Alec

I’m pacing in my room wearing a hole in the carpet, edgy as I think about what she’s doing.

Fuck it, I think. I know George is handling the situation and is capable, but I decide to take matters into my own hands.

I drive to where the rental is located and park myself in a corner of the parking lot, an unassigned spot close enough to where she would enter the building but far enough away that she would not look straight into the vehicle. I’m in the black Suburban, so I know she won’t spot me even if she comes outside.

If there’s a man who brought her here, I want to know.

What if she’s pregnant? She’s been tired lately, pushing me away when I try to be intimate. She cringes at my touch.

It might be better than her knowing about my past.

I almost feel ashamed that I haven’t asked. It has been months since we became engaged, and she has stopped taking the pill. Maybe she freaked out because she was scared, maybe she felt alone, or like I didn’t care? I have been working an awful lot to try to stop the siphoning of money from the business account.

It keeps dwindling especially now that Eric isn’t around to fill the coffers. Business has slowed down, and Eric had helped with bringing in a lot of our newest land development clients. A lot of my time was devoted to investing in our future trying to make money.

Let’s just say managing our funds wasn’t my strong suit. I like to gamble in life—real estate and online poker—and sometimes you go in the negative. Eric didn’t appreciate my zest for taking blind leaps.

I’m a likeable guy, always the life of the party, and I know I’m convincing. I tried to rationalize my spending with him. He wasn’t buying my reasons. Or excuses.

Eric warned me about spending his money, the time I spent online, the risks I took. If

only he knew the biggest risk I made—asking Levin to marry me and start a new life with her.

If Levin’s pregnant, she needed me more than ever. Maybe she didn’t move here to start over with another man. Maybe she moved here to get away from me.

I couldn’t think of any friends in Phoenix. I go through her Facebook friends one by one to verify there aren’t any Phoenix connections. It’s time-consuming but crucial.

It’s all a mystery to me, but a mystery that would be unraveled shortly.

My breath comes out in short spurts. I’m almost relieved that I might’ve solved the mystery of why she left. I imagine poor Levin alone with our baby in a new city.

With a renewed sense of purpose, I sit and wait—wait for the love of my life, and possibly, the loves of my life, to come back. After all, life is all about waiting. Waiting for what you want. I would sit and wait. But only for a little while.

I head to a local Home Depot and put on a ball cap and sunglasses. I don’t want anyone seeing my face or eyes. I’m low-key wearing sweatpants which are almost an embarrassment, my belly hanging over the waistband. A baggy t-shirt covers most of my mid-section. I can’t remember the last time I dressed down like this. My attire consists of three-piece suits on most days or the color black slimming my small gut. Dressing down for me meant slacks and a golf tee.

Rope and duct tape is needed. A clerk offers to help me, but I decline his invite, his eyes follow me as I pretend to scrutinize paint samples, judging my color palette as I focus intensely on the color yellow.

I glance at a row of cleaning supplies and grab some cloth rags. I purchase some bleach and a mop, so it doesn’t look as suspicious.

The moving boxes can be used to help Levin move her items back home.

Or they could have a dual purpose. I tug at my earlobe, the thought of her tiny body cramped and stuffed in the cheap cardboard box if she’s problematic.

I’m not enthusiastic about rejection, especially from women who hold the purse strings. I’m in an impossible situation, and the loss of control is eating at me.

She’s been acting off, and I imagine there’s more to her attitude than just hormones. That’s on her. I will find out soon enough.

One last item is the bungee cord. I hum as I make my way to the front, my mood slightly on the uptick as I push the cart to the checkout counter. The thought of Levin tied up is enough to make my body react favorably, her sprawled out in front of me, my little puppet.

I make sure to pay in cash, no paper trail, and the receipt is promptly chucked into the trash on the way out.

There’s a place I rented here, a secluded house, a place where Levin and I can relax and re-group. Some R & R is a welcome distraction and much needed for the both of us.

Fate brought me together with Levin. She can try and cheat destiny all she wants, yet she can’t avoid my plans for her. It’s all coming to fruition, the groundwork already laid.

Now I just need to get my hands on my M.I.A. fiancée.