9. Falling in Love…with You
CHAPTER NINE
Falling in Love…with You
Sawdust sprinkled the air as the jigsaw whirred. Wearing goggles and protective gloves, Caleb carefully sawed through chunks of wood.
Sticking his fingers in his ears, Phil cringed until Caleb stopped. "Can I ask a question?"
"That is a question," Caleb said, starting the machine again.
"Caleb!" Phil shouted over the machine until Caleb stopped. "Thank you! ...what are you doing again?"
"I told you. I’m making a bookshelf for Deja,” Caleb said, continuing to saw.
"Why don't you buy one? Like a normal person!" Phil shouted.
Caleb shrugged. "It's more endearing if I make it."
Phil rolled his eyes. "What are you gonna build her next? A house? This woman's got you wrapped around her finger, and you've known her for like… 5 seconds."
Caleb laughed as he started hammering. "Are you lecturing me?"
"No, I'm just shocked. You're practically glowing. You smile like crazy every time I bring her up. I've never seen you this happy."
"...really?" Tilting his head thoughtfully, Caleb pondered. "...I guess I am happier these days," Caleb shrugged. "I like her."
Perched on the table, watching Caleb work, Lena scowled.
She wasn't sure what annoyed her more, the fantasies that plagued her mind every time Caleb lifted his shirt to wipe the sweat from his face, revealing that body she wanted so badly to explore, or that Phil wouldn't stop asking him about Deja .
The sting of jealousy made her teeth grind in frustration.
She had no clue what Caleb saw in this homely-looking old woman.
"But why?" Lena blurted before she could stop herself.
"Why what?" Caleb asked, sanding down wood.
“Why do you like her? She doesn’t even seem like your type...” Lena muttered.
Caleb laughed. “Oh, really? And what exactly is my type, Lena?”
Phil playfully nudged his sister with his elbow. “...You think you’re his type?” he whispered mischievously.
“Shut up!” Lena whispered angrily. She looked at Caleb. “I dunno. I just thought… you were more into the Jennifer Lawrence type-“
Caleb laughed so hard he had to turn off his machine. “Lena, you’re killing me here. What exactly about me gives you that impression? You’ve never seen me date anyone, so how would you know?”
Lena averted her gaze, biting back what she really wanted to say. “So, does that mean you and Deja are dating?” Phil asked.
Caleb continued to work. “Deja’s just a friend.”
“That you want to do nasty things to,” Phil teased.
Caleb shook his head with a smirk. “She’s more than just a pretty face.”
“She’s barely that...” Lena muttered under her breath.
“She may not seem friendly, but she has a great sense of humor. She’s ridiculously smart- I mean, some of the stuff she comes up with- and the work that she’s doing is insane. She knows her shit. She also has the cutest smile… when she does smile,” Caleb chuckled.
Phil grinned. “...you kinda sound like you’re in love.”
Lena’s eyes bugged as Caleb snorted. “Phil. Please,” Caleb said, putting his machine down.
After removing his goggles, he washed his hands in the sink.
“This isn’t some cheesy rom-com, okay?” he said, wiping his face and looking at himself in the mirror.
“I’m not in love with… Deja…” Caleb looked at himself in the mirror with confusion, his words trailing off.
“Did you have an epiphany there?” Phil chuckled.
Snapping out of it, Caleb turned to the two young adults. “No. Shut up. You used to do this same thing to your brother. Pressure him into admitting his non-existent affection for any woman he blinked at.”
“You’ve done more than blink at her!” Phil laughed.
Caleb rolled his eyes. “Tone it down, Love Island. I like her as a friend. She’s kind, honest, and inspirational.”
Deja’s blood-stained fingers trembled uncontrollably as she stared at Torrence’s mutilated body in horror.
“...wh-what… what have I done?!” she panicked. She had no idea what came over her. When did she even grab the knife?
“No, no, no, no, no!” she cried, pushing her bloody hands against the stab wounds in his chest, trying to give him CPR. But there was no pulse.
“Please, no! I’m sorry-I didn’t-I didn’t mean-!” Deja scrambled to her feet, holding her belly. Her mind raced, trying to figure out what to do. Glancing around his apartment, she realized there was so much blood. Her eyes finally found a closet.
Leaning over him, Deja hooked her hands underneath his armpits and started dragging him down the hallway, leaving a trail of blood. She swung open the closet door filled with cleaning supplies. After emptying it, she struggled to stuff his body inside before closing the door shut.
Deja heaved with exhaustion before grabbing the cleaning supplies. Crawling on her hands and knees, she scrubbed the blood from the floor. She was overwhelmed by how much there was. She wiped the sweat from her brow, forcing herself to carry on.
