Kitten

by Jack Harbon

  The apartment was unlocked when Kit made it to his door. “Hey, I’m here!” he called out.

  Michelle poked her head out from the kitchen and waved. “Hey!” She wiped her hands on the apron around her waist and gave him a quick hug. “How was your first day of work?”

  “God, I really don’t know if I’m gonna last here long,” he sighed dramatically, laughing when Michelle did. “Where’s Chad at?”

  “He went to the store to pick up some onions. I thought he had some, and you can’t make burgers and onion rings without them.”

  “Do you need any help?” he offered.

  “No, no, you always cook for us at your apartment, let us treat you this time. Besides, I wanna hear all the gossip about your first day back. Spill the tea.”

  Kit took a seat at the bar and let out a deep breath. He didn’t even know where to begin. “It was seriously one of the best days I’ve had in a long time. I don’t know if Chad told you about what happened with me and Roman a few days ago…”

  “Just that you got into it with your folks and you found him outside waiting to talk to you.” She sprinkled seasoning salt over the beef patties like an expert. After that, she grabbed the knife and quickly began chopping up potatoes.

  “Yeah, that’s pretty much exactly how it happened. He found me and apologized for treating me like dirt. He told me all about how his ex was shitty and kind of the worst person ever, too.”

  “Shit,” Michelle gasped, pulling her hand back suddenly. Kit didn’t realize she’d cut herself until he saw the blood on the knife.

  “Damn, let me get you a bandage.” Kit jumped up from the bar and hurried into the bathroom to grab the medical kit Chad kept underneath the sink. Inside, he removed the peroxide, cleaning swabs, and a Band-Aid. When he returned to the kitchen, he helped Michelle clean off the blood from her finger.

  “I didn’t bleed on any of the food, right?” she asked, looking over her shoulder at the potatoes.

  “Just the one you were cutting, but that’s fine. I can take over, okay? Now, this might sting a little.” Kit poured the tiniest amount of peroxide on the cut, watching it bubble and fizzle in the wound. It wasn’t deep at all, thankfully. Michelle winced, but she managed to keep quiet.

  Kit wrapped the Band-Aid around her finger and smiled. “All better!”

  “Thank you,” she murmured finally. “I’m such an idiot.”

  “Nah, just clumsy.” Kit cleaned up the mess on the counter and tossed the bad potato, grabbing a new knife to cut the rest of the food up with.

  “So, what else happened? Distract me so I don’t end up bitching about this cut,” Michelle laughed.

  “Well, today was good because when I got there, one of my coworkers had thrown me this huge party. She got everyone to pitch in and they got me a cake and everything. It was one of the sweetest things anyone’s ever done for me.”

  Michelle held a hand to her heart. “That’s the sweetest. Barbie’s parties are always amazing.”

  “If they are, I hope I’m invited to all of them,” he laughed.

  While Kit seasoned the fries and got them put into the oven, Michelle hopped onto the couch to look over everything they had on Netflix. Good food and a horror movie had become their thing. Kit washed his hands and leaned back against the counter, smiling to himself.

  Then he frowned.

  How did Michelle know who’d thrown him the party, let alone that Barbie’s parties were nice? He’d never mentioned her by name to either of his friends, nor did he talk about anyone else from work except Roman. Kit looked at Michelle, and his stomach fell.

  It all slowly came to him.

  Roman’s number being blocked on his phone after she and Chad had stayed the night. Her bragging that she’d been smarter than everyone at her old computer job. The lamp she bought him that was far too much for any barista. Her knowledge of Yellow Fall employees by name.

  Michelle.

  It was her.

  31

  Sadie

  Kit ran. He couldn’t even bother coming up with a decent excuse other than Bria sent him a text about their parents and he needed to go. Michelle had looked at him with suspicion, but she didn’t say anything. Kit took off, flying down the stairs and bursting through the door. When he reached the curb, he waved for a taxi and caught his breath.

