Chapter Ten
June
I was walking on air when Thomas dropped me off at home. This time, he walked me to my front door and we kissed for a long time. I was just about to invite him in when he said he had to go, kissed me one last time, then left.
I closed my eyes, savoring the moment for a long time before I opened the door. Angela was curled up on the couch, reading a book. When she saw me, she laughed.
“What?” I narrowed my eyes. “Do I have something on my dress?”
Angela shook her head and gave me a guilty smile. “You smell like sex. Look in the mirror,” she added.
Frowning, I turned to the mirror and gasped. My lips were pink and swollen and the rest of my face was flushed. My black hair was a mess and my forehead was damp with sweat. And my whole body felt different – almost like something had slipped inside of me and changed me forever when I was out with Thomas.
“Did you fuck him?”
“Angela!” I blushed. “No!”
“You look like you fucked him,” she said dryly.
“Well, I didn’t.” I sighed and flopped down on the couch, right on top of Angela’s feet. We tussled and laughed for a moment as she tucked her legs underneath her body.
“What happened? Why not?”
I shrugged. “He said I had too much wine. He said he wanted me to be more sober for the first time we had sex.”
Angela raised her eyebrows. “Wow, a gentleman,” she said. “You don’t really see those around anymore.”
“We made out in his car again,” I explained. “It was so hot.” I shivered. “It hurts, you know,” I added, blushing and making a quick gesture towards my crotch.
Angela hooted with laughter. “It’s like a female version of blue balls,” she said. She snickered with laughter. “I know. It does hurt. But it’ll go away.” She smirked. “Unless you want…to help yourself.”
“Oh, my god, ew, no!”
Angela shrieked with laughter. “Oh, June,” she said affectionately. “My little prude. Don’t ever change,” she added.
I glared at her. “Ha, ha,” I said sarcastically.
“So, I take it you had a good time?”
I sighed with happiness and flopped against the back of the couch. “It was the best night of my life,” I said dramatically. “He ordered so much wine, and seriously every tapa on the menu. I’m stuffed. Everything was so nice.”
“I bet,” Angela said. She yawned. “I’ve been trying to have a quiet night.”
I frowned. “What happened?” I glanced around. Our apartment, though not the greatest, wasn’t plagued with some of the common problems in New York City. We rarely had rats, and we weren’t close enough to the subway for it to be too loud…which was both a blessing and a curse, as I’d come to discover over freezing winter mornings of running to work.
“Someone sent up a bunch of messages,” Angela said in a neutral tone. “I assumed they were from Thomas, until I realized that you were already out with him.”
I blushed. “Maybe he did them for me to find when I got back? That kind of seems like something he’d do.”
Angela shook her head and gave me a wary look. “I wouldn’t get too excited,” she said. “They’re not flowers, if that’s what you’re asking.”
I frowned. Angela pointed to a bunch of small manila envelopes by the door.
“Whoever it was, actually used a courier service,” she said, turning her attention back down to her book and yawning once more. “I didn’t actually know that those were still around.”
“Oh, yeah,” I said. “Weird.”
Angela was clearly finished talking, so I took the envelopes and dumped them in my room, on my bed. Then I went into the bathroom and washed my face, taking a long, hot shower. I couldn’t even touch my own body without thinking of Thomas’s huge, sensual hands…and suddenly, I wished that he were inside that cramped stall with me, covered in soap and water and making love to me until I was blind with passion.
When I was sick of standing in the tepid water, I wrapped myself in a big fluffy towel and braided my hair. The messages were still waiting for me on my bed when I got back to my room, and I sat down, crossed my legs, and opened the first envelope.
“June – where are you? Call me. Andy.”
My stomach twisted into a knot and I frowned, tossing the note away. A slight pang of guilt hit me in the chest and I swallowed, trying to make it disappear.
“June – where the fuck did you go? We had a date, remember?”
“That’s not very nice,” I said under my breath, balling the message up and tossing it away. My slight feeling of sympathy for Andy vanished. What a jerk, I thought as my trembling fingers opened the third message. Thomas would never speak to me like that.
“June – are you fucking with me? Why the fuck would you do something like this? Are you a bitch? Are you trying to fuck with me?”
