21 The Stalker
Online ads look very promising. My phone starts ringing as I am looking for jobs online. I haven't had any luck at the interviews since James firing me is not a good reference.
"Hello?" I answer the call.
"Hi. Is this Mia Collins?"
"Yes. Who is this?"
"I'm Ashley Turner. Jordan's manager."
I straighten my back. Jordan. Jordan Parry. My favorite singer. My hero. "Oh! Hi! I'm sorry I didn't expect a call from Jordan."
"It's alright. Jordan gave me your business card and said we could use your help."
"Of course! I'd be more than happy to help him."
"You no longer work at Whoosh?"
"I don't."
"What company are you working at right now?"
"I'm not employed yet. I'm currently looking for jobs."
"Would you like to help us with a project?"
"Of course!"
She fills me in with the details of the job. It's a brief advertisement for Jordan's charity. Jordan wants it to be good but doesn't want to put too much effort into it. That is why he has chosen me to do the job. It's a little disrespectful, but considering I'm unemployed and without the equipment, I say yes, and she says she will give me the contact numbers of the filmmakers and other involved people.
Smith is not home for the first time after he got out of the job. He has taken the car too. I call him, but he rejects me and sends me a message instead.
Busy, it reads. That's suspicious. But okay.
I've been sleepless lately, thinking about Whoosh. I want to text Jess, my favor-seeking friend, who asked me to steal Smith's flash drive from his office. We haven't seen each other since the bankruptcy. I need to tell him about the flash drive. He should know who was using it.
"You might want to know something," I text him.
He doesn't reply, and I don't push further. It's time for Netflix and chill with lots of ice cream and snacks. I turn on the TV and choose a thriller to watch. It gets late, but Smith doesn't show up. The doorbell rings, and I rush to the door.
"Where've you—?" I say but stop as soon as Zoey's face greets me with a box in her hands.
"Can I come in?" she says.
"Babe, of course. Come on in." I hold the door open for her, and she enters. She hands me the box. I open it. Donuts. That's a yes from me. She takes her coat off.
"What were you doing?"
"I was watching some series. Wanna join?"
"Yeah. What series?"
We both sit on the couch. "You."
"What's it about?" She says and grabs some snacks.
I put the donuts away. "You have to sit for this one. It's SICK!"
"Okay. You got me curious."
"There's this guy, Joe, who's obsessed with this girl, Beck. They start dating and falling in love, but little does she know he's fucking crazy!"
"Well, isn't that every relationship I ever had?"
"He stalks her and all her family and friends. He kills for her. It's another level of crazy."
"I dated this guy for one day, and the next day he mentioned my ex-boyfriend's name, who he had never met or heard of."
"What?!"
"Yeah. What I'm saying is that there are stalkers in your life. You just don't know that they're stalkers."
"Okay. Now that I think about it, I had this teacher at middle school."
"A teacher?!"
"Yes!"
"What is this? Pretty Little Liars?"
"NO! Oh, my God. I was a child!"
"So was Aria. And Ezra didn't care. But I'm listening. Go on."
"Once I had this exam which I blew. Mr. Martin, the teacher, asked why I got such a poor grade. I told him the dog next door keeps me distracted. So the next week, there's no sign of the dog anymore. I go to school and see him. I greet him, and he goes, 'There's no excuse not to study anymore.'"
Zoey's mouth is widely open, and I continue.
"And I'm like, 'What?' The teacher smiles and goes away. I get home and see our neighbor putting flyers of 'missing dog' up on trees and walls."
"Shut up!" She says.
"I know! Of course, I thought it was an accident. But then, some strange shit happened. There was this bully girl who would treat everyone like shit. Once, she started bullying me, and my teacher saw that. The next day, the lab got on fire."
"No!"
"Yes! And get this. She was the only one in the lab, and the door was locked from the outside."
"Oh, my God!"
"It gives me chills to this day. The firefighters saved her. We were all scared because of the fire. He came to me and gave me a bar of Snickers. Then he patted my head and said, 'What a shame. It was so close.'"
