Voncile got up and left the room without another word, locking the door behind her. Feeling good about the way her plan was progressing, she danced her way to the kitchen to make breakfast. While flipping pancakes and scrambling eggs, she listened to jazz music, the same kind that Kasen sometimes listened to in his office. It made her think of him and their amazing dinner that night. Those lips were on her mind. She wondered if he was thinking about her as well, or if he was at home trying to cope with losing Raine. She considered calling to check on him, but she didn’t want to be too obvious. They weren’t really friends outside of the office like that. If she called out of the blue, asking a bunch of questions, he might suspect something. Instead, she planned to act as clueless as she could about the situation, in hopes that Kasen would eventually tell her about his tragic loss. Whenever he decided to spill the beans, she would offer her support to him. She would make herself available, and let him know that if he needed a strong shoulder to cry on, and a place to lay his burdens, she was there for him.
Voncile stacked three pancakes on a plate, along with minimal scrambled eggs and two sausages. She grabbed a little something from the pantry for Raine, and also reached for a big aluminum pot. She could barely climb the stairs with so much stuff in her arms, and when she unlocked the door and stepped into the guest room, she was out of breath. She put the plate on the floor, then the pot.
“You should try carrying all of this upstairs like I did,” she said to Raine. “That stuff was heavy, especially that pot. Feel free to use it as a toilet. I’ll get you some toilet paper before I go to sleep. And as for something to eat, you’re going to love this. I used to have a cat named Daisy. This was her favorite dish. She couldn’t get enough of it.”
Voncile removed a can of gourmet cat food from her pocket, cracking it open. She put in on the floor in front of Raine, ordering her to dive in. Raine stared at the food in awe. She was too afraid to comment, but the one thing that she was sure of was that she wasn’t going to eat a pinch of the cat food. She would starve to death before diving in, as Voncile had suggested.
Voncile got on the floor, sitting in front of Raine again. The maple syrup aroma from her plate roamed underneath Raine’s nostrils. Raine’s stomach grumbled. She hadn’t eaten since the day before, but she would never be hungry enough to eat cat food.
“This is really good,” Voncile said with a forkful of eggs in her mouth. “I wish there was enough for you, but unfortunately not. I’m hungry because your ex ate up my steak tonight. We had fun during dinner, celebrating his breakup with you. He seems so happy that you left him, and the names he called you—girl! I didn’t know he could talk like that. Did you know his mouth was that foul?”
“No,” Raine said softly, feeling tears welling up in her eyes again. “And I don’t believe he’s celebrating.”
“Then you’re a fool, because he is.” She pointed to the cat food with her fork. “Eat up. There’s no telling when you’ll get something else to eat again, so you’d better start chowing down.”
This time, Raine couldn’t hold back. This was ridiculous. “I’ve never had cat food before, and I’m not going to start eating it today. I do thank you for bringing me something, but no thanks to that.”
Voncile shot her an evil gaze. After she swallowed the mouthful of eggs, she let Raine have it. “Just as I thought, you’re a little ungrateful bitch. You don’t appreciate anyone doing something nice for you, and I went out of my way to carry all of this shit up here for you. But you know what?” Voncile stood, raking the rest of her food on the floor. “I will not bring you anything else. If you get real hungry, eat that. I’m also taking my stink pot back downstairs. You won’t get it back until you’ve earned it.” Voncile stormed toward the door. She slapped her hand against the light switch, turning the room pitch black.
Raine heard the click as Voncile locked the door again. She was sick to her stomach and she felt like crying, but she knew she had to hold it together. She had to think of some way to get Voncile to release her, because after another day of this, she wouldn’t be able to bite her tongue, and she just might lose her mind.
* * *
The next morning, Raine was slumped over on the floor with her arms still tied behind her back. She had been trying to free herself for most of the night, but to no avail. Her whole body felt weak, and her arms were severely sore.
Voncile was determined not to let her get any rest. She unlocked the door then strutted into the room. “Rise and shine,” she said loudly. “It’s time to wake up. You can forget about getting any more beauty sleep, because the Wicked Witch of the West is here.”
Raine’s eyes fluttered. Her vision was blurred, and she strained to look at Voncile. As her eyes began to focus, she noticed Voncile was wearing one of her fitted dresses and a pair of peep-toe heels that Kasen had given her for her last birthday. Then she noticed that Voncile was carrying a large pot with her. At first she thought it might be the same pot she had brought in last night for Raine to use as a toilet. But then Voncile stepped closer and dumped the pot full of ice cold water over her head.
“At the car wash,” Voncile sang out and danced around Raine. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, workin’ at the car wash, girl.”
“Pleeeease,” Raine cried out. “Stop doing this! What did I . . . do to you, to make you do this to me?”
Voncile didn’t respond. A crooked smile washed across her face, as she looked down at the puddle of water surrounding Raine.
