by Adler
On a personal note Danielle, I beg of you that you complete the project. My sanity is at stake.
Talk soon, I hope.
Hilary
Harrison Tower’s Personal Assistant
Towers Holdings, Inc.
Damn it! What does she mean her sanity is at stake? Why should I care about her sanity anyway? My own sanity is seriously in question at the moment and I’m supposed to care about hers?
I sit there staring at the computer screen for what seems like an hour. I don’t want to meet Harrison at the damned building so we can discuss his fiancé’s fucking office. They can do it themselves. He’s screwed me over so why should I help him out?
I reply,
From: Danielle Austen
To: Hilary Durand
Sent: Mon, Sept.26, 2011 2:45 PM
Subject: Appointment Confirmation
Dear Hilary,
I can’t do it under the circumstances and maybe Mr. Towers should have thought of that before his trip to Montreal.
Good luck,
Danielle
Then I hit send, smiling to myself.
There, I feel a little better. My mind wanders. Maybe with my new clients I can afford a vacation. I seriously need to get away and leave everything behind me for a week. Maybe somewhere tropical where I can hook up with someone tall, dark and mysterious. Maybe someone who doesn’t even speak English so I don’t have to think. Who am I kidding, that will never happen. It’s not like I would seriously have a vacation tryst. Now back to reality, I need a new phone. I head off to phone store.
“Here is your new phone, Miss Austen and the new number is printed right here on the paperwork. Is there anything else I can do for you?” He hands me a bag with my new smart phone along with the contract.
I shake my head and mumble thanks to the clerk. Out of my own stupidity and anger, my phone now lies on the sandy ocean bottom with my SIM card that contains all of my contacts. Now the shitty part is recreating all of my contacts. I’ll take the suggestion of the flirty sales clerk, Colin, and download my latest bill and try to re-create my contacts. I have saved business cards and emails that I can use too. No, it won’t be too hard to do, just time consuming. However, I will have plenty of time on my hands now that I’m not seeing Harrison.
After I return from the phone store, I lock myself in my condo after conducting a quick sweep to make sure all is clear. I set the bag down on my ottoman in my living room and refill my glass of wine.
I grab my new phone out of my bag and set to programming numbers in. I start with my stack of business cards then I go into my email contacts and add them. I set the phone down on the counter in the kitchen to refill my glass again. Cheers to Harrison Towers, I say to myself, congratulations on your nuptials, I’m now going to drink myself into oblivion. I hear a buzzing and look incredulously at my phone. Who the hell could be calling my phone, I haven’t sent out the blast yet to give everyone my new number. I pick up the phone… Fucking Unknown Caller.
I hit answer.
“What the FUCK do you want? I am sick of you… GO AWAY!”
I wait.
Nothing, I hear nothing but faint breathing.
Then a snicker and the call drops.
I feel my insides turn to ice. I have heard this same thing before. Maybe it’s time to email Detective Burke again.
I hop onto my email and send a message to Detective Burke outlining the extensive amount of calls I have received over the last five weeks, explaining that I have call records to show as much. I give him my new phone number and ask him to contact me directly.
I then call Simone, but she doesn’t answer so I leave her a message.
I have no idea what to do next. I drink more wine and wander aimlessly around the condo doing things like laundry and cleaning. I have downed almost an entire bottle of wine by 4:00 PM when I get a knock at the door. Shit! I’m tipsy and someone is at my door. Must be someone I know, otherwise they wouldn’t have gotten past Frank. I look through the peephole and just as I’m about the open the bolts, Frank belts out, “Hey Danielle, Miss Austen, you there? Got a delivery.”
As he says this, I’m working on unbolting all of the locks.
He chuckles and looks at the locks, “Fort Knox, I see. Well a lady by herself in the city can’t be too careful. Listen, I have a delivery here for you.”
I don’t see anything in Frank’s hands so I’m wondering where my delivery is. I’m starting to grow impatient, when Frank steps aside and who should step in front of the door but Harrison. I just about fall over. I scowl at them both and hiss at Harrison, “That was a dirty trick using Frank to get to me.” Frank looks at me sheepishly and then says, “Sorry, Miss Austen, he is my boss.” He shrugs and then disappears down the hallway.
Harrison turns to me and I notice that he looks like shit. I actually gasp aloud. I know I must look a fright with a tearstained face, swollen eyes and a red nose from blowing it so much. But Harrison looks like he hasn’t slept in days, there are dark circles under his eyes and speaking of his eyes, they are usually dancing and sparkling pale blue pools, but today they are cloudy and rimmed red. He has more than a five o’clock shadow and his clothes look slept in. Despite my sorrow and my rage, my loins betray me by stirring at the mere sight of him. I am momentarily taken off guard by his disheveled appearance, but I regain my composure and I realize that I need to shut him out. I can’t let him muscle his way in here. I start to close the door, but he moves his foot at lightning speed into the doorway.
“Please, Danielle, can’t you just hear me out?” I start shaking my head rapidly, but I don’t move to continue shutting the door. Part of me wants to get my questions answered despite his ominous warning about the truth being dangerous. I have so many things I need to know just so I can move forward with my life.
I finally let him pass.
I lock one deadbolt but leave the rest unlocked so I can usher him out with ease in a few minutes.
He is looking at me expectantly.
“Look, Mr. Towers, you have exactly five minutes and then you WILL need to leave.” I look at the clock on the wall then back at Harrison. “Your time starts now.” I show him to the living room and he sits down next to the empty tissue box.
Table of Contents
Copyright
Acknowledgements
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Excerpt from Glass Towers-Shattered Book Two