Zoey's mouth is still open as she tries to digest the story. We hear the sound of a key, and then the door opens. Zoey and I both jump. I grab something close to me to hit the intruder with it.
Smith appears from behind the door with a shocked expression. He turns on the lights. "Did you want to attack me with the remote control?" he says.
I look at the remote in my hands, and Zoey laughs. "We were caught up in the story," she says, facing him.
"Why didn't you ring the bell like you always do?" I ask him.
"I thought you were asleep," he says.
"Where have you been? I was worried sick about you."
"Will you let me be, Mom?" He snaps and walks to his room.
"I didn't mean to be nosy. I was just worried!"
He doesn't listen and closes the door of his room.
"Cut him some slack. He's stressed about work and his life," Zoey says.
I collapse on the couch. "Ugh. I know. I have to find a job, too."
A couple of hours pass, and it is midnight now. I'm about to fall asleep, but my phone buzzes under my pillow and wakes me.
'What is it exactly?' A text from an unknown number.
'Is this Jess?' I respond.
'You made out with Jared at the high school reunion."
Oh, God. He doesn't have to remind me of that incident to prove it's Jess.
'Will you see me tomorrow?' I text back.
'Central Park. I'll find you.'
The next day, I grab a coffee and wait for Jess at Central Park. My watch shows seven-thirty.
"Thank you," Jess says, appearing out of the blue and grabbing the coffee from my hands.
"You're acting like the FBI is after us," I say while watching him drink the coffee.
"What do you want?"
"I know who used Smith's flash drive."
"Why would I care?"
"Are you stupid?" I say. "Or your subconscious tricks you into believing you're safe now?" He says nothing and starts to get worried. "The one who did it—"
"Is still at Whoosh," he continues my sentence and runs his hand on his face. "How could I let this go easily?"
"They could still be dangerous for you."
"I know that. Tell me who it is."
"I'll tell you, but I'll need your favor."
"Are you aware you didn't do the favor last time?"
"I went into his office, but the flash drive wasn't there."
"Well, I don't even need it."
"Okay then." I hold my purse tighter and walk away from him.
"Mia!" He calls me and runs to me, grabbing my arm. "Okay. I'll help you."
"I'm not playing games with you this time. You need to tell me every detail."
"Fine. I'll tell you."
"I want to know if we can use this information against the one who did this."
"No! Fuck no! I will lose my job if they find out about the breach!"
"There is no breach. It was physical access, not virtual, remember?"
He thinks for a few seconds. "Smith will sue me if he finds out I had access."
"He won't. I'll make sure that he doesn't."
"Okay... Tell me. Who was it?"
"James Williams."
His eyes widen. "You... no..."
"Yes."
"How do you know?"
"I saw it in his hands."
"I gotta go."
"Wait! Where?" He starts walking away, but I follow him and stop him. "What about my favor? You can't run away."
"A deal is a deal, Mia. I'll help you. I gotta go now." He pulls his hand out of my grip and starts walking again.
Smith's sitting by the fireplace when I get home, drinking in silence.
"What's up?" I say, and he doesn't even turn his head to look at me.
"I got rejected for a job this morning," he says calmly. "It's the fifth rejection I got."
I sit by his side and pat his arm. "I'm sorry."
"How am I supposed to live now?"
"I know. I'm sorry. Life's just testing us in any way possible. I got rejected too, but we can't give up yet." I give him the mug of hot chocolate I've brought him, and he smiles weakly.
"Thanks," he says and takes it from me.
"I got some news you might find interesting."
"What?"
I give him my iPad. He taps on the screen and plays Jordan's advertisement video. "What do you think?" I ask him.
"What is this?"
"I edited the whole thing."
He looks at me blankly. "Are you serious?"
"Yes. I wanted it to be a surprise when Jordan publishes it himself, but who cares? Now you're the first one to see it."
"You're... Amazing."
I cover my cheeks with my hands. "I take this compliment from Oliver Smith, my boss."
He shakes his head. "I'm not your boss anymore."
"You're always my boss. Please know that you don't have to find a job this soon. I got a little money from this project. So we will be good for a while."
"Thank you, Mia. I appreciate it.