Chapter 75

I wake up with a gasp. “What time is it?”

“Almost six,” Emily says from the other side of the living room. I rub my eyes. At some point I must’ve fallen asleep.

“Did you sleep at all?” I ask.

“I couldn’t sleep with a hundred people outside my house,” Emily says with a bit of a bite to her voice. I grimace. I toss up her shortness to lack of sleep, and I suppose I’d be anxious too with so many people outside my house.

“I take it everyone is still out there?” I say trying to sit up. My back screams in pain. I dig in between the seat cousins and pull out the remote.

“Yes,” Emily answers from by the window. I can’t believe this.

“I’m taking a personal day from work,” I tell Emily and shift my weight to my side intending to go back to sleep.

“You have to leave,” Emily says. Her suddenness forces me to sit up.

“Why?” I ask as though she doesn’t have every right to toss me out of her house.

“Some idiots threw eggs at my house,” Emily growls and yanks shut the curtains.

“They what?” I ask now fully awake. “Why didn’t it wake me up?”

“What good what that do? Then we’d both be cranky and tired,” Emily plants herself on her love seat. “Sorry by the way,” she adds as an after thought.

I stretch. “People vandalize your house and you apologize?” At least now I know why I have to leave. It’s not fair to Emily that people are coming to her house unannounced because of my

personal affairs with Eric.

“I’m going to sleep,” Emily says and drags herself up stairs, her shoulders drooping and her head slumped.

“Thanks for everything,” I say weakly because I know there’s nothing I can do to repay her.

Maybe I’ll hire someone to clean off her house. Emily shrugs me off and mutters something along the lines of it being no problem.

Once she’s gone, I gather my things and think about a possible way of me getting home without anyone seeing, but I can’t think of any.

Thirty minutes later, I appear outside. The dim blue light of early morning stretches over the horizon, a few birds sing.

“She’s here!” Someone shouts sounding like they’re wired on caffeine, or drugs. Maybe both.

I ignore him and walk over the to Erics tent, thankful those camping outside with him give me space.

The zipper to Erics tent begins to rattle and he pokes his head out. His hair is messy, his eyes are puffy telling me he hardly slept a wink, but God. He’s still incredibly handsome. He sees me and his lips stretch into a lazy grin.

“Morning,” he says. More and more come out from their tents or are being kicked awake by their neighbor from their lawn chairs.

“Let’s go home,” I say to him being sure to keep my tone neutral. Eric nods taking the hint that we’re not about to have a full-blown conversation weather that he a fight or a make up make out session at this very moment.

Eric leaves his things behind, we walk side by side the ends of our pants collecting the morning dew until we exit Emily’s white pocket dense. Applause erupts behind us.

I doze off in the car and don’t wake up until I feel the familiar bumps that signal to me were pulling into our long, curvy driveway.

As soon as my eyes open, I wished I was still asleep. Not just because exhaustion his hitting me like a truck, but because what awaits outside isn’t a warm welcome home- it’s a nightmare.

More and more crowds among camera men and news vans practically stand on one another trying to be if even an inch closer to our vehicle. Eric’s nostrils flare, the only indication that he’s

just as unhappy with the attention as I am.

“I should have called Andrew,” he says and reaches in his pocket I presume to do exactly that.

I sink down in my passenger seat as if I could make myself invisible. The excitement grows among the crowd, body’s squirming against one another like a pack of sardines, my stomach churns.

Just then the front door slams open. I shoot up in my seat as I see Debbie appear in her footsie pajamas, her hair ruffled and sleep still clinging to her as she rubs her eyes.

As if the rest of the crowd disappears, she’s all I see. My heart slams in my chest r I’ve missed her so much, then anger comes next.

“You left Debbie home alone all night?” I yell at Eric. Eric flinches at my volume.

“No,” he replies calmly. “Margaux is here with her,” then as if on cue Margaux comes quickly to pull Debbie back inside but becomes momentarily distracted by the chaos out front.

I can see Debbie yanking free from a frail Margaux.

Margaux used to be able to get a hold of Debbie easily, then Debbie’s health started to improve

and she got stronger and stronger, while Margaux continued to age.

Eric lays on his horn which causes people to jump back from the car in fright. I smile sardonically. That’s what you get.

I feel Eric’s gaze on me and when I look at him he’s cocking an eyebrow looking impressed.

“What?” I ask.

“I didn’t know you could be so spiteful,” he says.

Maybe it’s the lack of sleep talking but I flirt back. “Theres still a lot about me you don’t know,”

I challenge him.

If Eric meant what he said about wanting me back, he has to get to know me and I have to get to know him. Eric nods in confirmation. “Touché;” he says. The moment between us flames with heat and then suddenly fizzles when I see a little Debbie lifted her head up to talk into a microphone in front of a camera.

I throw my car door open. “Get away from her!” I yell. Whatever happened to privacy of a minor laws?

“Is this who your new branding company is modeled after?” The anchor man shoots his question at Eric coming at him with a mic, completely disregarding me.

Eric ignores the anchorman and entwines his hand in mine, though I don’t think it’s a romantic gesture he’s doing it so he can barrel us through the masses without us getting separated. Still my heart rate increases.

Eric glances back at me knowingly, sensing my heighten pulse. “It’s my claustrophobia” I dismiss him. Eric shakes his head which I know means he doesn’t believe me.

Keeping up this hard to get attitude is going to be harder than I thought if he keeps looking at me like that.

People scream into our ear like a bunch of crazed fans as we shove our way up the stairs.

Anchors hurl questions at us. Eric keeps his head high while I duck behind him, using him like a human shield. He grabs Debbie’s hand and pulls her inside.

One the front door slams shut behind us the noise outside becomes muffled and I feel like I can breathe again.

“I like being famous,” Debbie says with a twirl and skips to the kitchen. I laugh.

“I missed her,” I say out loud.

“We missed you,” Eric says looking down at me. His fingers lightly trace my hips.i swallow, my throat suddenly dry.

“I bet you your sales are going to soar now that she’s made an appearance,” I say, my voice raspy.

“Who cares,” Eric says and lowers his lips to mine but I pull away.

I’m not that easy.