by Tia Siren
Are you sure we can’t convince you to take the protective detail? It might help you slip into REM sleep better, resulting in a more productive work performance this week, Terry said.
Did you just tell her she was going to suck at work because she didn’t get enough sleep? Tony asked.
No, no! Fuck, I’m sorry. And sorry for the language. I was just trying to convince her to take the detail. I know how worried you are about her.
All I could do was smile at their conversation. They kept going back and forth like I wasn’t even a part of the chat, and there was something refreshing about that. They were confident in themselves and obviously had a close relationship, and I enjoyed watching their dynamic unfold on the screen.
And so did Courtney.
“That Terry’s a smarty,” she said, “and Tony’s the romancer, isn’t he?”
“Probably,” I said.
“You gonna say anything?” she asked.
“Nope. I think they’ve got it for now.”
I let them continue chatting in the group chat as I ate the sandwich Courtney had made me. We watched television mindlessly for a bit, and then I picked up my phone and read through their conversation. It was a lot of Tony posturing because he apparently never worried and Terry being clueless as to why his brother was suddenly lying, so I finally interjected to settle their minds.
I promise I’ll be all right for now. Thank you so much for checking in on me, though.
Anytime. Keep in touch, all right? And expect some wonderful pictures of the sunset tonight, Tony said.
I don’t really send pictures, but if something interesting pops into my head, you’ll be the first to know, Terry said.
I could think of a few pictures you could send, Terry.
“Naughty girl! And with a date already set up with another set of twins. Looks like the student has become the master,” Courtney said.
Ah, and there’s that feisty side. You have rendered my brother speechless. Let me go reboot him quickly, Tony said.
I shook my head and set the phone down before my mind drifted back to Jeremy. I was so glad now that I’d decided not to move in with him when he had asked. My lease was up for renewal, and while Courtney and I hadn’t yet decided whether we were going to stay or not, I had never once considered Jeremy an option. He had tried everything he could to convince me to drop this apartment with Courtney, but something just hadn’t sat right, so I’d declined.
Holy hell, imagine the prison I’d be in if I hadn’t said no.
“Whatever scenario you’re running in your head right now, cut the shit. You’re gonna be fine,” Courtney said.
“I’m just thinking about how glad I am that I didn’t move in with Jeremy when he asked.”
“No fucking joke. Have you resigned the lease here?” she asked.
“Not yet, but I’ve still got a month before I make a decision on my room. You?” I asked.
“Honestly? Not to put any more on your plate, but I’m thinking of getting my own spot. I love you and all, but having my own place is the next logical step in growing up and shit,” she said.
“I hear you. I’m not sure if I want to stay here, but I wouldn’t know where to go if I did leave,” I said.
“Well, it’s not like Jeremy can fire you at the hotel. You’ve talked to HR, right?” she asked.
“Doing it tomorrow,” I said.
“Well, once you talk to HR, he can’t fire you for this shit. You make more than enough money to afford this place on your own, but I know you’ve always wanted to own your own house. How goes the savings?” she asked.
“I’m about four paychecks away from a down payment if I save conservatively,” I said.
“See!? Movin’ on up in life. We can get our own places and help each other redecorate. You can have all those muscular twins help you move boxes and furniture before they each have their way with you.”
“Does your libido ever stop?” I asked.
“Does yours ever work?” she asked.
“Do you think I should tell someone at work what happened?” I asked.
“Like you said, the police need proof. Without that, it may just make you look bad. I wanna shout it from the rooftops just as much as you do, but it won’t do any good at this point. Even I know that.”
“Yeah. Telling someone might get me fired anyway,” I said.
“Just wait for the police to do their thing. With evidence, you can throw his ass in jail, then rule that fucking resort hotel yourself like you know you can. You’ve been gunning for promotions for the past year. It’s time they understood the asset you are, not to mention the asshole their current events manager is,” she said.
Just then, my phone rang from an unknown number calling. I felt a shiver shoot up my arm as I tilted my phone toward Courtney, and she told me to put it on speakerphone. I answered it and then pressed the speaker button, allowing the call to flood the room.
But on the other end was complete silence.
“Hello?” I asked.
All of a sudden, the sound of heavy breathing could be heard. Courtney’s eyebrows hiked up, and at that moment, I decided to call him out.
“Jeremy, is that fucking you?” I asked.
The call ended and tears sprang to my eyes. Courtney was already shuffling around for her phone, asking me where that card from the police officer was. I pointed to my room, telling her it was in my robe, and just as she left the room, a call came through again.
From an unknown number.
I picked it up and held it to my ear, and it was the same heavy breathing. I sat there for a little while, listening to the heavy breathing, and my hands began to shake. It went on for a few seconds before it stopped, and that was when I asked again.
“Jeremy, what the fuck are you doing?” I asked.
“Did he fucking call back?” Courtney asked.
The phone went dead as I looked up at my best friend. Her eyes were as wide as saucers as she held the card in her hand, dialing the officers who’d been here yesterday before she held the phone to her ear. She began talking to the voice on the other end of the line, explaining what was going on, and then it happened again.
