Chapter 5 #2
Any thought that this could easily be sorted went right out the window.
I still didn’t understand why Jack would take my things.
Was it a way of proving a point? Or making my life difficult because I’d been the one to end it?
I chewed my lip as I contemplated what I was going to do.
Going to my brother now was out of the question.
An image of a disapproving Mark was enough for me to avoid that route altogether.
Besides, I had just spun him a lie about my equipment being stored elsewhere.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do,” I said, feeling tired. I sank down into the sofa and propped my feet up on the nearby coffee table, making some space by moving some stuff to the side.
“You’re going to have to go see him,” my sister said, stating the obvious next move. “I’m not sure I want you to do that alone.”
“I have to, I can’t let him get away with this.” If he refused to give me my stuff back, I would have to report him to the cops for stealing my property, and I wasn’t sure my brother wouldn’t find out. He had connections there.
“Let me come with you.”
“No, I can sort this out on my own.” I sat up, determined to put an end to the drama as quickly as I could on my own.
“I don’t know if that’s a good idea—”
“He won’t hurt me.” My voice held more conviction than I felt. The can of mace in my purse was a reminder of that. I also never believed he would take my stuff in an underhanded move like he had pulled. Maybe I didn’t really know him well at all, but I squashed the apprehension.
“At least call me when you get there. If I don’t hear back from you, I’ll call Matt.”
“I’ll be fine,” I assured her. “Please don’t call Matt. I’ll call you when I’m done.”
“Tracy…” There was the usual sisterly warning in her tone.
“Promise, I’ll be fine.”
“Fine. Love you.”
“Ditto.” I ended the call and went to get my car keys in the drawer by the entry table in the hallway.
When I reached for the keys, I noticed my address book was missing.
That was strange. I must have put it somewhere else but there wasn’t time to search for it now.
There was something more important I had to do.
I wasn’t looking forward to seeing him again. I’d hoped it would have been the last I saw of him once he had moved out. But, at the moment, he was gum stuck to my shoe and no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t get it off.
It was dark when I left my apartment building to get into my car. I hated driving at night but I had no choice. It was either this or have to cancel my appointments for the next day, which was a little unprofessional given the short notice.
At least I knew where he was staying and it was close by.
He had held on to his place when we had moved in together.
He had intended to rent it out but we had broken up before he had been able to lease the place.
I was grateful because I didn’t know how I would have coped having him remain in my apartment after we had split. It would have been beyond awkward.
I drove slowly to Jack’s place and parked the car. I locked the door and pocketed the keys in my jeans. Straightening my shoulders, I built up the courage to face my ex to get my stuff back.
When I got to his apartment door, I knocked loudly and had to stop myself from yelling out his name. The anger at discovering what he’d done resurged. I waited and waited.
Finally the door opened and Jack leaned in the doorway with a smile. “I knew you would be back.” Looking at him now, I didn’t know what I had ever seen in him.
I wanted to slap him but I stopped myself. “Only because you took my stuff.” I crossed my arms.
“I had to get your attention.” He straightened.
Seeing him now, I had no idea what had made me think he had been potential partner material.
“I want my stuff.” I tapped my foot against the floor, trying to control my irritation.
“Can’t we just talk?” He used the whiny voice that grated on my nerves.
“No.” I shook my head. “There is nothing to talk about. You’re going to give me my stuff back and I’m going leave. If you ever try and pull a stunt like that again, I’ll call the cops.”
“There’s no need to be like that, Tracy.” He reached out to touch my arm but I stepped out of his reach.
“Jack.” I was annoyed and frustrated that he was trying to hold on tight to something that had never really been there.
“It’s him, isn’t it?” His forehead creased. “I could never compete.”
“What are you talking about?” I had no idea what he was trying to say.
“I found the folder.”
Folder? Then the penny dropped. I had a secret folder I had kept with all the pictures I had taken of Mark through the years. I closed my eyes briefly, trying to come up with a way to talk it away, but I came up empty.
“That was private. Is that what you did when I wasn’t home? Did you snoop around my stuff?” It felt like he had invaded my privacy in some way.
It was silly to have collected pictures of Mark and kept them. How was I ever going to get over how I felt for him if I couldn’t even bring myself to get rid of his pictures?
“Tell me the truth. Was he the reason why we didn’t work out?” he asked outright.
“We didn’t work out because you didn’t trust me.” I wasn’t going to admit I still had feelings for the guy in the photos. That might steer this whole situation into a direction I didn’t want it to go.
“Why did you keep photos of him?” He wasn’t going to leave it alone, but I wasn’t going to reveal anything to him.
“Just give me my stuff so I can leave.” I tried softening my features to reach a reasonable part of him, but he continued to glare at me. “It doesn’t have to be like this. We can end this amicably.”
“Did you guys have a thing?”
I rolled my eyes. “No. He’s just a friend of the family. That’s it.”
“You don’t keep pictures of any other family friends.”
Putting my hand to my hips, I glared at him. “If you don’t give me my equipment, I’m going to call the cops right now.”
“All I wanted was to figure out what went wrong. If you had just been honest with me, I wouldn’t have resorted to doing this.”
“Give her all of her stuff or I’ll make you regret it.” The deadly voice behind me was unmistakable. I didn’t need to turn around to see who it was. I knew that voice.
I prayed this wasn’t happening, wondering how long he had been there and how much he had heard.