The Dare

My heart races as I walk towards my office, I have a feeling that everything is going to implode already. Especially since Latesha isn’t sitting in her usual place at her desk, she’s in my office and she looks shell shocked.

“What is going on?” I hiss desperately at her. “Why is everything all weird here? I don’t understand.”

Latesha stares at me with tears in her eyes. “Well, it’s safe to say that it isn’t a secret anymore.”

My stomach drops, but only because it seems to have hurt her so much. I don’t want her to look like this because people have been talking, this is really what I wanted to avoid. What do I do now?

“What happened?” I sit down on the edge of my desk in front of her. “Did someone upset you?”

“Karen.” As soon as Latesha whispers that one word, everything shifts. The slight sadness I have been feeling slips away and it immediately becomes an intense overwhelming rage. If Karen is involved, then anything could be happening. Especially if she hasn’t changed and she’s working some angle. “She was here when I came in the morning, sitting behind your desk, watching the… the video.” Latesha is pale with shame. “She said that she has the power over me now because she has this video which she can send out in to the world. And she will.”

“She has already?” Fuck, I think I might throw up. I never would have gotten back in touch with Karen if I knew that she was going to shred me to pieces like this in front of everyone. “Oh God…”

“No, not yet. And she won’t if I pay her off. As if I have the money to do that.”

Latesha leans forwards and collapses in to sobs. Heart wrenching sobs that rack through her entire body. I hold her, no longer worried about being seen because I’m sure that Karen would have made a nice big scene about this nightmare, making it obvious to the whole office that we’re together, not caring about who she hurts.

“She told everyone that we’re together, but that I’m crazy jealous. A psycho who sends you sexy videos and then she bolted out of here knowing that she has destroyed me. And us. What do I do now?”

“She wants money?” I shoot back through gritted teeth. “She came here telling me that she wanted to get back in touch with me for Amelia’s sake. She let me believe that she was here to build my trust in her so that I could bring her back in to my daughter’s life and then she pulls a stunt like this? How could she?”

“Oh God, I’m so sorry.” Latesha hurriedly wipes her tears away. “I didn’t think of it like that…”

“You don’t need to apologize. She does.” I shake my head in shock. I can’t believe it. “My mother was right about Karen. She warned me that she doesn’t deserve a chance and I wouldn’t listen. I thought that I knew best and I also assumed that I was doing the best thing for Amelia, but now I don’t know…”

The only good thing is now I know for sure. This isn’t just Karen getting overwhelmed and emotional. This is her showing her true self, revealing what she’s really like. And she is a bad apple, she is sick and twisted. There is something loose in her head. She doesn’t care about Amelia at all, she is still only out for number one. The hint was there when she told me about her chaotic life, and I didn’t listen enough.

“She won’t do this,” I warn Latesha. “I am going to sort this now. You don’t need to worry about it. I won’t let her do this to you. It’s me that she wants to target. She knows you don’t have money. She knows I do.”

“I don’t want you to have to pay her off. This isn’t your issue…” she tries, but I shake my head no.

“Yes, it is. Believe me, this is my issue. And I won’t let it carry on. I am going right now.”

I let go of her, knowing that I probably should stick around to comfort her some more, but I also know how Karen works and if she has some plan up her sleeve, she could put it in to action right away.

“I will be back,” I inform her. “You don’t have to stay here if you don’t want. I don’t want you being upset. I don’t want anyone saying anything to you… that’s something I will deal with later.”

I don’t give her a chance to answer because I need to get going. Now, I have a solid idea in mind, a way to make this work for everyone. Because I need everything to be solid and in place this time around, so we all know where we are this time around. I am not leaving Amelia confused in the future. No way. At least then all of this will have been for a reason, something good can come out of it. At long last…