Chapter 12 - Callie
Declan blocked me. After 35 missed calls and over 50 text messages, he really blocked me.
I haven’t been obsessively trying to contact him. Every hours or so, I’ve made an attempt to get his attention and tried explaining my position but it doesn’t seem like he’s opened any of the texts I’ve sent, or listened to any of the voicemail messages I’ve left him.
I may have lied and I understand the root of his anger, but I feel like if he had only listened to me, things could have worked out. I believe things still can work out. I just need him to understand that I’m on his side. I even want as far to resort to letter writing. But two days later, the letter I sent him was returned to me. In that message, I had explained every last thing. I even detailed my plan to retrieve his plans from Jake and rightfully incriminate Miranda for the crimes she committed against him. But he refuses to listen.
The only way I’m going to get him back on my side is by going through with the plan. Tonight, I’m going to have to see Jake and go on a date with him. To prepare emotionally, I invited my mom over for some lunch. She’s the only person I can confide in as of late since Sheila’s been bedridden.
“Alright, so let me get this straight”, my mom says incredulously shaking her head, “he wanted to see you naked but just settled for a date… and this is all because he and Miranda stole something from your boyfriend?”
“That’s the short of it, yeah”, I tell her.
“Jesus, honey. You’ve… you’ve got some life.’
“That’s it? No advice? Or would you like to interfere in some way? Maybe tell Jacob to leave for the day so I can sneak in and steal the flashdrive?”
“I don’t want to seem spineless but Jake just doesn’t listen to me. He doesn’t treat me like his mother. Besides he’s a grown man, he doesn’t have much of a reason to listen to me. I’m sorry, hun, but my hands are tied.”
“Can’t you tell Jacob”, I beg.
“Tell Jacob that his only son is a major creep and that his precious little daughter committed a litany of crimes for no reason other than she seemed to enjoy it? That’s a hell of a thing to break to someone out of the blue, don’t you think?”
“But here’s the thing, Ma. You know now. You have a responsibility to tell him the truth. Oh god… I could have used some of this advice myself… But nevermind that, you have to tell Jacob”, I tell her.
She takes a long sigh and realizes I’m right. “Why did you have to tell me? Shit. Well, I might not mention the Jake part but I… I’ll try to bring up the whole Miranda situation to him. But Jacob won’t be home until midnight tonight so, unfortunately you’re going to have to see Jake. Besides, it would be easier to talk to Jacob about his kids being criminals if I had some evidence backing me up.”
“Fine. I’ll do it. For both of us”, I declare. “And for Declan. I’m really hoping he’ll take me back once everything is said and done, but… he seemed pretty adamant about not seeing me ever again.”
“That’s a bit drastic, honey. I’m sure you could just go up to his place and talk it out--”
“I tried, Ma. I’ve tried everything. Whatever. It’s not important. What’s important is that his work is given back to him and that Miranda and Jake get fucked over.”
Before heading out to the mansion, I ask my mom to drop me off at Sheila’s place. Sheila seems to be feeling a lot better and is ecstatic to see me.
“Callie! Oh, god, I’ve only been sick for what, a week? But I feel like I’ve been so shut off from the outside world. I was thinking about going on a walk later, see if I can make it past the street without yakking on the sidewalk.”
“That’s great, I’m so glad you’re feeling better. But I actually came here for something, um, do you still have pepper spray?”
Her eyebrows nearly bounce right off her face. “Pepper spray? Yeah, but what exactly do you plan on doing with it?”
Having already given my mom the whole spiel earlier, I gave Sheila a more condensed version but made sure not to leave anything important out, especially the stomach churning details of the awful night I had with Jake.
“Huh… I’m gone for a week and your world falls apart, that’s… Man, I must be your god luck charm or something, Callie.”
“About that pepper spray?”
“Oh right, feel free to empty it out on that little fucker. Blind him. He deserves it. And if you can, get it on film. I’d love to see footage of that wimpy kid sniveling and crying. Creeping on his own stepsister. What a fucking creep. I can’t believe this is the first time you’re considering pepper spraying the freak.”
“I’ve definitely thought about it before. Tonight might be the night”, I say wearily. Though I’ve never thought about filming it. Interesting idea.
Sheila disappears for a moment to retrieve the pepper spray. I thank her and reach for it but she pulls it away from me.
