by Alex Grayson
“Liv,” I whisper, fear making my tears impossible to hold back.
“Poppy? What’s wrong?” she asks, worry replacing the hurt.
“I’m scared.” I don’t know if it’s because I’m scared whoever may be watching can hear me, or if I’m just not capable of talking louder. “I think someone’s watching me.”
“Where are you?” she demands.
“In the bathroom,” I answer shakily.
I hear a shuffling sound and murmurs in the background before there’s a thump, then Tony’s voice comes on the line.
“What happened?” he asks harshly.
I cringe at his tone, but know it’s not aimed at me. Tony is very protective of Liv and will do anything for her. As her best friend, that protection includes me.
“N-nothing. I just had a c-creepy phone call from someone. Can I come over?”
There’s more shuffling and then I hear a door slam.
“Are your doors locked?”
“Yes,” I whimper pathetically.
“We’re on our way over. Just stay in the bathroom and on the phone with Liv until we get there, okay?”
I nod, then realize he can’t see me. “Okay. Please hurry.”
“We will.”
Seconds later, Liv’s voice sounds over the line. “Are you okay?” she asks.
I squeeze my eyes shut and rest my head back against the tile wall behind me. I take in a few deep breaths, trying to force back the bile rising in my throat, and wrap my arms around my middle.
“Physically, I’m fine. I just don’t understand why this is happening to me.” My voice is still shaky.
“Just take a deep breath, Pop,” Liv says calmly, trying her best soothe me. “We’ll be there in a few minutes.”
I suck in a deep breath through my nose and blow it out through my mouth. My racing heart pounds in my chest, and I can feel the beat in my ears. The top of my head prickles and my skin turns clammy. I’m on the verge of a panic attack. I’ve never had one before, but I’ve seen them firsthand and know the symptoms. I sit down on the toilet and put my head down between my knees. The sound of Liv breathing on the other end of the line is the only thing keeping me rooted in place.
I don’t know how long I sit there before Liv asks, “You still there, Poppy?”
“Yes.”
“We’re pulling in your driveway now. Come meet us at the door, sweetie.”
I get up on laden feet and frantically fumble with the lock. It takes me several tries to get the damn door open, then I’m rushing down the hall and over to the front door. As soon as I pull it open, I’m wrapped up in Liv’s arms. I don’t know who embraces who first, I’m just glad she’s here. I soak Liv’s shirt with tears as we stand on my stoop. Feeling Tony’s hand run up and down my back gives me comfort.
Several minutes pass when I feel Tony nudge both of us forward.
“Let’s go inside. Go grab Poppy a glass of water, Dolcezza,” he murmurs, and leads me to the couch after closing and locking the door.
I’m shivering when I take a seat and Tony grabs the throw blanket off the back of the couch and lays it over my shoulders. He rubs up and down my arms, trying to knock the shivers out of me. Liv comes out with a glass of water and I unclasp my tight hands and take it from her, gulping down several swallows before handing it back to her.
“Thank you,” I say. I try to smile, but I’m sure it comes off as weak.
Tony sits down beside me and leans forward so his elbows are resting on his knees. Liv sits on my other side, grabs my hand and brings it to her lap. I soak up the warmth of her palm in mine.
“Tell us what’s going on?” Tony says quietly.
I give my head a shake and sit up straighter in my seat. My fingers squeeze Liv’s. She grips mine tighter in comfort and it helps lessen the anxiety I’m feeling. I keep my eyes forward when I start talking.
“About a week ago, I think someone broke into my house and rifled through my lingerie drawer. At the time I thought I had just forgot to close it the last time I was getting something out, but now I’m not so sure. A few days ago, in Dallas, I got a weird text from a private number. It was threat, but I’m not sure if it was more for me or Asher. Asher knows about it and assured me he’d take care of it. Then today, I got a phone call.” I start shivering again. “H-he told m-me he was coming for me.”
