Unforgivable Sin

by Isabel Lucero

  After throwing on some black stretchy workout pants, a tank top, and a zip-up hoodie, I put my earphones in and run out of the house.

  My feet hit the pavement and the cold air rushes into my lungs. Troy still flashes through my head.

  “I’ll quit.”

  He quit being an escort for me. I’ll never forget that night.

  “Are you trying to get fucked in here?”

  Yes. I’d never deny Troy. He fucks me with unbridled passion. He kisses me, licks me, and tastes me. He worships my body with his own. Troy gives me all of him.

  “I love you, Emilie. I think I have for a while, but I know now that I couldn’t imagine having a life without you in it.”

  I run harder and faster. A few tears fall down my face as I remember him telling me he loved me for the first time. He had just made love to me in a way I’ve never experienced. He poured his soul into everything he did. That night, I officially handed him my heart and I’ll never get all of it back. He’ll forever have pieces of me with him, because he’ll always have pieces of my heart.

  I run without any regard as to where I am. I run like I’m running for my life. Like I’m trying to run from all of my problems. It doesn’t work. I’m now just sweaty and tired, and Troy still consumes me. My legs feel like Jell-O and my lungs are burning. I wheeze every time I suck in a deep breath.

  Finally stopping, I take a minute to stretch out my legs. I look around and it dawns on me that I ran quite a ways from my place. The streetlights are starting to come on, so I figure it’s time to head back home. At least I’ll be tired enough to pass out as soon as I get home. Maybe then I’ll stop thinking about Troy.

  I know that’s a lie, because he stays in my dreams, too.

  Getting home takes a lot longer, because I’m mostly just jogging with plenty of walk breaks. By the time I’m back on my block, the sun has gone down completely, and the roads are only lit up with the few streetlights that actually work.

  A little ways down, maybe fifteen yards, I notice a car idling on the street in front of my building. The headlights are off, but they’ve left their driving lights on. I see the exhaust coming from the tailpipe, so I know the car is running. From where I am, I can’t tell if someone is in there or not.

  Normally, I wouldn’t think much of it. There are other people who live here, so it could be one of them, or visitors of one of the neighbors. However, something about the car seems familiar. They happened to be parked somewhat near one of the streetlights, so I can make out the green color of the car.

  I stop walking and squat near a tree and pretend to tie my shoe. Keeping my eye on the car while also concealing my body behind the tree, I wait to see if anybody is going to enter or exit. I end up hiding there for only a few minutes before I see movement.

  Someone walks from the area of my apartment towards the car. I move forward a bit, wanting to get a better look, but without showing myself.

  It’s a woman.

  My heart picks up speed like I’m running again. Could it be Carla?

  She doesn’t bother looking around. Whoever it is quickly goes to the driver’s side door and flings it open. With the door open, the interior light comes on and light spills into the car.

  The woman sits down and reaches to the passenger seat, only giving me the view of the side of her face, which is covered mostly by hair. When she faces the front, the light is already starting to dim, but it doesn’t matter.

  It’s Carla.

  She turns on her headlights and they almost blind me. I scurry behind the large tree trunk and wait for her to leave. She slowly drives in my direction, and I make measured movements around the tree, trying to stay hidden.

  I catch a glimpse of the car as it begins to pass me. It’s the same car that was outside of my job about a week ago. The one that was facing the alleyway and watching me throw the trash away.

  Moving my foot one step to the side, I hit a tree root and stumble, almost falling to the ground. I steady myself and look for the car to make sure it’s gone.

  It’s not.

  It’s slowed to an unusually sluggish pace. The dim yellow glow of a streetlamp gives off just enough light for me to see Carla turn her head in my direction.

  My breath catches as she gives me a truly devilish smile and a wink.

  Without another thought, I run to my apartment. I need to get inside and lock and barricade the door before she comes back.

  When I reach the door, I rip off the armband that’s holding my iPod and key. In my rush to get it out quickly, I drop the key on the ground. My outside light isn’t on, and I can barely see anything out here. Dropping to my knees, I search for the small silver key.

  With a quick look behind me to make sure she isn’t back yet, I continue running my hands along the concrete. I finally catch a glimpse of something in the small garden area next to the sidewalk. I reach in and grab the key and then shove it into the lock.

  I throw the door open and instantly slam it closed, locking the deadbolt and then pushing a small table in front of it.

  I chance looking out the peephole, but nobody is there. She isn’t coming up the walkway either.

  Am I going crazy? Was that not her? If it was her, why wouldn’t she come back if she saw me? What was she doing here in the first place?

  My breathing is out of control, and I feel like my heart is about to explode in my chest. I run to my phone and my first thought is to call Troy.

  Should I? Would he answer? Would he care?

  The police. I need to call the detective who was working on my case.

  After explaining to him what happened, I hang up the phone and don’t feel any safer. He probably thought I was being paranoid. I told him that it was the woman who had tried to kill me, and that she had been sitting outside my apartment. Then he asked why she would just leave if she saw me standing there by street. If it was truly her, he thinks she would have gotten out and said or done something.

