Chapter 1: Destruction of the Night, My Personal Demise

I stopped seeing Chase shortly after the night I spent in the closet. We tried to move past it but the truth was I could not bear to be around him anymore after seeing his mother act that way. My parting gift to him was spilling the truth to our friends. They wasted no time in ditching Chase, too. In some sick was, this was my justice. We were all about rebellion and trouble and with our “voice of reason” gone we all started getting worse. I proceeded to drop out of school. We were always out well beyond curfew. I had an arrest record longer than I was tall. Calvin wanted to send me to a military boarding school and I disappeared for so long that, by the time I returned, he dropped the idea all together.

While away from my parents I didn't do anything special. I crashed on friends couches, worked odd jobs and, generally, struggled to get by. It was worth the lesson. Calvin would call me frequently and then, one day, he invited me back home. Now older, I noticed just how badly he needed me around. He was winning the divorce settlement due to the expansive amount of data the private detective had gotten him, but in that process he was losing Evelyn. Despite all the trouble she had been, my dad had truly loved her and losing her was the hardest thing he was going to do in his adult life. It was then that I started to come back to reality.

Calvin helped me get my own apartment close by and I came by to visit him regularly. I was still angry with my parents and Calvin and I still got into far too many heated arguments on a regular basis, but at least Calvin and I were trying to understand one another. I cut all communication with Evelyn shortly after that.

I finished my education when Calvin asked me to and soon after I got a job at a local theater doing back-breaking work that I was rapidly falling in love with. I was determined to make an artist of myself. Calvin and I discussed my potential for fame regularly during the divorce proceedings. He used to joke that I was the perfect drama queen and no one could fill the roles better. I made friends at the theater and saw less and less of my old friends. I still do not know what happened to most of them.

In truth, my faith in the female sex was completely shattered. Evelyn’s greed and lust had ruined my family life and I did not want, or need, to experience that again. I saw enough pain in my father’s eyes every day. As a result, I spent a lot of time with the guys at work. They were so surprised that there was a female stage hand, at my attitude and hard work they rapidly accepted me. We went to bars, clubs and hung out regularly after work. I became particularly attached to Talon Grece. He was tough minded, strong willed and engaging.

I do not think that I could call our relationship stable due to what was going on with my parents. I just couldn’t trust another person as much as I knew I needed to and Talon never pushed this with me. We didn’t love one another, or at least we never said as much, but we were as close as two people could be without emotional attachments. We spent countless nights together wound up in each other’s bed laughing at the day’s events, politics and funny stories. We didn’t hold much back from one another. I think we were comfortable this way, remaining as distantly close as possible. 

My relationship with Calvin was improving dramatically as I grew older, wiser, stronger and, well, saner.  Then the divorce was finalized and he won everything in the proceedings. He let her keep her “crisis trinkets” and had her moved out of our home, permanently, by professional movers. Once her things were gone from the home, he kind of lost it. He just wandered around aimlessly in a confused daze. I would come by to make lunch or dinner and he would spare me a few sentences followed by utter silence. If he didn’t have a live-in butler and a working garden staff I’m sure the house would have declined into a state of condemnation before I could have done anything. What made it all worse was our relationship started to slide. I felt like everything I was trying was not having an effect. He wanted to be left alone. Then, when ski season opened, work called and he dove into it all so hard that I hardly saw him anymore.  I knew he was escaping the reality of the situation and I decided to let him do it. After all, hadn’t I been doing the same thing the last six years?

           On the other end of that knife though, I felt myself slipping back into the pit I can only describe as rank and engulfing. I was angry with Calvin again for neglecting me all over again. I was lashing out at my co-workers, friends and even Talon. My boss was getting fed up with my attitude and suggested I take a few days off. 

          I left the theater that afternoon with the most disgusting feeling I’d ever had in the pit of my stomach. I managed to walk ten feet before I doubled over and threw my lunch onto the ground. I felt my hate and my anger rising to a new level. Talon came out after me and upon seeing me doubled over walked to my side cautiously.

     “Natty..?” He said my name slow, soothing and deliberate. He has always known the best way to address me. I sighed and spit the bile and taste from my mouth, slowly standing and not facing him, “What, Talon… have you come to belittle me, too?”
    “Is that what you think I do when we talk..?” I knew by his tone that his eyebrows were rising slowly and the corners of his lips we beginning to turn up. He knew I was being childish. Damn him.
    “No. And you know that. So why torture me about it? Brass just told me to take a few days off to “re-focus” on what’s important to me. What the hell does that even mean? I know I’m being difficult but between the show and my dad and everything else... I can’t help how I am!” I threw my hands into the air as if doing that would send my frustrations skyward and away from the both of us. He chuckled and glanced over his shoulder to the back door of the theater. 

    “Did you leave without Brass letting you?” I asked before he could get whatever he was going to say past his lips. He blinked a couple times before responding.
    “Sort of. You’re a bit more important than a job, Natty.” He shrugged and kept staring me down, “It’s not a big deal so don’t get all… Weird on me. This job is fun and all but it’s just a job to me. I don’t have the aspirations you do. You know that.” He grinned, “I wanted to come make sure you’re ok and that you’d still come by tonight.”

              I rolled my eyes. “I’m really not in the mood for that, Talon. Brass is two steps away from firing my ass and that’s all you can think about..?”  My hands landed on my hips and a scowl came across my face. He laughed.
    “Did you forget about the party..?” He crossed his arms over his chest defensively and put on his best pout. Now it was my turn to blink and be caught off guard. I felt my shoulders slump and I sighed.
    “Yes, I forgot… Sorry.” My eyes drifted to the ground as he stepped closer and put his hands on my shoulders.

    “If you don’t want to come, you don’t have to. I know you’re not feeling well and you’re frustrated with your dad… Just go home, rest and think it over. I’d really like to see you tonight in that black dress you’ve been promising me, though.” As he lifted my chin to look him in the eyes, I was already smiling.

Talon understood me and never pressured me. He knew how to persuade me properly. His smile was my favorite thing. He kissed my forehead, let me go and ran back to the theater without waiting for my response.

He knew I would show up. 

The bastard.