Boss Me

by Claire Adams

  He looked like he was about to drop his phone. He laughed in disbelief.

  “What are you saying, Hannah?” he asked.

  “What?” I said. “It’s not like I don’t know where you live or work… I know how to find you. I know you’ll pay me back. I don’t want you to empty out your entire bank account over this.”

  “You didn’t punch Jared, I did.”

  “You beat him up because of me,” I said. “I’ve… I don’t know—”

  “What?” he asked.

  “I’ve never had a guy beat another guy up over me before…”

  I hated how it sounded coming out of my mouth. It sounded childish. I felt like a high school girl swooning over the results of a tumultuous love triangle. I attempted to move those thoughts out of mind.

  “I didn’t beat him up over you,” he said. “We were arguing over you. We fought because he tried to electrocute me. I wasn’t willing to do what he wanted. That’s why he tried to fight me. It’s not my fault that the spineless little punk doesn’t know how to be a fucking man. I almost don’t want you going back to that apartment. I hate the thought of him stalking you.”

  I wasn’t sure if he was sweetening his tone because I offered to pay his bail, or for some other ulterior motive. And I wasn’t sure if I was receptive to it because I was lonely and afraid, but I didn’t care. I contemplated touching the glass again but didn’t.

  “I can take care of myself just fine, Sawyer,” I said.

  “I know you can, but still,” he said. “The dude’s fucking crazy.”

  “I’m surprised that he would go this far,” I said. “Jared’s always been… kind of a control freak. It was always his way or no way. I was fine with him making decisions when we were together… well, until the end.”

  “Yeah.”

  “I’m so sorry that he attacked you,” I said genuinely.

  “It’s all right. What can you do?”

  “I can go get the Taser and show it to police and get you out of here.”

  “Don’t know if it’d be that easy, but hey… Monday’s not far away.”

  We had another long pause. I wasn’t keeping track of the time, but I knew that our time together wasn’t going to last much longer.

  “So… today’s the day before the deadline,” he said, winking. “Guess it’d be pretty hard for me to seduce you behind two-way glass.”

  I giggled, biting my lip. “You’re a capable man, Sawyer; don’t sell yourself too short.”

  “Think maybe you could flash me or something? Put your boobs up against the glass and give me something to think about while I’m in the big house?”

  “What, I haven’t given you enough to think about?” I asked shyly.

  “I’ve thought about all that already, I need more material,” he said. “Come on; I’m stressed out. I’m in jail! Do it. I know you want to.”

  “We don’t both need to be locked up, Sawyer,” I said.

  “No one’s going to lock you up; you’re too fucking hot.”

  I looked behind me at the officer standing guard, whose face was unchanged.

  “My deadline is tomorrow, and I won’t be able to get out of here until Monday,” he said. “So… I guess that means the bet is over.”

  “Oh… Yeah, I guess so,” I said, still playing with my hair.

  “I’ll officially declare you the winner when I’m free, but until then… congrats, Ms. Stone. You win. You beat me. You are the master.”

  I did a subtle, playful bow. “Thank you. It wasn’t easy.”

  “I thought so,” he said smirking.

  I rolled my eyes. “If your bail isn’t super-high, I’ll pay it for you. You can pay me back. I promise I’ve got some money that I can use. I’ve been saving for years.”

  He looked down, barely meeting my gaze. “I get now why you have such bad feelings toward men. I’m not a saint, but Jared… he’s the guy who gives other guys a bad rep. He’s trying to prove his dick is big and that women should like… want to be with him, just because he’s him. He’s making it harder for the rest of us.”

  “You don’t think that sounds a lot like you, what you just described?” I pondered.

  He chuckled. “No… I don’t have to prove how big my dick is. You know it.”

  “Oh, for fuck’s sake,” I said rolling my eyes again.

  “Please tell me that asshole isn’t trying to have you evicted,” Sawyer said, referencing our angry landlord. “And I… I couldn’t help but notice you saying you ‘know where I live.’ You’re not letting me stay.”

