Chapter Six
Meetings
It had been two days since Jennifer had insisted that I spoke to Stephen and ever since then, I had been avoiding her phone calls. I was not ready to meet him. I mean, he was a vampire and I did not even know everything his kind was capable of; for all I knew he could already know that I was pregnant. I could not be certain but I didnât want to risk anything.
"You cannot ignore me forever Miss Zeleny!" Jennifer exclaimed, barging into my office, her face red with anger as she slapped a loose strand of hair out of her face.
"You can't just barge into my office like that. I'm working," I hissed, instantly standing up.
"It's your lunch break. You're not even working. Now you are going to see Stephen tonight, even if I have to drag you there myself," Jennifer commanded.
"I will not be going to see him tonight, or any other night Jenni. Do you understand?" I quizzed, taking my seat again as her hazel eyes narrowed down at me.
"You told me that you would!" Jennifer shouted, causing me to hush her aggressively.
"You have to keep your voice down!" I whispered, angered by her actions.
"Or what?" She challenged.
"Or nothing. Why do you care so much anyway? Why donât you just stay the hell out of my love life Jennifer? What I do is what I will live with for the rest of my life, so give it a fucking rest will you!" I retorted, feeling my body burning with anger from irritation and embarrassment. Everyone in the office probably knew that I was having problems and my boss was definitely going to complain about this later.
"If that's what you want. Then fine." Jennifer growled, snatching her purse off the table before storming out of my office, leaving me to replay the conversation over and over again in my mind. I wasnât sure whether I was right, however, right now, I wasnât sure what was going on in my life, so my reaction was inevitable. Frowning down at myself, I threw away the remains of my sandwich, feeling slightly nauseous and sick.
"Do you want to take a walk with me on my break Melanie?" Jessica questioned after an hour, peeking into my office quite hesitantly.
"I can't, I've already had my br--," I began, not in the mood to speak to anyone.
"I've already asked Robin to cover for you and to be honest, you look like you need some fresh air," Jessica suggested.
"Alright, fine," I agreed, realising that being cooped up in one room was not good for the baby. Feeling scared and alone, I had not yet gone to the doctors and so I wasnât even sure how far along I was, but luckily I was not yet showing, which told me something.
Leaving my office and locking the door behind me, I followed Jessica out of the building and instantly felt relieved and calmer when I felt the cool breeze whip across my face, immediately relaxed my muscles.
"See you look better already," Jessica smiled, earning a smile in return. She always had a laid back, tranquil aura around her, which naturally seemed to relax me as well, one of the things that I liked about her.
"So what did you want to talk to me about?" I asked as we turned to enter a park near by.
"I just wanted to see how you were. I mean, since Monday, you've seemed a little bit distant and I couldnât help but worry about you. Is there something wrong with the wedding? Or is it just the idea of it being so close? Speaking about it will surely help you feel better," Jessica explained, squeezing my hand softly, in an attempt to reassure me.
"I'm justâ¦" I thought, wondering what to tell her. Could I trust her enough to tell her my secret? In fact, I hadnât told my mother yet, so I definitely couldnât tell Jessica about it.
"Well, I'm just a bit scared that all," I replied, not exactly lying or telling the whole truth.
"It's natural to feel scared Mel; even I was scared when I married Steve. Don't you remember?" Jessica reminded me. A year ago, she was in my position and two weeks before her wedding was crying almost everyday, scared that he wouldnât turn up and that they wouldnât be happy. To this day, when they were around each other, they were always happy and smiling as though they had just met and to be honest, I was slightly scared about the same thing myself. I had heard so many tragic stories about couples that had gotten married and the idea of it happening to I and Trevor broke my heart.
"I remember. There's something else though," I started, feeling a sudden urge to fill her in on what had been happening for the last couple of weeks.
"My ex-boyfriend that I dated four years ago, in college, is in town," I informed her, waiting for her reaction.
"Andâ¦" Jessica urged, seeming to have a weird look in her eyes.
"Are the feelings flooding back?" She questioned with a sense of understanding.
"Only a tiny bit," I lied when actually, all of my feelings had come flooding back, so fast that I seemed to be drowning in it all.
"I know exactly what that feels like," Jessica sighed sadly, linking arms with me as we turned into the children's play area. Luckily it was only two o'clock, meaning that the most children were not out of school yet, therefore it was pretty empty.
"What do you mean you know what it feels like? I'm sure you have no idea," I scoffed, shaking my head at her attempt to understand me.
"It happened to me, except the person didnât just appear in town suddenly, but had always been there," Jessica stated, releasing my arm to sit on a swing.
Jessica had been through it. I was not alone. This meant that if she could do it then so could I.
"What happened? Did they still love you?" I quizzed, joining her on another swing.
"No, they didnât." Jessica answered, so quietly that I almost missed it.
"Do they still love you?" She replied, staring at me, her chocolate brown eyes burning into mine with sadness and curiosity.