“Are you sure you want to do this? Declan is just one guy.”
“He’s an innocent guy a who has had a lot of shitty things happen to him for no reason. I’m his only chance of getting justice, whether he wants to accept it or not. Besides, I need to prove to him that I’ve been on his side from the beginning”, I tell her.
“Eh, he’s a millionaire. No millionaire is exactly innocent. Having that much money to yourself is pretty selfish and unethical when you can use it to improve the situation of the world around you… And uh… Not the point. Sorry, good luck. Go get that boy some justice.”
Seila opens my purse and slides the pepper spray in the outermost pocket.
“And I mean it, empty the whole can on Jake’s eyes if you want”, she jokes.
With Sheila’s blessing I call an Uber to pick me up and take me to one last destination before heading to Jacob’s mansion. I’m either really brave or really stupid to try something like this.
The mansion looks more foreboding now than it had when there limousines lined up its sides. There is determination driving me here but there’s a feeling in the pit of my stomach I imagine was felt by pirates walking the steps to the gallows. I’m prepared for something horrible and embarrassing to happen but I still want to walk out of here with most of my dignity unscathed. It’s not a terribly high bar to clear.
Nobody answers the door when I ring the exorbitantly long doorbell. I give it a minute before using the key my mother had given me in case of emergencies. Upon entering the mansion, it seems completely abandoned.
“Hello? Jake? Anybody!? Anybody home?”
No response.
My adrenaline kicks in and sends me running to Jake’s room. If he’s not home, this is the perfect time to snag that flash drive without having to say a word to him. I fall to my knees as soon as I push the door to his bedroom open and look underneath his bed. I fondle the sides of the bed frame, but no luck. He must have left the flashdrive in his pants. Those pants must be around here somewhere. Finding that flashdrive is going to be a task considering his room is a mess. It doesn’t seem like he’s cleaned up once. There are at least five two-foot tall piles of clothes here and no way to differentiate one from another. There’s no organization to this mess.
“Can I help you?”
Behind me stands a shirtless Jake, looking red and sweaty.
“What are you doing, Callie?”
“I, uh, just seeing if you had any interesting shirts. Anything I might want or.. Anyway, you ready to go?”
“Go where, what are you doing here?”
“Our date. I’m here for our date.”
Jake cocks his head to the side and cracks a smile. “Our date… I’m sorry, but refresh my memory.”
“At the charity event… you said if we went on a date, you’d let me see what’s in the flashdrive.”
“Did I? Hm. Well, I’ll be honest, I don’t remember a single thing from that night. Well, maybe I remember a few things here and there. I recall you wearing a green dress that hugged your ass real tight. And I also recall holding your ass myself. But uh, nothing about a flashdrive. I don’t even know what I was talking about. Sorry. You can’t really trust the word of a drunk man.”
“You held it out in front of me. The red flashdrive”, I say forcefully.
His smile fades away and he sneers at himself. He swallows the spit gathered in his mouth and gets a worried look in his face.
“Look, I don’t know what you’re talking about. Get out of here, will you?”
“The flashdrive with Declan’s designs. You said I could see them if we went on a date. I’m here for our date, so come on. Don’t go back on your word, Jake.”
“My word? Please, Callie, I was drunk. You’re talking nonsense. Now unless you’re going to join me in the shower, please leave.”
I am not going to be kicked out of someone’s house for the second time this week. I came here for that flashdrive and I’m not leaving without it.
“Fine. I’ll join you”, I tell him. “But you can’t touch me. You just look.”
He laughs surprised by my tenacity. “REALLY? Well, shit, you must really want this thing. In that case, I should raise the stakes.”
“Jake, stop being an ass, I just agreed to getting naked in front of you, isn’t that what you’ve always wanted?”
“Pfft. Callie, I don’t know if you recall, but I’ve seen you naked before. In fact, I get to see you naked every single day thanks to that little video I took. But there is one thing I haven’t done and that’s… find out what you feel like.”
I scoff at his gross stupidity. “I beg to differ. You even admitted to feeling me up at the charity event.”
“Come on, don’t be silly. I mean what you feel like inside.”
I’m left speechless. Jake is a man with zero morals and no empathy. Heck, it’s a reach to even refer to him as a man, I’m starting to think he might be an actual demon.
“Alright. Here’s the deal, I’ll give you the flashdrive under three conditions”, he says pointing up three of his fingers. “No backsies, I’ll stay true to my word. Scout’s honor.”
