Two
Paisley
6 months later
I stirred awake, heart pounding as my dreams dripped away, leaving the stark contrast of reality - my boyfriend, Travis McCormack, snoring besides me.
I groaned. Another night, another nightmare.
Pushing my feet out of the bed, I rubbed my temples. Travis was blissfully unaware of my problems, and had been for twelve months. My nightmares weren’t something I could talk to him about - then I’d have to explain my connection to Hawkes…
Padding out of the room, I shakily started the kettle. It was the middle of the night, still dark outside.
My nightmare came back to me in broken shards.
Him, and his knife. He cut the truth out of me in the dream.
As always, Hawkes Rizzo had the main role.
I spilled some water on the counter, cursing softly as I mopped up and finished my cup of peppermint tea. I took the mug and sat down on the couch. One of my favorite places in the world was right there, staring out the floor-to-ceiling windows as the city lights.
Calming my breaths, I took slow sips of the tea.
I hadn’t seen Hawkes in a year, ever since that day at Sarah’s.
Back then, I went back home. I was the good girl he wanted me to be. And from then on, every time I had a thought about leaving, he would send me a text.
Don’t disappoint me.
It was like Hawkes Rizzo had some kind of telepathic ability to sense when I was doubting our arrangement.
And when I did try to move out - about four weeks into the deal - Sarah wouldn’t take me in. She said we had to follow Hawkes Rizzo’s orders. My only ally was gone.
I wasn’t sure why I never attempted an escape again. I accepted the invisible bars of my cage like an inevitable consequence of my actions. I’d lost Rubi, and this was my punishment.
Often, I dreamed of her father killing me. Most of my nightmares ended that way, with him taking my life, and me knowing I deserved it.
I realized I could never leave until I found Rubi. I owed it to her, and my guilty conscience would never let me forget it. Her father wouldn’t let me just disappear, either. I’d doomed myself to this fate.
I put the mug down and stood up, walking closer to the window.
The fall from up here would be steep, ending my life in an instant. Maybe that would have been better.
Sinking to my knees in front of the windows, my fingers traced hearts against the glass. I missed Rubi. I never let myself miss Rubi.
Her father was now my only connection to Rubi. It had been four years since her disappearance - a period where I’d stubbornly avoided making new friendships, for risk of betraying my best friend.
I stayed alone, a stubborn loner. In my mind, it gave significance to Rubi. My only friend.
Tears streamed down my face freely.
I was a horrible friend.
I lost her.
And now I was contemplating running away from all of this… And dooming her again.
“I’m so sorry, Rubi,” I whispered to myself. My hands shook as they dropped into my lap. I wanted to end it all somehow, but I couldn’t. I would never find peace until I was reunited with Rubi Rizzo.
In my dream, I was running after her, and Hawkes was chasing me. But I could never catch up. Hawkes did, and when he had me in his arms, he forced me to tell him every secret I had with his knife.I never dreamt about Travis.
The reality of living with him was enough to make him never appear in my dreams.
I sobbed quietly so I wouldn’t wake him up. I hated my life. Hated being forced to stay with him, when I could barely let him touch me.
Perhaps this was my punishment for abandoning Rubi - living with the prick until I found her again.
But it didn’t help to realize that. I was doubled over in a panic attack, my fists hitting the floor, tears blurring my vision.
All I wanted was for Rubi to come back.
It was never about me saving her, it was about her saving me…
I was so weak on my own. Gullible, naive and stupid. Rubi was always the smart one, the one to tell me not to make bad decisions. All those detective books she read… She could solve anything.
But now she was gone.
Four years gone.
She was never coming back, was she?
I buried my fingers in my hair, fighting the urge to scream.
My nails scratched at my skin, trying to replace the mental anguish with a physical pain. Nothing worked. Guilt seeped out of me, cruel and unforgiving.
I did this to her.
It was all my fault.
And Hawkes Rizzo knew it.
I stifled a cry and rubbed my eyes harshly.
A sudden urge to break something took over. I walked over to the kitchen credenza, housing numerous gifts from the McCormacks. I found a large, gaudy vase painted in shades of yellow and blue. I always hated that thing.
A wicked sense of naughtiness took over me as I grinned at the vase.
