Chapter 19
Emmy
It’s been almost three weeks since the stalker incident and apart from some very creepy phone calls, nothing out of the ordinary has happened. I’ve spent my days either at work with Cas and Cole or my nights with him, one of his family or Hayleigh. When I told her what had happened, she was furious and threatened to castrate him when she found out who it was. She also wasn’t convinced it was Count Dickless, for all his faults he’s stopped harassing me and is civil when I see him now. Last week Hayleigh insisted on coming over and having a movie night, it was also the same night Nate was over to ‘babysit’ me so he had no choice but to sit through four romcoms with us. However, I had to sit between them because they do not gel well together for some reason.
I head downstairs and feed Scruff while I wait for Hayleigh to come over. She is going to stay with me for the weekend because Cas needs to go out of town to do some work with Cole. I’m just finishing making a cup of coffee when arms slide around my waist from behind, I breathe in and smell my new favourite scent of leather and sandalwood.
Cas kisses the side of my neck and I shiver, a flash of pleasure zaps at my core and I hear him chuckle behind me as he says “I have to set off in a few minutes or I promise I’d have you bent over the counter screaming my name”
he kisses my neck again and I moan, pushing back into him. We’ve been inseparable since we came back from the lodge. I can’t seem to get enough of him, but before we can take things too far, the door bursts open, and Hayleigh comes flying into the house and singing.
“I’m here…oh for fuck sake will you two get a room!”
Cas laughs, “Yeah, Hayleigh, we do have one, you just burst in on it.”
he laughs at her.
She shrugs her shoulders and laughs along as she says “fair point builder man, now off you pop because I am due on my period, I am in a foul mood because my so called husband to be is being a monumental prick and I need my best friend, cheesy films and some good old fashioned girl time”
She doesn’t take a breath but looks close to crying so I detangle myself from Cas, turn around, kiss him quickly and then make my way over to Hayleigh. I wrap my arms around her and she dissolves into floods of tears, I look towards Cas a bit helpless but he looks like a deer stuck in headlights before I jerk my head at him to move, instead of him making his way out of the door he heads on over to us and wraps his arms around us both. Hayleigh immediately stops crying and instead starts laughing like the crazy woman she is. We all break apart and she wipes her eyes, then turns to Cas and wraps her hands around him and muffles a ‘thank you’ into his chest, he pats her back, then says his goodbyes before he heads out the door.
I turn around to find Hayleigh rummaging through the takeout drawer before she pulls out two flyers, “Coupons for Chinese or free delivery on Indian. What’s our poison tonight?”
I smile at her and say “I’ll let you pick, the shitty box wine is in the fridge. I’m just going to change and I’ll be right back down, then you can tell me all about what’s going on to make you cry like that.”
I point my finger at her, and she shakes her head and gets busy ordering us food.
Once I’ve had a quick shower and I change into my pjs, I go downstairs to find Hayleigh flat out with Scruff on the couch, I quickly check her phone to see how long the delivery will be and decide to let her sleep off whatever is weighing down on her. I have learned these past few months that sometimes you have to learn to lay down and relax; not everything can be solved at once. Scruff lifts his head as I put down Hayleigh’s phone, a message pings through and lights up the phone, it’s from Pete, but I can’t see what it says. Not wanting to wake her, I typed him a message on my phone.
Me
Hey just letting you know Hayleigh has crashed out, she isn’t ignoring you but I just saw the message ping so thought I’d let you know *smiley face emoji*
I get some wine and snacks and put them on the coffee table. I’m about to get settled, so I turn on the TV when there’s a knock at the door. I get up to answer it and my phone pings, I swipe open not really looking who it is…
Unknown
don’t answer that door…
My phone drops out of my hands and clatters to the floor, Hayleigh wakes up with a start, her hair messed up and one eye closed. If I weren’t so freaked out, I’d have been laughing my head off at her. She must see the look on my face and she’s up and over to where I am within seconds. She picked up my phone and read the message. Swearing under her breath, she went to the utility room, where Cas kept his pry bar. Once she has it, she storms over to the front door and swings it open, all while holding this pry bar up like she’s going to bat.