“Jesus Christ,” Tony mutters, raking his hands through his hair. He turns to me. “Asher is your and Liv’s boss, right?”
“Yes,” Liv answers for me.
“Do you know what he’s done with this?”
“No, just that he’s taking care of it. I don’t really care what he does, as long as it stops. I don’t feel safe in my own home right now, and I hate that feeling.”
“Does he know about the phone call from tonight?”
I look down and pull at a loose string on the throw blanket that’s partially sitting in my lap.
“No.”
Tony gets up from the couch and pulls out his phone. “Liv, you and Poppy go grab a bag with a couple days’ worth of clothes. You’re coming home with us.”
“Tony, I don’t…” I start. I don’t feel right encroaching on their home. I know they wouldn’t care, but it still feels wrong to bring this to their doorstep. This isn’t their problem. I shouldn’t have called them.
“It’s not up for debate,” Tony says, his eyes hard. “We don’t know who this guy is or what he’s capable of. Not only will Liv kick my ass if something were to happen to you, it would devastate her. You know I don’t like when my woman gets hurt. Now, go with Liv and grab some clothes.” His eyes soften slightly when he sees me worriedly biting my lip. He walks over and looks down at me. “Poppy, please, just do what I say. This is going to be taken care of, but I need to know you won’t get hurt in the process.”
I look over at Liv and see her watching me. The worry on her face breaks my heart. These two people are my only two friends, and friends help each other, protect each other. There’s no way either will give in on this, just like I wouldn’t give in if it were Liv in this situation.
I nod and Liv pulls me up from the couch. I close my eyes when Tony leans down and kisses my forehead, not realizing how much I needed them until just now. With Asher out of the picture, I have no one I can ask for help. And I don’t think going to the police will do much. You hear all the time when victims contact the police and nothing happens until it’s too late. If something were to happen to me, I would just be another statistic.
After Liv receives a much more wet kiss from Tony, she leads me from the living room. “Come on.”
We walk to my room and I go straight to my closet to grab a small bag. I grab the same travel bag I used for my trip to Texas. My chest aches when I think back to yesterday morning, when I woke up with a smile on my face and thoughts of the night before, when Asher took me so passionately. I still feel his hands on my body and his taste in my mouth. I was happy, happier than I’ve ever been. Then a few text messages screwed that happiness up.
I walk out, once again pushing the tears back. It seems like all I want to do since yesterday is cry. I would have thought my body would be dry by now, but I guess the body is capable of producing numerous amounts of tears.
I throw my bag down on the bed, just as Liv comes up with a handful of clothes from my dresser. I unzip the bag and she tosses the items inside. Liv sees my sagged shoulders and turns to pull me into her arms. I wrap my arms around her middle. I feel like a little kid being comforted.
“Hey, everything is going to be okay,” she murmurs against my hair.
I sniff and nod my head against her shoulder. After several moments, I pull back. She uses her fingers to rub the wetness off my cheeks.
“I’m giving you until we get to the house for you to tell me what happened between you and Asher. You came back a day early, so obviously something happened.”
The look she gives me says I’m not going to get out of telling her.
&nbs
p; “Okay.”
I give her a watery smile. Maybe telling her the wreck of my current life will help. Maybe she can help me shed some light on what I should do. I can’t control what is happening with the jerk that’s taunting me, but maybe I can have some with the situation with Asher. It’s barely been twenty-four hours since I last saw him, but it seems like twenty-four days, which is weird because I go weekends without seeing him every week. This is different. Even though we’ve only just started… whatever we started, it feels longer. I guess in a sense, it has been. More like eight months, when he started sending me flowers.
“I saw that you’re still getting flowers from Sterling,” Liv remarks, seeming to have read my mind.
I walk away from her and over to my dresser to pull out several bra and panty sets. I don’t look at her as I set them in my bag, not wanting her to see the pain on my face from her comment. She’s going to freak when I tell her that Sterling is none other than Mr. Knight.
“Yeah, I got them today.”
