Handled

Chapter Seven

I hadn't realized I'd been staring at Emerald, mouth open, and gripping Silos' hand entirely too hard, until he placed his hand on my shoulder and stepped up beside me. 

To let me know he was there, that I wasn't alone. 

I took a deep breath, trying not to let the memories drown me. 

She looked ... bad. Her hair that had once been a shiny deep red, was now dull and limp, her eyes were the same shade of green but they were dull and the bags under her eyes were new. Once a girl who loved to show off her body was now in a long turtle neck dress, that went from her neck to her ankles, and I had a sick feeling I knew why. 

She took a small step towards me, her eyes looking me up and down before they hardened. 

Her eyes never use to harden. 

Emerald wasn't that type of person. 

She was too sweet, too nice, too loving. 

And I knew what would happen to that, what he would do to her. 

"You ... look really good", she tried to smile, tried to make that look like anything less than an accusation. 

And I tried not to flinch. 

I let go of Silos' hand, trying not to notice how he had been grounding me to the real world, and not sucked into this shit show again. 

"I haven't seen you in a while, how are you?" I asked, watching closely as her eyes shot to Silos who was standing behind me. 

I turned to look up at him, noticing the hard gleam in his eyes, "could you call Jasmine? Tell her she's good? I'll be outside in a second" I smiled tightly at him. 

He seemed to hesitate, "I'll be right outside if you need me" he finished, before turning and putting his phone to his ear. 

I turned back to Emerald. 

She had moved closer, and the innocent look was wiped clean off her face. Now she was glaring at me, a deep fury that I personally never knew she was capable of. 

"I saw Miranda a week ago, I tracked her down and I asked her, the same question I want to ask you. Why didn't you tell me?" she snapped, eyes wild with rage. 

My mouth went dry, no words came from my lips. 

She gave a disgusted laugh, "Miranda, she thought it was funny, thought it was what I deserved, said she never would have told me and that it was exactly what I should get for what I did. For taking him from her. I expected that. But you, Zola, we weren't close or anything, but never would I have expected you to do this to me" she growled. 

My chest was tight. 

"I-I didn't know about you until the wedding, and by then I-I was done with him. I didn't know what he had really done to Miranda until after your wedding, and he-he only did it to me once, Emerald. I swear" I choked, feeling the guilt weigh me down. 

She laughed, a dark broken laugh, "you should have came to me, you should have told me. You let me marry him."

I shook my head, standing my ground, "you can't blame me for that, Emerald, I didn't know about you until the wedding. You knew about me, you knew, and you still messed with him. But I don't blame that on you, he and I were ... separating by that point. I-I thought maybe you were different, that he had ... he swore he'd never do it again, and he never did. To me at least." 

"How? How did you get him to stop?" she looked so desperate. 

I shook my head, "Emerald, come stay with me. Or I can put you up at a hotel, anywhere, but with him. You can't stay there, you can't let him keep doing this to you. You saw Miranda, you saw that he drove her to fucking insanity, you need to go. Come with me." I begged, grabbing her hand, watching her eyes fill with tears. 

"I have a baby, Zola. I can't just go." 

I shook my head, "yes you can, Emerald. All you have to do is take a step, and you may not be ready now, fuck knows I wasn't ready immediately, it took a shit ton of time and then ... then he snapped something in me, and I had to go. I can't force you, Emerald, just know that when you are ready you can come to me."

She shook her head, "he's powerful, Zola. He-"

I grabbed both her hands and looked her in her eyes, "he's afraid of me, Emerald. Don't go to anyone else, come straight to me. I'll handle it, just find me when you're ready." 

I let go of her hands, and walked out of the restaurant, finding Silos standing there waiting. 

I tried to shake it off, and send him a small smile, "ready?" 

He nodded slowly, his eyes watching me as we began walking back. 

Hopefully he couldn't see it. 

See the difference in Emerald and I. 

She was terrified at the very thought of him. Me? I was enraged, furious beyond all belief. 

That had been why he never hit me again, why he had immediately pulled away, why he had run down the aisle with Emerald no more than two weeks after he had hit me for the first time. 

Because he saw it in my eyes. 

The thread that had snapped. 

The fury in my eyes, he knew if he tried again we'd both end up dead. 

And I had made sure he knew I wasn't one to fuck with. 

We both left each other with scars. 

"Are you alright?" that deep voice startled me out of my mind. We were already approaching the front of the building, we were back. 

Of course Darla's car was gone. 

And she was probably not coming back for me. 

It was going to be a hike back to the office, and eventually back to my apartment. 

Great. 

"I'm fine, I just ... hadn't seen that woman in a while, just a shock, is all. I guess I should thank you for tagging along. Joe definitely would have tried to kick my ass if you weren't there, and Willa totally would have called the police if I wrestled another of her staff to the ground." 

He just stared back at me, a small look of ... maybe concern? 

"Welp, it's been real. Tell Jasmine I will publicly shave her bald if she doesn't get me what she promised, and also tell her Jordan's a walking STD and not worth the itch" I rolled my eyes. 

"He's attractive." 

"He's a douche, and the sports car and abs don't change that" I muttered back, while thinking about my walk home. 

Should take me about 30 minutes, not too bad. 

"Anyway, see ya around, Mr. Kross. Probably at our divorce" I smirked as I walked backwards, away from him, his face almost surprised, "you know the one with our idiot loved ones?" I laughed, "bye!" 

I turned before disappearing behind the next block. 

I can't wait to get home.