Willow
TW: Mild mention of suicide
“Whoa! The hottest TA on campus needs my help?” Jeremy’s still cheerful voice says on the other end.
“Jeremy, you are such a flirt,” I force a chuckle.
“Only with you.”
I force another flirty chuckle.
“So, to what do I owe the pleasure?” He asks.
“Jeremy...” I hesitate. “I need your help.”
“If I help you with whatever you need. What do I get out of it?”
“Anything.”
“Hmmm... How about a date?” He asks as if the idea has just popped into his mind.
“Fine,” I sigh. “A date is okay. We will never ever be together, just to be clear.”
“I just want to spend a day talking to you. What do you need, my queen?”
“If you said this under normal circumstances, I would be blushing right now,” my lips slightly curl up. “I need you to organize a fan meeting at the location that I will send to you, and it needs to be held right now. Just do something, do some fan signing and stuff.”
“Now?”
“Two dates?” I plead.
“I don’t want to come as desperate to my fans, send me the location. Then post on your social media that you saw me there. Tag me, and the place will be filled with screaming fans."
“I will bring you snacks.”
“I think my fans will bring lots of snacks," he says confidently.
I roll my eyes. “You are so arrogant, but I owe you.”
“Yes, you do,” he titters.
I post on all my social media accounts after hanging up, and I hail a cab, my hands trembling as I open the door.
I keep my eyes on the screen, refreshing more than five times every minute to look at shares or reactions. After five minutes and two shares, I sigh in defeat. This is the only plan I have? I picture Liam’s smug face when he visits Leo behind bars.
Every minute stretches into an eternity, and I fight the temptation to call 911 to ask if the police have been called.
As the cab approaches the apartment building, I am welcomed by a swarm of what seems to be more than about a hundred people. There are three police cars behind the group and five police officers in front of the cars.
I hastily pay the driver and throw myself out of the cab. I walk slowly, feeling five pairs of eyes watching my every move.
I approach one of the officers. “Hi sir, I need to go to my apartment.” I sigh to show my annoyance.
“We can’t let more people pass through. We are trying to get this group to leave as it is and we are waiting for backup,” he purses his lips. “My colleagues are trying to get in, but the street is it’s filled with hormonal females, and they are preventing us from doing our job.”
Hormonal females? I take a deep breath to calm myself.
“I just want to get my file and deliver it to my colleague. I can’t miss the due date!”
“Mam, you’ll have to wait. Besides, you won’t be able to pass through.”
“Okay, may I call someone to bring it here?”
“If they can.”
"Thank you." I fumble with my bag, and I drop a bottle of my eye drops. I kneel to pick it up. Then, I crawl under the caution tape, and the officers' eyes widen when they realize what is going on. Their screams trail behind me as I run.
"Excuse me, I need to get to my apartment," I repeatedly say the words as I move through the crowd. After a while, I finally get to the gate where Jeremy is standing, and he winks at me.
I stop to listen to him for five minutes as he answers the questions of fans while taking pictures with them.
I smile gratefully before walking into the building.
I ring the doorbell as many times as I can. Leo stands in the doorway, gazing at me, without showing any intention to move.
“Are you here to ask me to tell you the truth again?” He exhales.
“No, I came to see Jeremy. I heard that he’s meeting fans, and I thought I should come see you before I leave.” I say in what I hope to be my casual tone.
“But you see Jeremy almost every day. Is it necessary?”
“Are you going to let me in or do you have a guest?”
“No, come in. I need to talk to you. Willow, I have been selfish. I should’ve done this a long time ago, and I deserve every inch of your hate. I am the one who...”
“Leo, I don’t have time for this.” I walk past him. As I head to the living area, I keep looking behind me. I quicken my pace, almost running, and I take another glance behind me when I reach the living area. I pull the drawer of the sideboard where I left the limbicus.
“Willow, what are you doing?” His breath caresses my ear. I freeze, my trembling hand in the drawer, and my heart drums in my chest. He takes a step back to give me space, and I turn around to look up at him.
“How did you?”
“What are you doing?” He rumbles in a low voice.
“I, I, I...” I trail off.
“Willow, I’m not going to ask you again.” His eyes stare into my soul, and a flicker of something dangerous passes in them.
“Leo... Don’t you trust me?” I try the guilt trip approach.
“Trust you?” A frown contorts his face. “It seems like you want us to ignore the fact that you are dating Liam, my biggest enemy.”
“So, you never trusted me?”
He raises his eyebrows as if saying, ‘What do you think?’
“This is the real you?” I whisper. “I’ve never seen this side of yours before.”
His jaw tightens. He holds out his hand, and I take the packet out of the drawer and place it in his hand, the blue crystal-like powder shining in the light that comes through the large glass floor-to-ceiling window.
He glances at the powder, and then gazes at me, his face unreadable.
I shift uncomfortably. “Leo, the police officers are on their way...”
“Let them come,” he growls, his eyes showing no hint of hesitation.
“What?” I blink in disbelief. "So, you and Mike think you are untouchable?" I glare at him, anger coursing through my body.
“I suspected that you found out how much of a monster I am...” He clenches his fists. “You don’t have to hide this thing in my apartment, I will go to the police myself.”
“You mean to get arrested?”
“I’ve been thinking about it, I’ll never find peace in my life. Never! I considered suicide, but it felt too easy, and Jessica would be devastated. Also, if I die my dad would be happy. I want to go to jail and suffer for everything I’ve done.”
“No! I can’t, I can’t let you go to jail.”
“I wasn’t asking for your permission,” he says calmly.
I stare at him, his face still bony and his eyes sad. Realization hits me, if he thinks he is doing it for me, he might hold this off for some time. “You don’t get it? I need you!”
He looks away. “No, you don’t need me.” He mumbles, trying to convince himself more than me. “You are better off without me. Look at the mess I’ve put you in. Your life is like this because of me.”
“You can’t go to jail and leave me to fend for myself around people like Liam, please.”
He breaks eye contact. “No, you’ll be fine, I will make sure you are protected.”
“Leo, you are the one who got me into this mess, leaving me would mean you are a coward. You are running away from Mike, aren’t you?”
“I can’t believe that’s what you think of me. That’s not the reason...”
“Then, stay,” I interject.