“Hmm… today isn’t his normal day to send them. Wonder why he deviated from his usual routine?” She shoots me a look that I catch out of the corner of my eye.
Walking away, I tell her over my shoulder, “I don’t know.”
“Have you talked to him recently?” She follows me into the bathroom and starts rifling through my medicine cabinet for my toothbrush and toothpaste.
I grab my deodorant, brush, birth control, and other essential items and walk back out. She’s close on my heels. I’m starting to feel like I’m being interrogated.
“Not since Wednesday night.” I fib a tiny bit. I guess you could say I haven’t talked to Sterling since Wednesday, since Sterling doesn’t technically exist, right? His personality may exist, but the man himself doesn’t. His name is Asher, not Sterling, after all.
After dumping the rest of my things into the bag, I zip it closed, and Liv comes to stand beside me. I pull in a breath and try to school my features. Obviously, I’m going to tell her about Asher/Sterling, but I’d prefer to do it with a tall glass of wine and away from the creepiness of this house. A house I grew up in and no longer feel safe in. I feel like so much has been stripped from me over the last twenty-four hours: my privacy, my sanity, my safety, my sanctity.
“You ready?” she asks, eyeing my curiously.
‘Yeah.”
I grab my bag and slip on a pair of flats before following her out of the bedroom. Tony is on his phone, talking quietly when we walk into the living room. His brows are pulled down as he listens to the person on the other end of the line. He holds up a finger when he sees us.
“Okay. I’ll see you in a bit. Thanks, man.” He hangs up and pockets his phone. “Ready to go?” he asks, walking over to grab my bag from me.
“Umm… baby?” Liv says with a strained voice.
We both turn to the back door where she’s standing, looking down at something outside. Tony drops my bag and beats me to the door, pulls it open, and bends to pick something up. His body is blocking my view so I can’t see what it is. When he turns and I catch a glimpse, my stomach drops and starts churning furiously. I look to Liv and see her own face carrying a queasy look before her eyes turn hard.
“That bastard!” she growls, her hands balling into fists at her sides.
I walk up to the dead and dried bouquet of flowers that Tony’s holding by the stems with a piece of paper. My heart thumps triple time in my chest—these are the roses I threw away. I know what Liv’s thinking. She doesn’t know that Sterling is Asher. If she did, she’d know he didn’t send these. He just wouldn’t do that. I don’t know how I know that, but I do. I realize right then that Asher’s methods may be unorthodox, but I truly believe he would never hurt me. He’s had so many opportunities to do so, and he’s only ever been sweet, kind, and gentle with me. I may still hate him for lying to me, but I no longer think he would purposely harm me.
I spy a card stuffed down in the flowers and reach out for it. Tony snatches them back from me before my fingers can make contact.
“Wait,” he says, and walks off into the kitchen. Liv and I both follow behind him. I can feel the rage radiating off Liv, and I need to reassure her this isn’t Sterling’s doing.
“This wasn’t him, Liv,” I say as I come to stand beside her. Tony starts going through the cabinet underneath my sink, still holding the flowers by their stems.
Her eyes swing to me, blind hatred in their depths.
Before I can say more, Tony pops his head up and asks, “Do you have any rubber gloves?”
I walk over to the pantry and pull out a box from the bottom of the small closet. I hand them to him and he snatches out a pair and puts them on. Once he’s gloved, he carefully reaches for the card. His jaw locks tight when he reads whatever it says. Fire blazes in his eyes.
“Fuck,” he hisses, sending goosebumps up my arms with the vehemence in his tone.
“What?” I’m afraid to ask, but I need to know what it says.
I shift on my feet as he sets the flowers down on the counter, before coming to me and Liv. I blindly reach out for her hand and she holds it tight as we both look down at the words handwritten on the stained red card.
Roses are red.
Violets are blue.
These roses are dead.
As you soon will be too.
