Ten | Eva
Ten
Eva
Somehow, I made it through the weekend without dying, which sounded overly dramatic, but I had never been that sick before in my life. I had no idea how Kate was feeling and if she had recovered, nor did I know if anyone else had come down with it. I prayed that it was limited to our section of the floor and that since we were so secluded, no one else had caught whatever this was.
Sunday mornings were always my favorite because I would meet up with my two sisters for brunch after a quick morning run. I felt disappointed that I had to miss it this morning—brunch—not the run. My body still felt like a semi-truck had hit it, and I had no intention of moving from the couch now that I had finally gotten comfortable.
The apartment was filled with the smell of burnt toast as I curled up under a blanket and watched a rerun on TV. I had no idea what the show was, but it was in black and white. My hand was too heavy to try to work the remote to change the channel, so I let it be and laughed at the shenanigans that the crazy woman on the screen kept getting into.
I nibbled on the edge of the piece of toast that was the least burnt and hoped I would be able to keep it down. Ethan had taken the liberty of ordering me groceries when I called in again, knowing I wasn’t going to be able to go out and get anything until I got better.
I was frustrated that I had already missed three days of work in my first week there, but it wasn’t like there was anything I could do about it. Even if my stubborn ass tried to go into the office, I wouldn’t have been any help given how delirious I had been with the fever the past couple of days. Thankfully, today, I was officially fever-free and hopefully on the mend.
My cell phone vibrated across the table, giving me an excuse to set down the burnt toast to grab it.
“Hey, Gabi,” I said, pushing myself up on the couch. “Sorry I missed brunch. I’ve been super si—"
“Don’t worry about brunch,” she said dismissively. “We have bigger problems.”
“What’s wrong? Is Mom okay? Did something happen to Dad? Did he have another heart attack?” I threw the blanket off of me, ready to rush out of the house to get to my family, when a wave of dizziness washed over me.
“It’s Lucy.”
“What happened?”
Lucy was my baby sister, and I was more than a little overprotective of her. Not just because she was the baby of the family but because she had a prick for a husband, and she refused to accept that she deserved better. She had come to talk to me a few weeks ago, seeking legal advice after she caught him cheating on her.
“She and Lance had another fight.” She sighed heavily, and I knew she was going to give me all of the unnecessary details. Unfortunately, she was the middle child who thrived on drama and gossip. “Apparently, he’s been sleeping with his secretary at work, and from what I’ve heard, she’s a real—”
“Headline news it for me, Gab,” I interrupted. I didn’t care about who he was sleeping with. My only concern was that my little sister and nephew were okay. “Was the fight physical?”
Lucy had been married for five years, but I had been suspicious of Lance since the day I met him. Shortly after she found out she was pregnant, Lance started changing for the worse. He was constantly on edge and hard to be around while I watched the confidence slip right out of my sister the longer they stayed together. She was convinced that she could make things work so her son didn’t have to grow up without a father. I was convinced that Lance belonged six feet under.
“I’m not supposed to say,” Gabi muttered into the phone, stalling.
“You’re not doing her any favors by not telling me. I can’t help her if I don’t know what’s going on.”
“She came by Mom’s house this morning with Jackson. She asked if they could watch him for a few hours. Her lip was busted, and she had a black eye. She tried to hide it with makeup, but I could see it. Everyone could see it.”
I closed my eyes and forced out a slow, steady breath, praying that it would help calm me down. I barely had the energy to get off the couch, but this made my blood boil and gave me an adrenaline boost that I needed to take care of my family.
“Where did she go?” I asked as calmly as I could.
“She’s heading to my house. Mom called me and told me right after she left.”
“Okay. Once she gets there, I want you guys to come to my apartment so we can figure this out,” I said as I forced myself to stand up. I immediately felt dizzy and reached down to hold onto the couch.
“Are you sure you’re up for this? You sound pretty sick. I don’t want to intrude.”
“Gabi, stop acting like the middle child and get your ass over here. I’ll see you guys in a little bit.”
“Okay. We’ll head over as soon as she gets here.”
