by Brenda Ford
“Fucking hell.” The anger burns deeply in my stomach. “For fuck sake.”
I storm out of the building and head towards Tami’s home, desperately hoping that she’s there. I can’t imagine that she’s gone anywhere else after reading that, unless her mind was really racing at the time. I dread to think how panicked she was with me out of the office and Angelo too. I don’t think she probably feels close enough to Oliver yet to go to him. He does keep to himself a lot at work which is a shame. That might be something that I need to change as time goes on. Especially if this doesn’t end any time soon…
“Tami!” I yell out as I bang on her door. I’m probably being too loud and aggressive. People might think that this is me being a dick, but right now I’m beyond that. “Tami, are you in? I need to speak to you?”
No one answers, but I’m still not convinced. I lean my head against the door and listen intently. I’m pretty sure that I can hear movement though so I’m certain she’s inside.
“Tami?” I bang on the door a few more times. “This is important. Please come out.”
My head freaks out and starts to think that she might be done with me. This might all be too much for her and she’s pulling away. I couldn’t blame her; I mean she is only young. This is clearly her first real relationship aside from some dick who didn’t know how to treat her and cheated on her, and it’s just too heavy. If I was twenty two years of age and this was going on, I wouldn’t have been able to handle it.
“Tami, please just let me know what’s going on.” I lean helplessly against the door. “Please?”
I don’t want to go anywhere. Not until I have spoken to her. I just want to stay here until she either answers the door or comes back if she really isn’t inside. I need to know how she is. I have to.
“I have your cell phone,” I try that instead. “I need to get it back to you. I’ve been to the police…”
That’s the moment when I hear some noise. Either the thought of the cell phone or the police has got her moving. Thank goodness because I need to see her face. That’s how I’ll know what her mood is.
As the door presses open just the tiniest part, I’m struck by the sheer panic in her eyes. She’s freaked out for sure, and this seems to be more than just because of the email. There is something else going on.
“Tami, what’s going on?” I gush. “Why did you leave work? What’s happened?” She says nothing, instead tries to silently communicate with her eyes – or at least that’s how it seems to me. “I saw the email…”
“I’m fine,” she snaps. “It did freak me out a bit but I’m okay now. Just recovering.”
“Well, let me come in. I want to see you, to help you out…”
“Don’t you have work to do? I don’t need you here.” Her snapping could make me believe that she really is done with me, but I can see that it comes from a place of fear. “I just want to be alone.”
“Well, I don’t think you should be alone. I think you need protection.”
“I… I didn’t mean alone. My friend, Ruby is here.” She glances behind her. “And she doesn’t want to meet you. She thinks that… that you are to blame for all of this. I just want to be with her.”
I fold my arms across my chest and glare at her. There’s no way that I’m going to be fooled by this. “Right, I see. So, your friend, Ruby, thinks that I am to blame for the stalking bullshit?” She nods. “Right, so if that is the case then I better go then. I don’t want to disturb you and your friend as you slag me off.”
“Yes, yes I think that might be for the best. I think… yes, you should go.”
“Mhmm, and I will see you whenever you are ready. You just contact me.”
Her eyes are wet, she’s clearly conflicted but she tries to push me away anyway. “I will do. Soon.”
I hand her the phone and she takes it with a shaky hand. She doesn’t thank me though. She doesn’t say anything which only has me on high alert. She doesn’t seem to want anyone to know that she has her phone.
“Right, well I suppose I shall see you soon then. Goodbye, Tami.”
Relief floods her. Her shoulders roll forwards with joy that I’m going. This sight only confirms what I already suspect. That something really bad is going on inside of there and I need to know what. I take a step back as if I’m actually going to leave, but then just as Tami takes the slightest step back too, I move forwards too quickly and force my way inside. If she’s telling the truth and she does just want to bitch about me and this situation to her friend, I will apologize instantly. But I’m pretty sure that isn’t going to happen…
Instead, I’m certain that this will be the guy. The one who I have convinced myself is behind this if it isn’t the mean girl crew from work. The ex-boyfriend who I’m guessing hasn’t been able to let go… which I wouldn’t be able to either if I lost her. But that isn’t who I find. Instead it’s someone who turns my body to ice. I blink a couple of times, trying to work out if I’m really seeing what I think I am. But the image doesn’t go away however much I want it to. I don’t wake up, however much this feels like a nightmare.
“Fuck.” I’m faced with a red head. One who I know but that I never thought I would have to see again. “Holy shit. Maria, what the hell is this? What the fuck is going on here?”
She smiles smugly, clearly pleased that I am here. This must be what she wanted to happen. “Oh yes, I’m here. I’m here for sure. Are you surprised to see me after all this time? Making friends with your new girl?”
I glance back at Tami who looks more freaked out than ever. The puzzle pieces are all starting to fit together… sort of. I can’t quite get the picture but it’s forming more than it was before.
“What the fuck are you doing, Maria?” I growl. “Why are you back after all this time?”
“It’s only two years ago. Not that long since I was the one that you had your eye one.”
