Epilogue #2
Two hours later, she was still in that spot on the couch, her paper hearts on the counter a distant memory.
Desire for revenge was coursing through her veins like it never had before.
She was surprised, appalled and pleased at the thoughts she’d come up with.
“Hi, Meredith,” Fredrick said when he walked in the front door with his bag over his shoulder. “Did you miss me?” He let out one of those stupid laughs of his, annoying shivers slithering under her skin.
She plastered a fake smile on her face. “Always,” she lied.
He moved over to give her a hug and kiss on the lips. She felt repulsed and wanted to yank back. Even slap his face.
But what she had planned was much more satisfying in her mind.
“I’m going to take a shower and then maybe, you know, you and I can have a little fun in the bedroom,” Fredrick said, wiggling his eyebrows, his hand landing on her ass.
She barely kept the gag in place. “Maybe another day. I’m not feeling so well.”
“Your face is red,” Fredrick said, his hand going to her temple. “I hope you’re not coming down with something.”
“Me too,” she said, walking to the kitchen. She needed water to cool her scorching throat that wanted to scream at him.
The minute he was in the bathroom, she picked his phone up from the counter. Two guesses and she got his password right. Idiot used his own birthday.
She went through his texts and almost hurled. He couldn’t even delete the nasty things he was sending Lana. Ugh, it was a dick pic! What the hell? She turned the phone sideways. He was using a filter for size. Asshole.
She shook her head and started typing.
He’d learn to mess with her!
***
The next day
“Hi, Meredith. Do you need help?”
His neighbor’s head snapped up, her ponytail swinging as she wrestled with a massive box on the porch. The irritation etched across her face wasn’t meant for him, it couldn’t be. He shoved that thought away.
“Hi, Karl. I’m good.”
But she wasn’t good. Not even close. Her movements were too jerky, her muttered growl too raw as she shoved the box aside with her foot, then kicked it again for good measure.
The Meredith he knew didn’t lose her patience. Didn’t snap. Didn’t unravel. So no, she wasn’t good.
“I can see you’re upset,” he said, his voice soft and coaxing. “Let me help.”
She sniffled, the sound splintering something deep inside his chest, and before he could stop himself he was crossing the distance and folding her into his arms. She stiffened briefly, sharp like a flinch, but he ignored it. She was surprised, that was all.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, her voice thick. “I’m so upset. So angry.”
“What happened?”
His gaze slid past her shoulder into the open door where more boxes waited by the stairs. He strode in uninvited and lifted them easily. She didn’t argue. She never did with him.
“That’s Fredrick’s stuff. He’s leaving.”
A rush of heat flooded him. “Did he break up with you?”
Her answer hit like a spark to dry kindling. “No. A friend told me last night he’s cheating. I’m kicking him out. Tonight he’ll find out.”
Karl’s fingers flexed around the box, his knuckles whitening. Good. It would be finished. Erased. Removed from her life like all the other poor choices she’d been making.
“I never liked him,” he said tightly. “You’re too trusting, Meredith. Too… na?ve.”
She only sighed and dragged her arm across her damp face before grabbing another box. “I know. I’m done with men for a while. Thanks for helping, Karl. I can always count on you.”
“My pleasure,” he murmured. “Anytime. Call me anytime.”
She nodded, retreating inside and shutting the door between them. Not the ending he wanted. But emotions made her clumsy. He’d help her learn to control them just like he’d mastered it.
He slipped back into his house and dialed his mother.
“Hi, Karl,” his mother answered, her tone clipped.
“Mother,” he said. Always Mother. Never Mom. Never Mommy. God forbid she relax and show any emotional happiness, loving gestures or words.
“Should you be calling during work hours?”
“I’m on break. I wanted to tell you that things are going well with Meredith. I helped her move boxes today.”
“She’s moving in with you?” A pause. “To your new house?”
“Eventually.”
Silence stretched slow and heavy.
“Karl, are you taking your medication?”
His teeth ground together, his fists clenching until his nails bit flesh. He forced a breath, then another before smoothing the edges of his movements. Always remain in control. His mother taught him that.
“You never trust me,” he said softly.
“You’ve given me reasons not to. You talk about Meredith constantly, yet I’ve never talked to her. Never seen a photo. I need to know she’s real. That this isn’t…like before.”