Bile rises in my throat and I barely make it to the trash can before I lose the small bit of contents I have in my stomach. My throat burns as I continue to dry-heave. Hands grab my hair and hold it back from my face. Seconds later, a glass appears in my line of sight. I grab it and take down several gulps, trying to relieve the pain in my throat.
“Who in the hell is this sick fuck?” Tony says beside me.
“I know who it is,” Liv seethes beside me.
“No,” I croak and lean up from the trash can, wiping the back of my mouth with my hand. Liv hands me a wet washcloth and I wipe my mouth again before I turn to face her. “It’s not Sterling.”
“Poppy, you can’t—”
“I know it’s not him, Liv.”
“Wait, who in the hell is Sterling?” Tony comes to stand beside us. I’m grateful the card is no longer in his hand.
Liv looks at me for a minute before turning to face Tony. “He’s her secret admirer.”
“You mean the guy that’s been sending her flowers?”
“Yes,” I answer. “I call him Sterling because he sends me sterling silver roses.”
“How do you know it’s not him?” Liv asks, her expression now a mixture of anger and uncertainty.
I really don’t want to get into this with them yet. I want to get out of here first, then I’ll open up and tell them everything. They’ll understand Asher had nothing to do with this.
“Can we just leave?” I plead. “I’ll tell you why I know it’s not him when we get back to your house. I can’t be…” I clear my throat when it cracks. “I can’t be here right now. Please?”
“Come on, let’s go,” Tony says, thankfully understanding my need to go. He picks the flowers up and we all walk back out to the living room. He grabs my bag, and I lead them to the front door.
“Why are you bringing them with us?” I ask, looking at the flowers. I don’t want them anywhere near me.
“Because I have a friend meeting us at home. He used to be a detective and will know what we should do with them. I’m sure he’ll advise us to call the cops and they’ll want to see them.”
I nod, knowing he’s right. I just hope the cops will do something and not just push it aside. There’s not much to go on, unless they can pull prints from the flowers. Asher’s already tried pulling info from the text without success. The night we first had sex as we were laying beneath the covers, he told me Eric wasn’t able to break into the cell phone company’s database. To say he was pissed about the lack of information was an understatement. I felt his body tense until I started kissing his chest and felt him relax again.
The ride to Tony and Liv’s
place seems to go by fast. Of course, it could be because my mind is running a mile a minute. I can’t seem to focus on one single thing. One minute I’m thinking about the phone call, the text, the flowers, and knowing this guy was probably in my house. The next it skips to Asher and everything we’ve done over the last few days. Then it goes to Sterling.
I open my door and climb out once Tony parks, grabbing my bag from the backseat. Tony was going to put it in the trunk with the flowers, but I refused. I don’t want anything I own near them. I keep my eyes diverted from them as we walk into the house. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to look at my favorite rose the same way again. This creep ruined that for me. Tony puts them down on the counter, before grabbing my bag from my hands.
“I’ll take this to the spare room. Sam should be here any minute,” he says and walks off.
“Wine,” Liv mutters. I watch her stoically as she pours us both a glass. When she hands me one, her eyes are filled with fire.
She comes to stand right in front of me and says, “They’re going to catch this guy, Pop. I wish you would have told me this was going on.”
I take big sip and lower my glass. “I really did think it was my fault about the drawer, and the other stuff didn’t happen until a few days ago. I haven’t even really had time to process it yet myself.”
She grabs my hand and entwines our fingers.
“Hey,” she says, and I lift my head. “No matter what happens, you know me and Tony are here for you, right?”
“I do. Thank you, Liv. I have no idea what I would have done without you two.”
She frowns and cocks her head to the side. “Why didn’t you call Asher? With him knowing about the situation, I don’t understand why you didn’t call him first.”
I shrug and take another sip of wine to buy myself some time, but there’s no need because there’s a knock at the front door. We walk out to the living room, just as Tony walks out of the hallway.
He pulls the door open and on the other side is an older gentleman, probably in his mid-to-late fifties.
