The Hollow Hills - 1. Chapter 1

Galen

Empty. That’s the only word that comes to mind when I try to describe how I felt that afternoon, standing in the doorway to my apartment and staring at the nothingness that my life had become. Empty seemed to describe everything about that moment: my apartment; the hollow feeling inside my chest; my very existence. I sighed deeply and leaned into the doorframe dejectedly. The apartment wasn’t supposed to be empty. It was supposed to be filled with new furniture and the boxes that contained my old life from Houston. What it did have was an old couch, a flat screen TV, and a card table with two folding chairs in the little dining area off the kitchen. What it didn’t have was Jamie.

“Your furniture is on backorder. They said it would probably be another two weeks before it arrives. Liam brought some basics to tide you over in the meantime.” My landlord stood right behind me. He was probably wondering why I stopped at the doorway. Going in meant that I had to acknowledge the facts of my new existence. It meant that I had to face the emptiness. It meant that I had to admit that Jamie was gone. I wasn’t sure I was ready to do that yet. I supposed I didn’t have much of a choice in the matter though. I resignedly pushed myself away from the doorframe, took a deep breath, and walked a few steps inside.

My landlord kept prattling on about the “rules” of the small complex I moved into and little tidbits about my neighbors. I wondered what he’d be saying to them about the quiet and sullen new addition to their little community. I gave him small nods and “uh-huh”s where it seemed appropriate, and for the first time in my life actually wished for a little solitude. I think he sensed that though, because he handed me my keys and told me to knock on his door if I needed anything and then left, quietly closing the door behind him.

I’m not sure how long I stood staring unfocused at the emptiness in front of me, but eventually I sighed, took off my coat, and draped it over the back of one of the folding chairs. I laughed humorlessly when I thought about the contrast of this place to the penthouse apartment Jamie and I had shared in Houston. I could just imagine the look of horror on his face at the thought of spending even one night in a place like this. It’s a good thing I didn’t have such hang-ups.

I ran my hand through my hair and then walked woodenly over to the refrigerator to see if there was anything inside. I was pleasantly surprised to find a bottle of chocolate milk, a slice of cheesecake, and a pint of Ben and Jerry’s cookie dough ice cream when I opened up the freezer. I felt the first stirring of a smile since I arrived in Vermont briefly flit across my face as I realized that Liam remembered my comforting vices. I grabbed the Ben and Jerry’s and found that Liam had actually thought to buy me dishes and silverware, too. He also left me a handful of take-out menus, which I was particularly grateful for. I smiled a little more this time as I realized that he still knew me pretty well, even after all the years we spent apart. I’ve never had much of an aptitude for cooking. Liam was very fond of informing people that I am “Death to food”. I rolled my eyes. You give a guy food poisoning once… how was I supposed to know that you weren’t supposed to undercook chicken?

I grabbed the remote for the TV and plopped down on the couch to dig into my ice cream. I turned the TV on and static appeared on the screen. Great. So in addition to only having a couch and a card table for furniture, I didn’t have cable either. At least I had my DVD player and movies… damn. They were in one of the boxes that were currently wending their way northward from Houston. Why did it have to be winter when my life fell apart and I decided to leave the toasty south for the hell that is winter in New England? I’d have to ask the landlord where the nearest electronics store was so I didn’t have to be left alone with my thoughts any longer than necessary.

I took a bite of ice cream, but it provided no comfort to me so I put it back in the freezer and took a walk around my new living space. The kitchen was right off the living room with a small eating area and breakfast bar. The first door down the short hallway was the bathroom, and opposite that was a small bedroom. At the end of the hall was a slightly larger bedroom. Both bedrooms were completely empty. I put my head in my hands as I realized that meant that my clothes hadn’t arrived yet, either. So in addition to shopping for entertainment, now I also needed to shop for a wardrobe for the week. I actually perked up a bit at that though, since I am not a typical male when it comes to clothes shopping. I am a bit of a clothes snob and love to spend hours trying on everything in the store. I smiled imagining the look on Liam’s face when I informed him that we’re going clothes shopping.

A knock on the door interrupted my musings. I opened it, expecting to see the landlord, but instead, looked up into the blue eyes of the blond-haired hunk standing before me in his tan sheriff’s uniform.

