The Race Car that was Tyler Scott

Chapter Seventeen

Martha woke us up the next morning, she came running in with Bea. They didn't anticipate Tyler being there, their reactions made us both laugh. "Morning!", I shouted at them as they walked quickly walked back out. Tyler and I fell back onto the pillows laughing. We walked into the kitchen, dressed and showered and sat down at the breakfast table. I started talking to Toni who sat across from me, "Do you think America would suit me?", I smiled as I reached for some cereal and the milk. She stopped spreading and looked up, "What?!...Oh my God! You want to go to America with Tyler?!", she spoke quietly as I did. She was smiling and laughing slightly, I smiled back. I put a finger up to my lips to signify the secrecy of the matter, she zipped her mouth shut with two pinched fingers.
Anna came into the kitchen, she'd been crying - that was obvious. She wiped three fingers under her left eye and turned to face the wall; so that I couldn't see her face. I stood up and pushed my chair back quietly, I walked over to the island and put my hand on her shoulder, turning her around. She buried her head into my shoulder and sobbed silently. I stroked her head and then took her hand to take her out of the kitchen.
We sat on the sofa in the hall just out of the kitchen, "Anna what's wrong?", I was really concerned; I'd never seen Anna cry before, that was Martha's job. She didn't speak, just sobbed a little louder now. "Hey, hey...just breathe now, deep breaths", I repeated what Toni had told me to do when I had been crying. Anna did, she breathed in deeper and slower so that she could speak. "It's pathetic really but it's- it's Ralph...", she looked at me with tears in her eyes. Ralph was her boyfriend, none of us like him but we hadn't said anything because she'd made quite clear that they loved each other. The thing with Ralph was that he was twenty-nine and Anna was twenty, he had never gone to Uni, he had no job he just made 'deals' with people. No one really knew what he did, but no one trusted him. He drank a lot, never came to the house (because he was scared of Anna's parents) and he spent all of Anna's money. She continued to speak, "...He's um...he's gone and fucked some London bitch", she spoke with such anger and directed her mean glare towards the floor as she clenched her fist on the sofa. I was glad. Obviously I was sad for Anna, but finally she would be rid of him. She was blind with love for him that she couldn't see what he was doing to her - using her. I gave her a hug and whispered in her ear, "I think this is for the best", I tried to sound comforting, she whispered back in mine, "I hope so", and she sobbed again. She knew my opinion of Ralph was the same as everyone else's, I knew it was going to be hard at first but that soon she would see sense. I took her phone and put it in a bowl on the kitchen island. She went to wash her face and then sat at the table next to Tyler, they started a conversation about Tyler's career. I found it amusing how Tyler was a year younger than Anna and already a multimillionaire. Martha came up to me and quietly tapped my arm as I stood sipping my tea at the island. She had a small plastic bad in her hand. "What's that", I said in my child voice, bending down to her level. "It's for you, Happy Birthday", she said quietly and handed me the bag. I looked inside. There was a notebook, a pack of pens, a gobstopper and a CD. I took out the CD and read the label on the front of its cover, 'For my love', it read in a large font and in a smaller one read, 'by Tyler Scott'. I looked down at Martha, a little confused, she smiled. "It's for you, he made it for you. He asked me to give it to you", she smiled again and walked away to sit next to Toni at the table.
I flipped the case over to look at the back, written in small print, "Amelia, my love, my Scarlet Macaw", I smiled and another tear cake rolling down my cheek. I sniffed and leant against the island to catch my balance. I looked across the room at Tyler, he was drinking orange juice and looked back at me, smiles in his eyes. He mouthed the words to me, "I...love...you", he kissed his fingertips and blew me a kiss. I smiled and hugged the CD to my chest.
The same thought and reference of the Scarlet Macaw had also crossed Tyler's mind. We were each other's 'one in a million', our minds were skl alike and so compatible. It was things like this that made me believe in a greater external force like God. Luck like this was so rare it made me want to believe that someone else controlled it.
My phone buzzed on the island and broke my flow of thought. "Hello, is that Miss Amelia Tompkins?", it was the cocky junior police officer working my case. He had an update for me. I left the room so I could speak with him, when I returned Tyler stood up immediately. The look on his face showed emotional support and hope. "They want us to go in and look at a lineup", I said in a monotone voice. "I'll go get my coat", Tyler said and I nodded before I went to fetch my puffa-jacket.
