Be Alright

Thirty-Seven

  Thirty-Seven: Trust Me
TYLER

    So much has happened to me in the past month a half that I cannot even fathom the changes in my life. From selling my businesses, to cutting ties with John Kensley and all my other business associates, to being accused of murder; things have been pretty crazy lately.

   The biggest change was losing Octavia.

   When John came to visit me that evening, I knew something was up. It was an unexpected visit, which is something John Kensley never did. He has always been an organized and scheduled person. I would have notice of his arrival always by a weeks time and never earlier or later.

    I didn't know what to think when he said he had bad news. My first thought was that the chemical plant that was being brought to Madison has fell through, meaning the entire trip to Philadelphia was wasted and I wouldn't see an increase to my restaurant sales.

    When he began showing photographs of Octavia, I became confused even more. He had tried to convince me that Octavia didn't love me and that she was an undercover just pretending to love me to receive information about Kensley.

    He was very convincing, but I didn't believe him at first. Octavia was never a good actor. She's too blunt and honest for that. She loved me, at least that's what I thought.

     It wasn't until Kensley brought up Jace. That's when I started to believe him. He convinced me that Octavia really loved Jace, and even had dozens of photos of them together to prove it.

    I've always been a little worried about how close Jace and Octavia are, but I never questioned Octavia's love for me until that moment. Everything he was saying made sense to me. All the puzzle pieces were fitting and the picture was in front of me.

   I made a mistake that day.

   Later on, I had heard the rumors that Jace and Octavia were a couple. I had Nick do some snooping for me and the rumors were true.

   It broke my heart even more.

   Things didn't change until I was brought in for questioning. I ran into Octavia that day and just being in her presence made me feel alive and confident again. I hated that I needed her to feel that, because at the end of the day, it was Jace she was with.

    But Jace is the one who saved us.

    "She's waiting for you," I hear Jace say as he pats my shoulder from behind.

     I turn to face him and I notice his eyes are glossy and his cheeks are more puffy than usual.

    "Thank you, Jace. For everything. If you didn't come to me that day in the station, this would have never happened," I say, finally getting to thank him for telling me the truth.

     "She's my best friend. She always will be. I'll always be around, so don't hurt her this time. I don't think I can handle her crying every night again." He says sternly, though the glint in his eyes tells me it's with light humor.

     "I'll be sure not to," I tell him before disappearing back out the tent to head to the dock.

      After my run in with Octavia at the station, Jace came to me.

     I expected a threat, maybe even a fight. I didn't expect him to call me out on what happened with Octavia.

   He told me that everything Octavia did, she did for me. He told me that the only reason she took the job was to protect me. What he told me that surprised me the most was about John. I had no idea of the sexual harassment, or the threats.