Pieces

The waiting room was unbearable. Zack and I were forced to sit in pure white plastic chairs that had been disinfected with two gallons of Lysol. The floor was so clean I could see my reflection staring back up at me. The fact that Amber was seated directly across from us didn't help either.

Zack was shaking. He was avoiding eye contact with Amber at all costs. He was looking around the room like he was trying to find something to grasp onto, as if she would whisk him away like a gust of wind, "You need to calm down," I whispered to him. I could tell Amber was upset that I was there, because she was pouting. She also didn't like that when I whispered to Zack she couldn't hear anything I was telling him.

"Sorry," He mumbled and attempted to hide his shaking hands. He wasn't doing well at all. He huffed, frustrated before he turned to me, "Will you hold my hand?" He asked.

I didn't think twice about it. I just reached forward and grabbed his hand and in that instant he stopped shaking. His problem wasn't facing Amber, I realized. It was just facing Amber alone. I gave his hand a gentle squeeze before I slowly started rubbing circles on the top of his hand with my thumb. His whole demeanor changed, and he was relaxed. He wasn't even afraid to look at her anymore.

"I know what you're doing," Amber's voice pulled me out of my thoughts. I turned to look at her.

She was wearing Summer dress that casually hid her growing baby bump. She matched it with a pair of Michael Kors sandals and a Prada purse. I was actually surprised that Zack let her keep all that stuff. But why would he keep it anyways? I couldn't picture Zack walking through the airport with a Fendi handbag handing from his arm.

"I'm sorry?" I questioned and she glared.

"You're just using him. You never really wanted to work for him," She stated.

Before Zack could protest to Amber's behavior, a doctor walked through the swinging door that led to the testing lab. He held up a clipboard and looked over his papers before looking back up again, "Baker?" He questioned, "Zachary Baker?"

"That's me," Zack stood up to shake the doctor's hand.

"We're ready for you. Unfortunately, for privacy and sanitary reasons, I have to ask that your girlfriend stay here," He stated.

"Yeah, I understand," Zack sighed and turned to me. He made no notion to correct the doctor and tell him I was just his friend. I guess it wasn't a big deal anyways, "I'll be back, I guess," He shrugged.

"It'll be okay. No matter what happens," I assured and he nodded. I leaned forward and gave him an assuring hug before he pulled away, ready to follow the doctor into the lab where I could no longer see him.

Once Zack was completely out of sight, Amber spoke up, "Wow, you're really good," She stated, crossing her arms over her chest before leaning back casually in her chair, "You have him so completely fooled, he won't know what hit him."

I glared, "I'm only here to support Zack. I'm not after his money or fame like you were. Do not piss me off, Amber," I warned.

Amber and I had only a few casual fights over my time working with Zack. All of them being when Zack wasn't in the room. They usually occurred while Zack was busy in his office and I was in the kitchen, or during one of Matt's infamous barbecues. All of these happened when Amber approached me about keeping away from her boyfriend. Except this time he didn't belong to her. I didn't have to be so nice this time.

"You're a gold-digging tramp," She glared, "A sophisticated one. I mean, not many girls could weave their way into someones life like that. Zack depends on you, and he can't help that. You actually have a great plan. I don't know wether to hate you or admire you," She scoffed at me.

I leaned forward, a hiss emitting between my teeth as my glare darkened, "I know exactly what you are, Amber. You're a vulnerable girl who didn't get enough love as a child," I snapped and her eyes widened, "Maybe it was because Daddy was never around or maybe it was because Mommy was always ignoring you. Either way, you craved attention, and it didn't come cheap. You wanted more than just a nice guy to notice you. You craved someone to give you everything you never got before. You don't just crave it, you're addicted. That's why you needed more than just Zack.

"You just fell into his lap, didn't you?" I continued, "You just happened to come across him, and you saw what you could have. His looks didn't even matter. You just wanted what he could give you. So you played the part of the perfect girlfriend for a while until it became serious. That's when you started to weave your way into his life, manipulating him until he was forced to give you everything. You knew he wouldn't be able to resist.

"Don't try to tell me what I'm doing or how I'm doing it. I care about Zack. He's my friend. I know you're a bitch, Amber. You're a manipulative and conniving bitch that whores around for money, because that's the best thing you can do with your life. Why don't you grow the fuck up, Amber. I have you all figured out."

She sat there stunned, and for a moment I almost felt bad. She stared at me for a long time before a smile smile tugged at the corner of her lips, "Wow, you do seemed to have me figured out," She laughed with a shake of her head, "Now, how would you be able to understand me so well?"

Oh shit.

"No one has ever understood me, Violet," She crossed one leg over the other, "My mother didn't understand, even though I was just doing what she had taught me. My friends didn't understand because they were jealous. I'm sure you already knew that, though," She looked at me and I could feel the air trapped in my lungs, "I'm going to find out what you're up to, Violet. If I can't have Zack, then no one can. I won't be beat at my own game."

"You know nothing," I spat and she raised and eyebrow.

"Oh, I'll soon know everything."

Before I could defend myself, the doors opened and Zack came out with a bandage around his arm. I stood immidietly and he smiled at me, "You okay?" I asked.

He shrugged, "I have to wait for the test results, but I'll be okay," He assured me, "But can we get pizza, just for good measure?" He asked and I laughed.

"We can get anything you want," I smiled.

