Free Heavy: A Contemporary Romance by J. C. Mells Page B

back into the lifestyle I knew I had to get free of.
    I also knew my weaknesses , too. Letting Lake talk me into things I didn’t want to do was up there in the top three of that list.
    Then , it hit me.
    I needed to leave .
    I needed to pack a bag and just leave . Get in my car and drive away and just not be here when Lake arrived.
    There was a small knock against my open bedroom door, and I looked up to see Rose standing just outside it . She was a short, dark-haired woman in her late forties. Chubby and rosy-cheeked, her name suited her to perfection.
    “Welcome home, Cali,” she smiled as she stepped into the room.
    “Oh, Rosey,” I said as I got up to hug her. “It’s so good to see you.”
    “What’s the matter, my love ? You’re shaking like a leaf.”
    “I have to leave . I have to leave like right now.”
    “But why ? You only just got home,” Rose countered with concern etched across her face.
    “Lake is coming over and wants me to go to New York with her . She won’t take no for an answer – you know how she is.”
    Rose pursed her lips together in disapproval . It was her usual look when Lake was the subject of a conversation.
    “Indeed , I do know,” she replied as she made her way over to the walk-in closet and threw open the doors. “Call down to George and have him bring your car out front. Tell him to move the bags you took to the Institute with you into it. We’ll need to add some stuff, though. I’ll help you get packed.”
    Fifteen minutes later , I was following signs for the Interstate-15. I had no idea where I was going, but I felt free and empowered – like I was finally taking a step to extricate myself from the toxicity that is my family. My Audi S5 convertible wove through traffic and, with the wind in my hair and Los Angeles at my back, I felt like I could do anything – go anywhere.
    I merged onto the I-15 and saw my first sign for Las Vegas.
    At the back of my head, I think I’d always known that that was where I was headed.
    It might’ ve been only a one-night-stand but, over the last three months. Thatch Reston was all I could seem to think about. I couldn’t get the man out of my head.
    Where else would I go except Vegas?
     
    ***
     
    When the desert sun became too hot for me, I put up the soft-top on my convertible and switched on the A.C .
    “Call Bernie,” I said to my E. P. A. – my Electronic Personal Assistant.
    “Calling Bernie,” the automated voice responded.
    Bernie was my father’s long-time, and extremely gay, personal assistant. I spoke to him more than I did my dad.
    “California Huntington ! Why has it taken you this long to call me, girlfriend? Didn’t you get out at eight o’clock this morning?”
    “Lake came to sign me out,” I laughed.
    “Say no more. How are you? How are you feeling? And, where the hell are you going? You sound like you’re in a car.”
    “I’m fine, Bernie . Everything’s fine. I’m heading to Vegas right now.”
    “Vegas ! What the fuck are you going there for? Are you sure….”
    “Calm down, Bernice . It’s not what you think.” My heart warmed at the fact that someone in my immediate family actually cared about what I was doing and where I was going. Bernie was as much a part of my immediate family as anyone else.
    “It’d better not be what I think, because I ’m thinking about a lot of things right now. Please tell me Lake isn’t with you.”
    “No, no . I’m actually getting away from her before she leads me back into bad habits again.”
    “Why Vegas, Cali-girl ? What you got going on in Vegas?”
    “I have a sort of acquaintance there I want to look in on . Think of it as sort of part of my twelve steps. I need to make some amends.” I hoped he wouldn’t ask me more. But, who was I kidding? This was Bernie.
    “Has this got something to do with that tattoo artist … Thatch something?”
    “How the hell do you know about him?” I asked in shock.
    “Cali-girl, haven’t I always told you