“I see you made it, cuz.” Liam said, grabbing me in his arms and lifting me off the ground.

I grunted “Ugh! Let go of me, you beast!”

He walked into the apartment a few steps before setting me down and closing the door. “I can’t tell you how good it is to have you back here, Galen.” Liam said. He looked around the mostly empty apartment and gave me an apologetic look. “I ripped the furniture company a new one for not having all your stuff here in time. Lot of good it did.”

I shrugged and slumped my shoulders. “Not a big deal, cuz. It’s the story of my life lately. I can sleep on the couch for a little bit. I’ll live.” My tone of voice must have belied my words because Liam put his hand on my shoulder and squeezed.

“How are you holding up?” he asked softly.

“Fine.” I said, apparently unconvincingly, because the next thing I knew Liam had his arms around me and I was sobbing into his chest. He just held me tightly and I could feel his cheek on the top of my head as he caressed my back and let me cry out the pain and betrayal of the past six months all over his shirt.

Once I started to calm down, he walked me over to the couch and sat down, with me still in his arms. “It’ll be ok, little bro. It may not seem like it now, but you’ll be ok.”

I sniffled and wiped my face on my sleeve. “Why did he do it, Liam? What did I do that was so wrong?”

I felt Liam stiffen in my arms and he said tersely, “You didn’t do a damn thing wrong. Jamie’s the asshole, not you.”

I took a shuddering breath and reminded him, “He was once your best friend, you know.”

Liam sighed. “He stopped being my best friend a long time ago. He stopped being any kind of friend the minute he hurt you. If I see him anywhere near you again, I promised him I’d beat the shit out of him.”

I smiled into chest, then pushed away from him and sat up. “You always were my protector.”

Liam looked at me pointedly. “You know you can stay with me until your furniture arrives. I have that whole house to myself. I don’t understand why you won’t move in with me.”

I sighed and shook my head. “We’ve been over this already, Liam. I’ve never lived on my own. Hell, I don’t think I’ve even slept on my own more than a handful of times since I was thirteen. I need to learn how to live by myself.”

“I guess I can understand that.” Liam stated. “Hey, are you hungry? We can order in a pizza.”

I gave him a mischievous look. “Why don’t we eat out? My stuff hasn’t arrived yet and I need to do some shopping.”

Liam groaned and shook his head. “Shopping? Oh, hell no!”

I chucked him lightly on the shoulder. “Oh yes, dear cousin.” I grinned at him. “We are going shopping.” The look on his face was exactly as I imagined.

*****

Over the next few weeks I started to get a feel for my new life. Well, I don’t know if “feel” is exactly the right word since I wasn’t feeling much of anything. I threw myself into my work and did my best not to let the emptiness consume me. My furniture arrived, as did my belongings. I was very fortunate that the company I worked for in Houston also had a branch in Boston.

As part of my negotiations for the transfer I stipulated that I be allowed more freedom to work from home, since Boston was a pretty long drive. I did take quite a few trips up to the Boston offices though, and took on more work than I normally would in an attempt to keep from obsessing over Jamie. I didn’t leave the apartment much, except to buy food or go to the coffee shop on the corner. If I found I needed a bit of a change of scenery I would take my laptop to the coffee shop and do some work there.

Liam stopped by often, and made Thursdays our “lunch” day. No matter what our schedules were, we were going to make sure we set aside that time to catch up. We were pretty successful with keeping to that promise, although the times tended to differ depending on if Liam had a call or not. We always ate at my place, and Liam would bring pizza or burgers or Chinese food, depending on our mood. He tried to get me to open up about Jamie and his betrayal, but I shut him out and really didn’t want to talk about it. It just hurt too deeply.

Liam kept trying to get me to come and meet Alannah. He met her a few years ago shortly after he moved to the area and was head over heels in love with her, although the jackass wouldn’t admit it. Ever since he met her she was the topic of conversation whenever he called. I really did want to meet her, but the truth was that I honestly didn’t want to be around anything even remotely romantic. That’s saying a lot for me, since I’m a total sap when it comes to romantic stuff. He finally managed to pin me down to a date, so I had no choice in the matter. I had no idea how much that dinner was going to change my life.