I remember my brothers mocking me, telling me that I only slept with psycho crazy women before, and this is the main one that they were talking about. I met her in a night club one night and her flame red hair caught my eyes. She seemed fun for a night, so we went back to hers. Then I stayed there for three days having sex with her. But I was clear with her that it was only going to be a short fling, nothing more, and I walked away confident that our weekend of fun was done. I never expected it to turn into a drama.
It did. She followed me around for a while and did what she could to cock block me. It was a fucking nightmare at the time, but it faded away after a while when she seemed to move on to someone else. I put it behind me just glad that it was done. I never thought it would become something to worry about again.
“Was it you?” I demand, anger getting the better of me. “Who did all of this? The messages, the emails, the photos, the stalking… please, tell me it wasn’t you, Maria? That’s just fucking crazy.”
“Don’t make out that it’s something wild.” She rolls her eyes in an over the top fashion. “It was just a bit of a laugh with me and the girls, that’s all. You don’t need to make out it’s a fucked up thing.”
“Girls, what girls? I don’t know a single girl that you are friends with. In fact, didn’t you tell me that girls hate you because you’re too beautiful?” Urgh, that conversation disgusted me even at the time. It was just one of the reasons that I was glad to get away. “So, how do you suddenly have friends that are girls now?”
“Oh, girls always get together when they want to take someone down and you two need taking down.”
Okay, so I was partly right. It has to be the mean girls from work and it’s an ex as well. But mine not hers, and this one is a crazy one.
Chapter Twenty-One
Tami
I didn’t want Brad to get caught up in this, that’s why I tried to push him away, but he damn well shoved his way inside and now he’s in as much of a shit storm as me. All because of his bullshit ex who has a grudge against me. The same God damn red head that I dismissed when she tried to warn
me about Brad at Alex’s gig.
Little did I know then that I should have paid more attention. Not because Brad really is a cheat or a fuck boy, but because she is crazy as all hell and will do anything to claim him as her own.
I opened the door to let Ruby in, thinking that it would be my friend come to save the day, but all I did was unleash hell. Now I can’t seem to get this hurricane out however hard I try.
“So, who is your friend then?” Brad continues, only winding Maria up in my opinion which isn’t the best idea. “Tawny, I bet. She clearly isn’t happy about everything going on at work.”
“Fucking Tawny. Yes, that crazy ass bitch is my mate now, and why shouldn’t she be?”
“Why do you think she is suddenly your friend, Maria?” Brad continues. “Don’t you remember her giving you a hard time when you were giving me a hard time the last time around? Huh? She kicked you out of the office more than once and called you all kinds of names, didn’t she? Or are we just forgetting that?”
“She just thought it was me then.” Maria brazenly juts her chin out. “Now she knows that it’s you. You’re the asshole who gives people hope and then dashes it, making them crazy.”
I cower in the corner, leaning back against the wall, now wishing that I didn’t leave the office at all. It doesn’t matter if the mean girls were a part of the plan. At least there would be more people on mine and Brad’s side too.
“Maria, I never gave you hope. And I also don’t understand how that correlates to Tawny anyway…”
“More Hayley.” Oh God, that name again. “She’s a computer whiz, excellent at design and you have led her to believe that she will get a promotion. Yet she hasn’t had one and this little bitch has.”
Brad turns to give me an apologetic look, but I don’t blame him for this. This is just a fucked up mess that we’ve created by deciding to be together, nothing he’s done personally.
“Right, so Hayley has a grudge and Tawny contacted you?” Brad asks. “I’m just trying to work out what the hell is going on here because it’s really confusing for me right now.”
“Okay, since you are being thick, I will explain it to you.” Maria claps her hands together hard. “You pissed off everyone that you work with by shacking up with this slut who is clearly just using you…” She looks at me expectantly, wanting me to defend my reasons for being with Brad, but right now I can’t find the words. “See what I mean?” She laughs loudly and nastily. “So, Tawny found me online and contacted me to see if I am still interested in you, which I am. I mean, why wouldn’t I be? We had such an amazing time together…”
This is weird. I don’t know what to make of this. Has she been hurt by Brad in the past which has made her crazy or is she caught up in the mob mentality? Trying to attack me just because the others want to? I can’t work her out, her motivation seems weird as hell to me. But that might be because she’s crazy.
“We had a few days together, Maria, that’s all and I told you it wouldn’t be long term.”
“You told me nothing. And you gave me every sign that we were going to be together forever and then you tossed me to the side and treated me like shit. It isn’t acceptable, Brad. Seriously.”
“I disagree with a lot of what you are saying,” Brad replies carefully. “But I am sorry for hurting you.”
For a moment, I wonder if I see Maria’s face relaxing. I don’t want to calm down and to believe that it’s all going to be okay again, but I do get a little glimmer of hope. Until she begins yelling.
“Oh, fuck you, Brad. Fuck you, you horrible man. How fucking dare you. You think just because you’re a rich fuck that you can get away with anything. Well you didn’t even get rich yourself, did you? Your parents left you everything and you just carried on with it. Well, that doesn’t make you a success, nor does it make you a nice person. You’re a fucking scum bag who treats everyone else like they are below you.”
