We were huddled in the living room, waiting for the delivery food to arrive except for Dean. It was then Steve inquired about what happened earlier. I had a glass of wine and a bottle ready on the coffee table while Amy narrated to him the situation.
"Are you okay? Why didn't you say anything when we were in Julian's office?" Steve looked at me guiltily.
I drank a lungful of wine before replying. "I didn't want to remember to tell you the truth."
"I feel like an idiot for asking...uhm, are you okay?" he asked again, shifting the conversation timidly.
"I'm fine." I gave him an assuring smile. "But I'm not sure how—I mean, what if he'll show up at my work again?"
Amy shared a secret look with Steve. And then, she reached and grabbed my hand, giving it an assuring squeeze. "How about I'll stay over today and escort you to work tomorrow?"
"Really?" Her offer stunned me for a moment. But then, it occurred to me. "Well, at least tomorrow is covered. What about the day after tomorrow? And the one after that? I don't know if I can..."
Dean returned and held up the bags of delivery food. "The food is here. And I just got off my phone call from all my contact at the police precinct and the US attorney's office."
"Thanks, Dean. You didn't have to do that now." I smiled timidly.
"It's nothing, April. These people are close friends and work colleagues," he said and placed the food on the table. "So, my co-worker's friend whose sister is a detective told me his bail had been paid earlier this week. When he remained in jail after his arrest, I hadn't thought he'd get a lawyer and pay the bail bond. I should have known better," he sighed.
"It's okay, Dean. You've done enough for me."
He smiled and nodded.
"Anyways, since he's still a convicted felon, if he does continue to harass you, you can slap him with a harassment lawsuit and asked the court for a restraining order," he said.
"I'll think about it. Thank you again, Dean."
Amy clasped her hand, breaking the tension. "I know you'd love nothing but to discuss how to get that lunatic off your life, and the streets, April. But I'd rather let you relax while in the safety of your home and the presence of your family and friends, okay?"
I tried to fight off a smile, which failed miserably. "Thanks, Ams. I'll try not to think of the jerk." I held up my half-empty glass of wine. "Out of mind and out of sight, I hope soon and indefinitely."
Hopefully soon rather than later, I thought grimly.
In the corner of my eyes, I could feel Steve studying me. Every time I glanced his way, he'd looked away and tried to make idle talk with Dean, who seem not to notice it at all.
On the other hand, Amy had noticed his little glances. She met my gaze and pursed her lips, making a subtle shrug like telling me she didn't know why he was doing it as well.
Nonetheless, this merely lasted until Steve headed home an hour later. He was back to his usual carefree self again.
But I spoke too soon.
As the host, I walked him to the door. All of a sudden, he started getting fidgety.
"April, I, uhm," he said and paused, clearing his throat. "If I've known what happened to you earlier in the day, I wouldn't have been so forward. Though I know you agreed to have lunch with me tomorrow, I would understand if you'd want to cancel or—"
I held up my hand, interrupting him mid-rant. "You don't have to feel bad about ambushing me in Julian's office earlier."
He scoffed and muttered defensively. "I won't call it an ambush."
"Whatever you call it, that's how I see it," I argued lightly. "But that's beside the point. You had every right to call me out on that misunderstanding and correct me."
"But I've done it in the wrong way," he said and sighed dejectedly. "I allowed my emotions to overcome my sensibilities. When I saw Reed earlier with you, and then he asked you out... I've been waiting my chance."
"Why did it take you so long to ask me out?" I blurted out and turned away, feeling my face heat up.
He was silent for a moment, which made me peered up to check if he had heard. And he did. His eyes staring intently at me.
"I don't know—"
I snorted. "Don't you dare tell me you don't know? Because I know you do."
"Fine." He heaved a sigh. "I haven't considered it until Amy talked to me yesterday. She's one of my closest friends. And I couldn't crossover some line. Knowing her protectiveness towards you, she might not take kindly having her little sister date a guy like me. I mean, back then, I wasn't someone you'd want your little sister date either," he jested bleakly.
"You were a different man back then," I agreed with a chuckle.
"See! You would have shot me down, and I don't think I'd recover after that." He smirked.
"But I was quite a riot back then. I'm not sure you were into me based on the girls you've dated." I argued and lightly nudged his arm.
"Still, I won't want Amy's wrath on me."
I laughed. "No. You won't. But are you willing to go through it now? She'd grown stricter over the years."
