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It kills me to know she was awake while I was standing in her yard in a towel. If only she’d been looking out a window, or sitting on her porch.
“Holly, what’s your schedule like this week? I could really use a girl date before my trip.”
“Of course! I’ll make time for you. How about lunch Thursday?”
“Okay.”
“Yeah…I woke up at around midnight and then couldn’t go back to sleep, happened to turn on my phone when I went to the bathroom…and then you called. It was perfect timing.”
“Oh.” I nervously laugh, glad just to be on the phone with the voice of love and reason. “So, what are you so restless about?” I ask. I may as well sit and listen to Holly talk about anything that keeps me from telling what happened.
“Oh God Fiona, it’s so stupid. Seriously…Levi’s not here tonight and I’m just skittish for some reason. It sounds dumb but I just woke up scared. I went through my condo and turned on about twenty lights.”
Uncontrollable tears are quietly rolling down my cheeks again. “So that’s why your lights were on,” I mumble, almost choking on the words.
“What?”
“I was out taking a walk…and I noticed your lights were on.”
“Fiona you sound terrible, and that’s a pretty hardy walk for this hour. What is going on?”
I let out a heavy sigh, verging on telling her, then remind myself Quade could literally be hiding within feet of me. “I’ve just had an emotional day. Any chance you can do lunch tomorrow?”
“Oh dear…I would love that but I have a call that’s going to cut my lunch down to about twenty minutes, at my desk. Maybe I can put it off—”
“No…no, Thursday’s fine. Don’t do anything drastic. Well, I’m excited about the AFA weekend.” I don’t quite know how to fill the space without telling my story, but I know we both want to linger on the phone after our respective fright nights, so I may as well lighten the atmosphere if I can’t discuss anything relevant.
“Yeah! Maybe it will be a little bonding experience for you and your star employee,” Holly says, already sounding brighter.
“Should be something like that.” We’re silent for a moment, neither of us wanting to mention the Bo factor.
“You know what,” she abruptly starts back in, “there’s no way I’m going to sleep right now. Even with all the lights on. Any chance you’d wanna come back over? We could have a slumber party…or I can come over to your place? I know it’s absurd but I don’t feel like being alone tonight.”
I’m dying by inches as the words come out of her mouth. Holly’s company is exactly what I need right now, and I’m determined to stay on the phone forever if I can’t have it. But the possibility of Quade listening or watching has got me in a paralysis. If I try to leave, he could be out there…obsessively stalking, waiting to pull up alongside me and follow. And having Holly over is simply out of the question. I wouldn’t be able to talk about anything real. Not to mention, what if my ex husband’s so psychotic that he attempts to take on two women? I know that’s not going to happen, but I can’t be responsible for putting Holly in a possible situation. This is all so new to me, and I have no idea what I could actually be dealing with.
“I know…it was a silly idea. We should probably both just try to sleep,” she says after being met by the silence of my indecisiveness.
“No…actually it’s a great idea. But, can we stay on the phone while you come over?”
“Of course. Please, yes, let’s stay on the phone. Okay…so I’m coming over there?”
“Yeah. Is that okay?”
“Sure. My empty condo’s giving me the creeps and I wanna get out of here anyway. I’m already walking down to my car.”
“Perfect.” I’m sure she’ll be safe in her car, and if Quade’s spying on me he’ll flee before she arrives. It’s not like we’re dealing with an ax murderer…
“Okay, ignition on and garage door opening. I feel better already. This will be so fun!” Holly says. I force out a giggle in response.
We make chit chat until she pulls up in front of my house, at which point I finally brave moving around and turning on some lights. I figure if Quade’s in the vicinity, I’ll act like I don’t suspect it. I manage to walk down the hall and stairs to meet Holly without any hiccups, which increases my sensation that Quade’s done here for the night.
I watch her safely leave her car and walk to the front door, then throw it open to greet her. We hug each other too hard for a couple of friends who saw each other three days ago, then enter boisterously and begin bustling around the kitchen, heating up tea water and digging out snacks. As we sit down to celery sticks and Cesar dressing, clutching our hot mugs of tea, I’m almost convinced that I feel happy and normal. But, after a few minutes of conversation, the guilt seeps in when Holly asks me about Bo and I’m resistant to answering it. How could I compromise another woman by luring her into my unsafe home?
After I shrug off the Bo question, Holly cheerily changes the subject to the huge, pink hot tub in my attic. “I have the best idea,” she says. “Let’s go up to the attic and get nice and sleepy in a big hot tub full of bubbles.”
Again, I’m stricken with guilt at the image of the two of us, giggling in the hot-tub with Quade peeking out from a closet. My one comfort is, if he drove away from my house, parked on the next street, hoofed it back over here, and stealthily entered without making a sound, then he’s not going to be able to follow us up to the attic without being detected. Oh…until we turn the jets on and begin shouting over the top of them. Or worse yet, he comes out of hiding and corners us in the tub, naked and vulnerable, because he no longer cares about consequences. Plus the law is on his side. We’re not getting in that hot-tub.
“Ooh yeah…that does sound nice,” I start in by means of explanation, “but the attic’s kind of a mess right now. I need to clean the tub out actually.”
