Heart of Steel

Onto Something

I woke up the next day to find Rosie changing out my ice pack and checking on my ankle. She explained that she was going to spend the day with me and Sam was going to take over Shane's duties until James got back.

"Take over? Why? Where's Shane?" I asked, trying not to panic.

"He's taking a few personal days off." she said, rummaging in her medical bag and avoiding meeting my eyes with her light green ones.

"Why? He was supposed to be staying here for the next few days."

She shrugged, pushing her strawberry blonde hair behind her right ear with an uncomfortable look on her face.

"Great. More secrets and lies." I said sardonically.

I didn't mean to be rude to Rosie, I was just frustrated and confused. I had a feeling Shane was steering clear of me because of what had happened the night before, but to avoid coming to work altogether seemed a bit extreme. Had I made him that uncomfortable? And what about when he had freaked out about me getting hurt? Talk about mixed freaking signals!

The next 5 days passed in a haze of studying, working out (once I could walk on my foot again), binge watching Say Yes to the Dress and sleeping too much. I was feeling depressed and left out of the loop once again. No one would tell me why Shane suddenly decided not to come to work, not even James once he got back. On Saturday, Gladys brought me breakfast and then bid me goodbye for the weekend. She was taking a few days off too, but she had planned to ahead of time. I spent most of my day in my room and the gym, then when it came time for dinner I walked downstairs and passed the living room, headed for the kitchen to heat up some leftover pasta Gladys had left. James and Sam were both sitting on the couch, watching football and eating what smelled like hot wings. I propped one of the swinging doors to the kitchen open to eavesdrop on the boys while I made my dinner, because I wasn't sure they had even noticed me when I walked past them. Suddenly I heard a cell phone ringing and then James' voice.

"Hello?" he said.

"Steel?? Are you alright?"

I immediately stopped raking the pasta onto a plate and bolted to the kitchen door so I could hear better.

"Jesus, Steel. You couldn't hold it together for a few more hours? I'm on duty. You know that."

There was a long pause. I could hear my heartbeat in my ears as I waited to hear what James would say next. What did he mean, hold it together?

"I'll call you a cab but I'm not coming to get you." said James into the phone.

"What's up with Steel?" asked Sam a few seconds later.

"He's sloppy drunk at 7:30. What an idiot." said James.

"What?? Since when does he drink?" Sam said incredulously.

"Since today is a.. very special anniversary." replied James. I had a feeling that they were either exchanging significant looks or whispering so low that I couldn't hear. I heard Sam let out a soft 'Ahh' of recognition. I listened intently as James voice searched Ready Cabs on his phone, dialed and then requested a cab for Shane.

"Yes, Spanky's on East Market Street. He will be at the bar. Brown hair, buzzed short, with brown eyes. Please add a $20 tip to the total for going in to get him." said James.

He reeled off his credit card information and then hung up the phone. Actually, his eyes are hazel... I thought to myself. But that wasn't important at the moment. Especially because if my newly formed plan worked, the cab company would not be making a trip to Cassie's. I would. I quietly put the leftovers back in the container, returned it to the fridge, then snuck back to my room. Neither Sam nor James seemed to notice me creeping past them on my way to the elevator. I looked up the number to Ready Cabs when I was back in my room upstairs, knowing I was out of earshot from the boys. I told the girl on the phone that my friend had requested a cab for Shane Steelman at Spanky's in Leesburg and that I needed to cancel the request. She didn't even ask why. Just hung up after a short pause and a quick comment.

"Okay, you're all set. Goodnight."

Now for the hard part, sneaking out. I decided to lock my door and put on some music, then go through my bathroom into the guest room on the other side. From there, I went to the window and peeked out. There was a thick wooden rose trellis that stretched from the ground to far above the second floor. The far end of it stood mere inches outside the window. Perfect. I checked to be sure that my cell phone and car keys were in my purse, then zipped it up and slung it over my shoulder. I very slowly and carefully opened the window, praying that they didn't have this one hooked to some sort of alarm. To my astonishment, nothing happened. I let out a sigh of relief and climbed out of the window and onto the trellis, closing it quietly with one hand while I held onto the painted white wood with the other. I climbed carefully down the trellis and hopped onto the ground. This would never have worked if my dad had been home. His security team would have activated the outside cameras and monitored them around the clock. But, luckily, he would be gone for a few more days. I snuck across the yard and into the back lot, hoping against hope that no one saw me. As I drove out of the lot, I braced myself to see James and Sam running down the side street towards me, or to hear my cell phone ringing. Nothing happened. Wow! I can't believe I got away with that! I thought excitedly. I stopped at the stop sign at the end of the street and pulled up my Maps App, which I had already entered the address for Spanky's into. I pushed the Navigate button to start the GPS and followed the directions to the pub. When I walked in, I immediately saw Shane dancing with a pool stick and singing at the top of his lungs beside the bar.

"WOOOOAHHH!!! LIVIN' ON A PRAYER!!!" he sang. I couldn't help myself. I busted out laughing. He snapped his head in my direction when he heard it, and his eyes lit up with excitement.

"HEYYYY, KASEY!!!" he exclaimed, stumbling over to me. I half caught him when he began to lose his balance and he wrapped his left arm around my shoulder.

"Norm! Norm! You HAVE to meet Kasey!!" he yelled looking at the bartender. Norm raised his eyebrows, sizing me up.

"Hello." I said, receiving a long stare in return.

"Ah, come on Norm. She's realll nice." he said, shaking me gently by the shoulders.

"James sent me to pick you up." I said to him.

"Really??? WOW. That was SO nice of James. I was just talkin' about you, did you though nat?? Wait, that didn't sound right..." he slurred.

