CHAPTER ELEVEN
SAFE WITH ME
April
....
Unfortunately Monday had rolled around a little bit too fast. I was stuck at work once again, I had no problem with it. I actually liked working here but what happened on Friday night makes me want to quit and move back to New Jersey. I didn't bother to even find or talk to Nicole. Luckily she wasn't in her office this morning when I dropped off her everyday coffee.
I messily scribbled down some useless information down on the notebook I had. Tears welled in my eyes in frustration. I have no idea what to do about these threats. I mean the obvious answer is to tell Nicole about them so hopefully she puts this a stop like she did with Danielle.
I fling my pencil and it hits the door with a thump. Suddenly the door opens reveling Danielle. She walks in and looks around at my somewhat boring office. "It's surprising seeing you in here." She says.
I sigh, "I needed some time to myself."
She shuts the door behind her and pulls a black chair that I had in the corner and sits in front of me.
"Okay what's wrong?" She asks.
I shrug my shoulders and swing the chair side to side. "There's nothing wrong." I say as believable as I can.
"Now I'm usually the fake bitch to fake all my emotions so it takes a fake to know a fake. Now tell me what's wrong."
I stare at the shiny butterfly stickers I had on my desk. Should I tell Danielle? I mean she knows about the dead roses, I might as well tell her.
"Do you remember me telling you about those dead roses I've been receiving?" She nods her head. "Well this person has took a step farther."
Her eyebrows farrow in confusion, "How?" She asks seriously.
I lean on my elbows and look at her in the eyes, "At the club on Friday I was coming back from the restroom when a man with shaggy light brown hair and blue eyes bumped into me and shoved a envelope in my hands."
"Mox." Danielle says almost like it's a whisper. I wasn't too clear if I heard right.
"Huh?"
She shakes her head continues me to go on, "Nevermind, what was in the envelope?"
"There was a handwritten letter. It said something around the lines that if I need to have it clear to me that I can't be involved with Nicole close up then that's what will be done. I can't excatly remember what else the letter read, I only read it once. It was enough for me to get the hell out of there."
Danielle sits there motionless. She didn't say anything nor did she move a muscle. Her features stood neutral. It took her a minute to process what I said before she spoke.
"What did you do with the letter?"
"I-I don't remember honestly. It must be somewhere, probably in my car or apartment."
"Okay April you need to tell Nicole, like now."
"What? No I can't. I don't want to put her in danger. Just the thought of Nicole getting hurt aches my bones. I try to push that aside, no she won't get hurt. As long as I follow the request by whoever is fire.
"Trust me, this person doesn't want to hurt Nicole. She is perfectly fine physically. You need to tell Nicole so she can handle this."
I shook my head stubbornly like a child, "How can she handle this? What does this person want Danielle?" I paused and thought about what I was going to say next.
"Who is this person?"
She runs a hand through her beachy blonde waves and bites her lip. She opens her mouth to say something but quickly closes it. To my disappointment she says, "I really can't tell you April."
"Why not?" I say harshly while slamming my small fist on my desk hard. It shocks both Danielle and I but ignore it. "Why can't you tell me who this person is?"
"You will be more safe not knowing who she is."
"Oh so it's a she?"
"Yes April it's a female. But I can't tell you who this person is."
"Have I met them before? Have I ever stumbled across them?"
"I doubt it."
"Then? Just tell me who she is Danielle." I say raising my voice a little at the end. That causes Danielle to shush me and look around us like one of those mystery movies. This whole thing didn't feel really. A city girl gets involved with a beautiful woman that happens to have issues with other people but is so special for the girl to let go.
"Look April, there is people everywhere listening. You'll be surprised about how many people are involved with her. You can't trust no one."
"I-I'm confused."
She sighs and places her hand over mine, "I know you are April and I apologize for confusing you more."
I rub my eyes harshly with my hand. I want this all to stop. "I just don't know what to do."
"Well the best thing to do is go to Nicole right now and tell her about the dead roses and that envelope. Don't worry about her safety, no matter what she is okay. She won't do anything to hurt Nicole if she's trying to win her back." Danielle says sincerely.
I don't want to believe her but I do. I believe that Nicole will be safe but what about I? I guess my safety isn't guaranteed but that doesn't matter when Nicole is in the picture.
"What if she gets mad at me or something?" God April that's such a stupid question to ask.
Danielle smiles a little bit, "she won't I promise."
I stood up from desk and threw my frizzy hair into a sloppy bun on top of my head. I probably don't look professional but the only thing I care about is putting my foot down on all of this. I glance at the time on my computer. It was two fifty six, Nicole should be in her office. "Thanks for listening to me Danielle, I really appreciate it." I say with a warm smile.
She wraps her arm around me and gives me a small hug, "Anytime April, I'm here for whatever." With that we go our separate ways. Danielle goes to the left while I got to the right in the direction of Nicole's office. It wasn't till later I wished she had come with me so I won't drive myself crazy for the next two hours thinking I was paranoid and no one was watching me.
I walk quickly towards Nicole's office. I needed to see her. I was hoping she would just listen to me and grab my hand reassuring me that everything will be okay and I would be in no danger. I needed her touch in a comforting way.
I told myself that everything will be okay because Nicole will put a halt to it. Why did I think about her so much? This crush is getting a bit out of control.
I was soon in front of her office. I took a deep breath and placed my hand on the door knob. But before I could turn it, I felt like I was being watched. I paused for a second thinking it over. That feeling never went away. Then I slowly turned around and who I saw made me frozen in fear.
Those same cold blue eyes piercing through my brown orbs. That sinister smirk danced upon his lips with such delight. He wore almost the same attire from when I last saw him. Instead of a old black jacket, he wore a brown rusty one that looked like it was going to fall apart any moment. Anyone would just look at him and not bother to turn twice. Anyone but me. I knew what he was apart of.
