“You are?” She appears stunned. “Really? Because I don’t have any money…”
“I know. I don’t want you to pay me.”
She nods slowly. “Okay, that’s amazing. I do feel bad about it, but I need your help. What happens now?”
“Now, you give me your number and you let me get on with it. I will do my thing and get back to you.”
“What do you mean ‘your thing’? That makes me nervous.”
“I won’t do anything drastic without your permission. It’s just research.”
“Research… yeah, okay. That’s fine. So, you will look into his life and stuff?”
“Exactly. Then we will meet soon so I can discuss the next part of the plan with you.”
She gets out her cell phone and reels out her number to me. I can see that she’s unsure, but that’s fear rather than doubt. Once I get the ball rolling on this, she will get on board. I just need to make Nova believe that her life can be so much better without him. There’s a flower inside of her just waiting to bloom and I will coax it out.
I’m absolutely determined to help her if it’s the last thing I do!
3
Nova
“This is fucking ridiculous! I cannot believe I’m even hearing this. Someone is going to pay.”
My heart leaps like crazy in my chest. I know without a doubt that someone Jeremy is referring to is going to be me. Whatever the hell is going on with Jeremy’s business, I’m the one who will get it in the neck as usual. I grip onto my stomach, trying to calm the eagle sized butterflies down. Fear will only make him worse, he seems to thrive off it. He likes to see me cowering in a corner, it makes the yelling worse and the anger much more gleeful.
Keep it calm, I warn myself. Don’t let him get to you, just take it and he’ll get bored.
“What the fuck is this, Nova?” I squeeze my eyes closed and block the world out for a moment. “Come here.”
“I’m just in the kitchen at the moment,” I reply in a shaky voice, giving me away. “I won’t be long.”
But Jeremy needs to get his anger out now. I can hear his heavy footsteps coming for me, so I leap up from my seat to busy myself with the dishes. If he knows that I’m just hiding away in here, he’ll kill me.
“What the hell are you washing up for?” he sneers. “We have staff for that.”
I cringe at the word ‘staff’. That’s something I’ve never liked. Having people work for me when I’m not allowed a job is absolutely pointless. It makes me feel a bit ill. I’m sure Jeremy pays them well, but that isn’t the point. He doesn’t need any help, it’s just a status thing. He wants staff just to have them.
“Well, I just thought that I’d get a head start on things, save them some time tomorrow.”
/> “I don’t want their time to be saved. That’s what I pay them for. I want to talk to you.”
Ice cold fear freezes up my veins, I just want to run but I know that I can’t. I just have to face the music and hope this doesn’t get any worse than it already is. It’s already pretty horrific.
“What’s the matter, Jeremy?” I ask quietly. “Have I done something wrong?”
“The deal with the advertising company fell through, and it’s your fault.”
“My fault?” Now, this is a first. “How… how is it my fault? What did I do?”
“Oh, come off it. You know that you were a massive bitch to Arthur at the charity event last month.”
“But I didn’t even speak to him.” I don’t usually defend myself, but this isn’t fair. I haven’t done anything wrong at all. I was so purposefully quiet at that event, so I couldn’t go wrong. “What are you talking about?”
“That’s what I’m talking about. You’re standoffish. It’s embarrassing. People talk to me about you, they say that you’re miserable and it’s painful. I have to keep defending you all the freaking time. All the God damn time.”
His magic works and he makes me feel terrible about myself. I shouldn’t have been so silent, I should have made effort. Now I can see what Jeremy is talking about. I lost him some deal.