The Gravity of Love (13 page)

She thought about her bags at home that she
had packed late last night. Her discussion with Ephram went on for hours, yet
she still was able to side step his questions about the real reason for going
or anything about Harrison, other than she needed a little break away from him.

They had decided on a town about five hours
away. They'd rent a cabin by the lake and spend a relaxing two weeks without
anyone hurting anyone. It would certainly be a nice change.

Marty had agreed when Molly told her during
the car ride to school. It would be a good thing in everyone's eyes. Now just
to get over the hurdle of Harrison's flip out.

_______________________________________________________________________

The flip out came just as she was leaving
the library. It must have been a late day for Harrison if he had only found out
then. And he had surely just found out, that was clear. He was near foaming at
the mouth when he appeared at the doorway.

With a sigh, Molly put down her messenger
bag and sat on her desktop.

"I want to know what the meaning of
this is." He growled in a low voice.

In his hand, crinkling from the pressure,
was her vacation forms.

"It means I'm taking a two week break
and I need you to approve that for me because you're my boss. And I know you
will approve it because as my friend, you must know how much I need those two
weeks."

"Did Ephram file these at his work
too?"

She shook her head. "You're my boss,
remember? This has to do with only me no one else that you know I'm with.
Approve it and get done."

"Just asking because I know Marty
didn't file for vacation leave, so you're not going with her. And you know
what? I'm your friend too. Why the hell didn't I hear about this from you
before I found out from your papers? Every other time I'm always the one to
fill these out for you because I approve them on spot. But now? What's going
on, Radcliffe?"

She rubbed her fingertips in circles on her
forehead. "I really need some time away, Harrison. I just...I need to get
away. I haven't taken a vacation in a long time and I have the days."

"It's not about days."

"Then what is this about?"

"It's about...about...I'm not granting
you leave." His voice had started out weak, but the last part sure was
forceful.

"You can't do that!" She cried
out.

"Yes I can. These forms say that
you're asking for a date that's a week away the proper leave time is
informing a boss two weeks ahead. And it's a major test time. It's not very
ideal."

"Yet none of those reasons are why
you're trying to stop me."

"I'm not trying I am stopping
you."

"You can't do that!" She yelled,
her temper flaring and the tips of her ears flaming blush.

"And yet...why look at that, I
can!"

"No...you...can't! I'm leaving and you
can't stop me."

"I refuse to grant this."

"It's a valid form. Just yesterday you
were talking about while in school, we treat each other as people in our
professions and not as fighting friends. You keep saying you're my boss then
act like it and stop having these problems with me that have nothing to do with
that form in your hand."

"I already stated the professional
sides of your form and why they're rejected. Candice came to me asking for a
relieve at the same time you want to take yours and I denied her too and
she's my girlfriend. I am being professional about this. But you screaming at
me is the opposite, is it not."

She shook her head, the red of her ears
spreading to her crimson cheeks. "I will not stand for this. So fire me if
you don't like it but I'm going."

"You're acting childish." He
scolded in a harsh tone.

"Then maybe we shouldn't be seeing
each other anymore." She finalized, grabbing her bag and walking out. On
the way to her car, she called Ephram. "I'm leaving tonight. Do you want
to come with me now or meet up with me in a week?"

"I'll be over in twenty minutes. Get
the car packed."

She tossed her phone on the passenger seat
and started driving home, her face refusing to go back to its normal color.

_______________________________________________________________________

Molly sat on the apartment porch step,
crouched over and letting the painful tears flow. Damn she hated this. All of
it. Harrison and his proud, stupid ways that was causing way too much hurt for
the cause.

And the fact that she really wasn't sure if
she had a job. Any one in their right mind would fire her and never let her within
ten miles of that school ever again. But would Harrison tolerate her shameful
behavior...or would be fire her?

She bit her lip until she was sure she'd
drawl blood. What mess had she gotten herself in to now?

A red truck pulled up, visually announcing
Ephram's arrival.

"Hey girl!" He greeted happily,
the utter opposite of her.

She nodded, standing up and wrapping her
arms around his neck, pressing her lips to the base of his neck in a kiss.
"Thank you for being here and helping me set off."

He nodded, holding her to him. "I'll
drive you up there and then come back here to finish up things at the
restaurant. The moment it's all done, I'll be on my way, okay?"

She worked up a small smile to offer him.
"That sounds great, Ephram."

"Good, then let's get going."

_______________________________________________________________________

Ephram was beat by the time he reached
home, yet he wasn't ready to hit the sack just yet. After over ten hours of
driving, another fifteen minutes wouldn't kill him. After all, he had business
to take care of. Molly had told him a lot on their five hour trip together and
frankly, it had done worse than made his blood boil. He had known she was
having problems, but not that she thought she had to pack up and leave for a
few weeks because of it. It was time he started reckoning with Harrison. He
might not like getting a mouthful from what he considered a newbie, but Ephram
didn't care one bit. He was going to settle this and make Molly's life a little
more stress free.

_______________________________________________________________________

"Her car's gone? I mean, are you
sure?"

Harrison nodded at Josiah's question. He
gripped the stem of the beer mug tighter. "Ephram's brand new Chevy truck
was in its spot. She left. She told me she would and she really did it."

