Chapter 54
”Which one of you should I taste first?” I read the words over and over again and remained silent. Panicking was necessary, this was past it. I had turned to ice as I saw the photos of Mandy and me taken over the course of the past two hours as we”d gone over to get pizzas and snacks for the night.
”Wow,” was truly all I could say.
”Wow?” Mandy laughed. ”Wow or yikes?”
I looked up at her and couldn’t help feeling apologetic.
”I might have brought some danger to you,” I said, and she frowned.
”What do you mean?”
”Don’t you think this is Sandra?” I asked, and her eyes widened.
”What? Sandra? Why?”
I was surprised.
”You really didn’t think about it?”
”Sweetie, this neighborhood is filled with the scariest-looking people on the planet. No, I did not think it was Sandra. My mind didn’t even go there. I thought it was one of the thugs who was sincerely wondering which of us two he should taste first.”
She said it so comically that I couldn’t help but smile, but this didn’t last long as I read the note once again and looked at the photos.
”They know you live here,” I said, looking up at the door. ”Should we call the police?”
”Maybe it”s a prank of some sort,” she said. ”Let’s see if this was just a one-time thing. Halloween is coming up, isn”t it?” she asked.
”It”s May, Mandy, and no, it is not.”
”Yikes.”
I fell asleep at her home that night, unable to return to mine. I had planned to let it blow over, but later the next day when I was riding up the elevator with Guy back to his office, I told him. I was terrified of going home, and I didn’t know whether to inform the police either. I needed some direction, the shock on his face made me even more scared than I had been.
”What?” I turned to him, and the second I saw the anger and fear and shock on his face, I knew I had made a mistake.
”It”s not a mistake; we think it was some kind of prank. Mandy didn’t think it was Sandra though. Isn’t that funny?”
He stared at me as though I had lost my mind, so I had no choice but to look away, needing to organize my thoughts.
He didn’t say a word, and this made me even more nervous. We were riding the elevator up to his office, and for once, he walked even more briskly ahead of me. The moment we arrived, he turned around, and my heart jumped as I stopped in my tracks.
”Where are the photos and the note?” he asked.
I knew he was going to ask, so I headed over to my desk and brought them out. I handed them over and he went into his office. This was one of those moments where the line between being his girlfriend and secretary was incredibly confusing. I didn’t know whether to stay away as his secretary or to go into the office, but ultimately, I eventually went in.
He was so furious, and I loved his reaction, but when I saw him on the phone, it immensely worried me.
I listened, and when I heard what he was doing, I panicked. Immediately I shook my head and went around his desk. “Guy, no,” I said, but he didn’t listen, and then I reached forward and disconnected the call.
He froze, and when he turned to me, my heart was racing, but I couldn’t allow this.
”Did you just disconnect my call?” he asked.
”Yes,” I replied. ”I’m sorry, but this concerns me, and as your secretary, I”m overstepping the line, but…”
He completed it, ”But as my girlfriend, you think you”re not?”
”I”m not,” I replied. ”Don”t fire Sandra. This does not end well for anyone.”
He glared at me, and then his gaze went to the pictures on the table.
”You don’t know that she sent these,” I said.
”That”s exactly what I”m intending to find out,” he replied, his voice now a bit calmer.
He rose to his feet and held my hands.
”I”m not going to wait for something worse to happen before we find out if she”s the one or not. By then… by then it might be too late.”
What he was saying made sense to me, but I was still so nervous and unsure.
”Hannah,” his voice softened. ”I’ve been a lawyer for a long time. When I started out, I was in criminal law. And I know that preventing a wound is better than healing it. So, I”m going to fire her, and let”s see how she reacts.”
”No,” I refused. ”No. I…”
”Hannah.”
”I”m a secretary as well. She might have just been mad that day. To just take someone’s livelihood away is beyond cruel.”
He stopped then, as though he couldn’t believe what I had just said.
”Beyond cruel?” he asked, and I shut my eyes.
”I”m sorry,”
He released a deep breath, and then he got up and walked out of the office.