Be With Me

Time seemed to fly by. In the blink of an eye, it was time for Vanessa to leave for her Australian photo shoot. I hated to see her leave, even if it were only for a few days. But I couldn’t stop her. I wouldn’t stop her. She supported me whenever I had to leave for business. This was the least that I could do for her.

So I put on a fake smile as we stepped out of my car in front of the airport. I watched as paparazzi began to swarm as we stepped out. Kenny and Nick did their best to keep them at bay as we waited for Vanessa’s luggage to be unloaded from the car.

“Be careful with that,” her attention directed to the men unloading the car. “It can’t be scratched.”

Flipping her hair over her shoulder, she sent me a smile. Unable to resist, I returned the favor as I pulled her in for a hug, my arms wrapping themselves around her petite frame through her blazer.

Flashes from the cameras quickly grew more intense as we embraced. Paparazzi belted out questions, and comments. I ignored it. My attention was focused on Vanessa, and only Vanessa.

“You’ll do great,” I whispered.

“I know,”

“I’ll pick you up from the airport in a week,”

“Week and a half,”

“Right,” I nodded. “Week and a half,”

She placed a kiss on my cheek as we parted. I was sure that her red stained lips had left a mark, but I didn’t care. It was my reminder. Reminding me that she loved me, no matter how far apart we were.

I stood in front of the airport until she was inside. Watching her hips sway as she followed the men with her luggage. Not once did she look back to see if I was there.

I could only imagine how long the ride home would be. Vanessa was the only thing on my mind. There was nothing available that could distract me from my thoughts either. Traffic was congested, as always in New York, but it was even worse at the airport. I didn’t know how I would make it through this week without her. Correction, week and a half.

I found myself between texting Ryan and Twitter, anything that would take my mind off Vanessa. I didn’t want to think about her. If I did, I would only think about being apart from her for the next week and a half. I couldn’t torture myself that way.

But a distraction came, just as my phone began to ring. My brows instantly furrowed together in confusion as I started at the caller ID. It was the last person that I ever expected to call me. Despite this, my thumb pressed the green button, answering the call.

“Maya?”

“Justin!! Thanks God I could reach you,” her voice was frantic. She sounded as if she were out of breath almost.

“Maya, what’s up?”

“I need you. I know that this is asking too much, way too much but I need you. Please just do this for me—”

“Maya, slow down” I interrupted her ranting. I found myself leaning forward in my seat as I listened to her ranting. “Now tell me what’s wrong,”

“It’s…its Natalie,”

A crash immediately sounded in the background. Yelling began to erupt following the crash. It sounded as if complete chaos had exploded. Screaming and the sound of glass shattering was the only sound that I could hear on the phone.

“Shit, I gotta’ go,” Maya was frantic once more. “Please Justin; I need you at my apartment,”

“I’m on my way,” the words flowing past my lips before I could process them.

Before I knew it, I was telling Nick and Kenny where to go. Ignoring their questions, I gave them directions on how to get there. As if fate knew the severity of my situation, traffic immediately began to lighten up.

I had never been so worried in my life. My heart was pounding against my rib cage in anticipation. My nerves were on edge. I couldn’t sit still. I need to get to Maya. I needed to know what was wrong. What had happened to Natalie? Hearing what I had heard only made my nerves worsen. I needed to get to her.

I jumped out of the truck as it stopped in front of their apartment building. I didn’t bother waiting for Nick or Kenny. I simply ran into the building as fast as I could. Ignoring the elevator, I ran up the stairs, forgetting how many flights they had in their building. My breathing was ragged but, I continued up the stairs. All I could think about was Natalie and if she was okay.

Rapping my fist on the door as hard as I could, my anticipation only heightened. It wasn’t until Maya opened the door that my nerves began to calm themselves. But not completely.

Maya sighed in relief. “Thank God you’re here,”

“Where is she? Is everything ok?” my questions were hurried.

She nodded before pulling me into the apartment. “Everything’s fine now. We had an…err…incident earlier,”

“I think it was more than an incident,”

There apartment was a wreck. Tables were toppled over. Shards of glass were scattered on the floor. Papers were tossed everywhere around the apartment. Things were a mess. I had never seen disarray like this before. My thoughts couldn’t have been more accurate. It was complete and utter chaos.

“What happened?” my eyes continued to scan the pandemonium.

Maya sighed from behind me. She crossed her arms over her chest before joining me at my side. “Nat’s asshole happened,”

A look of disbelief was etched onto my face as I stared at Maya. She nodded her head silently, answering my thoughts. I slowly scanned the chaos once more. My eyes saw it differently this time. When I scanned the mess, rage filled me.

“She should be upstairs in her room,” Maya walked over to the couch, picking up her purse and placing her hat on her head. “I called you here so that you could help me break up the fight, but now…I really need you to help her,”

“…help her?” it was more of a statement then a question. I knew what I had to do, what I wanted to do.

“Please Justin. She’s always…different after something like this happens. I don’t want to leave her alone, but if I don’t go I’m going to miss my flight. Please just, make sure she’s okay. I know it’s a lot to ask because of you guys’ history but—”

“Go,” I nodded. “I’ll look after her,”

“Thanks Justin. I owe you, big time,”

She was gone in a flash, leaving me alone in the chaos. I sighed as I ran a hand through my hair. Why couldn’t this be a regular day? First, my girlfriend leaves, and now I have to help Natalie recover from a fight with her boyfriend. I don’t know if I can take this.

I made my way upstairs, my thoughts battling each other. A part of me told me that I should just leave. Vanessa wouldn’t want me here. Not only that but it’s Natalie, the girl who broke my heart years ago. Now I was supposed to help her with her relationship problems. That was too ironic.

The other part of me told me to keep going, because it was Natalie. Because we had history I should help her. I couldn’t leave her alone and possibly…broken. I had to help her.

My mind was made up when I reached the top of the stairs.

She sat in the hallway, back pressed against her bedroom door. Her knees were pulled up to her chest as she sat on the floor. She pulled her hoodie closer to her as if she were cold. The blank stare on her face told me that she was in one of her emotionless states.

I found myself sitting down on the floor next to her. I didn’t even remember walking over to her, yet I didn’t mind. She didn’t either. She simply stared at me, her eyes blankly boring into mine. I don’t know how many minutes went by with us staring at each other, but neither of us broke eye contact.

“What are you doing here?” her voice was barely above a whisper. If I hadn’t seen her lips move, then I wouldn’t have heard her.

I simply shrugged my shoulders, not knowing how to answer her question. “Not leaving you alone,”

She closed her eyes as she nodded her head. Facing forward once more she licked her lips. “Thanks,”