"No, I didn't know that." I said, prying. Drunk Shane was sure to spill something useful sooner or later.

"What about me?" I asked.

"How you should be here!! Right now!" he said, returning his arm around my shoulder and pulling me close.

"Okay, I think it's time to get you home." I said to him, steering him away from the bar towards the door. I put a $50 bill on the counter that I had taken from my savings box before I left the house.

"Will that cover it, Norm?" I asked.

Norm raised an eyebrow at me, then gave me one swift nod. Geez. What did Shane tell him about me? I thought.

"Bye Norm!" said Shane, hiccupping afterward.

"See you next year!" he shouted as he waved goodbye to Norm. Norm just rolled his eyes and shook his head as he turned to tend to a waiting customer.

I got Shane in the car and buckled in. By the time I got around to my side, he had accidentally locked the doors by leaning his arm on the side of his door. Luckily, I had the keys in my hand, and I pushed the unlock button on the FOB. He jumped as he heard the sound of my door opening.

"Hey, there you are!" he said when I sat down in the driver's seat.

"Here I am." I said with a small smile.

"Do you know your address?" I asked, giving him a side glance as I cranked the engine.

"1-2-3 eyes on me!" he said, his head lolling slightly, then raising suddenly as he hiccupped again. Oh good gracious. I thought.

"Hold on, I think I can find it if you hand me your phone." I told him, holding my hand out. He handed me his cell and I typed out a text message to James.

cab is here whawt is my address

I wanted to misspell at least one word to make it seem realistic. I waited less than a minute until his phone buzzed. It was a message from James.

123 Walton Street

Bingo! I returned the phone to Shane, super proud of myself for having been so clever. I typed the address into my Maps App and pushed Navigate. The information at the bottom of the screen said we would be there in 17 minutes. About 15 seconds after we pulled out of Spanky’s, Shane began pushing all of the buttons on my radio panel one at a time with a goofy smile on his face.

"Hey! Could you not do that, please?" I said, voice high pitched in indignation. He started and snapped his head in my direction, as if he genuinely had no idea that I had been in the car with him.

"Heyy Kasey!!" he said, a smile lighting up his drooping face.

"What're you doin' here??"

"I'm taking you home." I said, raising my eyebrows at him.

"Oh yeah?" he asked.

"Yepp. Favor for James." I replied.

"Well, good because I can NOT drive right now. This day of the year is just terrible." He became very interested in the sticker on the back of my sun visor and squinted as he tried to read the tiny text.

"Why is this day terrible?" I asked curiously. This was my chance to get him to open up.

"Because I was supposed to have the bestest day ever on this day and it never happened." he said sadly, declining his head even further.

"Why didn't it happen?" I asked.

"Stupid jackholes got in the way." he said, now gazing out the window.

"You would've been there too, and you would've loved it." he said, right before clapping his hand over his mouth, eyes widening in shock.

"I shouldn't have said that!" he whispered frantically.

"Not to you."

"What do you mean? Why not to me?" I asked.

"What?" he asked, clearly not following.

"You said I would have loved.. something that was supposed to happen on this day." I said, trying to help him remember.

"Oh, yeah. You would have!" he said.

"Where are we going?" he asked, ducking his head to see the signs we sped past on the highway.

"Home. Well, your home." I replied.

"Cool! Do you remember my home?" he asked.

"I've never been there." I reminded him.

"Ohhhh yeah you have." he said.

"Before your accident." He turned to look into my eyes, and I glanced at him, taking my eyes off the road for a couple of seconds.

"Oh.. I didn't know I had ever been there..." I said musingly.

"Yepp. There's a lot you don't know, Wilson."

We were both quiet for several minutes. When we pulled into his driveway, I decided to throw caution to the winds. I looked him directly in the eyes and asked,

"How did my accident happen, Shane? Who did this to me?"

He smiled at me.

"Nope. Not that drunk."

I let out a frustrated moan and punched the steering wheel, which I immediately regretted upon feeling the pain in my knuckles.

"Hey! I can't tell you, okay? It's not safe." he said. He seemed to have sobered up considerably in our few minutes of silence.

"Plus it's real sad, and I don't wanna make you sad. I never want to make you sad." This was SO frustrating. I couldn't even coax the information out of Shane when he was hammered, and he was acting uncharacteristically nice to me. It must be the alcohol... I thought.

"Okay, Steelman. Let's get you out of this car and in the bed." I said. I helped him out of the car and slung his arm around my shoulder, grabbing it with my right hand to help steady him. We walked up the concrete path to his front door, which had a keypad on it.

"Push 0-8-1-6." he said to me, leaning against the brick beside the door.

"0-8-1-6? As in August 16th? As in today?? What in the heck is going on here Shane?" I asked, hands on hips. I had endured enough secresy, and things were getting stranger by the minute.

"Coindisence!" he said, trying to look innocent. I rolled my eyes and typed in 0816 on the keypad. After about a second, I heard the lock sliding open inside the mechanism on the door. I turned the knob and opened the door wide, gesturing him inside before me.

"Ladies first." he said, mimicking my hand gesture. I obliged and stepped inside the house. From the foyer where we were standing, I could see the living room in front of us, a hallway to the right and the kitchen through a door at the back of the living room. He had nice but mismatching furniture, no pictures on the walls, and a huge flat screen TV.

"Is your room this way?" I said, gesturing down the hall to the right, then recoiling slightly in surprise when I saw the way he was looking at me.

"You shouldn't be here." he said. Again, he seemed completely sober. He must have been switching back and forth between drunkenness and sanity. Either that or he had mispronounced "coincidence" on purpose.

"Well let me make sure you get to your room without falling and breaking something, and I'll leave." I said.

I had decided to give up the hunt for answers and call it a night.