The Good Life

Jack

"Are you ready to leave?" David asked as he walked into my temporary office. It was midnight and our last night here but I needed to do one last check to make sure their first day would run smoothly without us here.

"No I need to do some more stuff. You can go on without me I'll only be an hour." I told him. We both had separate rental cars so we didn't have to leave together.

"Are you sure? It's kind of late." He worried. "I'll just stay here and wait for you."

"No go so you can relax before our long flight tomorrow. I'll be fine, there's a patrol officer that watches the building." I assured him.

"Okay if you say so. Just text me when you make it to your room."

"I will. Goodnight, David!"

"Goodnight." He said as he walked out of the office.

I stayed at the computer sending emails and checking the system to make sure it would be running perfectly tomorrow. I chose a guy who attended Cambridge and had a double masters in marketing and business. I also made sure he was sane and nothing at all like Tyler.

Our flight was leaving at 10am and it is ten and a half hours long. I gave us the following week off so we could rest up, but I guess I needed to get to bed now to make sure I would actually wake up in the morning to catch our flight. If they had any small problems I'm sure we could solve them over the phone. I packed up my stuff and turned off the lights as I left the office.

The building kind of resembled mine, there were the main offices for the people like David and I and the cubicles for the call center workers. I smiled to myself as I waited for the elevator to come take me to the parking lot. It felt like I would never get this branch open and operating. It felt like a heavy weight was lifted off my shoulders knowing that this was all over with.

I was finally in the parking garage a few steps away from my rental car, but I noticed there was another car parked in here too. I didn't think there was anyone else in the building. I saw the driver door open and a man step out of the car.

It was Tyler and he was holding what looked like a gun in his left hand. My brain screamed for me to run to my car, but my heart told me not to make any sudden movements.

". . . Tyler what are you doing here?!" I nervously asked.

"Sit your keys on the ground Jack." He said calmly.

"W-What are you doing here?" I asked him again, ignoring his request.

He pointed the gun at me and repeated firmly, "I said sit the keys on the ground."

I quickly dropped them to the ground and began to beg for my life. "Ty-Tyler please! You don't have to do this!" If he didn't shoot me I was probably going to die of shock from having an actual gun pointing at me.

"No I really do. It's the only way we can be together. See I realized something. As long as you have that husband and child of yours you'll never really admit that you love me. So first I was planning on killing . . . Isabella is it? I followed her and her friends to some fast food place from school one day and I was going to shoot her when she walked out. I put on a ski mask and I was ready to shoot but a cop pulled into the drive through and I didn't want to risk getting arrested before I could get Alex. So I decided to let her live for that day." The entire time he spoke I had to cover my mouth to stop myself from screaming at him. Izzy could have died that day because of this psycho. I felt sick.

"I went to pay Alexander a visit at his job a few days later. I knew that once I killed him you would finally admit you love me and we could deal with Izzy later. When I walked through the school doors a security guard stopped me and asked me to go to the office to get a visitors pass. They had metal detectors on the door and that wouldn't have worked out to well for me so I had to leave him. While I waited in the parking lot for him to come out I got the idea that I could just kill us and we could spend eternity together. Just something simpler, you know? And now I've been waiting here in London for you and the perfect time to do this."

"You tried to kill my family?" I whispered with tears falling down my cheeks.

"Yes but I was going to do it for us!" He exclaimed. "We can finally live the lives we were supposed to live together, Jack."

"You're fucking crazy!!" I yelled at him.

"Yes I'm crazy for you. Now stand still you won't feel a thing." He said and walked closer to me. I heard the gun cock and I panicked.

"Tyler please! I don't want to die!" I cried out.

"Shhh Baby you won't be alone for long. I'll be right there with you." He came over and began to stoke my cheek. “I love you.”

I shivered as his hand touched me but I didn't want to make him angry and automatically shoot me by pushing him away. He kissed the side of my forehead and moved back a little holding the gun in the exact spot he just kissed. I'd rather this he kill me and himself than Alex and Izzy. I just accepted that I was going to die at this point and I just begged any God to watch over my family and help them though this tough time. I shut my eyes tightly and waited for my death.

"Happy thoughts." He whispered. I heard two gun shots, but they sounded like they were further away. I looked down to see I had blood on me but when I felt the spots I didn't feel any holes in my body. I must have been in deep shock because I didn't hear Tyler's body fall to the ground and I didn't hear the patrol officer shouting asking me if I was okay. I only realized he was talking to me when he violently shook me to wake me out of my daze. By now I could hear sirens getting closer to our location.