  Why? This didn’t make any sense. Michelle was his friend. Friends didn’t do this to each other. They didn’t get each other fired. They didn’t steal thousands of dollars and try to pin it on someone else. He’d trusted her, and she did this.

  He knew where he was going. Roman was still working late at the office, otherwise he would’ve given directions to the man’s house. Instead, the cab driver sighed and headed towards Yellow Fall, clearly irritated with the drive he’d have to make. Kit couldn’t be bothered to care about the driver’s feelings given his current situation. All he could think about was why Michelle had done this.

  The driver stopped at the curb, and Kit tossed his money, ignoring the angry shouts from the driver. He pushed through doors and jabbed at the elevator button, his heart racing. Finally, the doors parted and he was inside. The ride up to the sixth floor had never been slower in Kit’s life. When he stepped out, Roman was in the middle of a conversation with Ari, but that didn’t stop Kit from saying,

  “It was Michelle.”

  Both men turned to look at him in confusion. “What?” Roman asked.

  “Michelle’s the one stealing the money,” he panted.

  “Who is Michelle?” Ari asked, looking between the two of them. “How do you know?”

  Kit still hadn’t completely forgiven Ari for accusing him of stealing, so he ignored the man’s question. “Roman, it’s Michelle. I was at her place helping her cook and I mentioned the party today. She knew Barbie’s name. I’ve never said it—I’ve never even talked to them about my coworkers—but she still knew Barbie’s name.”

  Roman’s brows turned downward, like he was trying to piece this all together. “How would your friend from the coffee shop know Barbie?”

  “I don’t know!” Kit exclaimed. “I just know that she specifically said her name, and the only way she could have known about the parties is if she knew what happened here at work. Do either of you know if she maybe worked here or something?”

  Ari scratched his chin. “No, I don’t recall a Michelle.”

  “I don’t either,” Roman murmured.

  “Well, don’t you guys keep a record or something? Can you see if anyone named Michelle did work here? Because that would explain a lot.” Kit didn’t wait for their answer. Instead, he headed back to the elevator.

  “Where are you going?” Ari asked.

  “Tech department,” Roman said, answering for Kit. He waved Ari over with him, and when they were all inside, Kit pressed the button for the third floor.

  He could barely sit still. He was full of adrenaline and nerves, sick to his stomach but desperate for information. He needed to figure out what was going on. There had to be some kind of explanation.

  Part of him rationalized that this was just some weird mistake. Maybe he had mentioned Barbie before. Maybe there’d been another party that he forgot about, and he told Michelle and Chad about it. It was a stretch, but a part of Kit didn’t want to believe that someone he was so close to could have done something like this to him.

  When the doors parted, the group of three made a beeline for the young man sitting at his computer. He looked up, and when he saw Ari, fear crossed his face. “Evening, Mr. Naser,” he said, clearing his throat and sitting up straighter.

  “Evening, Sam. I need you to pull out the database of all our employees at the company.”

  Sam nodded and began typing at his computer, skillfully clicking through branches of folders until he found the proper document. “Okay, now what?”

  “Search the name Michelle,” Kit said before Ari could open his mouth. Sam did as he was told. When he hit enter, only one name popped up. />
  The program sorted through all the names of current and past employees of Yellow Fall. There were only three instances of a woman with that first name, then someone with the middle name. Sam’s eyebrows went up, and he clicked on the last one.

  “Sadie Michelle Schreiner,” Kit said aloud. He looked between Sam, Ari, and Roman, deducing that their silence was because they knew something he didn’t. “Who’s that?”

  Ari gave Roman a hard look. “Sadie was Roman’s previous assistant. And his ex-girlfriend.”

  Kit felt like he’d been punched in the gut. He thought he might really double over and start heaving. This was too much for him. “What?”

  “I’ll let Roman do the explaining. Right now, I have some calls to make. I’ll see you tomorrow, Sam. Good work, Kit.” He patted Kit on the shoulder and left the three of them alone. There was a heavy silence after his departure.

