Overjoyed

Chapter 29 - Your albatross, let it go

Dan had to step out to get his luggage which had been sent to The Courtley and I busied myself with finishing our flight arrangements for the following day. He’d even insisted I pay with his credit card, despite my protests. I felt a pang of guilt for making Dan fly up and down like that, he must have been so tired. I called home to let my aunt know that everything was set. She told me that my mother’s condition was deteriorating quickly and the doctor’s didn’t think she’d see the end of next week. I sighed deeply after ending the call, not quite knowing what to feel.   

I checked the clock, and it read after eight. Dan was taking much longer than he’d said he would but I willed myself not to worry. A few minutes later, Court walked in with a tall, good-looking, dark skinned man carrying an overnight bag in tow. “Liza, this is Marcus” she said, with a familiar glint in her eye. He shook my hand firmly and smiled a wide, white smile. Courtney sure had done well for herself this time. “Marcus is spending the night. I’ll uh, see you later” Courtney said, winking at me before grabbing a bottle of wine and leading Marcus to her room. I laughed to myself.

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I jolted awake at a loud crash coming from the bedroom, followed by drunken laughter. Courtney and Marcus. I rubbed my eyes sleepily and looked around the apartment, Dan still wasn’t back. It was almost eleven. Suddenly there was a fumbling with a key outside the door, and then Dan burst into the apartment, smelling like a brewery, his nose and shirt bloody. “What the hell?” I exclaimed, rushing over to him, “What happened? Where have you been?” Dan winced slightly as he made his way to couch. “I’ve been, I’ve been at the police station” he said breathlessly. “What the fuck Dan? Were you drinking?” I asked, pissed off at my lack of knowledge. “No” he mumbled, “I ran into that bastard Jason. Said he’d fucked you while I was away” he hissed, clearly still irate. “What?” I cried, infuriated, “you didn’t believe him, did you?” Dan shook his head, “Of course not. I wanted to fucking kill the bloke, Eliza” he murmured. I exhaled an inward breath of relief, “Who threw the first punch?” I asked. “He did, which was a bloody good thing because I could lay a charge of battery against him, which I did. He wanted to lay a counter-charge but they refused, because there were witnesses proving I’d acted out of self-defence” he said, resting his head against the back of the sofa. “Will you have to go to court?” I asked, knowing full-well the extent of the media scandal it would make.  “No. We came to an agreement. I told him I’d drop the charges if he swore to never come near you again, and he did. He’s out of your life Lize, forever” he said, his eyes falling shut. He was amazing. I kissed him gently before going off to run him a bath.