“And one more thing,” I said quickly before she could hang up. “Grab a box of bagels and some cream cheese. I’ll give you cash when you get here.”
“Did you burn your toast again?” She laughed hysterically on the other end as I rolled my eyes.
“Just bring the bagels,” I replied sarcastically before hanging up.
Half an hour later, I heard a knock on my door. I got up and slowly made my way to answer it, hoping I didn’t lose my balance again. While I was fever-free, I was also severely dehydrated and needed food to get my strength back.
My eyes immediately went to Lucy as she kept her head lowered and fidgeted with the long sleeves of her shirt. Her lip was swollen in the corner where a scab of dried blood had formed. A bruise ran along her cheek and under her eye, making my blood pressure rise as I thought about how hard he had to hit her to leave a mark like that on her.
My heart broke as I held my arms out for her. She stepped forward into my embrace, her body trembling as she cried against my shoulder. Gabi gave me a sad, sympathetic smile as she squeezed past us and set the box of bagels on the counter. I held Lucy for a few more minutes before I gently led her inside and closed the door.
“I’m sorry to intrude when you’re not feeling well,” Lucy apologized quietly, tucking a strand of black hair behind her ear. I caught a glimpse of a bruise along the side of her throat that had been covered by her hair and felt my blood start to boil.
“You don’t ever apologize for being here,” I said sternly, looking her in the eyes.
“I am always your safe place.” I softened my tone and gently reached over to wipe the tear that was running down her face. “I got you, Lucy. You never have to worry about coming here, okay?”
She nodded and wiped the rest of the tears with the back of her hand. We headed for the couch, and I winced as I sat, my body still sore and achy from being so sick. I noticed the concern etched on their faces as they watched me.
“I’m fine,” I assured them as I fought to get comfortable. “I just need to sit down and rest for a few minutes.”
“Have you eaten today?” Lucy asked as she sat down in the chair across from me.
“She burned the toast,” Gabi volunteered for me as she grabbed the bagels and set them on the coffee table.
“That’s what I smelled when I walked in!” Lucy laughed, offering me the same sympathetic look that I had seen her give her four-year-old plenty of times.
“Very funny,” I replied, rolling my eyes as I accepted the bagel that Gabi handed to me, smothered with strawberry cream cheese.
“How are you feeling?” Lucy asked as she leaned forward to take the bagel that Gabi offered her.
“Thankfully, I’m feeling better than I was when this first started. The first few days were pretty rough.” I shivered as a flashback of how terrible I had felt crossed my mind.
“Why didn’t you call one of us? We would have come over to take care of you.” Gabi leaned back against the couch and took a bite out of her bagel.
“Honestly, I was so sick that I couldn’t even see straight. I was so delirious that I thought I had dreamt that my boss was here taking care of me,” I said as I snorted, taking a bite.
“Could you imagine? That would be totally insane!” Gabi laughed as if it was the most absurd thing she had ever heard.
I swallowed hard, trying to force my bite down and keep the blush off my face. So far, Brittany was the only person I had told that Ethan was the same guy I had hooked up with at the club. I was planning to tell my sisters at brunch this morning, but then everything else happened.
Lucy narrowed her eyes and studied me.
“You’re not telling us something,” she accused, pointing a finger in my direction and shaking it.
“There’s nothing to tell,” I rushed the words out, hoping to change the subject back to her. “What we need to talk about is what happened with you and Lance.”
I was this close to shifting the attention away from me when Gabi decided to pipe up.
“Lucy is right. Something is going on. Not only do you look guilty, but you’re blushing.” She stared intently at me, waiting.
“Nothing is going on,” I insisted, feeling the heat spread even further across my chest and up my neck. “All you’re doing is trying to make something up so we don’t have to talk about the real reason why you guys are here. I know that none of us want to talk about that asshole, but we need to. We need to come up with a plan to get Lucy and Jackson out of the house and somewhere safe until the divorce and custody agreements are in place.”
“Maybe we should call Brit?” Lucy offered, totally ignoring me as she looked at Gabi. “I bet she knows what’s going on.”
