by Brenda Ford
“Fuck, no.” I shove my chair backwards as an automatic reaction. “No, no, no.”
For someone to get me here is less frightening than my personal cell phone since it’s information that is more publicly available, but it hurts. It hurts me a whole lot more. I don’t know what to do about it. I immediately reach into my pocket to grab my phone but I don’t have it. Of course I don’t have it.
“Fuck.” In a moment of panic, I fire off an email to Ruby because that’s the only person I can think of. I beg her to meet me at home because there isn’t any way that I can be in the office any longer. No way. Once that’s sent off, I grab all of my belongings and I race off out the building. I don’t even care if anyone is looking at me anymore. Soon, I will be on my own locked away in my home and everything will be just fine.
“Tami!” someone yells out behind me as I race away. “Tami, where are you going? Come back!”
My ears are buzzing too loudly. I can’t quite work out who’s yelling me, but it doesn’t matter. It might even be Oliver, but I can’t stop. This environment is too claustrophobic for me. I can’t hack it. I can’t breathe. I just need to be by myself when I can get my head screwed on properly.
It will be fine, I try to convince myself. It will, it will.
I run through my front door and slam it behind me, trying to catch my breath as soon as I do. It is better being here rather than at the office, but the sheer terror hasn’t gone anywhere. It’s still rocketing hard through me.
“I need to call the cops now,” I tell myself. “I can’t stop that now. I have to. When I get my phone back.”
I didn’t want to because I wanted the whole thing to just blow over already, but since it hasn’t, and it just keeps getting worse and worse, I don’t have a choice. I will have to listen to Brad at last… God, I wish that I could call Brad already. I wish that I could get his comfort. I wish that he wasn’t with his brother. I also wish that his brother would just find out one hundred percent who’s behind this already.
“It’s Tawny,” I tell myself while staggering towards the kitchen to grab myself some water. “And Beth. Amy too. And Hayley It’s all of them. Doing this off burner phones or something. Trying to push us apart because they don’t like me and Brad. Nor my promotion.”
I grab water and suck it all back. I take it all the way in to my stomach and try and drown the butterflies. But they keep flapping through everything. The nerves don’t go anywhere. If anything, it gets worse.
I grab my laptop and switch it on. I can’t access my work email from here, which is a good thing because it means I can’t access the frightening emails, but I also don’t know if Ruby has replied to me. I don’t know if she has even seen it. Sometimes, she’s great at emails and she sees them right away, but other times she’s terrible which means I don’t know if she’s coming or not. I really need her. I need someone.
I send off another email from my personal email account, silently praying that this is one of Ruby’s good weeks. I could also contact Brad as well, I should also let Angelo know what’s going on, but I feel like the Smith’s have enough going on right now. My girl can help me through this if anyone can.
Knock, knock.
Relief floods me as I hear the knocking at the door. It means that although Ruby hasn’t replied to my email, she’s here to save me. She will give me the best advice about what to do next. Whether that involves the cops or not. I can’t trust my own advice anymore do whatever she tells me to do, I will.
“Hold on, Ruby,” I call out while finally chucking off my jacket. “I’ll be right there.”
I kick a bit of mess under the couch, so she doesn’t see it – not that my best friend will care that the stress has made me a little bit sloppy – and I race towards the door to swing it open. Relief floods me as I know that my best friend will now take control of everything and help me out.
Chapter Twenty
Brad
“Where is Tami?” I demand to Angelo as soon as I return to the office. “I have her cell phone here.”
“Apparently, she freaked out and ran out.” He shrugs helplessly. “I’m sorry. I just ran out to grab lunch and when I came back she was gone. I thought that she must have spoken to you which is why I left it.”
I growl with frustration at that information. I don’t like this at all. I didn’t want to leave her in the office at all, but I knew that I needed to speak to Wesley to try and get this sorted. I also went to speak to the cops to see if there was anything that they could do but right now, it doesn’t seem like anything.
Someone is doing this well. They are stalking and tormenting well, and I need to know who.
“Where do you think she has gone then, if she isn’t here? I really need to speak with her.”
“Home, maybe? I don’t know. Sorry, Brad, I know that this is all really messy.”
It isn’t his fault, but I’m too pissed off with the whole world right now and unfortunately, he’s a part of it, so I storm away and head to my own office to see if there are any clues there. She might have left me a note or something before she ran off… unless something happened and she’s in too much of a panic.
There aren’t any stray bits of paper littered around, so I flick my computer on and wait impatiently for it to switch on. I tap my fingers angrily on the desk as I consider Wesley’s confused face as he tried to fathom out what was going on, and the police’s uninspiring words as well. They really didn’t seem to care enough about it. I don’t think they saw it as a real threat. More girls just being bitchy with one another.
That’s probably my fault because I mentioned the mean girls crew here… the women who I am seriously considering just firing already because they are pissing me off. It would even be worth the unfair dismissal cases just to not have to look at them anymore and to know that they are upsetting Tami.
“What the fuck?” All of a sudden, I notice a new email popping up on my screen. One from an email address that I don’t recognize at all. “Who the fuck is this? What the hell now?”
