Chapter 5 #2
Simon wasn’t sure what he was going to do.
Should he get the hell out of here? Or play along and have dinner with Jared?
What if he tried something again? Simon knew one thing .
. . he needed to be wearing more than a towel.
He quickly dried off and pulled on some clothes.
Normally, if he was home for the evening he’d be in sweatpants, but in case he needed to get away from Jared, he wanted to be in something he could run down the street in.
Hopefully it wouldn’t come to that. He thought about grabbing the Kindle and checking his email to see if Daniel had replied, but it couldn’t have been fifteen minutes since he sent his message.
The chances of his having seen it and replied by now were limited.
If he wasn’t still at work, he’d be busy with Josh somewhere.
Once Simon was dressed, he went downstairs.
Jared was putting dinner on the dining table.
He’d made chicken and leek pie, with mashed potatoes and green beans.
Jared made everything from scratch, even the pastry, so he had been here a long time preparing this.
It smelled delicious. Simon took his usual seat from when they’d lived here together.
It was then he noticed his phone wasn’t where he’d left it.
He looked up to see Jared smiling at him.
“Is there a problem, Simon?”
“No, not at all. Should I get the drinks?”
“You just sit down and relax. I’ve got everything sorted.”
Simon didn’t want to push things, so he just smiled and nodded.
While Jared went to get the drinks, Simon noticed his bag was gone as well.
Where had Jared put everything? If he asked, it would probably set him off.
What was he expecting after dinner? Simon was starving, having skipped lunch in the office, but knew he’d need to eat slowly.
And should he even be eating something Jared had prepared, given how he was behaving?
All the food was in the middle, waiting to be served, so if he’d done anything to it, surely he would have dished up first? Why was even thinking like this? He had a thumping headache, probably because his brain was trying to work out what the fuck was going on with his ex.
Jared brought a bottle of white wine over and two glasses. The whole domesticated setup reminded Simon of their marriage, in that every night when he came home from work, Jared would want to have dinner at the dining table. Even if they had a takeaway, which was rare, they would sit at the table.
“Why haven’t you dished up?” said Jared.
“I was waiting for you.”
“That never stopped you before, especially with pie. You haven’t already eaten before coming home, have you?”
“No. I haven’t eaten since breakfast.”
Jared made a tutting sound and shook his head.
He’d always done that when he found out Simon had missed meals.
Jared dished up the food, adding extra to Simon’s plate.
He would wait to watch Jared eat first before trying anything, just to be safe.
Not that he was paranoid or anything, but he wasn’t taking any chances.
Before they could start eating, there was a loud knock on the front door, which startled them both.
“Ignore it,” said Jared, as he continued to dish up.
Whoever it was knocked again. This time it was louder and persistent.
“I'd better check who it is,” said Simon, hopeful that it might be Daniel. He would know how to handle this situation.
“I said leave it,” Jared shrieked.
“Simon, are you in there?” came Daniel’s voice, and more knocking. “Open the door, or I’m calling the police.”
“How could you?” spat Jared, lunging for him.
Simon ducked out of his reach, and before he could think too much about it, he headed for the door and ripped it open, crashing into Daniel who was banging on the door. Josh was with him, his eyes wide, probably wondering what the fuck was happening with his boyfriend’s crazy friend.
“Where is he?” said Daniel. His face was taut with anger.
Daniel was an easygoing guy, but when you pissed him off, he wasn’t someone you wanted to mess with.
Simon gestured behind himself, and Daniel walked around him, striding into the kitchen diner.
Simon went after him, with Josh following.
When they got to the dining table, there was no sign of Jared.
It was as if he’d never been here. Simon noticed his phone was on the dining table.
It definitely wasn’t there before, and his bag was in the place he’d left it.
The only evidence that Jared had been here was the two place settings.
Simon headed for his back door, but it was locked.
How the fuck had he gotten out? The windows were all closed as well.
