Lost in Distraction

Chapter Five



The past few weeks seem to have flown by.

Brax and I have seen each other most days, except for the nights when he has school work to do. We talk, we cook, we watch movies, and we make out for hours. God, I am already so addicted to him and the way he makes me feel. I catch him just staring at me sometimes, and the smile he gives me makes me melt, but I’m not ready to go any further than kissing just yet. I haven’t been with anyone like that for a long time, and it’s not something I’m in a hurry to do. I want it to be with someone I love instead of a casual hook-up to get past the pain like I’ve done in the past.

The one thing I’ve missed out on by shutting everyone out is female friends. I don’t have any, not even someone remotely close. I don’t have to work for obvious reasons, so all I have in my life is school, my apartment and Brax. I miss having someone to talk to about everything, a girlfriend I can confide in, but I haven’t known any different for the past three years. I’d like to have someone to talk about Brax with.

I smile whenever I think of him. I haven’t seen him since Sunday and it’s now Tuesday night. I sent him a text earlier asking if he wanted to go grab some dinner somewhere. He texted back saying he might have a late study group, but would let me know.

So here I am in a tank top and pajama pants, sitting on my couch on a Tuesday night in the middle of September, watching a menial television game show. I hear a knock at the door and rush up to answer it, thinking it could be Brax surprising me. I open the door, but instead of Brax, I’m met by my father’s business partner, Harold Brimstone. Harry and Sylvia were very close with my parents when I was growing up so he’s always been Uncle Harry to me. However, he has always made me feel uneasy, even as a kid. I don’t know what it is about him, but he comes across as shady. He is the acting CEO of Brightlight Industries, my father’s… I mean, my company now. He is in charge of everything until I finish school and take over from him.

My father effectively mapped out my future for me before he died. It’s not that I don’t want my father’s company. It is his legacy that he built from the ground up, but I just don’t like being expected to run it.

Realizing Harold is still standing in my doorway, I open the door and gesture him inside. He has a quick look around and sits down in the loveseat I have next to the window. “How are you, Elise?” he asks, looking me over.

“I’m good, Uncle Harry. What brings you across the country for a visit?” My voice drips with dissent.

He’s aware that I don’t like him and by the way he seems to revel in making me uncomfortable I’m sure the feeling is mutual. “No need to be like that, Elle. I just wanted to see how you were doing and make sure you were all settled in. This place is great for you,” he says as he gets up and starts walking around the room.

“It’s Elise, not Elle, and thanks, I like it,” I state defiantly. I wonder what his game is this time.

For the past two years he has been in my face about the business. I know the ins and outs of my father’s last wishes and the company’s constitution. I remember Harold was seething when my father’s will was read out and he found out about all of the changes made before his death. The changes basically prevent Harold from taking over a controlling stake in the company while I am still alive. As the true CEO, I am the only one with the power to make any constitution changes in the future, including any that would allow him to buy my shares. This is something that he has hounded me about for the past year or so.

I was recently informed by a number of the directors that he has been working to increase his stake in the company and currently owns a 40% share, but as the majority shareholder who holds 60% of the company, I’m not looking to give up my controlling stake and this is a decision that dear old Uncle Harry can’t accept.

Before I moved out here, he would constantly ask me if I had changed my mind. This is the first time he has visited me since I moved to the opposite side of the country, though.

“What’s this about, Uncle Harry?”

I’m annoyed at his presence now, knowing exactly why he has gone out of his way to visit.

“I was in New York for business and thought I’d pop in to check on you. You are very important to me, you know.” His words sound sincere, but they are lined with distaste. “I also wanted to check whether you had considered my buy-out proposal any further since the last time we spoke.”

As I said, he can’t accept that I’m not interested.

With the most impeccable timing in the world, there is another knock at the door and this time I know it must be Brax. I open the door and he has a gorgeous smile on his face, holding a pizza box from the same pizzeria from our first date. As he leans in to give me a welcoming kiss, he spots Harry over my shoulder and suddenly tenses up.

What’s the matter with him? I hope he doesn’t think there is anything gross going on.

“Brax, this is Harry Brimstone, the CEO of Brightlight Industries, my father’s company. He was friends with my father,” I explain, totally confused by Brax’s suddenly stoic behavior.

He shuts the door as he enters, walking straight past Uncle Harry when he holds his hand out to shake Brax’s. Wow, this is totally unlike Brax. He’s never rude to anyone. Harry tilts his head a bit, like he is trying to work out who Brax is, before returning his attention back to me.

“Elise, dear. I must get going, but do ring me if you change your mind. It can all be settled rather quickly when you make the right decision,” he says to me quietly, pulling me in for an awkward hug. I jerk myself away from him quickly and make my way to the front door to show him the way out.

Once he has gone and the door is closed and locked, I walk straight into the kitchen and stand on the opposite side of the counter to Brax, glaring at him. “What was that all about?”

All he does is shrug his shoulders. “I don’t like him. He seems sketchy.”

I can’t believe he is being so nonchalant about his behavior. He’s never met Uncle Harry before and he’s acting like he can’t stand the man. Before I can stew about it any longer he puts his hand behind my neck and pulls me towards him, giving me the most spine tingling kiss I’ve ever had. It’s hot, desperate, and there is no doubt that his intention is to shut me up on the matter.

It works.

He pulls away, and I just stare at him. He has literally just kissed me speechless.

After demolishing a whole pizza between us, we attempt to watch Dirty Dancing. I say attempt because we manage to watch ten minutes of the movie before I am pushed down on the sofa by Brax and we proceed to make out like teenagers.