His lips curved as he reached for the keyboard and pulled up the feed of the camera he’d secretly planted. Meredith’s kitchen filled his monitor. There she was, pacing, throwing down a towel in frustration, her face flushed and wet with tears as her arms swung around her head in a tantrum.
He zoomed in, studying every line, every twitch of her mouth. She’d learn to temper those ugly outbursts in time. He’d make sure of it.
“Oh, she’s real,” he whispered, his lips curling in a smile. “And soon, she’ll be mine. Completely.”
Chapter One
Provided Validation
Six Weeks Later
“Alright class,” Meredith said, her voice rising over the kids, her hands clapping for the extra attention she hoped to get. “Ten minutes left. It’s time to pick up.”
The fifteen kids in her class groaned, some whined, and two stomped their feet.
“No, Ms. Banks,” Ethan said. “I want to stay.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said, moving toward the table he was at with two other kids.
“Can we paint tomorrow too?” Abby asked.
“We’ll see,” she said, touching Abby lightly on the shoulder as she walked by.
The kids were dipping their paintbrushes in the water cups on their desk. She moved around and picked the cups up so they weren’t spilling them all over the floor. No reason to have the janitors upset with her.
“I had fun, Ms. Banks.”
“I’m glad, Macy.” She heard the belly rumble while she stood there. One week in and Macy seemed skinny to her. More than she should be.
They all had daily snacks in the morning and afternoon.
Macy was one kid that ate more than others. Meredith often snuck in some extra because the little girl wouldn’t ask.
At lunch yesterday, she sought out her new student to see what she had and it was the school lunch, which Macy gobbled up faster than anyone else.
“Everyone line up for dismissal.”
The kids got in line, some pushing the others out of the way. Poor Macy got shoved to the back without saying a word. Meredith was always one to zone in on who might be a target in her classroom.
“Do you all want to sit down and try it again?” she asked loudly. “I know we are learning new rules, but we don’t move people out of the way.”
Everyone turned and went back to their seat. Once they were all seated, she lifted her hands with a smile and they got up and walked like polite considerate kids to get in line.
Macy still found herself in the back, but this time no one pushed her.
Meredith looked at the clock, then walked her kids down the hall. Those getting on the bus went first, then the remaining five stayed by her while parents came to pick them up.
Once her children were all gone, she returned to her room, gathered her belongings for the day and rushed to the principal’s office. She didn’t want to be late for her interview but had to put her children first.
“Hi, Meredith,” Stacia Fremont said. She liked Stacia, who was only a few years away from retirement. “Can I help you with something?”
“I know this is bad timing, but I’m in a hurry, yet I need to talk to you about a student.”
“Please, come in,” Stacia said. “Have a seat and let me know what is going on.”
“I’ve got a little girl. Macy Stubban. I can’t put my finger on things, but something feels off.”
“Tell me what you’re feeling,” Stacia said. “You’re an excellent judge of character.”
She held back the hysterical laugh with that statement. If she was such an excellent judge of character she would have known her boyfriend was cheating on her for months right under her nose.
At least that situation was over with.
She hoped. Prayed.
Wished.
Fredrick wasn’t going away quietly.
Maybe she shouldn’t have done what she had, but she felt justified.
“Macy is hungry a lot. I know that is normal for this age. She won’t ask for more, but her stomach is always growling. She’s the first one done eating and extremely thin.”
“Have you asked her about it?”
“No. I’m not sure what to say. She had a school lunch when I checked on her yesterday.
Her name hasn’t come up yet for the daily snack.
I think it’s next week. I’m not holding my breath if she’ll bring something in.
She’s also a little stinky.” She cringed when she said that, but it had to be expressed.
“Stinky like there is smoke or animals in the house, or body odor?”
Her bottom lip came out. “Body odor. No five-year-old should stink. Her hair is greasy, her nails kind of dirty. I help her wash them when she comes in. I don’t want her picked on.”
“It drives me nuts,” Stacia said. “Makes me sick too.”
“I know,” she said. “I noticed a few bruises on her upper arm last week. I didn’t question her. I’m gathering everything. This is a touchy situation. I have a lot of bruises and always did.”
As a child, she had been questioned, but her teachers soon learned that she spent more time on the ground than on her feet. Or bumping into tables, chairs and walls. Getting glasses had helped that significantly, but she just had horrible balance.
Or she was always in a rush and had energy to spare.
Who the heck knew, but coordination wasn’t in her vocabulary.