"So...what are you going to do about
subbing her?"

Harrison shook his head. "What am I
going to do without her? God I'm scared, Joe. What if she doesn't come back?
She's been so pissed off at me lately. For a while. What if this is it?"

"She has to come back sooner or
later."

"But not to stay. She came here for
me. What if she leaves here for the same reason? I didn't mean to lose my
temper on her. I really didn't, I just..."

"You both have been a lot different
since she started dating."

"Yeah...but do I dare blame our
problems on her dating?"

Josiah rolled his eyes. "Harrison,
look around. You're drowning your woes in a crummy, broken down bar that's the closest
one you could find. That's your third beer and you haven't drunk even one in
the four years that I've known you. You're actually talking about your problems
to me. And your best girl friend is gone and you have no idea where she's
gone, just that she must be really ticked off at you. Yeah man, I think for at
least tonight you can blame your Molly problems on her boyfriend."

Obviously, Harrison had agreed with
Josiah's half drunken logic. "Damn Ephram." He growled from the back
of his throat.

"Well, that's a start."

It wasn't Josiah's voice was replied to
him, but the man he had just swore off.

Harrison slowly turned to see the man with
the trademark curly hair standing there with a not too friendly looking.

Harrison stood up to compare heights in a
challenging way. "I'm assuming you know where Molly is?" He said with
a low, quiet voice that always was more effective than yelling...when he could
remember that fact.

"As a matter of fact, I do know where
she is."

"Oh great well then you won't mind
telling me."

Ephram shook his head. "No, contrary
to your belief, I did not come here to snitch on my girlfriend to you of all
people. I did come though, to set you straight on a few things."

"All I want to know is where the hell
my friend is."

"You're friend? Yeah, I don't think
so. Not anymore."

"What does that mean?" Harrison
shouted in his face.

Josiah put a hand on Harrison's shoulder
when he saw that his temper was building quickly.

"I mean the only reason why she left
was all because of you! She can't handle you any more so she left for a while
to get rid of you. To detatch herself."

Harrison went off on a lengthy string of
swear words until he eventually ran out. And then his anger was redirected to
the man in front of him. "Did you put her up to this?"

Ephram shook his curly head. "No
Redford, I did not. So was so frustrated with you that she left all on her
own."

"And she at least requested to be
alone?"

"Oh no, she begged for me to go and
I am. I just had a few other things to take care of at the restaurant first.
I'll be up there late tomorrow."

"Oh, so you didn't get fired from your
job to take this little road trip then, huh?"

"You fired her?" Ephram shouted
in disbelief.

"...I don't know yet. She offered the
choice to me, I didn't think it up. It never would have occurred to me."

"The fact that you'd even entertain
the very idea is disgusting."

"Excuse me but I've known her a lot
longer than you have. You don't know how she gets. Or what I have to do now
that she just decided to run away and leave me without a senior literature
teacher!"

"She's supposed to be your best friend
isn't that more important?"

"I suppose you have never heard the
theory about not hiring your family and friends. I treat Molly in school the
way I'd treat any of my workers because you have to, or else Molly would have
a whole lot more problems than what she has now. If you're so concerned about
her maybe jobless state why don't you hire her? She's a cook, she'd be great.
Why don't you move her in to your place while you're at it? Then none of you
would need to see me ever again and we can all go our happy ways."

"Uh oh." Josiah muttered, backing
away. He knew Harrison well, and knew that what he just said meant major
trouble.

His concerns were rewarded by fact
Harrison threw a fist in Ephram's direction, slamming in to his jaw.

A strange noise came from that area of
Ephram's body, but it wasn't enough to keep him down. "What the...?"
his punch aimed for the gut and hit it's goal.

Harrison had the breath knocked out of him
for a moment, which allowed Ephram to swing a few more shots, sending blood
shooting around and people yelling to call the cops. It didn't stop those two
though. Harrison, never one to be beaten, regained his feet and started to beat
the crap out of Ephram in his fury, making his blonde hair to be tinted with
red splotches.

Thanks to cops having time off, there were
some already enjoying themselves at the bar and they came running towards the
two. Josiah, not wanting to miss on the fun, quickly jumped in between the two
men getting plummled a few times from both before they realized just who was
receiving the end of their blows. But before they could correct it and set
their aims to the proper target, the cops were on all three of them, handcuffs
locking on six wrists and three slightly struggling bodies being dragged off to
the police cars.

_______________________________________________________________________

Molly rested comfortably in her indoor
hammock that gently swung back and forth. A soft melody of classic music played
from the other room.

It would be perfect, but something kept
making her drifting mind to come back to a certain though on a certain
person. Her heart strings tugged every time she thought about Harrison. It was
too soon to be able to decide what she would do about him. It was too soon to
be able to decide if she could go back to the way things had been. Maybe they
could act like nothing ever happened. Or maybe it would never go back to the
way it was before.

She loved Harrison. So much. She knew that
well. It's why her heart kept begging her to go back.

But he also constantly infuriated her. Hurt
her when his temper blazed against her own. She was partially to blame for all
this, of course. And she could take responsibility for that.

But would Harrison, or would she end up
looking like a fool?