  “Come with me and I’ll explain it, okay?” Roman said quietly. Kit nodded and took his hand when Roman reached for him. “Thank you, Sam,” Roman said over his shoulder.

  Roman led him out to the lobby of Yellow Fall. Kit was at a loss for words. Flashes of Michelle and Roman together made his stomach twist—from jealousy or disgust, he wasn’t quite sure. All he knew was that he felt like he’d been hit by a car that didn’t bother slowing down.

  “I need you to tell me everything,” he said finally, looking up at Roman.

  He took a moment to collect his thoughts. “Michelle became my assistant last May. She’d moved here from some small town and she was looking for a job that wouldn’t take up her time every single time. Jesus, she was a computer science major,” he said, laughing humorlessly. “I should have known when you told me about that update.”

  “Ari said you two were dating?” Just saying that made Kit irritated.

  “We did date. She was the ex I’d told you about. The one that fucked me up. At first, she was amazing. She was funny and sweet and all of that, but as the months went by, she got more and more possessive. She started acting different. Sadie became controlling, and manipulative too. She constantly pretended to be hurt or sick, just for my attention.”

  Kit thought back to the time she was supposed to go see Trish’s musical but had called out because she was sick. But the truth was, she wasn’t, at least not in that sense. She knew Roman would be there, and if he saw her, her cover would be blown.

  Roman shook his head. “She threatened to hurt herself if I didn’t give her what she wanted. Finally, I’d had enough. I wasn’t going to suffer through it when I could get rid of her if I just fired her. So, I did. Yolanda and I were ready for her to come back with claims that I assaulted her or press charges for sexual harassment, but she never did. She just kind of…disappeared. I haven’t seen her since April of this year.

  “That’s why I was so wary to hire you at first. It had only been a few months since she and I split up, and I was worried I might end up with another crazy ass assistant. In a way, I was right.”

  Kit, despite everything, smiled. “You were.”

  “I don’t know why I didn’t expect something like this from her. She was gone for so long. I’d let myself think she was gone for good.”

  “That bitch pretended to be my friend,” Kit muttered. “When you and I were, y’know, going through our thing, she sat there with me and comforted me when I was crying. She dated my best friend, and for what? Just so she could get revenge on you breaking up with her?”

  “That’s how Sadie works,” he said, placing his hand on Kit’s shoulder. “She gets close to you and makes you need her. She gives you nice gifts, and she treats you like someone she’s known her whole life. She invites you out, she makes you feel important, and then when you’re finally hooked, she decides she wants more. She’s never satisfied with what you can give her. She’ll always want more from you.”

  Kit’s head spun. Never in his life did he think someone close to him would be this out of her goddamn mind, but he couldn’t argue with Roman. He’d dated her for months before he got free from her grasp.

  Kit’s phone rang. He pulled it from his pocket and looked down. He tensed when he saw who was calling. “Hey, Chad,” he said.

  “Hey, dude, where the hell are y’all at? Michelle sent me a text saying you got here, and now you guys are gone and she’s not answering her phone.”

  “Look, Chad, I can’t explain this right now, but you need to stay away from Michelle, okay?” Kit looked at Roman, who nodded.

  Chad laughed. “What?”

  “This isn’t a joke, dude. This is serious, you have to believe me. Just go somewhere else for a while. Shit, go hang out with Bria or something. Just stay away from Michelle.”

  “Why? What’s going on?”

  “You remember how I couldn’t tell you why you needed to get out of that convenience store back in 2014 because I knew you’d freak out if I said someone walked in with a knife?”

  “Yeah?”

  “It’s that serious,” Kit said. “Stay away from her, at least until I say it’s okay.”

  “Uh…okay, fine. But you better explain this when you get here.” Chad hung up the phone.

  Kit knew it wasn’t a very compelling case. “Because I said so” never satisfied anyone’s curiosity. But the truth was, he didn’t have time to explain this over the phone. If Michelle wasn’t with him, she could be anywhere. He didn’t think she was dangerous, but he’d seen too many movies like this. He knew people could simply snap, and if she knew she’d been caught stealing thousands of dollars, she might just lose her shit and try to hurt someone.