The bad feeling returned with alarming speed, but this time it wasn’t guilt. This time, I felt nothing more than shame and fear.
“Angela,” I called in a trembling voice.
Seconds later, Angela was standing at the door.
“June, what’s going on? What’s wrong?”
I pointed to the opened notes scattered around my bed. There were still four notes, unopened.
“They’re from Andy,” I said shakily.
Angela picked one of them up and read it. “What the fuck,” she murmured under her breath. “What an asshole! Where the hell does he get off talking to you like this?”
I shuddered. “I don’t know,” I admitted softly. “But I’m scared.”
Angela frowned. “Don’t be,” she said. “He’s probably just fucking with you.”
“I hope so,” I mumbled. “I really do.”
--
The rest of the weekend was quiet. It stormed all day on Sunday, so I curled up by the window and planned my lessons for the rest of the week. Thankfully, there was no word from Andy…but troublingly, there wasn’t word from Thomas, either.
Monday morning felt warmer than it had in weeks. I only wore a light sweater over my knit dress as I took the subway to P.S.151. I wasn’t looking forward to Andy. Angela and I had decided that if he confronted me, the best thing to do would be to lie. Say I was sick, that I forgot, anything. And then I had to be firm with him – I had to tell him that I wasn’t interested, or that I was dating someone else.
When I got to school, I went into the break room. Thankfully, Andy wasn’t there. Michelle and Ruth were, though.
“Hey guys,” I said, tucking my sandwich into a corner of the fridge. “How was your weekend?”
Michelle stared blankly at me before turning and leaving.
I turned to Ruth and frowned. “What’s up with her?”
Ruth flushed. “No clue,” she said. “Come on, we should get going.”
I nodded. “Okay, yeah.”
Thankfully, my class was well-behaved. Even Brett didn’t make a peep. He was very obedient that day, and I wondered what the principal had said to him…whatever it was had seemed to work. Brett was a model student all day, and I was so relieved when the last bell rang that I gave all the kids a piece of candy from the treat jar on my desk.
I couldn’t stop thinking about Thomas. During planning, I even spaced out and started doodling his name all over my notebook like a little kid. When I felt a hand clamp down on my shoulder, I shrieked.
“God, June, calm down,” Ruth said. She sounded exasperated. As she glanced down at my notebook, I grabbed it and tucked it out of sight, blushing furiously.
I narrowed my eyes. “Sorry,” I mumbled. “You just startled me. What’s wrong?”
Ruth cleared her throat nervously. “I…I wanted to speak with you about something.”
“Okay.” I swallowed. “That doesn’t sound good. What’s wrong?”
“Well…” Ruth trailed off, looking anxious. “I don’t know, June. Maybe I shouldn’t say anything.”
“What?” I stood up. My palms grew cold and damp and I wiped them on my skirt. “What’s going on?”
Ruth looked helpless. “Come with me,” she said. She led me down the hall and into the teacher’s lounge before pointing at the wall. “You might want to take that down,” she added. She pointed to a piece of paper tacked onto the wall.
I gasped. A piece of white copy paper was stuck to the wall, covered in crude drawings of a female stick figure with long black hair. Another stick figure – actually several of them, all male – were surrounding the female and laughing at her. I flushed hotly when I saw that all of the male figures had huge, crudely-drawn penises.
“Oh my god!” I shrieked. “What is this?”
Ruth looked guilty. “This was there, too,” she said. She handed me a crumpled piece of paper and I unfolded it, gasping in shock when I read the words scrawled on the page.
“June Rogers is a fuck slut!! She is a sexual predator!! She will fuck your male students so keep them locked away!! She is a pedophile and should be arrested!!!”
I screamed and grabbed the page with stick figures off the wall, crumpling it and tearing it into a thousand pieces. Tears stung my eyes and I covered my face with my hands before I began to cry.
“Ruth, what’s going on,” I cried, feeling helpless. “Why would someone do this to me?”
Ruth looked nervous. “You probably don’t want to rip that up,” she said. “You probably should want to keep it as…you know, evidence.”
“Evidence?” My jaw dropped. “What’s going on, Ruth? Why is someone trying to sabotage me?” Tears of humiliation and hurt streamed down my face and I wrapped my arms around my body, hugging myself tightly.
