Chapter 11 #2
“Yes. Just really tired. I might wake up later and come get something to eat. I just need to lie down for a little while first.”
“Alright. Let me know if you need anything.”
Cristie lay down on her bed and opened her laptop.
She opened the file on her hard drive called “Remi”, and started scrolling through all the pictures of them together as children.
There were shots of them running around barefoot at barbecues, at seafood boils, and bonfires.
More shots of them in the same sleeping bag in a tent.
Curled up on a sofa sleeping on the same pillow as very, very young toddlers.
There were even a couple of pictures of them at Christmastime sitting in front of Uncle Kaid’s tree with all the rest of the kids.
A tear ran from the corner of her eye and she swiped at it angrily.
Frustrated that anybody could make her feel like she wasn’t good enough, she closed her laptop, and flopped over on her side determined to do exactly what she told her mother she was doing — get some sleep, and hopefully in the process manage to block him from her thoughts again.
~~~
Hours later after countless episodes of tossing and turning, flipping the pillow and fluffing it again and again, Cristie finally sat up in the darkness.
She’d managed to grab a bit of snoozing during the hours since she’d told her mother she had a headache, but hadn’t really fallen deeply asleep.
Irritated that the moment she’d managed to fall asleep, Remi’s face would pop into her mind while he reached for her, waking her, had her more irritated than she’d been when she’d first tried to sleep.
Sighing in exasperation, she turned to her nightstand and snatched the scrap of receipt paper off its top.
She looked down at the name and number scrawled there.
“I am never going to get any sleep until I get this over with,” she grumbled, digging her phone out from beneath her pillow, where she always kept it when she slept.
She swiped her finger across her cell phone screen to wake it up, and realized it was past midnight.
She considered waiting until morning, then decided, to hell with it.
Bailey had said any time, whatever was convenient for her, and this was as convenient as it was going to get.
Cristie dialed the number and waited, while her heart nearly pounded out of her chest.
Three rings later, Bailey answered. “H’lo?” she mumbled sleepily into the phone.
“Bailey? This is Cristie.”
Bailey’s attention sharpened at once. “Cristie! Hi!” she rushed out as she cleared her throat and tried to force herself to wakefulness.
“Hi,” Cristie said, schooling herself silently to remember that this girl was at fault in no way. She was actually very, very nice. “Julia said you called and asked her to pass along your number.”
“I did, and now that you’re calling back, I’m second guessing myself.”
“Well, you must have had a reason to call in the first place,” Cristie said.
“I did, yeah, um…”
“Sorry it’s so late, but your message did say whenever it’s convenient,” Cristie said.
“Oh, no, it’s fine. I just have to figure out where to start.”
“How about Remi’s an ass?”
Bailey laughed. “Yeah, well, he’s actually a very kind male. Problem is, he’s lost, so he is behaving like an ass.”
“What do you mean lost? Literally? They can’t find him?”
“Oh, no. I mean, spiritually, intellectually.”
“I don’t understand,” Cristie finally said, sighing tiredly.
Bailey could hear the fatigue in Cristie’s voice and didn’t know for sure, but hoped that it was due to her and Remi being apart.
“So, he’s spiraling. I’ve been watching from a distance when I happen to see him, or when someone mentions something about him, and I’m pretty sure that if someone doesn’t step in, he’s going to be gone for good. ”
“I still don’t understand why you’re calling me,” Cristie said.
“Because no one else has, and I find it strange that in a family of shifters, two generations on site, no one thinks to call the mate that may be the only person that can talk some sense into him.”
Cristie sat quietly for a moment.
“You still there?” Bailey asked.
“Yes. Just not sure what you expect me to do.”
“Let me start at the beginning. I walked away from him, while you were still here, or had just left, I’m not exactly sure.
But I did it because Tempest explained to me about mates and the uncontrollable pull.
I was the odd man out, not you and not him.
The only way to make him feel like he owed me nothing and was free to be with you, the one he’s actually destined to be with, was to take that choice away from him.
So, I ended things. When I went over there to end it for good, he was drunk.
I mean, seriously drunk, could barely hold his head up, surrounded by bottles both empty and half-drunk, and a partial case in the kitchen of bottles that had not yet been opened.
He was mean, surly, and hateful. He was in a state that I’d never seen him in.
I told him that I didn’t want to be a part of it, I was done, and he needed to make things right with you, and left.
I found out later he threw a bottle through the front window of his house.
Since then, I hear that he’s falling down drunk all the time.
I mean All. The. Time. He’s fighting with his Alpha, doesn’t even bother going to work most days, and has even managed to get himself kicked out of the clan. ”
“Oh, my God,” Cristie said. “And Brandt is patient! It’s hard to push him to that point.”
“Yeah, Brandt is very nice. He’s mated to my best friend.”
“Tempest,” Cristie said. “I liked her.”
