“Hello? Timber, I swear, if this is you playing some prank on me, I will remove all of the skin from your testicles. This isn’t funny.”
My apartment door suddenly shut with a loud bang. I screamed at the top of my lungs and grabbed a towel as quickly as I could. My eyes scanned the bathroom for a weapon to use but the only thing I saw was my plunger. Picking it up by the wooden handle, I wrapped the towel around myself and snuck through my small living space, turning on every light as I went. I was dripping wet and desperate to get out of there. I’d never been so scared in my entire life.
Hanging on the closet door was my pink silk robe that hit me mid-thigh. Not thinking twice, I threw it on, my hair soaking the material on my back and making it stick to my skin. I tore out of my apartment and down the stairs, through the bar, and out the front door. Not even realizing I’d forgotten my shoes, I ran the two blocks to Timber’s apartment and started banging on his door. I was all but screaming at him to open up and let me in. I turned my back to the door and scanned the parking lot, terrified that someone might have followed me. When Timber finally opened up it startled me. I swung my arm that was still apparently holding the plunger and was about to clock Timber when he grabbed it from me.
“Kat? What the fuck? What’s the matter?” His voice was groggy, as though he’d been asleep. He stood there shirtless and in boxer briefs. I flung myself into his arms, and he picked me up and carried me inside.
“Lock the door,” I said with a shaky voice.
“I always lock the door, but what in the hell is going on? Start talking, now.” He sat down on the couch with my legs still wrapped around his waist and my arms around his neck. He brought his large hands up and cupped my cheeks. “Kat… now.”
Tears involuntarily started streaming down my face. I was still trying to sort through the fear. “After the bar closed, I locked up like I always do and went upstairs. I was going to go to bed because I was so tired, but earlier in the night Mel had spilled a drink on me and I wanted to clean off first. While I was showering I started hearing noises.” Timber’s arms tensed. “I called out and asked if there was someone there. I thought maybe you were there and trying to sneak up on me or something.”
“It wasn’t me, Kat.”
“I know. I wondered if maybe I was just hearing things and freaking myself out, but then something in the bathroom fell. It was my brush. I’d put it in a different spot than I normally do and there’s no way it fell from where it was to where I saw it.”
One of Timber’s hands fell away from my face and he ran it through his hair. “Was there someone in your apartment? Did you see anyone?”
I shook my head no. “I was still in the shower when I heard my front door slam.” My body was shaking so fiercely that my teeth began chattering. “Timber, there was someone in there with me.” A sob tore from my chest.
“Fuck!” he growled. Gently lifting me, he set me down on the couch and began pacing. “Did you see anything else? What else did you hear?”
“Nothing, there was nothing else. I jumped out of the shower and pulled on my robe and ran here.”
“Jesus Christ, Kat, you’re not even wearing shoes! Why didn’t you call me? I would have come to you.” He was now yelling.
“Why are you m-mad at me?” I stuttered, and shook harder.
Timber let out a low frustrated rumble and came to sit in front of me on the coffee table. “I’m not mad at you. I’m pissed off that something could have happened to you and I wasn’t there to protect you. Do you know how crazy that would have made me if I walked out of that bar tonight and you’d been hurt?”
His eyes were wild. I could see that he was genuinely upset about not being able to save me from whoever it was in my room.
“What’s worse is you show up here, barely dressed, barefooted, and carrying a plunger, of all things, as a damn weapon. Didn’t you think to grab a knife? Or better yet, do you own a gun?”
“Would you really have wanted me to have accidentally attacked you with a knife when you opened the door just now?” The thought made me queasy.
“I wouldn’t have let you hurt me, but that’s not the point, Kat. A plunger isn’t going to hurt someone. I’m more worried that that’s the first thing you grabbed, or that you didn’t trade it out for something more useful before you left.”
I was growing more and more upset that he was scolding me for my weapon of choice and not comforting me after what I’d just been through. Standing up, I tightened the tie around my waist and made my way to the door.