Ready or Not

Chapter 25

Nate kisses the love of his life, while basking in their glorious post-coital glow. He says, "Eve, I'm the luckiest man alive. I love you so very much."

Eve plants another long and hungry kiss on her soul mate and asks, "You sure are, but what's making you say this out loud? I mean, you've already ravaged me twice. What is this for?"

Nate pulls Eve even closer to him and replies, "Because I can hold you and kiss you whenever I want, wherever I want, and as long as I want. And best of all, you love me back. Thank you, Baby."

"Oh Nate... I will love you until my last day. And then, I'll come to find you in Hades. You are mine forever. What's on your mind, Handsome?"

"It's Water Lily."

"Oh? What about her? Is she doing okay? That poor girl..."

Nate says, "Remember I told you about the shiner on her face, that she looked like someone clocked her good?"

"Yea...."

"Well, Warren ran into her on campus earlier today, and she had a fat lip. He said it looked like someone had backhanded her."

Eve winces and says, "Jesus Christ. Did Warren ask her what happened?"

"She told him that she bit her lip while she was eating breakfast."

"And Warren doesn't believe her?"

"None of us know what to believe. But we need to find out more information."

Eve asks, "How will you do that?"

"Well, Joonie wants to ask her out for coffee and just talk to her. But he was with her on Wednesday, and she didn't have a fat lip, but Thursday afternoon she did. So, the worst-case scenario is that Austin found out that Joonie was with his woman and lost it and hit her."

Eve utters, "Well Austin is Eric's friend. Does Eric think he is capable of something like that?"

"He doesn't. He trusts him so much that he even said if he had a sister, he would let Austin date her. Eric also said that he's known Austin's ex-girlfriends and none of them ever complained, never said anything about a violent streak or an abusive nature."

Eve interjects, "Yea, but we so rarely know exactly what goes on in a relationship while standing outside of it."

"I realize that, but Eric said Austin is still friends with a lot of his exes. He still gets a Christmas card from one girl that he dumped so that he can be with another girl. Eric is a good judge of character and I trust him. I don't think he is misreading Austin. I just think people change and certain combinations of people can bring out the worst in each other."

"So, who got elected to talk with her?"

Nate sighs and says, "That's the tricky part. In case Austin is using her as a punching bag, then we don't want to make him even more crazy with jealousy. So, none of us are a great candidate to do it."

Eve then says, "I'll talk to her. I don't have a penis, so Austin won't be so worried."

"Would you really do that?"

"Yes, if she is in a dangerous situation, I want to help as much as I can. "

Nate says, "To tell you the truth, I was hoping you'd volunteer. You are the most amazing woman to have ever walk this earth. I love you and I'm SOOOOO happy that you don't have a penis." Planting another kiss on his love, he says, "Now, come here, I want to taste you, Baby."

Across town from Eve and Nate, Eric returns to his apartment after meeting with his three best friends and decides to use the time now to reach out to Austin. He is still not fully convinced that Austin is capable of hurting a woman, never mind a woman that he says he loves. But he also knows that no one truly knows anyone else.

Eric:
Hey Buddy!
How are you doing?
How is your girl holding up?

Austin:
Hey Eric.
How are you, Buddy?
I'm hanging in there.
My girl is trying to put up a brave front, but I think she is really struggling.
I feel so helpless.
I wish there was more I could do.

Eric:
Man, she is lucky to have you with her.
I can't imagine what she would have been like if you weren't there.

Austin:
I meant to thank you for calling me right away.
Thank you.

Eric:
C'mon Man.
Don't mention it.
What are old friends for.
Besides, I thought she needed you with her.
Oh, by the way, the woman that found her after the assault, Eve, asked me how your girl was doing.
So, I told her I would reach out to you and see if she can meet with your girl for coffee or something.
You know, so that she can check in with her.

Austin:
That would be great!
She needs all the support she can get right now.
Eric, I never thought I could feel like this for another human being.
I love her so much.
I'll let my girl know about Eve wanting to meet her.
If she says yes, I'll have her reach out to you directly.
Would that work?

Eric:
Yes.
That would be great.

Austin:
Okay, I'll have her reach out to you.
Take care.
When are you having another one of your parties?

Eric:
Any minute now.

Austin:
LOL.
Keep in touch.

Eric:
Will do.
Later.

Eric thinks, "Well, the die is cast. Let's see where this rollercoaster takes us."