I had not looked at my phone since I saw the amount of money that Damien had sent to me as some kind of parting gift. I didn’t know what to do or how to feel about the situation. Was I supposed to call him to thank him? It had been a full day, and I was now on my way to Beverley Hills after a flight that afternoon. “Hi, I saw an ad for your apartment. I would like to ask if it’s still available for me to check it out,” I said into the phone after getting into a rented car. “Oh, yes! I’m available throughout the entire week. When would you like to come in?” The woman in the other side of the phone was bubbly, sounding only a bit older than I was. “I can come in right now, actually,” I said. “That sounds perfect,” she replied. After agreeing to meet, I drove down to the apartment. I stood in front of the apartment, taking a look at it. It was the most decent apartment on the site that didn’t have an outrageous price in a new environment. “Lauren W
I stayed frozen in bed as Damien’s voice faded right after his heavy confession. There was nothing to say. He was in love with me. But I was far away and now close to starting a new life. I didn’t need that. Not right now. Not anymore. “I’m not pressuring you to say anything in response, Lauren,” he said before I could gather myself. “I just wanted you to know. It was killing me.” I nodded, knowing fully well that he couldn’t see me. I changed my mind right then and there. I couldn’t possibly tell him that I felt the same way for him that he did for me. We had both agreed to go our separate ways, and this was only going to create an opening to make things even more complicated. “I’m sorry, Damien,” I said with a tired sigh. “I already told you that I have to go. I need to get something to eat.” “That’s fine,” he finally said after a long pause. “Goodbye.” Judging by the way he said it, I knew that it was final. He was letting go, and there was nothi
By the time I finished unpacking, it was late afternoon. My fingers ran over the fabric of the couch that had been there when I moved in as I wondered whether or not to change it before settling on the decision that it would suffice for a while. There were still boxes piled up in the corner, but the main workwas done. My clothes had been folded neatly into drawers, the small number of books I had bought were stacked on the shelf, and the bedwas made with the new sheets. I stood in the middle of the living room and exhaled in relief. This was it. My life now. Alone. My mind wandered back to Fred’s offer from that morning. He’d invited me over for dinner at his restaurant while flashing me that friendly smile. I needed a good meal, maybe a drink, and someone who wasn’t my depressing thoughts. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that heading out would do me good, so I grabbed my phone and dialed his number. “Hey, Fred? It’s Lauren, from ap
I opened my eyes to a dull ache in my head. I sat in bed, taking note of the glass of water and the ibuprofen pills beside it with a small note fixed under the glass. I left after you fell asleep. Take the pills when you wake up – Fred. “Ugh!” I groaned as I reached for the much needed pills and threw them into my mouth, following with water. I held my head as I stood up and headed to the bathroom, unable to remember the events of the previous night after we left Fred’s restaurant. As I brushed my teeth and got ready for the day, I prayed that I hadn’t done something as embarrassing as throwing up on his shirt. I walked out of my unit and made an attempt to head to Fred’s to thank him for the pills and for driving me home when someone caught me off guard with a quiet greeting. “Good morning. I believe you’re Lauren,” she said. The woman had golden curls on her head with electric blue eyes that could be seen from a mile away. Her eyes were cove
I jumped off the bench in shock as I stared at Shirley with my jaw dropped. I looked around as I took steps away from her, wondering if there were people watching me who wanted to harm me. “What are you doing here? How did you know I was here? What is wrong with you, Shirley? I left to have some peace to myself, yet here you are! I don’t want this. I don’t want any of this!” “I need to talk to you,” she said, her voice as calm and calculated as ever. That only made me even more suspicious. She didn’t answer any of my questions, and she made it clear that she was there to talk to me. Which meant that she had traveled out of the state specifically for me. “You have done more than enough.” I shook my head. Using my peripheral vision, I started to site all the places that I could possibly run to if she tried anything funny. Maybe I could book it to the restaurant and get Fred to call the police. “I know,” she agreed with me, standing up and causing me to stumb
“Sh…Shirley?” I called, staring at her as her body crumpled to the ground, the life draining out of her eyes. I could hear the screams of the people who saw and heard what had happened. “Call 911!” Someone yelled, but it all faded in my head until there was a loud ringing in my head. I stared at the scene before me. People rushing towards her body to try and offer whatever help they couldeven when they all knew that she was dead. “Hey, are you okay?” I almost jumped out of my skin when I felt a hand on my shoulder, turning around to find Fred staring so hard at me. It was obvious that he was trying his best to not look at Shirley. Left with nobody else to tell, I pushed myself into his chest and sobbed. The sounds of sirens filled my ears, and I didn’t even want to turn back and see her being taken away. “She was my friend,” I cried out to Fred. “She… I don’t know. I have to talk to Conrad. I have to tell him what happened.” “I’m sorry, Lauren. I’m
“Lauren?” I grunted, turning around and waking up as I heard my name. Fred shook me awake, and the first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was my phone in front of my face. “What is it?” I asked, sitting up on the couch where I had fallen asleep after arguing with Fred about where to sleep since he wanted me to take the bed for him to take the couch. “Your phone is ringing. I just walked by and saw it,” he said, handing me the phone. I rubbed my eyes, trying to focus on the screen of the phone and the caller ID when the phone stopped ringing. I looked up at Fred who has his arms crossed and was leaning against the door which led to the kitchen. “Aren’t you going to call who it is back? It could be an emergency, especially after what happened yesterday.” All of a sudden, I was reminded of the yesterday’s incident and what I had witnessed. A headache was brewing in my head now, and I grabbed the phone as tightly as I could. I wasn’t sure I was r
Damien hung up the phone without another word. I didn’t know what to do with that response or the lack of it. I fell into the couch and had to stop myself from crying. Had he finally gotten sick and tired of my constant back and forth with him? I didn’t even get the chance to tell him just how much I loved him. What was the point of doing it anyway? Nothing was going to get fixed that way. “Hey, are you okay?” Fred placed a gentle hand on my shoulder after a while of me sitting and staring at nothing. I jumped at the suddenness. “I said your food is ready. Let’s go.” We walked into the kitchen, where he had spread garlic bread and toast with sunny side up eggs. A pot of coffee was brewing on the counter as we both sat. Fred let me dig into the food, but I couldn’t shake off the effect that his long and hard stare had on me. “Is there something you want to talk about?” I engaged, letting him know I could tell that he was staring. “Oh, um.” He cleared