‘Yes, bitch. I can get you here as well. I can get you anywhere. You are not safe.’
This wasn’t directly sent to me; it was sent to Tami, but I’m attached just so that I can see it. this fucked up game of cat and mouse is escalating wildly. I’m being toyed with all over again. Being let know that I am being played with like a fucking fool. I am behind yet again. It doesn’t matter how much I do. They will always win.
“Fucking hell.” The anger burns deeply in my stomach. “For fuck sake.”
I storm out of the building and head towards Tami’s home, desperately hoping that she’s there. I can’t imagine that she’s gone anywhere else after reading that, unless her mind was really racing at the time. I dread to think how panicked she was with me out of the office and Angelo too. I don’t think she probably feels close enough to Oliver yet to go to him. He does keep to himself a lot at work which is a shame. That might be something that I need to change as time goes on. Especially if this doesn’t end any time soon…
“Tami!” I yell out as I bang on her door. I’m probably being too loud and aggressive. People might think that this is me being a dick, but right now I’m beyond that. “Tami, are you in? I need to speak to you?”
No one answers, but I’m still not convinced. I lean my head against the door and listen intently. I’m pretty sure that I can hear movement though so I’m certain she’s inside.
“Tami?” I bang on the door a few more times. “This is important. Please come out.”
My head freaks out and starts to think that she might be done with me. This might all be too much for her and she’s pulling away. I couldn’t blame her; I mean she is only young. This is clearly her first real relationship aside from some dick who didn’t know how to treat her and cheated on her, and it’s just too heavy. If I was twenty two years of age and this was going on, I wouldn’t have been able to handle it.
“Tami, please just let me know what’s going on.” I l
ean helplessly against the door. “Please?”
I don’t want to go anywhere. Not until I have spoken to her. I just want to stay here until she either answers the door or comes back if she really isn’t inside. I need to know how she is. I have to.
“I have your cell phone,” I try that instead. “I need to get it back to you. I’ve been to the police…”
That’s the moment when I hear some noise. Either the thought of the cell phone or the police has got her moving. Thank goodness because I need to see her face. That’s how I’ll know what her mood is.
As the door presses open just the tiniest part, I’m struck by the sheer panic in her eyes. She’s freaked out for sure, and this seems to be more than just because of the email. There is something else going on.
“Tami, what’s going on?” I gush. “Why did you leave work? What’s happened?” She says nothing, instead tries to silently communicate with her eyes – or at least that’s how it seems to me. “I saw the email…”
“I’m fine,” she snaps. “It did freak me out a bit but I’m okay now. Just recovering.”
“Well, let me come in. I want to see you, to help you out…”
“Don’t you have work to do? I don’t need you here.” Her snapping could make me believe that she really is done with me, but I can see that it comes from a place of fear. “I just want to be alone.”
“Well, I don’t think you should be alone. I think you need protection.”
“I… I didn’t mean alone. My friend, Ruby is here.” She glances behind her. “And she doesn’t want to meet you. She thinks that… that you are to blame for all of this. I just want to be with her.”
I fold my arms across my chest and glare at her. There’s no way that I’m going to be fooled by this. “Right, I see. So, your friend, Ruby, thinks that I am to blame for the stalking bullshit?” She nods. “Right, so if that is the case then I better go then. I don’t want to disturb you and your friend as you slag me off.”
“Yes, yes I think that might be for the best. I think… yes, you should go.”
“Mhmm, and I will see you whenever you are ready. You just contact me.”
Her eyes are wet, she’s clearly conflicted but she tries to push me away anyway. “I will do. Soon.”
I hand her the phone and she takes it with a shaky hand. She doesn’t thank me though. She doesn’t say anything which only has me on high alert. She doesn’t seem to want anyone to know that she has her phone.
“Right, well I suppose I shall see you soon then. Goodbye, Tami.”
Relief floods her. Her shoulders roll forwards with joy that I’m going. This sight only confirms what I already suspect. That something really bad is going on inside of there and I need to know what. I take a step back as if I’m actually going to leave, but then just as Tami takes the slightest step back too, I move forwards too quickly and force my way inside. If she’s telling the truth and she does just want to bitch about me and this situation to her friend, I will apologize instantly. But I’m pretty sure that isn’t going to happen…
Instead, I’m certain that this will be the guy. The one who I have convinced myself is behind this if it isn’t the mean girl crew from work. The ex-boyfriend who I’m guessing hasn’t been able to let go… which I wouldn’t be able to either if I lost her. But that isn’t who I find. Instead it’s someone who turns my body to ice. I blink a couple of times, trying to work out if I’m really seeing what I think I am. But the image doesn’t go away however much I want it to. I don’t wake up, however much this feels like a nightmare.
“Fuck.” I’m faced with a red head. One who I know but that I never thought I would have to see again. “Holy shit. Maria, what the hell is this? What the fuck is going on here?”
She smiles smugly, clearly pleased that I am here. This must be what she wanted to happen. “Oh yes, I’m here. I’m here for sure. Are you surprised to see me after all this time? Making friends with your new girl?”
