Chain Reaction 3.47: No Rest

Emily

     I get to the park and find the protest in full swing. Almost immediately, Drake finds me and hands me a sign. Another woman hands me a megaphone. How did this get organized so quickly? Most people I get the chance to ask say the newspaper story prompted them to take action.

       I'm surprised Drake takes part.

       As soon as one woman figures out who I am, she shoves me into the front. Knowing one of Graham Taylor's daughters is here gives the crowd added gusto.

      We chant and march well into the night before the police give us a warning about disturbing the peace. Undaunted but not utterly stupid, the woman who acts in charge of everyone tells us to go get a few hours sleep before we march on city hall. Alaric, Drake, and I head back to the park, and Drake puts most of the signs in that mysterious place where everything goes.

     Alaric doesn't have school tomorrow, but he's still tired out. Understanding I don't want to go home yet, he decides to take a nap on a nearby bench. I suppose we could go home, but right now, I don't want to.

     "Are you sure he's okay?" Drake asks, looking at Alaric. He'd left Valentino with his nanny.

     "Do you think I should take him home?" If I know Drake like I think I do, he'll...

     "Nah. I was just wondering. He'll be okay for a little while." He answered like I thought he might. To be perfectly honest, I wanted to sit and talk with Drake for a few minutes. He surprised me tonight by not only telling me about the protest but also taking part in it. I'm sure he has an ulterior motive. He wouldn't do anything like this just because. I want my suspicions confirmed.

     "You surprised me tonight, Drake." I watch him carefully and wonder how much better his acting has gotten.

     He smiles. "I did?"

     "Yes. Thank you for calling me about this. I'm happy so many people agree with me that they were too harsh on my dad. But you were one of the last people I expected to participate."

     "I helped to organize it." He acts like he's in a confessional but completely enjoying admitting to his sins.

     "Why would you do that? I thought you disliked him."

     His stormy grey eyes pierce into mine. "That doesn't matter." He pauses, but I refuse to see the real reason he did all this. He's being too... "Isn't it obvious, Emily?"

     I sigh, wondering if he'll ever give up. Although I'm disappointed in my husband, a man whom I thought could do anything, I still love Alex. Since Dad's arrest and later conviction, it's been harder and harder to talk to him about anything. I've been trying to hide it, but I'm scared he knows anyway.

     "Emily, look, I know." He means that he knows we're never getting back together. "But I couldn't stand the thought of you being miserable. That outweighs everything."

     I'm not going to be fooled. "Unless you're the one making me miserable."

     He pauses, and the facade fades. "That's not fair, Emily. I know I've been an ass. A million times, I apologize for past deeds. I'm trying to do whatever I can to prove it. Why do you think the newspaper issued a retraction?"

     "You're saying you had something to do with that?" I still don't believe him and want to think that he's just taking the credit.

     "I had everything to do with that." We sit and stare at one another. I don't trust him. "For plum's sake, Emily, please stop looking at me like that!" He pushes back his chair. "Damn it all, then. Don't believe me, but I'd probably better go." He stands up.

     "Wait. I'm sorry." I don't want to be alone in the park. Alaric is sound asleep now, and I don't have the heart to wake him when he was so sweet to say he doesn't mind staying here a while.

     Drake pauses. "Believe me or not, Emily. It was all for you." He purses his lips like he's stopping himself from saying more. "I should probably go before I do something you'll hate me for or say something you don't want to hear."

    Who is this person? Not too long ago, he would've totally said whatever, even if he knew I didn't want to hear it. I can't make sense of anything. Alex failed; Drake is acting compassionate. He's behind the change in the press?

     And why didn't Alex think to do the same thing?

     "Just don't leave." I get up and take a step in his direction. He turns around, keeping an obvious distance. "I just want to know why." No, that's not it. I know why, but it's the why of the why.

     "Emily..." His tone carries warning.

     I wave off the warning. If he's being reasonable for once, I want answers. "Why me, Drake? All I am is the one who got away. When we were teens, the only reason you asked me out is because Dad told you not to. Then, as we grew up, I got more than my fair share of the residual anger felt towards your parents and then taken out on your dad. Why shouldn't I naturally team up with him then? He didn't deserve half of what you threw at him!"

     "Emily..."

     "Shut up!" I think I'm losing it. I'm tired, and I can't think, and I desperately need to because nothing is making sense anymore. "No, he's no saint, but who is?!" Certainly not my dad either. "But it wasn't until you must've heard that I was marrying him did you even think about me again! Why should you care? You didn't act like you did the night we broke up!"

     "I was a stupid kid who was hurting, and he was preying upon you, and you liked it. The last thing I should've done was break up with you. I should've dragged you out of there."

     I'm mad now. How dare he insinuate that I was too stupid to notice. Maybe not consciously, but... "But of course I did when it was the first time in my life I actually felt loved." I don't mean love like my parents love me, and he knows it.

     "You're going to wake up Alaric." His voice is cryptically calm. To my way of thinking, he should be mad too. Why isn't he?

     I quiet down, but I'm not finished. "You never loved me. You don't know what love is. Why can't you just let it go?"

     Again, he's calm. "Would you have preferred if I'd not convinced the press to switch sides?"

     The distraction works. "How did you do that anyway?"

     "I have my ways. Chalk it up to the fact that I know the right people."

     In some ways, he and Alex are exactly alike.

     I wipe under my eyes. I'm so tired, but even when I try to sleep, I can't rest. Maybe that's why I'm losing it.

     "How about a game of chess?" he asks.

     I pause. Chess actually sounds lovely. "Okay."

     We've been playing for a while, quietly, when Drake breaks the silence. "Are you sure you want to move that piece? Honestly, I'm surprised you wouldn't see the obvious attack I can do. Considering your state of mind, I've been going easy on you."

     Jerk. "Then that will be your downfall." I confidently place the piece. "Don't go easy on me."

     He grins wickedly. "As you wish."

      He moves exactly as I suspect. "Check."

      I smirk. "You think you're real clever, don't you?"

      He grins back. "I try."

      I don't need to move my king. He just exposed a direct line of fire. I move my queen. "Check. Mate." I laugh a little laugh. That felt good.

     I can see the real Drake as he regrets his move. "Oh! That was painful! But what more should I expect from the incomparable Emily Taylor?!"

     "Goth," I correct him.

     "Huh?" I think he's not kidding when he acts like he doesn't know what he said.

     "You said Emily Taylor."

     "I did? Oh. I, um, forgot I guess." His eyes look at me like he'd willfully let himself forget I was married to his dad.

      The board magically resets, and my phone tells me I have a text. "Alex is wondering where I am."

      Drake clenches his jaw before he speaks. "Then I'll take that as my cue to get going. Good, uh, morning, Emily." He walks away, and I look around. Morning is breaking.