"After working around hard-headed clients and inflated egoistic lawyers, I think I can handle her now. But don't tell her I said that," he muttered the last part, peering back towards the living room where we faintly hear Amy and Dean chatting.
I smirked. "Of course. I don't want your inflated ego ruined as well."
He laughed sarcastically. "You got me there." He nodded towards the door. "Well, thank you for dinner. I shall see you, ah, when I see you?"
"Yes," I said and smiled demurely. "You shall."
He spared me further awkward interaction and exited the apartment with a short wave.
Once he was gone, I audibly exhaled in relief. I was absorbed in my own thought to notice Amy was watching intently behind me.
She cleared her throat loud enough that she jolted in surprise.
"So? You got yourself another hot date?" She teased.
I rolled my eyes. "You do know that there is only one guest room in this apartment, and I'm staying in it, right? If you don't want to sleep on the couch tonight, I suggest you be nicer to me."
"Like such a threat held me back before," she haughtily quipped.
"Nope. It never did."
****
Half an hour after Steve left, Dean called it a night as well. However, his and Amy's goodbye took a little longer and a lot explicit. I gave them some privacy, leaving the couple by the hallway.
I took this opportunity to hog the bathroom and wash up, getting ready for bed. Now I have a moment to myself; everything that happened this evening had dawned on me.
I've seen the toll it did to Zoey when the paparazzi targeted her after getting engaged with Julian. Our situation wasn't dissimilar from each other.
For one, we've lost our sense of security.
Is it going to be like this from now on? Was I going to keep looking over my shoulder, expecting my ex-lover to attack me? When is it going to stop? Or does it ever stop?
The steady stream of the overhead shower was comforting yet cold. It washed away all the warmth of my body.
I wasn't aware I had been standing there for some time until I heard a knock on the bathroom door.
"April? Are you okay?" Amy called as the doorknob twisted and jostled urgently.
I turned off the shower and grabbed the towel. "I'm good. Just taking a shower. Do you need the toilet?" I called back, relieved to hear the calmness in my voice.
There was a brief pause before she replied. "No. I'll go next after you're done. And can I borrow your pajama and some clothes for tomorrow?"
"Of course." I stood by the sink and leaned over to wipe the fogged-up mirror. "Take your pick in my closet. And I'll be out in a few minutes."
"Thanks, April," she replied. I heard her footsteps fading in the direction of the room across the hall.
"I should be thanking you, sister," I muttered to myself with a feigned smile.
With a deep breath, I turned and faced my reflection. Although slightly murky from the steam, I got a good look. Instead of pinpointing all the negativity I've been through, I listed the little things I was grateful for myself.
****
In the morning, as promised, Amy was with me on my way to work. She even stopped and came with me to grab my morning coffee, which takes much of her time in getting to her own workplace.
"Amy, are you sure about this? It's another ten-minute bus ride to your office. And it's already," I paused and glanced down my wristwatch, "quarter to eight. You won't make it."
Amy waved dismissively at my worry. "I informed Jade I'll be in a little late since I stayed with you last night."
"And you're fine with that? You just hired her this week. I remembered how skittish you were when you've just hired Sean."
"I remembered it too. But Jade's not some new blood in the secretarial circle. She used to work at our sister company in New York. Therefore, I'm confident to leave her for at least an hour this morning. Plus, she's smart enough to call me if something's wrong. So, I'm good," she informed and arched one of her eyebrows, "but, are you?"
I gapped at her. "I'm fine enough now you're like this early in the morning." I pointed at her in emphasis.
Thankfully, our little banter was cut off when it was our turn to order. To my delight, Lenny was handling the register, per usual.
"And how are you this morning, April?" He greeted, glancing briefly at Amy. "And who is the lovely red-head with you? A sister perhaps?"
"Amy, Lenny. Lenny, Amy," I lamely introduced. "And yes, this is my older sister."
Lenny held out his hand to her. "Please to meet you, Amy. Why is this the first time we've met? Are you not from the city?" He inquired while punching in my usual order.
Instead of my sister's reply, I answered for her. "She's from here. She just doesn't work in this business district. And she'll be having a black coffee, please and thank you."
"Got it," Lenny replied. "And presumed having April as a sister is a bit of a handful, is it?" He asked, turning to Amy with a sly grin.
I gasped and reached over to lightly slap his arm. "Excuse you. I'm not a handful. Have I not been giving you tips? Surely, I'm obliged with some courtesy for it."
