Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 90448 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 452(@200wpm)___ 362(@250wpm)___ 301(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90448 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 452(@200wpm)___ 362(@250wpm)___ 301(@300wpm)
Regardless, I was unprepared for what I found.
I entered a small room with three other doors. Each door had a number I assumed related to the other women’s apartments, since the door I left wore a four. When I moved further in, hanging clothes, shelves of folded sweaters, and hooks decorated with shoes appeared.
This has to be his closet.
The space stretched to the length of half my bedroom. Clothes, accessories, and shoes crowded the place. He could’ve clothed a small town with everything in it.
I stepped out into his bedroom.
A huge picture of the Beatles walking in a line across a street hung above his bed. The words Abbey Road read under it.
Black and white piano key carpet decorated the floor. Red paint coated the walls. A simple white blanketed bed stood in the middle next to white nightstands.
Framed photos of Dawn, Wendy, Lucy, and me stood on his right nightstand.
On the left was an old black and white picture of a gorgeous woman who had to be his mother. They both had those midnight black hair, high cheek bones, and piercing green eyes.
I left the room and walked down a white hallway.
At the end, I spotted an opening for the living room. Curiosity nipped at my legs as I turned to another door instead and opened it. It was an empty room with just a made bed and nothing else. I closed it and went to the door right next to it.
His office.
There was a huge desk, a shelf behind it stacked with binders, and small flat TV screens bordering the room. My body stiffened.
No wonder he asked me not to go in his office.
On the right screen, Chase and Dawn argued.
Screen two displayed Wendy in her bedroom touching herself and gazing directly at the camera.
“Come to me, Chase. Break the rules for once,” Wendy said. “Did I do something wrong tonight? What made you sneak into her apartment?”
Wendy knew he had a camera in her bedroom. I wish someone had told me. I would’ve had them removed if I could.
Screen three showed Lucy sleeping on her living room floor on piles of multicolored pillows. Screen four displayed my kitchen, with the pots still simmering.
He’d been watching Gabe and me in the kitchen? For how long?
Four joysticks stuck out the bottom of each screen. I walked over to screen two and moved it. The view switched to Wendy’s empty living room.
Thank god. I can’t deal with Wendy begging for Chase right now.
I moved to Dawn’s screen where they argued and pressed the up arrow button. The volume increased.
“Get rid of her,” Dawn cried. Drool dripped from the corners of her lips. Snot streamed down one nostril. Make-up smudged her eyes.
“I can’t.” Chase tried to hug her.
She shoved him away.
“Is it not enough you have the others?” She collapsed on her floral print couch. “I’m only one woman. I only have one mind and you’re twisting it into nothing. I don’t even recognize myself in the mirror anymore. My thoughts are dark and I’m always angry.”
“Dawn, please.” He took one step to her. “I’m so sorry.”
“Then get rid of her!”
I jumped at her scream and from the raw pain in her pleading voice. My body trembled under her tone. She wanted me gone.
No problem. I’m out of here anyway.
I turned my back to the screens, ready to leave, when my name in black letters caught my eye. It was on a big yellow binder.
“Tell me why you can’t?” Dawn asked.
I glanced over my shoulder and watched them on the screen.
“I don’t want to get rid of her.” Chase sat on the coffee table in front of her and slumped over like a defeated man. “You’re right, I am acting differently. She’s . . . different. . .”
He sounded as if he couldn’t find the right words.
“Chase, you’ve broken too many rules. You know what happens.” Dawn rocked back and forth, more tears spilled down her face.
“I didn’t break them, not intentionally.”
“Will you let her go?” Dawn asked.
I froze, waiting for his reply.
“No. I won’t.” His voice sounded low. “Not even if she begs me to.”
That’s my cue to leave.
Still, the binder piqued my interest.
I decided to get a quick look and maybe take it home with me. Moving quickly, I went to the binder, picked it up, and opened it. My baby pictures and birth certificate stuck to the first page.
I twisted around and placed it on my desk, making sure I had a good view of Chase. If he left Dawn’s room, I’d figure out which way he was going and run off the other way.
“How did you even get in her apartment tonight?” Dawn asked. “I thought you told us the secret passageways were closed off when Yancy died.”
“I lied.”
“So you snuck off to see her like some bumbling adulterer.” Dawn shot up. “And instead of your perfect little black princess waiting for you, she’s being a whore with some other guy.”