"Mr. Barakat talk to me! Are you alright? Did he hurt you?" He asked frantically. I still couldn't speak though. I just broke down into tears and let him hold me until the emergency crew got here.

The paramedics went to Tyler's bleeding out body to help him and part of me want to push them out of the way so he could slowly die. Five police cars pulled into the parking garage and ten cops got out of the car and rushed over to Officer Butler and me. One of them wrapped a blanket around me and another pulled me away so I would have to see Tyler anymore. I heard an EMT say "call it" as I was pulled away which made me breathe in relief. Tyler was dead.

"Let me through! I need to see him!!" I heard David yell as he pushed past an officer to get to me. "Jack what happened? What's going on?" He cried.

"Sir you need to leave this is a crime scene." An officer told him.

"It's okay I know him." I said loud enough for them to hear me. The officer nodded and let him stay.

"What happened?" David asked again.

"Tyler was waiting to...to kill me here." That was all I could manage to say before fresh tears and sobs came.

"Oh my God! I shouldn't have left you here by yourself. I should have stayed here with you." He said and I shook my head. If David would have stayed Tyler would have killed him. "You need to call Alex."

"He’s going to feel so helpless because there's nothing he could do from the states." I sniffled.
"You have to stay a little longer. They’re going to need a testimony from you. Alex's going to need to know what's going on when you're not at the airport tomorrow." He said.

I sighed knowing he was right. "Okay. Call him." I unlocked my phone and gave it to him. I wouldn't be able to get a sentence out without crying and I didn't need Alex to panic more than he was already going to."

David pressed Alex's name and held the phone to his ear. It was just 5pm in San Diego.

"Hello?" David said. "No Alex i-it's David...everything is uh fine now but....he's okay he's okay! I promise! It's just there was an um it was an um shit how do I explain this? Well it turns out that Tyler was here in the parking lot waiting on Jack to um hurt him and luckily the patrolling officer shot Tyler before he could do anything to Jack...yeah he's sitting right next to me...okay." David handed me the phone with a sympathetic look. I took a deep breath and tried to sound like my normal self.

"Alex." I said and my voice trembled.

"Jack! Baby please tell me you're okay...I just...I just want to hear it from you." He told me. I could tell by his voice that he was on the verge of crying which of course made me cry harder.

"I'm fine. I promise." I sniffled.

"I'm getting up and going to the airport now. I need to be with you."

"No no I'm going to talk to an officer to see if I do a testimony tonight would it be okay for me to leave tomorrow morning." I told him.

"I just...I can't...I-I-" he stumbled over his words and an officer called me over so I could go with them to the station.

"Shh it's okay. I'm okay. But I have to go now, it's time for me to go to the station. I'll call you when I'll leave there." I said.

"...Okay." He whispered. I could tell he didn't want to hang up and neither did I but the sooner we got this over with the sooner I could get back home. Back to him and Izzy.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

***

When I landed from my almost Eleven hour flight my mom, May, Alex, Izzy, Danny, Evan, Oli, Hannah, Cass, Rian, and Austin were all waiting for me at my terminal. I embarrassed myself by crying in the airport but I couldn't help it. I thought I wouldn't never see them again. The London police let me go once they got a recorded testimony from me.

After I received hugs and kisses from everyone there we went back to our house to share one big family moment. It was just everyone sitting in the living room trying to grasp what had happened. I must have told the story four times but I had to stop because each time I told it was like I was reliving it all over again.

I had been wrapped in Alex's arms for almost two hours straight on the couch. I didn't think he was going to let go any time soon and I didn't want him too. The idea of him and my mother having to plan a funeral for me was enough to push more tears out of my eyes.

"It's okay, you're okay." Alex whispered in my ear as he rubbed my back. My face was pressed into his chest so his shirt was soaked and wet. I was just so sick of crying in front of everyone.

"Honey you should go to bed and rest up. You're going to make yourself sick." My mother warned. I nodded my head and let her help me off the couch. I looked to Alex to see if he wanted to come with me but he said, "I'll be there in a minute. I just need some fresh air."

"We'll go with you." Rian said and he and Oli walked out to the backyard with him.

