The Bedrock Series

Chapter Two-2

“I—”

“Oh,” he called, cutting her off. “I almost forgot. I hope you don’t mind critters.”

Addison cried knowing what was to come. She didn’t want to be buried alive. She hated confined spaces. “Isn’t it funny?” he chuckled, as he lowered the small door. “We’re all just worm food in the end.”

She laid there in the dark, counting, just to keep herself from losing it altogether. He—or someone—had dug a hole in the ground, no more than a crawl space. With just enough room to turn from side to side, there wasn’t much to work with. Every once and awhile, Addison would feel something crawling on her. She’d find the insect, brush it off. Before long, she began to bury them in the dirt; thinking that if she could just dig far enough, then maybe she’d wind up in the center of the earth. Maybe she could dig her way out. At some point, he lifted the door and stabbed the needle in her arm. Before long, all there was was darkness.

* * *

It was a crisp fall Texas morning that would shape a good portion of her life. But it was clumsiness that would set into motion a chain of events that would take her down a long and winding path she hadn’t seen coming. Addison was walking from the library to the cafeteria, either lost in thought or thinking about what was on the lunch menu when her phone rang, startling her. Flinging her book bag off her shoulder, she dug blindly in search of the phone, she felt her fingertips graze it, but then she lost her footing, slipped, and nearly toppled over. In an attempt to avoid landing flat on her face, she dropped the books in her hands and let her bag fall to the ground. Thankfully she was able to catch herself from hitting the pavement. As she bent down to retrieve her things scattered among the lawn, she bumped into something, or rather, someone. Dazed and a little shaken, looking up she blinked rapidly, considering her eyes might be deceiving her. There, before her, was perhaps the most beautiful man she had ever seen. Studying his face, she thought for a second that he looked familiar, but she couldn’t place him.

“I’m sorry. Do I know you?” she asked, feeling herself blush.

He shook his head and then extended his hand. “Don’t think so,” he said. “I’m Patrick,” he smiled. “Patrick Greyer.”

She didn’t respond, not right away, all she could do was stare. The first thing she realized about Patrick Greyer was that he was kind. After he gathered her things, he insisted on walking her to the cafeteria just to make sure she was all right. Making small talk, he explained that he was from Dallas and was majoring in finance. Addison didn’t speak much, only enough to answer his questions. She was majoring in communications and hoped to go to work in marketing when she graduated. Patrick told her he knew what he was doing after graduation; he was on the fast track to gain employment at Morgan, Lehman & Scott, where he was already interning. He was sure of himself and she liked that. So, when the time for their next class came, Patrick casually mentioned having dinner the following Friday, how could she have said anything other than yes? The two of them exchanged phone numbers, and that was that.

Only it wasn’t because she waited for a call that didn’t appear to be coming. The waiting game was excruciating for Addison. Every time the phone rang, she made a beeline for it. She held her breath and crossed her fingers. And every time it wasn’t Patrick, her stomach sank and then she’d pout relentlessly. Three days went by and no phone call came. Had she been mistaken? Had she just imagined that there was an attraction? Was he just being polite asking her to dinner? No. At least she didn’t think so. Maybe he lost her number. Finally, just about the time she put it out of her mind, the call came. That day, when the phone rang, she knew it was him.

Had she been mistaken? Had she just imagined that there was an attraction? Was he just being polite asking her to dinner?No. At least she didn’t think so. Maybe he lost her number.“Hello,” she answered, a little too enthusiastically.

“Hi, Addison?”

“Yes.”

“Um…This is Patrick. We met in the commons the other day…”

She smiled into the phone. His voice was even deeper than she remembered. She shut her eyes, lifted up a silent thank you, and smiled. “Uh . . . Yes, I remember.”

“Good. So . . . I was wondering if you still wanted to have dinner Friday?”

She silently screamed, doing a little happy dance around the room “Yeah, of course.”

“Great. I’ll pick you up at seven o’clock then.”

She plopped down on her bed and sighed. “Perfect. Oh, and Patrick?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

She heard him take a deep breath in and let it out. “Me, too,” he said.