Ruth licked her dry lips. “I don’t know,” she said softly. “Is someone mad at you, June? Is that what’s going on?”
“I have no idea,” I said. Then, an image of Andy popped into my mind and I shuddered.
“June?” Ruth asked cautiously. “It’s okay – you can tell me.”
I shook my head and bit my lip. “Forget it,” I said. I tried to pull myself together, and wiped the tears from my face with the backs of my hands. “It’s not worth talking about.”
Ruth nodded slowly. “Okay,” she said. “But if you need to talk, I’m here.”
I set my lips in a thin line. “I’m fine,” I said softly.
At least, I hoped I was fine.
By the time I left school, I was a nervous wreck. All of the happiness and joy that my date with Thomas had brought me over the weekend had vanished. Why was Andy doing this? Why did he hate me? I knew that I shouldn’t have ghosted him, but that didn’t warrant any of this insanity! He was acting like a total crazy person.
I was a few blocks away from school and almost to the subway when someone grabbed me and pulled me into an alley. Before I could scream, a hand clapped over my mouth. Someone’s arms wrapped around my torso, pinning my arms to my sides, and carried me far away from the street.
“Help!” I tried to shriek. It only came out as a muffled grunt. Panic began to race in my belly and a cold sweat broke out over my body. This is it, I thought as my unknown assailant dragged me farther and farther from the safety of the street.
“Shut up, bitch,” a familiar voice hissed. “Did you like my notes?”
When I realized it was Andy who had grabbed me, I twisted and shrieked in fear. Andy gripped me with surprising strength – he was a smaller guy, and I was shocked that he was able to carry me at all.
Finally, Andy took his hand away from my mouth and I gagged and coughed. Pain bloomed in my chest and I shuddered as sobs began to wrack my body. When I looked at Andy, he looked smug and satisfied.
“Hi, June,” Andy said coldly. “I was hoping you’d see my drawings.”
“Why?” I asked softly. “Why would you do something like that, Andy?”
Andy’s eyes flashed with anger and he stepped closer, balling his hands into fists. I shivered with fear.
“Please don’t hit me,” I said softly. “Please, Andy. I’m sorry – I know I shouldn’t have stood you up, that was wrong and I’m sorry.”
“You’re right,” Andy said coldly. “That was a shitty thing to do, June. I thought girls like you were nice – I thought girls like you didn’t mess with innocent men and their emotions.”
“I swear, I wasn’t trying to hurt you!” I shrieked. “I was just feeling scared. Andy, you made me feel like I couldn’t say no to you! But I don’t have time for a relationship,” I added quickly. “I don’t have time to date you – or anyone else!”
Andy shook his head and licked his lips. “I don’t believe that, June,” he said softly. His voice was as cold and chilling as steel. “I think you lied to me on purpose because you wanted to hurt me. Tell the truth, June – you lied because you wanted to hurt me.”
He stepped closer and my heart began to pound in my chest. Cold sweat raced down my back and I put my hands up in a weak defense as Andy advanced on me. My bag slipped from my shoulder but I was barely even aware of the contents spilling all over the wet asphalt of the alley.
“Andy, please,” I begged. “Please, please don’t hurt me!”
“I’ll do whatever I want to you, June,” Andy hissed. “So don’t think you can get out of this alive.”
When he put his hands on my shoulders, I screamed and screamed. My throat was burning as I called for help. Knowing that I was only feet away from the safety of the street somehow made me feel even more panicked, and I twisted furiously, trying to free myself from Andy’s grip. Enraged, Andy pulled one of his hands free from my body and slapped me across the face.
The pain stung, but it was enough to startle me into action. Before I could even think about what I was doing, I screamed and threw my whole weight to one side.
“Help!” I screamed. “Help, someone’s trying to assault me!”
Andy was clearly stunned and he made another grab for my arm but I darted out of the way and started to run towards the street.
“Help!” I shrieked again. “Somebody, please!”
My heart was pounding and the adrenaline was rushing through my body as I tore out of the alley and stumbled onto the sidewalk. A curious pool of people circled around me and I launched myself towards one of the men who had gathered in confusion.
“Ma’am, what’s going on? Are you okay?”
“Please,” I sobbed. “The man in the alley! He was trying to assault me!”
