I didn’t find any more clues on the rest of the trip back, though the one I already had didn’t make much sense anyway. That’s okay, I was going to have plenty of time to try to figure it out while I wasn’t sleeping for the next three and a half hours.
The front door was still ajar. I seethed at the thought that it was now just as cold inside my place as it was outside.
When I walked back in, I almost missed it. Sticking out of the door, just below the number, was a hunting knife the length of my forearm. It took two hard pulls to get it free. I turned it over in my hands. The blade glinted in the sparse light.
Ortiz or not, somebody was trying to send me a message.
Riley
I came to a decision the other night. I think it happened on the drive between his gym and my condo, but it had been percolating for longer than I was willing to admit. I was ready to give this thing with Troy a real chance. At first, I thought it was just a fling, but after the way we were together that night, it felt like there was a chance for a relationship.
The hardest part for me was admitting to myself that I couldn’t hang on to this job if I wanted to pursue things with him. If I would have told any of my friends about it, they would have said I was crazy. How could I even consider giving up such a great job—one I’d poured my heart into, no less—for a guy I barely knew?
Well, the answer to that question became crystal clear to me. It wasn’t all for him that I was willing to give this up. It was for my own sanity. I was twenty-two years old and I spent most of my days slaving away in an office building, and for what? The non-profit? Sure, I loved the idea of helping people, but there were plenty of other arenas where I could offer the same of myself.
If I really thought about it, I’d been looking for an excuse to leave for a long time. Maybe it was Troy who awakened something in me that helped me find the courage to finally do it. Whether it was didn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things. Even if I wanted to stay on, it wouldn’t be sustainable. Either I would breakdown under the stress of keeping the secret, or news of our relationship would get out and it would be a death sentence for my career.
I unfolded the sheet of paper on my desk and read it for the hundredth time:
Mrs. Cheryl Hemlock:
This letter is to formally notify you and other necessary delegates of my decision to resign from my position as a Consultant with Fitting In, Corp. Please consider this resignation effective as of two-weeks from today’s date, though I am open to altering the timeline if it would be beneficial to the organization.
I know this may come as a surprise, but I am looking forward to pursuing a different career path. Thank you for the opportunities…
Blah, blah, blah.
I closed it up again and smoothed the folds in the paper. The edges of it were sharp enough to slice bread with. I tucked it into the envelope and waited. The last step was actually handing it over. I understood that wouldn’t be very easy, either.
My computer screen lit up with an incoming video call. It was Kyle’s skype number.
What the hell? I thought. He’s only going to have so many more chances to harass me; I might as well take it.
“Can I help you?” I said, curtly.
“Good time at that banquet, wasn’t it?”
I was actually shocked that it had taken him this long to follow up on it. The banquet seemed so far in my rear-view mirror that I could hardly see it anymore.
“Kyle, that was like… weeks ago.”
“I know, Sweetie, but I was on vacation in the islands and I never had a chance to catch up with you about it.”
Had he been on vacation? Now that I thought about it, he hadn’t been by to bother me in a while. If I would have realized it, I would have enjoyed his absence more.
“Is there any point to this?” I asked, bluntly. “I’m gonna tell you not to call me demeaning names like ‘Sweetie’ and you’re not going to listen. Then, you’ll probably say something disgusting which will cause me to end the call. So, should we just cut to the chase?”
“You got pretty drunk at that party, didn’t you?”
“What’s your point?”
“For a minute there, it looked like you were gonna reconsider your offer. You know, I went home with your friend that night.”
“That’s a lie and you know it.”
“Oh, is it? Why don’t you ask her? To be honest, she was okay but it would have been a whole lot more fun had you joined us.”
He was a disgusting pig and I hardly entertained the idea that Casey had slept with him. She wouldn’t have in a million years.
“Are you done?”
“I’m just getting started.”
The way he angled his camera made him look like a bug. That’s funny, because it’s exactly what he was—a cockroach.
“How about this,” I said. “I’m done. You can keep talking but I’m going to end the call. Goodbye.”
“Why? Do you have a date with your little MMA boyfriend?”
What?
My mouse was pointed at the exit button with my finger hovering over the clicker. “What did you say?”
“You thought no one knew about that, didn’t you?”
I felt my stomach lurch and I was all but sure my lunch was going to be splatter
ed all over the keyboard at any second.
“You’re a fucking creep. Leave me alone.”
I had the secret weapon in an envelope just out of view of the camera. That resignation letter meant I could say whatever I wanted now without fear of repercussion. If they wanted to fire me for standing up to this jerk, I’d wear it like a badge of honor.
“I see you haven’t been doing anything to clean up that language while I was gone.”
“Do you think you can intimidate me?” I asked.
“Possibly,” he said. “But I know I can get you fired for breaking the rules.”
“Try me.”
“I could do that,” he said. “I’m not quite sure I’m ready to, though. What really concerns me is why you’re fucking some piece of trash criminal from the program. Getting you fired doesn’t really do anything for me, but finding out why is what matters.”
“You don’t know anything.”
“Oh, really?” Kyle leaned out of view for a moment. I could hear him fussing with something. “Then, what do you have to say about this?”
He held his cell phone up to the camera. It took a second for my brain to decipher what I was looking at.
Oh, my God.
It was a picture of me and Troy having sex on the floor at his gym.
“Where did you get that?!”
I immediately broke out in a cold sweat. My chest felt like it had an anchor sitting on top of it.
“Don’t worry about where I got it, just worry about the fact that I do have it. And there’s plenty more. I see that your favorite position is missionary. That’s mine too. I like to look a woman in the eyes while we do it.”
I got lightheaded and it was hard to focus. “I can’t… this is-”
“Blackmail,” he interrupted. “I think that’s the word you’re looking for.”
I grabbed at my desk just for something to hold on to.
“I don’t blame you for being upset,” he said. “If someone had evidence showing me having sex with a felon, I’d be all torn up about it, too.”