She shouts at the person standing on the other side “What do you want creep?!”
it takes a minute for me to unfreeze when I realise there is no danger. The person on the other side holds out our takeout bag with shaking hands. I breathe a sigh of relief.
I walk over to the delivery driver and take the bag before saying “I am so sorry about that, we’ve had someone pranking us tonight, I really do apologise”
he nods and I notice him walking away shakily.
I take the bag to the kitchen and start dishing up the contents, my hands still shaking. Hayleigh comes over and rests her hands on mine. I look at her as she says “Go sit down and relax, drink some shitty box wine and let me do this ok?”
I nod and smile at her but as I do my eyes start to sting and water. I go over to the front door, double-check that it’s been locked, and then sit down.
I debate whether or not to ring Cas. A part of me doesn’t want to, but the other part of me, the one that already misses him and wants him nearby, outweighs, and I dial his number. It doesn’t ring and goes straight to voicemail. I remember Cas telling me that where they were going, they had to drive through a place that had a spotty reception. I type him out a message instead.
Me
Missing you xx
Me
received a creepy text, we’re ok but wish you were here…xx
I decided to message the family group chat Cas added me to so they know. The last thing I want to do is worry them or him.
Me
Hi everyone just wanted to update you all that something weird happened and I don’t want anyone to worry but Hayleigh and I ordered takeout and when they knocked on the door I got a message from an unknown number that told me not to answer it. We’re ok but just wanted you all to know
Me
I’m probably being dramatic actually. Ignore me
May
I’m glad you told us Emily. You aren’t being dramatic. Make sure you lock the doors. Do you need us to come round?
Me
No May but thank you for offering, I messaged Cas but they must be out of reception
Rafe
Send me the details of the message Emily and the number I’ll look into it. I’d have come over but I’m out of town
Archie
Gear up your tv screen ladies because the Archman is on his way *party hat emoji*
Archie
oh, and grumpasaurus is with me too *dinosaur emoji* *grumpy face emoji*
Me
Archie you really don’t need to come over, honestly, we will be fine
Ethan
Archie, they don’t want you and grumpy crashing their girly night…for real though Emmy I hope you’re both ok
Nate
I am NOT grumpy it’s just the lovely Emily’s friend is like a viper…no, actually a cactus…she’s so prickly and mean to me *crying face emoji*
Archie
Aww it’s love *heart eyes emoji*
Hayleigh plops down next to me on the couch after she brings over all the food on different plates and lays them out. She turns sideways on the couch and crosses her legs before saying, “I take it the big brother brigade are coming?”
I laugh at her and nod, "I’m sorry…they just don’t want us being alone”, she waves me off.
“I get it…and right now I don’t want us being alone either. That message was fucking creepy, plus I can’t lie when I say I don’t enjoy giving them shit”
she has a grin from ear to ear but somehow it doesn’t reach her eyes.
“Hayleigh, what’s going on with you?”
She throws her hands up “what’s right with me Em?”
she grabs her glass of wine and gulps it down before she starts again “Pete wanted to start a family and so we agreed as soon as we were married then that would be it, we would start trying”
I nod along with her before she carries on “and then out of the blue the other week, he tells me he doesn’t want to start trying after the wedding and he’s not even sure that us getting married now is the right thing to do. He’s been thinking about it for a while now apparently. I mean who fucking does that? He didn’t have the decency to give me a concrete reason; he just told me it had been on his mind.”
Another gulp of wine “I don’t even know where we’re at, Em. He goes out all hours but says he’s been exercising at the gym…but get this, I have his account for his gym on my phone because I set his pin up for him, and when I checked he hasn’t been for over 5 months” she throws her arms up again and I watch the wine slosh over her hand “shit! Sorry, Em.” I looked at my best friend, who was usually so put together. I thought she had it all, but she was just as lost as I was all this time. I dive over to her and wrap my hands around her.
“I’m sorry Hayleigh. You were there for me and always seemed so happy, I didn’t realise you were so sad. Let me be there for you too,”
she hugs me back as tight as we break apart when we hear banging at the door.
A muffled voice shouts through “Shit…my bad it’s just us!”