I smashed it against the floor, and the crunch was so fucking satisfying. Exactly what I needed to take my mind off it all.
Or was it?
After the vase shattered, I sank amid the shards and buried my face in my hands. The vase was just another thing I’d broken. I broke everything. I betrayed everyone. How could I have lived the past four years the way I had?
“I’ll do anything to find you, Rubi,” I whispered.
I swore to myself I would as I cleaned up. Travis hadn’t even woken up when I broke the vase. I stashed the shards in a laundry basket, one place I was sure Travis wouldn’t look.
As I cleaned, I managed to calm down a little. The nightmare seeped from my memory, and I realized it had distracted me from one of my favorite
The next day at work, I was surprised to find one of my coworkers, Betsey, showing a new girl around. Betsey wasn’t exactly my favorite person to spend time with at work - she often turned her nose up at me. One of my other coworkers told me she’d said I wasn’t raised right.
Ever since then, I’d avoided Betsey, but the girl with her sparked an interest in me, probably because she looked a bit like Rubi. She had the same black-rimmed glasses, her hair was a little wild, but a dark chocolate brown. She had big brown eyes beneath those glasses, and I shook my head, reminding myself they didn’t look alike at all.
I was just looking for similarities because I was lonely.
“Paisley!” Betsey said. Was I imagining it or did she wrinkle her nose at me a little? “This is our new intern. Her name’s Alessandra.”
She leaned in to whisper in my ear. “She’s the boss’s daughter…”
“Hi, Alessandra,” I said, ignoring Betsey and extending a hand. “I’m Paisley. I mainly work on the fragrances here.”
“Oh my god,” Alessandra rushed to shake my head. “Do you do the Georges campaigns?”
I nodded proudly. “Did you see our work in progress?”
“Not yet,” she flushed, excitedly shaking my hand up and down. “I’d love to.”
“Why don’t we have breakfast together?” I suggested. “Come to my office, and I’ll show you the brief we’re working with. The digital campaign will be launched soon on socials.”
“I’d love that,” Alessandra gushed. “And please, call me Sandie. Everybody does.”
I looked at her with a warm smile. “You sure about that, Sandie?”
“Of course,” she beamed while Betsey rolled her eyes, bumping into me as she walked away with her. Sandie’s eyes followed her through the doors into the conference room, then she looked at me. “Who peed in her cornflakes?”
I giggled. “Don’t get in trouble on your first day, Sandie.”
“Oh, couldn’t if I wanted to.” She flashed me a charming smile. “Papa owns your company. He said I’ll be sitting at the head of the table in no time.”
“Your father is Valentino Benedetti?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Yes,” Sandie said proudly. I took her in properly. She was dressed head-to-toe in Gucci, but she was much younger than me. As she grinned, I saw that she had braces. “Why do you ask?”
“Well, everyone around here is scared of the guy,” I said, walking her to my office. “But if you ask me, he’s an old teddy bear.”
“You seem to see papa differently than anyone else,” she said with some surprise, taking a look around my office. “This is very swanky.”
“I can see how much he loves his family,” I replied fondly. “You must be his oldest daughter?”
I’d met Valentino at some company events. Yes, he seemed untouchable and strict in his custom suits, but I’d always considered him a gentle giant. He’d praised my outfit once in the company elevator, and I’d beamed with pride all day. A compliment from the master of taste was quite the praise. If I ever got fired, I’d definitely put it on my CV.
“Yup,” Sandie admitted, plopping down on the sitting area in front of my desk. She rifled through a coffee table book, then picked a croissant off my breakfast tray and looked at me, checking if I’d say anything.
“Help yourself,” I laughed. “I already ate. But… Why does your dad have you working here?”
“Because I’ve misbehaved at school a bit,” Sandie grumbled. “I go to an all girls high school… It’s Catholic.”
“Oh.” I swallowed uncomfortably. I wasn’t going to question my boss’s decisions, but… Sandie seemed miserable about this.
“Yeah, it’s hell,” she went on. “But I collect perfumes all the time, and papa said I should work here while I’m, um… suspended. Just for a few months.”
She flushed as she told me this. I realized she reminded me a lot of myself at her age. I’d messed up once, and it scarred me for life. I could help Sandie not do the same.