I don’t know who she is talking about, I don’t recognize that man at all. The Brad that I know is a caring, hard-working and, a wonderful person. He took on his brothers when they were young kids, the business when he was young and didn’t really know better, and he’s been nothing but incredible to me. I don’t understand Maria one bit.
“Maria, please let’s talk about this calmly,” Brad pleads. “Let’s just sit down and have a calm discussion about this. There’s no need to yell and act all wild about it. We can just chat. Me and you…”
“What about that bitch?” Maria waves her hand in my general direction. “She’s here so it won’t just be like me and you, will it? We can’t properly talk with her listening in like this. It will be too hard…”
Wow, Maria seems to really believe like I am the bad guy here and she’s the victim. As if she didn’t storm in to my apartment and start acting like an insane person. I can hardly believe that this is even happening.
“Kick her out,” Brad shocks me by saying. “We don’t need her here, do we? We can be alone.”
As he steps closer to her, my breath gets caught in my throat. What the hell is going on? Is this somehow working? Is Brad falling for this woman? Oh God, are they the real love story and I am the bad guy in the middle? Blocking them from their destiny of truly being in love? What the fuck will I do then?
“You want me to kick her out?” Maria looks lost in his eyes. “Get rid of her?”
“Yes. Then it can just be us, can’t it? Like the old times…”
“Exactly, just like all the times me and you had the best times. It was amazing. Wasn’t it?”
“Better than you have with her?” she sneers, hating me with everything that she has.
Brad doesn’t even turn around to look at me. “Better than anyone. No one is as good as you, Maria.”
But there is an insincerity to his voice. One that grabs my focus. Maria can’t know him well at all if she doesn’t recognize that. He is obviously telling the truth and she doesn’t know what she’s going on about.
The truth hits me like a smack in the face. How could I have been so stupid and naïve? How low is my self-esteem if I truly just believed that I was going to be dropped like that? Brad is doing this to help me get out, just like I didn’t want him to come in. He’s trying to throw himself under the bus to save me. I want to get the hell out of here as well, to run for help, but I’m also afraid that if I leave Brad who knows what she will do?
“What will you do with me?” Maria asks in a flirty way. I don’t get lost in jealousy, instead I let my brain run wild as I try to work out what I will do first if I get let out of here by some miracle. I have my cell phone now so I can call the cops. Probably some of Brad’s brothers too, just to make sure that everyone is okay. How the hell can I be sure that anyone will get here quick enough though? I need them in this house right now!
With my heart pounding, I slide my cell phone gently out of my pocket, hoping to message someone now to give them even more time to get here. While Maria is lost in Brad, I can use this to my advantage and speak to someone. Anyone. I would take any person coming here to help us out of this mess right now!
This woman might not be so dangerous. I may well be freaking myself out, but this is definitely the kind of situation where it would be much better to be safe than sorry. She’s unhinged and that is bad enough for me.
Help… I just about manage to type at the moment something awful happens. My phone rings, the sound so loud it bursts through the whole house. I drop it in shock. It clatters to the ground just adding to the sound which has already wrecked everything. My eyes flicker upwards and I see Maria and Brad both staring at me with horror.
“I just knew it.” A glint of something catches my eye. As Maria turns, something catches the light. “I knew that you would be the bastard to fuck everything up. What the hell is wrong with you? Why did you lie to me and tell me that you didn’t have a cell phone? Is there something wrong with you?”
She pushes Brad to the side and steps towards me. I don’t even look at him
because I’m too focused on the mania in her eyes as she steps in my direction. The glint gets brighter, it becomes more noticeable by the second. I haven’t quite yet processed what it is yet, but I already know that it screams danger. There’s no other way to take this. She is everything that I feared she might be, and I didn’t get to send off that message.
A bleak hopelessness overcomes me. I have a horrible sensation that it’s the end for me. As soon as it hits me that I could die, I know for certain what it is. It’s a knife, a blade that’s coming straight for me. Panic balls up in my throat, fear settles in hard. I try to come to terms with the fact that I’m absolutely screwed.
“Oh my God.” A more important fact comes to light and I clap my hands to my mouth. “Shit.”
The blade isn’t just coming for me, it’s absolutely covered in blood which can only have come from one source. Maria wasn’t falling for Brad’s words at all, she was getting closer to him and she seemed to stab him before my phone even went off. She had already planned that this was going to happen.
With sheer horror, I drag my gaze off the blade and fix it on Brad instead. My worst fear is confirmed. There is blood pouring from him, he has been stabbed and now he’s sliding to the ground in agony. The color has drained from his face, the life is draining from him. I haven’t ever seen him look so lost before.
“What the fuck have you done?” I scream, racing towards him, ignoring Maria as I go. “You’re nuts.”
Tears stream down my face. It was one thing accepting that I was going to lose my life, but I don’t want to think about Brad dying. That’s too much for me to handle. I bump into Maria as I tear off, but I don’t even look back to see if she falls to the ground. I don’t care about her at all, only him and I need him to live.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Brad
What time is it? I wonder curiously. How long have we been here? How long is Maria going to keep us?