Chapter Four
Taleah
FOR THE LAST week I’ve been staying at the bookstore because I can’t get TJ out of my damn house.
He refuses to leave and somehow whenever I call the cops to get him removed, it’s his friends who show up.
The two fucks who tell me I need to cool off and calm down so I can move forward with TJ and not let whatever stupid shit he’s doing break us apart.
They don’t realize I know the real reason is he wants the money he spends because he has none of his own.
They are truly pathetic if they don’t believe I know TJ’s game by now.
Every damn move he makes I know beforehand and have already countered it with moves of my own.
Including cutting him off financially because that’s all he keeps me around for.
Well, now I’m going to hit him where it really hurts.
Last night I called and stopped all of his access to my bank accounts and stopped the cards he always used.
They were secondary cards from my accounts and TJ has used them to fund his lifestyle and pay for anything his little fuck toys want.
Expensive lunches, shopping sprees, vacations to exotic islands, all paid for with my money. That stops now.
The last thing I did before picking up a book and reading until I fell asleep was go through all of my accounts.
I have one TJ can’t touch no matter how hard he tries.
Several million dollars are in that one and is purely for donations to charities I help throughout the years and local families in need.
I highlighted and wrote down every fucking transaction belonging to TJ.
He thinks I can’t track it because his cards are all secondary ones on my accounts.
The twatapotamus doesn’t realize each transaction has the last four digits of the card number.
Once I have all of the transactions he’s made over the years, and there’s been hundreds of them, I make a spread sheet broken down into each card and month for every single year he’s had access to my accounts.
The total shocks me so much I lean back on the couch and simply stare at the screen in front of me.
I never realized how much TJ has stolen from me until this very minute.
I’m a damn fool and deserve to be punished for how stupid I’ve been.
Bhodi would have already beaten TJ to a pulp if he were still alive.
I know my brother never would have liked him and I wouldn’t have given him a second look.
Waking up this morning, I feel lighter than I have in a very long time.
The knowledge that TJ can no longer use me has freed part of my soul I didn’t realize was locked up tight.
I’ve been such a damn fool for far too long and that shit ends now.
After work I plan on going to the police station and filing a report against the two officers who refuse to get TJ out of my home and file for a restraining order against the stupid fuck who has used me for far too long.
I’m not sure if I have enough evidence to get a restraining order against TJ, but I will do whatever I can to ensure he no longer bothers me.
Including changing the locks on my home and upgrading my security system if at all possible.
I don’t know about any of that shit, but I can call the security company in town who installed it and see if anything can be done to improve it.
I also plan on upgrading the one here at the bookstore.
My employees deserve to feel safe when they’re here and not feel as if they’re in danger because my personal life is a fucking dumpster fire of my own making.
Stretching my body, I move through the coffee shop and start the coffee machine.
I don’t drink it, but I want the hot water for hot chocolate.
I drink it randomly throughout the day while others drink coffee like it’s water.
I’ve never been a fan of coffee and after having to taste it and compare brands over the years before I opened my shop, I went from one shop to the next across the country while I was on school breaks to taste various coffees and find the best ones to use in Fantasy Realm.
Now, I never touch it and drink hot chocolate.
It’s a drink Bhodi used to make for me when I was younger every winter.
He would fill it with chocolate, mini marshmallows, and anything else he could think of to make each cup better than the last one.
I don’t make it as good as he did, no one does, but I try every single time I have a cup.
Once the coffee station is up and running, I head for my office.
I have a shower in there that’s truly come in handy over the last week while I’ve been staying here.
No one knows this is where I sleep and I don’t give a shit if they realize the truth of my situation.
I’ll come up with some lie about inventory or paperwork to explain why I’m here and not home.
Grabbing my toiletries bag out of the duffle bag, I head in the bathroom and quickly take a shower so I can start the morning routine I have in place to open the store.
I’ve put together a checklist in case I’m the one not opening each day, but it hasn’t happened yet.
I’d rather open every day so my employees can sleep in.
It’s not like we’re open late either so the few people I have working for me can still make plans for the end of the day and have lives unlike me.
I put on a dress I bought a few weeks ago and haven’t ever worn yet.
TJ doesn’t like it when I wear dresses and says I’m trying to whore myself out to other men.
Men don’t typically come in my store unless they’re shopping for their wife or girlfriend.
I’m not a homewrecker and don’t offer anything other than assistance if they’re looking for a specific book.
Each transaction is strictly professional and TJ can’t accept that because he’s the cheater and believes everyone else is depraved like him.
The dress is white with spaghetti straps and goes down to just above my knee.
It’s light and today is supposed to be scorching hot.
The sun is barely up and it’s already roasting in the bookstore.
I’ll have to turn the air conditioning on so it’s comfortable when everyone gets in here for the day to shop or work.
My hair is up in a messy bun because I want it off of my neck and it allows the necklace I wear daily to stand out.
It’s a picture of Bhodi and I when we were younger.
I also slide on the only ring I’ve ever worn onto my finger.
It’s Bhodi’s class ring and I only take it off when I shower, wash my hands, or am doing dishes.
They are my most treasured pieces in the world and I won’t ever let them go.
Heading back to the main floor of Fantasy Realm, I quickly pick up my mess from sleeping on the couch.
The blankets are folded and exchanged for fresh ones while the table is moved back where it belongs.
The second everything is cleaned up, I grab the register till from my office safe and make my way to the front counter.
I double count it from the employee who closed last night and run the opening stuff for the register so I can compare numbers against the main report.
As soon as that’s done, I open the safe under the counter and begin to count it.
That’s when I hear the lock in the front door click open and my entire body goes rigid.
Heavy footsteps walk through the store and head for the counter I’m currently ducking behind as I count the safe.
I reach up and hold my finger just above the button the security company installed if we ever need help.
Not only will it alert the cops to something illegal happening in the store, but the security company will also be notified from what I’ve been told.
I close the safe so it appears as if it’s actually closed and locked before standing to see who’s inside my store.
I already know who it is because there’s only one person who would have a copy of the key—TJ.
He’s made copies of all my keys and the one reason I will change the locks as soon as the store is closed for the day. The less he knows, the better I’ll be.
My eyes land on my ex and I take in his disgusting appearance.
He’s wearing the same clothes from almost a week ago when I was last at the house.
The tee-shirt is stained in several spots that I won’t even bother taking a guess what they’re from.
His jeans have ripped even more and show more leg and part of his underwear than they did days ago.
His normally styled hair is unkempt and all over the place as if he’s been running his finger through it on repeat.
Or that he’s stuck his finger in an electrical outlet and now he can’t do anything with his hair.
It’s longer than I’ve ever seen it before because he hasn’t bothered to get a haircut while I’ve been gone.
Hell, it doesn’t smell like he’s bothered to shower at all.
I can smell body odor, stale alcohol, and several different perfumes.
The combination is more than enough to make me choke and throw up.
I have to hold it back as he steps directly up to the counter without touching anything.
“So, this is where you’ve been hiding,” he says, smirking at me and looking my body up and down before the smirk disappears and he glares in my direction. “You don’t come home and now you’re whoring yourself out while in your bookstore? Is this what you do all fucking day long, Taleah?”
TJ’s face is bright red and the vein in his neck is protruding so much I can see his pulse racing. His eyes narrow more and more the longer he looks at me and his hands are clenched into fists at his side.