“Well, you’ve got me to show you the ropes,” I grinned as I sat down behind my desk and pulled up a presentation. “Come here. I’ll tell you all about the new fragrance we’re launching. Maybe you can help me with this?”
Sandie ended up spending most of the day with me, unless Betsey interrupted.
Our coworker kept giving Sandie menial tasks - I figured she just wanted to get in her Dad’s good graces, but Sandie kept escaping back to my office.
As I’d suspected, because of her interest in the fragrances, she was helpful at putting together ad copy, and we spent the afternoon working out taglines I’d be proud to present to Georges, the founder of the perfume company, at our next meeting.
After work, she invited me to come shopping with her. I felt like her chaperone as she led me down the most expensive floor at Nordstroms. I usually picked up things from the sale rack - I definitely couldn’t afford the kind of stuff Sandie was picking out for herself.
She seemed unbothered, and her grumpy-but-kinda-handsome bodyguard accompanied us as she loaded him up with more and more shopping bags. The poor guy was struggling to carry them back to Sadie’s car as we sat down to grab dinner at a cute Japanese ramen place.
Before then, I felt a little uncomfortable, and I wasn’t sure why. But as we sat down in the adorable restaurant - complete with a fake, huge cherry blossom tree - the feeling only grew.
I stared at Sandie as she ordered confidently, imagining what it would be like to live a day in her shoes. Never have to worry about money, just swiping Daddy’s credit card.
I flushed, realizing I was getting jealous. Sandie was simply born luckier than me, and I’d have to move on. She was just a teenager - I only needed to look at her braces to remind myself.
“So what did you do at school?” I asked. “To get yourself into so much trouble?”
“I stole the head teacher’s…” She flushed. “Well. Phone. But Sister Lydia had it coming.”
“Did she?” I giggled, drinking my cocktail out of a straw. I’d made sure Sandie stuck to non-alcholic drinks. “What would possess you to steal a nun’s phone?”
“I wanted to send my dad a text message from it,” she said. “So he’d let me go to more excursions. He never lets me go anywhere with the rest of the class.”
I nodded, scratching the back of my neck. I still felt a bit weird. “Maybe I could talk to your dad for you?”
“Maybe,” she said thoughtfully. “Do you think he’d listen to you?”
“We could always try,” I shrugged, noticing Sandie’s gaze drifting off. “What’s up?”
“Umm… Nothing,” she muttered, flushing. “Thought I saw someone I recognized.”
I turned over my shoulder and the intense feeling of being watched intensified. My breath caught in my throat as I stared into the nameless faces of the rest of the patrons. I didn’t recognize anyone, so why did I feel so… vulnerable all of a sudden?
I ordered myself a small pasta dish. Once we were finished, I pulled out my wallet, but the waiter smiled politely and refused. “Your dinner’s already been paid for.”
“By who?” I asked, knitting my brows together in confusion.
“Oh, probably someone trying to impress papa,” Sandie groaned. “Let’s just go, before they come over. They must have recognized me.”
I had to admit, Sandie’s bodyguard was easy to forget, but definitely easy to spot. He trailed her everywhere. He even checked the restaurant’s powder room before leading her inside. But he’d let us eat alone.
Sandie started picking up her things and I followed her. When we walked out, I felt immediate relief. The feeling was gone.
Sandie hugged me goodbye after her driver gave a ride back to my place. As I rushed up the stairs to my apartment, I had to admit I enjoyed making a new friend. Perhaps I’d locked myself away for too long. Maybe it was time to experience a new friendship.
As long as I never forgot Rubi.
As I let myself into the apartment, my phone buzzed with a message.
I don’t want you around that girl.
I knew instantly who it was from, even though the number was gated. It had to be Hawkes. No one else would talk to me like this. I swallowed thickly. I’d tried for so long to get the image of him out of my mind, and just when I thought I was succeeding, he came barrelling back at triple the speed.
Now I’d never get rid of him.
What? Who is this?
Don’t act like you don’t know. Stay away from the Bendetti girl.
Why???
He didn’t reply.
It wasn’t until later, by the time I was getting to bed, that I realized that feeling of being watched was real.
Had Hawkes Rizzo been at the restaurant at the same time as me?
And if he was… was it a coincidence?
Or was my best friend’s father full-on stalking me?