Izzy had cried herself to sleep earlier and Austin carried her to her bed so she was still asleep in there. May, Hannah, Cass, Danny, Austin, and Evan. Evan was on the verge of falling asleep next to Cass and she took it upon herself to soothing him by rubbing his back as he laid down. Danny was trying doing anything to keep a conversation with May that kept her from thinking of the “what ifs”.
When my mom and I made it to my bedroom she pulled my shoes off for me and pulled the covers back so I could lay in bed. She laid down next to me on Alex's side as she began to run her fingers through my hair as she talked.

"When Alex called me and tried to explain what happened, I had flashbacks to when a nurse called to tell me it was your fathers time to go." Tears began to fall from my mother’s eyes and her voice became shaky. "And I stopped him mid-sentence and told if he was calling to tell me that my son...my baby was . . . dead then he should just hang up because I can't do this again. And when he told me that you were fine and that I would be able to see you again, to hear you laugh, that I would get to touch you and hold you I cried because in my mind you were dead and it felt like I was given a second chance. So that made realize how little time I actually spend with you and May the holidays aren't enough anymore so I’ve decided that I'm going to move here by the end of this year. I just need to be closer to you two just . . . in case."

"Mom what about Aunt Julie you won't be able to see her as much anymore." I said. I loved the idea of my mom moving her and being closer to us, but I wanted her to think it through.
"We can always visit each other and it's not like we see each other every day anyways." She chuckled.

"I just want to make sure you'll be content with this huge decision you're making." I said.

"I'm sure I want to do this. I just need to be closer to you and your sister.”

"I’m really happy to hear that mom.”

She pulled me closer to her and kissed me on the forehead. I’m going to look for her a house close to us this weekend to speed up the process and to distract me from thinking about my near death experience.

*Alex*

"No you guys don't understand! If he would have killed Jack I swear I would have killed. Izzy would have to live with you and Cass or you and Hannah while I was in jail because I would have slit his fucking throat." It felt like my bones were on fire.

I was in the backyard talking to Rian and Oli while they tried to calm me down. That wouldn't happen any time soon with the amount of rage and sadness I was feeling at the moment. I've been on edge ever since David called me. I probably needed to sleep to help relax me, but I wasn't in the mood for that. I couldn't be still at the moment.

"I would have held him down as you did it. Hell we probably would have only gotten second-degree murder.” Oli said.

“That’s not helping Oli.” Rian said going into mom mode. “Alex listen to me! Jack is alive he's literally in the house, as we speak, breathing. So stop thinking about what ifs, stop thinking about what could have happened okay? Everything is fine. Jack's okay, you're okay, Izzy's okay; you're all well and alive. And I don't mean pretend this never happened I just mean you should remind yourself that everything is okay so you don't worry yourself sick about it."

"I'm trying to but all I can think about is never seeing Jack again. You know? Waking up to an empty spot in our bed for the rest of my life all because-." I could finish because my eyes were burning and tears was starting to fall again.

"Alex." Rian sighed as he pulled me into him and let me cry on his shoulder. Oli’s seen me cry before so I wasn't as ashamed in front of him, but it was kind of weird crying in front of Rian.
I needed to get all of my tears out before I went back in the house to Jack. I needed to be strong for him so that he could cry on my shoulder. I stayed out for ten more minutes with them trying to compose myself before going back in.

"Do I look like I've been crying?" I asked.

"You're eyes are fucking bloodshot red of course you look like you've been cry." He laughed and I laughed along with him which felt good.

"Some help you are." I joked.

We walked back inside to see Cass, Evan, and Austin sleeping on one couch, Danny with a lightly crying May on another.

"Where did Jack go?" I asked Danny.

"He's in you guys room." He told me.

"We're going to go, Alex. I'll call you later to check on everyone." Rian said. He woke Austin up and then slowly picked up Cass and put her over his shoulder without waking her or Evan. Oli and Hannah left too just to give us more privacy.

"Bye." I told them.

I walked back into our bedroom to see Joyce lightly stroking Jacks hair as he laid sound asleep.
"Oh sorry. I'll give you a moment." I apologized. Jack was her son first and I didn't want to ruin her moment with him.

"Nonesense! Come lay down next to him." She whispered.

I thanked her and went to lay down on the backside of Jack. I placed my ear to his back so that I could fall asleep to the sound of his heartbeat.

Notes

I was so worried about this chapter, I understand if you don't really like it. Also I went to see Full Frontal Live today in Dallas and I'm not sure how I'm still alive.

Title Credit: Currents Convulsive by Pierce the Veil