Chapter 36
Chapter Thirty Six
Cassi
Nico is meeting with the board today. After the incident with Alec, we waited in the parking garage for the police where they took my statement.
Ironically enough, it was the officer who got their nose broken by my sister.
As soon as he saw us, he shook his head and cursed under his breath saying, “I would love to stop seeing you two.”
He took down my statement as well as pulled the surveillance cameras the company has in the break room which confirmed the altercation and led to…
well, Nico’s altercation. Just as Jake predicted, as soon as Nico had me press charges, Alec pressed them against Nico.
Everything has gone to shit lately and though I know I should feel regret, that I should look at the common denominator of the chaos in my life, ie, my relationship with Nico and run fast and far.
I don’t want to. I don’t want to because in the midst of all of this, he’s remained by my side, steadfast and unyielding.
Does that make me dumb? Probably. Does it make me happy? Absolutely. Do I still hope to god that this is the end of the fights and police reports and fucking drama? God help me, I fucking NEED it to be.
Legal matters aside, Nico is under review from the board because it doesn’t matter if you own the company, people don’t really like a boss that beats the shit out of their employees.
Even if said employee deserved it. The meeting today will determine whether he is taking a leave of absence or…
god I don’t really know what all can come from this, honestly.
I’m still in shock that it happened at all.
My sister freaking out, that was expected.
Alec, though, he was a wild card I never saw coming, which is dumb of me because he was always insanely jealous.
I was in the wrong, too. I led him on, I played on his feeling because it was a suitable distraction and then I just…
disappeared. He was right to be pissed with me.
I know that Alec has a lot of trauma around death and loss and abandonment.
His grandma going had to of triggered more than a little something inside of him and I have no doubt he feels survivor’s guilt for his parents’ accident.
Still, I can’t believe he would do that.
That he would scream, that he would hit me.
He’s never hurt a fly the entire time I’ve known him.
I know it was the grief talking and acting, the betrayal but fuck.
I’m not afraid to admit that I was absolutely terrified of him in that moment.
That he morphed into someone who I didn’t even recognize, one that I had no clue what they were capable of.
Shaking my head, I focus on the walk ahead of me. I’m bored to death in the house all alone and I need to get out and do…something. So, I decided to walk down to the cute coffee shop Nico first took me to. I don’t expect to find a familiar brunette standing before me, timidly looking to me.
“Hey, Cass,” Carly says quietly.
I’m on edge immediately, but I try not to let it show.
“What do you want?”
She looks down at her feet for a moment before looking up at me.
“I wanted to apologize.”
I raise a disbelieving eyebrow to her as she continues.
“Mom and dad said you were staying in Boston and I know how much Nico liked this place,” she says as she looks up at the building.
“I’m not interested in anything you have to say, Carly.”
She nods her head like she understands, and that has my brows furrowing because since when has Carly been able to put herself in anyone’s shoes? Since when has she apologized or tried to atone for her words or actions?
“I just…I’m really sorry. I wanted to talk and I…I realize how dumb that sounds,” she says, her voice tight and choppy as a tear falls down her face.
Goddamnit. I hate myself. I hate myself so fucking much. I hate that I can’t flip her off and walk in the other direction without losing a wink of sleep. The truth is, though, despite all of the fighting and bullshit that’s gone on…well, forever, between the two of us, she’s my sister.
“Five minutes,” I grit through clenched teeth.
Carly looks up at me with surprise before nodding quickly.
“Yes, yeah. Thank you. Do you want to talk inside or?”
“I’m going to the coffee shop down the road, c’mon,” I say as I move past her and head down the road.
She tries to keep up with me but my legs are much longer and therefor, keep me firmly ahead.
When we step through the door, comfort from the familiar smell fills me before I see Tammy.
She was the barista that helped Nico and I the first time we came in here, and our schedules seem to line up perfectly because she is here literally every time I come in.
“Good morning, Tammy,” I smile.
“Hey! What can I get you?”
“Let me get it,” Carly says, wedging herself between me and the counter.
I lift my hands up and shake my head.
“Can I get a vanilla latte?”
Tammy nods as Carly wrinkles her nose in disgust.
“I haven’t had one of those in a while. Does this place make a decent one?” she asks with a wrinkle of her nose as she inspects the coffee shop with contempt.
Doing my best to suppress an eyeroll, I nod my head.