Lenny rolled his eyes. "Oh, sweetie, you know you're not here to have me coddle you, right?" He quipped with a sly grin.
"True," I said and handed him the money with his tip. "Now, is there anything new you should tell me about?"
"Well, I've heard from your fellow secretary at your firm about this old bigshot senior partner flirting with one of the junior partner's secretary, but you tell me if that's true or not. You work with these people," he cunningly remarked. "Do you know who might that be?"
My eyes widen in shock. "Who told you that? Was it Lilian? But it can't be, I'm usually earlier at work than she does. So, maybe, Karina? Or..." I trailed off as Lenny regarded me with sudden realization.
"Oh, please don't tell me you're the secretary they're talking about?" He quipped.
It was then Amy interjected with a teasing grin. "That will be my little sister. And she just agreed to another date with him this Friday."
"Again?" Lenny gasped. "When did this happen?" He turned to me and slowly handed over my receipt.
I hastily grabbed it off his hand. My lips twisted in disapproval. "Monday evening."
"And you didn't say anything to me?" He placed a hand on his chest for added effect.
I rolled my eyes and pushed my sister towards the pick-up counter on the left side of the register. With a swift wave, I felt Lenny without a word and entertain his next customer.
"Well, isn't he fun?" Amy commented with a smile.
"Aren't you just sunshine today?" I quipped condescendingly.
"And you're the pit of Tartarus," she countered grimly. "Why are you so bitter today? You're usually a morning person. And you hardly drunk that much wine with me around last night. You also slept fine. So? What is it?"
I groaned in defeat. "I don't know either, sister. Hormones?"
"Oh!" She exclaimed in realization. "Well, are you sure you'd want to go to brunch with Steve today if you're like this? I mean, I could tell me you'd want to push it off next week. And maybe, you could postpone with Reed as well. Because I'm pretty sure you're hitting that in bed—"
"Oh, god. Stop! You're embarrassing both of you, Ams," I interjected before she could finish her sentence.
Mercifully, there weren't bystanders who may have overheard our conversation, and Amy had always been discreet about talking in public on private matters.
"I'm not on my period. And I'm not going to have sex with Reed on our second date," I hissed grimly.
She pursed her lips. "Weren't you so keen about it earlier in the week?"
"Keen?" I gasped. "Did you not notice how flustered and irritated I was for doing something stupid? And thank god that it didn't happen. I'm trying to take a break with casually hooking up if you haven't noticed."
Amy stared agape. It surprised me how I rendered her speechless for something trivial as my dating life. At this point, I've considered nothing about my dating habits and male companions, which was uncharacteristic of me. But the notion was enough to shook her.
"April, I know you've stopped partying over the weekend. Plus, with Zoey's engagement and the wedding, I thought you were pacing yourself. And then, you have the incident with Scott. So, I thought you were pacing yourself. I hadn't considered you're actually taking a break on dating... for this past month, you had never gone on a date until Reed that evening last Monday?"
"Actually, not since that not with Scott, I've never gotten back to dating... Amy, I thought you knew. I thought Zoey had told you." I added the last part as guilt and regret twisted her face.
"You should give credit to how loyal and discreet Zoey is about sharing secrets about you," she stated and then sighed. "My god, April, I've always assumed you got back up again. You've never been the type to wallow about anything. As your sister, I'm sorry for not seeing it and being there for you."
The moment was cut off when our order was called up. I nodded towards the counter and grabbed our nearly brewed coffee.
Once we were out of the coffee shop, I stopped Amy before heading towards the bus stop.
"Ams, don't blame yourself for not noticing. I wasn't trying to show it either. And I was staying at Zoey's place. Of course, she'd noticed it. But I wasn't sure I wanted to admit it. I'm not sure I was ready to get back out there again. And then, last weekend happened, and I started thinking about it."
"Are you going to give those two a chance then?"
I shyly smiled. "Both of them pulled me out of the gutter, Ams. It's the least I could do."
She opened her arm, urging me for a hug. I have myself enveloped in her embrace.
"Good," she whispered by my ear. "And if you need help getting yourself out of any situation, don't hesitate to call me. I'll always answer and be there."
I encircled her waist and lightly squeezed her. "Thanks, Ams."
"Anytime."
****
Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed the story so far. Have a lovely weekend everyone. Stay safe and healthy.