I roll my eyes, “It’s just Archie and Nate”, I see Hayleigh’s eyes light up ever so slightly at the mention of Nate. I waggle my finger at her “I saw that”
she cackles at me as I get up and make my way over to the door. I look through the peephole to make sure, then throw open the door to find Archie and Nate on the other side, arms laden with snacks and old DVDs.
Hayleigh comes up behind me, looks over my shoulder, and scoffs “You two idiots do realise that Cas has every streaming service known to man? Nobody uses DVDs anymore”
she turns to walk back inside. It’s a good job too because she doesn’t see Nate mocking her shaking his head and rolling his eyes. I bite back a smile and open the door wider for them to come in, once they’re in Nate goes to the lounge with Miss Grumpy and Archie goes to the kitchen with his snacks.
I follow Archie and gather some bowls together, trying to keep myself busy. My hands are still shaking from earlier on. A bowl slips out of my grasp and smashes on the floor, as it does, Archie lets out the most girlish scream I have ever heard, and for a moment, we both stand there stunned, then he starts milling about, dividing up the snacks into the other bowls, not saying a word.
“Erm…Arch…”
He stops what he’s doing and looks at me straight in the eyes as he says “We shall never speak of this moment ever again…understood?”
I nod yes, but all the while, I try not to laugh. He grabs the snacks and heads off to the living room. I hear Nate and Hayleigh laughing at him as my phone rings. My heart starts beating fast as an unknown number of flashes across my screen, I debate whether or not to answer it, but before I can decide, it clicks off. I try and put it to the back of my mind and instead bring up Cas’s number to call him, but it goes straight to voicemail, so instead I type out a message letting him know what has been going on and asking him to call me as soon as he can.
**********
The boys sat through three romcoms and four bowls of popcorn before they crashed out on the couch, Nate slouched over the arm, and Archie cuddled into him. Hayleigh sniggers as she grabs her phone and snaps pictures of them both. We checked all the doors and windows before going upstairs. Hayleigh sleeps in my old room, since everything happened, and we came back home, Cas insisted I stay with him, and now I can’t sleep anywhere else.
We settle in for the night, but my mind can’t quiet down without Cas. I lay there for about an hour and roll over to look at my phone, but I see no new messages. I sigh, roll onto my back, and stare up at the ceiling, just willing myself to sleep. I hear the stairs creak, my body stiffens, and my heart starts racing, but then I remember we left Archie and Nate downstairs.
I settle back into bed, and my eyes close as I hear the bedroom door open slightly. I stop breathing as I look to where a crack appears and strain my eyes against the darkness. I can’t remember if I closed the door fully, but the longer I stare, the bigger the crack in the door gets and then I hear something scurry across the floor.
My heart's beating a million miles a minute, and before I can figure out what’s happening, a black figure jumps up from the floor onto the bed. I let out an almighty blood curdling scream as I scramble in the covers to try and protect myself as I feel something jumping on top of me and before I know it all three of my room mates for the night come charging into the room joining in with the screaming before they realise what’s happening way before I do.
Then they’re doubling over and laughing at me. I finally calmed down enough to detangle myself from the sheets to find Scruff panting in the middle of it all. I join in with the laughing and pat my lap for Scruff to jump on, I cuddle him and snuggle down into his fur while he licks my face. I look over to my friends and feel an overwhelming burst of love for them, I’ve only ever had Hayleigh and whilst that has always been enough for me, it’s nice to know that I have other people looking out for me too.
**********
The following day, I wake up to my phone ringing.
I knock it off the side and fumble around before I grab it “Hello?”
my voice is sleepy as I answer.
I hear Cas chuckle, “Did you have a good night then?”
My eyes ping open at his voice, and it hits me how much I’ve missed him, even though it’s not been a full day.
I smile as I say, “Yeah, it was okay.”
My smile falters as I remember the creepy text message, and my breath hitches.
Cas, of course, notices, “What happened?”
I shake my head as I say “It was nothing really, we ordered some takeout and when there was a knock at the door I got a text that said I shouldn’t open it, it was just the timing that was weird more than anything.”
I hear Cas swear under his breath “right that’s it I’m coming home, the job can wait or Cole can manage it without me…”
I smile at this, there’s no judgement ever from him.
