MAISY

Logan never called that next day like he was supposed to. He had said that the papers would be ready in 24 hours for me to sign, but then...nothing. When four o'clock rolled around I finally caved and pathetically called his office. His secretary put me on hold for longer than necessary and then came back on the line to apologize; Logan apparently had already left for the day. I hung up the phone, barely thanking her, as my frustration boiled over into shear annoyance.

I'd done as much as I could in terms of going through my mom's things. I only had a few more loose ends to tie up, a day or two's work tops, and then I could finally get out of here. But I couldn't make a move without those papers, and Logan was making it difficult. I got the suspicious feeling that he was doing this on purpose, paying me back in some way for leaving so abruptly back then, but that would be assuming he still cared, and the way Logan spoke to me and how he looked with that other woman painted quite the opposite picture.

Today I made sure to call first thing in the morning when the office opened, but was told that Mr. Stanfield wasn't in yet. I left another message around ten when he was supposedly in a meeting, and when I still hadn't heard anything from Logan after lunch, I called back again. This time his secretary told me that Logan was in court.

I grab my phone. It's almost four now, and this is beginning to feel personal. The fact that he hadn't responded to the numerous messages I'd now left with his secretary just cemented my belief. I push the button and call back one more time, jiggling my leg impatiently as I wait for someone to pick up.

"Nash Law Offices," a chipper voice I've become all-too familiar with greets me and I cringe.

"This is Maisy Clarke." I say my name for what feels like the billionth time. "Is Mr. Stanfield available?"

"I'm sorry Ms. Clarke. Mr. Stanfield just went into another meeting."

"What do you mean he's another meeting?" I seethe. "This is my fifth phone call in two days! Hasn't he been getting my messages?"

Either Logan had the most inept secretary on the planet, or she was covering for him, and not very well I might add. "Do you know when he'll be in?" I growled, trying to keep myself from exploding.

"No ma'am."

"Is this how Mr. Stanfield usually conducts his business?"

"No ma'am."

I knew it! Logan had never seemed like the type of guy who'd drop the ball on anything, let alone his work. He was torturing me on purpose. I grit my teeth together, grip the phone tightly in my hand and speak with as much calmness as I can muster.

"Please inform Mr. Stanfield that if I don't hear back from him in one hour I'll be coming down to the office to personally speak with Mr. Nash, and he can be sure that I won't forget to mention his total lack of professionalism in regards to my father's case!" I hang up the phone and hurl it across the sofa, pissed off at Logan for doing this.

He probably spent the last two days rolling around in the sheets with his girlfriend instead of doing his job like he was supposed to.

The irrational thought comes out of nowhere. I don't even know why I'm thinking of Logan rolling around in the sheets with his girlfriend. In fact, I don't know why I'm thinking about stupid Logan Stanfield at all. I pick up a pillow next to me and scream into it. This ridiculous anger doesn't make any sense. I have no reason to be angry about anything except the fact that Logan is jerking me around. I mean I hadn't seen him in years. Of course Logan's moved on. I mean I had....right?

I mean, I guess if I was honest with myself I'd admit that no one in my life has ever kissed me like Logan did that night under in the park. Over the years I spent watching him at school, I'd imagined what it'd be like to kiss him many times. I saw him with Amanda Fisher in the halls, and heard the whispered discussions during weekend sleepovers. But the real thing... It surpassed anything my imagination could have ever come up with at that time.

Logan poured himself into his kisses. He held my face in just the right way, taking charge. His tongue was firm and commanding, and for once in my life I felt myself bending to give myself to someone. It was terrifying and thrilling at the same time.

Chills spill over my skin at the memory. It's too clear, too visceral, even after all this time. That night I could have easily fallen over the edge with Logan; I wanted to so badly. But there'd be no coming back from that. I knew that then, and still know it now. I made sure to lock my memories of Logan away a long time ago. But whenever I did let myself think of him, it hurt more than it helped.

When I left this town I shut down. The old Maisy ceased to exist, but I hadn't yet discovered a new one to replace her with. My walls were up but there was nothing left inside of me to protect anymore, so I kept my head down and stayed out of people's way.