My heart was beating fast, I felt like it would punch out of my chest any moment. What is he doing here? To torment me of course.
He noticed my fear, I bet he could smell it powerfully. It was like we were the only ones in the room rather than a whole room full of people that could fill a classroom. He chuckled quietly and blew me a small kiss that made me flinch. He then again cackled. He raised a hand that was filled with rings, one ring that caught my eyes was gold and held some type of engraving. He then waved at me and that right there got under my skin.
I forgot about talking to Nicole, I forgot about that feeling of a little bit of hope, I forgot about everything. I did the same thing I did the last time I saw this man, I ran.
———
The blazing sun hit my eyes harshly. I groaned and rolled over to my side glancing at the clock. It was eleven twenty five and I was about three hours late to work. Not that I cared, I have given up at this point. She won I guess. Yesterday's events played in my head again and again. After seeing that man I ran towards the front and I didn't stop running till I reached my car. I was convinced that this man was going to come after me and kill me.
I reached over to my messy night stand and grabbed my phone. Missed calls and texts flooded in from Nicole. I didn't even bother to check them or read them. That would only bring pain to my heart. I simply dialed BirdieBee's number knowing that Danielle will be the one to answer.
"Hello this is BirdieBee, Danielle speaking."
"Hey it's April. I-I am um under the weather so I don't think I'm gonna be coming into work today...or the rest of the week."
I heard rustling in the background before Danielle spoke again. "You didn't tell Nicole did you?"
"No."
She sighs, "April why not."
I didn't feel like mentioning that man who had watched me and terrorized me. "Just please Danielle. I'll see you at work next Monday."
"Fine April. Please be careful."
"Of course." I said before hanging up. I turned off my phone and tossed my phone somewhere on my bed before laying back and looking up at the celling.
I stay quiet for a little bit before deciding to spend my day watching all the batman beyond movies.
———
I wipe my forehead with the back of my hand as I focus my attention to my intense coloring session. Trying to keep in the lines was hard. I wanted so bad to scribble everywhere with the orange crayon. It was so tempting but I couldn't! My Michelangelo had to be perfect. It was Thursday and I hadn't bother to text Nicole back. She probably found out that I wasn't returning till Monday.
Suddenly there was a knock on the front door. I sigh in frustration. "God dammit can I just color in peace." I mutter to myself and got up to answer it.
I opened the door and I felt dread hit me. Speak of the devil.
"H-Hi." I say softly at Nicole. She didn't look too happy. She pushed her way into my apartment and turned around to face me with her arms crossed over her chest. I naturally looked down at my pizza socks and played with my fingers. Not only was I embarrassed to be seen in nothing but a illic bralette and softies but I made Nicole upset.
She sighs and finally says, "You aren't sick are you?"
I shook my head childish. I felt her walk towards me and soon she held my chin in her hands causing me to look up at her.
"Use your words little one." I felt tingles go up and down my body.
I felt so trifling right now. She was upset with me, I caused her to feel that way. "No I'm not sick." I say weakly.
She slowly releases her grip on me and backs away. "Why did you lie."
I stood there quiet trying to find a possible excuse to use. That was cut off short by her focus going to something else in the room. She walked over to the corner that held over a dozen of dead roses and their notes. My heart got caught up in my throat as I quickly walk over to her.
"Oh that's just stuff I'm using for a art project!" I lied.
She ignored me as she picked up one of the notes and read it. She did this a couple of times until she reached down into the brown box and pulled out the envelope given to me by the blue eyed man. So that's where I placed it.
Without hesitation she rips the envelope open, ruining its perfect form. Her face twists in disgust as she read on. She mouthed some of the words on the letter before crumbling the paper up and throwing it back into the box. She then turns around to face me with choleric written all over her face.
"Why didn't you tell me about this?" She demands scaring me a bit.
Soon tears welled up into my eyes and I knew I couldn't hold it in no more. Tears ran down my face like raindrops falling onto the earth's crust. Her face softens a bit and takes me by the hand, leading me towards the coach. She sits down first and then sets me down on her lap.
Nicole wipes my tears softly, "You should of told me about this April. How long has this been going on?"
I sniffle before saying the truth, "About a month."
She sighs, "You should of really told me, I could of put a stopped to it sooner."
More tears began to fall from my eyes. I take a deep breath before saying the truth. "I was afraid if I told you that I would just put you in danger with me. I didn't want you getting hurt. It pained me to image you like that."
"But April it pains me more seeing you suffering with this." She says looking me deep into my eyes.
"I-I'm sorry."
She wraps her arms around my waist and pulls me closer towards her. I wrap arms around her neck as she rests her head on my shoulder. "Shh no more apologizes."
"Please just don't be mad anymore." I say as she rocks us back and forward.
She pulls away from my shoulder to look at me, "I was worried more than angry. Sorry if I hurt your feelings sweetheart, I didn't mean too."
"It's okay." I say softly.
We stay like that until Nicole leans forward and kisses me softly on the cheek, "I'm gonna make you a promise little one."
"What type of promise?"
"I promise as long as your with me and I am by your side, you'll be safe. No one will be able to hurt you. You will feel no more dog days and no more fear. I will continue to support you no matter what. I will fight with everything I got to keep you secure. I promise that you will be safe with me."
Hearing those words felt like relief from my shoulders have been lifted. That's what I needed to hear. Just then my feelings for Nicole were flying everywhere. This was a woman who I didn't mind staying in their arms for a little bit longer. This felt right.
I held out my pinkie towards her, "Promise?"
She wraps her pinkie around my smaller one, "I promise April." She smiles softly at me before giving my pinkie a light kiss.
This whole thing with Nicole felt right.
END OF
CHAPTER
ELEVEN.