Disregard the Lies

As Sadie sped off to Kyra’s house, she quickly dialed Jonathan’s number, knowing she was going to need some backup when dealing with Lance. Jonathan picked up on the second ring, saying, “Hey, Sadie.”

“Jonathan, I need your help,” she stated, taking a sharp right at the stoplight.

“Sadie, what’s wrong?” he asked.

“Kyra just called me saying that Lance is at her apartment, drunk and angry, and that she was in trouble. Soph’s there with her. I’m on my way there right now, but I know I’m not going to be able to take him on by myself. Can you just get to Kyra’s apartment as fast as possible?” she asked as she pulled into the parking lot to Kyra’s apartment.

“Sadie, listen to me, do not go in to that apartment without me there, okay? I am not going to let anything happen to you,” he told her. When she was quiet for a minute, he asked, “Sadie did you hear me? Don’t go in there by yourself.”

“Yeah, I heard you,” she told him. “But, I’m already here. I’m walking up the stairs as we speak.”

“Sadie, do not go in there,” he repeated. “We’re on our way there now.”

“We?” she asked, confused about who he was talking about. But, she quickly forgot about it when she heard yelling coming from inside Kyra’s apartment, followed by something crashing against the wall. “Jonathan, he’s going insane right now,” she told him. “He’s yelling and throwing stuff. I’m seriously scared for their lives right now,” she said, taking a step closer to the door.

“Sadie, we’ll be there in less than two minutes. Just stay where you are, and do not go inside that apartment,” Jonathan told her once again.

“But, Jonathan, it’s my best friend and her daughter! I can’t just stand here and do nothing when they could be getting beaten to death right now, or worse,” she pointed out.

“We’re turning the corner now. We’ll be up there in one minute. Stay where you’re at,” Jonathan ordered, and Sadie sighed, agreeing to his request.

Just as he had promised, Jonathan came running up the stairs not even thirty seconds later, followed by Henrik Zetterberg. Sadie wondered whether Henrik had been with Jonathan when she had called or how he had known to come, but at the moment, she wasn’t concerned with why he was there. She was only grateful to have another person there to help defend against Lance.

Jonathan ran to Sadie. “I want you to stay here, okay?” he told her, and Sadie reluctantly nodded her head. “We’re going to get Sophia out of there first, and she’s going to need someone familiar out here to be with her,” he explained as he turned back around, nodding to Henrik, silently letting him know that he was ready to go inside. Henrik turned the doorknob, surprised to find it unlocked, as he and Jonathan made their way inside.

They immediately saw Sophia crouched in the corner, hugging Kyra’s leg, as Kyra stood there, trying to protect Sophia from Lance, who had a stack of his plates in his hands. It was obvious from the shards on the floor that he had been throwing the plates at Kyra and Sophia. “You bitch!” he yelled as he hurled another plate at the two girls.

Henrik instantly grabbed onto Lance’s arm, preventing him from throwing anything else. Lance whipped around and tried to punch Henrik, while Jonathan leaped towards Sophia and Kyra. Kyra began yelling at Lance to stop, and Lance got out of Henrik’s grasp, running over to Kyra, pushing her against the wall. “Get her out of here!” Henrik yelled at Jonathan, pointing towards Sophia.

Sophia was bawling as Jonathan picked her up, running out of the apartment and towards Sadie. “Here,” he told her, letting Sadie take Sophia out of his hold.

Sadie instantly began trying to soothe Sophia as she looked up at Jonathan. “Where’s Kyra?” she asked, trying to look into the doorway of the apartment. She saw Kyra being held against the wall by Lance, and her eyes widened as she resituated herself, making sure that there was no way Sophia would be able to see into the apartment.

Inside, Kyra was trying to remain calm as she was having trouble breathing with the way Lance was holding her against the wall. She looked past Lance’s shoulder to see Henrik coming at him. She watched on in horror as Henrik grabbed Lance by the shoulder, pulling him off of Kyra, who ran to the other side of the room happy to be free of Lance’s grasp.

She turned around just as she was about to leave the apartment to see Lance throwing another punch at Henrik, who ducked, causing Lance to stumble from making no contact. Henrik suddenly threw Lance against the wall and began screaming at him. “You have exactly five seconds to get out of this apartment before I kick your ass and call the cops to haul you off to jail,” he warned him.

Lance seemed to have sobered up with that statement as he instantly ran out of the apartment, bypassing Kyra along the way. Kyra stood there, her chest rising rapidly, as she turned towards Henrik, giving him a grateful smile.

She quickly ran out of the apartment to where Sophia was sitting in Sadie’s arms. She quickly picked Sophia up, engulfing her in a hug. “I am so sorry, Soph,” she told her. “He’s never going to hurt you, though. I promise you that.”

Sadie looked up to see Henrik standing there, a red mark on his jaw, presumably from contact with Lance’s fist. She stood up, going to Jonathan’s side, where she looked at the two men. “Thank you both so much for coming,” she told them.

