Chapter 13: Leaving

Cole was a Martinson; he wasn’t used to making empty promises. But when he promised Harper that everything would be okay, he wasn’t so sure that was going to be the case. He whispered sweet nothings into her hair until she quieted down then he sat her onto her bed. “I’m going to go talk to your brother to see what he knows, okay?” She nodded. He gave her a gentle kiss on her lips then went to Harvey’s room. Knock knock. “Come in!” Cole stepped in, “Harvey, we need to talk.” Harvey, sensing it was serious, sat his controller down, “Okay, what’s up?” “Your dad is suing me for having sex with your sister.” Harvey blinked, “What?” “He wants $500,000 in compensation and has made it a public ordeal. On top of that, Jacobs called and said I could be fired if this issue wasn’t resolved soon. They don’t want ‘rapists’ in the military.” Harvey’s mouth worked for a moment before any sound came out. He shook his head and very intelligently asked, “What?” Cole rolled his eyes, “Did you not hear anything I said?” Harvey nodded, “I did. But why are you telling me?” “Your dad is fucking suing me!” “Do you want me to talk to him? You know, try and talk him out of this bullshit?” “No Harvey, I want you to give him all the evidence he needs so I can be found guilty.” Harvey was so confused until he noticed that Cole was pissed off beyond reason and was being sarcastic. Harvey nodded, “I’ll give him a call. I’ll talk to Jacobs as well. He knows us better than most people; he knows you’d never rape someone. He probably just said it for formality.” “He also concluded that my brothers could be charged with illegally obtaining and distributing alcohol.” “Shit. Well, as long as that doesn’t come out, you should be good.” Cole ran his fingers through his hair; this was going to be stressful.
Over the next month, Cole was exactly right. He was stressed over the case, Harper was stressed over him being stressed, resulting in Emerald crying more. It was all a mess. Cole had never argued with Harper before but throughout the month he yelled at her constantly. Their relationship was falling apart so soon after it came together. Two days before Harper’s 18th birthday, the court case came to an end. “In the case of Turner v. Martinson on the charges of rape, we the jury have found Cole Martinson to be not guilty.” Relief should have washed over Cole but at the moment, he was wound so tight regarding Harper that he couldn’t even be happy that this sham of a lawsuit was over. He turned around as everyone got up to leave. Harper was already on her way out. At the moment, they weren’t even really speaking to one another. He followed everyone out. Instead of going home, he went to Harper’s. Now that this case was over, he wanted to make things right with her. Unfortunately, she had other plans. He walked in on her packing a suitcase. “What’s going on? Where are you going?” he asked. “Shh,” she said, motioning to Emerald. He lowered his voice, “What the hell are you doing Harp?” “Packing.” “No shit. For what?” “I’m leaving.” “What do you mean you’re leaving?” “I will no longer be living here.” This woman had a way of testing his patience. “Explain Harper.” She looked him in the eye, “I got accepted to Princeton.” That he wasn’t expecting. When had she even applied? Why hadn’t she told him? Where did that leave him, their relationship, and their daughter? “What? That’s all the way on the east coast.” “Yup. Far away from here.” “What the hell Harper? What about Emerald?” “What about her? She’s coming with me.” “She’s my daughter too.” “Cole, you’ll be leaving soon.” He clenched his jaw. Why did this situation remind him of his ex? Oh right, because she took off when he was gone too. And just like that, all his willpower to fight Harper so she would stay in his life flew out the window. What had he been thinking dating a teenager? Of course she wouldn’t stick around when he was gone. She wanted to be free and experience life. She’d only been with him while he was around. He took a step back, “Fine.” That was the last thing he said to her and walked out. When he was in his car, he called his commanding officer. He got his touring schedule then called Walter. When he would be back home, he wanted custody of his daughter. He cast one last glance at the house, a part of him hoping Harper would come out and tell him it was all a joke. But no such thing happened, so he drove away.
Harper watched Cole’s car drive away with tears running down her cheeks. Emerald, who had previously been asleep, seemed to sense that her dad was leaving for good because she chose that moment to wake and start crying. Harper turned away from the window to tend to the child that she shared with Cole. She could no longer stay in a relationship with Cole. The time during his trial proved that to her. He was perfect when everything was fine but as soon as shit hit the fan, he turned on everyone, including her. She’d never stressed more in her life than then. But more importantly, she wanted to get an education so that she could build a career for herself. Emerald wasn’t going to stop her. She and Cole had spoken about it once and he made it very clear that she could get a relationship after Emerald was at least one; he didn’t want his daughter’s earliest days to be spent under the eye of a nanny. From Harper’s point of view, he hadn’t even considered how she felt about that. So she was leaving. She was going to get her life together and if Cole fit in there sometime later, way later, down the road, she’ll consider it. And by “fit” she meant romantically since she still loved him. He’d always be in her life so long as Emerald Sky Martinson was around. Another reason she was leaving was because of her dad. He lost his bid to get $500,000 and who better to take his anger out on than her? She’d unconditionally supported Cole; so had Harvey, but Harvey was a grown man and he was in the army. She was a teenage girl and her father, as of late, had been quite unstable. So, to avoid Cole and her father, she was going to Princeton.