The Promise (Neighbor from Hell 10)

“Tell me,” Reed said, even as he couldn’t help but wonder how badly she’d fucked up this time.

He’d never understand how someone so bright could fuck everything up so badly. She was always saying the wrong thing, screwing up, getting into trouble, and making everyone’s life a living-

“What it’s like to be an obligation.”

Chapter 12

“Dr. Miller’s office,” Mrs. Weathers said in greeting a few seconds later, making Joey rethink her plan since she wasn’t exactly Mrs. Weathers’ favorite person.

Again, not that she could blame her after what happened sophomore year, but…

Now was not that time to reminisce about the good old days, she reminded herself as she forced herself to focus.

“I was just calling to see how Dr. Miller was doing,” she said, really hoping against hope that Dr. Miller had come through the unfortunate incident unscathed and was willing to overlook the fact that she may have accidentally destroyed his life’s work.

Again, by accident.

“Oh, he’s doing so much better. The doctor says that he’s going to be fine!”

“Thank god,” Joey said as her shoulders sagged in relief.

“But unfortunately, someone sent the poor man roses this morning and they have to keep him for another night. Can you believe someone would do that knowing that he’s allergic to flowers?”

“No, no I can’t,” Joey murmured weakly, deciding that perhaps now wasn't the best time to ask if he’d liked the flowers that she sent.

“He’s going to have to stay in the hospital for another night,” Mrs. Weathers said around a sniffle.

“That sounds horrible,” Joey mumbled, biting back a groan as she resigned herself to making another apology.

This time without the flowers.

“I’m sorry, I forgot to ask who was calling,” she asked while Joey stood there deciding that perhaps she should call back at another time before this got awkward.

“I should probably just go now,” Joey said, nodding to herself as she hit the end button and placed the phone back on the charger by the bed before she dropped her face into her hands and groaned.

“What the hell am I going to do?” she couldn’t help but wonder as she fell face first onto Reed’s bed only to sigh heavily when the man that she couldn’t seem to get rid of decided that he wasn’t done tormenting her yet.

“That’s what I’ve been wondering,” Matt said as he joined her on the bed with a bowl of strawberry ice cream and an iPad even as she couldn’t help but wonder if now was the best time to make her escape only to immediately dismiss the idea since the last time hadn’t ended well.

Then again, if she’d known that Reed was pacing the hallway she never would have opened that door and she sure as hell wouldn’t have tried to make a run for it. She’d barely made it to the stairs before he’d had her thrown over his shoulder and was carrying her back to his room. She hadn’t bothered trying to wiggle her way out of his hold since she knew better.

She’d learned that lesson the hard way when she was seven and Reed had taken it upon himself to save her from a group of very angry fifth graders determined to have a word with her after she’d miscalculated the trajectory of her volcano experiment and turned everything within a fifty-foot radius an interesting shade of orange. In her defense, she’d explained exactly how volatile volcanoes could be during her ten-minute presentation before she’d hit that button, but they’d all ignored her warning.

Except for Reed.

As soon as her volcano exploded, he’d had her thrown over his shoulder and was carrying her toward the gym doors while she’d done her best to wiggle her way to freedom so that she could figure out what went wrong. He hadn’t been prepared for her to lunge, but then again, she hadn’t really been prepared for that metal folding chair to break her fall. After that incident, she’d learned to stay still whenever Reed felt the need to take it upon himself to throw her over his shoulder.

“Didn’t we agree that it would be in your best interest for you to run for your life?” Joey couldn’t help but ask even as she had to admit that she was relieved that it was Matt instead of Reed interrogating her right now. Then again, since Reed was probably on the phone with Jackson at this very moment, she should probably be using this time to come up with a plan to save herself from her brother’s idea of help.

“I felt that you weren’t really committed to following through with any of those threats,” Matt said, shifting to get more comfortable.

“I chased you with a stick,” she pointed out, wondering if she could use Matt’s unexpected arrival to her advantage and leave before the crazed man that had thrown her in here was able to follow through with his threat and lock her back in the downstairs’ closet.

“It was a small stick.”

“It had a pointy end.”

“It barely left a mark,” the little bastard said as he reached over and patted her head.

“Go. Away,” Joey mumbled as she blindly reached over and grabbed a pillow so that she could curl up into the fetal position and stare aimlessly out the window, sighing pathetically every so often with a sniffle here and there as she wondered how she kept screwing up her life.

“Can’t,” the little bastard that was determined to piss her off said as she laid there, wondering how she was going to get through the next year with absolutely nothing to do.

God, she was bored already, she thought as she absently noted Reed’s incredible scent coming off the pillow and found herself snuggling closer to it as she rolled over onto her stomach. For comfort purposes only, she told herself as she stared out the window, wishing that she had a class to teach or a paper to grade. She hated downtime, always had and always would. She needed something to do, something productive so that she could stay busy and keep her mind off the fact that she’d probably destroyed her career.

Granted, there really was no question about it, she thought, frowning when she felt something cold placed on her ass. Blinking, she looked over her shoulder and-

“So, I’ve been thinking,” the little bastard that was using her ass as a coffee table, said.

“About?” she mumbled into her pillow, wondering if a politely worded apology and a basket of chocolate dipped strawberries would make up for the fact that she’d ruined someone’s career.

Again, not that she’d done it on purpose.

“What you’re going to do during your sabbatical since you’re selling the house,” Matt said as she felt him shift on the bed next to her.

“I’m supposed to write up my research,” she mumbled into the pillow, really wishing that she had the house to focus on instead.

“Okay, so do that,” Matt said as he reached over and gave her head another one of those patronizing pats that were going to get him maimed.

“Already finished it,” she grumbled, really wishing that she’d stretched it out, but once she’d figured out what was wrong with the research that she’d been sent, she hadn’t been able to wait.

“You’re on sabbatical for a year, right?”

“Unfortunately,” she mumbled, turning her head so that she could continue staring out the window.

“Okay, then take a class.”

“Too late. The semester’s already started,” she mumbled, really wishing that she’d known that they were going to put her on sabbatical so that she could have planned to do something more productive than laying here, staring out the window, and wondering how she was going to survive the next year without losing her damn mind.

“Where are you planning on staying?” he asked,

“Hotel,” she mumbled, not really looking forward to living out of her suitcase for a year.

“So, you’re going to travel?”

“No,” Joey mumbled because she really didn’t think that was an option right now. That and she felt that she should be free on the off-chance that they changed their minds and let her come back early, and she was really hoping that they change

d their minds.

“So, you’re planning on pouting and moping for a year until you get your job back?”

“That’s the plan,” she said with a heavy sigh, wondering if she should settle for a regular room or splurge for a room with a view of the parking lot.

“Then why don’t you stay here after your house sells?” Matt suggested and as much as she would love to, she couldn’t.

“That’s not really an option,” she pointed out.

“Why not?”

She shifted so that she could point at the reflection glaring at them from the doorway. “Because he’d probably kill me in my sleep.”

*-*-*-*

“Have you lost your fucking mind?” Reed couldn’t help but ask as he released his hold on the back of the little bastard’s neck and shoved him into his office. He threw his bedroom door one last look to make sure that the little pain in the ass wasn’t trying to sneak out again before he closed his office door halfway and leaned back against the wall so that he could keep an eye on his bedroom door.

“Most likely,” Matt said with a careless shrug as he dropped into the large armchair by the desk. “You’re not going to kick her out, are you?”