Cory immediately started packing when she heard the front door lock behind Adrian. He was gone now and she absolutely knew she couldn’t stay here any minute longer. No way was she going to sit around and wait two whole days for Adrian to return home. To tell her what? She already heard more than enough from him. She had to get out of here. Out of his apartment. Out of town. Out of this island. Anywhere but here. It was just too painful to stay.
Cory couldn’t understand how one minute you could be so in love with someone and then in the next want to get as far away from them as you could. But where could she go? Who could she turn to now? She certainly couldn’t go home to her father after this. Not with everything that just happened. In fact, how could she ever look him in his face again after what Adrian did to her family?
She didn’t want to bother her girlfriends with this, either. There was one person left she knew she could always count on. She dialed Jay’s number and asked him a favor. To take her to the airport. She needed to get off this island immediately. In half an hour’s time, Jay pulled up outside the gate. She hastily threw on a pair of dark blue skinny jeans and a yellow tank top. No wonder they were called skinny jeans. Cory had to really wiggle her way into them to get them up and over her wide hips and big butt. But she was too depressed right now to even think about her weight gain.
Depressed was an understatement. She was heartbroken. She was angry, too, but more so with herself for being so idiotic as to put herself once again in this position because of a damn man. Not just any man but the love of her life, she reminded herself. She slipped some sandals on her feet and a dab of lip gloss in the mirror and she was all ready. Not forgetting her sunglasses, Cory slipped on her darkest pair.
She hastily threw her luggage in the back seat. It was now a little after six in the evening and the sun was setting. Depending on the traffic situation, they should be in the airport about one hour from now, Cory hopefully estimated.
“What’s up with the sunglasses?” Jay immediately asked her as she got into the front passenger’s seat beside him.
“Don’t ask, okay,” Cory shot back. “People do wear them at night time by the way.”
“Only if you’re Usher Raymond,” Jay said as he started the car.
When they were finally on their way, he asked her, “So what’s really going on, Cory?”
“Nothing!”
“Is your grandmother sick or something? Why’re you rushing over to Tobago so suddenly?” Jay pressed her. “You don’t look too good yourself, Ri-Ri.”
“Did anybody ever tell you how annoying you are sometimes? I’m fine, okay. I just need to see my grandmother, that’s all.”
“Look, how long have we known each other, eh? Five long years,” he continued. “Talk to me, Cory. I’ve been around you for too long to know when something’s wrong.”
“Look, it doesn’t matter how long you know someone for, okay. You still may not know that person,” Cory snapped at him. “You’ll still get screwed in the end.”
“Well, I’m sorry for asking.”
Cory softened somewhat. “Look, Jay, I’m sorry for snapping at you but I really don’t feel like talking right now.”
“Fine, Cory.”
For the remainder of the drive there was no conversation in the car, only Jay’s annoying and out-of-key singing along to every damn song playing on the radio. Trying his best to annoy her further, no doubt, but Cory was too deep in her own thoughts to even care. She stared through the window, pondering her future and what she was going to do. She didn’t have a clue or clear solution to this mess. It’s not everyday you find out your husband killed your brother in the line of duty.
When Jay finally pulled up at the airport, he started to get out the car to help her with her luggage. Cory immediately stopped him.
“Jay, thank you so much for this,” she said to him. She really meant it. “I’ll be fine, don’t worry. You can go ahead. I’ll just go in and buy a ticket and wait, okay.”
“Are you sure, Cory?” he asked. “Because I don’t want to have to answer that husband of yours if you go missing or something.”
She smiled. Cory knew Jay was a bit wary of Adrian, due to the mere fact that he was always armed. “I wouldn’t worry about him if I were you.” Cory waved to him and closed the door of his car.
“What do you mean by that, Cory?” Jay shouted after her.
She didn’t even bother to give him an answer or explanation for that matter, as she pulled out the handle of her traveling bag and wheeled it hurriedly through the automatic doors of the airport.
It was the middle of July and the peak of the summer vacation. School was out so everyone was busy traveling between the two islands or the Caribbean and North America. Cory had forgotten all about the mayhem at the airport during this time of year. The place was bursting at its seams with people. Luggage was strewn everywhere and children were running and screaming all over the place. A group of them almost ran her over as she wheeled her lone bag in.
