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“I know,” she says, giving me a watery smile, “I know. And I want to tell you, I will tell you. I just need a little more time, but I also want you to know that I don’t ever want to hear you talk down about what you’ve done here. About this life you’ve built. You’re incredible, you deserve all of this and more,” she finishes, handing me back my wine glass and guiding us back to the couch.
“Thank you,” I sigh, flopping back down, “I just keep waiting for the other shoe to drop.”
“What do you mean?”
I know I need to tell someone about the texts from Jason, so it all tumbles out of mouth and pretty soon I’m filling her in on everything. The texts, the weird feelings I’ve been getting. I just know he’s here in Alabama.
“That son of a bitch,” she seethes, “how dare he think it’s okay to text you and scare you like that.” I get why she’s upset but I expected this. I always knew escaping Jase wouldn’t be easy. It was ridiculous to think I could just run away and he wouldn’t follow me and I tell that to Riss.
“It doesn’t matter if you ran away. It was run or die, Alexis. And you chose to fight, and you’ve been clawing your way out of that life ever since. You are strong and brave; don’t you dare let him make you think any differently.”
“I know, I know. If it goes on, I’ll go to the cops. But for now, can I pleeeeease just
enjoy my best friend?” She grins.
“Of course. Now tell me more about your hot neighbor,” she squeals, flopping to her knees onto the couch beside me.
???
The beginning of the week came and went. It’s been great spending time with Clarissa, I didn’t realize how much I missed her until she showed up on my doorstep. She’s been spending her days scouring Monroeville for a temporary apartment and looking for a job and then we spend the evening together, catching up and binge-watching terrible TV shows. It was just before daybreak as I dragged myself out of bed. Riss is still sleeping and I’ve been feeling sluggish the last few days and I could probably guess why. It’d been weeks since I did yoga. I decided to take my mat to the backyard. Gathering my purple mat and my water bottle, I made my way outback and settled onto the deck for my session.
The sun was just starting to peek through the trees, bathing the yard in oranges and pinks, as I came out of Child's Pose. The bright rays began to kiss my face. Tilting my face back to soak up the warmth, I moved into Eagles Pose. I was having a hard time finding that place of zen. I felt like I was being watched. Cracking an eye open I glanced around but saw nothing.
My quaint little cottage backed up to a set of woods, so it was hard to see much farther than the tree line. Ignoring the nagging feeling that there were eyes on me, I moved into a bow pose. Stretching as far back as I could and inhaling deeply. I exhaled and moved out of the pose. I opened my eyes and startled.
“Jesus Christ, Zane. You scared the shit out of me,” I clutched my chest, brushing the hairs that had escaped my messy bun out of my face. Right there in front of me he stood, cracking up. “So glad you think this is funny,” I deadpanned.
“Sorry Lex,” he managed to wheeze out between laughs, “I didn’t mean to scare you.” I had been spending more time at Ford’s, dinners here and there, so I was getting to know the kids pretty well and they were feeling more comfortable around me. He straightened up and cut his eyes over to his house and back to me. I reached for my water bottle to take a drink and narrowed my eyes at him.
“What’s up? Did you need something?”
“I wanted to say something to dad, but I don’t know if I should. I’m not sure if it’s really that big of a deal….” He trailed off, looking nervous.
“Hey, if something is bothering you, you can always talk to me about it. Regardless of if you think it’s a big deal or not, it will feel good to get it off your chest.” I prodded him.
“Yeah,” he nodded, continuing, “okay, so, the other night Sophie came over to babysit us. And she’s great, I like her a lot. Not like that,” he continued, making a face, “just, she’s a good babysitter and she doesn’t talk to me like I’m some stupid kid. Anyways, I fell asleep playing on my iPad and woke up and I was thirsty, so I started to go downstairs for a bottle of water. And as I was walking by dad's door Sophie was coming out.”
I squinted at him, trying to figure out where he was going with this.
“Okay… well, did she say what she was doing?”
“She said she was putting laundry away. But she didn’t have a basket and she’s never done our laundry before. She’s just a babysitter, not like a housekeeper or whatever. But she looked really guilty and when she walked away, I peeked in dad's room and it looked like someone had been laying in his bed. He makes it every morning, but it looked like rumpled or whatever.”
Hmm. Weird. “Maybe she just thought she was helping out with the laundry and she sat down on the bed to fold it? I’m not sure buddy. But if you want, I can mention it to your dad?”
His shoulders instantly relax. “Could you? I don’t want to make it into a big deal, but I don’t want her to be in dad's room either. It’s weird.” He scrunched his nose up, looking adorable. I reached out and ruffled his hair.
“Sure thing, kiddo. I’ll just tell him you were concerned.” He cracked a huge smile.
“Thanks Lex!” He starts to turn back towards the house and then he spun back around and snapped his fingers. “Oh! I almost forgot! This was in our mail yesterday!” He hands me an envelope that he’s been holding this entire time.
I watch Zane cross the yard and make sure he goes back inside before I open the envelope he gave me. Using my finger, I tear the sealed flap and pull out the plain white piece of paper and unfold it. My hands begin to shake as I skim my eyes over it.
Don’t forget who you belong to, bitch. See you soon.
Your husband
I flip the envelope over. There’s no stamp in the top right corner and there’s no return address. This was hand delivered. My eyes scan the backyard, that nagging feeling of being watched pricking my skin, causing goosebumps all over. I quickly gather my yoga mat and water bottle and turn and flee to the house. Sliding the door shut behind me, I quickly click all the locks into place.
