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Sixteen
Adrienne
Sunday afternoon, Cole showed up with a toolbox, a peephole, and a doorbell camera. When I asked him why, he told me a mutual friend had called, and that Graham wanted me to go stay with the three of them for a while.
Phillip. “Uh, that wouldn’t work for any of us,” I said.
“I figured that would be your answer, based on what Phillip told me. But you’re always welcome, and since you’re going to refuse and be stubborn, this is security.”
“It’s not stubbornness, it’s...” I sighed. “I don’t have permission from building management to install any of this stuff.
Cole finished measuring out the spot in the door for the lens, and grabbed a cordless drill. “I took care of it. I also made Graham stay home, so call him while I’m doing this.”
I didn’t want any of this to spiral because of me. Now Cole was giving up his evening and Graham was worried. I could be upset at Phillip for not backing off when I asked him to, but this was all on me still, for staying with the wrong guy for so long.
I dialed Graham, assured him I was fine, and promised him he’d be the first person I called if anything like yesterday morning happened again.
“Adrienne.” Graham’s voice was hard as we wrapped up the call.
“Yeah?”
“I know why you haven’t called the police, but next time don’t make me hear this from some guy Cole used to work with. Call me. Track me down. I don’t care what I’m doing, I’d rather you interrupt than the alternative.”
I was grateful he stayed away from details. My mind was already providing me with plenty of what could happen next if Sean proved to be a bigger problem, and I was doing my best not to fall into that panic, since I still had to live in my apartment. “I promise.”
After I hung up with Graham, I tried not to hover while Cole finished up the installation. He gave me a quick tutorial on how to use the doorbell cam, told me the footage was uploading to the cloud, to a server where he could access it if needed, and made me promise to call the police if Sean came back.
“I’m not leaving you here alone, if you don’t promise,” Cole said.
“Okay, I promise.”
He left and I locked everything behind him, checked the new camera many times, and wedged a chair under the front door. Then, for good measure, I stacked my muffin tins and baking pans on the chair.
Anyone wanting to come in would either need my permission, or struggle then make a lot of noise.
I made myself comfortable on the couch. I left the curtains drawn tight and the lights off, and found the tamest, happiest movie I could.
Now that I was home, alone with my brain, there was nothing to do but think, and that would be dangerous.
I bounced between wondering if every voice, creak, and car engine I heard was Sean, and falling into memories of yesterday with Dustin and Phillip.
Maybe I was the kind of person who could do casual sex. Last night was... wow and I really wanted to do that again, but this crap with Sean was a stark reminder that I was not relationship-ready.
I couldn’t even sleep in my own apartment without worrying that my last serious guy might want to do more than just talk next time.
Sleep came in bursts all night. I’d doze off on the couch only to be woken up by a door slamming somewhere or a siren or the current movie ending and silence settling into the apartment.
When the clock passed five, I deemed it late—early?— enough to give up on trying to sleep, and get ready for work.
Taking a shower was nerve-racking for the same reasons sleep had been.
The text waiting for me from Luna made me smile and was a relief. Breakfast? Loading Java?
I’m in. And more than happy for the excuse to leave my apartment. I would’ve left early anyway, but now I had a destination.
I reached the coffee shop to find Luna already there with Sonya. I waved, grabbed an iced tea and a chocolate croissant, and joined them, dropping into the chair Luna nudged in my direction.
We exchanged a polite round of good morning, and I picked at my breakfast.