Cory joined a line and waited for her turn to go up to the counter. “Hi. I need a ticket to go to Tobago, please,” she said to the girl behind the counter. She had been screaming at the top of her voice with Adrian and crying her eyeballs out all evening so she was now going hoarse.
Thankfully, she was able to get a ticket but on the last flight out for the night. This wasn’t until 10:00 so she had another two hours or so before boarding the plane. Cory decided to call her grandmother and tell her she was coming over tonight. Then she’d go buy some dinner and something to read perhaps. She didn’t want to even think about Adrian anymore.
• • •
All Adrian wanted to do was to find this murderer on the run as quickly as possible and get back home to Cory. He had to go back and make her understand. He had to explain her everything.
Adrian hardly said anything for the entire two-hour-long drive to the south of the island. He stared at nothing in particular as the constant chatter of the others continued around him. He could only think about Cory. He never saw her looking so hysterical before. He hated seeing her cry or seeing her so unhappy. And to know that it was all his doing was just too much for Adrian to bear.
When the group of them was dropped off, they gathered their gear and started making their way through the dark forests. Adrian was leading this mission and he didn’t have any time to waste. He had to get this exercise completed successfully and as quickly as possible, then be on his way home. It was hard enough for him to concentrate on what he had to do to lead his team because he regretted not being with Cory, to comfort her.
For the very first time, he didn’t feel like being here or leading this mission. After the long trek further into the forests, when they finally stopped to set up their camp for the night, it was close to midnight. Several of the men were complaining about Adrian’s hectic pace Though he too was physically and emotionally drained, he couldn’t sleep a wink.
• • •
It was after eleven in the night when Cory’s taxi finally pulled up in front her grandmother’s house. She was physically exhausted and mentally drained. She had silently sat and cried for the entire twenty-minute flight over here. Thankfully, she had gotten a window seat so she just stared out into the blackness and cried her heart out.
Just this afternoon she was so happy. She felt so complete. Now, within a few hours, her world was turned upside down, all because of a stupid document she read. Cory blamed herself at first. She had no right to go snooping into Adrian’s private stuff. She should have trusted him and left it at that. But no! She had to play Curious George and read the damn thing.
Her grandmother was waiting up for her. When she opened the front door, concern and happiness were both etched on her aging face.
“Hi, Gran,” Cory tried her best to beam at her grandmother. She was still wearing her sunglasses when she entered the house.
“Hi, sugar.” Her grandmother gave her a long, tight squeeze. This felt so amazingly warm and genuine that it only caused Cory to start sobbing again.
“What’s the matter, sugar? Why’re you crying?”
“Oh, nothing, Gran. I’m just so happy to see you, that’s all. I haven’t seen you since the wedding, remember?”
Cory immediately changed the subject. “I love the new hair color, Gran. Purple looks good on you,” she laughed for the first time since earlier in the afternoon.
“Oh, this is a big mistake, love. My regular hairdresser was sick but I was desperate because I had this wedding to attend. So I had this new trainee color my hair for me. And this was the result,” Miss Millie announced pointing dramatically to her short but glowing purple hair. “So I said to her afterward. Honey, maybe hairdressing isn’t your thing.”
Cory laughed again. She was so glad she chose to come to her grandmother’s.
She felt warm and loved again in her arms. All it took was one knowing look and hug from her grandmother to ease some of her pain away. Instantly, Cory was able to forget her troubles and laugh out loud. Her grandmother could always weave that magic. She was the only one in her family who could get Cory to smile and laugh even when she was in her foulest or most depressed mood.
“Do you want me to fix you something to eat, Cory?”
“No, Gran. I’m fine. I bought dinner at the airport before I boarded. I believe my bed is calling me now.”
“Well, I fixed up the guest room for you already. There are clean sheets and everything in there waiting for you.”
“Thanks, Gran.” Cory kissed her grandmother goodnight and settled into her new room for the next couple of days. She didn’t know how long she would be hiding out here for. She switched off her cell and undressed. All she needed was a quick, hot shower and her pillow. She was way too exhausted. She didn’t even want to think anymore.