Coughing, Mike clasped his hand over his nose.
"Where are we?" Grace spoke into her sleeves.
Ignoring her, he pushed the door further, and walked into the dark, dusty building.
Eleven months. The sound of his shoes making contact with the wooden floors echoed through the building, as he slowly made his way to the living room. Eleven months since he was in this building. Several emotions clawed for his attention, but Mike ignored them all, the pictures on the stand catching his attention.
"Sarah?" Grace stood behind him, as he ran his fingers over the glass, ridding it of the dust that clung to it, to reveal Sarah's beautiful face. She had her arms wrapped around his neck, and her lips on his cheek.
He nodded. "Our first Christmas together."
"She's beautiful."
A smile curved his lips. "She is. Maddie got her looks from Sarah."
"And is this Maddie?" When Mike turned to Grace, she was holding a picture of him and Maddie. He had her on his back, a bright smile on her face as she clung to his neck. The picture had been taken a month before they discovered she was sick with Cancer. At the time, he was working as an electrician.
"Yes. She was three at the time." He took the picture, a smile curving his lips at the memory. "Three going on thirty three,” he laughed.
They dusted off more pictures, until all the frames sat clean on the table. He stared at every one of those pictures, and smiled at the memories they brought. They were happy memories. They were pictures taken in happy times. They were memories he had exchanged for sad ones. He had left them behind, buried in dust, and had walked away with nothing but pain. But he had been wrong to walk away.
"What are you going to do now, Mike?"
He turned to Grace. "Stop running. I'm going to stop running, and I'm going to go crash a wedding."
A broad smile settled on Grace's face. "Now that's what I'm talking about."
~*~
Eden didn't walk into St. John's hospital until Christmas Eve. She was exhausted from putting the final touches to her wedding plans, but wasn't keen on missing the Christmas party. So, ignoring the cramp in her body, she held firmly to the items in her arms, and made her way into the crowded lobby.
She smiled at the sight of so many children having a good time, momentarily forgetting their ailments.
Crossing the room in a highly uncomfortable, tight skirt, she placed the items in her hands under the lavender tree.
"Eden?!"
She turned around to find Frankie behind her, seated in a wheelchair.
She smiled then, thankful Frankie was well enough to come down for the party, considering the fact that she had almost died only a few days ago. For the first time in many months, Eden felt like she was finally getting ahead of death.
"Hey, Sweetie." She smiled.
"Mike says there's another gift with my name on it."
Mike? Eden lifted her head up then, surprised to find Mike clinging to Frankie's wheelchair. He was dressed in a green suit, with a white ribbon tied around his head, forming a bow on top.
He looked ridiculous, she smiled, her heart doing a small flip at the sight of him.
"Yeah. Apparently, Santa couldn't find a boyfriend more handsome than Mike, so he sent him for tonight. Now I'm stuck with Santa's assistant! I guess I'll wish for something better next year?" Frankie rolled her eyes.
"What?" Mike held his chest like someone suffering a heart attack. "I'm hurt."
Eden laughed at the expression on his face, before turning her attention to Frankie. "Maybe you'll get a better gift under the tree?"
"I hope so." She folded her arms.
"Yeah, as soon as Phil gives his speech, you'll get to unwrap your present."
"Fine. Take me over there, Mike, to the snack table."
"Boyfriend, Frankie, not driver," Mike grumbled, as he pushed Frankie's wheelchair past Eden.
Just then, Philip made his way into the hospital with several reporters following closely behind.
The evening kicked off with Philip giving a speech that had more to do with his campaign, than it had to do with the children. He openly criticized the present Mayor, and shamelessly solicited for votes in an event planned for sick children.
His speech must have lasted forty minutes. Eden stopped listening after the first five minutes.
The speech finally ended, and Frankie -this time being pushed on the wheelchair by her mother- asked if she could read the Christmas story.
"Sure." Eden shrugged. "Where's your boyfriend?" she asked casually, ignoring the small stab in her chest; Mike was supposed to be her boyfriend, not Frankie's. But she was being silly for being jealous of a six year old.
"On the piano." Frankie motioned to the piano, before her mother wheeled her over to the front of the room.
"...to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David..." Frankie's voice carried over the speakers, as she read from the gospel of Luke.
"Hey." Philip touched her shoulder.
She smiled. "Hey." She kept her eyes on Frankie, but could thankfully see Mike from the corners of her eyes where he sat on the piano right next to where Frankie sat reading.
"We need to talk."
She frowned. "Now? I would like to listen to Frankie until the end." And also Mike; I would like to listen to him sing.
"Yes, now!" he snapped, gaining her attention.
She turned to him, just as Frankie finished, and Mike began playing the piano.
"What? Why?" She thought she saw anger in his eyes.
"We need to talk, Eden."
