Found My Fate.

Chapter 29

LISA'S POV
I woke up at seven o'clock, slipped out of bed, dressed then went back and sat next to Shannon's sleeping form. He looked much better, rested and not suffering from pain. Reluctantly, I reached over and touched his bruised jaw. At the first stroke of my fingers, he took a deep breath, reached up and grabbed my hand.
"Mmm. Feels like feathers."
"I hate to wake you. You looked peaceful." I spoke quietly.
"S'ok. You leaving?" He opened his eyes.
"I want to shower before I go to the airport. I'll call you after lunch."
"I'll see you tonight. I promise to be presentable."
"No worries. I've given my father instructions not to grill you." I leaned down and kisses him. "Love you, have a good day."
"You too. Love you."
I kissed him once more, stood up, gathered my gym bag and walked from the room, to the front door and to my car. A quick drive home (the photographers were gone), a shower, check phone messages (Joanie called), dressed and out again. I arrived at LAX with thirty minutes to spare. Finding the right gate, I sat waiting, making sure my clothes were smoothed out. I chose a pair of black jeans, electric blue blouse and flat heeled boots. I wore my new dragon necklace, a silver ring with a red stone (fake ruby) and casual stainless still watch. I left my hair loose and had subtle makeup. It was only my father, but I felt better, especially with the pale bruise still noticeable on my cheek. My foot twitched nervously as I sat in the row of seats. It had been a while since I'd seen my family and I wasn't sure how much to let him know, with what happened in the last eight months,
"Hey." That familiar voice was next to me.
I looked up. My father was ten steps away, salt and pepper hair, quiet face and sparkling, happy eyes. He was dressed casually in khaki pants, a white shirt and dark jacket. All my problems disappeared as I jumped up, ran over and hugged him tight.
"How's my Art Girl?" He held me.
"Better now. It's so good to see you." I confessed.
Getting back to my feet, I smiled up at him. It had been so long. It seemed forever.
"You need to come home more." He nodded
"I know. You have luggage?"
"Just one."
"Okay. How was the flight?"
"Not bad. After the party my stomach's a bit off."
"I'm sure that Mom had too much food delivered."
"As usual."
"Did you want to clean up first or head out to find something for Mom?"
"When will your 'friend' be joining us?"
"At dinner tonight. He's still recovering but he said that he'd meet us. I just have to let him know where."
"Alright. Guess I should freshen up before we go to the stores. They may think I'm just someone looking curiously."
"Oh don't you worry. I know where to go."
"Sounds good to me."
"Let's get your luggage and go back to the house. We can discuss where to go for dinner so I can tell Shannon."
My father picked up his bag, his dress arm around my shoulders as we walked to the luggage claim.

SHANNON'S POV
"Hey. You're up." Jared said when I walked into the living room.
"Yeah." It felt like I hadn't gotten any sleep at all.
"How are you feeling? Need a hand?"
"Tired from the pain."
"Then why are you out of bed?"
"I'm meeting Lisa and her father tonight. I need to move around."
"Not all at once. Sit down. I'll get you some breakfast. Did you take your meds?"
"Yeah. What are you doing today?"
"Not a lot. Looking over some footage, taking it easy."
I sat in the sofa, got as comfortable as possible. There was a buzz at the door.
"It's too early for Tomo. Here. Eat. I'll be right back." Jared handed me a plate of fruit, grain toast and a cup of coffee.
After a few minutes, he came back, followed by two police officers
"Shannon. They're here to ask about what happened."
"Okay. Excuse me if I don't stand up." I set the plate down.
"It's fine." The older of the two men nodded.
"Please. Have a seat. Care for some coffee?" Jared offered.
"Thank you."
Jared went back to the kitchen, leaving me with the officers.
"We've taken the two men into custody. The ones who's addresses we got from you lady friend. We have information from her and your brother. We'd like to get your account of what happened."
"I was on my way here from my girlfriend's. I fell asleep in the taxi. Next thing I knew, I was hauled out of the back and two guys began using me as a punching bag. We'd run into them at a a club a couple of days ago. They were doped up. Made Lisa nervous so we started to go back inside. They grabbed her tried to beat me then but I wasn't going to let them hurt her. We got into it, they were on the ground and we went back into the club. Never thought I'd run into them again."
"Could you identify them if you saw them?"
"Yeah."
"Good. Think you could come down?"
"Uh. Sure. I need to shower first."
"At your earliest convenience."
Jared brought in two cups for the officers and we answered the rest of the questions. After they left, I went back upstairs to shower and think Jared agreed to drive me to the police station. I'd get that business over with before having to meet Lisa for dinner.

