Alyssa
As much fun as I’d had in LA, I couldn’t help but be ready to come back to the city I’d called home for years. As we approached New York, the building-packed shape of Manhattan appearing through the cloudbanks, I let the satisfaction of a job well done come over me. After all, this last month had been hard work—for me and for Russell. But I knew that he had no time to rest; as soon as we returned home he had inventory to offload and another trip to LA to prepare for.
“You gonna be able to entertain yourself tonight?” he asked me.
“Big plans?” I asked in response.
“Got a meeting with a distributor,” he said. “Gonna have to be out late.”
“I think I’ll be fine,” I said with a smile. “Not hard to find things to do in the city.”
He didn’t return the expression. Instead, a hard look came across his features.
“What?” I asked.
“Listen,” he said. “I want you to stay in tonight. Don’t go out; just relax at home, order some take-out or something.”
Worry gripped me. I could tell that there was something Russell wasn’t telling me.
“Why?” I asked. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s … just do what I say. Don’t leave the house.”
His voice was grave.
“Sure,” I said, knowing that the odds of him telling me exactly what was going on were slim. “But … am I in danger or something?”
“It’s just been a long trip, and I’d feel a lot better knowing that you were in the apartment tonight. Just do this for me.”
“Okay, Russ,” I said.
With that, he left the living room. Feeling out of sorts from the conversation, I headed to the bedroom to put away my things. The strange conversation weighed heavily on my mind, and though I wanted more than anything for Russell to explain just what was on his mind, I decided to let it go for now.
Gotta trust him if we’re going to keep going with this … thing we have.
That was another issue: just what was going on here with the two of us? Technically, it was still what it was before, with me being Russ’s property. But after our time in LA, things seemed different; it seemed like we were on more equal footing than we had been. Once I finished unpacking my things, I stomped on the ground in frustration. I hated being left in the dark, but it didn’t look like there was any way around it. Russ would tell me when he deemed fit.
A bit later in the afternoon, as I tried to push my worries aside with a little reading, Russell approached me.
“Okay,” he said. “I’m heading out. Remember what I said about staying in.”
“Sure,” I said.
“I’ll be back later in the evening.”
Then he left without another word. Once I heard the engine of the car start and fade into the distance, I hopped up from my seat and got my shoes on. Russell had said to stay in, but there was something I needed to do to put my mind at ease.
An hour or so later, I stood in the bathroom with the pregnancy test I’d bought in hand.
Two bars. Positive. I was pregnant with Russell’s baby.
Feeling lightheaded, I sat down on the toilet and tried to collect my thoughts. I had no idea what to make of this new information. Never at any point had he and I discussed this possibility, and I was at a loss to figure out how a baby worked with the whole “property” situation.
Does that mean the baby is his, too? I thought with a smile that was equal parts grim and amused.
I paced around the house for a while, the test in my hand. What was I supposed to do? Was I supposed to call Russell now? It didn’t seem like there was a good option in any of this. Sure, he’d been warming up to me, but I had no idea how he’d take the news that we were about to become a family.
Before I could consider the matter for much longer, a ding sounded from the direction of Russell’s office. It sounded like the noise of an incoming text message and was followed by another one, then another one.
I walked slowly towards the office, knowing that the room was more or less off-limits to me. But after that strange conversation about me staying inside today, I had to try and find some clue as to what was going on with him.
Opening the office door, my eyes fell on Russell’s iPad which was sitting plugged in on the desk. Normally he’d take it with him, but he must’ve forgotten. I knew that he’d be furious if I touched his things, but I couldn’t help it. I took the device off the desk and saw that the screen was filled with text messages.
They were from Cory.
“Bro, you gotta help me out,” said one. “Please, bro, I’m begging you, I’m at the end of my rope,” said another. All of the texts were full of desperation, and judging by the fact that they were one after another, I could see that Russell wasn’t responding to them.
Then, they all disappeared. Russell must’ve either checked them or blocked Cory’s number.
I set the iPad back down and hurried out of the room. Was this what Russell was worried about? Had Cory been trying to get into contact with Russell in a way that made Russell fearful of my safety? It stood to reason that Cory would try to talk to his brother if he ended up hitting rock bottom, but I didn’t know to what lengths he was ready to go if he became desperate.
It all seemed like too much. Between this and the pregnancy, I felt scared and trapped. All I wanted was for Russell to come back and tell me that everything was going to be all right. But he’d said he’d be back late.
The day went on, and I decided to take Russell’s advice and order some take-out. But when the food came and I opened it up on the living room table, the TV playing one thing or another, all I could do was listlessly poke at it. All of my worries had killed whatever appetite I had.
Just eat something, I told myself. You’re eating for two, remember?
I forced myself to eat a few bites of the sandwich and French fries that I’d ordered, but it didn’t go down easy. All I wanted to do was pace back and forth until Russell came back.
Eventually, I decided that I couldn’t stay cooped up in the house all day. I needed to get out and get some fresh air, if only for a little while. Especially since there was only a little bit of daylight left; I wanted to be home before dark.
So, grabbing my things, I headed out. Russell’s place was only a few blocks from Central Park, so it only took me a few minutes before I was surrounded by fresh air, tall trees, and snow-dusted hills. We’d missed the worst of the winter weather while we were in LA, and only a bit of snow and a mild chill in the air remained. The walk did me some good, though I found paranoia getting the better of me. Cory’s texts and Russell’s warnings were fresh in my mind, and I wondered just how good of an idea it was for me to be walking around here by myself.
Cory wouldn’t do anything like that, I thought. He might be a junkie, sure, but he seemed more like a harmless loser than anything else.
But then the night that he’d tried to make a move on me came back in startling clarity. I’d forgotten all about it, but he had tried to do … something. I wasn’t sure what he’d been willing to do that night, but something about the look in his eyes had made me feel like perhaps Russell’s warnings might not’ve been so outlandish.
Eventually, the sun fell and the park grew darker and darker. There didn’t seem to be many people out and about, and I began to feel much less safe than I had when I started out for my walk. Not to mention that I was with child.
I’m a pregnant woman wandering around the park at night, I thought. This is stupid; I need to get back home.
Turning around, I started back towards the direction of the townhouse. Shadows seemed to jump out at me from every turn, and every man walking alone caused fear to rise up in my stomach, as though any one of them might be Cory. Soon, I was out of the park and back onto the street that the townhouse was on. I only had a few blocks to go, and my pace quickened the closer I got.
Eventually, I reached the house, relief washing over me in a cool wave as I approached the front steps. Taking out my keys, I hurried to the front door and slipped the key into the lock.
But as soon as I opened the door just a crack, I felt something. Something was pressing hard into my back. And then I felt a presence.
There was someone behind me.
“Hey, cutie pie,” said the familiar voice of Cory from just over my shoulder. “Been a while.”