by T. L Smith
I look back outside, then turn to face her. “You run. I run. We are going to run together. Now.”
Her face is shocked as she stares at me. “You want to run with me?” she asks in disbelief.
“Did I stutter and not make sense?”
She bites her lip and looks down. “You don’t even like me. Why would you want to run with me?”
“We are going to get to know one another. So that starts with me running with you today.” My eyes scan her body. “Now, hurry up and get dressed.” I turn and start my stretching routine. When I don’t hear her move, I turn around, and she’s still standing there staring at me as if I have grown a second head. “Theadora.” My voice seems to snap her out of her trance, and she turns, running to her room. She doesn’t keep me waiting too long, and soon she’s out, dressed in tights and a long-sleeved shirt and joggers. Her hair is up in a messy ponytail with AirPods in her ears.
“I don’t talk when I run, so keep up and shut up,” she tells me. I smirk at her as she starts to stretch. She bends over in front of me, and it takes everything in me not to reach out and touch her ass. When she stands, she stretches one arm and looks behind her, at me.
“Can you keep up?” she asks.
“The question is… can you?” I take off, and it doesn’t take her long to catch up. Theadora runs next to me, never once slowing her pace. She’s fast. I knew she liked to run, but I didn’t expect her to be this quick. When we get to a crossing, I come to a stop, but she stays jogging on the spot, and before I can say a word, the light changes, and she’s off again. I never expected I would have to keep up with her, but somehow, I do. When we reach the end of her trail, she slows down and jogs on the spot while removing one AirPod, and she isn’t even out of breath.
“Did you run track?” I ask.
“Yes.” She looks at me, waiting for me to keep talking.
I damn well didn’t expect to be outrun, but she has great stamina. “Go. I’ll catch up.”
She eyes me suspiciously and does just that, starts running back in the direction we came.
Theadora is sitting out the front of her house with two bottles of water in her hands when I get back. She passes me one as I sit next to her.
“No one keeps up with me, don’t be ashamed.” Her voice is playful. But what she doesn’t know is that I succeed in almost everything I do. Losing is never an option. “Don’t be so sour,” she says, nudging me. “You will set your face in a permeant scowl one day.”
I turn to look at her and see her smiling. It’s genuine. Until she realizes I am not, and I watch as it drops from her pink lips.
“You are good. Why have you stopped?” I ask.
“Why are you here?” she asks, back to avoiding my question.
I think on it a bit. I could tell her the truth, but that would do no one any good. So, instead, I offer her a half-truth. “You are meant to be a means to an end. Instead, I am getting lost somewhere in the middle.”
She’s quiet, and when I turn to look at her, she’s staring up at the sky.
“I’m not Lucy. I don’t chase or want to be chased by someone who is bad. Bad and me just don’t mix. It doesn’t entice me nor make me all hot and bothered. She has always wanted the bad boy, while I am more than content to have a man who tells me every day how much I mean to him, instead of letting me guess.” When I don’t speak, she turns to look at me. “So, use me the same way you would her, Atlas. Because I don’t want this game. I didn’t sign up for it. All I want is for this to be over so I can go back to my normal life.”
I stand at her words. She looks up at me with her sky-blue eyes, and I wonder how someone can be so perfect.
“You and Lucy are different, that is no lie,” I tell her. “One is better than the other, that’s for sure,” I say while walking away to the waiting car.
I will let her ponder over my words, wondering which I prefer.
Chapter Fifteen
Theadora
‘One is better than the other, that’s for sure.’ What on earth does that even mean? I watch as he gets in his car, then he looks back.
“When should I be expecting you again?” I ask while standing, my hands running down my sides smoothing my shirt.
His hands are on the wheel. “We can run tomorrow.” Then he’s gone, pulling out into traffic so quickly the wheels spin.
Tomorrow? Shit!
I don’t want to run with him tomorrow. He is a distraction enough as it is. And his cryptic words make him hard to understand.
Getting inside, my cell starts ringing. I look at the caller ID and don’t recognize it, so I start undressing. When it rings again, I contemplate ignoring it because it would be the smart thing to do. It’s what I’d usually do, but something pulls me to it, and soon I’m answering.
“Thea.” My name is sung into the phone.
I know that voice, and I know it well.
“Lucy,” I say, surprised.
“Yes. Look, Thea, I don’t have long. He’s on his way back.”
“Who, Lucy?”
“Sir…” she pauses. “I mean Atlas. He went out this morning, and I snuck one of the men’s cell phones. Listen, Thea, you need to get away. Don’t worry about me. Don’t worry about Atlas. Just go.”
“Lucy… I signed up to help because you stole from him.”
“I had to,” she screams.
“Lucy…” It’s always the same with her. She gets herself worked up into a state where you have to calm her down with a soft voice. “Calm down and breathe.”
