Chapter 12 Mysteriously
A welcoming ray of sunshine fell upon my face, causing my eyes to flicker open. My gaze fell upon Lauren, who remained sound asleep. Fighting the urge to move away from the sun’s glimmer lest I disturb Lauren, I lowered my head to rest along hers.
As my hands remained nestled on her stomach, still clutching the open book, I could feel it rise and fall with every breath she took. Taking note of the page number, I flipped the cover closed and allowed the book to rest on Lauren’s legs as I locked my fingers around hers.
Holding on to the thought that I might be able to slip back into a peaceful sleep, I closed my eyes and inhaled Lauren’s presence. However, the continuation of our night together was not meant to be.
“Good morning.” The softness in her voice felt warm before turning serious. “What time is it?”
“Eight thirty. But you’re off this week; remember?”
“Oh, yeah,” she said, widening her arms with a yawn, which teasingly fell across my body. “What are your plans for the day?”
“We should probably get you a battery this morning, then I’ll just resume business as normal in the backroom.”
“Aren’t you going to get some fresh clothes?”
“Oh, yeah,” I said, recalling the night before. “And I assume you’ll want to change, too.”
“Once we get the battery, I’ll go to my place to shower, then I can come back and help.”
“That sounds like a plan, but I just haven’t figured out the best way to get to the parts store. I’m pretty sure the nearest one is on the other side of town.”
“I’ll call AAA. I’ve never used them, and the subscription is about to expire.”
I narrowed my eyes, curious if what I was thinking was true. “Wait. Why didn’t you just call them last night?”
“Oops. I didn’t think about it at the time, and then you spooked me into staying here with you.”
I cut my eyes at what she was inferring. “Spooked? I offered for you to take the couch, so you would feel at ease,” I corrected.
“Yeah. There was no way I was sleeping in a room by myself.”
“Okay, okay. But that wasn’t my intention. Go ahead and call AAA, and once they fix the car, we can meet here this afternoon.”
I helped Lauren to her feet, then walked to the storage room for some bags. When I returned, she stood talking on the phone near the front of the store. I mouthed to her, asking if she would like to have a bag for her wet clothes. With her apparent inability to read lips, I began miming the action of picking up her clothes with two fingers, insinuating their stench with the wrinkling of my nose. Upon seeing the scrunching of my face, a snort resounded from her as she giggled.
Lauren was so cute, standing there in an oversized shirt, my imagination yearning to uncover what was underneath. However, there was something else that drew me in. I wanted to know everything about her, not just get allured by the tease of her body.
“Thanks a lot,” she jabbed after hanging up the phone.
“What did I do?” I asked, feigning innocence.
“My laughing snort is so embarrassing.”
“Not at all. I thought it was—”
“Don’t say cute,” she interjected, placing her hand over my mouth.
“Adorable?” I exhaled when she finally removed her hand. “Actually, I was thinking more like sweet.”
“Whatever it was, it was awkward.”
“Cute, awkward, what’s the difference?” The derision in her stance only added to my point, but I let the argument subside. “What did AAA say?”
“They have a battery on hand, so it won’t be long.”
By the time the chairs and dictionaries were stored away, AAA had arrived and began to exchange the batteries. Shutting the hood of her car, I reiterated that I would be back at the shop at twelve and she was free to come any time after. I made my intentions to walk home clear as I placed a kiss on her forehead, to which she quickly sounded her confusion.
“I can give you a ride home.”
“It’s fine. I can walk.”
“Joshua, it’s on my way, and I would feel bad.”
“You feel bad? We can’t have that,” I said with a smirk.
“Come on, silly, before I change my mind.” Sure that she was serious, I opened the passenger door, only to be redirected again. “Aren’t you going to drive? I mean, you know where we’re going.”
“It’s on Paces.”
Our rationales, however, failed to align. Seeing the reluctance in her eyes, I decided to switch sides.
Walking around the car, I thanked the guy again for helping us as he packed his tools. It was then I looked across the street to where I had seen the black SUV the night before. It was clearly gone now, but I began to wonder if and when it would return.
“What is it?” Lauren asked, catching my hesitation.