-

As Zack slept soundly with a stomach full of pizza, I slipped out from under his heavy arm to grab my phone that had been ringing. It was ringing for ten minutes straight, but seeing as the only calls I ever seemed to worry about was Zack's, I decided to ignore it.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Why would you do such a thing!?" My mom exclaimed through a fit of sobs. I panicked, rushing out of the room before Zack woke up. I ducked into his office, the nearest room, and shut the door.

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"Why would you agree to come back here with him!?" She demanded and I searched my mind for an answer to her question.

"Mom, I'm not coming back to Vegas. What are you saying?" I asked and she slowly calmed down, breathing in quickly between choking sobs.

"Apparently you're coming back with Craig. In a month you'll be coming back to Vegas for good with him," She stated.

I forgot that Craig still expected me to go back with him in a month. I sighed, "Mom, I'm not with Craig. I'm with Zack. I've been staying with him for the past week," I informed her.

"You are?"

"Yeah," I muttered, "Um, Craig came by my apartment when I was home. He left some pretty bad marks I couldn't cover up. I've been staying with Zack ever since. He's been protecting me."

"Oh, thank God!" She exclaimed with a sigh of relief, "I'm so worried about you, Vi," She confessed, "I don't think that city is good for you anymore."

"I know," I whispered, "Um... I have some things to sort out with Zack. After that, though, I'm leaving. I just have to clean my slate again. I've been looking into New York."

"Is Zack okay with that? Don't you practically run his company?"

"Well," I bit my lip, "I haven't told him yet."

"Violet," She started to lecture me but I cut her off.

"It's for the best, Mom. He doesn't know everything. He wouldn't be able to understand if I did tell him."

"Then make him understand, Violet. He obviously cares if he's letting you live in his house with him. I'm sure he'll be understanding."

Tears filled my eyes and I shook my head at the thought, "I can't," I cried, "He's going to think the exact opposite, Mom. How do I convince him I'm not that person anymore?" I choked out, "How do I do that when I don't even know if I'm the same person anymore."

"Is that what this is about?" She asked, appalled, "You moved on, Violet. You moving on, getting a degree, and getting a job with Zack is proving that you're not the same person. You did change."

"Did I? Or am I just trying to subconsciously break into Zack just like I did with Craig?" I asked.

She was silent, "Oh my God," She whispered, "You... you have feelings for Zack, don't you?" She asked. I took in a deep breath, "You do!" She exclaimed.

"Mom, stop," I snapped at her outburst.

"Just because Zack is well off doesn't mean you're after him for that. You know these feelings didn't come about just because he has money. You've grown to feel for him, Vi. You looked past that. What part of that don't you understand?"

"I'm not good for him, Mom. I never will be. He deserves someone way better than me. He's too good of a person. Good people don't deserve bad people."

"You're good enough to know how to protect him, Violet," She stated softly, "Please talk to him."

"Goodbye, Mom," I stated and hung up, not wanting to deal with the aftermath. I was exhausted after a long day with Zack, and the thought of Craig was always on my mind. I felt like I was losing my sanity one day at a time.

-

Zack had moved from the couch to the bed, not bothering to clean up the mess of pizza. I didn't mind, though. I busied myself for another hour by cleaning up the empty pizza box, crumbs, and napkins from the living room. I found myself scrubbing down the kitchen before I found myself exhausted.

I climbed the stairs to my room to change. I shuffled into the room and opened the closet, only to find it empty. I raised and eyebrow before opening the dresser, seeing it too was empty. Confused, I instantly went to Zack's room, seeing him asleep on the bed. He was too lazy to change into proper sleep attire. He simply just shrugged his pants off and fell asleep on top of the blankets in just his shirt and boxers. I approached him quietly and shook him, "Zack," I whispered, "Zack?"

"Hmph," He rolled over onto his back to look at me, "Are you coming to bed?" He asked sleepily and I couldn't help but smile at how cute he looked.

"Where's my stuff?" I asked, ignoring his question, "It's not in my room."

"I moved it when you were on the phone. It's in there," He motioned lazily to the closet and dresser in the corner.

"Why?" I asked.

"What's the point of you keeping your stuff in that room when you'll be in here?" He questioned, "Doesn't make sense to me."

"But..."

"No buts. Just shut up and get in bed," He grumbled and flipped back over.

I sighed, defeated, and crossed the room to the dresser. I opened the first two drawers to see that Zack had indeed moved some of his stuff around to fit my own things. I pulled out a pair of pajama bottoms and quickly tugged them on before walking into the closet. It had been divided in half. My stuff on one side, and Zack's on the other. I quickly tugged a light sweatshirt from a hanger and stripped my shirt before tossing it on.

I turned around and crawled into the bed slowly, being sure to not wake Zack again. He was sleeping soundly, but taking up part of my side. I scooted to the very edge to let him keep his space before I curled into a ball.

I shivered in the cold. Zack never turned the heater on at night. He said it was because it would get too hot in the house by morning, and he would be warm for the rest of the day. He chose to suffer in the cold. I turned around and saw Zack laying comfortably on top of all the blankets. I thought about getting up and changing into something warmer, but I was too exhausted.

Instead, I rolled over and lifted up Zack's arm, wiggling my way into his grasp before snuggling into him. I was hoping he didn't mind. And he didn't, because he simply tugged me closer to him, just like he had done every single night I'd been living with him.

"Are you cold?" He asked softly and I nodded.

He maneuvered himself under the blankets, taking me with him before pulling them up to our shoulders, once again bringing me into his chest so I could properly fall asleep. I smiled, "Better?" He asked.

"Much better," I mumbled into his chest.

"Good night, Violet."

"Good night, Zack."