We walked into the station and were ushered to a room. The room had glass to split the middle; like at the recording studio except the people on the other side couldn't see us. A line of eleven men stood on the other side from Tyler and me. Their faces showed no emotion as they stared vacantly into nothingness. All except one; he stared right into my eyes. He couldn't see me but I could tell by the way he held his face that he knew he was staring at me.
It was him. The man they wanted to find. The man whose face had given me nightmares every time I closed my eyes, stopping me from blinking even. The man who had tried to rape me, kill me and had planned to leave me all alone. There he stood. Behind the glass, staring at me. He chuckled and gave a half smile. I was in shock, I couldn't move. I could see Tyler's reflection in the glass, he stood next to me, also paralysed. He didn't utter a word. The strength of the will inside me to put that creep behind bars forced me to speak out, "That's him, number seven", Tyler followed suit, "That's definitely him, number seven".
Without looking down, I reached my hand across to hold Tyler's, who stood next to me. But he was clenching his fist. Digging his nails into his palm. I tried to open up his hand with mine but he was too strong, "I am 'gonna make that son of a bitch pay. He's 'gonna regret the day that he ever laid a hand on you. I swear- I'm 'gonna kill him", he said under his breath with such power it scared me, biting his lip all the while. "Tyler he's going to prison for a long time, he's not 'gonna lay a hand on anyone...ever again", I tried to make him look at me, pushing his face to face mine. His face dropped the look of resentment it had previously held and his eyes opened a little wider, he looked sad. "I'm- I-", he didn't know what to say, so I helped him, "I know, I know, it's over now though, okay?", "it's just he- he touched you and I-", he stopped again, "I know, but he's gone now...", by comforting him I managed to comfort myself, the creep's smile and smirk had scared me and made me so uncomfortable, I didn't know who to trust. He was gone now though and he wasn't coming out ever - I reminded myself. "You're a little protective huh", I said to Tyler, "That is because I love you and because you're sexy as hell and because you are all mine", he smiled broadly and made me laugh. We walked back through the station and stood in the outside doorway where Tyler turned round to me, "Screw it", and he picked me up and kissed me in front of everyone. I was conscious that lots of people were watching, "Tyler, everyone's staring", "Let them", his answer made me smile and he kissed me again.
We sat at the dinner table back at the Holt's house, quietly celebrating the victory of the day between the few of us that knew the entire situation. "I have a question for Tyler and Mingla", Martha spoke, "When did you both know you loved each other", Martha had obviously been watching a film, she had always been curious and slightly nosey but this question wasn't like her. Tyler answered her almost immediately, "I knew I was going to love her the day I met her, I knew I loved her the day after", I looked at Tyler and the way he smiled down at Martha, he turned to me and smiled even more. "Mingla?", Martha directed the question at me, "Oh, um...", I thought for a few seconds before it came to me. "I knew I was going to love you when you spoke to me at the hospital. I knew I loved you when you sang to me at the O2", I said to him. "Awww", Martha whined, the others laughed as they calculated the difference in time it had taken me to love Tyler compared to how long it had taken him. I laughed too and soon we were all laughing, even Anna. I was glad to see Anna laughing and smiling, it can't have been easy for her to see Tyler and I so contented.
Tyler and I slept in the same bed that night as we couldn't bring ourselves to say goodnight to one another. I lay next to him, my head on his chest and his long muscley arm around my shoulder. "Are you okay?", he whispered, he cared so much and it made me feel secure, "Yes. Are you?", I asked back, "I'm glad he can't touch you now, no one can touch you now because I've got you, you're mine", Tyler was fiercely protective. I didn't reply, "I'm sorry if that's overbearing but I can't help it, I love you so much I can't keep my hands off'a you. And there's no one else in the world who I'd ever love but you, you're one in a million and I gotta' keep you close, I love you", he spoke to the ceiling. It wasn't overbearing. I had never felt like this, I'd never been in love and I loved feeling loved by Tyler. "Tyler, I love you and I knew I was going to love you the day we met. I would never let this go, not ever, because I agree...there'll be no one else like you out there. I love being loved by you because it's so powerful and it makes me feel so strong, so much stronger than before. I love you", I whispered back to him, kissing his cheek before he turned around and kissed me back more passionately.