“He likes you. And Atlas doesn’t like anyone,” she says between harsh breathes. “Honestly. He doesn’t like anyone, Thea, and he likes you. Run. Now.” Then she hangs up the phone before she says any more. Looking down at my cell, I want to call the number back, but I can’t because she rang from a private number. Grabbing my keys, I head out the front and start running straight to Lucy’s home. Reaching the stairs, I take them two at a time, and when I finally get to the front door, it’s shut. It’s not locked, which I didn’t expect it to be, as every other time I have come here it’s been open, so I head straight in to Lucy’s room and start going through her things. Her drawers consist of a lot of underwear and skimpy clothing. What the hell does she do when it gets cold, freeze?
My cell rings again, and this time I’m too eager to answer it. “Lucy,” I say, hoping it will be her again.
“So, she did ring you.” Atlas’s strong voice comes through, so I do the only thing I can think of, I hang up on him and throw my cell phone. Lifting her mattress, I look underneath. When I do, I stop dead. There are pictures. Pictures of me. Pictures of Atlas. But none are taken of me in a sisterly way. No. These are pictures taken without my consent and without my knowledge.
Lifting one up, I look at it. I’m wearing my red skirt with knee-high brown boots. I remember this day. I had to meet with Chloe as we went brand shopping, and Jesse, her husband, was out of town. Why has she got pictures of us? And why are they under her bed?
Reaching for a picture of Atlas, it’s one of him in his familiar black suit getting out of his car with a woman by his side, who I know as the lady who delivers my dresses. She doesn’t look happy, but then again, she probably never does.
I collect the pictures and stuff them into a bag. I knock on the other bedroom door, Mandy’s room, to let her know I’m here. She’s probably too high to even know it’s me. Or even care, for that matter.
“Mandy.” There’s no answer when I call out her name. Knocking again, the door opens a few inches, and I see Mandy lying on her bed with her eyes wide open. I freeze, the bag in my hand dropping to the floor at the same time my cell starts ringing again.
“Hello,” I say in shock. How I manage to speak any words surprises me.
“Theadora.”
“She’s dead! I think she’s dead,” I say, my voice quivering as I walk closer. I look at her chest and hope and pray she’s sleeping with her eyes open, and that her chest is actually moving. Clos
ing my eyes, Atlas says my name again. I blink my eyes open and look—she’s definitely not moving.
Two bodies in two days.
How is this my life?
How is death my life now?
I didn’t ask for this.
I do not want this.
So why do I have all this chaos in my life?
“It’s you… you are bringing death all around me,” I manage to say before stepping out of her room and shaking my head.
“Theadora, where are you?”
“You probably killed her too. Didn’t you?” I ask him, walking out the same way I came in, being ultra-careful not to touch anything.
“No, Theadora. Now tell me where you are.”
“You are the worst possible thing to walk into my life, and I cannot wait until the day you walk out,” I say, wiping the tears away from my face, turning and leaving.
I run, run all the way home, and when I get there, the first thing I do is lock my door and hide in my room.
I don’t open it even when he knocks an hour later.
Then again when he comes back later that night.
I don’t open it at all.
Sometimes you just have to be free from the clutches of someone who doesn’t deserve you.
Atlas Hyde. I googled him, and what came up was a lot. There were pages and pages full of information about him. I was surprised, but every picture of him was perfect. Almost too perfect. I wouldn’t be surprised if he had a hand in picking what photographs were used as well. He likes to control everything.
Managing to get myself up the next day and ready for work, I open the door with no expectations. I see him standing there, so I shut the door in his face and stand holding the doorknob, unsure of what I should be doing.
“Theadora.” I’ve built up an aversion to the way he keeps saying my name. Always it in fucking full, and honestly, I want to scream at him to stop it. “Theadora, you forgot to lock it.” The door is pushed in, and I’m helpless to stop it as he comes face-to-face with me. My hands drop to my sides, my shoulders slump, and I stare at him, wondering why he’s here.
“You keep showing up. Why do you keep showing up?” I ask while shaking my head. “Stop it, Atlas, just stop it. Tell me what you need me to do, and that’s it. I didn’t agree to any of this. This is not me paying my sister’s debt back,” I say, waving my hand between us. “I didn’t agree to your games. Is this what you do for all your girls, or am I just special?” I ask the question with more venom.
“You have a function at your work next weekend, I plan to be your date.” My mouth opens and then closes at his words. That makes no sense. How on earth would he know about that?
He’s ignoring all my questions.
Atlas is good at that.
“No. No, you can’t be my date. I don’t take dates.” I step back so there is distance between us. I don’t want to be next to him, smelling him, or being anywhere near him. Yesterday, watching him run was bad enough, in his gray tracksuit pants that outline more than they should.
Lord, help me.
It almost made me forget what an awful man he truly is.
Almost.
Then yesterday made me realize how much I despise him.
“Correction… you didn’t. And now you do.” He turns and walks back to his car. “Who was it… that you found?” he asks, which makes me believe he doesn’t know who it is.
“Mandy,” I reply.
He turns around, his hand on the door. “I didn’t expect that. I’ll clean it up.” He gets in and leaves.
I hate him. Really, really, hate him.
Clean it up. What the fuck does that even mean?
But then again, my fingerprints would be on the door and all over my sister’s room, so I guess cleaning it up is a good thing. Right?