Considering that up until three weeks ago I would avoid any contact with other people, I’m finding this all comes very naturally to me. Brax makes it easy to relax and helps stop me from thinking too much. I’ve never had anyone make me feel the way he does. From the first moment I saw him in class, I could feel him. He was like a small light shining through the darkness that was my life. My dark side has been all I’ve known for the past three years, so any light seems to shine brighter. I’m scared if I open up to Brax and tell him what I’ve been through, he might run the other away. Is it better to tell him and lose him now, or wait until we’re beyond the point of no return and have his rejection crush me?

Sleeping in bed later that night, I have a nightmare far worse than any I’ve had before. I wake up at 2 a.m. shaking and covered in sweat. Even though I’m awake, I still feel like something is closing in on me. I’ve never had one as bad as this before. I grab my phone and quickly text Brax.

Elle: I think I need you to come back.

Instead of texting me back, my phone starts ringing straight away and the caller ID shows that it is him.

“Hello?” I answer shakily, still reeling.

“Babe, what’s wrong?” he asks. I can hear the worry in his voice.

“Sorry for waking you up. I just had a bad dream, and I’m feeling a bit unsettled.” I feel really bad for disturbing him now because he sounds really worried about me.

“It’s okay, hon. I’m here for you if you need me. I’m just getting dressed now and I’ll be there as soon as I can. I’ll knock on the door twice when I get there.”

I sigh with relief. “Thank you. I don’t know why it’s affected me so much this time.” This was definitely the worse dream I’ve had so far.

“See you soon, babe. I’m leaving now,” he says and hangs up.

I get out of bed, put some pajama shorts on, then head to the kitchen to get some water. I walk over to the loveseat next to my front window and look out into the night. I see that car again, the black Honda that has been there off and on for over three weeks now. This is getting to be beyond a joke. I wonder if I should speak to the security people at Brightlight to get them to look into it. I’m starting to wonder if the media is interested in me again now that I’m getting close to inheriting Brightlight. They’ve always been relentless in the past when it came to the ‘Reclusive Halliwell Heiress.’

Straight after the murders the media were ruthless in their pursuit of me, and the news articles were just as bad.





Everywhere I went, there would be a camera. It was really bad when the house was sold. There were so many people who came through solely because it was known as the ‘Halliwell Murder House’. Who wants their childhood home branded like that? I sold it because there was no way I was ever setting foot back inside that house again. Apart from my mother’s jewelry and some family heirlooms, everything was sold or destroyed. My happy childhood memories of my father, mother and little sister were ripped away in a moment by an unknown killer.

It was pure coincidence that I was not in the house that night, some might call it fate. The night before I came home was the night my world crashed down around me. The nightmares have been a frequent occurrence ever since. Sometimes they are happy memories that end with a sea of blood, and other times they are re-enactments of the murders, as if I was there. The one tonight was exactly that, except this time the killer finished with my family and found me in my room. I was standing in front of him with a gun in my face and just as he were about to pull the trigger, I woke up.

I wonder what is triggering the nightmares this time. Maybe it was Uncle Harry’s visit. He was close to my father, so maybe it has brought all the pain back into my consciousness. I have to admit, Uncle Harry was acting rather strange tonight, especially when Brax arrived. It was like he couldn’t work Brax out, like he had seen him before but couldn’t peg him.

I leave the window and snuggle down on the couch under a blanket. Nothing like mind-numbing television in the middle of the night to disrupt my thoughts. Twenty minutes later I hear Brax knock twice on the door. I unlock it and he bursts in, pulling me into his arms straight away and I instantly feel safe again. I can’t believe I’ve only known him for a month, yet I can’t bear the idea of being without him. He joins me back on the couch, lies down and pulls me on top of him so I’m covering his body. He pulls the blanket over us and we start watching TV as he strokes my hair mindlessly. Pretty soon I’m relaxed and limp, falling back to sleep in his arms and the nightmares all but banished.



After my last minute meeting with Shay, all I want to do is eat and see my girl. Shay told me that Harry Brimstone is in the area, but the last thing I expect is to find him inside Elle’s apartment when she opens her door.

All the intel we have on Harold Brimstone confirms he has his hands in many dodgy pies. I had dealings with Brimstone many years ago, and he has also had dealings with my boss in the past. Lately he has been connected to former agent—now crooked cop—Michael Evans, who is as corrupt as the day is long. We think Evans is either on Brimstone’s payroll, or at the very least linked to him.

I wonder why Harry decided to drop in for a visit all of a sudden. He told Elle that he was ‘just in the area’ but of course I know better than that. We’re a good hour from the city, this trip had a purpose. I’ll have to find out from Elle what he wants because whenever Brimstone is involved, I know that something bad is going down.

Once Brimstone leaves, I am able to relax and enjoy the rest of the evening with Elle. I try not to show my concerns about Brimstone to Elle. I’d hate for her to get suspicious about me.

I leave Elle’s apartment around midnight and head out to the bar around the block to catch up with Shay. I need to find out what happened once Harry left the apartment. Shay followed him to a bar in lower Manhattan where he met up with another man he couldn’t identify. A short time later Evans joined them and that is when Shay texted me, saying we needed to catch up. When the men had concluded their meeting and gone their separate ways, Shay followed Brimstone back to his hotel where he said he must have retired for the night, because he stayed outside for a couple of hours and never saw Harry again.

When I get Elle’s text telling me she needs me, I swear I’ve never moved so fast in my life. I race over there and can see she was shaken up just by the look on her face. I want to ask her what happened, but I can tell she is exhausted so I walk over to the couch and lie down, pulling her down on me. She’s so light I can barely feel her, but having her on top of me feels so right. Her soft warm body just melts into my mine. I pull the blanket up around us, wrap my arm around her waist and she burrows her head into my chest as we start watching some random television sitcom. Within minutes, I feel her breathing slow down and I know she has gone back to sleep.

All is right in my world, especially with Elise asleep in my arms. I can’t imagine ever wanting to let her go.