Saving Grace (6 page)

“Zach,” she said, through his mouth as it lodged on hers.  “Stop this.” 

She shoved him back and adjusted her clothing just in time as the elevator doors opened.

As another couple stepped inside, Zach respectfully took a step back, but kept his glare locked on her.  He knew what he wanted, and had just enough time and drugs for his impulses to take over.

Grace’s heart was pounding but not for the right reasons.  She saw the aggressive look in his eye, and was scared out of her mind.  Her mind was racing on how she could beat him to their suite to lock both her doors in time.

As the elevator started moving again, Grace dug in her clutch purse for her hotel keycard to have it in hand.  Two floors to go … and she was prepping herself to run as fast as her legs would carry her.  She took off her heels and planned to ditch them in the hall on the way out. 

How much lead-time did she need?  She angled her way in front of the couple, putting them between she and Zach. 

Zach squinted his eyes, as he tried to read her.  Unsure of her plan, and unable to maneuver forward, as there wasn’t enough room in the tiny elevator, he was prepared to lunge forward as soon as he could.

As soon as the doors opened, Grace tossed her heels and took off running.  Zach stumbled and tried to reach her, but the other couple in the elevator was blocking in his way. 

“Excuse me!”  He almost growled, trying to shuffle forward, but was blocked by the man in front of him. 

“What’s your hurry?”  He glared at Zach, wondering why his girl was desperately trying to flee.   He blocked Zach in each direction he tried to move. 

“Would you please get out of my way?”  Zach growled at the man and his wife.  The man’s wife, scared, quickly moved to the side.  The man wasn’t so obliging.  He actually laid his hands on Zach’s arms and held him against the elevator wall.

“Why did she look so scared?”  He stared Zach down.

“Mind your own business.”  He pushed him back and shoved an arm in front of the closing doors, before the elevator could close.  As he made a dash down the hall, he tripped over one of her heels and stumbled against the wall.

Grace said a prayer of thanks to God, whom she’d not spoken to in years, as the stranger in the elevator gave her the lead she needed to reach her door and enter unscathed.  She dead bolted the door to the hallway and the interior suite door, before locking herself into her bathroom.

Zach hurried down the hallway, but could tell he was too late.  He knocked on Grace’s door with no answer.

“Grace … open up.  I just want to talk!” He felt like he could punch a hole through the wall, and wring her neck. 

How dare she embarrass him?  How dare she toy with him in that dress and then deny him?

He stood there pounding on the door, until another passing couple gave him a curious look.  He smiled and gave a nonchalant wave to them.

“The missus.  She got mad because I didn’t pay her a compliment on her new dress.”  Zach smiled, until they turned the corner. Then he returned murderous glare to the door, wishing he could knock it down. With no recourse but to retire for the night, he spun on his heel for his own room.

Once Grace heard him leave, she quietly left her bathroom and moved two overstuffed chairs in front of each door for extra protection.  She sunk onto the ground trying to remember when she’d ever seen him act like that.

In all the months they’d been dating, they’d been to plenty of parties, where she’d seen drugs and alcohol. She’d never taken part, not because she wasn’t old enough

but because she didn’t care for any of that scene.

Zach, however, enjoyed wild parties.  She’d seen him drink heavily many times, but had never witnessed the aggression from the elevator or the mania he displayed on the way to the hotel.

He had to have gotten high.  That must be why he was so crazy. 

Grace gave Zach the benefit of the doubt, as he’d never act that way on his own.  She breathed a little sigh of relief and began to get ready for bed.  Tomorrow would be better.

Sleep evaded her, as even the tiniest noise gave her reason to believe that Zach could be in her room. Once her alarm clock read 2 a.m., Grace figured it was a safe bet that Zach was passed out and sound asleep.  She finally let go of her fear, and allowed herself to settle into bed comfortably.

              After five hours of deep sleep, Grace awoke with a start.  She sat up, unaware of her surroundings.  It didn’t matter how old she was.  From time to time, she’d still wake up questioning where she was.  It was a side effect from being uprooted so suddenly as a child, and moving to her grandparent’s house.  With a glance to the view outside her patio, she was quickly reminded of her trip to the islands and desperate escape from Zach.

              Grace shook her head. 
You’d think after last night’s scare, I’d remember being here.
 

She lifted her long legs from her bed and padded across the soft carpet.  She quietly pulled the overstuffed chair from her door, and put her ear to it.  She could hear Zach’s voice from outside her room. 

She slowly opened it and peeked across their shared suite to his door.  It was partially open and he was on his phone talking.  Grace wrapped her robe tightly around her waist, and tiptoed into their suite, curious to hear who hear his conversation.  She carefully slid along the adjoining wall between both their rooms, and leaned in to listen. 

              “So what do you want me to do about it? I told you I’d do the best I can, but how am I supposed to keep her from seeing her sister on TV?  Lilah, I can’t keep watch over her twenty-four-seven!” 

Grace’s eyes went wide. 

Why is he talking to grandmother about me … and what is he saying about Anne being on television?  What are they trying to hide from me
?

Her system was on overdrive … like at any minute she could pound the door from its hinges.  Grace held her position outside the door, and strained to listen without being seen.

              Zach started pacing his room, oblivious to any activity outside his door. 

“Okay, Okay.  I’ll see what I can do, but we’re in separate rooms … how am I supposed to keep her off the TV?  You want me to what?  I tried that last night and she wouldn’t let me near her!  I did everything short of forcing myself on her.  What does it matter?  You just told me that you changed her phone number a long time ago, right?  How did you put it … umm – when you conveniently lost her last cell phone for her?  Her sister can’t contact her anymore, right?”

