Just to be Left Alone

by Ginny Lynn

  “Okay, we’ll see if someone can deliver it tomorrow and if not we’ll just concentrate on tearing down the whole dock in the spare time we have.”

  I swallowed the last bit of my now cold coffee.

  “With the way things are going, we’ll have the dock torn down in a day and a half then still not have the truck here.”

  “We can call a few of the companies that come here to see if they are available to haul the items already ordered. We can also talk to Ramirez about our options for the next few days if we can’t get anything here on time.”

  I threw my empty cup away and reached for my rolodex.

  “I knew there was a reason I work so well with you.”

  He ruffled my hair before walking out the door to see Ramirez.

  I got into my warm chair and kept flipping threw my contacts until I got to the one I needed. Almost an hour later and I was looking for Parker again. I had gotten a driver who could pick up the supplies and deliver them back to us by six o’clock tomorrow night. The permits were the next on my list to conquer.

  I found Parker passing in front of the coffee station.

  “I think I have a way into the permits office. Chastity use to date this guy. He’s second in command and she happens to still have his phone number. She’ll call him this afternoon to see what the hold up is on the permits we already applied for. She’ll call us later to let us know what happens.”

  “I don’t know if I should be happy or jealous.” Parker said.

  Chastity would sweet-talk her friend into handling our little problem. She had done this kind of thing before and it always worked.

  “I can tell what you’re thinking. Yes, she can get us what we need and no jealousy is needed.”

  We went over work details until lunchtime. I got a call from Conrad just as I was driving to the deli and filled him in on my hectic day. Thankfully, his day was better than mine. He hung up with me just as I saw Felicia’s car pull into the parking spot beside mine.

  “Sorry I’m late, I got a call from my boss that a big investor needed a place before next weekend and I had to go over his housing requirements.”

  “Can you meet his requirements?” I asked as we walked inside the deli.

  “Yeah. The problem will be either finding a place that’s already vacant or the owners can vacate with a minutes notice. The interesting thing was he wanted an exercise room and a separate office right next to each other.”

  We placed our orders.

  “I don’t remember you ever having missed out on a sale. I guess you’ll be armpit deep in this by this evening.”

  We got our food and found a table close to the exit door.

  “Just don’t think I won’t be bugging you every day, because that won’t happen. I had guessed that everything was fine since I didn’t hear from you by bedtime.”

  In between bites I gave her every detail. She just sat there and ate as I got to the delivery problem I had.

  “Wow! I thought I was having a tough day. At least Jason hasn’t shown up any where today.”

  “I agree."

  We finished our lunch and hugged before heading back to our jobs. When I got back to the office I spotted a box upon my desk.

  It had a typed note on it stating, “Just thinking of you, don’t thank me because the thought of your smile is enough for me.”

  No name was signed to it and it must’ve been delivered while I was gone. I yanked open the top to see it was filled with expensive dark truffles. I popped one into my mouth and melted. It was the best chocolate I had ever had. That was saying something since I could eat dark chocolate every day. My first instinct was to call Conrad to thank him, however, after this morning I realized he didn’t like fuss over small gestures.

  Parker came in with a stack of paperwork and saw the open box on my desk.

  “So that’s what was inside of there. The delivery guy told me the box was from your sweetheart. With the look on your face I’d say it was extremely appreciated. I’ll probably get smacked for grabbing one,” he added.

  “You are right on both accounts!”

  I smiled as I closed the box and got to the work he brought in for us.

  By five o’clock I was worn out and had eaten two more chocolates. I said goodbye to everyone after grabbing my chocolates and my briefcase, then headed out to my vehicle. I felt like I was driving on auto-pilot since my head was heavy and I wanted to nod off. I called Conrad and told him I was going to bed early. He thought it was all the stress catching up to me. I ate half of a peanut butter sandwich, fed Bella and stripped before sliding into bed. I was dead to the world.

