Read Chapter 9

By the time Erica made it to her car, she called Kim’s phone three times. Each time she got her voicemail. Unsure of what to do, she turned her key in the ignition and began driving somewhere….anywhere.

Kim usually ate lunch at Erica’s house because it was so close to her office. Maybe she’s at my place, Erica thought to herself. Then she dialed Kim’s number again.

By the time Erica got on and off the highway near her house only twenty minutes went by, but it seemed like forever. Erica also called about twenty more time and still only got her voicemail. Her heart was beating so fast.

“Dear God,” Erica prayed out loud, “Please let Kim be okay…please…I need her to be okay.”

Erica turned into her neighborhood and as fast as her heart was beating, it literally stopped at the sight of her town home. There were four police cars and an ambulance right out front of her yard. Officers were walking in and out but Kim was nowhere in sight.

Erica hopped out her car and ran towards the house. The cops didn’t say a word as she walked through the door and searched for Kim.

“Kim,” Erica called out. She paused, but there was no reply. A whole new panic set in as she looked around and observed the cops dusting for fingerprints around the shattered, glass coffee table. Erica almost stopped breathing when she noticed the drops of blood on the carpet. Her eyes began to water a bit and before she went off on the officers, who still hadn’t addressed her, Kim cam running down the stairs and into her arms.

Their hug allowed them both to breathe finally. Erica squeezed Kim so tightly and she never wanted to let her go. Erica was shocked by her own reaction towards the situation. Her urgency in finding Kim the moment she saw her text…Kim must mean more to her than she thought.

“Baby,” Erica began, “Are you ok? What happened to your arm?”

“I’m fine,” Kim replied in a shaky voice and then threw her arms back around Erica and began to cry.

The officer that came down the stairs behind Kim stepped in to fill in the blanks. Apparently there was a break-in. Kim came over for lunch just as Erica thought. The burglar must not have expected anyone to be home because, he spent ten minutes breaking in through the door and making a lot of noise.

By the time the burglar made it in, Kim had already called 911 and texted Erica. That would explain why she didn’t answer. There was a struggle…..they both went through the coffee table, hence the cut on Kim’s arm. It wasn’t serious though, she wouldn’t need stitches. Kim was very lucky.

Actually Kim was blessed. The burglar also tried to take her clothes off and would have succeeded, but he heard the sirens and took off. He left empty handed, but left something behind. Erica’s eyes followed to where the officer was pointing and saw the single red rose sitting on her kitchen counter.

Erica continued to hold Kim, they were both shaken up. Erica couldn’t help thinking, while I was trying to hold onto Karen, I almost lost Kim. I can’t lose Kim.

 Emotions were overflowing from them both. Even Kim, still shaken up from the break-in, was surprised at how Erica was being there for her and she loved it.

Once the officers finished the report and took what they could for evidence, Erica packed an overnight bag, locked up the house and drove Kim to her house. Erica helped Kim into a warm bath and went downstairs to make some tea.

I can’t believe something like this happened, Erica thought. What is that rose about?

 They didn’t talk much for the rest of the day and into the night. Oddly enough, it was a blissful, romantic silence. Erica closed all the shades, lit the fire place and they cuddled in front of it under a blanket.

Erica held Kim plenty of times before, but it felt different. It felt so complete and Erica thanked God that Kim was okay.

They drifted in and out of sleep as well as small conversation. When night fell, Erica made a small meal that they enjoyed with glasses of wine.

The evening was peaceful. For both, they were just glad the other was there. They fell asleep in front of the fire place after Erica’s millions of attempts to put a smile on Kim’s face, all very successful.

 It was a long day, so Erica wasn’t surprised when Kim fell asleep first. Just before Erica closed her eyes, she lightly cleared her throat and then whispered, “Love you,” unaware that Kim wasn’t really sleeping yet.

Read Chapter 11

Dani A.

The author of the blog “The Emancipation of Dani’s Alex’s

 

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