Unwanted Heat

Kenzie

“No! Please… don’t hurt me… I’m sorry!” A voice screaming pulls me from my deep sleep.

I quickly run out of my room, following the sound of the screaming which seems to becoming from downstairs. As I approach the bottom of the steps, I realize the screaming is coming from Nicholas’s bedroom. I immediately rush to his door and try to open it, but the door is locked. I recall the conversation we had the other night when he cautioned me not to try to wake him from a nightmare. I can’t just stand here and listen to it, though; I need to do something.

“Nicholas? Nicholas?” I knock on the door and call out to him.

“I’ll be a good boy I promise… please…”

My heart is breaking as I hear the nightmare; I slide down the wall and sit outside his door. I don’t know what to do, but I don’t feel right going back to my room while he is in so much pain. I wish I knew where the keys were to his room; I wish he could hear me calling his name from the door.

“No! Please… don’t hit! I don’t want a bath! No! I be good boy.”

I don’t know how long the nightmare lasts, but I stay outside the door, sitting on the floor trying to come up with some idea to wake him up. Eventually the screaming stops, and it turns to sobbing at which point I can’t stop the tears from my own eyes from falling. I don’t know much about his childhood before he was adopted by the Parkers; his speech at the awards dinner the night he became sick hinted at it but we never discussed it. After hearing the nightmare tonight, I realize how little I really know about his past…

“Fuck!”

I hear Nicholas mumble, and I immediately run back up to my bedroom. I don’t want him to know that I was sitting outside his door or that I heard the nightmare. I saw how hard it was when he first told me he suffered from nightmares; I don’t want to make things uncomfortable between us by asking about them.

“You’re up early,” Nicholas says as I enter the kitchen after washing up and changing out of my pajamas the next morning.

“So are you,” I smile.

“I have work this morning, what’s your excuse?”

“I’m a morning person by nature. Actually sleeping until six is late for me; when I worked at the bakery I was up by four or sometimes even earlier.”

“You’ll get back there you know. Once the press dies down after our wedding is announced, you’ll be able to return to the bakery. If you want to-”

“I do. I hope you’re right. Ginny said she would hold my job, but I don’t know if she thought it would be this long. I don’t know how the new owners will feel about holding my job.”

“Have you talked to Ginny?”

“A few days ago, I called her to see how everything was going.”

“And?”

“She said, for now the new owners have decided to leave everything as is. They apparently hired her to manage the place for at least the first year to ensure the transition is smooth, I guess.”

“Is she okay with that? I know you said she wanted to move to be closer to her daughter, right?”

“She said they are giving her a good amount of paid time off so she doesn’t mind working. She had assumed it would take a year or two before she found a buyer for the bakery, so I guess she had planned to keep working, at least for now.”

“Good, then it sounds like you have nothing to worry about. In a few weeks, the press will realize there is nothing more to write about and will start to leave us alone. Things will get crazy once our marriage is announced, which is why I’m having the PR department time it so we are out of the country-”

“We’re leaving the country?!?!” This is the first clue I have received on the location of our honeymoon.

“Yes,” he chuckles. “But that’s all I’m saying about where we are going.”

“No other hints?”

“No.”

“Good morning, Ms. Rose, what would you like for breakfast?” Julie asks walking into the kitchen.

“Whatever you have made is fine,” I’m finding it very difficult to get used to the idea that someone is here to cook for me.

“Mr. Parker is having an egg white omelet, would you like that or something else?”

“That’s fine, thank you, Julie.”

“What are your plans for today?” Nicholas asks.

“Your mom and Cara are coming over; the wedding planner has arranged for gowns to be brought over today from a local shop she has worked with in the past.”

“Oh good. And you’re okay with my mom and Cara being here for it? I wasn’t sure-”

“I’m more than okay with it. It’ll be nice to have a second opinion on the dresses anyway.”

“Kenzie… is there anyone you want to invite to the wedding? I can arrange flights for them; money isn’t-”

“No, there isn’t anyone.”

“Are you sure? I really don’t mind-”

“Nicholas, I don’t have anyone I would consider inviting to my wedding. Even if this wasn’t,” I glance at Julie, not really sure how much I can say in front of her. “So sudden, there isn’t anyone I would want to have there with us. I don’t have anyone I consider my family.”

“If… okay,” he’s clearly surprised by my honesty, but I needed to

say it.

“Sir, ma’am, your breakfast,” Julie has perfect timing, breaking the awkward moment between us as she sets plates in front of us.

“Thank you, Julie,” I say just as she leaves the kitchen.

“The wedding plans are coming along then?” Nicholas asks as we eat.

“I think so. After today, I should have a dress picked out which will probably take a few days for the alterations to be done. I picked out some simple flowers from pictures she sent me yesterday. There are so many small details I hadn’t realized that I would need to decide on.”

“Like what?”

“What color runner is on the sand, what the setup of chairs look like, whether or not we have wedding favors, what type of appetizers to have… the list is just endless.”

“You don’t need to decide all of that. Just tell her to use her discretion; these people plan weddings on a daily basis. I’m sure she can put a package together for us to review.”

“You think?” I hadn’t thought about that, but it would definitely take some of the pressure off of me.Content from NôvelDr(a)ma.Org.

“Absolutely. Have her send you something tomorrow and when I get home from work we can review it all.”

“Thank you, I’ll call her today.”

“I need to get going. I’ll see you tonight,” he kisses me on the cheek before heading towards his office.