(Happy Birthday to Alyssa <3 I heard you love my story and today is your birthday, I hope its a good one xo)
Hardin's POV.
"Where are you Scott?" The man's voice booms.
"I saw him leave the bar I know he is here." Another man says.
The floor is cold when I climb out of bed to see who is there. At first I thought it was Daddy and his friends but now I don't think it is.
"Come out, come out where ever you are!" The deepest voice yells and there is a crash.
"He isn't here." My mummy says when I reach the bottom of the stairs.
"Ohhh, look what we have here. Who knew Scott had such a bangin' wife." The tall man says and grabs my mum by her arm to pull her off the couch.
"Please.. he isn't here. If he owes you money I will give you all I have. You can take anything in the house, the television even." My mum tells a man with a big ouchy on his head.
"A television? I don't want a damn television."
"I have some jewelry, not much but please.." She says.
"Shut the fuck up!" He says and smacks mummy.
"Mum!" I yell and run into the living room.
"Hardin.. go upstairs!" She tells me but I am not leaving my mummy with these mean men.
"Get out of here you little shit." One of them tells me.
"See bitch, the problem is that your husband did this." He points to his ouchy. "And since he isn't here, you will do." He smiles and she kicks her legs at him.
"Hardin, baby go upstairs.. Now!" She yells at me. Why is mummy mad at me?
"I think he wants to watch." The tall man says and pushes her onto the couch.
I jolt awake and sit up. Fuck. They keep coming, every night worse than the last. I got so used to them not coming, I got to sleep. Because of her, it was all because of her. But here I am at four in the damn morning with bloody sheets from my busted knuckles and a killer headache from my nightmare and lack of sleep.
I will deal with the sheets later, right now I want to close my eyes and pretend that she is here and hope that sleep will come.
.................................................................................................
"Tess, baby wake up." Hardin's voice whispers in my ear as he touches his lips to the skin just under my ear.
"You look so beautiful when you wake up." He compliments and I smile, pulling him by his hair to meet my eyes.
I brush my nose against his and he chuckles. "I love you." He says and presses his lips to mine, only I can't feel them.
"Hardin?" I question as he fades.
I snap my eyes open as I am thrown back into reality. The room is pitch black and for a second I forget where I am. In a hotel room, alone. I grab my phone off the bedside table and it is only four am. I wipe the tears from the corners of my eyes and close my eyes to try to get back to Hardin, even if it's only a dream.
When I finally wake up again, it's seven. I get in the shower and try to enjoy the hot water as it relaxes me. I blow dry my hair and do my makeup, today is the first day I feel like looking decent. I need to get out of this.. mess that is inside of me. I need to do as my mother would do, paint a perfect face on to mask what is inside. When I am finished, I look well rested somehow and actually really nice. I curl my hair and dig my white dress out of my bag and cringe. Good thing this room has an iron. It is cold, too cold for this dress that doesn't quite reach my knees, but I won't be outside long. I choose to wear plain black heels and pray that I don't slip on the ice outside. I sit the dress and heels on the bed.
Before I get dressed, I pack my bags again. I hope my mother calls with some good news about the dorms. If not, I will have to stay here until she does and that will drain the money I have, fast. Maybe I should just look into getting my own place. I could afford a small apartment close to Vance, away from campus. I need to take my work in to my professors after I leave work today, I almost forgot. My mind is jumbled lately. I haven't even written in my planner in two days. I need to turn my phone on to see if my mother has called but I am afraid to hear Hardin's voice instead. It took everything in me to not stay yesterday and I need to keep moving forward, not backwards.
I grab my bags and open the door, the snow has mostly melted under the morning sun. Thank goodness. Just as I unlock my car door, Trevor walks out from his room two doors down from mine.
"I would have helped you get those." He greets me. He is wearing a black suit and a green tie, he looks so handsome.
Last night after we ate pizza, we watched a little television and shared stories of college. He had a lot more stories than me since he graduated and I really enjoyed hearing about what my college experience could have and should have been like. I shouldn't have been going to parties with people like Hardin, I should have found myself a small but true group of friends. It would have been so different, so much better. He left around nine and I forced myself to sleep.
"Did you sleep well?" He asks me and pulls a set of keys out of his pocket. With a click, the BMW starts itself.
Of course he has a BMW. "Your car starts itself?" I laugh.
"Well this thing starts it." He holds up his key.
"Nice." I smile.
"Convenient." He counters.
"Extravagant?"
"A little." He laughs. "But still very convenient."
"You look lovely today, as usual." He compliments as I put my bags in the car.
Since Hardin's reaction to me wearing this dress, it has become my favorite.
"Thank you, it's freezing out." I say and get into the driver's seat.
"See you at work." He says and climbs into his car as I start mine.
