Rocko #3
We talked for the better part of thirty minutes, and I apologized to her more times than I could count. When I got off the phone with her, I felt lighter, and we understood each other. She even laughed about the situation toward the end of our conversation.
When the email was forwarded to me, it was even worse than what Greg had told me. At first, I thought that Leah had hacked me, but I couldn’t find any evidence of it. After I looked, I realized that she had created her own email address and pretended to be me.
I called my attorney as I hopped into the truck. I went back to the addresses I'd recently entered and drove to her place. It was a fifteen-minute drive, and I was pissed the whole time as I explained to Jim what had happened, and he told me about the consequences for what she had done.
When I pulled up into her yard, I barely parked before I was out of the truck and banging on the door. I knocked so loud that I could hear it echoing inside the empty living room.
After a minute, I knocked again. This time harder. Then the door swung open.
“Good morning, Sunshine,” she said after clearing her throat.
I could tell that I had just woken her up, but I didn’t give a fuck. I pushed past her, bumping her in the process.
“I didn’t expect such a quick turnaround time.” She joked. But I wasn’t in a playful mood.
“Why the fuck would you email that woman?” I gritted.
“What woman?” She feigned ignorance.
“Leah, cut the bullshit. You canceled the deal with Priscilla. I read the email; everything you said to me last night was right there.”
“When did I have time to send an email? Before or after you had me bent over the bathroom sink?” She reached out and touched my shirt. I slapped her hand.
I took a couple deep breaths. I remembered thinking that it was nothing that Leah could do to shake me. But playing with my brand? Fucking up the business and costing me millions? That was worse than tapping my house. If anything could piss me off, this was it.
“You didn’t cancel a damn subscription. Leah, you impersonated me, terminated a multi-million-dollar business relationship, and cost me my biggest sponsor. You are going to prison! That’s identity and communications fraud. I just got off the phone with my attorney.”
“Okay, so what? And I would do it again. I told you last night that it was a bad deal. But you didn’t want to listen. I wasn’t trying to hurt your brand.”
She yelled, crossing her arms, and returned the same anger that I had given her.
She didn’t get it; I literally couldn't get through to her. I backed her against the wall. I could see her chest rise and fall as she looked up at me without an inch of regret in her eyes.
“Leah, stay the fuck away from me. This shit is over; it’s done.”
“You’re in my house, Ricardo. I’m not in yours.” She shot back. The same smug look on her face that let me know she thought this shit was a game.
“BECAUSE YOU FUCKING—you know what, you’re right.” I calmed down, backed away from her, and walked toward the door. I didn’t put my hands on her or call her out of her name. But I had to get away from her before anger convinced me to say or do something I couldn’t take back.
Before I could make it there, she grabbed my arm.
“Rocko…”
I pulled away and yanked the door open.
She came behind me; I could hear her bare feet slapping against the floor.
“Rock! I’m not apologizing for protecting you. If I wanted to ruin your life, you’d know.”
I stopped in my tracks and glared at Leah. I mean, I really took a good look at her. Not in the way that I normally did when I noticed how naturally pretty she is. Or took in her body, her eyes, and the smile that got turned me on without her trying.
But I mean, I really looked at her and thought about all the things that finally made sense.
Everything that I liked about her. Her energy, how she always had the answers and never gave the fuck about the odds as long as it made sense to her. Everything that I thought was confidence was pure fucking delusion.
I had spent the last few months trying to talk myself out of falling for her, when the scariest part was her falling for me.
I didn’t respond to her, just hopped in my truck and called my attorney back.
“Jim.” He answered.
“That email address that I asked you about earlier? Send a cease-and-desist to it.” I said as I pulled away from her house. I hadn’t given Jim the full details, only that someone was pretending to be me.
“I was actually already on it.” He said.
“Appreciate you.”
I thanked him, and then we got off the phone. As I rode home, I tried to relax so that I could have my head ready for practice today. But it didn’t look good.
Leah had no idea how much I was sparing her.
A part of me still had that Compton mindset that didn’t want to call the police on her.
But now that I’m at a different place in life, I had to move differently, so she was going to force my hand.
I hoped this cease-and-desist would let her know I was done playing with her.
This is why I didn’t date. I needed to stay focused and keep my head in the game. Attraction could make a man stupid. But Leah had just made sure that mine wore off.