him, she didn’t know if she even cared.
She pressed her palms against her bedroom window and looked out across the street. She could see a man in the distance walking towards her and dragging his leg as if he was hurt. With horror she realized it was Pete. He was coming down the street without a car, limping in a ripped suit.
“Oh God,” she said aloud.
She watched him limp slowly up to her driveway. His suit was ripped up one leg and exposing his shoe and sock, and he had a blood patch on his knee and a little trail coming from his nose. His eye was beginning to swell. The guilt hit her all at once, like this was her fault, but she stopped herself from going down to see him because she knew if it hadn’t been him in that state, then it would have been her. He had been prepared to hurt her if she went against him. Kristin smiled smugly at the thought of Locke beating the shit out of him and watched as he struggled to lift his bags over his shoulder and drag the rest down the driveway. He didn’t once look up or try and see if she was inside. He simply walked back down the street, looking like he was about to collapse, and disappeared into the distance.
When he was gone, Kristin flopped down on her bed and stretched out. She had her home and her life back. She grinned and rolled over and picked up her cell phone. Her next item on her agenda was telling the firm that they could shove their job. She was quitting and she never wanted to set foot in the building again.
***
As the sun set that night, Kristin lay outside on her sun lounger and sipped a martini. In the space of a few days her world had been completely changed and although it was frightening to not have a plan or any clue where she was heading, it was also the most liberating feeling she had ever experienced.
Her cell phone buzzed next to her and she picked it up. Locke was calling her.
“Hello,” she smiled into it as she held it to her ear.
“Hey, Babe,” Locke said with his deep, gruff voice. “I took care of that for you.”
“I know,” she cooed, “I saw him go.”
“He’s a piece of shit, you did the right thing.” She could tell he was smoking.
“Thank you for your help,” she said.
“Listen,” he exhaled and cleared his throat. “Seeing as you’re not my lawyer and there’s no conflict of interest… You want to get together tonight?”
Inside, Kristin was doing summersaults. She clamped her hand over the mouthpiece as she smiled and tried not to explode with excitement.
“Hmm,” she teased, “Well, I don’t know about that.”
He stayed silent and exhaled again.
“Of course I’d love to see you,” she said. “Why don’t I meet you somewhere?”
“Meet me at Tuscan Motel,” he said, “I’ve been staying there.”
“Okay,” she said, unsure. She knew that this could be a terrible idea, knowing how dangerous this guy could be and going to meet him somewhere alone… but she’d known him pretty much her entire life… surely he wouldn’t do anything to her?
“See you soon,” he said and then the line went dead.
Kristin downed the rest of her martini and got to her feet. She felt a little bit tipsy, but she knew that she was fine to drive. She giggled to herself as she thought that his bad boy persona was already rubbing off on her. She went upstairs to her room and pulled a black vest out of her closet and a pair of ripped jeans. She hadn’t worn anything like this in years, but somehow it felt right. She slipped into them and ruffed up her hair and applied some black eyeliner. Now she wouldn’t look out of place walking around somewhere like The Tuscan. It was a shabby motel on the outskirts of town that was well known for its biker scene. She took one last look at herself in the mirror and smiled. She always wanted to be this girl, and she was finally giving in to it.