Driving to work is quick, and when I arrive, Chloe’s already there. She is never there this early, and I’m always the first person here so I know. I’m not sure I can deal with her today. I don’t know if I can deal with much today, to be honest. My weekend, well, it was one for the books, that’s for fucking sure.
You know that book you burn and hope to never see again.
Yeah, that book.
Walking in, I see her at my desk, the computer’s turned on, and she’s working.
“Chloe.” She looks up at me, stunned, shuts the laptop quickly, and stands.
“You come in this early?” she asks.
I look at my desk and see numbers written everywhere. “What are you doing?”
Chloe looks where I am and grabs the papers. “Working out figures. Making sure everything matches.”
“Of course it does. Why wouldn’t it?” I ask her, confused. “I send them to you every month.”
“Because the turnover was down this month,” she says, quickly while putting all the paperwork into her bag, then coming to stand near me. “We have the influencer gala next week. I expect figures to be up again by then.” She walks past me and doesn’t say goodbye as she leaves.
Walking over to my desk, I open the computer and see she has transferred large amounts of money out of the accounts to somewhere else. She’s left enough in there to pay salaries but no extra to buy stock, which we will need.
“Hey, why did I cross paths with the evil boss?” Marissa walks in holding two coffees, and she hands me one. Sitting down, she kicks her feet up on the seat opposite me and sips from her coffee.
“Accounts,” I say with an eye roll.
“Of course. It’s the only time she comes in when it involves money.” It is, and they all know it. “At least she didn’t ask you to fire any other staff members.” She shivers. “That was awful.”
“Yep,” I say, agreeing. But I don’t think that’s the last of it. I have this feeling she will be asking me to fire someone else, or maybe even a pile of someones.
“Hey, my brother was asking about you.” She smirks, putting the coffee back to her lips. “I know you’re seeing someone, but when that ends...” She winks.
“What do you mean, when it ends?”
She looks around the room. “No man can keep up with being this amazing,” she says, looking at the flowers. “He’s bound to come up short somewhere.”
“Oh, he comes up short, do not worry about that.” I smile at her.
Just as she leaves, my cell rings. When I see no caller ID, I think it’s Lucy, so I answer.
“Mandy has been handled,” is all Atlas says.
I don’t like it that I know that voice now without even seeing his name. At first, I think he’s hung up on me, but when I pull the phone away, I see he’s still there on the line.
“She may have family. What did you do?”
“Do you think so fucking low of me,” he asks in a voice I’m familiar with. It’s his angry tone. “Answer me, Theadora?”
“Why do you care what I think?”
“You’re right, I don’t. I’ll see you next week.” Then the line goes dead.
Two days later, another expensive dress shows up for my work event the following week.
I send it back, and don’t hear from him again that week.
Peace.
Chapter Sixteen
Theadora
The police ring me the following week and ask me to go to Lucy’s apartment. When I arrive, they tell me that Mandy overdosed, and they ask about my sister. Mandy reported her missing last week, and they want to know if I’ve heard from her. Just as I am about to speak, the door opens and in strides Atlas himself. He walks straight over to me, grips my waist, and kisses my cheek, pulling me to him. The police officer watches us with narrowed eyes. Just as I am about to pull away, Atlas grips me harder so I’m unable to.
“You two together?” the officer asks, writing something on his notepad.
“Yes,” Atlas answers for me.
“I assumed you didn’t date, Mr. Hyde.” The officer looks up from his pad and eyes Atlas.
“You know what they say about people who assume,” h
e replies.
My cheeks are on fire from where his lips touched me. I lift my hand to see if I can wipe away his touch, but he seems to know what I’m planning and pulls me to him even harder, so our bodies are touching everywhere.
“So, Miss Fitzgerald, your sister?”
“Lucy. We just saw her.” Atlas talks for me again, for which the officer eyes him, and then turns back to me.
“Is this true?”
Atlas grips me to him.
“Yes. Yes, it’s true.”
“Okay, well, either you have to take her stuff or the landlord will get rid of everything.”
“Thank you, I will deal with it.” I nod, and the officer leaves, leaving me standing in my sister’s apartment with Atlas. The last time I was here, I found Mandy dead. And now I am glued to a man who’s pretending to be my boyfriend, and who will not let go of my waist, even after the officers have left.
“You can let go now,” I say, trying to pull away.
“Did you want to tell him?” he asks, keeping me tight to him.
I’m afraid to look up at him. My hands stay planted on his chest, making sure he can’t move me any closer than what I already am. But also, ready to push him away the minute I can.
“I wouldn’t have.”
“What did she say to you?” he asks.
“Who?”
Atlas squeezes me and lifts my face, so it is now resting on his chest. I can see the flower on his collarbone. He won’t let me go, and now my hands are on his pecs.
“You like to play dumb when I know for a fact you are anything but,” he states, shaking his head. “Is this a game you’re playing with me? Some sort of payback?”
I push off of his chest, but don’t get far. He holds me securely against him, and I look up into his eyes.
“If you want to ask me what Lucy said, then ask.”
“What did Lucy say?”
“I never said I would tell you.” I tilt my head and smile a fake smile.
