I got home from work that night and was seriously considering the thought of looking for another job.
On the one hand, I hadn't been at this job very long, and I knew it wouldn't look great for me to leave already; but on the other, I felt like I had to get the hell out of there. Seeing Natalie every day after everything that had happened was making me absolutely miserable.
I changed out of my work clothes and was pacing around my apartment, weighing the pros and cons of starting another job search. Did I really want to do this? I still wasn't sure.
A knock at the door stopped my pacing, and I felt my pulse quicken. I hated that Kyle had made me this nervous every time someone came to my door.
I walked over and slowly opened it, trying to peek out before it was open all of the way. I was surprised to see a distraught looking Natalie standing there.
"Natalie?" I gave her a confused look.
"Hi," she said, "please don't quit your job, okay? I'll - I'll quit if you want me to, let me leave, just - you don't leave."
She was rambling, and I struggled to keep up.
"Okay slow down," I said as I held my hands up to her, "you heard me talking about that today?"
"Yeah, I - I did," she said, still sounding frantic, "can I come in?"
"I'm um, I'm not sure if that's a great idea Natalie," I said.
"Mads please, just give me a minute," she pleaded.
"Yeah alright," I stepped aside and let her in the door.
"You can't leave that job," she started in again, "not because of me, or us, or all of this shit."
Now Natalie was the one pacing back and forth as I tried to figure out what was going through her mind.
"Natalie, calm down," I said as I watched her, "me leaving might be the best thing for both of us at this point."
She immediately stopped and looked over at me.
"No, no it wouldn't be," she said as she shook her head.
"Why not?" I asked her, "we've both been tiptoeing around each other and spending every day being miserable."
"Because I - " she started to say something but stopped and put her hands on her head.
I had never seen her like this before.
"Okay fuck I can't do this any more," she said as she let her hands fall to her side.
"Natalie what are you - " I tried to ask, but she cut me off.
"Kyle told me that he would leave you alone if I stopped seeing you," she blurted out, "I - I had to try, I wanted him to stop."
"He - what?" I stood there with my jaw hanging open, still not sure if I'd heard her right.
"The night when I went back to get my things before I came over here, he - he had gotten into my apartment somehow and he stopped me before I came back here," she explained.
My eyes widened as I listened to what she was saying.
"He was in your fucking apartment?" I asked.
"Yeah, I don't know how he got in, and it's probably going to be bad for both of us that I'm telling you this because he said not to tell anyone and that he would know if I didn't break things off with you," she said breathlessly.
"Holy shit Natalie," I said.
She was still rambling and I felt like she was trying to say everything that she needed to before she lost her courage.
"Why didn't you just tell me all of this before?" I asked her.
"Mads he basically had me pinned against my fucking door, I panicked!" She said, "I didn't know what to do."
"Jesus, I'm so sorry," I said to her.
I walked over and wrapped her in a tight hug, and I could feel her body trembling against me.
"You don't need to be sorry, I'm the one who fucked this all up," she said in a muffled voice as she leaned against my shoulder.
"Natalie, Kyle wouldn't have been here if it wasn't for me, this isn't your fault," I said.
"Well I - "
Natalie started to say something but loud voices echoing in the hallway stopped her. We both pulled back from each other and looked towards the door before we heard a loud thud.
"What the hell?" I said as I cautiously walked towards the noise.
"Careful," Natalie said from close behind me.
I pulled the door open just in time to see Trevor's fist connect with Kyle's jaw.
"What the fuck is going on?" Natalie asked as she stepped in front of me.
Trevor looked back at both of us when he heard Natalie's voice, but he quickly turned back to Kyle before he had a chance to retaliate.
His strong forearm pushed against Kyle's neck and held him against the wall.
"I caught this little bastard," Trevor said as he tried to catch his breath, "creeping outside of your door. Tried to swing at me, so I had to take care of that real fast."
Kyle struggled against Trevor's arm as he tried to get free from his grip.
"Get your fucking hands off of me," Kyle shouted.
"Not a chance in hell I'm letting you go right now," Trevor said, "especially not with those two standing right there."
He nodded back towards us and Natalie reached down and grabbed my hand.
"This is not, how this was supposed to work," Kyle said through gritted teeth.
"Oh yeah? What was your perfect little plan then?" Trevor asked him snidely.
"This bitch got in the way and ruined everything," Kyle said as he glared at Natalie, "you were supposed to stay out of this, and Madison you weren't even supposed to get that fucking job in the first place!"
"I'm sorry, what now?" I asked.
"If you had gotten turned down for that job like I tried to make happen, you wouldn't have even come here and it wouldn't have had to come to this," Kyle said as he continued to yell in Natalie and I's direction.
"You just keep getting crazier, I swear," I said as I took a small step back.
Trevor had started to loosen his grip on Kyle, and Kyle took advantage of the moment and tried to lunge at him.
Trevor quickly pushed his arm back against Kyle and looked like he was about to swing at him again.
"Trevor don't," I said loudly.
He hesitated as he looked back at me with a confused look.
"Why the hell not?" Natalie asked me, sounding as confused as Trevor looked.
"Because I'm going to call the police, and I don't want to give him any ammunition against you," I responded as I looked at Kyle.
"Fine," Trevor said, sounding disappointed, "I'll just keep him here."
"I'll go call, you stay here," Natalie said to me.
She walked back into my apartment and gave my arm a squeeze on her way by.
"They're not going to do anything," Kyle said with a smirk.
"Shut the fuck up," Trevor said.
He grabbed on to Kyle's arms and turned him around so he was facing the wall. Kyle struggled against him but Trevor was too strong. He pinned his hands behind his back with one hand and put his other on the back of his head.
He forcefully held on to Kyle as he pushed his head against the wall with another loud thud.
"Jesus Trevor," I muttered.
Trevor looked back at me with a sly grin and shrugged.
"I may have taken a few self defense classes in my day."
Despite the whole situation, I couldn't help but laugh. Thank God for Trevor.
"They'll be here soon," I heard Natalie say as she walked back up behind me, "sounded like someone was getting a little feisty out here."
"I'm not sure which one of them you mean," I said, "but yes to both."
Natalie grinned at me as she reached down and laced her fingers in mine. She leaned over and kissed the side of my head before she spoke quietly in my ear.
"He'll be gone soon."
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