THE OFFICE WAS different during the day. The afternoon sun flooded through the large glass wall that overlooked the trees and perfectly trimmed lawns outside. There were more people too...but then again, we did break in here in the middle of the night.
I draw my brows together as I frown, reading and re-reading over the emails I held in my hand. I flick between them, my eyes catching key words. They felt like poison in my hand but at least they were in my hands and not his.
"You know..." Chase whispers as he leans towards me, "...they're not going to disappear if you look away."
I glance up from the papers at Chase who sat beside me on the white leather sofa. He was smirking at me, trying to make light of the conversation as if he could tell it was eating me alive inside. He places the magazine he was reading onto the glass coffee table and turns back to me.
He chuckles as he tucks a piece of blonde hair behind my ear, "Breathe, Jones."
"Well sue me for being nervous." I sigh as I shuffle the pieces of paper back into one pile. I lean towards Chase, "We broke into this asshole's office, Everett."
"I know. I was there." Chase snorts as he lies his arm across the back of the sofa behind me. He starts twirling a strand of my hair, staring at it around his finger, "Say it any louder and he might just hear you."
"Shit, sorry." I whisper as I glance around, noticing we were the only ones here except the receptionist who was busy typing away at her computer.
She was young and pretty—probably a struggling med student. I really hoped he wasn't sleeping with her—the doctor. Well, I hope he's not sleeping with anyone because I'd feel so fucking sorry for the other person.
I was watching her as a security guard walks up to her desk smiling. A security guard that looked an awful lot like Chief.....Clancy...Wiggum.
"Oh fuck!" I whisper-shout as I remember him from last night. He was probably checking in for his night shift since we were one of the last patients of the day. I obviously cursed a little loud because both heads began to swivel towards me.
I duck instantly and turn, my face going into Chase's chest and he cradles the back of my head with his hand as if it were instinct. I hear walking behind me, thick leather shoes against the sleek marble floors.
Then, Chase's chest vibrates, "Evening, sir."
The footsteps falter slightly before they continue down the hall, the echoes fading as he walks past. Even after the footsteps had completely faded, I stayed pressed up against Chase. His touch, his warmth, everything about him made me feel safe and calm.
I sigh out heavily as Chase's other hand on my bicep began to move, his thumb caressing my skin and causing tingles to run up and down my arm.
"He's gone." Chase whispers down and I flatten my palms against his chest as I pull back.My eyes flicker up from his chest to meet his, our faces hovering mere inches away from each other. His gaze flickers to my lips as his hand falls to my waist.
"Hayden Jones!"
The loud, frightening call has me yeeting myself off Chase and I almost trip as I stumble to a stand from the very low sofa.
"Shit—uh—yup—yes, that's me." I awkwardly ramble as I run a hand through my hair with the other clutching onto the sheets beside me. The receptionist who was now standing gives me a tight lipped smile.
"Dr Bryan will see you in his office now." She gestures down the hall behind us. I return the smile as Chase stands up behind me and places his hand to middle of my back.
"Ready?" He questions as I turn around and nod. I walk down the hall, not needing any directions as to where we were going, and head towards the office. Chase walks behind me, his presence looming but comforting.
We get to the large glass door and I inhale sharply as I knock and push it open. I instantly notice the two missing doctorates on the far wall and struggle to contain my grin.
"Ah, Hayden. It's a pleasure to meet you." The doctor smiles at me from his desk. Chase and I shuffle into the room and Dr Bryan stands from his desk. He gestures to the white sofa set, "And this must be the boyfriend."
Chase gives him a curt nod, "Yup."
"Great." Dr Bryan makes his way over to us as we sit down side by side of the sofa. He takes a seat on the one of the two armchairs facing us and places a pen and notebook onto his lap. He stares at me for a while with narrowed eyes behind his thin glasses, "You look familiar. Are you sure you haven't been a patient of mine before?"
"I'm sure." I nod with a grim smile as I flatten the pieces of paper on top of my lap. The movement takes his attention and he gestures towards them.
"Are these papers from your previous doctor? May I have a look?" He questions as he outstretches his hand towards them. I happily place them in his palm with my smile growing on my lips. He reads over them before a dark frown takes over his face, "I don't....I don't understand."
"I'm pretty sure you do, Dr Walter Bryan." I nod as he glances up at me. I tilt my head slightly and give him a sweet smile, "And the reason I'm so familiar to you is because I'm the girl you're trying to fuck over."
His calm expression falters, "E—Excuse me?"
"As you could probably take from those emails in your hands, we're aware of what you're doing—or well, what you've been doing on multiple occasions with the lawyers from Johnson Beckett." I explain as Chase sits happily beside me, allowing me to do all the talking, "You pretend to be their client's psychiatrist, say their medically cleared and let them join society once again to fuck more people's lives up. Have I got anything wrong, Doctor?"
He sits there in his chair, panic written all over his face as he glances between me and the emails.