A couple of the people nodded and ran into the alley while someone else called the police. Suddenly, I felt faint. The world around me began to zoom and spin and I clutched at my chest. Sharp pains were spreading from my heart out into my shoulders and I gasped as my eyes rolled back in my head and I passed out.
When I came to, I was surrounded by uniformed police and EMTs.
“Miss Rogers?”
I nodded weakly. “Did you get him?” I asked softly.
Two of the cops exchanged a dark look.
“No,” one of them said shortly. “He ran off before we were able to make the scene.”
Despair welled up in my chest and I began to shiver as the tears came rushing back to my eyes.
“Please,” I begged. “He was trying to assault me! He grabbed me from the street and dragged me into the alley!” Please, you’ve got to help me!”
One of the cops nodded. “That’s why we’re here,” he said. He sounded tired as he pulled a small notebook from his pocket and began to scribble notes.
But as I recited the story, including the part where Andy and I had gone on a date before, to the cops, I could practically see my chance of success draining from their eyes.
“This is someone you’ve dated before?”
“Just once,” I said quickly. “Because he pressured me into it.”
The cop frowned. “But you asked him,” he said.
“Yeah, because I felt like I had to!” I said hotly. “And now he’s stalking me!” I told them about the messages Andy had sent to my apartment, as well as the lewd stick drawings he’d posted in the break room.
The cops exchanged a look. “We’ll go talk to him,” one of them promised. “Just don’t get your hopes up.” He chuckled. “Men don’t like it when women aren’t straight with them. You should’ve just told him no.”
My heart sank. “I can’t believe you’re blaming me for this,” I said softly. “That’s so messed up.”
The cop sighed. “Look, I can’t say anything else right now. Just know that we’ll do our best.”
I closed my eyes and tears streamed down my cheeks. I couldn’t believe that the cops weren’t doing more to help me. I’d just gone through one of the scariest experiences in my life and they were acting it was my fault!
“Forget it,” I said bitterly. “I can handle this on my own.”
Chapter Eleven
Thomas
The first few days without Hannah were nice, almost quiet. I hadn’t realized it at the time, but she’d become an incredible distraction. I had one of my secretaries place a job ad for a new personal assistant, but I told myself that in the meantime, I would step up and start doing all of that stuff for myself. Even though I was a busy man, I knew that I wasn’t above picking up my own coffee and dry-cleaning. Maybe having an assistant, especially one like Hannah, had really gone to my head.
Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday all passed in a blur. I called June a couple of times, just to talk. But something was bothering me, and no matter how many times I asked, she wouldn’t tell me the truth. I desperately wanted her, and I knew how much she wanted me. So why was she playing these games?
She agreed to another date with me, on Saturday, and I told myself that I’d really throw myself into work on Thursday and Friday. Thursday morning, I was supposed to have a meeting with Keith Carner – he was one of my old buddies from MBA school, and we’d been doing business together for almost ten years. At one point, Keith had been one of my best friends in the world. Hell, he’d even been a groomsman in my wedding to Marlene.
When I called Keith’s office, he sounded distracted.
“I know it’s been forever, but I was hoping we could talk about a new deal,” I said. “I’m really hoping to acquire UPS by the end of the year, and I need your help.”
There was a long pause.
“Hello?” I narrowed my eyes in irritation. “Keith, you there, man?”
“Oh, yeah,” Keith said after a long pause. “Sorry, man. Just a little busy at the moment. How ‘bout I stop by your office later, after lunch?”
“Sounds good,” I said. “I’ve got to look for a new assistant anyway. See you then.”
“I’ll be there around two,” Keith said.
We hung up and I treated myself to a long lunch at the new Russian restaurant down the street. As soon as I saw the inside, I knew that June would love it – it was even more posh than Daniel had been, with lots of intimate touches. Thinking about the way she’d reacted to the escargot made me laugh. I wondered how she’d react to caviar.
June was easily the most refreshing person I’d met in my life. I wondered what made her tick, I wondered how she’d grown up into such a stunningly beautiful woman who didn’t even know her own power. Even though she was naïve, she was obviously quite smart. I closed my eyes as I sipped infused vodka and thought of taking June on weekend trips to Boston or Maine, watching her play in the snow. I snickered – somehow, I just knew that she’d be as eager as a child when it came to playing outside.
