Authors: Ella Celestine
“I heard something very interesting a little while ago,” she said, a frown on her face. “I want to you to tell me the truth. Do you understand me?”
Clyde nodded. “Yeah.”
“Do you work for the FBI?”
Clyde gave a heavy sigh. It was all of the answers she needed, but she wanted to hear him say the words himself. “Yes, I do.”
“We didn’t meet by accident, did we?”
He shook his head, his hands going inside of his jean pockets. “No. I was supposed to get close to you, find out everything about your ex and his friends that I could.”
Janessa’s eyes started watering up. “You lied to me?” She shook her head. “You lied to me and used me. How the hell could you do that?”
“I didn’t use you! How can you even think that at this point?”
“How the hell do I know what’s true?” Janessa shouted. “You did all of this to get closer to Tony and now I’m stuck in the middle of some drama that I never asked for.” She stormed over to the front door and threw it open. “Get out. I don’t want to see you again.”
“Janessa…”
“I mean it! We’re done. I don’t want anything from you. I don’t want you to call, text or visit.”
Clyde looked as if he wanted to say more, but he didn’t. He turned, stormed out of the door and slammed it behind him. Janessa closed her eyes and shook. Her stomach felt sick.
She sat on the floor, wrapped her arms around her legs and buried her face as sobs racked her body. How had everything gone down in flames so quickly? She’d been absolutely sure just an hour ago that they were meant for each other. Now, she hated him.
Janessa cried until her eyes were dry. She stood up, wiped her face with the sleeve of her shirt and padded into the kitchen. Leaning forward, she drank from the tap before she gazed around her apartment.
At least with Clyde gone, she wouldn’t have to worry about Tony or his idiots harassing her. That was slightly less comforting than she wanted it to be at the moment. She opened her bags and found herself a few blankets and a pillow. On the living room floor, she laid down.
Tomorrow she would go find a bed and other furniture, but for now, she just wanted to sleep. She wrapped the blanket around herself tightly, shut off her phone and sighed. At least there was work tomorrow. She’d be so busy that hopefully she wouldn’t have to think about how badly all of this hurt.
Chapter Five
Janessa had the worst day at work. She’d gotten puked on twice, had blood splatter on her scrubs and got yelled at not only by patients but by Vanessa as well. By the end of the day, she was close to tears again.
She pushed open the door to her apartment and froze. All of the furniture that she’d picked out with Clyde the day before was in her apartment. Her keys clattered to the floor as she looked around.
How the hell had he even managed to get in? She hadn’t given him a copy of her key. At first, that’s exactly what she’d been planning on doing, but finding out that he’d been lying to her had changed all of that.
She went from room to room. Every bit of furniture they’d picked out was there. Her bags and boxes had been taken to the bedroom and neatly stacked along the back of the wall. In the kitchen, there was a new microwave, coffee maker, and toaster along with an abundance of dishes.
Janessa reached into her phone. Clyde hadn’t tried to text or call her all day. Her finger hovered over the call button before she decided against it. He was just trying to win her back, that was all.
She shoved her phone back into her purse, she couldn’t keep repeating the same things over and over. It was like dating Tony all over again. He’d mess up, he’d do something sweet, she’d forgive him, he’d mess up again.
Janessa still wondered what she should do, though. She couldn’t move the furniture by herself. For a moment, she thought about selling it, but she couldn’t bring herself to do that either. Instead, she ended up saying forget it, shimmying out of her scrubs and stepping into the shower. She needed to take her mind off of Clyde.
She stepped out of the tub an hour later overheated, but more relaxed than she’d felt in the last twenty-four hours. Walking into the kitchen, she tried to ignore the fact that all of the furniture in the house had been purchased by Clyde. She reached into the fridge, grabbed a bottle of wine and decided on Thai food for dinner.
Janessa retrieved a big t-shirt from her room before she slipped it on and carried her wine, glass, and phone to the couch. She set up her laptop on the mahogany coffee table as well and pulled up a movie. After she ordered her food, she sat back and sighed before opening her bottle.