  * * * *

  I dreamed that someone had come into my room and curled up against me. I whispered Conrad’s name and nestled closer. In my dream he was holding me tight. It was a little uncomfortable, and yet I was too tired to care.

  I woke up at six-thirty to my alarm blaring. I heard something slam and jumped. I felt a little off. I grudgingly climbed out of bed feeling woozy, so I took my time in the shower.

  While getting ready, I noticed all my clothes from yesterday were in a pile on the chaise lounge. I was so tired last night that they didn’t even make it into the hamper. My extra blanket was even on the floor, showing my rough sleep. I just shook my head as I tidied up before heading out the door.

  After I got settled into my office, I saw Parker looking at me strangely from the door frame. I must’ve looked as bad as I felt because he only shrugged and went through the motions of the day. I was feeling better by one o’clock. By the time we closed up at four I was feeling less tired, even though my stomach was upset.

  Parker said I might be coming down with something, especially with all the garbage flying around in the air at the warehouse. Plus, I had gotten drenched in the downpour the other day. I left work, without any pressure from Parker and called Conrad on my way home, who agreed with Parker on the sick prognosis. He suggested I heat up some soup, take vitamin C and get into bed for the rest of the night. He was going to call me in the morning to see if I felt any better. I did as instructed and finished half the can of soup before heading to my bed.

  I had the same dream of Conrad climbing into bed. This time, when I reached for him, he put his fingers to my lips. I just smiled as he pulled me closer to his body.

  Saturday I woke up to a messy bed. I called Parker to see if the shipment ever got delivered and thankfully it had been. He also told me the permits office would be calling him Monday morning to give us an update. Apparently, Chastity had gotten her friend to help us get back on schedule. Ramirez was to start the crew on tearing out the dock door.

  I felt guilty for not helping him last night. Everything was set up in the dock door that was beside the damaged one. He told me to concentrate on getting better over the weekend and he’d see me at nine on Monday.

  I sighed and walked into the kitchen to nibble on something, still not feeling 100 percent. Eating half of a sandwich, I started cleaning my apartment as I usually did on the weekends. I found trash in the bathroom even though I didn’t remember throwing anything away. My mind must be slipping away with my appetite.

  I did a quick run through of cleaning on the place and decided I’d lounge by the pool for a little while. I still wasn’t hungry, so I only took my water bottle with me. Finding a lounge chair by the shallow end, I relaxed. I was asleep in no time and didn’t realize it until I was nudged awake by Conrad.

  “Hey, sleepyhead. You’re going to burn lying around like this. Did you put sunscreen on?” he asked while bent over me.

  “Yes, I always put it on before I come out here. What time is it?”

  I stretched and noticed my skin was a little tight.

  “It’s one-thirty and I came by to see if you wanted to go out this afternoon. I called but you didn’t answer. You look a tad bit pink. Let’s get you inside.”

  He grabbed my bag and reached his hand out to me. I took it and he ushered me up to my apartment. When I was letting
us in I noticed the blinds move in the window of the apartment next door. I guess someone was moved in, although I hadn’t seen any furniture come in. At least they were quiet about it. This could be a good neighbor.

  “Well, here we are. What did you have in mind for this evening?”

  I batted my eyelashes at him.

  “Keep that up and we won’t be going anywhere, young lady.”

  “Seriously, tell me,” I said as I put my pool bag in the hall closet.

  “I had thought we could go to a nice little restaurant and then possibly to a movie. What do you think about that?”

  He reached for me, running his hand up and down my back.

  “It’s fine. Since I haven’t been feeling too well the last few days maybe it’ll do me some good,” I replied, loving the feel of the movements on my back.

  “If you still aren’t feeling well then why don’t I just pick up a movie and some Chinese take-out?” He asked as I leaned into him.

  I breathed a sigh of relief and said, “That actually sounds wonderful. I can just take a quick shower and go with you.”

  I went toward the bathroom. He caught me.