  “We’ll talk about it later,” I said. I wasn’t sure of what I wanted to do, especially since I had yet to be asked to leave. It had only been a day since the landlord threatened me, and I fully feared that Monday might bring an eviction notice with it.

  I didn’t want to look at Sawyer as a liability, but I didn’t have a choice. I was in no position to be thrown out of my apartment. As much as I was growing to care for him, I had to look out for myself, which was something I hadn’t done much of since I let him stay with me.

  “You gonna help me out?” he asked.

  “I’ll get the Taser and take it to the sheriff’s department,” I said smiling. “Don’t worry; everything’s going to be okay.”

  “I’m not worried, little lady,” he said grinning.

  I hung up my phone, and we both took our leave. As I headed back toward my vehicle, I fully expected to discover the discarded Taser in Sawyer’s luggage.

  When I walked in through my front door, I instantly felt like something wasn’t right.

  I hadn’t seen any signs of forcible entry, but in my rush to get out the door and see Sawyer, I wondered if I had forgotten to lock the door.

  I went straight for the guest bedroom. The light was on, and I knew that neither Sawyer nor I had left it that way.

  Frantically, I went through each of Sawyer’s suitcases and bags, tossing their contents across the room. There were clothes, gadgets, toiletries, kitchenware, tools, movies, video games…

  But, there was no Taser. I went through his belongings again, sorting through individual articles of clothing to try and uncover the missing weapon. There was nothing to be found.

  My gut told me that someone else already found it… someone who could have kept an eye on me from a close proximity and then trespassed when he knew I was gone… someone who knew he could get into big trouble for lying on a police report…

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Sawyer

  The seduction deadline had passed, just as my time in prison was about to pass.

  I was sitting in a courtroom on Monday morning, besides a lawyer I didn’t know, in front of a small audience of about six people (including Hannah), and before a judge who looked like she wanted to be anywhere else but there.

  Through all of it, I kept my cool and remained relaxed. I was never anxious or angry. Over the weekend, I formulated a series of various plans for what I was going to do once I got out on bail, depending on various circumstances.

  I felt certain that, after watching me get put into the back of a police car, Hannah would be distancing herself from me immediately. And yet, she was there in the courtroom that day, and she looked gorgeous. She also looked worried.

  I didn’t want her to pay my bail. I only wanted her to help prove my self-defense. I hadn’t heard what the results of her search were, but I figured she must have found the Taser… I didn’t hide it that well.

  I also managed to call Dave on Sunday and tell him that I was going to be late for work on Monday. I told Dave that I had some “family stuff to take care of.” I considered telling him I would need the whole day off, but I actually wanted to go to work. Operating on cars was another thing, like my drives through nature, that often helped me stay thoughtful and centered.

  I decided that if Hannah were to allow me to stay with her, I wouldn’t accept her generosity. I felt that I had abused her kindness for too long, and if I distanced myself, rather
than wait for her to do it, it would ensure she wouldn’t be thrown out into the snow like I was. I wasn’t sure where I would go exactly, but that didn’t matter. I would figure it out. I would have to.

  Whether I was going to stay away from Hannah altogether was another matter. I wanted to keep seeing her (and to keep trying to seduce her), but I didn’t want every visit I made to raise any alarms around the building. If the landlord caught me in Hannah’s place again, she would definitely get evicted. I thought of what things might be like after I got my own place. I thought of how things might transpire on my own turf if we ever came to have another movie night in the dark on the couch.

  It also occurred to me that I might have inadvertently given myself the easiest break that I could give Hannah and me. I wouldn’t be leaving because I had to, but because I needed to. It did bother me to think about the idea of leaving without having had sex with her, but I was trying my damnedest to be mature and realize that not every decision should be based on sexual encounters.

  “Mr. Smith, are you awake this morning?”