She didn’t normally drink all that much because it either made her weepy or angry. Tonight, she was allowing herself to get as drunk as she wanted to. After all, she felt like she deserved it.
In one day she’d totally cut off a three-year relationship and broken up with the man she’d fallen in love with. If that didn’t scream ‘do what you want to make it through’, she wasn’t sure what did. Janessa poured herself a full glass of dark, red wine before she took a long sip.
A knock on her door almost made her spill the glass. She sat it down hastily before she jogged into the kitchen for her wallet. Another knock, this one louder, vibrated her door frame.
“Just give me a minute!” She yelled. “Asshole,” she added under her breath.
Money in hand, she flung the door open expecting a delivery person. Instead, what she found was Skinny standing at her door. She frowned.
“What are you doing here?”
“Tony told me to tell you that he’s glad you’re done with that guy. You can come home anytime you want.”
“Tell Tony he can go fuck himself,” she yelled as she slammed the door.
Janessa was shaking as she leaned against the door. After a few moments, she heard the heavy footsteps of Skinny as he walked away from her door. Looking through the peephole, she saw his massive back retreating. Anger bubbled up in her so quickly that before she knew what she was doing, Janessa was matching to the window.
She watched him get into a car that had been parked across the street and drive away. As soon as he was gone, she got dressed in a pair of black jeans and a black t-shirt before heading out of the house. For the entire drive, her hands gripped the steering wheel so tightly that it hurt. Still, she didn’t register the pain. It didn’t matter. Tony was going to get an earful.
Janessa barely parked the car before she was hopping out and heading up to his place. She went looking for her key before she realized that she’d given it back. She raised her fist to bang on the door when it opened.
Out of the apartment, a look of shock on his face was Clyde’s partner that she’d met at the hospital all those weeks ago. He stared at her, and she stared back for a long time before it hit her. That’s how they knew about Clyde and what was going on with the case, Clyde’s partner was a rat.
She’d been around Evan several times after they’d first met, he always seemed so sweet and sincere. He was always telling stories about them arresting the bad guys. That apparently didn’t matter when money was involved, she thought as she glanced at the suitcase in his hand. He moved it back as if self-conscious about it.
“What are you doing here?” Tony asked.
Janessa didn’t know how to respond. She knew she couldn’t say anything about Evan being a rat, not without putting herself in danger. On the other hand, she was stuck. She’d always known that Tony had cops on his payroll, but she never knew how deep it went, until now.
“Nessa?” Tony snapped his fingers.
“I-I came here to tell you that you need to stop sending Skinny to give me messages,” she blurted out. As she said it, the same anger from before came coursing back. “I’m minding my own business and living my own life. If I see him at my door one more time, I’m calling the police.”
“You wouldn’t do that,” Tony scoffed.
“Oh yeah? You didn’t think I’d move out either and yet, here we are.” She said, shaking her head. “So it’s the last warning I’m going to give you. Back the hell off or I’ll make you back off.”
Tony laughed. “Are you threatening me? Do you know what happens when people threaten me?”
Janessa ignored him. She turned on her heels and made her way to the elevators before riding them down. As soon as she was outside, her heart started to slow down a bit, and she could breathe again.
What now? She glanced back up at the building. Should she tell Clyde or should she just leave it alone? If she told him, he’d be a lot safer than with a crooked partner, but if anyone found out she’d be in danger. If she didn’t say anything, he could get hurt or killed, never knowing that someone he called a friend was really a lowlife.
Janessa got into her car and drove away. What about Evan? She thought as she handed back towards her apartment. Evan knew that she was aware of him now. What if he tried to shut her up? Keep her quiet? She shivered.
“I should have never dated that maniac,” she thought.
Three years ago when she’d met him, she’d almost stopped seeing him when she found out what he was involved in. But she couldn’t. Tony was spontaneous, exciting, dangerous, a bad boy who rode a motorcycle and drove fancy cars.
When she reached her apartment, she was sure that she’d already missed her delivery. Her phone had been left on the coffee table. Sure enough, she had several missed calls and irritated voicemails from the driver.