  “You take your shower and I’ll get everything while you freshen up. What kind of Chinese do you want?”

  All I wanted was for him to keep rubbing my back. I stopped myself and concentrated back on the task at hand. I gave a list of what I liked before he left. Of course he didn’t leave without a good kiss to get him through his errands. I could get used to this.

  I took a leisurely shower before pulling on my favorite gray yoga pants and matching tank top. I grabbed a chocolate on the way back to the den then turned on the iced tea maker. Curling up on the love seat with Bella I nodded off as I waited for Conrad.

  When he finally returned, I let him in and helped him unload everything. It smelled wonderful. I was suddenly very hungry as I started dividing everything up. There was rice, wings and soup to serve with crisp noodles. I grabbed plates while he got the movie out. It was the newest spy movie that I hadn’t seen yet. He sure was getting to know me if he can pick out a good movie for us to watch.

  “I took a gamble that you hadn’t seen this one yet. It just came out on DVD this week. If you saw it in the theater, please indulge me.”

  “No, I haven’t seen it yet and was going to buy it next weekend when I went by the superstore.”

  I brought loaded plates to the coffee table and went back for the iced tea.

  We got cozy on the loveseat while Bella sashayed to the bedroom to finish her interrupted nap. Half way through the movie, I realized I was starting to feel ill again. I went to the restroom long enough to take something for my upset stomach. It didn’t work, so I ended up being miserable and couldn’t focus on the plot of the movie playing. It was as if a fireball was burning my stomach lining out. I began feeling dizzy.

  Conrad asked, “You okay?”

  “No. I’m miserable. I don’t know if it was the heat from sleeping at the pool or the fact that I ate something afterward.”

  He felt my forehead before asking me exactly where it hurt.

  “Your skin is clammy. If it was the food then I think I would be sick too. Maybe being out in the sun for so long made it worse. You look flushed but that may be the slight sunburn you got.”

  “My burn would have been worse if you hadn’t woken me up when you did. I have been dizzy, nauseous and had a tight stomach since Friday afternoon. I must have caught a virus. It could be contagious. Maybe you should go.”

  I felt bad about possibly making him sick.

  “I’ll go if you agree to get some rest. I’m not afraid of catching anything from you. I bet it’d be the best way for me to have caught anything.”

  He brushed the hair from my hot face.

  “Just call me if you need anything.”

  There wasn’t any food to dispose of so he grabbed the movie before opening the front door. I blew him a kiss and locked up.

  Sighing, I sank into the love seat. I smelled his cologne in the air. I was drifting into a deep sleep before I could even summon the strength to stumble to bed.

  In my sleeping state, I felt a weight against me. I didn’t open my eyes as I figured it was Bella trying to comfort me. I heard noise coming from her and wasn’t sure if she was meowing or purring.

  A stinging pain hit my arm. I swatted at Bella, except I hit something cold and hard. The fog in my head got thicker. I felt like I was floating. I had never liked being sick and always chose to sleep through any illness I had. I decided to just shut my mind off to the crazy way I was feeling and surrendered to the blackness.

  Chapter Eight

  I heard something shutting. I tried to open my heavy lids. They wouldn’t cooperate. I moaned as I tried to wake myself up. Hearing a voice, I tried to focus on it.

  “Don’t worry. I have you and everything will be just fine.”

  I felt a pat on my arm and another stinging sensation. The voice sounded familiar. My foggy brain was yelling at me. Why couldn’t I get up? Then, I felt nothing.

  Later, I woke to a dark room and a cottony feeling in my mouth. I focused on the shapes surrounding me. Nothing seemed familiar. It was similar to my bedroom, only none of my furniture was in sight. I tried again to focus my eyes and had trouble with that too. Either I was dreaming again or I was in another apartment somewhere in the complex.