“Cas stop. Please. I sent a message to the group chat so Nate and Arch came over. Seriously, everything’s ok,”
he blows out a breath, and I can tell he’s frustrated and torn, so I push on “plus, it would just have been a wasted journey, and Cole will have to carry on by himself. I’m literally surrounded by people here. I promise.”
He grunts “Fine…but only because I know my brothers are there to make sure you’re ok. Speaking of my brothers, I hope they didn’t crash your girls night too much?”
I start laughing and remember Archie and his girlish scream, so I relay the story to him. Before we knew it, we’d been on the phone for an hour talking about anything and everything.
I quiet down, and as ever Cas notices “penny for your thoughts?”
he asks me.
I sigh “I guess I’ve just gotten used to you being here these past couple of months and I kind of…miss you”
I cover my face with a pillow because I’m so embarrassed.
I hear the smile in his voice as he says, “I miss you too, Emmy.”
I smile ear to ear. I hear Cole shouting for him to hurry up in the background, I give him a reprieve as I say “don’t worry about it, you go. I’ll message you later on.”
He shouts to Cole that he will be a few more minutes before saying “I was enjoying talking to you, it’s the best part of my day. We’ll be on site till late today, and the reception’s spotty, none of the group chat messages have come through, so if I don’t message you back right away, don’t worry. I promise I will as soon as I can. I really do have to go now, otherwise Cole might have a meltdown,”
he laughs.
“Ok, have fun with Cole on site and tell him I said hello.”
He replies with a quick barking laugh “, HA...fun is the last thing I’d label my day with Cole as. I’ll speak to you soon Emmy I lov…ah…look forward to talking to you again”
the phone disconnects. I stare at it in my hand as I try to register whether or not I heard what he was about to say. My stomach flutters to life and I can’t wipe the smile off my face.
I’m still lying in bed, daydreaming of Cas and imagining him telling me he loves me when Hayleigh burst into my room at breakneck speed.
She dives on the bed “MORNING SUNSHINE!”
she shouts, scaring poor Scruff awake. She snuggles into him and says, “So, what are we doing today? I have a full free day to do absolutely nothing,”
She doesn’t look at me when she says this.
I nudge her with my foot, “hey…”
She ignores me, so I nudge her again, “Hayleigh? Why do you have a free day? I thought Pete was taking you out to lunch today?”
She shakes her head, and her bottom lip starts to quiver. I immediately dive on her with a hug, she dissolves into floods of tears. I stroke her hair “shh. It’s ok. Tell me what’s wrong.”
She cries quietly for a few more minutes before she wipes her nose on her sleeve “urgh. It’s just so stupid, I keep thinking back to what Pete said about not trying for a baby or going through with the wedding. I think I’m losing him Em”
she starts crying again and all I can do is hold her.
There’s a knock at my bedroom door, Nate peeks his head round the corner “Morning you two. I’ve made waffles downstairs but you need to hurry because as soon as Arch wakes up you’ve no chance”
he throws a wink at Hayleigh before taking off and before I can even say a word she laughs.
“Don’t even think it, Emmy. I can only handle one manchild at a time. What’s the plan today then?”
Just as we get up and out of bed, her phone rings. Her face goes blank, she turns the phone round to me and I see Pete’s name flash across the screen, “answer it”
I tell her. She answered the call, and I hung around in case she needed me. Suddenly, she looked at me with a strange look on her face. She tells Pete to hold on, covering the phone with her free hand she asks me “Pete want’s to meet up today to talk, but he’s asked if you can come along too. I think he might want a mediator?”
my stomach turns a little but I can’t figure out why, I shake the feeling off and tell her sure. The call ends and we carry on to breakfast, Hayleigh chats with Nate and Archie, but all the while I feel like something isn’t right, but I can’t put my finger on precisely what.
Entry #68
My plan was foolproof.
Or it should have been.
My unknowing helper gave me the information I needed…with a little push that is.
Emily was alone. Until she wasn’t.
Those brothers are becoming an irritating problem real quick.
I’ve never taken a life before…well, it was close.
But for those brothers I’d make an exception.
I can’t get to her tonight but there will be other nights.