Preta's Realm Read Online Free

heavy metal and afternoon talk shows, an unthinkable compromise to the teenager he once was. The clouds suffocated the landscape, swallowing the snow-covered lawns of suburbia. Spring would arrive in less than forty days through the seemingly eternal vise-grip of winter. As the disembodied voices continued to chatter through the stereo speakers, Drew’s mind floated back to her.
    “Why did you do that?”
    “Retract it?”
    “No. Send it. Why did you send it in the first place?”
    Vivian pushed a strand of dark hair behind her ear and crossed her legs in the chair. “I was hurt. I lashed out.”
    “You could have ruined my career, my marriage, my life.”
    Again, Vivian uncrossed and re-crossed her legs. Drew caught glimpses of the garter straps at the top of her thighs. He looked around as if he could will another human to enter the break room. The microwave and mini-fridge sat silently, offering no help.
    “I’ll be here,” she said.
    “You have to let this be, Vivian. Please.”
    “You and I are fated, Drew. I felt it the first time we met. You’ll come to me and I’ll be here. I promise.”
    She stood and placed a benign kiss on his left cheek. He felt the moist, warm touch of her lips that made his entire upper body twitch. She let her breath linger on his skin long enough to raise the hairs on the back of his neck, before she tossed her hair to the side, opened the break room door, and strutted back to her cubicle.
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 4
    “You’re sitting in the driveway?”
    Drew looked out the driver-side window at Molly, standing there in the snow-packed driveway, her coat pulled tight to her chest with her left hand. The engine was still running, the radio personalities still arguing.
    “Yeah. Didn’t want to miss the end of this segment. Interesting stuff on global finance.”
    Molly gave Drew a half-hearted smile and then climbed through the snow to the garage door. She kicked the clinging ice from her boots and stepped inside. Drew turned the volume knob to the left and winced at the sting of the little white lie. He turned the ignition off and sat in the car listening to the engine block ping and crack where extreme heat met extreme cold.
    Gotta quit looking over my shoulder , he thought as he reached to the passenger seat to grab his messenger bag and gloves.
    ***
    “Are you okay?” Molly asked.
    “Yeah, hon. I’m fine,” replied Drew.
    “You seem to be a bit out of it recently. I was just mentioning it in case you thought it might be wise to see Dr.—“
    “I said I’m fine,” replied Drew, cutting off Molly’s sentence.
    “I can’t go through that again. I mean I would, cause I love you, but I just don’t know if I have the strength.”
    Drew looked at Molly and saw the scars on her psyche caused by his breakdown. He thought about her coming out to the driveway this evening and could not remember how long he sat there once he shoved it into park.
    “I’m fine, really. I’ll go and have them double-check the dosage if you think I should.”
    She reached across the table and placed her hand on his. He saw the sparkle of her grandmother’s engagement ring in the light and the way it reflected off her eyes made his heart flutter.
    “With the kids now, it’s just that—“
    “I fucking heard you the first time!”
    The wall shook from the force of Drew’s chair smashing into it. Several glasses on the table toppled and rolled to the edge, dispersing milk to the floor below. When Billy and Sara came running into the dining room, Molly clutched the collar of her shirt to her neck and ushered them up the steps and into their bedrooms.
    Drew walked to the living room and collapsed on the couch. He felt the walls closing in, his vision narrowing with the onset of the migraine. He thought about his outburst and the look on Molly’s face for a split second before seeping back into his anger. The television war between Tom and Jerry continued as Jerry shoved a