  After explaining that I was almost certain it was her, because she looked right at me, he said he’d send somebody out to drive through the area. I gave him a description of the car, but without a license plate number, it probably wasn’t too helpful.

  Now, all I can do is sit here and wait to see if she comes back. I could leave, but where would I go? I don’t want to intrude on Jace and Adrienne. They’re just moving her in, and basking in their engagement happiness, and I don’t want to take my drama over there. Troy’s definitely out of the question, and I don’t have anybody else.

  I’m almost too nervous to make the walk to my car anyway, because she could be out there waiting for me. It just doesn’t make sense that she was here, at my apartment, and then she didn’t care that I had showed up. She just kept it moving. What is she up to?

  I go to my bathroom and strip off my sweaty clothes, and as gross as it is, I don’t bother showering. I don’t want to be caught off guard, or not be able to hear anything at my door if she decides to come back.

  Instead I try to wash myself off as much as possible with a washcloth, and then throw on some pajama pants and a t-shirt.

  When I enter my room, I feel a cold breeze hit me, and then I see my curtains move slightly. I stop in place, and look around the room. There’s no way she could have gotten in here without me hearing the window slide open.

  Even still, I swipe the only weapon I have nearby. A pair of scissors that rests on my nightstand. Slowly, I walk towards the window. I push the curtains to the side and see that the window has been left open, but only a couple of inches. Not only that, but a letter has been set in the open space.

  I peer out and don’t see anybody on the other side. I pull the letter inside, and then close and lock the window. I kick myself for forgetting to lock it in the first place.

  Taking the letter to the bed, I sit down and open it.

  No hard feelings. The better woman won.

  My heart drops to my stomach. What does she mean? Has Troy taken her back? He wouldn’t do that
. There’s no way he’d be with her again. I remember how pissed he was when he found out what she did to me. He himself said what she did was unforgivable. He said she’d pay. Why on earth would she think she won him back? Is she fucking with me? I wouldn’t put it past her.

  Why leave the note in my window and not on the door, though? Is this her way of letting me know she can get to me? She could have been in my house. Perhaps she watched me run off and had plenty of time to be inside, doing God knows what.

  I didn’t notice anything out of place, but then again, I didn’t pay much attention to anything when I came in. Moving through my bedroom, I walk back into the living room and check all the windows. After concluding that they are all locked, I walk through the entire house, looking for something she may have left behind.

  After finding that everything looks exactly how I left it, I sit at my small dining room table and think about what I’m going to do. I start piddling with the decorative bowl that sits in the middle of the table, and it’s then that I notice what’s different.

  She didn’t leave anything else for me to find. What she did do was take my keys that were sitting in the bowl along with loose change. When I went for a run, I didn’t bother taking them with me. Instead, I slipped one of the house keys off the keychain and took that with me, but there’s another house key on there, along with my car key.

  I jump up and snatch my phone off the table. I call somebody I never thought I’d call.

  “Hey, it’s Emilie,” I say into the phone.

  “I hope you don’t mind me calling you. I still had your number in my phone from when…”

  I’m cut off by a question asking if I’m okay.

  “Yeah. I mean, no.” I run a shaky hand over my forehead. “I just need someone to pick me up. I need to have my locks changed, but I don’t want to be here alone right now.”

  More concerned questions from the other side of the phone. I rattle off my address.

  “Yeah. Thank you. I really appreciate it, and I’m sorry if I’m bothering you. I’ll explain when you get here.”

  When I hang up the phone, I put a few things in a backpack and then wait. I stare at the door while sitting at the table, clutching a knife in my hand.

  After what seems like hours, a loud knock startles me, and I drop the knife. I creep over to the door, and peek through the peephole. When I’m sure I know who it is, I unblock the door by moving the table, and pull it open.

  “Hey,” Marc says, looking at me with concerned eyes. “What happened? Are you okay?”

  I sigh, and before I even know it’s gonna happen, tears start trickling from my eyes. I’m overcome with emotion. My body shakes and sobs wrack my body.

  Marc steps inside, closing the door behind him, and cradles me in his arms. “Sshh. It’s okay.”

  I take solace in his embrace and cry like a child would in the arms of their parent. I may not know Marc too well, but I know him well enough to recognize that he’s a good man. He’s probably ten years older than me, and while he’s not old enough to be a father figure, I guess I still see him as a protector.

  He’s the big brother, the level headed one, and the one that holds everybody together. I know Jace and Troy see him as their big brother, even though Troy is only a few years younger than him. Marc is always the one who keeps things together and under control. He’s trustworthy, and that is something that is rare these days.

  “Come on. Come sit on the couch,” he says, leading me towards the living room. “What’s going on? Did something happen with you and Troy?”

  I furrow my brows in confusion while wiping my tears away. Troy hasn’t told him that we broke up?

  “Um. Well, we broke up about four days ago.”

  He looks surprised. “Oh. I’m sorry. I had no idea.’

  “It’s okay. That’s not really what the problem is. It definitely is a part of it, but something more serious happened.”

  “Okay,” he says with a nod, waiting for me to continue.

  “You know about Carla, right?”

  He makes a noise in the back of his throat. “Mm. Yeah, I know about her.”

