38. Elijah
Chapter thirty-eight
Elijah
S he left.
I picked up one of the vases on the counter and threw it against the door.
“Fuck!”
I paced back and forth. What the fuck am I going to do without her? I walked over to the counter and poured myself a glass of whiskey. I paused, staring at it as I brought it to my lips.
“If I can't have Brielle, I will at least have you.” I don’t know why I was talking out loud, but it made me feel better.
After a few more drinks, I sat on the couch, trying to figure out how to get her to stay. I sat there for about an hour just talking to myself. I heard a car door shut, and I knew it was her.
I ran out to the front and rushed after her. Link saw me first and tried to intercept me. “Elijah, let her be.” I could see her sitting in the front seat, unaware I was even near.
“Get the fuck out of my way.” I tried to yell, but it came out as more of a pleading cry. That’s when she turned and got out.
Her face was bright red, and her eyes were even more puffy than they had been an hour ago. Link's hand held me back, so I spoke over his shoulder, “Brielle, please.”
“Link, it's okay. Give us a minute.”
He looked back at her and then to me before removing his hand from my chest.
Link stood in front of me for a second just staring into my eyes. He stepped toward me and put his forehead to mine. “I love you, man. I hope you fix this.” He backed up and looked at Brie. “One minute.”
He got into the driver's seat, and I could see him staring at me through the side mirror.
I grabbed Brielle's hands, lacing them together in mine. “Wait for me. I think I can do this, I just need time.”
A sweet smile appeared on her face as more tears filled her eyes. “I can’t wait for you. If I did, you would be doing it for me. It has to be for you this time.”
“But I love you,” I pleaded.
“Sometimes love isn’t enough.” She swallowed.
“I will always love you, Elijah. It is unrealistic to think this is the last time we will see each other.
We have family members in common. I know you and Link will talk; I am sure even Aubrey will come back around when she's done being really mad at you, but right now…right now… I need to remove myself.” Her hand caressed my face.
“You will beat this. And who knows, maybe you will meet that perfect someone along the way to the new life you are going to create.”
“I met you. That’s all I need.”
She pulled me in and kissed my cheek. “You are all you need, Elijah. You got this, baby.”
“Please,” I tried one more time.
“I love you, Elijah.”
I stood there, speechless, watching as she got back into the car, and my entire life drove away.
Brielle
“This fucking sucks.”
I nodded. I wasn’t sure if Link meant to say that out loud. He was quiet for a few more minutes, then shifted in his seat. Shifting around was his tell when he was about to say something uncomfortable.
“You did the right thing.” He gripped my arm on the armrest but kept his eyes on the road. I moved my hand to lace my fingers with his.
“I really hope so, because I'm about to be very fucking sad and lonely for no reason, if not.”
“No,” he said curtly. “We will all be there for you.”
“Yeah? And what about him? Who is going to be there for him?”
He looked over at me before looking back at the road. A moment later, he pulled into what looked like a bakery parking lot.
“Brielle. He doesn’t see the issues he has.
Just going to AA and going through the motions isn’t helping him.
He needs to get serious help this time.” He huffed.
“I kind of wish I had made him get help sooner. I have seen this coming for a long time.” He looked down at his hands in his lap.
“Brielle, he's sick. No medicine is going to help. If he really wants this…” He looked up at me with tears in his eyes. "He will get better. He has to do this on his own, and we can’t be there for this part.”
Tears continued falling down my face. “I know you’re right, and that’s what I told him. I just…I…I love him, Link.”
I pulled my legs up and into the seat, putting my face in my legs and sobbed.
Someone must have been outside the car asking if we were okay because I saw Link motion to someone out of the corner of my eye.
“Can we just go? I need Aubrey, I need Amani, and I need to go home.”
“Of course, baby sis.”
Link drove the entire trip back straight through. I slept most of it—I was exhausted from lack of sleep—but I woke up about an hour and a half from home.
“I told my boss I would be back to work tomorrow.”
Link gave me a concerned look. “Why so soon?”
“I need to just get back to my life. Maybe get away or something. I think it will be good for me. I might ask my boss if I can work at her other gallery for a bit.”
His eyes widened. “In Italy?”
I looked out the front window with a sad smile. “In Italy.”