"They claim toâ¦It feels as though nothing bad ever happened between us when he's around and it's annoying because something did happen, which had hurt me deeply. It's not fair that my feelings have turned back on so suddenly after so many years apart. Jennifer wants me to speak to him tonight so that I know that I'm making the right choice marrying Trevor, but I know I am. I'm almost certain!" I rushed, breathless.
"Almost?" Jessica repeated with a small, cheerless smile.
"I say that you should go and meet him. If you're almost certain, then it wouldnât hurt to be one hundred percent certain now would it?" Jessica advised and with a sigh I reluctantly agreed.
"If anything, I'll go with you to where ever you're meeting the guy to make sure that you donât back out or panic." She added, making me smile. I definitely needed her calm aura around me when I went to do this. I just had to think about what I was going to say to Trevor, since we were supposed to go out to dinner tonight.
"Can't I do it another night because I'm supposed to be having dinner with Trev---," I began.
"Nope. Otherwise knowing you Mel, you'll never do it and tell him that your spending a couple hours overtime with me, to catch up on some work that you missed out on, on Monday," Jessica suggested. I didnât want to lie to Trevor, I mean he was my fiancé, except I had to make sure that I was making the right choice, one that I wouldnât regret for as long as I lived.
"Let's do it then," I stated.
Eight o'clock struck on the clock and I was now in a cab with Jessica. I had already text Trevor who just replied saying not to worry which made me feel even worse.
"Your not cheating on him, so donât worry Mel. Calm down," Jessica chuckled, squeezing my hand softly once again. Remembering where Trevor had picked me up on my birthday, when I had been kidnapped and bitten by Stephen, I directed the taxi and we arrived there in fifteen minutes.
"Breathe Melanie and call me when your done," Jessica smiled gently, giving me a tender hug before shooing me out of the taxi. I walked slowly towards the door that I guessed was Stephen's. Raising my hand to knock on the door, I jumped slightly when I heard Stephen's voice yell,
"It's open." I cautiously entered, closing the door quietly behind me. The house looked very different from my last visit. The couches were upside down, there was glass all over the floor causing a hazard and the TV was smashed.
"What the hell happened?!" I cried, trying to step over some of the debris on the floor.
"Donât ask," I heard Stephen hiss from his bedroom, immediately making me stop in my tracks. His voice sounded as deadly and deep as it had on the night that he had bitten me.
"I'm sorry; I didnât mean it like that. I've just been a bitâ¦annoyed lately," Stephen apologised, sounding as though he was struggling to keep his voice stable.
"Can you come out here or do I have to go into there?" I asked, referring to his bedroom.
"I just want us to talk," I sighed, feeling as though I was wasting my time. The instant I saw him and felt his touch, I knew that I would fall into his hands which I didnât really want to happen for many reasons.
"In fact just forget it," I whispered, turning around and heading towards the door, only for Stephen to appear in my path.
"Oh my gosh! What happened to you?" I gasped taking in his appearance. He looked so skinny that with a slight push, I could snap him in half. His bones were protruding out of his body and his black eyes and usually silky hair looked tired, grey and lifeless. An enormous urge to help him in whatever way I could over came me as water attempted to pour out of my eyes.
"It's nothing. Donât go, let's talk." Stephen pleaded, his weak voice and breaking my heart even more.
"Tell me what happened? Haven't you been eating? Why havenât you been eating? Or drinking?" I added, realising and remembering that he drunk peoples blood. A thought which disturbed me.
"I can't. I've tried." He informed me and I noticed his eyes brightening until they reached the colour red which made me once again freeze in my place. Closing his eyes and breathing deeply, when he opened then a minute later, they were back to their darkness.
"Why can't you?" I whispered, absentmindedly stroking his cheek, causing my fingers to tingle from the contact of my skin on his. In a second, my body was pinned against the wall by his as his breath caressed my neck. My body heated up from his cool touch and the fact that his body was so close to mine. Even in his skinny state, he was still as strong as ever, it seemed.
"Because of you. I drank your blood and since we're soul mates, once I have tasted your blood, I must live off of it, or I will die," Stephen explained, removing his head from my neck and disappearing to across the room as my breathing gradually went back to normal.
Mates. How could I have forgotten?
"I didnât believe you and now look what's happened. I almost killed you! How could I be so selfish and stupid and --," I cursed myself beginning to shake due to the idea of killing Stephen.
"Calm down. It's fine. I shouldnât have lost myself when I was thirty, none of this would have happened if I hadnât Melanie. Don't blame yourself." Stephen interrupted.
"Bite me." I stated, the words simply pouring out of my mouth before I had even registered what I was saying.
"What?" Stephen asked, appearing in front of me once again, my heart beat increasing due to his close proximity.
"Bite me. I donât want you to die because of me, so bite me and don't say no because I'll never forgive you," I repeated, my voice coming out stronger than I had anticipated.
"Melanie you donât know what your saying, I ca---," Stephen rambled, trying to find an excuse.
"Do it," I hissed, pulling him into me by his loose shirt.
"As you wish," Stephen growled, no longer refusing my offer and I sucked in a much needed breath when his teeth pierced into my previously fading bite marks.