Odd Living

Twentyseven

Cal rips me away from Ian, pushing me to the side. Cal looks ready to fight Ian.

"Do you know what he did to me Mackenzie?" Cal asks, looking at Ian.

"N... no. I don't." I say. I am confused beyond belief.

"He ruined my career. Ruined my life. I can't let you go back." He says stepping closer to Ian.

"Cal, please stop. Explain, I don't understand." I really don't.

Ian is just standing there. He looks ready to fight but I know he won't, not in front of me. Ian glances at me with sadness in his eyes.

"He made a video about me, on YouTube, that exposed me. It caused me to lose followers and subscribers. It caused me to go into a depressing state of mind for weeks." He steps closer to Ian.

"Ian, go home. Please. I'll be fine." I insist.

Ian is looking like he wants to fight now. I can see his crazy eyes and his cheeks getting flustered.

"Boys," Mr. Ludwig shouts from the back of the store. "If you're going to fight, take it outside. We wouldn't want this young lady cleaning up your mess."

"Yeah fucker, let's take this outside." Cal says.

"Ian no. Go home." I step in front of Ian and look deeply into his eyes. "Go home. I'll find a way to get there. Even if I need to fight Cal, I'll get home. Go home and tell Max I'm okay. Please?"

I see his shoulders relax. He gives me a powerful kiss and leaves without saying anything else.

Cal looks like he is going to throw up. "I can't let you go home now." He says without regret.

"But... no you said... no." Words aren't coming to my mind at this time. I am pissed. I need to get back to Ian. I need to tell Max I'm okay.

"Sorry not sorry. If I wouldn't have found out you and Ian were a thing, I would have been fine. But no, that skinny cunt has to ruin everything."

Tears well up in my eyes. I fall to the floor. Mr. Ludwig rushes to the front to see if I am alright. Tears are pouring from my eyes and all you can hear are my words jumbled up.

"Cal, son, I think you should leave the store so she can calm down. Stand right outside, I'm just going to take her to the break room so she can relax a bit." Mr. Ludwig tries to get Cal outside.

Cal storms out of the store as Mr. Ludwig grabs the phone. He calls someone explaining what happened. After he hangs up the phone, he assists me to a chair in the back. Moments later two police cars pull up and Cal runs into the store.

"Mackenzie, we need to go. Now!" He yells.

"I cannot let you do that." Mr. Ludwig says.

The police walk into the store and grab Cal. They put him in handcuffs as he panics. "I'm screwed. You're dead." He says before being put into the back of the car.

The officers come back into the store and ask Mr. Ludwig what had happened. One of the officers came in the back to talk to me.

He looked like he was new, around 21. Blue eyes, dark brown hair, six foot something. His name tag read J. Joseph.

"My name is Josh, what's your name miss?" He asks softly.

"Mackenzie." I say louder than I thought. He stepped back. "Sorry. I didn't mean to shout." I say quieter.

"It's not big deal." He leans up against the wall and slides down. "I love your accent."

"Thanks. Are you new?" I wipe my face for the right hundredth.

"Is it that obvious?" He chuckles.

"Kinda." I respond.

"Would you like to tell me what happened?" He asks looking up at me.

"Yeah. Not here though. It isn't safe." I say shaking.

"What do you mean not safe?" He turns his body to face me. "Where is safe?"

"He will find me. He probably already knows. We need to go." I get up and head for the door.

Josh gets up and runs after me grabbing my hand. "Slow down there. Where is safe?"

"The station. Anywhere with protection." I say looking crazy. I forget people don't know the Brandon I know.

"Go get in the car. I'll be right there." He points to the door. "Mr. Ludwig, if you don't mind, I'll be taking Miss Mackenzie down to the station for questioning. Will you be alright here by yourself?" Josh says before I leave.

"I'll do fine one more day. Just make sure she is alright." Mr. Ludwig says before I get in the squad car.

After a minute Josh joins me in the car. We head to the station with Cal sitting in the back of the car.

"You think I could use the bathroom when we get there?" I hear Cal say.

"Umm... we will see." Josh says turning left on a street.

I close my eyes and open them. I guess I took a nap because Josh was tapping my shoulder to wake me up.

"Mackenzie. We are... uhh... here. Come inside when you are ready." He says. He pulls Cal out of the back of the car.

I should get inside before Brandon finds me. I get out of the car and hobble to the front doors of the police station. I walk in and only a few officers look at me. I go to the front desk and ask where officer Joseph is. The woman behind the counter points to a side hallway.

I follow the hallway down, looking in each of the windows. All of the sudden, I hear someone screaming. I peak into the last window and it is Cal screaming because Josh has his hands crushing one of Cal's.