It wasn’t long before my thoughts turned to lusty ones. My cock stiffened in my pants as I thought of June’s lithe body spread out on a bearskin rug before a roaring blaze. I knew she’d have perfectly pink nipples and a neat little thatch of dark pubic hair. Normally, I liked my women hairless. But I knew that June would take immaculate care of herself, and I felt a hot bolt of lust careen through my cock when I thought about how it would feel to eat her out. Her pussy had to be soft and velvet smooth…and likely, unexplored. I knew that realistically, she couldn’t be a virgin…but at the same time, her obvious lack of experience with men told me that she’d still have that new car smell when it came time to fuck.
I closed my eyes and imagined June’s pale hands running over her body, teasing me. The idea was astonishingly arousing and I growled as I thought about taking both of her pale wrists with one hand, pinning them over her head, and holding her helpless while I fucked her raw.
After lunch, I was pleasantly drunk. The fall day was a chill one, but I sauntered back to the office and chain-smoked Dunhills while thinking about June. My meeting with Keith was in a little over an hour, and I thought I’d take a little nap in my office while I waited for him to show up.
I locked myself in my office, loosened my pants, and reclined on the black leather couch that Hannah had picked out. Even if she was a manipulative brat, she had good taste, I thought sleepily as I settled down and relaxed with my head in my arms. And I’d much rather have this couch around than her.
My head began to feel pleasantly exhausted and the next thing I knew, one of the secretaries was waking me up.
“Fuck,” I groaned. “What time is it?”
“Mr. March? It’s just after two,” the secretary replied. “Your phone has been ringing nonstop.”
I blinked and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. I couldn’t recall it immediately to mind but somehow, I knew that I’d been dreaming of June.
“Thanks,” I muttered. I hauled myself into a sitting position, still rubbing my eyes with my fists. Outside, the sky was dark and gloomy. Despite my nap, I still felt tired.
The secretary pranced out of my office, leaving the door open behind her. I growled as I stood up and stretched. I need a shave, I thought as I rubbed my fingers over my chin and jaw. My hands were greeted with prickly hairs that somehow felt coarser than they had twenty years before.
I walked over to my desk, expecting to see a flood of notes from Keith. But oddly, there was nothing. When I checked my messages, they were all spam. I frowned. Still, it was only ten past two. Keith wasn’t exactly known for being punctual. I decided to give him ten more minutes, then call over to his office to make sure he hadn’t forgot about our meeting.
I opened my email and sent off a few quick replies. There was an email from Marlene asking if we could meet for dinner, but the thought of that made my stomach curdle. I sent her a short, terse reply and five seconds later, she’d already replied.
“Don’t u think it would be for the best if Brett had both of his parents together?”
Ugh. Slamming my laptop shut, I strode into the hall.
“Hey Susie,” I said, leaning over the head secretary’s desk. “Did a Keith Carner call here for me?”
“Keith?” Susie wrinkled her face. “I don’t think so, Mr. March. Do you want me to place an outgoing call?”
Strange. We just made these damn plans and he already forgot.
I rolled my eyes. “No, thanks,” I said. “I’ll be in my office. If Keith – or anyone from Carner Enterprises – shows up, please show them in.”
“Got it,” Susie said. She bent her head over her desk and scratched at her scalp with long fingernails. Flakes of dandruff scattered across her keyboard and I tried hard not to shudder. Susie had been working for me for years – hell, she’d probably been working since I was in diapers. She was a repulsive elderly woman, but she knew what she was doing.
“Hey, how’s the hunt for my new assistant coming?” I turned back and cocked my head to the side.
Susie frowned. “Do the same…restrictions still apply?”
I laughed. “No,” I said. “They don’t.”
Susie’s frown melted and she gave me a tentative smile. “Very good, Mr. March. I hope to have someone for you by the end of the week.”
“Excellent. You’re the best. Thanks, Susie.”
