Total pages in book: 57
Estimated words: 54836 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 274(@200wpm)___ 219(@250wpm)___ 183(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54836 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 274(@200wpm)___ 219(@250wpm)___ 183(@300wpm)
“I just want to make sure she pees before I put her in the car,” she said as we both climbed out.
“If you want, I’ll walk her while you pack a few things you might need,” I told her, inwardly cursing myself for the invitation in between those words.
Like a change of clothes.
A toothbrush.
Because you will be staying the night.
“That would be great,” she said, rushing inside to leash Matilda, then handing her to me before heading back inside.
Matilda and I walked around for a few minutes.
When done, she looked up at me, a curious tilt to her head.
“This is probably a terrible idea,” I told her, watching her ears perk up. “But I can’t help but feel really fucking excited about it.”
CHAPTER TEN
Mari
“I hate leaving you here like this,” Laurie, one of my coworkers said, wincing at me. But she already had her bag up on her shoulder and her keys in her hand.
She hated it.
But not enough to stay.
I was trying not to be upset about it.
She had a family and husband to get home to. One who she constantly complained could barely manage their two children when she ran to the grocery store, let alone when she was at work.
I couldn’t fault her for wanting to go home before it imploded.
But a small part of me couldn’t help but feel resentful at being left alone at work so soon after my attack.
I mean, when I’d come back, all there had been was concern. And promises about my safety.
It was probably predictable, but no less upsetting, how quickly people went back to their lives as normal, when yours was forever changed.
I mean, it was nighttime, too. October meant that the sun was setting a lot earlier than it had been over the summer. And one of the lights in the lot where we had to park was flickering most nights, casting most of the area in shadow.
“Don’t worry about it,” I insisted, forcing a smile that ached it was so fake. “Get home to those babies,” I added, casting a look toward my client in the other room, doing the slowest set of reps known to mankind.
We were technically supposed to be closed.
He should have been gone fifteen minutes ago.
But it wasn’t like I could walk over there and tell him to get lost.
Our clients were ‘top priority,’ our boss was sure to remind us daily. Because our clients were the upper echelon type of people. All the money and power to completely destroy this business if they wanted to.
So we had to tolerate guys like Luis. Who was back for his third round of therapy following a ‘very serious’ squash-related ankle injury.
He rolled the damn thing.
But, apparently, it wasn’t back to normal yet.
So here we were.
“If he’s not gone in ten more minutes, call Tanya. I’m sure she will tell you it’s okay to tell him you have to close up.”
Yeah, fat chance of that.
If I got murdered standing right here behind the front desk, her only concern would be if they could get the blood out of the carpet quickly enough to open at our regular time, as not to inconvenience our clients.
“Yeah,” I agreed, giving her another fake smile.
But she wasn’t even paying attention.
Her gaze was on her phone, typing frantically, likely to her husband, and ignoring me.
“See you Wednesday!”
No, she wouldn’t.
I wasn’t working Wednesday.
I’d been stressing about that too. Home alone all day. I was thinking about bringing Tilly to a busy park and wasting a few hours there. Then maybe a walk around the pet store. Before heading home when there was no other choice.
Those were old stresses, though.
Now, I stood there, watching Laurie’s lights pull out of the lot, blanketing it in darkness once again.
My gaze slid to my client, taking a break from his reps.
Maybe I should have been paranoid about being alone with him. But the fact of the matter was, Mr. Kahan was about four inches too short, and thirty pounds too heavy to be my attacker. Besides, he didn’t have that mark in his eye.
I’d taken to really looking people in the eye since that night, wondering if I might randomly cross paths with the guy in the grocery store or on the street.
So far, not yet.
“How are you doing over here, Mr. Kahan?” I asked, approaching him.
“You know, it’s still aching when I… excuse me,” he said, reaching for his phone as it started to ring.
I took a few steps away, giving him some privacy as I wiped down some of the equipment.
“Oh, no. I’m not doing anything. I’ll meet you there in five,” he said, moving away from the resistance machine and making his way toward the door, not even bothering to say goodbye to me.
Everything in me wanted to rush out after him, to get in my car when he was still in the lot.