Nausea rolls up my gut and the note flutters from my hand as I take off for the bathroom to be sick. I feel empty and yet heavy simultaneously, like my heart’s made of lead. After vomiting like a madman, I stumble back to my room, still panting and sweaty. Crawling into the middle of my bed, I pull my knees in tight to my chest and lean against the wall, huddled like a refugee. How can this be happening? The note might be short and crude, but it’s clear: whoever wrote it knows about my relationship with Joseph and Gray. It would absolutely ruin my lovers’ careers, and I hate that I’m the cause.
I bury my face in my hands as tears roll down my cheeks. “How can this be happening?” I whisper brokenly. “Oh god, oh god, oh god,” I keen into the silent space.
My hands fumbling, I struggle to find my phone. It may not be the smartest thing to do right now, but I just need to hear a friendly voice, and Katy has always been such a great shoulder to lean on. She’ll know what to do even if I keep some details obscured.
“Hey, Emma. How are you?” she chirps after picking up on the first ring. “Hold on just a moment. Henry, stop!” she scolds. “Henry, put that down.”
Then she’s back on the phone. “Sorry,” my buddy apologizes with a laugh. “I swear, the baby thinks his foot is a toy! His little feet are so dirty, but I swear he wants to put them in his mouth and eat them.”
Suddenly, a loud sob erupts from my throat and my friend’s immediately apologetic.
“Emma?” she asks. “Are you okay? Sorry for babbling about myself.”
A waterfall of words comes gushing from my throat. “No, no, it’s fine but something terrible is happening, Katy. Oh, god. I just … I don’t know what to do.”
“Hey,” my buddy’s voice loses her usual happy tone as she switches into serious business mode. “Calm down, Emma. Whatever it is, it’s going to be okay. Just tell me what’s going on and we’ll work through it together.”
I let out another wrenching sob.
“Someone is threatening me.”
“What?” she gasps. “How are they threatening you? Why?”
I shake my head.
“They put a threatening note in my box on campus. I don’t know who it is, but I’m scared.”
My buddy immediately leaps into protective mama bear mode.
“What did the note say?” she demands.
I shake my head.
“Nothing that specific. They called me a slut and drew a gross, nasty and crude picture. What do I do?”
“OMG, are you serious?” she gasps. “What kind of picture?”
I decide to tell a small white lie.
“Nothing really, just a pussy dripping blood and that kind of thing.”
“Holy shit!” Katy shrieks. “You have to call the police immediately and file a report because this is crazy. But Emma, be very careful with the note and don’t touch it more than you have to because maybe the police can dust for fingerprints. Who knows? Maybe the moron didn’t wear gloves.”
I blow out a deep breath. Katy’s right. I absolutely should call campus police. Why didn’t I think of that? I suppose it was the stress on top of finding out that I’m pregnant.
“Thanks, girlfriend,” I whisper. “I should have thought of that myself. I don’t know, I guess I just got freaked out and needed someone to talk me off the ledge.”
“Hey, that’s what friends are for,” she proclaims loyally. “We’re going to handle this together, okay? Besides, I’m sure it’s nothing. There are so many weirdos out there, and I get tons of nasty porn sites offering me special deals in my junk folder every day. It’s crazy.”
I half-laugh, although it sounds more like a choke.
“Yeah, me too. There are a ton of scams out there, and a ton of pervs too.”
My friend nods encouragingly.
“Let’s talk about something else because it’ll make you feel better. Okay, other than the note, how’s everything else going? We haven’t talked since forever! Did you ever start that internship at my dad’s office?”
I grimace because how do I explain my situation?
“Oh yeah,” I say vaguely. “It’s good.”
“Is everyone treating you right?” she asks. “Funny, I keep in touch with some folks at the office, but they haven’t mentioned you. Not that that means anything,” she adds quickly. “I’m sure they adore you, Ems.”
I grimace a bit because I hardly ever go into the office. In fact, I haven’t been in weeks. Instead, I live at Joseph’s apartment and spend most of my time lazing about during the day before entertaining my two lovers at night. It’s quite a louche lifestyle but I adore it, and my men enjoy it too. Gray and Joseph appreciate it when I greet them after a long day wearing naughty lingerie or nothing at all, my breasts perky and my pussy already wet.