“Yes, thank you so much,” Kyra said, looking up at them. “I don’t know how you two knew to come here, but I am forever grateful to you. You saved both of our lives,” she told them.

“It was all Sadie,” Jonathan told her, as Kyra turned her attention back to Sophia.

Sadie turned to the two men. “Hank, how did you know to come?” she asked him as he put his hand on his jaw where Lance had hit him. “Actually, hold that thought, let me get you some ice for that,” she told him, running into Kyra’s apartment, grabbing a bag of peas from the freezer. “Here,” she told him, placing the bag on his jaw. “Now, how did you know to come?” she repeated her question.

“I was over at Hank’s,” Jonathan answered for him. “And, when I got your call, I figured it would probably be best to have an extra person, so I asked him to come along.”

“Well, thank you,” Kyra told him, looking over at the three of them, while still holding Sophia. “I don’t know how I’m going to repay you.”

“You don’t have to repay us,” Jonathan told her, shaking his head. “We just wanted to make sure that both you and Sophia were safe, and now you are.” Kyra gave him a small smile, as she looked down at Sophia, who was slowly starting to stop crying.

“Hey, Kyra, why don’t you two stay with me tonight?” Sadie suggested. “You shouldn’t stay here by yourself tonight.”

“Thank you, but no,” Kyra told her. “You’ve got that one bedroom, and I’m not going to have Sophia sleep on the couch. Seriously, thank you, but we’ll be fine here. I’ll lock the door as soon as you all leave, and I’ll make sure to call the cops if Lance comes near here, not that I think that he will after the way Hank yelled at him,” she said with a small laugh.

Sadie looked up at Jonathan and Henrik expectantly. Finally, Henrik spoke up. “You two can stay at my place,” he told her.

“No,” Kyra said instantly. “We’ll be fine.”

“No, seriously, stay at my place. I’ve got a couple of guestrooms that are never in use, so you two can take those,” Henrik told her.

“Hank, really, thank you, but we’ll be fine. I mean, I can just imagine what will come about if someone from the Ice Girls finds out that I stayed at your place, even if my daughter’s staying there with me,” she added.

Sadie gave her an unbelievable look. “Kyra, you realize that you’re standing next to someone who is currently dating a player, right? And, we’ve kept it quiet all this time. I’m sure you can stay at Hank’s without anyone finding out. And, besides, even if they did, they wouldn’t be able to do anything about it. You’re not going to get fired or something like that,” Sadie pointed out.

“But,” Kyra began, while Henrik bent down so he was eyelevel with Sophia.

“Hey, Sophia,” he said with a smile, and she looked up at him with her big green eyes. “I’m Hank,” he introduced himself. While Sophia knew Jonathan from the times he had helped Sadie babysit, she had never actually met Henrik. “I’m a friend of your mom’s,” he told her.

“Hi,” she said bashfully. “I’m Sophia,” she told him quietly as everyone looked on at the two of them.

“Well, Sophia, how would you like to have a sleepover tonight at my place?” he asked her. “You and your mom can come over and stay the night,” he said.

Kyra began to protest, but Sophia spoke first. “Okay,” she told him with a nod.

“Good,” Henrik smiled. “Why don’t you and Sadie go into your apartment and pick out some clothes to take with you?” he suggested, looking back at Sadie to make sure she was okay with it. Sadie nodded, taking Sophia’s hand and leading her into the apartment.

“Kyra, it will seriously be fine,” Jonathan assured her. “Besides, Sadie’s right, you shouldn’t be here alone tonight, and Hank has the extra room.”

“Thank you,” she told Henrik as Sadie and Sophia came out of the apartment with a Dora the Explorer duffle bag filled with clothes.

“Sophia’s all ready to go,” Sadie announced. “And, Kyra, I grabbed some clothes for you and threw them in there, too. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Thanks,” Kyra told her. “So, Soph, you ready to go?” she asked her, and her daughter nodded. “Okay, well then, I guess we’re off. Thanks, again, Jonathan. And, Sadie, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Bye,” they both said in response.

“So,” Jonathan said, turning around to look at Sadie. “Do you think I can get a ride back to my place? Hank drove here, and he just took off,” he explained.

“What do you say I take you back to my place instead?” she asked with a smirk.

“I like the way you think,” Jonathan told her with a kiss as they made their way out to her car.

“So, I’m wondering how Soph and Kyra are going to handle staying at Hank’s tonight,” Sadie said.

“What do you mean?” Jonathan asked.

“I don’t know,” Sadie said. “It’s just, both of them are pretty shaken up after tonight, as they should be. And, I have a feeling that Sophia isn’t going to be open to strangers anymore.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean,” Jonathan said. “But, she seemed to take a liking to Hank,” he told her. “I wouldn’t worry about them, though. I’m sure everything will be fine.”