My phone rang out, an unknown number calling.
“It’s happening right now. Yes. For the third time. This is fucked up. Can’t someone do something?” she asked.
I picked up the phone as tears ran down my cheeks. There was the same damn heavy breathing from the same damn unknown phone number. My hands began to tremble as I sniffled. My legs grew weak even as I sat on the couch. I sank back into the cushions, holding the phone to my ear, and without prompting, the call simply ended.
“Why are you doing this to me?” I whispered into the droning line. “Why are you doing this to me!?”
Chapter 6
I went into work bright and early Monday morning but was quickly let off. I talked to the HR department about my change in relationship with Jeremy, but they told me they already knew about it. He had informed them of the change over the weekend, and that made me nervous. Had he told them something? Were they going to fire me? Was I already out of a job?
“Mike, just talk with me,” I said.
“There isn’t anything to talk about, Lexi. We know of your change in relationship and you have the day off.”
“It didn’t say that on my schedule the last time I checked,” I said.
“Well, the department feels you should have the day off, so you have it off. I’m just the messenger.”
“Is the general manager around?”
“Lexi, what’s really the problem?” Mike asked.
Should I tell him what I was afraid of? At this point, I really wasn’t sure what I had to lose. I hadn’t been fired yet, so whatever Jeremy had told them must not have been too bad.
“I’m concerned I’m going to lose my job,” I said.
“Why would you lose your job over a change in relationship?” he asked.
“Because I don’t think Jeremy�
��s too happy about it and he’s my boss.”
“Well, we did try to warn you both about that when the two of you first started dating. Quite frankly, we’re surprised the two of you lasted as long as you did.”
“Why do you say that?” I asked.
“Look, in this building I can’t talk about personal case files and things with regard to other staff and personnel,” Mike said. “But, I can talk off the record about the fact that you’re not the first woman to be uneasy after ending things with Jeremy.”
“What does that mean?” I asked.
“He doesn’t have the best track record when it comes to being dumped. And trust me, it’s happened a lot. I’ve known him since he was hired here eight years ago. He doesn’t take rejection well.”
That was a fucking understatement from where I was sitting.
“Anyway, all this is to say that he can’t fire you, and any attempts to do so will come under direct scrutiny from the general manager herself. Right now, it would be easier for him to get struck by lightning than to fire you. Certain protocols are in place to keep interoffice romances from blowing up and ruining jobs. There’s an entirely different protocol he now has to walk through if he even has a complaint about you, much less wants to fire you. Trust me, you’re good.”
“Thanks, Mike. I really appreciate you taking the time to talk with me,” I said.
“I just need your signature on some paperwork so I have the official ‘change of relationship’ on file. Then you can go home.”
I signed the paperwork, gave Mike a hug, and then headed back to my car. Part of me debated on just cashing in a bit of my vacation. It’d been about a year since I’d taken any vacation for myself, and the thought of having Christmas Eve off this year did sound pretty appealing. My parties would have to default to someone, possibly even Jeremy, but the idea of not running into him until all the dust settled made me smile more and more.
I got into my car and pulled out my phone to text Courtney, but I froze when I saw all the missed calls. From the time I had left the house to now, I had ten missed calls from that damn unknown number. I’d had just about enough of this. If this pathetic excuse for a man thought he could scare me into coming back to him—or whatever the fuck he was trying to accomplish—then he thought wrong.
I ignored the calls from the unknown number and called Courtney instead.
“Hey, girl. You talk to HR?”
“Yeah, yeah. Jeremy had apparently talked to them over the weekend, and now I suddenly have the day off. But the HR rep reassured me my job was more secure than I realized. Apparently Jeremy has a reputation around work for not taking rejection well, so there are some extra protocols and roads he has to travel in order to file a complaint about me, much less try to fire me.”
“Good. Fucking fantastic even. You on your way home? I’m feeling some fancy coffee,” she said.
“Actually, I wanna run something by you. What do you think about me taking some vacation?”
“You mean you won’t be working your ass off? I’m all for it,” she said.
“So, if I went back into work and put in through Christmas, you’d be all right with that?”
“The fuck you asking me for? It’s your life. You never give yourself time like this. Plus, it’d be nice not to have to see that fuck-face until things settle down.”
“Exactly what I was thinking.”
“All right. Go put in for vacation, then come back with that fancy coffee. I’ll have toast and eggs ready,” she said.
I went back into work and headed over to see the general manager. I sat down and talked to her about taking vacation time, and she was all for it. Even though Mike had told me my job was secure, I didn’t feel as if it was. The general manager assured me the time would be paid leave. Three weeks of doing nothing but enjoying the holidays and staying the fuck away from this place.
Then she did something I didn’t expect her to do.
She stood and gave me a hug before I left.
I got out to my car and my head was spinning. People were acting strange at work and I hadn’t seen a lick of Jeremy in sight. His office door hadn’t been open, his light hadn’t been on, and his car wasn’t in the parking lot. Maybe the police had come around asking for him? If that had occurred, maybe that was the ‘personnel case files’ thing Mike had said he couldn’t talk about.
