Want Me (Mess with Me 4)

1

ANYA

I always thought that I’d leave this earth in dramatic fashion.

How would I go, I’d wonder?

Fall to my death off a cliff while hiking?

Drown while white water rafting?

Or something more mundane. Such as a heart attack after spending years eating ice cream and cookies instead of dinner.

But it turns out my time to leave this mortal coil is right here. Right now. Cause of death?

Acute mortification after choking in front of one of the sexiest men I’ve ever seen.

As my life flashes before my eyes, I’m not inundated with images of all the things I never got to do or with regrets about the past. There’s only one thought that’s as loud as a bullhorn.

Am I seriously being taken out by a wedding cupcake?

2

ANYA

a few months ago…

“Well, look who it is. My angel.”

The voice pulls me out of my daydreams and I look up to see the smiling face of my parents’ doorman. George has worked here for almost as long as I can remember and he always has a smile and a kind word for everyone he meets.

He and his wife, Paula, treat me like one of their own kids and I know she calls to check on my parents a few times a month.

“Hmm, I have no idea what you mean,” I tease.

I take my sunglasses off and slide them in my bag. Despite it only being June, the sun glares down from overhead blanketing the nation’s capital in heat. DC doesn’t wear heat well like California or Florida. Instead it just feels like a sweaty armpit. As much as I love the summer, I’ll be grateful when it’s over. Some days it feels as if I’ll melt right into the pavement.

George tips his head and raises one bushy eyebrow. “I know you’re the one sending us the money. You’re the only one I told about our financial problems.”

“It sounds like you have a secret admirer.” It’s a struggle not to smile. He won’t need much inducement to send the money back if he thinks it’s coming from me. He’s a proud man and won’t accept help if he knew the source.