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The phone ringing interrupts my brief meditation session.
I glance down at the caller ID. Ugh. Vivi is not really someone I would call a friend. We work together at the same restaurant, but she’s more of a nosy acquaintance who turns into an occasional frenemy anytime she thinks she can earn points by throwing me under the bus. Like when she told our boss, Rena, that I was slacking off at work when in reality, I'd worked all her shifts earlier because she agreed to work mine.
Still, I'm too polite to not answer. What if she needs something? “Hello?”
"Girl.“ She drags it out with a lascivious pleasure like she’s just found a juicy morsel to chew on. “How was the date?”
“Fine,” I say short because I don’t want to get into it with her. She’s the last person I want to find out about my humiliation. “Did you need something?”
“Oh no, nothing. It’s just…well, someone said they saw you at the Dairy Queen with Professor Mattings.”
Oh, God. Someone saw me and told her? This town is far too small, and of course, he's probably popular in his college.
But still, why do I have just no damn luck?
And then I realize what she said.
"Wait, you know him?” I ask.
“Of course," she says. “He’s Rena’s ex.”
I freeze in step. Oh my gosh.
This cannot be happening.
"You're joking," I say.
"Nope," Vivi retorts gleefully, and I feel my heart drop into my stomach.
Rena and I met at my last job, right after I got laid off due to budget cuts. It was super bad timing because I was also about to lose my apartment at that time because I was late for rent. I'd been in the bathroom crying my eyes out and she walked in. We got to talking and she told me she was starting up a breakfast spot and they were hiring. Of course, she couldn't offer much in terms of pay, but she told me she had a room I could stay at and she would give it to me at a discount.
It seemed like the perfect arrangement.
Except, as I came to find out later, living with Rena is a little...complicated.
She has these mood swings where she can be normal one minute, and then be a complete bitch to me the next with no provocation at all. She's also very specific and screams like a banshee if I don't scrub the plate in the exact way she wants me to. Or if I so much as breathe wrong.
I've been tolerating it so far because I'm saving money to get a new place. But so far, with the prices skyrocketing, it doesn’t look like I’ll be successful anytime soon.
“They didn’t end badly, did they?” I ask, crossing my fingers.
“Oh yeah, super bad,” she says. “It destroyed her. They were pretty toxic."
Amazing.
"Anyway, I gotta go. I have my own hot date tonight," Vivi says. "Bye-bye."
After she hangs up, I release my breath and start back home. I know this is going to be one of Rena’s bitchy nights. I can already feel it. At least I got a salad and some cheesecake waiting for me at home when it's all done.
Just then leaves crackle behind me and I turn around. I look into the bushes but it's too dark in the thickets to see anything. It felt like footsteps. My ears perk up, to hear anything else but all is silent now. I look around but I don't see anyone.
There could be no one there.
Still, I can't forget about the way my date's eyes had blazed at me, the pure menace glowing in them.
What if he’s following me?
Fear sparks through my heart as I immediately start moving faster again. The rustling sounds come again and choke back a scream as I break into a run. God, why was I stupid enough to walk down an empty road at night just for the scenery? Did I really need to walk tonight of all nights? Or was it because he said something about my weight? Was I trying to prove something?