Grace’s blood pressure surged.  All these years thinking Anne had left her behind, when the truth was Lilah had manipulated a wall between her and the only family she had left.  She’d been losing herself more and more to Lilah, as Grace thought her grandparents were the only ones who really cared about her. 

In effect, she obliged her grandmother in every way, trying to be the best example of an Aundine she could.  It was all she really ever knew, especially since she couldn’t really remember being a LaSal. 

Apparently Lilah didn’t want her to remember anything about the LaSal's, and that meant breaking Anne off from the family.  In shock, she leaned against the wall of the suite and stared at the ceiling.

How could her grandmother do this to her? Every single bad thought she had ever pushed away came resurfacing, as she pushed herself from the wall to stand with full force.  She was done being nice.

She struck her hand onto Zach’s partially open door and slammed it completely open, storming her way into his room.  The fear she held from last night slipped away as her anger took over.

“What did you just say?”  Her eyes were merciless.

Zach’s mouth dropped open.  He didn’t have a sly comeback and wasn’t prepared for this woman who flew into his room.  She was not the shy Grace he knew.  The shock on his face was quickly replaced with guilt.

“I thought you were still in bed.”  He exhaled, running his free hand through his hair.

“No, I’m a light sleeper after last night.”  She glared at him with power he never knew she had.  It slightly intimidated him, making him feel like the underdog in this scenario. 

“Hand me the phone.”  She held her hand out.

Zach’s bold blue eyes turned to ice.  At one point in time, she loved the way his blue eyes shined.  Now they were full of bitter defiance. 

Zach wanted to walk across the room and smack her to the floor.  How dare she talk to him that way?  Who did she think she was?  She was supposed to be the one he controlled.  Since when did she think she could demand or run the game? He held back every urge in him to smack her across her pretty face.

              Zach tossed his phone on the bed, and roughly brushed by her to pour himself a drink.

              She put the phone to her ear and spun around to leave his room.

“Grandmother?”  She said with steely resolve.  “I heard everything.”

              Lilah’s heart sunk.  She’d overheard the exchange between the kids as Zach held the phone out.  All she could do now was try to keep the upper hand.

“Grace … I’m only doing what’s best for you … like I have your whole life.” 

              Grace simmered.  “No, you don’t get to play that card.  I had parents and a sister who took care me. From the sounds of it, you just took control of me.”

“Grace Aundine.  Listen…” Lilah’s voice broke.

“No, I’m done listening to you.  I’m done.”

              Grace struggled for a nano-second when she heard the desperation in her grandmother’s voice, but her only thought was how she and Zach betrayed her.  Her anger won over any empathy she might normally feel.

Grace hit the off button and spun back around to face a very openly angry Zach.  This time she was too upset to be scared.

“Don’t come anywhere near me.”  She threw his phone back to him and confidently strode back to her room.

As Zach heard Grace’s door slam, he threw his drink across the room, and watched it permeate the expensive carpet.  He slammed his own door out of spite, and grabbed for another glass.  She wouldn’t do this.  He wouldn’t let her.

Chapter 8

Grace struggled to dial Mercy’s number.  Her hands were shaking as the adrenaline had run its course through her body.  Now she was crashing and tumbling down …

Mercy was the first person she could think of to call.  Thankfully her friend picked up on the first ring.

“Grace.  How’s your trip going?”  Mercy giggled. 

She knew Grace had been roped into flying to Oahu by Lilah and thought it was a good sign that she felt obliged instead of excited at spending time with Zach in Hawaii.

“Terrible.”  Grace cried into the phone.  “Mercy, I’m so upset I didn’t know who to call,” she blubbered.

“Slow down sweetheart.  What did he do?”  Mercy’s blood pressure shot up.  She sat up from her couch, and put her finger up towards her fiancé, Philip.  She needed him to give her some privacy as she helped her best friend. 

Philip watched as she sat up – alert.  Mercy jumped up and started pacing their room.

“It’s not just he.  It’s what did they do?”  Grace cried in response.  “Lilah has used Zach as her personal spy.  All this time, I thought my sister just left – but she was cut off from me.  Lilah cut my own flesh and blood off from me and kept tabs on me with her own personal hand picked boyfriend.”

“Ew, Zach is her boyfriend?”

“No, she picked him for me.  She had him over for tea.  It’s how this all started.  And now I think it was just to keep tabs on me.”

“She’s not even that low.”  Mercy shook her head in disbelief.  She looked to Philip with wide eyes and mouthed the words:  ‘her grandmother’. 

Philip nodded in understanding.  Mercy had filled him before about Lilah.

“I don’t know the why behind it all.  I just know she has been holding Anne at arms length and kept me from her calls.  And Zach knew about it and was on the phone with her this morning – telling her he’d do the best he could to keep me from the T.V.” She took a breath. “He said Anne was on television.”

“For what?” Mercy motioned for Philip’s laptop.  He quickly opened it up and turned it on.

“I didn’t even ask,” Grace sighed.  “Oh Mercy-Merc.  I’ve been such a fool.” 

She slid down her door into a sitting position on the ground.  Grace dropped her head on her knees and cried.

“If Anne’s been trying to reach you all these years – and Lilah circumvented somehow …”

Grace interrupted.  “By losing my phone and giving me a new number.  It turns out she kept the old one for herself and read any texts Anne may have sent – or listened to any messages …”