"I don't get told anything about the client, please you've got to trust me." He pleads and I laugh forcefully at the preposterous ask, "I swear! I'm usually contacted for appeals and all I have to do is say that they've made progress and mentally sane. The lawyers usually end up suing the state and—or the opposition and I get part of that money. That's all I know!"
"And those lawyers are the ones from Johnson and Beckett?" Chase questions as he leans forward slightly.
"Yes." The doctor nods as he sighs and glances back at me, "Look, I have no clue what their client did to you. And I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry."
"And yet all the others that have suffered from your greed beg to differ." I explain with a small, arrogant shrug. The doctor sighs as he scrambles from answers. He crosses one leg over the other and dramatically sags back into the leather armchair.
"I went to medical school wanting to be a cardiologist and I end up here for god-sake with almost one-hundred thousand dollars in debt. I just wanted a little bit of help." He explains as if we were going to throw him a little pity party. Oh boo-hoo, you dumb fuck. " I have to deal with my own shit and everyone else's shit too. Do you have any idea what it's like to be a psychiatrist? Do you?"
I couldn't believe the shit that was coming out of his mouth right now. I place one hand on the glass table and lean forward, my eyes narrowing on his pathetic body.
"Do you have any idea what it's like to be kidnapped? To be handcuffed to a bed post for days, trying to escape every damn second no matter how hard or how close to death you come?" I question as a sweet smile spread across my lips, "Do you want to find out?"
"Is that a threat?" Dr Bryan questions, trying to seem confident and strong but I could see his double chin wobbling with his nerves. And to think, I'm only half as scary as my mother. I open my mouth to speak but Chase steps in.
"Okay," He gives me a pointed and I shut my mouth before sitting back and letting him take the lead, "Look, all we're saying is that if you cut off all contact with those lawyers we won't give those emails to the police. You can keep you're medical doctorate and your dirty fucking money and continuing living your goddamn pathetic excuse of a life. Are we clear?"
Dr Bryan nods as he basically oozes fear and nervousness. He squeaks, "Yes sir."
"Well," Chase sighs as he smiles at me, "Wasn't that easy."
I nod as Chase and I stand up from our seats. I smooth down my sundress as Chase plucks the pieces of paper out of the doctor's hands.
"We'll be keeping a hold of these. You understand why, right?" Chase smiles and it was honestly terrifying and turning me on at the same time. The doctor nods again as I walk across the office and to the glass door.
I glance over my shoulder to see Chase leaning down towards the doctor, whispering something in his ear and all I could see on the doctor's face was pure terror. He looked like he was going to shit himself if he hadn't already. Chase then smiles once more and pats the doctor on his shoulder.
"What did you say?" I ask quietly as Chase meets me at the half opened door.
"Nothing you have to worry about, Jones" Chase smiles softly at me as he follows me out of the office. I might not know what he said, but I bet my left ass cheek that he was threatening him in some type of way. Everett can get real creative with his threats.
We walk quietly side by side out of the office. I hop into the passenger seat of the Range Rover as Chase remains outside, talking to Xavier on the phone. He told us to call him afterwards but I couldn't do it, I was still trying to process everything and Chase could tell.
I sit inside the car, the sun now starting to set over downtown LA and I watch Chase pacing back and forth in front of the parked vehicle. He was so damn gorgeous when he got serious like that. I saw glimpses of it when we were at his apartment, eating Chinese takeaway on the living room floor while he worked on floor plans and took important phone calls.
Sometimes those phone calls didn't last very long, especially when he was wearing those goddamn blue light glasses of his, no shirt and just a pair of grey sweatpants. Technically it's his fault for looking so fucking hot, he knows sweatpants are my weakness.
Chase notices me watching him and he stops to give me a small smile through the windscreen. My heart cramps at the sight and I honestly thought I was having a heart attack. For a split second I thought this is how I die; from Chase Everett's fucking adorable smirk.
Wouldn't that be a damn hoot to see on a headstone.
He opens the driver's door a few seconds later and slides onto the seat.
"What did he say?" I question as I turn to face him. Chase shrugs as he puts the key into ignition and shuts his door.
"He's glad it went well and wants the recording straight away." Chase explains as he passes his mobile phone to me. We both knew he was going to record the entire meeting. We weren't letting this asshole go that easy. "He's going to release it after that motherfucker is back behind bars."
I breath out heavily, relief slowly flooding back into my system. Chase places his hand on top of mine and it startles me slightly. My eyes dart to his and I notice he was leaning towards me.
"It's over, Jones." He says as his hazel eyes melt every single inside organ. I wrap my arms around his neck and pull him towards me. My face tucks into the nook of his neck as I hug him close, never wanting to let go. Chase breathes against my shoulder as he holds onto my waist, "It's okay now."
I whisper against his shoulder, "Thank you, Everett."
"You say it like I chose to help you, Jones. It's not a choice, I will always be there for you no matter what." Chase mumbles into my hair as he holds the back of my head with his large palm, "Which will be a lot because you fucking love getting yourself into trouble."
