“We had a connection from the second we met. Before you knew anything good or bad about me, before I even knew for sure who you were. Standing there in Blake’s driveway in your sweats with your hair all messed up. You were the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. And then when we shook hands, I knew I’d never want to let you go. The place where it happened was irrelevant. It could and would have happened anywhere.”
“Eric pretty much said the same thing,” I whispered, staring out the window. I watched the scenery roll past us, trying to put my thoughts into coherent words. “That we would have ended up together even if things had worked out differently. That we would have met somehow, somewhere and there was nothing he could have done to stop it. Then he told me not to feel bad about falling in love with you, because it was meant to be.”
“I guess I have to give him a little bit of credit. Apparently he’s not always an asshole.”
I smiled. “No, he’s not.”
Before I let my mind wander too far and began imagining my ex sitting in his swanky new condo in Atlanta, I decided to change the subject slightly. “So that got me to thinking how we would have ended up meeting if I’d never gotten the promotion in Fort Wayne. I’m sure you’ve gone to Indy for lots of stuff before. You know, concerts, shopping, whatever. Would we have passed each other in the mall? Would I have done something embarrassing like fall flat on my face in front of you?”
“Maybe we could have met before but we were just a fraction away from being in the right place at the right time.”
“And fate brought us together when it was?”
“Maybe.”
We fell into a comfortable silence for the rest of the ride. Our fingers were intertwined on my lap and I brushed my thumb across the top of his hand absentmindedly. He’d relaxed considerably and I could almost lull myself into believing that we were just on a leisurely drive, not running from a crazed fellow employee of mine. I kept checking the mirrors in an attempt to inconspicuously see if anyone was following us; it didn’t look like it to me.
Darkness had fallen by the time we pulled up to what I assumed was Chris’s place. It was a good twenty five minutes away from my house in an area of town I wasn’t familiar with. The houses here were older but still looked well-maintained. Gravel crunched under the tires as we turned into the long driveway and parked in front of the detached one car garage. Of course Chris parked the Civic in the garage; he babied that car like it was the only thing that kept his memories of being with Blake alive.
“You know I’d die for you if it meant it would keep you safe, right?” Matthew said as he turned off the ignition.
I wasn’t sure what to say to that, so I just swallowed the lump in my throat and nodded. I sure hoped it wouldn’t come to that. I still didn’t think that Jeff’s offenses were in that category yet. Maybe it was a guy thing; he felt the need to announce that he was willing to defend my honor no matter what it took. Maybe he was just secretly pissed that someone had been observing our skinny dipping session. I knew I was.
Matthew must have been pleased with my answer, or lack thereof, for he got out of the car and rounded the front to open the door for me. Once I was outside, he reached in the backseat and grabbed my overnight bag. He hadn’t brought anything for himself, nor had we stopped at his house to pick up a change of clothes. I felt kind of guilty, but I figured it wasn’t worth it to press the issue.
He led me up the steps to the back door of the bungalow and knocked softly. The screen door opened shortly thereafter, and he pulled me inside. I might have drug my feet a little bit. I didn’t really want to be here; it would have been so much more comfortable back at my place or his. Why couldn’t Chris have just come over to one of our houses to play guard for me? This didn’t exactly feel like neutral territory.
“Hi, Lauren,” Chris greeted when he couldn’t ignore me anymore. I was, after all, standing in his kitchen.
“Hi,” I responded just as curtly.
From here I could see all the way to the other end of his house. The kitchen was a fairly decent size. Just off of it was a tiny bathroom, probably the only one. The living room was also pretty expansive. Two bedrooms branched off the main living area. If I had to guess, maybe one thousand square feet total. My inner real estate maven was at work, pushing all the uncomfortableness into the background. When I was done sizing up his house, I was forced back to reality.
“So where are these pictures?” Chris asked Matthew.
“I’ve got them right here,” Matthew said, patting the front pocket of my bag. “Let’s go sit down.”
Chris let us take the couch, the only seating in the living room. He pulled a chair in from the dinette set in the kitchen for himself, sitting down on it backwards. Matthew handed him the photographs and he flipped through them quickly, his expression unchanging as he looked through the images. I, however, wanted to sink into the couch and have the cushion devour me. Next we’d be posting them on the internet for everyone to see. If Jeff had been aiming for embarrassing the hell out of me, then he had succeeded.
“So after you and this guy have a run-in at work, he decides he’s going to follow you around and spy on you? Classy.”
“I know, right?” I had kind of been hoping that he would direct all of his questioning to Matthew, but since he wasn’t, I at least could be cordial.
“Well, since the two of you have a little more knowledge of the whole incident than I do, how about you fill me in?” Matthew suggested.
I gave him the play by play version, leaving nothing out. It was too late for beating around the bush. He took it pretty well, considering.
“I should have told you,” I finished, staring at my hands. “Gracie tried to convince me that I should have come clean about everything, but I didn’t want to make you mad. I didn’t want you to think that you were a liability to me. And it didn’t seem like a big deal at the time, anyway.”
“But it bothered you nonetheless,” he pointed out.
