“Have you been drinking, Harper?” I asked her, curious why she’d become so forward all of a sudden.
She didn’t have a chance to answer because my cell phone began to vibrate on the table. I went to push end, to ignore the call but it was our Super. I noticed it was late so I picked it up.
“Hello! Smith?” I screamed into the phone. I couldn’t hear. It sounded like sirens blaring on both ends. Hold on!” I grabbed Harper’s hand, refusing to leave her alone and led her to the patio outside the bar. “Smith?” I asked again.
“Yes! Callum! Is Harper with you?!”
“Yes! Why?”
“Well that’s a blessing, I guess.”
“Smith! What’s going on?”
“I hate to tell you this, son, but the building’s burning!”
“What?!” I yelled, gripping harder on to Harper’s hand.
She inched towards me, panic sobering her quickly.
“It looks like it started in your apartment!” He yelled into the phone. “You’re needed here, Callum.”
“We’ll be right there!” I yelled back, ending the phone call.
I tugged Harper’s hand toward the club. She’d heard everything and was in shock. I found the girls on the dance floor.
“Cherry!” I yelled, pulling at her sleeve.
“What’s up, baby?” She yelled.
“Our apartment’s on fire! I’m pretty sure it was John! Tell the others! Meet us there, okay?”
She grabbed my face in her hands and tears had begun to well in her eyes. “Go! We’ll be there soon!”
We ran. The taxi was the longest two minute drive of my life. I threw a few bills, not really caring if it was enough or too much, and launched us out the door. The building was indeed in flames on our corner of the building. I noticed our apartment seemed to be the only one on fire. I thanked God for small blessings. They must have gotten there pretty quickly.
“No!” Harper yelled.
We wound our way through the throng of people and found a fireman on a radio.
“That’s our apartment!” I yelled over the sirens. “Did everyone get out safely?” I asked.
“Everyone! Are you Callum and Harper Tate?”
“Yes, sir!”
“You two were the only ones we had yet to locate. Please, stay nearby!” He said, running off another direction as a section of Harper’s bedroom collapsed into the street, shattering into a flaming mess, making us both cringe.
So, Harper and I were forced to watch our apartment burn to a black crisp. Harper was openly sobbing, clinging to my shirt, burying her face in my neck. I tried to soothe her by rubbing her hair but it did no good. What could I possibly do or say? We both knew who started it. He ruined everything we had worked for. All those years of shopping for frugal purchases, investing an astronomical amount of time into making our house cozy and everything wonderful, gone. In a blaze of hate. I absently remembered that we had renter’s insurance and breathed a small sigh of relief knowing we’d get to at least purchase a new life if we ever survived John Bell’s wrath.
Then, I remembered Harper’s copy of To Kill A Mockingbird and almost cried for her. I wasn’t going to bring it up. I hoped for a small favor in that it might be spared but I knew that would be unlikely. We were literally losing all our possessions. We were being left with less than what we had when we met, which was absolutely nothing accept for a motorcycle and a book. I’d come to terms with my bike being gone but Harper’s book was the only link to one of the only happy memories she even had.
led the covers over my back and laid on my stomach, tucking the pillow beneath my head and staring at Harper’s door, waiting for her. When she came in, my stomach clenched. She was unbelievably beautiful to me. She was made for me. Never could I have imagined a woman could look as good as this one did in my clothes.
She crawled into bed, throwing the blanket over her shoulders and snuggled closely. I tossed an arm and a leg over her, making her nestle even closer.
“I love you, Callum.”
“I love you, too, Harper.”