“Three? Three conditions?”
“Take it or leave it, sis.”
“What are they?”
Jake licks his lips before cracking another devilish smile. “Number one, Miranda can’t find out you got it from me. Miranda can’t find out at all. That’s the most important thing, hence it being number one. Now, number two, I get to see you naked. Simple. And number three, you tell me exactly why you want the flashdrive in the first place.”
The Miranda thing goes without saying. She won’t know until she’s got handcuffs around her wrists, being escorted inside a police car. Getting naked is… I’m not going to like it but it’s better than letting him fuck me. Now, the third condition is going to be difficult. I can’t tell him the truth but I have to tell him something.
“Before Declan and I broke up, he told me about what two had done to him. How you stole his money and designs, and I… I need his designs so I can sell them myself. The bakery hasn’t been doing well and I’m hemorrhaging money. I figure if I can just sell off one of his blueprints, I can save my bakery.”
“Wow”, Jake exclaims, unimpressed. “Sis, if that’s the truth then… You are really dumb. You’re a Dennings. Sort of. You’re rich. Just ask Amelia or Dad for money and they’ll give you as much as you need.”
“I want to save my bakery by myself”, I explain.
“Very noble of you. Stupid but noble. I don’t even know why you care about that little shop so much. You could be doing something more useful. Be a doctor or a… personal assistant to a very rich, very powerful, and very horny businessman. As a matter of fact, I could--”
I look at him sternly. “Baking is my calling, Jake. Just like being an insufferable douche is yours.”
He shrugs off the insult and then looks me up and down. “Look, I’ll help you out but--”
“NO”, I shout, “You said you’d stay true to your word. No more changes.”
“Relax, will you? I’m gonna help you out. I’ll even find someone for you to sell the designs to. Let’s face it, even with the designs you probably won’t be able to do anything with them. You need to have connections. And I do.”
“So…. no changes in the conditions”, I ask.
“Nope, I still want to see you naked”, he says happily.
Frustrated with this game he’s been playing, I remove my hoodie and slide my fingers into the waistband of my pants to push them down.
“WHOA, hold your horses, Callie. Not that I don’t want to see what you’ve got going on, but save it.”
“Save it? Save it for what?”
“Tonight. I’ve got somewhere to be in a bit.”
“You can’t cancel or postpone those plans. I’m sure this is more important than whatever you have planned.”
“We’re gonna have to do something about that attitude. Look, Callie, first of all, don’t presume to know anything about my life. I’m a very important person. Secondly, I’m helping you out so watch that pretty empty mouth of yours. Here’s the deal, I’ll text you when I’m free and the address to my place. We’ll meet there and I’ll help you find someone to sell Declan’s designs to.”
“Your place? Isn’t this your place?”
“No. This is my room in my dad’s place. I have my own house, by the beach.”
The rich brat is making my blood boil more and more by the second. I should pepper spray him now and force him to hand over the flashdrive.
“What do you say, we have a deal?”
He extends his hand out to finalize our verbal agreement. I think carefully about my next move as I put my hoodie back on.
“Fine.”
We shake hands and part ways, but not before having to be victim to more unwanted touching. He pulls me in and holds my ass before giving me a kiss on the forehead. I try to keep my cool so as to not ruin the deal we just made and bid him farewell.
We have truly failed as a society by allowing men to think they’re entitled to women’s time and bodies. The fact that Jake thinks he can manhandle me all he wants without consequence is bullshit. As I walk away from Jake’s bedroom, I look down and see that I had reached for the pepper spray in my purse without even thinking. It would have been the perfect chance to make him my bitch. It’ll have to wait for later tonight.
The plan hasn’t changed much, but I am finding that I have a few more obstacles to face. I have to find a way to incapacitate him while he looks for a buyer. I’m going to have to go back to Sheila’s for advice on that. Once I have him down, not only will I not have to get naked in front of him, but I’ll be out of his grasp before he can even realize it. When he wakes up, he’ll just have his regret to keep him company. That and maybe a cell mate.
I try Declan’s phone on more time in hopes that I can tell him about my plans for the night but no luck. He still has me blocked.
At least, I know there’s one person who’ll answer my calls.
“Sheila, is there any way you could head down to the bakery? I’m going to need your help with something.”