"Well, can it not wait? I can't leave the childr—"
He grabbed her forearm. "Yes, you can. This lobby is filled to its capacity with adults; doctors and parents as well as every media house in New York. You can leave the 'children'." He clenched his teeth, his hold on her arm tightening. "You can also afford to be away from the loser on the piano for a few more minutes!"
She gasped, more out of shock that he noticed Mike had her attention, and less as a result of the pain that shot up her arm as he practically dragged her through the crowded lobby, outside.
"Let go of my arm!" she hissed, jerking her arm away once they were outside. "What is the matter with you?!" She rubbed her aching arm.
"Me? Me?!" he let out a mirthless laugh. "I'm the one with the problem?! I'm the one with the problem when you're the one kissing the janitor out in public."
"What?" Eden frowned, confused.
"Here!" He tossed his phone to her, and she caught it before it fell to the ground.
With her frown deepening, she stared at the screen. Realization struck her as she stared at the video before her.
"I'm being blackmailed," he whispered, visibly exasperated. "Someone sent that video to me a few minutes ago, threatening to go public with it if I do not pay him a hundred thousand dollars in twenty four hours."
Eden's heart dropped. It was a video of her and Mike in the karaoke bar. Mike had his arms around her, and his head tilted to the side, giving the illusion that he had been kissing her.
"It is not what it seems," she whispered, her lungs constricting.
"What does it seem?!" Philip half yelled.
She stepped forward, and placed a hand on his arm. "We didn't kiss. Nothing happ—"
"That is not what the press will say once they get their hands on this video, Eden!" he hissed, jerking his hand away. "This will ruin my campaign if it gets out. It will be a slap on my face! Not only is my Fiancée sleeping with another man, the man is a criminal! My opponents will use it against me! The press will eat this up, and I'll be ruined."
"Phil—"
"And when will the blackmail end? Will I always pay a hundred thousand dollars or more, to a loser who is too stupid to work and make legitimate money?" he yelled, cutting her off.
"This is some kind of mistake."
"No, Eden, you're a mistake!"
"What?" She stepped forward, and he stepped back.
"You'll ruin everything," he shook his head, "and I can't let you do that."
"Phil..."
He shook his head, stopping the flow of her words. "The wedding is off."
~*~
Mike watched Philip take hold of Eden's arm and pull her out of the lobby, pain creasing Eden's face.
He stopped playing the piano then, springing to his feet, and hurrying after them. He imagined Philip taking her out so he could hurt her. And while it was a silly imagination, he wanted to protect her, and to get the chance to tell her how he felt that evening.
Mike stopped in his tracks, Philip's angry voice drifting to him.
"I'm the one with the problem?! I'm the one with the problem when you're the one kissing the janitor out in public."
The words made a cold shiver to race down his spine. He leaned against the pillar, hiding himself from their view.
He stood listening to the exchange, pain stabbing at his heart as he heard the hurt in Eden's voice.
"The wedding is off," Philip said, before the sound of his footsteps walking away, followed.
Mike waited until Philip's footsteps faded, before coming out of hiding. Eden had her back to him, frozen to her position. He stood watching her for several minutes, and when she turned around, their eyes locked.
Pain creased her face, her eyes watering. Her shoulders were slouched, and her hands hung loosely by her side.
"Eden."
She shook her head. "Don't." The words barely formed on her lips. Turning from him, she walked away.
Mike stood for several seconds, watching her retreating back. Everything in him begged him to go after her, but his legs wouldn't budge. She was hurt. She wouldn't listen to him, even if he tried to talk to her.
Deciding he would tell her how he felt another day, he took solace in the fact that the wedding was off; he wasn't losing her to another man.
When Mike walked back into the hospital, he barely recognized Frankie with her straight, pink wig.
"What do you think?" She beamed.
"Fabulous!" He grinned, and she giggled, before turning her attention back to her parents, a young couple most likely in their early thirties.
"Looks like there's a gift without an owner."
Mike turned to the voice behind him; Judie. She clutched a bouquet of roses, and a box he recognized quite well.
"Looks like it belongs to you." She placed it in his arms and offered him a small smile. "Merry Christmas, Mike."
He breathed, several emotions flowing through his veins as he stared down at the box. It was wrapped in a red gift wrap and attached was a small card with the inscription 'Maddie' attached to it. It was the gift he had gotten for her the day she died. Apparently, Eden kept it as well. He unwrapped the box and opened it.
"That is a lovely... Spring globe?" The confusion in Judie's voice made him laugh.
"Spring globe." He turned to Judie and placed the globe in her hands. "Merry Christmas, Judie."
Turning from her, he crossed the room to Frankie who was still having fun with her hair, and placed the bouquet in her hands.
"Oh, how romantic, Mike!" She giggled, smelling the flowers.
Nodding, he turned around and made his way out of the hospital, empty handed. But he didn't care, for he would soon have the woman he loved in his arms.
And she was all that mattered.
Copyright © 2018 Lily Orevba All rights reserved