I nodded. “And then Chris showed up that night after work, and I guess Jeff just blew things out of proportion. He’d only done research on my family and yours, not your friends. So ultimately he thought that I was on a date with yet another guy. And then Chris asked me not to tell you about us seeing each other, and I was just hiding all kinds of things from you in the span of twenty four hours.”
“None of which would have been earth-shattering on their own, but when combined in the mind of someone who’s crushing over you, it kind of snowballs,” Chris mused.
“That’s why I blame you,” I deadpanned.
Matthew laughed. Even Chris cracked a grin.
“And things got worse when I met up with Eric to say goodbye. All of these unrelated things mashed together sort of make me look like, well,”
“A whore?” Chris ever so helpfully finished.
I shot him an evil look. This time he returned a full on smile.
“I really should have brought the two of you together sooner,” Matthew interjected, “this is rather amusing. But in all seriousness, we need to figure out what to do.”
“I’m kind of with Lauren on this one,” Chris admitted, “I tend to think the guy’s pretty harmless. He’s pissed off, he’s gotten his heart broken, whatever. He wants to send her a message. So he hides in the shadows and takes these pictures to scare her a little bit. Honestly, I think it’s scared you more than her.”
“But someone in their right mind who gets jilted by a girl maybe says some things, gives some angry stares, tries to make her life miserable for a while, whatever. They don’t drive two hours out of their way in hopes she’s having a secret rendezvous.”
“That’s called dedication. Maybe he didn’t know about Eric; it was just a hunch. Maybe he thought she was going down to Indy to have a fling with me. You know, somewhere where we couldn’t be recognized.”
I shuddered visibly at that suggestion.
“Come on, Lauren, I’m not that bad.”
“But he’s looked into my past.
He knew about my mother. He would have known that I was an Indianapolis native. Wouldn’t it be more logical that I would be there to visit family? Or even her grave?”
“You’re pretty upfront about your mother’s death, right?” Chris inquired.
“I guess so. I mean, I don’t hide it. I don’t have a wall plaque mounted in my office or anything though.”
“So what if the only research he’d done about your mom was asking people at work? I’m sure you’ve told people there before. Maybe not the whole story, but that she’d passed at least?”
“Well, yes probably. But he knew that she’d died in a car crash. And he brought up the parallel between Matthew doing the same thing that killed my mom.”
“So maybe he did hear the whole thing from someone at work. I’m sure you’ve talked about it before. Or maybe he didn’t realize the whole other Indy connection. Though if he was in the computer system long enough to find Blake’s address and your new one, he probably saw that you transferred up from Indianapolis.”
“I really don’t think that the reasoning behind why he followed me to Indy is important. The fact is that he did. Then he came to my house to show me that he knew.”
“Right,” Matthew agreed, “what’s done is done. Now we’ve got to figure out what his next move will be. I hardly think it’s over.”
“He’ll stay away from me at work,” I said with conviction, “it’s just everywhere else that’s a crapshoot.”
“Well, for starters, my first piece of advice would be to stop fornicating in the outdoors.” How Chris said that with a straight face was beyond me, but it was his turn to shudder. “I totally will be having some horrid visions for the rest of my life about that. And I am never swimming at your house again.”
I laughed, remembering my doubts about doing what we had done that night. Matthew’s backyard would never be the same now that everyone and their brother knew what had gone on back there. I was glad that someone else shared my opinions, even if it was only Chris. My laugh morphed into a yawn, and I rubbed my eyes, suddenly tired. The clock on the wall announced the reason for my drowsiness; it was nearly midnight.
Matthew shifted his weight on the couch so that he was leaning against the arm. He pulled me back against his chest in a semi-lying down position, wrapping his arms around me.
“It’s okay if you’re tired, gorgeous,” he said, “just go to sleep.”
I turned my body so that I rested against him rather than flat on top of him like a board. Chris must have grabbed a blanket from somewhere; it was spread over me and my muscles relaxed instantly under its warmth. I closed my eyes, my mind loosing focus. I heard bits and pieces of their conversation, now in hushed tones. The words stopped making sense, and I didn’t want to strain to hear what was being said anymore. Matthew rubbed his hand in circles along my back as they spoke, relieving my tension that much more.
Right before I drifted completely off to sleep, I heard something that I chose not to dwell on.
“So what do we do about him?” Matthew asked.
“He scared her,” Chris reasoned, “now it’s time for us to scare him.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Matthew dropped me off at work in the morning, then left with my car. We’d stopped quickly at his place to shower and get ready for the day, not wanting to intrude upon Chris’s hospitality or share his bathroom. The decision was perfectly fine with me; there was still an awkward tension between us. I was coming closer and closer to trusting – or at least respecting – him, but wasn’t quite there yet. He’d already seen enough in the photos. I didn’t need to tempt fate and disrobe in his house.
I wasn’t sure exactly what plan Matthew and Chris had concocted last night after I’d fallen asleep. I figured it was probably better if I didn’t know. I had an inkling of a clue that it somehow involved my car, as Matthew had promised that it would be somewhere on the lot when I came out at the end of the day. He obviously knew where it was that I normally parked but his words led me to believe that it wouldn’t be there. I had also been instructed to leave right at five. I’d just shrugged and agreed.
