Wild Nights(13)

I hopped out of bed as fast as I could and ran to the front window of my bedroom. The truck was gone. He wasn’t there anymore. At least that’s what I assumed.

I wondered when he left, how I didn’t hear it, or where he went. I hoped against all hope that he’d gone back to Tulsa, never to return again, but I had my doubts. That would’ve been too good to be true.

I pushed my dresser back to its original place against the east wall and made my way to the bathroom. The clock on the wall read seven am and I had to be to work by nine. I had plenty of time, if I could keep myself on task and not be so distracted.

I brushed my teeth and flipped on the shower, turning it to the hottest setting I could stand. The entire room filled with steam. I just wanted to feel clean. In a weird way, a hot shower was always like a fresh start for me.

I tore off my nightgown and stepped into the shower, one foot at a time. The water was almost scalding at first, but I quickly grew used to it. I lathered my body with a coconut body scrub and massaged a generous amount of clarifying shampoo into my long, blonde hair. I rinsed off after a bit and doused my hair in my favorite peppermint deep conditioner and stood under the running water.

As I let the water mist around me and run down my soft skin, I thought I heard something downstairs. I suddenly froze and tried to remember where I hid all the knives. I rinsed the conditioner out of my hair and flew out of the shower, wrapping my robe around myself and tying it tight.

I grabbed one of the knives I’d planted in the bathroom and opened the door. The steam escaped around me and I was soon enveloped by a burst of the cool air from the other side. My heart pounded in my chest as I quietly walked down the hall and towards the stairs.

I stepped down each stair as quietly as possible, trying to avoid the known-to-be-squeaky steps. I stopped when I got to the bottom and looked around the main floor, trying hard to see if anything looked out of the ordinary.

I glanced over at the front door, which was still locked and dead bolted. The back door was also still locked. A wave of relief washed over me as soon as I saw the cat’s dish overturned. It was my freaking cat. The cat I couldn’t stand but didn’t have the heart to get rid of. My ex, Jeremy, and I had gotten it on our first anniversary, and when we broke up, he didn’t want her. She was a bitch of a cat, but I wasn’t a cruel person, so I kept her. She mostly hung out in the basement for whatever reason, so most of the times I never saw her or heard her. Half the time I would forget that I ever had one.

“Are you hungry, Delilah?” I asked as I walked over to her overturned dish. She rubbed her gray fur against my leg and purred. She was only nice when she wanted something or when she was about to get fed. That was about the extent of our relationship.

I grabbed some kitty kibble from the cabinet and put a scoop in her dish. I topped off her water and padded back across the townhouse to the living room. I opened the coat closet to make sure no one was in there, and I checked every nook and cranny on the entire first level. I looked outside one more time for that pickup truck, but it was definitely gone.

I shook my head, refused to let myself be scared any longer, and went upstairs to get ready. I turned my favorite music on my iPod, took my sweet time applying my makeup, and dried and curled my hair. I put on my work uniform of a black top and black pants, and headed out to the garage.

The house was locked up, the garage was locked up, and there was nothing more I could do except continue on my merry way and go to work like a normal person. I had a full day of appointments, and the last thing I wanted to do was cancel out on my clients because I was being paranoid.

One thing was for sure, I’d learned my lesson about being impulsive and sleeping with strange men. I don’t care how attractive or sexy they are, I refused to do it ever again.

My face reddened on my way to work as I couldn’t help but be embarrassed about my poor decisions in Tulsa. I was lucky I didn’t end up on an episode of 20/20 or Dateline.





CHAPTER 6




I pulled up to the salon around ten ‘til nine. Through the window, I could see my first client, Mrs. Maki, sitting in the waiting area already. She was always early. I should’ve known. She was a little bit of a curmudgeon, but she was an easy client who always wanted the same thing and always tipped well.

“Hello, hello!” I called out to her as I walked in. “Ready to come back?”

She seemed annoyed at me for a split second before standing up and following me back to my station. She took a seat in my chair and whipped out her cell phone, immediately going into work mode. This woman owned her own cleaning company, a very profitable one I might add, and was never not working.