I drove to my favorite coffee shop and grabbed two large iced coffees, one with caramel and creamer and the other black as night. I had no idea how Courtney drank black coffee, much less how she could stand to put a shot of espresso in it. I’d fucking shoot through the roof with that amount of caffeine, but all it seemed to do for Courtney was focus her attention and make her a bit sassier than normal.
All the way home, my damn phone kept ringing. I’d look down and see that fucking unknown number, and by the time I pulled into the apartment complex, my blood was boiling. I threw my phone into my purse before grabbing the coffees, then started up the steps to my apartment. I banged on the door with my foot, yelling for Courtney to open up. I was done playing this petty little game with him, and I had the perfect solution if he wanted to keep being a little bitch.
“Who the hell pissed in your coffee?” she asked.
“I’m changing my number,” I said.
“Still calling?”
“Yep. I had voice messages bombard my phone because I turned it off last night. Just that fucking heavy breathing like he’s got some nasty booger in his nose. Rang all through the fucking HR meeting and all the way home. I’m not doing this anymore.”
“Sounds like it’s time for a number change then. Just don’t forget to give your number out to all those twins you’ve got on the hook,” she said, grinning.
I set my coffee down and shot her a look as I called the phone company. I was very honest with them and explained my situation, telling them I had an open police report and everything. I was relieved when they told me I could change my number for a small fee, but I was even more relieved when they told me I could do it now. No changing my phone, no coming down to the store. Just a small reallocation in their system and a small fee for the effort.
I could even tack the fee onto my next phone bill and be done with it.
The woman put me on hold as I sat there chugging my coffee. I was ready for this entire debacle to be over. A call came in from that unknown number, and I felt something inside me snap. The woman came back on the line and I told her to hang on. Then I flipped over to the other call and put it on speakerphone.
Almost on cue, the heavy breathing started up, but I wasn’t having any more of it.
“Listen here, you sick fuck. I’ll have your ass thrown in jail for harassment. By the time I’m done with this phone call, you’ll never be able to contact me unless you come for me. And if you do, I swear to heaven and hell I’ll castrate you on sight. Do you hear me!?”
I was panting and Courtney was gawking at me. The heavy breathing stopped and there was a beat of silence. Then a menacing chuckle began to reverberate over the phone. I didn’t recognize it at all, and it sent shivers down my spine. Then the phone call cut out and switched back over to the woman from the phone company.
“Ma’am? Are you there? I’ve got your new number for you.”
My eyes were wide as tears lined the edges. That laughter just kept ricocheting through my head, and for the first time since this bullshit started, I saw genuine fear fade over Courtney’s body. Her eyes were wide, her pupils blown open with adrenaline. I swallowed hard, trying to find my voice, but Courtney found hers before I could.
“Yes, we’re ready for the new number. Go ahead.”
Courtney wrote down the new number before the woman pressed a few buttons on her end and the call dropped. Then my phone lit up with a foreign number, though the number wasn’t unknown.
“Hello?” Courtney asked as she answered.
“It works! Your number has been changed and the small fee will be on next month’s phone bill. I
hope this helps with your problem.”
“Thank you very much,” Courtney said before she hung up the call.
“Lexi, talk to me.”
I blinked a few times before my fingertips curled around the phone. I finally lifted my eyes to meet her gaze and felt a tear run down each cheek. Courtney reached out, wiping them away from my skin. Then her voice hit my ears softly as she reminded me of what I needed to do.
“Make new group chats and give the boys your new phone number. Maybe you should consider taking the Weld brothers up on their offer,” she said.
“The Wolf brothers,” I corrected.
“Whatever,” she whispered as her hand clasped the back of my neck. “Just consider it, okay?”
Taking my coffee, I went to sit on the couch. I heard Courtney begin to fix the food she had said she’d have ready when I walked through the door, and I slowly sent my new number out to all of the twins, plus a few other people who I wanted to have it. Group chats were made and they all began hounding me about how I was, but I honestly didn’t know how to reply to any of them. They were all so kind and wanted to protect me, but right now all I wanted to be was held.
“You still gonna go on your date tomorrow night?” she asked.
“What?”
“The date with the Mansion twins.”
“For fuck’s sake, you mean the Castle twins?” I asked.
“Damn, I’m never gonna get their names right. Chill out. I’m not big on names anyway. Names have no bearing on pussy-licking skill, so what do I care?”
“Tomorrow’s Tuesday, isn’t it?” I asked.
“Yep, and it’s also the first day of your vacation. That means you need to do it right. Please tell me you haven’t canceled that date.”
For a split second I considered it, unsure if it was safe for me to be going out with other men right now, but I didn’t want Jeremy ruling my life. He had attempted to do plenty of that while we were together, and there was no reason in this world why he needed to be scaring me out of what I wanted to do with my life now.
He had no right to it then and even less now.
“No. I’m not gonna cancel. It’s bullshit that Jeremy thinks he can frighten me into not having a life,” I said.
