Pillars

Chapter 13: The Plan (Lorin)

"...And I don't care what mom told you...," Kelci's voice blasted out the speaker in my phone.

"Alright, alright," I hushed her, simultaneously turning down the volume. Everything echoed in the bathroom, so it was not necessary for her to throw her hissy fit so loudly.

"It's really important," Kelci softened.

"I said I'll be there. What more do you want?"

"Nothing." The line went dead.

Going back home gave me anxiety, and I knew my bossy baby sister was only partly to blame. The rest of the story had something to do with why I could not sleep at night. But I had a plan. Adrian was the only stable and secure think in my life. No matter what happened, I was going to make sure that he would stay with me forever. I watched the small white pill dissolve in the water before flushing the toilet.

"Was that Kelci on the phone?" Adrian asked when I returned to bed. The morning sun broke through the cracks in the curtain creating streams of light across the fluffy white duvet. I drew the covers up to my chin to escape the chill of the ceiling fan.

"How'd you guess?" I said sarcastically.

"You're mom okay?"

"Yes, I'm going out there for her appointment on Friday. She's doing really well and we are expecting good news."

"So, she's done with the chemo?"

"That's what we're hoping at least," I said. "It's been a rough six months."

"Has it been six months already?"

"Yep. That means we need to celebrate." I started kissing his neck and moving slowly down his chest and torso.

"I was thinking, since Valentines is next week we could do something special," Adrian suggested.

"Really, like what?" I moved back up his body covering him in kisses, breathing in his sweet salty excitement.

"I'd like to take you somewhere. Get away for the weekend."

"That sounds nice," I continued kissing his neck, only pausing long enough to ask, "Where do you want to go?"

"I was thinking a little bed and breakfast on the coast."

"Ooooo. Nantucket?"

"If that's what you want," Adrian kissed me back now. "I think you need a getaway to relax. You haven't been sleeping well."

I stopped cold, and looked into his caramel eyes. "How do you know that?"

"You have nightmares nearly every night. Sometimes it gets intense and you call out in your sleep." He brushed his hair out of his eyes and looked at me intently.

"What do I say?" The hair on my arms pricked up.

"It doesn't usually make sense. But one time I think you were calling for your dad."

That must have been the night I dreamed of our reunion. It was one of those shifty dreams that started out as one thing and then morphed to something else entirely. In the dream, I was trying to find my father, after he had been gone for 13 years. I had some things to tell him. I needed to get them off my chest. I searched the city and asked around. Have you seen my father? I would ask strangers passing along the streets. Most people ignored me, but sometimes they would point or tell me to check a specific location. Every time I followed their directions I got lost. Eventually I ended up at a red door, and when I knocked, the picture man answered. Then the dream got fuzzy. I had somehow morphed into my six-year-old self. The man made me nervous, and I asked for my daddy. He said to call him daddy, but he was not my daddy, so I began to cry. When I did he hushed me by putting his mouth on mine. His slimy tongue touched mine and I gagged. Then I began screaming for my daddy again.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Adrian asked.

"No," I said returning to my previous task of seducing him.