Falling From Disgrace

Adrianna chewed on that. Last week she wouldn’t have hesitated to ask him that question. Now, she was afraid it would push Jack farther away from her. Shaking her head and taking a sip of her coffee, she thought it was not the right time to have that conversation.

Jack felt relief when he saw Kenny walk through the door at Loki’s Monday just before nine. Though it was slow, Jack was beyond exhausted from the past five days and was grateful that Kenny was coming in for the last few hours until closing. All he had done was work and take care of more of his father’s affairs. He had even driven back down to his house twice only to drive back to the city the same day and go to work. He had been running on four hours of sleep a night, max, and though he hated to admit it, he was too old for that shit anymore.

Also, he hadn’t seen Adrianna.

They talked every day but he wanted some distance from her and he used his current hectic life as an excuse not to see her. Kenny took his post behind the bar and Jack poured himself a few fingers of whiskey, needing to sit down and have a drink before he headed upstairs.

It wasn’t actually that he wanted space from Adrianna, he felt he needed it. His sister’s words were still haunting him and he thought time away from each other would help him to see if she really was wrong. Over the last five days he overanalyzed their relationship to the point of insanity. She was okay, and had been for a while now. She wasn’t using pills, she was managing her back pain, and was seeing a psychiatrist. Now that she found a job, things would only get better. So now that she was okay, did he still want her? Yes. Did he still love her? He thought so. Did he miss her? God, yes. Had enough time gone by for him to determine if everything he thought was true? He wasn’t sure.

Fuck, he thought and slammed back his drink, welcoming the burn the whiskey brought to his stomach. It certainly felt better than the dread and guilt he had been carrying around there lately. Pouring himself another measure, he cursed his damned sister. Why the hell was he listening to her anyway? It wasn’t like she was insightful or profound; she was a fucking shallow fembot! He missed Adrianna and wanted to see her and told himself he was an ass for letting Gillian get to him. As soon as he pulled out his phone to call Adrianna he began to feel better.

When Adrianna answered he heard a commotion in the background and a male voice speaking before she said, “Hello.”

“Ade? What’s going on, where are you?” He strained to hear what the people around her were saying and then he made out something that sounded like, “...need medical attention, ma’am?”

“Adrianna!” he shouted, jumping from his stool and attracting the attention of Kenny and the four other people in the bar. “Where the fuck are you?”

Adrianna answered whoever was speaking to her with a “no,” and then told Jack, “I’m okay. I’m outside the Dunkin Donuts on Ohio Street.” With his heart racing he heard her muffled voice answer more questions with yeses and nos.

“What happened?” he shouted into the phone again, wishing whoever she was with would shut the fuck up and let her talk to him

“I was mugged, but I’m okay, Jack!”

Cursing and without letting her finish, Jack tore from his bar ignoring the questioning cries of Kenny behind him. He ran, full speed, the six blocks to get to Adrianna, dodging others on the sidewalk and not caring when he even plowed into someone. Up head he could see the flashing lights of a police cruiser and he quickened his pace, not even feeling the flames of his burning lungs.

A small crowd had gathered outside the donut shop and Jack pushed his way through in search of his girlfriend. He finally spotted her, sitting at a table inside with two cops, sipping from a straw. Adrianna rose to her feet when she saw Jack enter and immediately tried to alleviate his worry.

“I’m okay, I’m okay,” she repeated as he hugged her tightly first and then held her at arm’s length to search for injuries. His fingers brushed across a bandage on her cheek. “It’s just a scratch, I’m fine, really Jack.”