Page 6 of Ella’s Data

Once we’re both inside, I close the door and sit at my desk, turning so my back is to the monitors. I can see her eyes roaming all of them so say, “The top ones are for the cameras that are on the property. The bottom monitors are what I use when I’m running searches.”

“Do you watch them all day long?” she asks.

“No, I’ve got the ability to monitor them from my phone, but usually, one of the other brothers watches them at night, while I’m sleeping.”

I don’t tell her that sometimes, I sleep in here because my bed is so lonely. At least in here, there’s noise when I turn one or two of the speakers on. And I’ve never taken a woman to my room here in the clubhouse as that’s my sanctuary.

“So, I honestly never thought I’d see you again,” she starts. When I go to say something, she holds up her hand. “Please, Data, I need to say this all at once, because it’s not something I like to revisit, it’s just too painful. When I was a freshman in high school, I met a guy. His name was Tim. Well, I called him Timmy, but I was the only one who did. Anyhow, we started dating and fell in love, making plans for our future, the whole shebang. We both wanted to go into healthcare, me as a nurse and him as a doctor. He was following in his father’s footsteps, and we knew it would be a while before we could do anything besides go to school. By the time we were seniors, I already had my associate’s degree because I did dual enrollment, while he was trying to get through his final exams. One day, we were in the library so I could help him study when three of our classmates came through the doors with guns and started shooting. He… he saved me that day, Data,” she whispers. “He made me get under the desk and got under there too, but he was shielding me, so when they shot at us, they hit him instead. He died draped over me, but I was uninjured. Forty kids died that day, and another sixty were severely injured. Before losing him along with all of my hopes and dreams for the future, we had a house fire and I lost my family, including the pets. I then ended up going to live with a great-aunt, who has since passed away, but I decided after everything I suffered, I’d never fall in love again. Then you came along, and even though I knew it was for a short time, I began to feel things for you that I swore I’d never allow myself to feel again. So, I was kind of happy when my assignment ended, because I wouldn’t have to face my past or try to overcome my fear.”

“I’m sorry, Ella,” I whisper, unable to stay silent any longer. “I can’t even fathom how any of that trauma made you feel, and I’m not willing to give you false platitudes about time healing all things, or anything else like that. Because I can tell just from your voice that it’s as real and fresh for you today as it was then.”

“It’s not like I haven’t had therapy to try and get over my fear. I know it’s irrational, Data. I mean, bad things happen all the time and people don’t just curl up and die. But every time I even thought about a future with you, it paralyzed me. My mind would start spinning into the ‘what-if’ scenarios. I couldn’t say anything back then because it was not too many years from when everything happened. And yes, time has dulled some of it, but the terror is still there.”

“Did I ever tell you how I came to be a member of the club?” I ask.

“No, because you were just a computer nerd when I met you,” she teases, a small smile playing on her lips.

“I was leaving work one day when I saw a guy surrounded by four gang members. When I saw them start beating the hell out of him, I didn’t think, I just reacted and jumped into the fray to give him a hand and a fair shot. I didn’t have all the muscles I have now, but I did Muay Thai and between the two of us, we ended up kicking their asses and sending them away with their tails between their legs. That guy was Rebel.”

“The president of the club?”

“The one and only,” I reply. “He asked if I wanted to prospect for his motorcycle club and I said sure. When he found out I was an IT genius, as he called me, he was thrilled and before I knew it, I was the tech guy for the Steel Raiders MC. Been here ever since.”

“But you didn’t ride a bike. Or did you?”

“I actually had one, but it was a Honda. I’ve got a Harley now, though.”

“Yeah, saw that in the Carolinas,” she replies.

“I guess what I’m saying is that bad shit does happen to people. Every day, sometimes without warning, and it fucking sucks that you went through a school shooting. Schools should be safe for kids, plain and simple. But the fact that you lost someone you were planning a future with in such a reprehensible manner? It’s understandable that you’d not want to experience that kind of loss again. Add to that losing the rest of your family, and I get it, Ella, I really do. So, maybe we start over again as friends.”

“Friends?”

“Yes, because I know Phoebe’s the only family you’ve got, so you’ll be around as often as possible, right?” I ask.

“That’s the plan,” she says.

“Then we have to figure out how to make it work between us. If friends is all we can have, then I’ll take it, because I’d rather have that than nothing at all,” I reply.

“That doesn’t seem fair to you, though,” she muses.

“It’s a good place for us to start, Ella. I promise, I’ll be fine.”

At least now I know what I have to do in order to show her that I won’t willingly leave. Ever.

CHAPTER

FOUR

Ella

I need a hug after purging my guts the way I just did. I’m also grateful that he didn’t utter all the useless, empty platitudes that so many people use when faced with someone’s grief. “Data?” I ask.

“Yeah?”

“I… can you please hug me?” I question.

He’s standing in front of me before I can inhale and he holds out his hand for me to grab. When he pulls me to my feet, I marvel once again at the sheer strength he possesses. He wasn’t a slouch years ago, but he seems a lot more together these days. When he wraps his arms around me, holding me close, something that’s been coiled deep inside of me releases and for the first time in forever, I take a deep, cleansing breath.