Chapter 12
Shelby
“I haven’t had guests over in ages,” I said, “so you’ll have to forgive the mess.”
“Are you kidding? You should see my place. Total trash bag explosion.” Betty strolled over the threshold and shook her head. “Uh, hello? This place is awesome. Were you kidding me?”
“What?” I asked, confused.
Betty circled on the spot, arms thrown wide. “The aesthetics, the neatness, the light from the living room window. Perfection.” She struck a theatrical pose and slipped her handbag from her shoulder. She dropped it on the entrance hall table. “I wish my apartment looked half as good. And that TV has my name on it. Not literally, but you know what I mean.”
Betty had kind of invited herself back to my place after work and I didn’t mind. I glanced at the window and chewed the inside of my cheek. It was dumb to fear that stalker, but sheesh, who would blame me?
Some weirdo had hung around outside my apartment twice now, and I had no idea who it was.
“Make yourself at home,” I said. “I’ll make popcorn.”
“Oh awesome.”
This would be the first time I’d had friends over here. Ever since I’d started at Abernathy and Banks I’d been focused on work and Tyler, and then work and Tyler again. I hadn’t had a minute to spare for ‘friends.’ Betty was the closest thing I had to that.
We wandered through to the kitchen and I grabbed a bag of microwave popcorn from the cupboard above my microwave. “Way too much effort to make the real stuff,” I said.
“I’m with you on that one.” Betty took the packet from me and stripped the plastic off. “Let me handle this. You sit down and take a load off. You’ve had a rough day.”
I sat down at the table and balanced my elbows on it. “I guess you could say that. Things are going well too, though.”
“At work,” Betty said.
“Yeah. The professional side is really good.” I had to keep that in my mind. “And the personal because of Tyler.”
“Dreamy Tyler,” Betty said. “I still maintain it’s a shame you got to him before I did.”
“Very funny.”
Betty placed the bag on the glass plate, pushed the door shut, then fiddled with the buttons. “Ugh, how do you work this thing? Never mind, I’ve got it.”
The hum of the microwave soothed me. I loved white noise and always had. A tap running in the bathroom had the same effect. Or the gentle crash of ocean waves. I could use some ocean waves right about now.
Maybe Tyler and I could go away together. Things had fallen into place for us lately. There shouldn’t be a reason we had to hold back on having fun.
My cell rang from the living room and I rose from my seat. “Be right back.”
Betty gave me a thumbs up and leaned her hip against the counter, gaze on the lit up microwave and the expanding package inside. The scent of melted butter already filled the kitchen.
I hurried through the living room and past the coffee table and sofa to the entrance hall. I unclipped my bag and reached inside, then withdrew my cell. I didn’t bother checking the name on the screen. It had to be Tyler. He was the only one who called me, nowadays. Hannah was still pissed at me after our little disagreement.
“Hello?”
“Don’t hang up.” Anthony. Oh for heaven’s sake. I should’ve checked the caller ID after all. “Shelby, don’t hang up.”
“I don’t want to speak to you. I thought I made myself clear today,” I said.
The microwave binged in the kitchen. Betty yelled in the kitchen, then appeared in the doorway shaking her hand with the open bag in the other. “Steam got me.”
“You’ve got to hear me out, please. We’ve been friends for a few months now. You owe me that much.”
“Owe you?” I asked, my pitch skipping up. “I owe you?”
“I didn’t mean it like that,” Anthony said, a little too quickly. “I just – we’re friends and friends give each other chances. I know I pushed you a little too hard.”
“I’ve heard this all before. Bye Anthony.” I moved my thumb over the screen.
“Wait, wait, just wait for a second. Shelby, don’t do this to me. I’m your friend, okay? I’m your friend and that’s the only reason I said all that stuff,” Anthony replied.
“Oh really? Friends call each other dumb bitches?” I asked. “That amazes me. Hey Betty, you’re a dumb bitch.”
“Dumb bitch!” Betty chimed in.
“You’re right, Anthony, I feel so much better now. Thanks for clearing that up.”
“I want you to see how bad he is!” Anthony yelled. “I didn’t lie about any of that stuff. He’s really a criminal. He’s really involved in some bad shit and he’ll take you down –”
“Enough,” I said. “It’s like you can’t resist. I thought I made myself clear the first time but apparently not. I am with Tyler. And Anthony, if I wasn’t with Tyler I would still have no interest in you. Do you understand?”
“But –”
“Do you understand? I don’t like you like that and I never will. Not even if I’m single again one day. That bridge is burned.”
Anthony’s heavy breathing crackled through my cell.
“We’re done here.”
“I didn’t call about us being together. I don’t want to lose you as a friend.”
God, he really didn’t know when to quit. This had become beyond annoying. I despised having to be the bitch but it was far better to ‘bitch out’ than to have to placate a man who’d proved himself a dick on multiple occasions. “Bye,” I said, and hung up on another of his yells.