Her smile grew a shade wider and she dipped her head, obviously unused to compliments. Grinning, I turned on my heel and sauntered into my office, closing the door behind me. Thinking of the “restrictions” made me laugh. When I’d first placed the ad to hire Hannah, Marlene and I had been in a rocky place. I knew it would piss her off if I found someone young, gorgeous, and blonde…so I specified that all candidates had to fit those criteria before I’d even consider hiring them. But now that we were divorced – not to mention, now that I was seeing June – they seemed ridiculous.
I laughed a little under my breath, imagining June’s face when I told her. It was too soon to tell if she’d think something like that was funny. She was so insecure, I wondered if she was the jealous type. But she’d met Marlene a handful of times by now…she had to know that I couldn’t want just any hot woman around. I was old enough that personality mattered a lot more to me, almost as much as looks had mattered when I’d been in my youth.
When two-thirty rolled around and Keith still hadn’t shown up, I was starting to get a little pissed off. I picked up my phone and reclined back in my chair, kicking my legs up on the desk and crossing them at the ankle.
This time, it took several minutes for someone to answer the phone.
“Hello, this is Mr. Carner’s office. Whom may I say is calling?”
I frowned. “Yeah, this is Thomas March, over at Steel Visions. I’m calling for Keith – we had a meeting today at two and he never showed up.”
There was a long pause.
“Hold on, Mr. March,” the woman replied. “Let me go ping him.”
I sighed forcefully. “Whatever,” I mumbled.
The woman put me on hold and I cringed at the tacky Muzak rendition of “My Heart Will Go On.”
After what felt like an eternity, there was a series of blips and beeps in my ear. I frowned, then the line went dead.
“What the fuck,” I grumbled. “Did that stupid cunt hang up on me or what?”
Now I was truly irritated. I called Keith’s office back, waiting impatiently for someone to pick up.
“Hello, this is Mr. Carner’s office. Whom may I say is calling?”
“Yeah, this is Thomas March, I just called a few minutes ago. We got disconnected.”
There was another long pause.
“Don’t hang up,” I said forcefully. “I wanna talk to Keith. Patch me through. Now,” I added forcefully.
“I’m sorry, Mr. March. But Mr. Carner doesn’t wish to speak to you at the moment.”
I squinted. “You’re kidding me – I talked to him just a few hours ago! We made an appointment for this afternoon. Do you know who I am?”
“Sure. You’re Mr. Thomas March, of Steel Visions.”
“Yeah,” I grumbled. “So put me through to Keith. And tell him that this bullshit isn’t funny – I don’t like it when someone wastes my time.”
“Sir—“
“Shut up,” I growled. “Put me through. Now.”
“Sir, Mr. Carner really doesn’t want to speak to you. He told me to ignore your calls.”
I rolled my eyes. “Tell Keith I don’t have time for this bullshit,” I growled. “We’ve known each other for years and he thinks this little fucking game is funny?”
“Goodbye, Mr. Thomas.”
“Wait, don’t hang—“
Click
“Fuck!” I screamed. I threw my phone at the wall, taking satisfaction when the immaculate screen cracked in two.
Seconds later, my door burst open. Susie was standing there, looking frightened and more alive than I’d ever seen her.
“Mr. Thomas, is everything all right? I heard a terrible crash,” she said quickly. “What’s going on? What is the meaning of all of this?”
I rolled my eyes and grabbed my laptop, shoving it hastily into my laptop bag. “Nothing,” I said. “I mean, I’m fine. I’m going home for the day, Susie. Take my messages and just forward them to me at home, okay?”
Susie eyed me suspiciously. “Is there anything I can get for you, Mr. Thomas?”
“No.” I grabbed my jacket. “Thanks, Susie.”
She looked startled as I pushed past her and into the elevator. On my way down, I called for a driver to take me home. I was in such a rotten mood that I had a feeling my Porsche would wind up through the storefront of an expensive restaurant if I didn’t watch myself.
When I got home, Brett had just gotten home from school. He was kneeling in the foyer, still clad in his New York Yankees jacket.
“Dad, oh my god, you’re the best!” Brett launched himself at me and wrapped his still-skinny arms around my waist. “I can’t believe it, Dad! You rule!”
I chuckled nervously. “Well, I’ve always thought so – but why now?”
Brett laughed. “Dad, you don’t have to play dumb.” He pointed down to a giant box sitting in the middle of the foyer. It had been ripped open and the floor was littered with Styrofoam packing peanuts.
