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“My what?”
A pause. “You have an email, but you don’t have social media. The pictures of you circulating are from other people’s accounts. I find that…interesting.”
“I have no reason to make accounts. Why would I need to?”
“What about connecting with friends? Old ones. New ones. You could keep up-to-date on social activities in the area. They have those. Maybe you like plants and want to join a botany or gardener’s group. Have you ever given it thought?”
“You sound like you’re trying to sell me something.” I stood, walking over to grab my tea. “I don’t need a group or new friends; I have Tiff. We’ve been best friends since we were in kindergarten together. She’s all I need. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I have acquaintances, but I wouldn’t say they’re friends. I just don’t want to complicate my life with endless drama. I like my solitude. I like quiet. I like to read. People get in the way of that.”
“I get it. I do. I saw you reading the last few days. Do you ever go out?”
“Not really. I’ve gone to the occasional club over the years, but nothing extreme. It was more in college anyway. I like my routine and privacy.”
“You mentioned to the cops that he put something over your mouth and nose as you approached your apartment. How did he find you? Do you know?”
For a moment, I had forgotten my body was beaten to hell, or that I was talking to an actual person at all. I felt out of it. In a daze. Sleep begged for me. I needed to close my eyes. To disappear. I needed my meds, my hand was killing me.
“You’re in pain.”
“I am.” I stood, heading to the bag I’d placed down on the coffee table when I’d come in. “The coffee shop down the road. That’s where I first saw him.” I opened the bottle of pills, taking two. “He bumped into me. Then, he winked. It was the oddest thing. It’s like he wanted me to remember him. He took me that evening, after work.”
“So, he’d been watching you. Probably for a while.”
“I guess.”
“You’re beautiful. He wouldn’t have missed that.”
I paused in sitting, narrowing my eyes at the camera before lowering.
“Thanks for trying to make me feel better, but I’m plain. I’ve always been, and I always will be. I’m okay with that. Truly, I am.”
“Plain? Who fed you that load of shit? Worse, who the hell made you believe it?”
Leaning back in my chair, I curled into a ball, blowing on my tea. “You ask some very personal questions. It’s my turn. Do you have a name?”
“J.”
“J. J-A-Y? Or is J short for something?”
“J is fine.”
I smiled, wincing at the pain along my jaw. “Okay, J. You saw me on the news. I’m assuming that wasn’t mainstream. Are you local? You know where I am. Where exactly are you?”
“A few blocks away.”
The cup stopped midway to my mouth. “That close?”
“I’m not too far.”
“Have we met before?”
“No.”
Words wouldn’t come, but it was as though he could read my mind.
“You’re wondering if we will.”
“It may have entered my mind.”
