The Anniversary

Chapter 3

Simone ran up the steps onto the terrace, desperate to get to a quiet place to call back. This wasn’t something she could leave until she was back home; it had to be answered now or what she had been planning would be all for nothing.

And Simone hated disappointment.

She was so engrossed in her thoughts that Simone didn’t realize her husband was on the terrace until she ran right into him. Toby laughed and grabbed at her as she stumbled.

“Hey, honey. Where’s the fire?”

“Toby!” Simone caught her balance and leaned into him with a startled laugh. Her heart was pounding. “You scared me. What were you doing here?”

Toby was supposed to have left the club already. They had met in the foyer when Simone arrived for her game with Bianca and Toby had mentioned that he was going for lunch with his brother. Simone hadn’t liked that at all but grudgingly conceded that Mike was family and she wasn’t going to stop her husband even when the man in question made her skin crawl.

“Aren’t you supposed to be having lunch with Mike?”

“Not for another hour.”

Toby wrapped his arms around her and kissed her. Right in the middle of the terrace where everyone could see them.

“Toby! We can’t do that here!”

“Why not?” Toby grinned. “It’s not in the rules that we can’t.”

Simone rolled her eyes.

“I thought Emil was the one who broke the rules.”

“It was Emil I was looking for, actually. He went to the bar for a pint and he’s completely disappeared.”

Simone laughed. That sounded like Emil had seen a pretty woman and taken a long detour.

“I’m on my way to the changing rooms. If I see him in there I’ll let him know you’re looking for him.”

Toby glanced down at the cell phone still in her hand.

“You’re going to the changing rooms with your cell phone?”

Simone felt a moment of panic. What should she say that didn’t sound suspicious? She shrugged.

“I’m a woman.”

That always worked. And it worked this time.

“I won’t ask.” Toby kissed her again and released her. “While you’re busy I’ll go and talk to Bianca. You’ll probably be growing another head in there and that always takes a while.”

Simone swatted his backside and he walked away before hurrying inside. She ducked into the changing rooms and was pleased to see them empty. Last time she had come in Emil had been pumping into a woman from behind on the benches. That had given her nightmares for a while.

Relieved she didn’t have to see her friend’s bare backside again, Simone ducked into a stall and locked the door. Then she found the number she wanted and pressed the dial button, a smile spreading across her face.

It was picked up on the third ring.

“Hey, I got your message. My answer is yes.”

Toby was going to love what she had in store for him.

*****

Carl was exhausted after track practice. He had pushed himself harder than normal, trying to stop thinking about his run-in with Jason.

He wouldn’t admit it openly, not even to Charlotte, but Jason’s veiled threat had unnerved him. The guy was big and could easily split Carl in two just by snapping his fingers. He could have any girls he wanted and he usually got them but he always kept coming back to Louise. Their relationship was volatile at times – even Carl could see that – but he kept coming back. Since they had got together in their freshman year they had to have split up and got back together at least six times. Louise barely dated anyone else and when she did Jason was hanging around.

Carl knew he shouldn’t tempt fate and drool over Louise but his body stirred every time she was near. Lusting after her when she had a nasty fella who wouldn’t go away was a bad idea. That was simply asking for trouble. But Louise was nice, she was smart and beautiful and Carl appreciated all of those things. It was no surprise he had a crush on her.

While he realistically knew nothing would happen between them, in the back of his mind there was always the dream that dating Louise would happen. And Carl would be delighted.

He had dated, both black and white girls, and while they had been lovely – although there was one who had been a bit crazy and had eventually moved schools after attacking the girl he dated after her – Carl couldn’t completely connect with them. There was something missing and Carl wondered if his crush with Louise had something to do with it.

He was so messed up.

Everyone had gone home by the time Carl came out of the showers and dressed, stuffing his wet towel and sweaty clothes into his gym bag. Hopefully this workout would relax him enough that he won’t be so grumpy at home. He was looking forward to having pizza with his brothers and parents while they watched a marathon of Criminal Minds. It was a ritual every week and they never missed a show. His bad mood would dampen the evening and Carl hoped he was feeling chipper when he got home.

Slinging his bag over his shoulder, Carl left the locker room. There was no one in the hall; everyone was either in a classroom for study time or gone home. As he walked past a row of lockers, someone stepped out in front of him, blocking his path. Pulling up, Carl saw it was Jason. He groaned. The bas*ard was like a bad rash.

“I’m not in the mood for a fight, Jason.”

“That’s good.” Jason grinned. It wasn’t a nice one. “This’ll be easy, then.”

Carl didn’t see it coming. He was only aware of what was happening when pain exploded in his head and he hit the floor, his bag sliding across the floor. He lay on his side, the world spinning and out of focus. Something wet trickled down his face, tickling his skin.

He saw Jason’s sneakers come into view. Jason knelt and pushed Carl onto his back with the baseball bat. The bat had blood on the end of it. He jabbed the bat in Carl’s face, narrowly missing his nose.

“Don’t look at Louise and we’ll get along fine, you little half caste monkey.”

Then he stood and walked away whistling, twirling the bat in his fingers. Carl lay there staring at the ceiling. He had hoped someone would come out and find him lying there in a pool of blood but that would be wishful thinking. No one would come out to see what the commotion was; the minute they saw Jason they would know not to get involved, even if his victim bled to death.

Forcing himself to move even with his head pounding, Carl rolled slowly onto his front, pressing his fists to his forehead. Then he heard sudden pounding of running feet.

“Carl!”

Louise. Carl thought he was suffering a concussion. Then someone knelt beside him and put a hand on his back.