Beg For More

Sweet Little Lies Part 1

Sapphire

Carla desperately wanted to see all three of her children together so one Saturday she called us to ask if we wanted to have brunch at her place with Fox and Star. To my surprise, Ruby was also tagging along. I don't know how she managed to pull that together, but I didn't ask anymore questions. Star was there when we arrived. Ruby and Fox weren't far behind.

Blaze and I were over the moon with excitement. For them, it meant that they were sober, at least for the day.

Carla and Star had gone out of their way to make brunch. I helped a little bit in the kitchen while Blaze, Fox and Ruby talked in the living room. Everything seemed great and the two of them looked well.

"I still can't believe you two are together,"Ruby smiled at me when I entered the living room, settling myself down next to Blaze on the sofa, "When I saw the kids this weekend, they couldn't stop talking about Mr. Blaze this and Mr. Blaze that. Thanks again for what you've done for them and my little sister. I mean, she did have a crush on you when you guys were little."

My mouth dropped open, "I did not!"

Blaze glanced at me with raised eyebrows and a sly smile, "Oh really?"

"No, I didn't,"I said, glaring at Ruby, "I don't recall having any childhood crushes."

I really didn't and I felt bad, but it seemed to inflate Blaze's ego so I rolled with it. Did I have a crush on him when I was kid?

"Yeah, well ole boy here cried so hard when he left his little Spooks,"Fox taunted, "Didn't ya, Blaze?"

It was Blaze's turn to blush, "I don't know about all that."

"Yeah well we're older so we remember,"Fox chuckled.

Blaze looked over at me and I couldn't help but wonder if he did cry over leaving Atlas.

He put an arm around me while Ruby and Fox left the room to see if Carla needed help. I knew Blaze was keeping an eye on Fox because I was keeping an eye on Ruby.

"So, you had a crush on me?"He pulled me closer to him.

"No,"I told him, placing my head on his shoulder, "I mean, I don't think I did."

He'd been my best friend once, and even if I'd had a million crushes on him, we were just babies then.

Blaze relished in that and pulled me even closer into him. I loved it when he did this.

It didn't take long for the day to turn to shit.

Ruby took me off to the side and asked me for a favor. I thought it was going to be about the kids or maybe a job, perhaps helping out with her sobriety.

Nope. She wanted me for a much darker reason.

"I need help, Sapph,"We were far away from the house now, allowing Carla time with her kids, "I'm in some deep shit."

I breathed in heavily as the chill from the last day of January pierced through us.

"Do you need money? A place to stay? Is it Dad?"

"No, I need to keep my job."

"Your job? At the supermarket? What happened?"

"No, another job,"she shook her head and wouldn't look at me as we stared out onto the river just as Blaze and I did months before.

"What job?" I was so afraid to ask. She'd had so many, but I knew what other jobs she'd done to make ends meet or to feed her addictions.

"Chet's mad that I took off and I need him to know that I'll be back," she was saying.