I turn the key and click..click..click..I try again and same thing.
"Can I get a freaking break!" I say aloud and hit my palms against the steering wheel.
I try to start my car for a third time but nothing happens, not even the clicking. I look over and thankfully Trevor is still sitting in his car. His window rolls down and I can't help but laugh at my own misfortune.
"Do you think you could give me a ride?" I ask and he nods.
"Of course I will. We are going the same place." He laughs and I climb out of my car.
I can't help but turn my phone on during the short drive to Vance. Surprisingly, I have no texts new texts from Hardin. I have a few voicemails but I don't know if they are from him, or my mother.
I choose to not listen to them, instead I text my mother and ask her about the dorm. Trevor drops me off at the door so I don't have to walk in the cold. I thank him and wish him a good day before going inside.
"You look refreshed." Kimberly smiles as I grab a donut.
"I feel a little better. Sort of." I tell her and pour myself a cup of coffee.
"Are you ready for tomorrow? I can't wait to get out of here for the weekend, Seattle has amazing shopping and I know while Christian and Trevor have their meetings we will be able to find some stuff to do. Is uhm.. have you talked to Hardin?" She asks.
"No, I moved my stuff out yesterday." I tell her and she frowns.
"I'm sorry girl. It will get easier as time goes by." She tells me and I hope she is right.
My day goes faster than expected and I finish this weeks manuscript early. I am excited to go to Seattle and I hope that I can get my mind off of Hardin, even if it is only for a short period of time. Monday is my birthday and I am not looking forward to it at all. If things wouldn't have went downhill so quickly, I would be on my way to England with Hardin on Tuesday. I don't really want to spend Christmas with my mother either, hopefully I will be back in the dorms by then so maybe I can think of a good enough reason to not show at my mothers. I know its Christmas and that is terrible of me but I am not exactly in the holiday mood. Hopefully after this weekend I will be though. My mom texts me as my day is winding down saying that she hasn't heard back about the dorm. Great. At least I only have one more night until the Seattle trip. Being homeless is not fun at all.
As I am getting ready to leave for the day I remember I didn't drive myself. I hope Trevor hasn't already left. I could walk back to the hotel if he did but it is awfully cold outside.
"See you tomorrow, we will meet here and Christian's driver will take us to Seattle." Kimberly tells me.
Christian has a driver? Of course he does, I am pretty sure he is a millionaire. If not, he is very close. Vance Publishing is very successful and keeps growing and growing. When I step off of the elevator Trevor is sitting on one of the black couches in the lobby, the contrast of the black couch, black suit, and his blue eyes is very appealing.
"I wasn't sure if you needed a ride or not and I didn't want to bother you in your office." He tells me.
"Thank you, I really appreciate it. I am going to call someone about my car when I get back to the hotel." It is slightly warmer than it was this morning but still freezing outside.
"I can wait with you if you want, my plumbing is fixed now so I wont be staying at the hotel again but I will wait with you if you.." He stops talking suddenly and his eyes go wide.
"What?" I ask and follow his eyes to see Hardin standing by his car in the lot and staring angrily at Trevor and I.
The breath has been knocked out of me once again. How does it keep getting worse?
As much as it hurts to see him, I am pissed off. Why is he here?
"Hardin what are you doing here?" I ask when he begins to walk towards us.
"Well you don't answer my calls so I didn't have much of a choice did I?" He yells.
"I didn't answer for a reason, you can't just show up to my job!" I yell back. Trevor looks uncomfortable and intimidated by Hardin's presence but he stays next to me.
"Are you ready?" Trevor asks me.
"Ready for what?" Hardin's eyes are wild.
"He is taking me back to the hotel, my car wouldn't start."
"Hotel!" Hardin practically screams.
"Oh god, not like that. We stayed at the same hotel last night." I tell him and realize that doesn't sound any better. Before I can stop him, Hardin has his hands on Trevor, gripping the collar of suit as he slams him against a red truck.
"Hardin! Stop! Let him go! We weren't in the same hotel room!" I explain. Why I am explaining myself to him is beyond me but I don't want him to hurt Trevor.
Hardin lets go of Trevor's clothing but he is still in his face.
"Back off of him, please." I grab Hardin's shoulder and he relaxes slightly.
"Stay away from her." He spits. His face only inches from Trevor's.
Trevor looks pale and once again I have brought someone else into this mess that doesn't deserve to be.
"I'm so sorry." I tell Trevor.
"It's okay, do you still need a ride?" He asks.
"No, she doesn't." Hardin answers for me.
I weigh my options and I know that if I get into Trevor's car Hardin will surely drag one of us out, probably me.
"I'm fine, thank you though." I sigh and walk angrily towards Hardin's car.