Free Deep Surrendering: Episode Ten by Chelsea M. Cameron Page B

it wasn’t totally their fault. I had to take a lot of the blame for my inability to be done with school and get a real job.
    “So what if I am? It’s my life. I get to choose how I live it.” I didn’t mean to be defensive, but I’d had the argument with myself so many times I couldn’t even count.
    Sapphire smiled and raised her hands in surrender. She’d finished her coffee and had thoughtfully set the empty cup on a coaster so it wouldn't’ leave a ring on my coffee table.
    “I’m not interrogating you, Marisol. We’re just having a conversation. But clearly that is a touchy subject for you, so why don’t we leave it alone and move on to something else?” I didn’t want to move on to something else. I wanted to know where the fuck Fin was and why no one was calling me.
    I also needed to block the number Mr. Herald had used to get in touch with me. He’d probably just use another phone, but then I’d block that number too. What was he going to do, really? Come to Boston and tie me to a chair and waterboard me?
    Maybe. I wouldn’t put anything past that psycho. But I would never let it get that far. I’d taken some self-defense classes in my undergraduate years and I was thinking now that a Taser might be a good investment. Not just to protect myself from my ex-boyfriend’s insane father, but to protect me from random creeps on the street. Boston might not be the Bronx, but there were still bad parts of the city where you had to be careful.
    “Marisol?” I realized Sapphire had been calling my name for a few seconds. Oops. I’d zoned out and had gotten tangled up in my own thoughts.
    “Sorry. Just thinking. What’s taking them so long?” I wanted to get up and do something. Pace around, or… something.
    “Relax. Worrying isn’t going to anyone any good, okay? We just have to wait. Right now, no news is good news.” She did have a point. But this no news was screwing with my head.
    “I’m sorry, I have this habit of thinking the worst is happening when it comes to Fin. He’s just so unreal that I always think something is going to take him out of my life because he doesn’t make sense being in it in the first place.” Oops. I didn’t mean to say that either. Was Sapphire a witch?
    But she just smiled as if she knew exactly what I was talking about.
    “Exactly,” she said and we both shared a moment of understanding. Neither of us needed to say anything else. We just knew.
    And then the phone finally rang again.

I scrambled to get it, tipping completely off the couch and onto the floor as I stretched out my arm to nab the phone. I didn’t even take a moment to register the pain as I slammed into the floor.
    “Hello?”
    “Hello Marisol.” The relief at hearing his voice was so intense, I thought I would drown in it. I couldn’t breathe.
    “Oh my God, Fin,” I was finally able to say. Without even thinking, I reached out and grabbed onto Sapphire. She let me crush her hand in mine and leaned forward, her face turning from amused to worried as soon as she knew I was talking to him.
    “Oh, my love. I’m so sorry,” he said. I didn’t care if we were broken up. I just wanted him to be okay.
    “Where are you?” My voice was oddly steady. As if I finally found a focus in his voice and it steadied me. Grounded me.
    “I can’t tell you that, I’m afraid. I assume you’ve spoken to my father.” My blood chilled to ice at the mention of his father.
    “Yes. I might have given him a piece of my mind.” He chuckled softly and I figured he couldn’t be in much danger if he was able to laugh.
    “That’s my girl,” he said. Even though I wasn’t his girl anymore. It didn’t matter. A part of me would always belong to him.
    “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. You’re not mine,” he said, his voice going low and sad. Oh, it broke my heart to hear him talk like that. I didn’t like hearing him like that. It made my wounds open again and start to bleed.
    “Oh, Fin.