Tori had offered to loan or gift me money each month but I couldn’t accept. The vacation was already more than enough.
My phone buzzed and I walked over to the counter, glancing down at my phone next to the sink. The skipped beats inside my chest made me feel nauseated.
A text.
From Danny.
I closed my eyes and wished I was in my small little cabin on the beach, far, far away. But when I opened them, I was still in Hope’s bathroom.
I tapped the screen, wishing I would have ignored the messaged.
Are you ready to come home yet, my love?
I paced the floor, trying to calm the storm that was swirling in my stomach. My phone buzzed again.
I gave you enough time. I miss you. I love you. Come home, okay?
I turned off the screen and exited the bathroom. If I hadn’t needed it to contact Hope and Tori, I would have seriously considered leaving my phone behind.
The screen lit up again and as much as I wanted to resist looking, I couldn’t.
Sweetie, can we talk?
An engine rumbled outside. Not just any engine… it was familiar.
Danny was outside. And I was home alone.
2
Olivia
My heart was pounding. I kept the light off as I crept toward the window, afraid of what I’d find.
I didn’t dare touch the curtain. Even though the room was dark, I was afraid that my body was making a shadow.
Would it even matter if it did? He already knew where I was and he probably already knew I was inside.
My phone buzzed again and I gasped before juggling the phone from hand to hand. It dropped the soft carpeted floor with a gentle thud and I fell with it.
I wrapped my fingers around the phone, pressing my back against the wall. My hands were shaking so violently I could barely keep a hold of the phone.
I leaned forward, hoping to hide the glow from the screen.
Just a talk. I miss you so much. You’re my everything.
The message read.
I couldn’t respond. I didn’t want to respond. All I could do was sit there hiding, hoping he would just disappear.
He revved the engine. The messages came quicker.
Olivia. Reply. I know you’re in there.
Do I really have to beg?
It’s time to grow up. This is getting ridiculous.
Answer my fucking messages!!!
A tear rolled down my cheek and dropped onto the phone. I didn’t know why I couldn’t just tell him to go to hell. Or call the police.
Even locked inside Hope’s house, I was still scared to hell of Danny. That probably wouldn’t ever change. What needed to change was my location. I needed to get away.
I dialed Hope’s number.
“You forgot to turn out the light,” Hope said.
“Danny’s outside,” I said.
“Oh shit,” Hope said. I could hear her walking across the floor of Max’s house. “Yeah, that’s him all right. Should I send Max over?”
My words were stuck deep in the back of my throat. I managed to spew them out with effort.
“No, I don’t think that would be a good idea,” I said. “I don’t want anything to happen to Max.”
“Max can handle himself.”
“I don’t doubt that but this isn’t his fight,” I said.
Hope sighed. “Okay, well, then I’m calling the police.”
“That’s going to just make things worse,” I groaned. “I should just go out and talk to him. What does it matter? I’ll be gone tomorrow anyway.”
“Do not talk to him,” Hope said annunciating each word clearly. “When has that ever made things better.”
I buried my face in my hands. I wasn’t sure how this was my life.
When I first met Danny, he’d been the kind of guy who opens doors and brings flowers. He gave me back rubs and treated me like a queen.
Hell, if anyone would have told me what an asshole he’d turn out to be, I wouldn’t have believed them.
I couldn’t pinpoint the exact moment it had happened. It must have been a gradual shift and by the time I realized what had happened, it was too late.
Even now, hiding in Hope’s house, I was terrified. He didn’t love me. He didn’t even like me. The problem was he didn’t want to lose.
I drew in a breath and tightened my grip on the phone.
What is it? I’m at the store.
The three dots appeared.
Bullshit.
You don’t have any money.
Anger made my fingers tremble.
I’m with a friend.
I waited. It was a full minute before he typed a response.
Can we talk later?
He believed it. And he calmed down.
I can’t tonight. How about tomorrow night.
I would be gone. Thank God.
Lunch.
I swallowed down the sourness. Lying over the phone came to me easier than I thought it would even though it made my skin crawl. I hated lying.
Sorry, I have a job interview.
I watched the dots do the wave.
Aw sweetie, you don’t need a job. Just come home.
I’d be gone before lunchtime.
Fine. Lunch.