  He scoffed. He’d like to see her try.

  Kit turned to Roman. “What’s Ari gonna do?”

  “He’s probably filing a police report right now. There might be a warrant for her arrest by morning.”

  “Good,” Kit said, covering his face with his hands. “This is too much. I just wanted some burgers and onion rings and they got my Black ass in Fatal Attraction.”

  “Come on, let’s go get some food and we’ll wait this whole thing out.” Roman pulled Kit closer and draped his arm over his shoulder, walking through the front door with him.

  They crossed the street, talking about nothing in particular. Kit opened his mouth to make a joke when he saw Michelle at the same time she saw the two of them. She stood on the other side of the street.

  “Kit!” she exclaimed.

  “Keep walking,” Roman said, putting his head down and continuing their stride.

  “Kit! Roman! I need to talk to you guys! I need to tell you something!” Her voice was hoarse, rough like sandpaper. Like she’d been crying. “Stop ignoring me, goddammit!”

  “Roman…” Kit whispered.

  “It’s fine. She’s not going to do anything, not in public.”

  Michelle hurried to keep up with them. “Listen, I know you think you know what’s going on, but I need to explain. Please, just let me explain. Kit, you need to get away from him.”

  Kit looked at her like she was crazy. “What?”

  “He doesn’t care about you. He doesn’t care about anyone. All he can think of is himself, and what other people can give him. Isn’t that right, Roman? You probably told him all about how ‘crazy’ and ‘obsessive’ I was, didn’t you? Did you tell him how you were all ready to tie the knot with me? How you were going to walk me down the aisle and give me a baby? That’s all I ever wanted, and you told me you would give me that.”

  Roman scoffed under his breath. “None of that matters anymore, Sadie. You should go before the police show up.” He pulled Kit closer and quickened his speed.

  “No, you wanted a family with me because you knew all I ever wanted was that. You think I stole all of this from you because I wanted it for myself? No, I stole it because I needed it. Because I finally got the family I’d always dreamed of.”

  Kit stopped in his tracks and turned to face her. “What are you talking about?”

  A knowing smile formed on her face, and she
stepped away from the curb. “I needed the money for this.” As she hurried towards them, she put a hand over her stomach. “I needed the money for my baby. Chad’s baby.”

  Roman’s head snapped up at the same time Kit covered his mouth. He barely processed what she’d said before the screech of tires and the flashing of headlights registered. The car connected with Michelle and she collided against the windshield, shattering it.

  The car came to a halt, and she rolled down from the hood. Her bloody, battered body hit the ground with a heavy thud.

  32

  I’m Free

  Kit had never seen anything more horrific in his life. He’d watched graphic videos online, and even witnessed a few disgusting videos Chad had challenged him to sit through, but this was something else entirely. He knew Michelle. She’d been his friend. And now he wasn’t sure whether she was dead or not.

  His head spun.

  He grabbed for Roman, clutching the sleeve of his shirt in his fist.

  The sound of a woman’s scream finally broke him from the trance. Kit struggled to dial for an ambulance, nausea rising up his throat. He tore his eyes from Michelle’s body. If he didn’t, he was going to lose it.

  The driver stepped out from the car with tears in his eyes, visibly shaken. Kit wanted to tell him that it wasn’t his fault, but his throat was sealed shut. He could only croak out that they needed the paramedics, quickly.

  All around them, people stood in shock. A father held his son close to him, covering the boy’s eyes and turn his head away from the accident. Two women clung to each other, silently sobbing. Then there was Roman.

  “Roman,” Kit whispered, shaking him.

  “She…she’s pregnant?” His voice was thin.

  Kit had no words. He stepped closer to Roman, wrapping his arms around him and burying his face in his chest. Kit shivered, tears wetting the front of his shirt. Roman buried his face in Kit’s hair.