Overcoming Fear (Growing Pains #2)(126)

Krista had thought it was just her; that the painting reminded her of Jim. It turned out, though, when Marcus, Sean and the girls came to view it, that that wasn’t the case at all. Even Abbey stopped to stare at it, getting the shivers and moving away.

Marcus was convinced Ben was exaggerating. And to a certain extent he was, since Sean didn’t think of Jim with the same amount of fear. But after Krista dug out a picture, and explained Jim had added muscle and lost sanity, Marcus looked with wide eyes at Sean.

“Why do you still have a picture of him?” Ben asked with a subdued voice.

“In case I ever needed to show the cops what he looked like. Also…to remember. To be smarter in the future.”

“Sean, you held your own against that? He’s a monster.”

“In many ways,” Krista said. No one commented after that. At least, not in her hearing, which was good enough.

Even though the piece was unreal good, Krista would not allow Sean to buy it. She didn’t want Jim’s tarnish to be that close to Sean. She didn’t want those two pieces of her life close to each other. Instead, Ben showed Tory a picture of it in one of their meet-ups, and Tory got interested. He made a special trip to view it, and bought it and two other pieces, on the spot. The picture of Jim, properly entitled Fear, would go in the sword room to inspire the same fear to those viewing weapons of death.

Ben had to talk Tory down on price. It was unanimously agreed that Ben should never go into sales.

All said, it was the saddest month of Krista’s life. She spent every moment she could with Sean. They rode in together and left together. They hung out with Kate and Jasmine together. They went to Ray’s and watched sports together. They went to bed and woke up together. As far as the relationship went, it was the best month of her life. They got along so well it was sickening. They talked and shared, reveling the most intimate parts of their selves. Why not? Soon all they would have were memories.

They agreed to not talk once Krista left. Sean worried for her safety. Krista worried for her heart. She convinced herself it was for the best. It would’ve been a bittersweet pain, but it would also mean she could never move on. She wanted to be with him. Forever. So if she was talking to him, she wouldn’t want to talk to anyone else. She wouldn’t want to move on.

Even though they had sex almost every day, Krista still often cried herself to sleep. Granted, it was in Sean’s arms, but she couldn’t help herself. She dreaded the day she had to say goodbye.

On Krista’s last day, the art department threw her a giant farewell. And no one could do parties like the art department. They got the fiesta catered and spent loads of company money on banners. Funny things Krista had said, memories, and all sorts of quips were posted in all available space. Colorful paper was thrown around like confetti—yes, they knew how much that drove her crazy. They thought it was hilarious. Most of the people didn’t know her all that well, but they were so used to seeing her and hearing about her from Marcus that they included her as one of their own. Therefore, she got a big send-off.

In the afternoon she had a final clean-out of her desk. She had planned to meet everyone for drinks after work, was already buzzed from the art department ”special”’ punch, and was thinking of Sean when Marcus walked in.

“Geegee,” he said, sinking into the visitor chair.

“Hey Marcus, how’s it going?”

“Great. Good party. I had a hand in it, obviously.”

“Oh obviously, yeah. That was what I was thinking. I said to myself, ‘Wow, this is sure nice. It must have been Marcus’s doing’.”

Marcus laughed and nodded. “So, when are you heading down there?”

“Tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow? Aren’t you taking any time off?”

“Yes, actually. I am taking a week once I get there to get set up.”

“Oh. You taking anyone along?”

“Nope. All on my own. I need a week to cry before I start work.”

Marcus nodded, “He’s really not going, huh? Hasn’t changed his mind?”

Krista sagged into her chair as her tear ducts went active. “He can’t. He has to stay. His house, his sister coming—her job had already transferred her here and she wouldn’t be able to get another transfer before a year, earliest—his job…”

“And you aren’t going to keep it going until you’re sure Jim is really gone?”

“Gone where? He’s in jail now, but he’ll get out. He’ll come back. That isn’t even a maybe. He’ll come looking for me, and if I’m with Sean, for him, too. I have to go. And this time, I’ll change my name. Hopefully that’ll throw him off. Hopefully he won’t go for Sean if I’m not around.”

“I think Sean can handle him, but what about when Sean gets the title? Can’t he move after?”

Tears overflowed as Krista shrugged, “I guess not. He seemed pretty adamant about the split. He gave a lot of reasons…”

“Huh.”

“It’s what he wants.”

“Clean break. And he thinks it’s for the best? Really?”

Krista shrugged again. She wanted to keep it alive. She loved Sean with her whole heart. Everything about him she loved. She wanted to be with him every second. The depth of her feelings was a first for her. She could not imagine saying goodbye. But he was firm in the decision, so she had to respect that.