“Yes! Anyway, in addition to getting himself removed from the clan, he was sleeping around, a lot for a while but hey, that’s not a crime.
But then he hooked up with this girl. I’ll be honest here, I don’t know her.
She might be lovely. But first impressions say she is not.
She was all about the money and nothing else when they came into my shop to order a wedding cake. ”
“Wedding?!” Cristie half-shouted.
“Yep. I asked her what kind of filling she wanted and she said she didn’t know exactly, but she wanted whichever one was the most expensive.
I suggested that she cover the cake in edible 24 karat gold flake, sarcastically but also just trying to see how far she’d go, and she jumped at the chance and finally settled on a 24 karat gold covered cake with the most expensive filling, and balanced among a champagne fountain, because it most likely can’t be done and hers will be the first. I’ve heard that he’s paying her bills, and buying her clothes, and I’m not sure personally, but I’ve been told that all his money is gone, too.
Literally all his money. His bank account is negative.
I can’t help but think that she’s spent it, or transferred it to her own accounts.
Now, that is speculation on my part, I don’t know if she’s done that or if it was him drinking it all away, but I do know that he gave her a debit card and within less than a month, he’s overdrawn. ”
“And he’s still drunk.”
“Yes. I mean falling down drunk, Cristie. Like, Vince called Brandt to come get him out of the bar and grill.”
“That’s horrible,” Cristie said.
“It is. It breaks my heart, but I know that if I step in and try to speak to him, he still harbors so much anger toward me, that he might just get drunker to show me he can.”
“What do you expect me to do?”
“Cristie, I don’t know if you saw it or not, but when you were here, he was captivated.
I mean, fully focused, every cell in his body, the very core of his soul was honed in on you.
And rightly so, you’re his mate. Created to be his match.
He’s defensive, and offensive even, when anyone tries to talk to him and point out what’s happening, what he’s doing to himself.
Maybe if you spoke to him, he’d listen. Maybe you can save him, Cristie. ”
“Bailey, I don’t know… he refused to see me before I left. I made sure that he knew and he avoided me like the plague.”
“Because he knew that if he looked at you again, he wouldn’t be able to look away.”
“He didn’t want me, Bailey,” Cristie said.
“Oh, yes. He did. And that was part of the problem. He felt guilty for wanting you after the relationship we’d built.
Which is why he avoided you. If he’d been honest with me to begin with, I might have been a little hurt, but I’d have understood.
I do understand. I really, really want him to be okay. ”
“What do you get out of this? Why did you decide to call me?”
“I want him to be as happy as I am. I want him to be the man he was before fate screwed him all up. He’s too good.
That’s why the guilt ate him up so bad. And when you left, and I was gone, the frustration and the pain of being separated from you was just too much for him to bear, but I don’t even think he realizes it. He’s just focused on pain, period.”
“So he started drinking,” Cristie said.
“Yes. I really think you’re the only one that can possibly make him snap out of it. You may not want him anymore, and that’s all between the two of you, but if there’s a chance you can help him, Cristie, please do it. Please try. I don’t think he’d fight against you like he does the rest.”
Cristie sat on her bed, her covers bunched around her, holding her phone to her ear as she listened to Bailey describe Remi and his behavior since the last time she’d seen him.
If the pain of separation he was feeling was anything like she’d been feeling since discovering he was her mate, he was suffering greatly.
“I don’t know, Bailey. It’s a lot to consider.”
“I know. And maybe I shouldn’t have reached out, but if it was me, and I was to find out later his life had fallen apart and nobody even bothered to tell me, much less give me a chance to step in and see if I could help, I’d be angry.
I know I don’t know you well, but I do know one thing that’s clear to anyone who ever meets you.
You’re strong, so strong, and confident, and you’re a good person. I know you’ll do the right thing.”
Cristie sighed deeply. “I’ll think about it. I make no promises, but I’ll think about it.”
“That’s all I ask. And at the very least, you’re aware and the choice is now in your hands. I’m sorry it had to be me to call, but no one else was and frankly, I’m not a member of the clan, so if they were standing on ceremony, I don’t have that problem. So I called.”
Cristie laughed. “I can see why you’re Tempest’s best friend. And don’t kid yourself, you’re strong, too. Stronger than you know.”
“Thanks.”
“You’re welcome. The number I called you on is my cell phone. If anything else happens that you think I should know about, please call me directly.”
“I will. Thank you for hearing me out, Cristie.”
“No, thank you. Now, go back to sleep. You’re going to have a lot of people standing in line in the morning, looking for some of that delicious coffee and donuts you offer.”
Bailey chuckled. “It was good talking to you, Cristie. Good night.”
“Good night,” Cristie said, ending the call. She lay back down and spent the rest of the night thinking about everything Bailey had told her. By the time the sun began to rise, she was only sure of one thing… Remi needed a wake up call. And she was the one who had to deliver it, in person.