*Copyright: All Rights Reserved, Stephanie Myrick, 2024. Posted to Wattpad ONLY*
Antonia brought her car back to the condo and got aboard with Maverick to meet up with Raven and Jynx. She smiled as she buckled her seatbelt. "Thanks for doing this with me, Mave."
"Like I said, no problem." He returned her smile and pulled out of the parking lot. "But you know she isn't going to blame you for anything, right?"
"I know, but she's gonna be devastated." She sighed and rested her head on the window. "I hate that I'm the reason she met her."
"Toni." He took her hand, and she looked at him in surprise. "She might have met her anyway. Sometimes, you can't prevent things from happening." She chewed her lower lip for a minute and then decided to ask the question she really wanted the answer to.
"What happened with Julia? Do you think that could have been prevented?"
Maverick chuckled, kissed the back of her hand and let it go. "Fair enough. Honestly? If you hadn't done such a good job of shutting me out when your mom died, yes, it would have been prevented. It took her almost three years to convince me to date her."
"Oh." She folded her hands in her lap and looked down at them. "I shut everyone out, not just you, but I'm sorry."
"Don't apologize." He shook his head. "Not for that. I didn't realize how bad things were for you with her. If I had, I would have worked harder to get you to talk to me."
"So what happened?" Antonia suddenly felt lighter and happier than she had in a very long time. She had believed he had just forgotten about her and moved on, but hearing he hadn't gave her a sense of relief she didn't know she needed.
"After we broke up, I distanced myself from everyone. I blamed all my friends at college, especially Julia, for how things went with us. I stopped going to class, stopped everything. I failed the semester." He sighed, and she realized he was taking the long way to Nola's so he could tell her the whole story. "Julia was the only one who kept coming around. She would show up every day, apologizing and asking me to forgive her. She convinced me to go to the school and ask if I could repeat the semester I failed over the summer and they agreed. She gave me all her notes and helped me study for the tests and exams."
"So she was buttering you up?" Antonia rolled her eyes. Of course, she was. Julia had set out with one goal, and she was determined to achieve it.
"Yeah, that's one way to put it, I guess." He shrugged. "She put up with a lot though. I talked about you all the time." He laughed. "Looking back, I can see that I really annoyed her with it, but she stuck it out. When your mom died, and I came back for the funeral, I decided that if you gave me even one hint that there was half a chance that you might take me back, I was going to stay."
"But I didn't."
"No. You didn't, and I went back to New York. This time, I threw myself into my studies, determined to graduate and do what Dad wanted me to do: join the Secret Service, move to DC and hopefully, forget about you. Once again, she was there, and after another semester, I finally agreed to date her. I figured if she was so determined, I might as well give her a chance."
Antonia swallowed and then nodded. She was as much to blame for what happened as Julia in the end. "Thanks for telling me."
He grinned at her. "All you had to do was ask. Now, where am I going again?"
—--------
"Wait, wait, wait! Park here." Antonia said excitedly as Maverick hit the brakes.
"Why?" He pulled in behind a truck and parked. "It's the next street."
"I want to have some fun." She got out of the car and stretched. "Let's go." She started to jog, ducking into someone's yard and jumping the fence.
"Really?" She heard him groan. "I thought I left fence jumping behind when I left the NYPD." Antonia stopped, feeling bad. She had forgotten about his injury. He landed a little heavily, stumbling a bit. "And we're also trespassing."
"Are you okay?" She reached out and gripped his elbow so he wouldn't fall.
"I'm fine." He grumbled, pulling out of her hand. "I have a limp; I didn't lose the leg."
"Sorry." She dropped her hand, feeling like an idiot.
"No, it's okay," he said quickly and smiled reassuringly. I hate that it's slowed me down so much. What do you want to do?" She hesitated, but when he took her hand again, she smiled back and led him over to the gate. Opening it, she crouched down and led him along the fence to a tree near the street.