I never got to know any of the other girls at Eddie's bar. I just went in and worked my shift, and on my days off I scheduled odd jobs to earn extra money, willing to do just about anything to keep a roof over my head and prevent myself from having to go back to my father with my tail between my legs.

I look around the living room and instinctually remove my bare feet from the coffee table, like I'm still afraid he could walk in at any time. Standing up, I pace the room debating if I really should go down and speak to Mr. Nash. I know it'd get Logan in trouble if I did, but he's not really leaving me with much of a choice.

My phone chimes, and without thinking I hurry over to the sofa and pick it up. Dread pours through me, prickling my face and raising the hairs on my skin. I look down at the text and take a shallow breath.

                                                                "Where are you?"

I drop the phone from my hands and step back from it like he can see me. My heart is racing and I can feel the panic constricting me from the inside. I drop down to the ground, continuing to stare at the phone.

How did he find me? I shake my head in disbelief. I've been so careful.

I think back to that night at Eddie's bar when everything changed. A group of men showed up and there was a lot of fanfare when they walked in. The other waitresses all started primping and some of the other customers got up to greet them, while others ducked their heads and snuck quietly out the back door.

Eddie came out from the bar and shook each of their hands, but when he got to the last guy, he wrapped his hand around the base of his neck and pulled him into a big hug. It was obvious from the way Eddie was treating these guys that they were important, and that meant he'd be expecting the best, so I almost dropped the drinks I was loading onto my tray when he led them over to my section. I heard more than one girl behind me moan about unfair it was; if they only knew I'd do anything to trade sections with them right then. But Eddie snapped his fingers and called my name.

My hands shook as I picked up my tray and delivered the drinks to my other table.
When I finally made my way over to Eddie he was lighting up a cigar.

"Maisy, bring us a bottle of the bourbon from the top shelf."

I nodded and as I turned away I heard one of the men make some degrading comment about what he'd like to do to my ass. I ignored it; I'd gotten good at it by that point, but when I returned with their bottle and began to serve them, things went from bad to worse. I was balancing a tray of glasses and pouring the bourbon when I suddenly felt a large hand sliding up the back of my bare thigh. I swiped my eyes over to Jo-Jo, the large Samoan guy who was head of security, and lifted the bottle in the air. That was the sign. If a customer was getting a little too handsy, we lifted a bottle, a tray, our hands, whatever, straight up in the air, and Jo-Jo or one of his guys would take care of it.

But nothing happened this time. In fact, Jo-Jo even looked the other way. I slowly brought the bottle back down, feeling like an idiot. Of course he wasn't going to do anything. These were Eddie's friends.

I stared over at my boss, hoping to catch his eye, but he was too busy entertaining everyone else to notice me. And even if I did get his attention, I had no guarantee that Eddie would be of any help; he wasn't really known for his compassion. The hand started to dig into my flesh, edging its way closer to the hem of my already too-short skirt.

I needed this job. I kept repeating that over and over in my head as I poured their liquor and tried to ignore the fact that my ass was being groped by some low life. But when the tips of his fingers strayed beneath the hem of my skirt, I jumped. I couldn't help myself, and I spilled the drink I was pouring and managed to douse Eddie in the process. He let out a roar of obscenities and pushed his chair back from the table, swiping at his lap and then drew back his hand. I cowered, knowing what was coming. But just as quickly another hand shot out and stopped him.

My eyes flicked over to the man Eddie had hugged earlier. He had cropped dark hair, olive skin, and a set of full lips that were turned down at the corners. He was tall, and from the way he was filling out the tight black suit he wore, it was safe to assume he was pretty well built underneath it. It was obvious just from looking at him that this was a guy who could handle himself.

"Relax Eddie. How do you expect her to act when 'ole Cal here can't keep his meaty paws to himself? You want a waitress who allows herself to get finger-fucked right at the table? Shit, I thought you ran a classier joint than that."

A couple of men laughed and that seemed to bring the tension down a notch. I heard Eddie mumble something about me being a clumsy bitch, but he sat back down in a huff. 