“That was savage,” Betty said, and crunched through a handful of popcorn. “Ooh, want some?”
“No, I’m good.” I couldn’t stomach anything at the moment. Anthony’s insistence on communicating with me after I’d told him I needed space threw up even more red flags. Throw in a few alarm bells and a fog horn.
What if Ty had been right about him? What if he was the stalker dude after all?
I paced to the window, phone in my hand, and peered out at the street. But it was empty of hooded figures and parked cars for once.
“Are you okay?” Betty asked.
I turned back to her. “I guess so,” I said. “I just hate it that he keeps calling. Why can’t he get the picture?”
“Maybe he’s in love with you.” Betty picked up the remote and turned on the TV. She sat down and kicked up her feet. “All the guys are after you. It helps that you’re totally one hundred percent gorgeous.”
“I hate it when you say that,” I said. It slipped out before I could stop it.
“It’s meant to be a compliment, but I get why you don’t like it. You’re more than just a pretty face.” Betty ate more popcorn, and glued herself to the remote. She flicked through channels. “Oh god, it’s been so long since I’ve watched TV.”
“He’s not in love with me,” I said. The thought of Anthony head over heels for me made my skin itch. I didn’t see how it could’ve happened. We’d never done anything but talk. The closest we’d come to anything affectionate was an awkward hug.
“Whatever you say, missus. I’m just trying to watch some TV,” Betty replied, in a horrible British accent. “Look, Geordie Shore is on the telly.”
“What the heck?”
“You don’t like my fake accent?”
“Don’t ever do that again,” I said, and chuckled.
My cell rang again and I squeezed it reflexively. The guy didn’t quit. I lifted the cell and checked the caller ID this time. Tyler’s name flashed on the screen.
“I’m going to take this in private,” I said.
“Whatever you say, lassie.”
“Seriously, stop.” I jogged to my bedroom, slipped inside, then shut the door behind me and cut out the music and gagging noises from the TV. I answered the phone. “Hey,” I said. “You have no idea how glad I am to hear from you.”
“Why?” Tyler asked. “What happened?”
“Ugh,” I said. “I’m not sure I should tell you about it. It will just make you mad.”
“Was it Anthony?”
“Yeah. He came to apologize to me in my office.” I filled him in on the rest of the details in a whisper – not that Betty could hear over the noise from the TV.
“That guy is on thin ice,” Tyler said, and his voice actually trembled with rage.
“Don’t get angry. I don’t want you to get involved. I can handle this, okay?”
“It’s not about you being able to handle it. Anthony is bad news,” he said. “He’s clearly not going to give up on this crush he has on you.”
“Betty thinks he’s in love with me,” I said, and god knew why – it’d only make Tyler angrier. Maybe because I wanted him to tell me that it couldn’t be the case.
“I wouldn’t blame him. You’re perfect.”
My face felt hot with a blush. “Ty.”
“I’m serious,” he said. “You’re everything to me, Shelby. I’ve told you before and I’ll keep telling you for the rest of our lives.”
My heart palpitated. The rest of our lives. It was a little too soon to talk like that, but I didn’t care. “I love you,” I said. “Are we still on for tomorrow night?”
Ty went quiet and dread crept through me. I didn’t want to go back to the way things had been before we’d broken up. So far, he’d been super attentive but any hint that he could change would bring all my doubts rushing back.
“Yeah, we’re on for tomorrow night. And every night you need me. I’m yours, Shelby. And you’re mine.”
“I love it when you say things like that.”
“I – uh, yeah. I’ve got to go,” he said. “Something just came up.”
“What?”
“I have to go talk to a guy about a job,” Tyler said. His tone went somber. I didn’t like it. “I love you. Always remember that. No matter what happens. I love you, Shelby Taylor.” And then he hung up.
I tried calling him back, but he didn’t answer his phone. The sense of foreboding crawled through me. The knowledge that something had shifted.
Everything in my bedroom looked exactly the same. I could smell Tyler on the air and the sheets were rumpled from last night – I hadn’t bothered making them this morning. It was my sanctuary, except it was off.
That change, whatever it was, had me unsteady on my feet.
“Shelby?” Betty called. “Oh my god, Shelby, you have to come watch this show. It’s crazy. This girl drank so much she’s puking on the floor. And her whole skirt is up. It’s like a social experiment. Oh, and there’s lots of tanned guys who shape their eyebrows. Like they literally wax their eyebrows.”
“Just – just a second!”
“Are you okay in there?”
“I’m fine,” I lied.
I typed out Tyler’s number from memory, finger shaking on the touchpad. I shut my eyes and pressed dial, then placed the phone to my ear.
He wouldn’t leave me hanging like this. Everything was okay. Nothing had shifted – it was just my paranoia playing tricks on me. That was all.
A feminine voice came on the line. The number you have dialed has been disconnected or is no longer in service.