  I tried to get up, except my wrists were tied down to the sides of the bed I was laying on. I started to panic. I tried calling out, however, my sandpaper throat only released a loud whisper. Not sure of what had happened, I tried to recall where I had been last. I remembered being on the loveseat after Conrad left and knew nothing certain after that. Something about Bella and my arm came to mind, just no other details. The smell of paint and new carpet wafted to me and compounded the headache I was suffering with.

  I sat there in a panic. Then I realized that I wasn’t going to get myself back to safety if I was hysterical. I had to take a moment to center myself, no matter how difficult it was. I felt around with my feet. The bed I was on was small, metal and squeaked when I moved around. I wasn’t able to touch the wall, but could reach the floor with the tips of my toes. I pushed against the floor and the bed moved. It must be a rollaway. I nudged it toward the door to only bump into something on the way.

  Slipping my hand over the edge of the bed, I felt what could be a chair next to me. Putting pressure on it made me move a little. I kept trying until I couldn’t reach it any further. I stretched both feet onto the floor, with each as low on the bed as I could get them. It took several minutes to clear the chair and get to the door.

  I was sweating from the effort. My joints ached with tension. Scooting myself over to the side of the bed, I reached my right hand as far as the bindings would let me. I could feel the cold door knob. Wiping my hand on the wood surface, I concentrated on wrapping my fingers around the knob, just enough to turn it. The bed started to squeak as I put all my weight on that one side. I had to be still for a moment.

  Not noticing any others sounds, I reached out again. It took another couple of minutes to get a good enough hold to turn the knob. Finally, I got it open and almost cried. I then realized I had another problem. The door opened to the inside of the room. Biting my lip in frustration, I kept from releasing the loud curse words riding through my brain. Moving the bed toward the other side of the doorway was even tougher than trying to get the knob turned. It seemed like a lifetime ago that I woke up to the dark room but was reminding myself of the progress I had made.

  Startled, I heard a noise from beside me. I didn’t even want to breathe as I slid my head to look in the direction of the noise. It was my cell phone vibrating next to the doorway. If I could only get it, I could try to call someone.

  Not hearing any other noises, I kept inching the bed along until I had the door pushed open. Slowly, I made it through the doorway and rolled slowly into the hallway. I was almost there when I heard the cell phone again. I ran int
o the wall. It jarred me for a moment, and then I was relieved to know that I had made it out of that room. My next move was to move the bed against the wall so I could reach the phone with my left hand.

  The light from the phone glowed against my purse as they lay on the floor a couple feet away from me. I was glad that they had been dumped there. Extending my foot as far as the restraints would let me, I managed to hook the purse strap with my toes. Carefully, I brought it toward the bed. It stopped ringing as I got it to the bottom of the bed.

  Tears were streaming down my cheeks as total misery hit me. How had I gotten here without waking up? Was I tied down in my own apartment and if so, where was my furniture? If Jason had done this, would he find me before I could get loose? Hysteria washed over me. I pulled myself together to finish my task. I had yanked on the straps at my wrist and was starting to feel the pain seep into my raw skin. I just needed to keep myself together long enough to get the phone in my hands, and then I could break down.

  I slowly slid the bed toward my purse and yanked the strap up. The phone sailed off the fabric and bounced off my chest before landing at my side. The tears started again. My numb hand grabbed the phone. I strained to look down at the buttons on the phone. Holding down the voice activation button, I could feel my skin sticking to the binds surrounding them. It made it a little more difficult to move my thumb since it wasn’t able to slip around as easily. I was too numb to tell if I was holding it down hard enough. I held my breath until I heard the prompt come over the speaker. I tried to say Felicia’s name, but it came out as a sad croak.

  The phone didn’t register it clearly enough, so the call didn’t go through. I tried again with all of the girl’s names, just to no avail. My throat felt stripped. I saw my phone light up again and pressed the speaker button. I heard Felicia’s voice, although I couldn’t understand what she was saying. I yelled at her to listen to me. It must’ve worked because all was quiet but the call was still connected.