Out of Time 01 - Out of Time

hand stilled on the doorknob. “I’ll have King’s car drop me off at the club.”
    “Elizabeth...”
    She shook her head. “I think you’ve said enough,” she said and closed the door behind her.
    * * *
    Bloody, fucking hell.
    The harder he tried to hold her, the further he pushed her away. But this was madness. The idea of her going to dinner with that man to protect him. Could she possibly find a better way to emasculate him? Good God, was that what this was really about? His male pride. Was he that selfish? Yes, he was. He was a selfish bastard. A complete idiot who’d somehow cleverly managed to hurt the one person in the world he wanted to protect.
    She’d come back not long after storming out. No words were exchanged. They shared the bed, but nothing else. They were two people separated by a chasm of inches. His sleep had been fitful at best, a few uneasy hours tossing and turning, before he gave up.
    They spent the morning sharing a tense silence. The afternoon scratched along, until it was nearly time for the dinner. Everything that could be said, had been.
    Elizabeth dressed quietly and left. He ground his teeth and stood stupidly in their small room. He knew he couldn’t stop her, but damn well had to at least try. He grabbed his coat and bolted out of the apartment.
    She was standing in front of the club waiting for King’s car when he found her.
    “Elizabeth, I...”
    She crossed her arms over her chest. “You what?”
    “I came to say I’m sorry, but I’m not. Honestly, I hate this. I detest the very idea.”
    “Thanks for rushing down and sharing that.”
    “You’re not making this any easier.”
    “Making what easier? You’ve made it clear where you stand—this is stupid and I’m stupid for doing it.”
    “That’s not what I meant.”
    Just when the words he’d struggled to find were almost in his reach, King’s two-tone sedan pulled up to the curb, and the driver stepped out. A hundred protestations, a thousand pleadings choked his throat. All that came out was one simple word. “Please?”
    The driver opened the door and waited.
    Elizabeth smiled sadly and touched his cheek. “I’ll be back,” she said and then stepped into the car.
    He watched numbly as the sedan pulled away, slipped into traffic and disappeared. He stood on the sidewalk long after it had gone, staring down the busy city street.

Chapter Twenty One
    T wilight blanketed the city. Dull, gray light swallowed the afternoon shadows. Depth and perspective muted into a flat, colorless world. Simon stood motionless, only dimly aware of the city bustling around him. Cars, no more than blurs of black, crowded the street. People, hurried and faceless, wove their way around him. And he stood.
    He’d let her go. It all seemed an impossible dream, a scene from one of his nightmares. Perhaps it was. His heart thrummed against his ribs, every sinew in his body taut, and yet, he couldn’t move. He vaguely wondered if he was suffering from apoplexy.
    He was a fool. A simple, excruciating answer to a complex question. The constant barrage of his nightmares had somehow left him in submission to fate. An entropy of will in the face of the inevitable.
    But what could he have done? Thrown her over his shoulder and carted her off to parts unknown? She would have hated him for it, but she would have been safe. Did he really need her love and acceptance more than her life itself?
    He’d been so dazed by the revelation that she loved him, that he could be loved, that he’d accepted the transience of it all. After all, to love someone was to lose them. But now that he’d tasted what life could be like, there was no going back. The few weeks they’d shared weren’t enough. A lifetime with Elizabeth wouldn’t be enough.
    It was a graceless epiphany, but one nonetheless. Invigorated with a purpose, Simon turned on his heels and marched to the door of Charlie’s Blues in the Night. He pushed past Lester and called out to Charlie. Charlie leaned against the cash register talking to Dix when he noticed Simon. “Professor, what can I—”
    “King,” Simon interrupted. “Where can I find King Kashian?”
    “Ah, you don’t need to—”
    “Where?”
    Charlie cast a quick, nervous glance at Dix and then rubbed his nose. “I don’t know, Professor.”
    Simon grunted impatiently. “Then I’ll ask elsewhere.”
    “Wait!” Charlie said, as he came out from behind the bar. “Why do you want to find King?”
    Simon