He had to be upstairs, so Simon headed that way, with Daniel following him.
He searched everywhere, but there was no sign of him.
“Did he do this?” asked Daniel, pointing at the clear boot marks on the bathroom door.
Simon nodded.
“I’m calling the police.”
“No, don’t do that.”
“Why not? He could have hurt you, Simon. What if he comes back tonight?”
“I don’t think he will. He was just . . . I don’t know, Daniel. There’s something not right. The more I think about it, the more I’m worried about him.”
“All the more reason to call the police. How did he get in here? I thought you changed all the locks?”
“I did. I don’t know how he got in. When I arrived home, he was cooking and acting as if we were still married. How did you get here so fast?”
“I’d just left the office with Josh when your email came through, so we asked the driver to come straight here. Are you gonna tell me what happened after you emailed me? The fear in your eyes when you opened the door is something I’ve never seen on you before.”
“Fine, but I need to eat something, and I’ve gone right off the idea of that pie. Let me order something. Have you two eaten?”
“Well, Josh has.”
“Okay, well, what would . . .” Simon saw a smirk on his friend’s face. “Really? In the office?”
“What can I say? He’s twenty years younger than I am. I need to keep him well fed.”
Simon couldn’t help but laugh, which is when he realised Daniel had done that on purpose. He knew he was telling the truth, but sharing had helped break some of the tension.
“I’m just glad I’ve never been in charge of HR for your firm.”
“So am I.”
They both laughed again before heading downstairs to join Josh.
“What are you two smiling at?” he asked.
“Your boyfriend was being inappropriate,” said Simon.
Josh blushed, but also glared at Daniel, which was adorable.
They were such a perfect match. After checking what they wanted to eat, Simon ordered pizza and a load of sides.
He could work it off over the weekend. Right now, he needed carb-heavy calories.
Josh offered to clean up whilst he ran through everything that had happened since he’d gotten home.
His friend didn’t interrupt him and just let Simon get it all out, but he knew Daniel’s legal mind would be knitting it altogether in ways he hadn’t thought of.
“So, to summarise . . . He broke into the house and then threatened you with a knife. Then he cut off all communication channels, or so he thought, effectively holding you prisoner. He then tried to break into the bathroom when you were in the shower, and then made unwanted sexual advances to you.”
“Jesus, Daniel, you make him sound like a criminal.”
“How else would you describe his behaviour tonight?”
“I don’t know, but not how you did. I think he just needs help.”
“That’s not on you, Simon. He’s the one who fucked around and blew up your marriage.”
“Thank you for that reminder. Look, I don’t know what got into him tonight, but there’s no harm done.”
“Tell that to your bathroom door. You need to report this.”
“No way,” he said, shaking his head. “I’m not doing that to him. It’ll be fine. I’ll get the locks changed again, and make sure all the security is solid. Then he won’t be able to get in again.”
“You can stay with me tonight.”
“And listen to you pounding your boyfriend into oblivion? Yeah, I think I’ll pass.”
Daniel smiled, and his eyes glazed over.
“Yep, definitely not staying at your place.”
Daniel laughed. “Okay, but at least stay in a hotel tonight until all the locks are changed.”
“What if he comes back when there’s nobody here?”
“I’d rather he did that than it be when you’re here on your own.”
“Fair point.”
That seemed to put the matter to bed, but Simon knew his friend wouldn’t easily back off in getting him to report Jared. There was something that felt wrong about involving the police with his ex-husband. Despite everything, Simon would never want to do anything that hurt him.
The next day, he had all the locks changed and tremblers added to all the windows, so there was no way anyone could get in without triggering the alarm.
The weekend went by quickly, and he didn’t hear another word from Jared.
Perhaps it had just been a blip of some kind, and he felt embarrassed by what had happened so he was going to keep away.
All Simon could do was focus on his work and getting through the next couple of months.
If Jared tried something again, he’d have to deal with it when it happened.