Fumbling for an explanation, my mind fell back to the fact that she was naked under her shorts. “Did you grab your smaller bag of clothes?” I asked, hinting at her wet undies.
“Uh, no, I forgot,” she blushed, upon realizing what I meant.
“Okay. I’ll run and grab them.”
Back in the store, I also found the donation bag still sitting on the floor. They had not been left out to dry, and a certain odor was beginning to form. Lugging the collection over my back, I returned outside, motioning for Lauren to pop open the trunk. Rounding the car, I flung the bags inside. With the morning light now illuminating the interior, I took a second look at the collection of toys from the night before. As much as I wanted to believe Lauren was a good-natured girl helping collect donations, there was something odd about how all the toys appeared to be for a certain age group.
However, as I stepped behind the wheel of the car and looked over to Lauren, her smile said differently. She was not trying to hide anything from me. Perhaps I was paranoid, just like with the black SUV. There had to be a logical explanation. Shaking my head, I shifted to “Drive” and placed my hand on the console. Turning to check the traffic, I pulled onto the street. It was at that moment I felt Lauren’s hand brush the side of mine. Without looking, I threaded my arm behind hers and laced our fingers together. With a slight squeeze, Lauren returned the embrace before relaxing in the comfort of my presence.
The short drive to my apartment left little time for conversation. As I pulled into the parking lot, I offered to dry the clothes so she would not have to haul them inside, but she refused, with a certain persistence in her voice, so I decided not to push the offer any further. So, as I gathered my own wet clothes, I said goodbye and shut the door.
“Joshua,” she called from the window. “I can swing back by and pick you up.” I stood for a moment, only to recall planning to meet back at the store. With my hesitation, however, she almost recanted the offer. “Is that okay?”
“Yeah,” I said while nodding and forcing a smile.
As I began walking to the front entrance, I turned to wave as she pulled out of the parking space. She gave a wave in return and I continued watching, wondering where she lived and how many other secrets she was not sharing. Up until the point where she pulled out onto the street, I felt more and more confused, but then it hit me. She was not headed the way we came but instead further down the road—a road with no outlet.
Perhaps Lauren was not familiar enough with the area to know where she was going, but in that case, Lauren would have typed her address into her phone, and the GPS would have led her in the other direction.
With my body trying to catch up to my mind, I looked down at my feet. There would be no way I could follow after her, but before I could convince myself, I pulled off my dress shoes. With no idea as to what I was doing, somehow I found my feet leading the way.
Breaking into a run, I headed toward the sidewalk as fast as I could, hoping to retain the car in my sight. With each step, I disregarded the ridiculousness of my actions, my curiosity getting the best of me. If Lauren already knew the area where I lived, how had our paths never crossed?
Hitting the sidewalk mid-stride, I found myself coming to a halt as I caught a glimpse of Lauren’s car turning the corner onto the next street. She was not heading to the adjacent neighborhood or turning around. Instantly, I shifted directions back toward my apartment. Sticking to the sides of the buildings, I snuck around to the other apartments in the complex. As if on cue, Lauren’s car pulled in from the street.
As she drove between the rows, I momentarily lost sight of her before she pulled into a vacant space. Upon parking, Lauren stayed in her car for a few minutes. From the distance, I could not tell if she was talking on the phone, crying, or merely sitting with her eyes closed. I strained for a closer look, but it was no use. Internally, I debated if it was better to forgo snooping any further, but then something else caught my eye—something that I had failed to notice as my attention had yet to waver from Lauren’s car. Seeing the black SUV that sat idling near the rear of the lot, my heart began to pound.
The man sat, engine idling, as he waited until Lauren got out of her car, rounded the corner with her bag, and went into the lobby. Then, in the same instance, he eased out of the parking spot toward the exit. Either from shock or disbelief, I failed to gather the license plate number as all my focus was on the New Mexico decal printed across the top.
A million additional questions began to form, and I had no way of answering them. I needed to talk to Lauren, tell her everything, and see if it made sense. If this was the same car that had been following us around, the biggest question was why.