LISA'S POV
"So. Are you going to tell me what happened? My father asked when he was finished cleaning up.
"I thought I told you how Shannon was hurt. " I replied.
"Not him. You. I saw the bruise on your face. And you're walking a little slower than I remember. So what's up?"
I handed him a cup of coffee as I sat next to him on the sofa.
"It happened at the gallery. An artist, that I'd brought in, was upset that we hadn't sold his latest, tried to remove it. I tried to calm him down, he swung out his arm, hit me and I fell on a sculpture. I'm okay. Just bruised."
"See. This is what worries me about you being out here alone."
"I'm not alone. I have Joanie and Shannon, when he's home. Now there's his brother and their friend and bandmate, and his girlfriend. Now I just need to find a new job."
"But you're going to New York to help with Richard's exhibit."
"I'm nervous about that."
"Why? You can stay at the apartment and its secure."
"I really have to tell you something. I'm afraid it's going to make you a little upset."
"You can tell me anything."
"It happened about wight months ago. I was walking home from dinner. It was late but I wasn't scared. I'd done it a lot. I... This guy grabbed me, pulled me into an alley...."
"Oh Sweetie. It's okay. Don't say anything else."
"They never found him. I met Shannon that night. He couldn't have been any better. He stayed with me all night, just talking. I did go to the hospital. I was hurt more mentally than physical. Since then I've been going to a therapist but sometimes I have some panic attacks, usually when I'm around intense emotion."
"What kind of attacks?"
"Hard breathing, black outs. Sometimes I pull at my hair."
"How do you deal with that?"
"If it's not too bad, I usually calm myself. The few times it's been out of control, Shannon's been with me. He'll hold me and talk to me until I calm down. I don't know how I'd get through it if not for him."
"Sounds like a good man."
"He is. I hope you like him."
"I'm sure I will. So, you feel like going shopping for your Mom?"
"Sure. I know a few shops we can go to."
I drove downtown to a block of stores I knew. They were good quality, not extremely expensive. My mother liked jewelry but nothing flashy. We looked at rings, bracelets and pendants. Each one was so beautiful. After a few hours of looking, we settled on a gold link chain and a pendant with a small emerald cut like a star, surrounded by white crystal. Mom was a lover of the night sky, the same as I was.
We took some time at a small cafe for a bite of lunch and relaxing.
"Does your mother know?" Daddy took a bite of his steak panini.
"Know? Oh about what happened? No. Only Shannon and Joanie know what really happened. And the therapist. If I'd told Mom, she would have dragged me back home," I shrugged.
"True."
"I love being out here. The art community is amazing."
"And your man?"
"Well, they tour a lot. So I don't spend as much time as I'd like to with him."
"And you aren't worried."
"No. These guys aren't typical. They play music that they enjoy, it's not about partying and attention from women."
"I hope so. You know parents. We worry about our children."
"Sure. But only the ones that are living in LA. " I smiled at him.
Daddy looked over, smiled back and laughed.
After lunch, we shopped for another hour, buying clothes for the LA weather. He insisted on buying me a pair of boots, a light blouse and colored jeans, red ones. I protested but he had his credit card on the counter before I could stop him. Going back to the house, Daddy wanted to have a nap before we went to dinner. I took that time to call Shannon, to see how he was feeling.

SHANNON'S POV
Jared sat behind the wheel, driving home from the police station. I sat next to him, still,feeling pain but not nearly as bad.
"So that's it then?" Jared asked.
"After I identified them, they confessed." I sighed, trying to get comfortable.
"Good."
My cell phone rang. Taking it from my pocket, I saw a familiar number. "Hey. I didn't expect to hear from you so early."
"You think that I could go all day without checking in?" Lisa's voice came back.
"It's nice to hear your voice."
"Are you okay? You sound tired.
"I'm fine. We've been at the police station. They confessed after I ID'd them."
"That's a relief."
"Am I meeting you later?"
"If you feel up to it. Dinner at Spagos, seven o'clock."
"Spagos?"
"Daddy likes the food there."
"Alright. I'll meet you there. All clean and dressed."
"Can't wait to see you. I love you."
"Love you too. See you tonight."
When she didn't hang up, I knew that she had something else on her mind. "Lisa? What's going on?"
She sighed.
"Come on Baby. Tell me."
"Just thinking about New York."
Try not to. You don't need to go through that while your father's here."
"I told him."
"What?"
"Everything that happened."
"Oh."
"He wasn't overly worried."
"Maybe he thinks you're passed it?"
"Maybe. I know that I'm not every time I have an episode."
"I know. We can talk about it tonight okay? Try to stay relaxed."
"I will. Have I told you how happy I am that I met you that night?"
"Almost as much as I am. I'll see you tonight. Love you."
"Love you too."
This time we hung up.
"She okay?" Jared asked.
"Will be. Just worried about New York."
"She'll be fine."
"Try telling her that." I sat back, relaxing into the seat the rest of the way.