“What is this?” I stepped closer and squinted.
“Dad, thanks! You’re seriously awesome,” Brett said. “I can’t wait to tell all the kids at school that my dad bought me a PlayStation Five!”
I narrowed my eyes. “What are you talking about?”
Brett pointed down into the box and cleared away some of the packing material with eager little hands. Inside was a shiny box, covered in Japanese print and featuring a space-age looking machine.
“I don’t even know what that is,” I said. “Was there a card? Was it a gift from the office?”
“Dad, seriously!” Brett rolled his eyes. “Thanks! I can’t wait to play, I just wish it had come with more games!” He held up two shiny plastic cases featuring animated figures and racing cars.
“Uh, hold on there,” I said, reaching forward and plucking the plastic cases from Brett’s hands.
Brett looked sour. “Oh. I bet you’re going to make me wait until after I’ve done my homework or something stupid like that. Dad, please! Come on, just a half hour! And then I’ll do my work – I swear!”
“Hold on,” I repeated sternly. “We need to figure out where this came from.” As gently as I could, I pried the large box from my son’s hands and looked at the mailing slip. Brett’s name was printed in a plain font, along with our address. There wasn’t any indication of who had sent it, only a stamp from a post office right here in New York City.
“Dad, please,” Brett whined.
“You need to be quiet,” I said sharply. “Brett, if I can’t figure out who sent this, I’m sorry but you’ll have to return it.”
“What?” Brett screeched loudly. “You’re kidding me! That’s not fair! It’s for me, look right there,” he said angrily, pointing to his name printed on the box.
“That may be,” I said. “But I’m your father, and you need to obey me. And if we can’t determine that it’s safe, too bad. You’re not keeping it.”
Brett looked at me with hatred in his eyes.
“Brett, I’m sorry,” I said. “But this could be dangerous. This could be…oh, I don’t know. Rigged to explode or something.”
Brett squinted at me. “You’re being crazy and paranoid,” he said coldly. “You can’t even let me have fun because you’re too worried about your stupid business all day.”
“I’m only going to say this once,” I growled, grabbing the box and holding it in the air where Brett couldn’t reach. “You don’t ever insult me, or my business, ever again. Do you like having a nice life? You like living here, and having Isabelle around?”
Brett gave me a sulky look.
“Yeah,” he said after a moment. “It’s okay. I guess.”
“If I didn’t have my company, we wouldn’t have any of this,” I said sharply. “And you wouldn’t have fifty thousand dollars in the bank, just waiting for the day you go to college.”
Brett looked sour. “I just want to play,” he whined. His eyes lit up with hope. “Dad, if you…I dunno, inspect it, can you let me play? Just for a little bit?”
“No,” I said sternly. “Go to your room and do your homework.”
Brett glared at me. I could practically read his thoughts: “I hate you.”
“I know you’re mad,” I continued calmly. “But this is for the best, Brett.”
“Whatever,” Brett mumbled under his breath. He glared at me for a long pause, then turned on his heel and stomped up the stairs.
Just then, Isabelle came out of the kitchen. She wiped her hands on her apron and cocked her head to the side.
“Is everything okay, Mr. Thomas?”
I nodded and heaved a sigh. “Yes,” I said. “But when you have a free moment, would you mind cleaning this up?” I gestured down to all of the packing peanuts. “When everything is back in the box, please tape it up, set the box in my office, and lock the door.”
Isabelle frowned but she nodded. “Yes, Mr. Thomas,” she said. “Is that a present for Brett?”
I shrugged. “I have no idea,” I said, struggling to stay calm. “It arrived with no return address.”
Isabelle nodded. “I see,” she said. “Anything else, Mr. Thomas?”
“Yeah,” I said. “Please call my ex-wife and make sure she can take Brett over the weekend. I have reason to believe I’ll be entertaining.”
Isabelle nodded again. “Would you like me to do anything? Prepare for your company?”
“No, thank you,” I said. “That will be all, Isabelle.”
Isabelle darted back into the kitchen and I sighed and closed my eyes. Right now, the thought of bringing June here and fucking her senseless was the only thing keeping me sane.
I wondered how much other shit could possibly go wrong before I’d crack.