Unfortunately, there were two issues: I had failed to see which apartment Lauren had gone into, and I was without her phone number. Regardless, if I walked up to her door now, she would think I was a creep. Then again, I was not the only person following her.
Upon deciding it was in my best interest to leave and speak with her later, I noticed someone appearing from the building. It was Lauren. Curious, I watched as she returned to her car and opened the trunk. She gathered the car seat in her arms, along with the toys, then headed back inside. Initially feeling the urge to sneak closer to see which apartment she went into, I found myself stepping back instead. As much as I did not want to believe it, she was clearly hiding something, and that something was most likely a child.
A burst of anger clutched my body as I walked away. Maybe Lauren had a right to keep her personal life a secret, but what about being honest? I had been in a relationship before where the most important details were left out, and I was left wondering what I had done so horribly wrong when, in fact, there was nothing I could have done because I never knew the truth.
I had thought that perhaps I had finally found someone to move on with, but now, I questioned the connection I felt we shared. Four-Thirty Girl had been the type of woman I specifically tried to avoid, and now, I had failed to listen to my better judgment, setting myself up for another loss at a relationship.
When I reached my apartment, I slammed the door closed and collapsed on the couch. I pounded my fist into the pillow, frustrated with how stupid I could have been for letting myself grow close to just another Brooke.
Releasing the grip around my fingers, I lifted my head from the couch and tried to calm myself. I could not let Lauren see me like this. She would be coming back to pick me up, and if I was this upset, I knew the whole ordeal would somehow come out as my fault.
With a deep breath, I pushed myself up from the couch. Stripping off the sweatpants and t-shirt in disgust, I went to the bathroom and ran the shower as hot as I could before stepping in.
The scalding water felt refreshing against the coolness of the night before. With each bead of water, my muscles seemed to relax from the stored tension, and my mind could think clearly. There had been too many unknowns, and we had been circling around in confusion. Instead of continually asking myself who Ms. Debbie was, if that was the same SUV, or what Lauren was hiding, I needed to rethink how I was approaching the situation. Perhaps I was asking all the wrong questions, therefore getting misleading answers.
Before I could find out about Ms. Debbie and the SUV, however, I would need to talk to Lauren and give her a chance to explain. If she was hiding something or blatantly lying, then I would be on my own for piecing the puzzle together. However, if she was honest, then perhaps we could continue to work together, or...
I refrained myself from finishing the thought of having a future together and stopped the shower. My skin was glowing red from the heat of the water, and I needed to remain focused. There was something far more important on hand than my feelings. Someone was interested in Lauren, and I was not sure how it all tied in.
Drying off with a towel, I wrapped it around my waist and returned to the living room. Looking down at the sweatpants, I could not help but wonder to whom they once belonged. If Lauren was holding back from me, perhaps she was doing so to offer protection. Perhaps the puzzle was not fitting together because I had been looking at it all wrong. What if the clothes on the floor belonged to the man in the SUV, and he had come to collect what was his?
A thought popped into my mind. I had seen her in the store for the past few months before we ever spoke. During that time, I had never noticed her with anyone or anything peculiar, except she always came in at four-thirty.
Now I was asking the right questions. There was no need to get mad at Lauren or interrogate her. Instead, I should be offering protection, warning her about the man who followed her inside the apartment complex, and then maybe she would open up to me about the past. Yes, this needed to be about my concern for her safety, not my bottled-up anger for catching her in a lie.
Pleased with my new perspective, I found a dry grocery bag for the gym clothes, then laid my wet outfit across a chair. With a look about the room, I considered the need to straighten up, so instead of waiting and watching television until Lauren returned, I got dressed and went to work.
Having stayed in the same apartment with Brooke, where everything had to be spotless, I had let my new place become more of a sty, with clothes strewn on the floor and food left setting on the table. I was not sure if my drive to clean was set off by the need to kill time or more by the fact that I was growing tired of being confined by mannerisms that had spiraled as an aftereffect of some woman. Yet, I cleaned for the next few hours until the apartment was spotless. Then, out of consideration for letting myself be me, I tossed an unfolded blanket on the couch, with a bag of unopened chips on the table.