* * *

The next few days both dragged on and went by in a blur. True to form, Addison started planning her outfit Wednesday evening. Wondering what she should wear, she realized that she hadn’t even thought to ask where he was taking her. This was the first, first date that she could remember. She had been with Jason for so long that he was practically part of her family. They never needed to make plans; it was just assumed that he would be there, that whatever it was they were doing, they were doing it together. This is what she missed the most. It wasn’t so much Jason per se, but always having someone to do things with.

Dating was all-new to her. She wasn’t even sure if she could technically count what she was doing as dating. Most of the time, the boys on campus simply asked to meet up with her and a group of friends. They’d ask what party she’d planned to attend and then there they would be. This time it felt different. Patrick felt different, which was, in part, why there was so much riding on this one date and why she insisted her outfit had to be absolutely perfect.

Addison knew how to dress for her body—always had. Tall and slender like her mother had been, she had curves in all the right places. It made dressing the part fairly simple. Still, she swore she didn’t have the fashion sense nor the clothing budget that her roommate Jessica had, which was exactly who she went to in order to help her find the perfect first-date outfit. Jessica was, of course, thrilled to help. While Jess wasn’t quite as fortunate to have the body type that Addison had, she was an expert at putting things together. More importantly, when Jessica couldn’t figure it out for herself, she was lucky that she had an unlimited budget and access to a personal shopper at almost every high-end store in town.

nor The only granddaughter of an oil tycoon, practically born with a silver spoon in her mouth into a family where they never wanted for anything a day in their lives, Jessica and Addison were opposites in every way, and unlikely friends. At 5’2”, Jessica was short with an athletic build. She had long chestnut hair and eyes to match. Jessica was everything that Addie was not: rich, worry-free, and extremely smart especially where people skills came into play. While Addison was organized and by the minute, Jessica was fly by the seat of her pants. While Addie had to study for days, sometimes even weeks to ace an exam, Jessica only had to show up.

Addie had dozens of potential date outfits lined up and strewn about her bed when Jessica came bursting through the door. She took one look at her friend’s perplexed expression and exclaimed, “Oh, no, no, no. You cannot wear this on a date! Or this, or this or this…”

“It’s all I’ve got,” Addison said looking away.

Jessica could see the disappointment on her friend’s face. “Well, then. You’re in luck. I decided yesterday that this occasion calls for a special trip to Neiman"s. So, I booked us an appointment with my favorite stylist.”

“No—” Addison said. “I can’t—”

“You can. We have to be there in thirty, so hurry up.”

“Jess—”

Jessica held up her hand cutting Addison off. “Oh, and by the way, I checked out this Patrick character, and I’m not so sure. From what I’ve heard, he’s mostly a loner, though a smart one: valedictorian and currently sitting at the top of our class. So, I guess, maybe there is potential. But you need someone who is social, not someone who stays holed up in his apartment and rarely dates.”

maybeAddison picked up a dress and rolled her eyes. “Uh huh. How do you know all of this, anyway?”

“I asked around,” she shrugged. “And I may or may not have had Perry sneak a peek at his student file,” Jessica added, with her signature sly grin.

“That’s illegal. And Perry needs to stop doing everything you ask of him. If he weren’t so in love with you, surely he would know better.”

Frowning, Jessica picked up a shirt and threw it at her. “He is not in love with me,” she exclaimed rolling her eyes. “But whatever. Let’s go.”

Jessica, usually right, was also correct about the stylist at Niemen’s. Although, Addison knew that she had nowhere near the kind of money required to buy the dress and shoes that were put together for her, she knew better than to argue with Jessica. While she hated it, she knew that Jessica enjoyed buying her things. She saw it as Jessica making her a charity case, but deep down Addison knew there was more to it than that. “I have the money,” Jess shrugged. “So why not use it on something worthwhile?”

“I can’t accept this,” Addison told her.

Jessica laughed. “I hadn’t realized you had the option.”

Despite the fact that Addison had tons of homework and a paper due the next day, she agreed.

Later that night, although she was exhausted, she found herself lying there staring at the ceiling, unable to sleep, and wondering how tomorrow’s date would go. Would she say the right things? Would he like her? Would she like him? And when it came time to discuss her childhood, where would she find the words? How exactly do you tell someone that you’ve never in your life ever really felt loved? She sighed at the thought, but mostly, she wondered just how long could she put off having that conversation.

Would she say the right things? Would he like her? Would she like him? How exactly do you tell someone that you’ve never in your life ever really felt loved?