I grabbed some extra napkins off the next table, and pushed them towards Eddie as I cleaned up the rest of the mess. Somehow I managed to pour the final glasses without spilling anything else, despite my frazzled nerves, and got away from the table as fast as I could.

I kept my head down for the rest of my shift. The place was crowded and I was able to keep busy. Somewhere around midnight I decided to take a break. I ducked behind the bar and went back through the kitchen, pushing open the large metal doors that lead out to the alley behind the bar.  I gulped in a huge breath of air despite the dumpster next to me, trying to keep it together.

He was going to hit me. Eddie, my boss, was going to fucking hit me!

I paced the small alley , trying to figure out what to do, when the metal door to the bar banged opened and I jumped about a foot in the air. It was the guy, the one who had stopped it.

He smiled at me as he stepped outside, and I took a step back. The door swung shut behind him and my eyes darted over to it.

"You hiding out back here?"

His voice was deep and strong, and he had no trace of an accent like most of the people around here did. I met his dark eyes and shook my head.

"Good. You shouldn't be." He leaned back against the brick wall behind him and pulled out a pack of smokes from the pocket of his suit jacket. The edges of a dark tattoo peeked out of the cuff of his sleeve as he lifted his hands and lit up. He inhaled deeply, and let out a slow, steady stream of smoke, lifting his dark eyes and letting his gaze skim up my body. "You're a long way from home little mama."

I rolled my eyes and started to head back into the bar when his arm shot out and blocked me from the door. My heart started thundering and I quickly debated screaming. But who would come?

"I didn't mean to scare you," he whispered. "It's just you look a little too nice to be working in a place like this." He shrugged over at the bar behind him.

I didn't say anything. I didn't know if it was because of fear, or anger, or defiance, but I just stared back at him, refusing to open my mouth.

"My name's Eli. I'm Eddie's brother."

My eyes grew as he offered me his hand. I stared down at it for a minute. His brother was my boss. His brother had just tried to hit me.

"Maisy," I murmured, quickly placing my hand in his. It was big, but not calloused like the last hand I held. I didn't allow myself to think about Logan though as I pulled my hand away and ducked my head.

"I'm sorry about Eddie and Cal. They can be real assholes sometimes."

I didn't say anything; he was right. They were assholes. He stepped closer to me, smelling like cigarettes and leather, and for some reason I didn't move away. I felt safe, and for the first time since I left home I felt like I was able to catch my breath.

For the next three weeks Eli came into the bar every time I had a shift. He'd sit in my section and start up small conversations with me that eventually led to longer ones. I never told him the truth about myself, who I was before all this. There was no need to. That girl didn't exist anymore.

He started asking me out around the second week and by the third I could tell that he was growing tired of my excuses. Eli had become the only friend I could talk to in Austin and after months of being all alone, I didn't want to lose that. It was a shitty reason to start dating someone, but finally I caved in and went out with him. He was twenty-three and if he knew I was really seventeen at the time we started sleeping together he never said anything about it.

It was an unusual relationship at best. Eli never told me much about himself, and I didn't ask. He never took me to his apartment or told me what he did for a living, but judging by the fact that he was Eddie's brother I assumed it was illegal and probably best that I didn't know.

About six months after we started seeing each other, despite my protests, he moved me into a better apartment. It was a one bedroom with a view in a safer neighborhood. I hated that he was covering the rent but there was no way I could afford it on my own. I knew what that made me, but once I stepped foot inside that apartment it was too hard of an offer to turn down.

Most of the time Eli stayed there with me, but there were other nights when I didn't know where he was at all. I didn't ask questions and neither did he; I think that's probably what made us work. In the two years that we dated I never met anyone in his family other than Eddie or learned anything about his past, and I was okay with that. I already depended on Eli far too much as it was; there was no way I wanted to invest in him anymore. It'd only end up getting me hurt.

I look back at my phone and squeeze my eyes shut. But all the walls in the world couldn't prevent that from happening anyway, and when the time came, the bottom literally fell out of my world once again.