George came into my office as usual shortly after I arrived. I was bent down to power on my computer when he entered and when I caught him out of the corner of my eye as I popped back up in my seat, I emitted a sort of surprised squeak. Once I realized it was only him, I blushed.
“Rough night?” he asked, smirking at me from over his coffee cup.
I placed my elbows on the desktop and rubbed my temples. “You could say that.”
He set his mug down on the corner of my desk and crossed one leg over the other. Clearly he was ready to hear my latest ordeal.
“I thought things were working out for you,” he began.
“Oh, no, Matthew and I are fine,” I insisted.
He relaxed visibly upon learning that I wasn’t dealing with yet another relationship crisis. I wanted to gloss over the real issue and pretend that nothing was wrong, but Blake’s words echoed in my head. If I didn’t come clean to George about what I suspected Jeff had done, she would call him up and advise. I didn’t doubt she would. And she and George were at least familiar enough with one another that he would take her seriously. Which was a good thing, but she was also right that the knowledge should come from me.
“I had a visitor last night,” I sighed. Perhaps I should have started out with “Once upon a time” or “It was a dark and stormy night”.
“Okay.”
“I think it was Jeff,” I blurted.
George responded by getting up from his seat and closing my office door. Even though most of the staff wouldn’t be in for at least another half hour, he instantly recognized the private nature of the conversation. This wasn’t something that prying ears needed to hear. Once the door was securely latched behind him, he returned to his chair.
“You think it was him?”
“I was on the phone when the doorbell rang. When I answered, no one was there but there was a package on my porch. My neighbors didn’t see who left it, so I’m just guessing. But I’m pretty sure it was him.”
“And what was in the envelope?”
“A black rose. With lots of thorns.” I held up my bandaged finger for emphasis. “And pictures.”
George’s eyebrow raised. “And if I had to guess, I’d say the pictures weren’t of puppies.”
“Not exactly.”
“Not to discount your Jeff theory, but did you consider Eric? He might not have taken your new relationship too well.”
I shook my head. “Eric moved to Atlanta.” I’d forgotten to mention that to my boss. Or maybe it just hadn’t seemed like a worthy topic of discussion until now. “And we patched up things before he went.”
“Well, I’m glad to hear that.”
“And even if we hadn’t, Eric’s not the type to leave subtle messages. He’s more the in your face, confrontational type. If he was upset or jealous, he’d come right out and say it. Besides, some of the pictures were of him, too.”
It hit me then that if I reached out to Eric and told him what had happened, he would be back in Indiana faster than I could blink. I wasn’t about to worry him with something so trivial, but it made me feel better knowing that he would have my back if I needed him to. It also reminded me that he had some very provocative pictures of me himself. I wondered if he’d kept them.
“We met at a coffee shop in Indy the morning that he left,” I said to clarify, “and apparently Jeff followed me down there. Eric and I cleared the air; he pretty much gave me and Matthew his blessing. Right before he took off, we hugged. It was nothing, really.”
“But it looked like something.”
“Right. So there were pictures of me and Matthew out in his backyard at the swimming pool,” -George wasn’t about to get full disclosure there- “and the pictures of Eric and more pictures of me with Matthew’s friend Chris.”
“Again, nothing.”
“Right. Chris and I don’t even get along
. Well, not really. We had one dinner together where he kind of sized me up. He said some things that upset me, then felt bad about it. Again, we hugged in the parking lot and guess who was there?”
“Jeff,” George answered, following my drift.
“So put those interactions together within the span of a week or so, add a very derogatory term for someone who is a little too friendly with the men and you have the gist of his message to me.”
George lifted his coffee cup and took a slow sip, considering.
“I knew deep down that I was letting him off too easily with the apology note,” I admitted, “but I wanted to believe that he’d just made a mistake.”
“There’s nothing wrong with trying to give people the benefit of the doubt,” he said, a valiant attempt to make me feel better.
“Except when it comes back to bite you in the ass.”
“So what’s next?” he asked, seemingly eager for my input. Part of me had expected him to rise up from his chair and march down to the mailroom supervisor to demand Jeff’s prompt dismissal. George had the authority to do that, but given that whole pesky innocent until proven guilty thing, it probably wouldn’t be the best course of action. Lawsuits had been filed for less.
I shrugged. “Matthew and Chris were up until who knows when this morning discussing their plan of action. I fell asleep before anything was fleshed out. All I know is that I don’t have my car today and I’m supposed to leave work right at five.”
“Interesting.”
That was putting it mildly. There was a knot in my stomach at the thought of not knowing what was going to happen. Especially with what I had overhead last night – the part about them scaring Jeff – I could only imagine it wouldn’t be pretty. I wondered if they’d attempt to beat a confession out of him. After all, Chris was also an ex-football player; the two of them would make formidable opponents for anyone. Let alone a geeky kid fresh out of school.
“I can’t help but think that Matthew’s overreacting,” I mused. “Next, I’m going to have a security guard posted at my office door.”
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