We both laugh while in each other's arms. I pull back, the both of still laughing and I wipe under my eyes, not even realising that I had slightly started crying. I run my hand through my hair as Chase turns on ignition and the vehicle rumbles to life beneath us.
"What do you want to do now?" Chase questions as he pulls out of the parking space.
"Get drunk." I state with no hesitation.
Chase chuckles and shakes his head, "Say no more.
☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
"That was fun right?" I ask, slurring my words as I rest my chin against Chase's shoulders. I bounced with every step he took as he carried me on his back. His arms wrap around my thighs and my arms thrown over his shoulders. He held my heels in his hand so my feet were nice and cool.
"Yes, Jones." Chase scoffs, "I'm sure the whole bar thought it was fun."
"I'm so glad they had a karaoke machine." I mumble with a small smile as I sigh out, "Do you think Simon Cowell would've liked my rendition of "A Thousand Miles"?"
"Definetly." He nods.
"I fucking knew it." I smile as happiness fills my system. I then grumble, "That bar doesn't know true talent when it sees it."
"They banned you because you tried to pick a fight with the bouncer's girlfriend." Chase laughs at me as I slowly shrivel back into my dark hole of drunk embarrassment, "...And you tried to steal their karaoke machine."
"I shouldn't get drunk anymore, should I?" I question sheepishly as my head rolls about and I start to become dizzy.
"I mean, Drunk Jones has more of a personality than Sober Jones so I don't really mind." Chase shrugs and I could hear his cocky smirk through his words. I slap his shoulder as I let out an offended yet amused gasp.
I giggle, "You asshole."
Chase laughs as he begins to run down the street with me on his back. I squeal in excitement as I hold on to him for dear life.
He stops eventually and we walk back to to hotel together. I stare at the side of his face the entire time. He was just so damn handsome and I couldn't get over it. He was also so caring and kind. He was carrying me on his back while holding my shoes for me.
If that doesn't scream husband material I don't know what does.
He didn't even object to it. He noticed how tired I was, bent down and said 'hop on' like it was nothing. He was going to make a special girl very very happy one day.
We make it back to our hotel room in one piece and Chase only lets me down after we had walked through the door and into our room. I head for the bathroom immediately. I stumble over the tiles and catch myself on the vanity.
I stare through my slightly drunken haze at myself as if it would somehow make sense of the billion emotions running through me right now. My mind was a mess as I was trying to process what I was feeling. It wasn't an unfamiliar feeling nor was it a feeling I hadn't felt in a while.
It was still there, simmering under the surface. It was love.
I was still madly, hopelessly and fucking endlessly in love with Chase Everett. I don't think I had ever stopped loving him, I just pushed those feelings away into a dark corner of my mind. I didn't want some special girl to be happy.
I wanted to be that special girl.
I hadn't even noticed that I was crying until I realised my mascara had started streaming down my cheeks. My knees give out and I collapse onto the tiled floor. I try to sit up, placing both my hands on the floor as I lock my elbows.
The door opens and Chase stood on the other side, frowning down at me. He smiles fondly, "Why are you sitting on the bathroom floor, you idiot?"
"Shut up I'm having a moment!" I shout at him as Chase steps forward and kneels down next to me. He grabs a gentle hold of my face, "I haven't cried in a while."
Chase only laughs as he pulls me closer to him. I wanted to push him away but I also wanted to be selfish. I guess I can be selfish for one night.
Chase runs his fingers through my hair as he lets me cry against him. I didn't even know why I was crying. Maybe I was letting out everything I had been holding in for the past six months. Maybe my realisation that I still loved Chase was too much for me to handle.
After I had finished crying, Chase places me on the vanity counter and washes my face for me. He does all my skin care for me, as if he had memorised every step, and we brush our teeth together. He then walks me back into the room and helps me out of my dress.
I was standing in the middle of the room naked. Chase places a few kisses on my shoulders before lifting up my arms and letting one of his shirt fall over my head and down my body. He then places a kiss to my forehead.
"Let's get you to bed, Jones." Chase mumbles as he pulls back the sheets for me and let's me slide under. He slides in with me and pulls me into his arms. I felt like I was going to cry again as he brushes back the hair from my face, but all my tears were gone.
"I..." I mumble as tiredness washes over me. My eyes were struggling to stay open and I throw one of my legs over his in a more comfortable position. I blink slowly, "I'm so sorry Everett. I..."
"Shhhh, it's okay." Chase says as he kisses the top of my head, "Tell me in the morning."
And with that, I tip myself over the edge and plummet into a peaceful, warm slumber.
awwwww s'cute
i know a lot are getting angry and wondering why they can't get back together already or if they're even going to get back together (i love torturing you guys so you'll have to guess which one ;) )
but just so you know, if i did this book would be really short and i want to try and make it as long as possible because i don't want to say goodbye to these characters just yet.
also wanted to let you guys know that i still have online classes and school so updates won't be as frequent as either of us would like.
anyways, let me know what you guys thought!