Janessa would have called them back and asked them to deliver, but she had lost her appetite. She threw her clothes on the floor and put on her big t-shirt again. The wine was gone so quickly; she didn’t remember finishing it.
Tasha tried to call her several times, but she was in her own world. She curled up on the couch watching any movie that caught her interest. Eventually, exhaustion took over and made her yawn and stretch out.
She was almost asleep when Clyde came interrupting her dreams. Irritated that he was even invading her sleep, she tossed and turned, but she couldn’t sleep anymore that night. Part of her wanted to call him. Even if it was only for a minute, at least she’d get to hear his voice, know that he was okay.
And tell him the truth.
No, but she couldn’t do that. She felt like she’d already started so much trouble for him and the best thing she could do is just walk away. That didn’t help her sleep any easier though and by two am, she was exhausted.
Her phone buzzed letting her know she’d received a text. When she pulled it out, she didn’t recognize the number that was on her screen. Opening it, she grits her teeth together tightly.
“If we see you talking to Clyde, you’re dead. If we find out you’ve said anything to anyone about Evan, we’ll have a problem. We’re watching you.”
Janessa threw her phone without thinking. They were never going to leave her alone. Tony would have his bullies follow her and threaten her forever just so that he could feel better about himself.
That’s when Janessa decided. She was going to tell Clyde about Evan, about Tony, about all of them. She had more dirt on them than a little, and if they weren’t going to stop harassing her, she figured she might as well tell him the truth.
She retrieved her phone before checking the time. It was already well past midnight, but she knew Clyde would still be awake. He was always up late. She pulled up his number, hit the talk button and waited for his voice on the other line.
“Janessa? Is everything okay?” Clyde asked, the sound of his worry almost comforting to her.
“No,” she said slowly. “I have something to tell you.”
“I’ll come over.”
“No! I want to meet you in a public place. We’ll go to the mall, tomorrow at six. Meet me by the food court. Just please, promise me you won’t come over here. It’s not safe.”
“If it’s not safe then I’m definitely coming over.”
“No! It’s not dangerous for me really, but it will be for you. Just trust me and meet me at the mall tomorrow.”
“Okay,” he said. After a moment of silence, he added. “I miss you.”
“Well, I don’t miss you. You’re still a liar. The only reason I’m meeting you tomorrow is to make sure that you don’t get hurt.”
She hung up the phone without giving him time to reply. A heaviness settled into her belly. She thought that she’d feel better once she told him, but honestly, she was afraid. When Tony found out, she doubted that he would still protect her.
Janessa decided to put it out of her mind until tomorrow. She had to be up in four hours for a shift at the hospital, and she would be doing no one any favors by showing up exhausted. She headed to her bedroom and crashed. Tomorrow was going to be difficult.
Janessa waited impatiently for Clyde to arrive. She’d ordered herself some fries since she hadn’t eaten since yesterday, but she couldn’t seem to choke them down. Her foot tapped quickly on the floor, and she checked her phone for the hundredth time.
Six-thirty. He was half an hour late. Why? She was about to give up and leave when she saw him walking towards her. The look on his face was pissed off. She couldn’t remember actually ever seeing him pissed off in the time that they’d been dating. It was unsettling.
He sat down across from her. “Make it quick. Evan decided not to show up to work and is leaving me to take care of everything.”
Of course he hadn’t shown up for work. He probably thought Janessa had told him already. If he thought that, he’d no doubt told Tony the same thing. She glanced around them to make sure no one was watching when she was satisfied it was okay, she leaned forward.
“I learned something yesterday, and I need you to believe me.”
“What happened?”
Janessa sighed. “I went over to Tony’s yesterday.”
“Why?” He interrupted his voice stern. “I thought you were done with him.”
“I am, but he’s been having this guy follow me around, and his friends were threatening me. I don’t know what I was thinking,” she said shaking her head. “I was just so upset that I had to confront him.”
Clyde pinched the bridge of his nose. “And what happened?” He asked, worry on his face as he looked her over closely.