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“You don’t know? What’s not to know? The man’s got a compound, for God’s sake. Anyone having a compound I would say is like a major red flag in the first place!”
“Okay, fine, being locked in was not the best part of the job.” She took a deep breath. “Look, I know it sounds crazy, and with my stellar track record, I get it, but please just try to understand. I know it’s all kinds of ass-backwards, but for a bit there, in spite of everything, or maybe almost because of everything, I felt something with him…”
“You felt something? What, like, besides ‘trapped’?”
“Please just listen, Jules, I mean it! Yes, I felt something…You know, like that something you can’t explain, like that something that people only feel in rom-coms…I wassurehe was the one.” She crashed down on Julie’s couch defeatedly. “Youdothink I’m an idiot,” she said as she started to cry.
“Aw, Winny, I don’t think you’re an idiot,” Julie said soothingly as she got her a tissue and took her hand. “I just think maybe you have some…issues. Potentially serious issues.”
Winona knew she was playing with her, but she still gave her her best glaring side-eye.
But seriously. You know, it’s like they say in AA…stop going to the hardware store for milk, honey. I mean, shocker he treated you likejustthe nanny, cause youarethe nanny!”
“You’re not helping!” she said, glaring for real.
“Oh, right, I’m sorry. I mean, ‘What an asshole!’ But, seriously, he totally took advantage of his position too!" Julie threw her arms in the air. “Look, I think you should just be grateful you got out of there and you actually got paid!”
“I’m still an idiot. You don’t have to be nice,” she said glumly.
“But what about the guy being after him and his family and all that?” Julie said. “That’s fucked up. You said he disappeared right into thin air?”
“Yeah, that was crazy. I’ve heard of that, with fae and some other beings, I guess, but it was something else to see it with my own eyes.”
“I bet!”
“But that guy doesn’t know me from anyone, and what was I gonna do? Be totally tied to Rollo? Honestly, that was just as much a reason to get out as any.”
“I don’t know. That shit would freak me out. Sounds like you had no good options,” she continued.
“Yeah. Great, thanks for the pep talk. Can we not talk about it please?” She would have laughed, if she weren’t crying. “Do you have any wine?”
“Absolutely,” Julie said as she grabbed a bottle out of her small rack.
“Bring on the blotto!”
“Don’t you feel bad about the kids?” Julie asked.
“Of course I feel bad about them. Didn’t I just say I am done talking about it?” she said, angrily. Tears were threatening just below her bluster.
“I’m sorry, right. Sorry,” Julie said as she began to uncork the bottle.
“No. Let’s talk about those four sweet boys,” came a dark voice from a silhouette on the balcony.
“Holy shit!” cried Julie, almost dropping the bottle, as she jumped about two feet in the air.
Winona peered into the darkness to make out a shadowy form.
“Frederick,” she said quietly. What was he doing here? How did he even know to look for her here?
Then it hit her. She could have groaned out loud. Julie’s social media. She put all her life out there for everyone to see, including pictures of the both of them.
But the question remained, what did he want with her anyway?
Great.It hit her all at once. “I should never have left the safe house.”
“Wait, what? The guy? Is thisthatguy? But you said…” Julie trailed off as he stepped out of the shadows.
Sliding the balcony door further open than the crack it had been sitting at, he entered the room. A deeply unsettling laughter came from him as he did so. Tall, thin, with half his face torn and scarred. “So, you wised up and decided to get away from him, is that it?”