She wiped the countertops and doorknobs, trying to think where she might have left her fingerprints. Deja wished she had watched more crime-scene documentaries.
Struggling to her feet, she looked around the cleaned apartment. “I’ll have to come back for the body later and dump it… somewhere?” Deja couldn’t believe those words were coming from her.
Tiredly rubbing her belly, she grabbed the supplies and quietly exited his apartment. Looking around to make sure no one was watching, Deja rushed back to her apartment. She locked the door behind her, removed all her clothes, and stuffed them in a garbage bag.
Hopping into the shower, she set the temperature to scorching with the intent to burn and scrub off every inch of his blood. Tears streamed down Deja’s face as she ran her fingers through her hair.
This was the second time she had killed.
Purposefully. Premeditated. Even if they couldn’t prove Jax’s murder, they could certainly prove Torrence’s. She’d go away for life. Face the death penalty. She’d leave her child parentless. Her parents would be devastated.
A desperate sob fell from Deja’s lips. Wrapping her arms around herself, she felt overburdened with anger, loneliness, and confusion. It took everything to convince herself that Jax needed to die for her own escape. For freedom for her and her child.
But this...? What valid reason did she have to take this man’s life, regardless of how disgusting he was? Why was her reaction to kill him? Where did all of that rage come from?
She gently caressed her belly as more tears streaked her face.
“That’s my good girl. I knew you had it in you.”
Deja shook her head in angst, trying to block out Jax’s voice.
“It felt good, didn’t it, baby? You loved it. You want to do it again, don’t you?”
“ Shut up !” Deja screamed angrily when suddenly her phone went off.
Blinking back her tears, she turned off the water, grabbed a towel, and rushed out of the shower.
She searched for her phone until she found it on top of the garbage bag full of her bloody clothes. “Hello?” she answered out of breath.
“Hey, Deja!” Caleb said. “You okay? You sound out of breath.”
“Yeah, I’m-I’m fine,” Deja said, trying to calm down. “What’s up?”
“I was thinking of stopping by in a bit. I have a surprise for you. Guess! Okay, don’t guess. It’s a bookshelf. I made a bookshelf for your baby. I think you’ll love it.”
“Wow! Caleb, that’s- I mean, you really didn’t have to do that.”
“I wanted to. I know the perfect place for it too-“
“Caleb, now is really not a good time,” Deja said, staring at the bloody clothes in the garbage bag. “I’m not feeling well.”
“Oh. Are you sick? I can bring you soup-“
“No!” Deja blurted. “I mean, thank you. But I just-I just want to be alone today, okay? I’m sorry. Can-can we reschedule or something? I’m just gonna sleep.”
Deja anxiously nibbled her bottom lip at the silent pause before Caleb responded. “Yeah, of course, Deja. I’m here if you need anything.”
“Thanks, Caleb. Bye.” Deja hung up and exhaled her exasperation as she quickly dialed someone else.
Lena watched Caleb polish the beautifully detailed shelf that he created from scratch. She had watched Caleb create multiple masterpieces since she was a young girl, and yet still, each creation always left her in awe.
Caleb had a skilled hand for creating things. Anything he touched, he could mold into something new. There wasn’t anything he couldn’t fix. She didn’t understand how someone so attractive and skilled could be so… humble.
It was true she had never seen Caleb date anyone. It was actually pretty frustrating. He was the most sought-after in their quaint little town, yet it seemed that dating couldn’t be further from his mind.
That is… until Deja.
It didn’t make sense to Lena. Caleb was kind, funny, and helpful. From what Lena could see, Deja was his opposite. She couldn’t help but wonder why true nice guys were always snatched up by undeserving mean girls? It was like watching her brother Moy set himself up for heartbreak all over again.
“Lena?”
Snapping out of it, she saw Caleb looking at her, concerned. “You okay?” he asked.
“Yeah. I’m fine,” she said. “I was just thinking about how you and Moy used to have those mechanic competitions.”
Caleb chuckled. “You mean our Frankenstein Games? Moy used to come up with the most ridiculous creations.”
“I swear he thought he was Einstein or something,” Lena rolled her eyes. “None of his shit made sense.”
“He was definitely creative,” Caleb grinned. “That flamethrower he built with the rake engine is in my garage somewhere. I like to use it when I’m melting my compost mixture down.”
“You guys are both crazy,” Lena said, shaking her head as she wiped a tear. “That’s why you guys were so perfect to me. My two protectors. I-...I miss him so much… I miss the way things used to be...”