I glance back at Tami who looks more freaked out than ever. The puzzle pieces are all starting to fit together… sort of. I can’t quite get the picture but it’s forming more than it was before.
“What the fuck are you doing, Maria?” I growl. “Why are you back after all this time?”
“It’s only two years ago. Not that long since I was the one that you had your eye one.”
I remember my brothers mocking me, telling me that I only slept with psycho crazy women before, and this is the main one that they were talking about. I met her in a night club one night and her flame red hair caught my eyes. She seemed fun for a night, so we went back to hers. Then I stayed there for three days having sex with her. But I was clear with her that it was only going to be a short fling, nothing more, and I walked away confident that our weekend of fun was done. I never expected it to turn into a drama.
It did. She followed me around for a while and did what she could to cock block me. It was a fucking nightmare at the time, but it faded away after a while when she seemed to move on to someone else. I put it behind me just glad that it was done. I never thought it would become something to worry about again.
“Was it you?” I demand, anger getting the better of me. “Who did all of this? The messages, the emails, the photos, the stalking… please, tell me it wasn’t you, Maria? That’s just fucking crazy.”
“Don’t make out that it’s something wild.” She rolls her eyes in an over the top fashion. “It was just a bit of a laugh with me and the girls, that’s all. You don’t need to make out it’s a fucked up thing.”
“Girls, what girls? I don’t know a single girl that you are friends with. In fact, didn’t you tell me that girls hate you because you’re too beautiful?” Urgh, that conversation disgusted me even at the time. It was just one of the reasons that I was glad to get away. “So, how do you suddenly have friends that are girls now?”
“Oh, girls always get together when they want to take someone down and you two need taking down.”
Okay, so I was partly right. It has to be the mean girls from work and it’s an ex as well. But mine not hers, and this one is a crazy one.
Chapter Twenty-One
Tami
I didn’t want Brad to get caught up in this, that’s why I tried to push him away, but he damn well shoved his way inside and now he’s in as much of a shit storm as me. All because of his bullshit ex who has a grudge against me. The same God damn red head that I dismissed when she tried to warn me about Brad at Alex’s gig.
Little did I know then that I should have paid more attention. Not because Brad really is a cheat or a fuck boy, but because she is crazy as all hell and will do anything to claim him as her own.
I opened the door to let Ruby in, thinking that it would be my friend come to save the day, but all I did was unleash hell. Now I can’t seem to get this hurricane out however hard I try.
“So, who is your friend then?” Brad continues, only winding Maria up in my opinion which isn’t the best idea. “Tawny, I bet. She clearly isn’t happy about everything going on at work.”
“Fucking Tawny. Yes, that crazy ass bitch is my mate now, and why shouldn’t she be?”
“Why do you think she is suddenly your friend, Maria?” Brad continues. “Don’t you remember her giving you a hard time when you were giving me a hard time the last time around? Huh? She kicked you out of the office more than once and called you all kinds of names, didn’t she? Or are we just forgetting that?”
“She just thought it was me then.” Maria brazenly juts her chin out. “Now she knows that it’s you. You’re the asshole who gives people hope and then dashes it, making them crazy.”
I cower in the corner, leaning back against the wall, now wishing that I didn’t leave the office at all. It doesn’t matter if the mean girls were a part of the plan. At least there would be more people on mine and Brad’s side too.
“Maria, I never gave you hope. And I also don’t understand how that correlates to Tawny anyway…”
“M
ore Hayley.” Oh God, that name again. “She’s a computer whiz, excellent at design and you have led her to believe that she will get a promotion. Yet she hasn’t had one and this little bitch has.”
Brad turns to give me an apologetic look, but I don’t blame him for this. This is just a fucked up mess that we’ve created by deciding to be together, nothing he’s done personally.
“Right, so Hayley has a grudge and Tawny contacted you?” Brad asks. “I’m just trying to work out what the hell is going on here because it’s really confusing for me right now.”
“Okay, since you are being thick, I will explain it to you.” Maria claps her hands together hard. “You pissed off everyone that you work with by shacking up with this slut who is clearly just using you…” She looks at me expectantly, wanting me to defend my reasons for being with Brad, but right now I can’t find the words. “See what I mean?” She laughs loudly and nastily. “So, Tawny found me online and contacted me to see if I am still interested in you, which I am. I mean, why wouldn’t I be? We had such an amazing time together…”
This is weird. I don’t know what to make of this. Has she been hurt by Brad in the past which has made her crazy or is she caught up in the mob mentality? Trying to attack me just because the others want to? I can’t work her out, her motivation seems weird as hell to me. But that might be because she’s crazy.
“We had a few days together, Maria, that’s all and I told you it wouldn’t be long term.”
“You told me nothing. And you gave me every sign that we were going to be together forever and then you tossed me to the side and treated me like shit. It isn’t acceptable, Brad. Seriously.”
“I disagree with a lot of what you are saying,” Brad replies carefully. “But I am sorry for hurting you.”
For a moment, I wonder if I see Maria’s face relaxing. I don’t want to calm down and to believe that it’s all going to be okay again, but I do get a little glimmer of hope. Until she begins yelling.