  The thoughts had been swimming so actively in my mind that I accidentally tuned out the last several minutes of courtroom dialogue. I was bored and ready to accept my punishment so that I could move on with my life.

  The person who addressed me was none other than the judge. I hadn’t paid attention when they said her name.

  “Yes, ma’am, I’m awake,” I replied.

  “Then, would you please answer my question,” she said.

  “…You may have to ask it again, sorry, ma’am.”

  There was subtle chuckling going on behind me.

  “I asked if you understood everything that’s been discussed in my courtroom this morning,” she repeated.

  I nodded, lying with every wobble of my head. “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Very well,” said the judge. “Bail is set at $1,500. You are to remain in Dane County while proceedings occur. You’re dismissed.”

  Everyone stood up, me standing last. I turned, not to look at my nameless lawyer, but to look at the woman who took off work to come help me. She grimaced, but it seemed more aimed at the situation than at me. For some reason, I was having trouble maintaining eye contact with her. I kept looking away and back again.

  It only got worse when I watched her pay my $1,500 fine. I wish I could say that I stayed collected, but I didn’t. I could only look aimlessly around or at my feet as she wrote the county a check for my release.

  Hannah drove us back toward the apartment after the police released me from custody. It was a silent ride. I was glad we weren’t talking because I was wrestling with an intense confusion that I had never countered before.

  No girl had ever done anything like what Hannah had just done for me. Although I rarely put myself in situations where the kind of help she gave would be required, it was enough of a gesture to blow my mind. I wanted to tell her how much I appreciated what she did, but I didn’t know how. No words could adequately explain my emotions at that moment.

  I wanted her more than ever as we drove home. I wanted to grab her face and pull her in for a long, deep kiss. I wanted us to leap out of the car, walk clumsily to her place, and then release months’ worth of tension through a dance of bodily pleasure.

  Not everything’s about sex, damn it! I repeated to myself.

  I considered turning the radio on to have background noise other than the sound of cars and my thoughts. I didn’t want to move much. I didn’t want to do anything that might break the silence and cause me to have to try and speak. I was afraid I would ramble and come across as stupid.

  Before I knew it, we were in front of the apartment complex. I looked out and saw my Camaro and Kawasaki still parked where I left them, covered in snow. I could feel Hannah looking at me, but my eyes lingered, not meeting hers immediately.

  “…So,” she said.

  “You wanna… go up?” I asked her.

  “No, I’m going to go to work,” she said. “I think I can make it before lunch ends. I can still do a half-day.”

  “Oh… cool… Yeah, I… I should probably work, too. I told Dave—my coworker—that I was just gonna be out this morning. Guess I should… go dust off my rides and go do what you’re doing. Work, you know.”

  “I got it,” she said.

  In the silence, her car’s motor sounded louder than an airplane’s to me.

  “Be as sneaky as you can around the building,” she said. “I didn’t get kicked out, so I don’t want to be too risky. Okay?”

  “Hannah, I’m going to move out—”

  “No, you’re not,” she interrupted. “I’m not going to let some tiny, sweaty man tell me who can and can’t stay with me at my place. He can be mad at you all he wants, you tore up his place, but you haven’t done anything to me. I’m not kicking you out.”

  “I lost the bet; I think I have to go,” I said.

  “We’ll discuss it later tonight,” she responded. “You don’t have to leave. Stay.”

  “I’ll pay you back by tomorrow, I promise.”

  “You don’t have to do that, either,” she insisted. “Look, we’ll talk more about it later, okay?”

  “…Okay. Thanks, Hannah.”

  She smiled. I smiled. I began laughing to myself, and I truly didn’t know why.

  “What?” she asked me.

  “Nothing. It… it’s weird. On the one hand, I’m sad I lost the bet because I really thought I had you. On the other hand, I’m kind of happy that you managed to resist… for the same reason—I thought I had you. I like being surprised; it doesn’t happen often.”

  “Well, I’m not like most girls,” she said.