  “Well, Troy told you about what happened between her and I, didn’t he?”

  “Yes he did.”

  “Okay. Well, she’s been leaving Troy and me messages. She pinned one to my door along with a couple pictures. She’s been trying to scare me away, because she wants Troy all to herself. She was outside my job not too long ago, and she actually followed me when I went and got lunch and slipped another note in my pocket.”

  “Have you told the police about all of this?” he cuts in.

  I nod. “Yeah. They know about everything, but haven’t been able to pick her up yet. Anyway, tonight I went for a run, and when I returned, a car was outside the building. I got a strange feeling, so I stayed back and hid by a tree. A few minutes later she came strolling back to her car, and when she passed by, she looked right at me and smiled. I ran inside and locked and barricaded the door, and called the detective on my case, and then went to my room to change. When I was in there, I noticed the window was open, and I found this.”

  I hand him the folded up piece of paper that Carla left for me. After he reads it, he folds back up and puts it on the table.

  “What do you think that means? The better woman won?”

  I shrug. “I thought it meant she was with him again. That he chose her.”

  He shakes his head defiantly. “I don’t think Troy would go back to her.”

  “I didn’t think so either, but I also didn’t think he’d tell me he loved me a couple hours before breaking up with me on the street.”

  He doesn’t say anything.

  “Anyway, not only that, but she took my keys. The keychain has my car key and another house key on it. They’re gone.”

  “Oh,” he says, quickly standing up. “So, she has access.”

  I nod.

  “I don’t feel like waiting for a locksmith to come over and change the locks tonight, but I also don’t want to be here. I was afraid to even go outside; for fear that she’ll be out there. I was just wondering if you could take me to a hotel or something.”

  He grabs me by the hand and pulls me up. “You don’t need to stay in a hotel. You can stay at my place. I have a lot of extra space; you won’t even have to see me.” He gives me a polite smile.

  “I don’t know. If Troy found out…”

  “First of all, Troy should know better than to ever think I’d do something with anybody he cared about. Whether you’re together or not. Second of all, I can let him know ahead of time, just to be safe.”

  I think about it for a minute. “I don’t know if I want him to know what happened. He doesn’t want anything to do with me anyway, so I guess it doesn’t matter.”

  “Whatever you want to do, Emilie. Just let me know.”

  I give him a smile. “Thanks, Marc. I’ll go to your place, if you don’t mind.”

  “Of course I don’t. I agree that you shouldn’t be here tonight.”

  “I didn’t mess up any plans you had or anything, did I?”

  He smirks at me. “Don’t worry about it.”

  “Oh no. I did!” I smack my forehead. “I’m so sorry. It wasn’t a client was it? Is she gonna be pissed?”

  He laughs. “It wasn’t a client.”

  I gaze up at him. “Girlfriend?” I ask with a sneaky smile.

  Marc just shakes his head and lets out a small chuckle. “Let’s get outta here, shall we?”

  I let the girlfriend thing go, and grab my backpack. “Ready.”

  Once we pull up to his house, I realize what he meant when he said he had plenty of room. The house stretches out along a wide piece of land. There are no other houses anywhere close to his. I think the last one I saw was about half a mile back. These homes have quite a bit of land surrounding them. It must be nice to get away from the craziness of the city.

  When we walk inside, I’m pretty sure my jaw hits the floor. The b
eautiful and flawless marble floor.

  There’s a small chandelier directly above our heads, and a little further down there’s a larger one that’s lighting up a small room. Two chairs sit on either side of a fireplace, and the fire place is bordered by two long pieces of glass that look into the other room behind it.

  As I take a few more steps inside, I notice an amazing spiraled staircase to my right. The black metal bars follow the stairs up to a hallway area overlooking the room we’re standing in. As I’m looking around, I notice another room to the right of the bottom of the staircase that holds a black grand piano.

  “You play?” I ask.

  With a small shrug he says, “Not often.”

  “Marc, your place is amazing,” I gush.

  “Thank you. Feel free to look around down here while I go upstairs real quick, and then I’ll show you to the room you’ll be staying in.”

  “Sounds great. Thanks.”

  I walk through his house and ooh and ahh like a child in a toy store. His house is majestic and masculine all at the same time. I only get through a few rooms, including the kitchen and dining room before Marc reappears.

  “You ready to see your room?” he asks with a smile.

  “Yessir!”

  When we get to the top of the staircase, we make a right and walk a couple yards before making another right to a smaller hallway.

  “This is your room right here,” he says, gesturing to the left. “There’s a bathroom included in the room, and you should find everything you need in there.”

  “Great. Thank you so much. I truly appreciate this, Marc.”

  “Don’t worry about it. You found the kitchen, yes?” he asks.

  “I did.”

  “Feel free to go down there and grab anything you’d like. I’m probably about to turn in. Are you sure you don’t want me to let Troy about tonight?”

  “Okay, and yeah, I’m sure. Goodnight.”

  “Goodnight,” he replies before strutting back down the long hall that leads to the other side of the house. He passes a few doors along the way and then makes a right and is out of site. I wonder how many rooms this place holds.