"If I'm right, we should have come out near..." She smirked and pointed. "A few feet from Raven's car." Putting her finger to her lips, she crawled on her hands and knees over to the passenger door. She could hear them inside laughing, and she looked over her shoulder at Maverick, who was still behind the tree. He held up his hands and stepped back, indicating he wanted no part of what she was about to do. Grinning, she jumped up and pressed her hands and face against the glass. Both girls screamed, and Jynx scrambled back over the console and into Raven's lap. Giggling, Antonia opened the back door and climbed in. Maverick got in on the other side, shaking his head.
"Toni!" Jynx shrieked and climbed through the seats, slapping at her. "What the hell is wrong with you!"
"I'm sorry!" Antonia laughed and caught her hands. "I couldn't help myself."
"I almost pissed myself!" Jynx pulled back and sat down again, folding her arms and glaring at her.
"Are you sure you didn't?" Raven grabbed some napkins, wiped something off her legs and sniffed experimentally.
"No!" Jynx snapped. "I did knock over your energy drink though." She leaned down and picked the can up off the floor. "Sorry."
"Ugh," Raven grumbled. "Now the car will be sticky." She wiped up some of the drink and joined her sister in glaring at Antonia. "What are you doing here?"
"I need to tell Jynx something." Antonia's good mood vanished, and she shifted nervously.
"Oh, that's not good." Raven got up on her knees and turned, looking over the headrest at them. "What happened?"
"I really, really hate that sometimes," Antonia mumbled to Maverick, who smiled sympathetically.
"Yeah, it does get annoying." He agreed. "Raven, we should go for a walk." She nodded, and they got out of the car. When the door shut, Antonia took a deep breath and told Jynx what Dallas told her about Keanna." When she finished, Jynx stared at her for a moment.
"That's not funny, Toni."
"It's not a joke." Antonia reached up and took her hand. "I'm sorry. I wish I didn't have to tell you." Jynx snatched her hand back and glared at her.
"Seriously? You scare the shit out of me and then lay that on me? What the hell?"
"Yeah, I shouldn't have done that. I kind of forgot why I was here." Antonia winced and ducked her head. "I'm really sorry, Jynx." She heard the door open, and then it slammed shut. "Fuck." She muttered. "What the hell is wrong with you?" She opened the door and got out, looking around. "Jynx?"
"She's gone. Maverick's gone after her." Raven walked up and put her arm around her shoulder. "Get in, he'll bring her home."
"I'm an idiot." She groaned. She felt like the world's worst friend. Why had she decided to scare them?
"Yeah, we'll talk about it in the car." Raven opened the passenger door and directed her in. When she got in the driver's seat, she started the car and pulled away from the curb. "So? Explain."
"What did Mave tell you?" Antonia swallowed the lump in her throat. Was she actually about to cry? The last time she did that was when her mother sold her cello. What was wrong with her?
"That Keanna should be locked up." Raven glanced at her. "Are you..." She pulled over quickly and parked. "Are you crying?"
"Apparently?" Antonia grabbed a napkin and wiped her eyes. "I don't know what's wrong with me."
"Okay," Raven said, pulling her into a hug. "If you can't tell me what's wrong, tell me what happened."
Antonia nodded and haltingly told her about what happened at the lawyers, meeting up with Maverick and talking to Liam, the drive over, and what Maverick told her. "When he explained about what happened with Julia, I felt almost giddy. Then, we were getting close to you guys, and it was like an intrusive thought. "Scare them. Scare them." I told Mave to pull over and jump a fence." She sighed. It was like I couldn't stop myself."
Raven was quiet for a long moment, then she nodded and smiled. "Giddy, huh?"
"Yeah, I was just..." She stumbled and didn't know what she wanted to say or describe how it felt. "I felt light. Like gravity wasn't pulling me toward the center of the earth anymore. I was almost lightheaded."
"Hmmm. You mean happy?" Raven smirked as she teased her. "Congrats, Sweetie. You just had your first real emotion in years."
"Well, I'm having another one now, and I don't like it at all," Antonia mumbled, looking out the window. "Feels like I'm a horrible person."
"Yeah, that one is guilt, and you'll feel it until Jynx lets you know she's okay. She smiled and pulled up in front of the condo building. "Give her some time; she'll probably be pounding on your door at three in the morning, so try to get some sleep."
*Copyright: All Rights Reserved, Stephanie Myrick, 2024. Posted to Wattpad ONLY*