  “You’re goddamn right,” I replied.

  Silence. We each cleared our throats.

  “I really need to go to work,” she said quickly.

  “Yep!” I chimed back. “Work, work, work! Nothing more satisfying than good, hard labor!”

  I got out of the car and slammed the door. I watched Hannah drive away through a new snowfall, waiting until her taillights disappeared from my sight before I got on the Kawasaki and sped off towards Lightning Fast.

  I got to work shortly after one o’clock. Fortunately, the workday was slow, and Dave was able to cover for me for the whole morning. I clocked in, ready to jump in to whatever task awaited me.

  “So, is everything all right?” Dave asked me.

  “Huh?” I asked.

  “Is everything all right with your family?”

  “Oh, God, yeah. Yeah, sorry, it… it’s been a long weekend.”

  “It’s all good, man,” he said, patting my back. “Hey, got a tire alignment for you over there in Lane 3. Get started on that for me when you can.”

  I looked over at Lane 3 and at the Buick Regal that was up in the air waiting for my work to be done. I wasn’t sure if it was my principled stance on honesty, or whether I just wanted to talk to someone, but I felt compelled to talk to Dave.

  “Hey, man, before I do that,” I said to him, slowing him down, “you think… Mind if we talk for a minute?”

  “Sure,” he complied.

  We walked over to the corner by the fridge. I wasn’t aware whether my other coworkers would be able to hear me, but I didn’t care.

  “Can this be off the record?” I asked pitifully. “Can you just be my bro?”

  “I… guess.”

  “I didn’t have family matters. I was in jail.”

  Dave’s eyes widened. He leaned up against the wall, inquisitive. “Go on,” he said.

  “Hannah’s ex-boyfriend stalked me one day after work last week,” I informed. “He went at me with a Taser—”

  “Holy shit,” Dave said.

  “Yeah, but get this: so, I beat his ass because he was coming at me with a Taser, you know? Then, the little fucker slinks over to the cops and tattles on me and gets me arrested! They’re saying he’s pressing charges.”

  “No way,” said Dave.

  “Actually, real q
uick, can we pause for like thirty seconds?”

  I whipped out my phone and wrote out a quick text to Hannah: “Hey. Did you ever find the Taser? What did you end up doing with it?”

  Why the hell hadn’t I asked her about the Taser first? The drama of everything had me spinning in circles, not thinking straight, or so I told myself.

  “Sorry,” I said, proceeding. “Anyway, so I thought I was going to have to empty out my checking and savings, but Hannah… she bailed me out.”

  “Whoa, what?” Dave went. “She bailed you out of jail?”

  “Not so loud, man… Yeah, she paid my bail. $1,500.”

  “Wow,” he said. “I’m impressed that she would spend that kind of money… for you. No offense.”

  “None taken, I was shocked too.”

  “This relationship of yours keeps getting more and more complex—”

  “We are not in a relationship; she’s—”

  “‘Your roommate,’ I get it, I’ve heard it already,” he said. “And you don’t want a commitment. Get some new material, Sawyer. Ugh, and now, you owe her money. You need to be careful, bud, you’re endangering yourself.”

  “Well, I don’t know what to do,” I said, flustered.

  Dave put his hand back on my shoulder. “You should start working. You’re on the clock now; get to it. Oh, and don’t get arrested again.”

  I winked at him, and we went our separate ways. I turned up the volume on the FM radio and got prepared to start on the alignment.

  I received a text from Hannah:

  “I looked through ALL of your stuff. No Taser.”

  Instantly, I wanted to drop my tools, hop back on the Kawasaki, and prepare to take my leave from Hannah Stone.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Hannah

  I came home from my half-day at work to see piles of boxes, bags, and suitcases all stacked around the living room. My heart sank. I dropped my purse by the door and ran towards the spare bedroom.

  As I was about to enter, he came out, carrying a large box over each shoulder. He smiled but kept walking past me.

  “Hey!” I exclaimed.