“What the hell, we’ll see if they can handle it. Make it two, soy for mine, Carly,” she says in a way like she should know who my sister is or something ridiculous.
Tammy looks to me as if to ask if she is fucking kidding, but I don’t have any type of comfort to offer her. Believe it or not, that is Carly being pleasant. I blink slowly before looking away. I was beginning to not recognize my sister.
There she is, found her.
Carly hands her card over as Tammy shakes her head before beginning to ring us up.
“I’m gonna grab a table,” I say as Carly nods.
Fucking hell. What have I gotten myself into.
Carly stands to the side and watches Tammy make the drink like a hawk.
When Tammy finishes up, Carly scoots the cups towards her, without saying thank you of course, before she opens the lids and inspects the collars with our names written on them.
She stands there for a solid fifteen seconds messing with them before I’m fed up.
“Carly, what are you doing?” I say.
She turns to me and rolls her eyes.
“I’m making sure they are properly labeled!’
“Who cares? They are the same drink.”
“I do! If they didn’t label them properly I might drink your nasty dairy milk,” she says before turning back to our drinks.
“Here is yours! Have a good day,” Tammy says as she hands Carly’s to her before handing her mine as well.
Carly looks her up and down before shrugging her shoulders and sashaying towards me.
“Thank you for letting me apologize. I just…I feel awful honestly. The way I acted was…insane.”
I watch her carefully because again, who is this self-aware version of my sister? I don’t recognize her.
“To apologies,” she says, holding her cup up for a cheers.
I shrug my shoulders and cheers her cup before taking a small sip while she does the same.
Carly makes a face like she’s not impressed before taking another sip.
“You have four minutes,” I say flatly.
She gives me a flat look before shaking her head.
“Anyways, I’m sorry. I freaked out because you know, you kinda stole the love of my life,” she laughs bitterly.
“Carly, I didn’t steal h—”
“Regardless,” she says holding her hand up in the air. “It’s been over between Nicholas and I for a long time and I needed to accept it. It was just hard and then to see that not only had he given up on me but moved on with you…I lost it.”
“What about the necklace made you realize it?” I ask, a burning question both Nico and I have wondered.
She looks down at her lap before back at me, her breathing coming a little heavier than before.
“I saw it in his bedside table when I got back from my cruise. I thought it was for me. Then when he didn’t give it to me, I kinda forgot about it…until I saw it around your neck.”
Ah.
Makes sense.
“For what it’s worth, I am sorry, Carly. Neither of us meant for it to happen. It got really complicated really fast but neither of us ever wanted to hurt you.”
She lets out a short breath in what sounds like a silent chuckle before she does it again and again, opening her mouth to take a breath. Her eyes look to me in confusion as her hand goes to her chest.
“What the fuck?” she pants as she picks up her cup, her eyes widening before he looks up at me and clutches her chest. In the next moment, she’s slumping out of her chair and falling to the floor.
“Oh my god! Carly!” I gasp as I drop down beside her.
My eyes run over her, as if I could find something physically wrong with her as she stares up at me.
“Fuck…you….F-fuck,” she stutters before her eyes roll into the back of her head and her body sinks into the floor further.
What the hell?!
“Someone call 911!” I say as I check her neck for a pulse.
I’m not a fucking doctor or anything but I can’t feel anything.
Oh my god. Oh my god. I try to line up where I think her heart is and begin pushing on her chest. I’m not CPR trained or anything but I’ve seen it done on TV enough times and know that if she goes without a heartbeat for too long, she’s done for.
An ambulance arrives surprisingly fast and they rush in before taking over for me.
“What happened?” they ask me.
“I-I don’t know. She was talking and then she couldn’t breathe or something and just collapsed. It didn’t feel like she had a pulse.”
The paramedics lift her onto a gurney and begin carrying her out to the ambulance when something falls out of her pocket. A tiny clear baggie with some kind of powder in it. I bend down to pick it up, looking at it for any kind of markings or indication as to what it is.
“Is that coke?” the paramedic asks.
I’ve never seen a pale green cocaine before, and trust me I’ve…never done cocaine in my life. Nope. Not me.
“I’ll take it to the hospital, see if they can figure out what she od’d on.”
I hand the baggie over to the paramedic as I step into the ambulance with them. First, I send a text to my parents telling them that Carly is being rushed to the hospital. Then, I send one to Nico.