I wasn’t expecting a wife or a girlfriend. “Oh, hi. I was just—is Nick here?”
“No, this is his late night at work. Can I help you?”
The man’s shirt rolled to her elbows, and the clay drying in different shades of gray was a sure sign of me interrupting something. A project. She blew a piece of hair from her eyes and smiled. That made me feel better and I relaxed a little. I had no idea what I was supposed to say. None whatsoever. I blurted it out without thought, hoping to get someone on my side. Even if it was the girlfriend of someone I didn’t really know. The scraggly looking dog walked out to the hall and sniffed me, but I ignored it, and wrung my hands instead.
“This is going to sound totally off the wall. I met with your husband this afternoon, and—”
“Whoa, hang on. Can you come in for a minute? I have to turn off my table and wash my hands.”
The kind gesture caught me off guard for a second and it took a moment to answer. “Yeah, sure.”
“I’m Mi,” she said as I followed her inside, observing the house that I was sure she lived in, too. A white kitchen and a spacious living area decorated by a woman’s touch was a dead giveaway. I stood in the middle of the room while she turned off her pottery table, wondering about Mi and Nick. Talk about the odd couple. Mi was a small Korean girl with black shiny hair and pouty lips. Nick was tall and lanky, long hair, with a sharp nose.
I didn’t respond until her slanted eyes caught mine. “Gabby. Nice to meet you.”
“You a patient?”
“I’m not sure, maybe. I have amnesia and I’m in trouble for doing something I don’t even remember.”
“Do you like tea?”
“Yes, I like tea.”
Mi was my Godsend. Chamomile tea and an hour and ten minutes later was plenty of time for me to pour my heart out to her, a perfect stranger in the right place at the right time. My entire life was laid out on the table. I blabbered nonstop, trying to get it all in before Nick showed up. My new Korean friend did a lot of gasping along with wide-eyed expressions when I explained certain parts. Like the part where I knew my sister was in that car with me; and the part where Paxton had me arrested.
“I don’t even know what to say. You poor girl. And now you think he’s the one that put you up in a hotel? Why would he do that if he wanted you to go to prison? Doesn’t make sense to me. Ya know?”
“I don’t know. That’s the thing. That’s why I need Nick.”
“What the fuck are you doing here?” Nick asked in an angry tone, daggers shooting from his eyes to mine. “Mi? What the hell?”
My eyes shot to Nick, standing in the door, looking furious. With me. Of course he was. The crazy chick from his office was sitting at his table, having tea with his girlfriend. My heart beat hard in my chest, the thumps heard through both ears.
Mi stood, placing both her hands on her hips and looked up to him. Way up. Nick was at least a foot and half taller than her. “Nick, stop that. That’s no way to talk to a guest.”
“She’s not a guest, Mi. I can’t be with you anymore. Get out of my house.”
Just when I thought it wasn’t possible, my heart beat faster and harder. I didn’t mean to get the girl thrown out of her home.
“Shut up, where’s the food? You were supposed to get me Hero Bus.”
“Maybe you can explain why you’re in my house. Better yet; how the hell do you know where my house is?” Nick asked, his hand moving Mi to the side.
“My hotel is right over there. I saw you walk your dog. Nick, please. You’re my only hope,” I begged right from the start.
“You have to help her, Nick. She doesn’t have anyone else. Her husband has her kids. How would you like it if I kept you from our kids?”
Nick did a double take to Mi, eyes narrowed in a frown. “We don’t have kids.”
“We do, too. We have King. What if I didn’t let you see King?”
“Mi, shut the hell up. You’re not helping anything. We’re not getting involved with this. Come on. I’ll see you out.”
“Nick, you can’t be serious. Do you even know her story, or anything about her? She needs you to help her remember. Can’t you at least try?”
Nick placed a hand on my elbow and showed me to the door. “No, I can’t try. I’m not getting in the middle of this. If she wants to see me, she can make an appointment like everyone else.”
My feet scuffed across the floor while Nick guided me to the door. I was doomed, and I didn’t trust anyone.
“I’m sorry. Come back tomorrow. I’ll talk to him tonight,” Mi called from behind him.
“No you won’t, and don’t come back here period. Sounds to me like you’re in enough trouble. I don’t think you want me to call the cops.”
“I’m sorry,” Mi said again, and then the door was shut in my face.
I looked at the big brown door while the closing of my jail-cell rang in my head. A deep sigh and a huge feeling of kismet doom fell upon me. My only hope just shut the door in my face. My last chance to save myself. Walking out of that building was just as hard as walking in, maybe harder. At least I had a glimpse of hope going in. Now I had nothing.
The white haired guy was gone when I exited, his post empty like me. A piece of trash caught my eye and I pitched it into a trashcan and sat on the bench beside it. I stared at the window in my hotel room, wondering why Paxton put me up, knowing I couldn’t go back there. The ideas refused to surface. I had none. Zilch. Nothing.
The sky dimmed to a gray night as darkness descended upon the city, the busy chaos replaced with a dark calm. I’m not sure what I saw as I sat there, contemplating where to go, what to do, and the girls. That’s when it really hit me. I missed them so much, and it hurt my heart to think about them being sad. The first tear slid down my right cheek, opening a dam that I couldn’t control. I lost it. Right there on the sidewalk below a dim lit streetlight.
Not one word was spoken when I looked up to see Mi and Nick. He hated me, and she felt sorry for me. She slid in beside me and wrapped her small arms around me. The kind gesture and the needed hug did little for the breakdown I seemed to be having. If anything, it made it worse. I cried on Mi’s shoulder, unsure of any and everything. I was so alone, and didn’t know where to turn, who to turn to, or who to trust.
Minutes passed while I had a meltdown all over Mi’s pink shirt, drowning in pain and despair that I couldn’t even explain. My mind was all over the place; the wreck, my babies, Paxton, Lane, the whereabouts of my sister. I cried because I didn’t know what else to do. Simple as that.
“I’m sorry. I’m okay,” I finally said with a disgusting snot sound. The kind you can’t help. It was either that or let it run from my nose.
“Do you want me to walk you to your room? I will.”
“No, I can’t go there, knowing Paxton paid for it. He’s got a plan and I’m not about to let him make it about me,” I explained while sniffing again.
“Where you going to go?”
“Mi, come on,” Nick said from a few feet.
Mi shot him an angry look and turned back to me. “Where are you going to go, Gabby?”
I shrugged my shoulders with a sigh. “I’m not sure yet.”
“Come on, you can stay with me tonight. We’ll figure it out in the morning.”
“Mi,” Nick protested again to no avail.
Mi might have been a little shit, but she was strong as hell. I wished I had half her backbone. She ordered him around and he listened. Not because he wanted to. That part was obvious.
“Go get us Hero Bus,” she ordered as she led me inside.
I sat on Mi’s couch with the tiny little dog while she made us drinks. Real drinks, not hot tea, just what I needed. The only thing bad about it was her ability to mix a drink. They were horrible, too much lemon, not enough coke, and the wrong kind of rum. Nonetheless, I drank it, probably a little quicker than I should have. It didn’t take any time before I felt the effects.
Nick returned twenty minutes later with a brown bag of smelly food, and my tummy hoped he got me something, too. I watched while Mi stood and set the table by the window. Three places. One eye watched Mi and one cautiously stayed on Nicks glare. The guy hated me.