“You’re right,” Gabi agreed. “Brit always knows everything, sometimes before it even happens. It’s like her special psychic ability or something.”
Gabi pulled her phone out of her pocket, swiped her fingers across the screen a few times, and then held it in the air, facing me. Her fingers were right over the send button as she raised her eyebrows and challenged me.
“Fine. I was planning to tell you at brunch anyway,” I muttered and rolled my eyes.
Gabi set her phone on the couch in between us as I pulled in a deep breath and instantly regretted it as I burst into a coughing fit. I took a drink of water and waited to make sure it was done before I started talking.
“Do you guys remember the guy from the nightclub?” I asked. It hadn’t taken long that night for them to figure out I had hooked up with someone when I returned to the table with a slit in my skirt that hadn’t been there before. While they knew I had hooked up with someone, they didn’t know who he actually was.
“Mr. Tall, Dark, and a double shot of tequila?” Gabi teased and wiggled her eyebrows. “Yeah, I remember him.”
Lucy laughed and nodded her head for me to continue.
“Well, it turns out that the guy from the club...” I paused and took another deep breath, more carefully this time. “Is also my new boss. Ethan Roberts.”
“NO. FUCKING. WAY.” Gabi clasped a hand over her mouth and stared at me in disbelief.
“Language!” Lucy scolded.
“What?!” Gabi exclaimed. “Jackson isn’t even here.”
Lucy’s face fell as she looked around and realized that Gabi was right.
“Oops. My bad.” She giggled and took another bite of her bagel.
I laughed and shook my head, enjoying the playful banter between them. Even though they were thirty-two and thirty-five, they still fought with each other like they did when they were teenagers.
“So how weird is it to work with him after you guys fucked?” Gabi asked, glancing over to Lucy, who rolled her eyes in response to the foul language.
“When I first saw him, I prayed that he wouldn’t recognize me, but of course, he did. We briefly talked about it, but at the end of the day, we’re both professionals, so we need to act like it. It’s not like we’re sitting there acting on the attraction we feel for each other. Or at least we’re trying our best not to. Sometimes it’s a little hard to avoid it.” I felt the heat spread over my face again as my sisters’ eyes widened.
“You had sex at work?!” they both shrieked at the same time.
I nodded, rubbing my lips together to keep from shrieking with them.
“On Tuesday, right before I left for the day.”
“And you haven’t seen him since?” Lucy asked.
“Obviously,” Gabi said as she snorted. “She’s been out sick, remember?”
“Yeah... about that,” I said slowly, their eyes glued to me. “Turns out that I wasn’t all that delirious and that he really did come over on Wednesday and spent the day here, taking care of me.”
“He what?” Gabi asked in disbelief.
“And then he stayed the night.”
Their eyes got even wider.
“But he slept on the couch,” I added quickly, making sure they didn’t get any ideas of us having sex while I was drunk with a fever. That was just gross.
“That’s crazy,” Gabi said, filling the silence that had fallen around us.
“You better be careful,” she warned, and I knew that she was talking about what happened with my ex.
“This isn’t anything like what happened with Jeremy,” I rushed to assure her. She stayed silent and watched me. “I swear, the only similarity is that they both happen to be lawyers.” I threw my hands up.
“You fell in love with Jeremy and didn’t see that you deserved so much better. You let him use you to get what he wanted,” Gabi said softly.
“I know,” I snapped, suddenly feeling irritated with the conversation. “There’s nothing to worry about because Ethan and I aren’t dating. Not only that, but I’ve grown a lot since Jeremy and I broke up. I’ve learned how to be on my own, and I’m doing just fine by myself.”
An awkward silence spread between us.
“Why don’t we talk about Lucy?” I suggested, hoping that we could end this conversation before it got everyone pissed off at each other.
I sat in silence as Lucy and Gabi talked, filling me in on the details of what happened and what Lucy wanted to do. I made notes of the things I needed to look into for her and promised to help her find the best family law lawyer in Manhattan.