“Can I please have a towel?” Raine barked with anger in her voice. She couldn’t help it. There was no way for her to tolerate this. “Something . . . anything to wipe myself off.” Raine’s pajama top was clinging to her, and she was dying to remove her panties, which had a horrible stench coming from them at this point.
Voncile stepped up to Raine, laughing. Her heels sank in the soggy carpet as she squatted to Raine’s level.
“Girl, you look a mess. If Kasen could see you like this, he would be disgusted, wouldn’t he? I’ll go get you a towel, but let me warn you again. Watch your tone with me. If not, your days here are going to get a whole lot worse. Trust me on that.”
Voncile pivoted, quickly leaving the room. She returned in a minute, throwing the towel at Raine’s face.
“I’m going to work. I have a little surprise for you later, too, so sit tight and please don’t go anywhere,” she said with a maniacal laugh. She left the room with the pot in her hand, locking the door behind her and beaming about what she envisioned the evening would bring.
Chapter 6
Kasen was glad it was Friday because he’d had a sleepless night, and he definitely needed some rest. Raine’s departure was starting to take a heavy toll on him. Fortunately he only had two appointments in the morning. His intention was to leave around noon, go back home, and go to bed. One whole day was all he needed. Then he could chill for the rest of the weekend and try to figure out the best way forward without Raine.
Regardless of what she had said in her letter, part of him hoped Raine would change her mind and come back to him. He kept waking up in the middle of the night, thinking that he’d heard her come through the door. He swore her scent was somewhere in the house again, but when he looked around, there was no sign of her. She was gone.
Ready to get the day over with, Kasen dragged himself into the office in slow motion. Voncile was already there. Her bright smile always made him feel a little better. To know that he could count on her to keep his office running smoothly during this difficult time was a blessing. He considered her a gem. She never complained about much. In fact, the most she ever did was tease him when he forgot to do something, like when he’d forgotten her shake the other day. Voncile was a pretty easygoing person, and he appreciated that.
Kasen stopped at Voncile’s desk. “I wanted to tell you what a nice time I had at dinner,” he said. “You have no idea how badly I needed that. Thank you for just being there.”
Voncile waved her hand at him as if to shoo away the compliment. “No need to thank me. I’m there for you any time you need it. Any time you want to talk, or just go out and have some fun, let me know.”
“I will. And if we do go out, can I bring Omar along? I know what you said about him, but I really think you should get to know him better. Word on the street is he’s not a two-stroke man either,” he added mischievously.
Kasen laughed, so Voncile forced herself to laugh as well. Her insides were boiling, though. She just didn’t understand why Kasen kept trying to force her to be with his friend.
“Even if he was a hundred-stroke man, I still wouldn’t want to go on a date with him. You can leave him right at home. I’m only interested in entertaining you.”
Yet again, Voncile waited for Kasen to bite, but he didn’t. He viewed most of her little comments as jokes, especially since he flirted and joked around from time to time too.
“Okay, I’ll back away from the thing with Omar,” he said. “The last thing I want to do is offend you, and I definitely don’t want to scare you away. I really need you here. You’re doing an awesome job. So many of my patients speak highly of you.”
Voncile gazed at Kasen as if she had just fallen in love for the first time. She only caught herself and straightened up when he gave her a strange look. Trying to gather her thoughts, she said, “You could never scare me away, so no worries. Besides, I love my job. It’s truly the best working for you, and the majority of your patients are so cool.”
Voncile’s response made Kasen feel good. She always knew the right things to say. He felt so lucky to have her around.
“Back to this thing with Omar,” she said, preparing to lay the next step in her trap. “Please tell him not to come in here anymore being so pushy. You can also tell him that I’m not interested. I met someone after you left last night, and we’re supposed to go on a date this weekend.”
Kasen wasn’t exactly jealous, but he was surprised that she was putting so much emphasis on a date with someone she had only met the night before.
“Omar and I will talk about his pushy behavior, and he’s going to be disappointed that he blew it. As for you, young lady, be careful out there. Don’t be moving too fast, and always carry mace.”
Voncile chuckled as if he was being silly, but inside, she was thrilled that he was showing how much he cared. It made her feel bold enough to extend an invitation. “Hey, a few of my girlfriends are joining me this evening for a card game. We’re going to whip up some of our favorite dishes, and some of those girls can really cook. If you’re not doing anything, why don’t you join us?”
“You know, I am pretty tired, and I was planning to have a quiet weekend. Can I think about it and get back to you later?” Kasen asked. He knew he needed to rest, but part of him was also afraid of being alone, because he knew it would be hard not to be thinking about Raine the whole time. Being with Voncile and her friends might be good for him.
“Okay, but I do hope you decide to come,” she said as she bent over to reach for a file she had purposely dropped on the floor. The fitted dress she wore gripped her ass even tighter.
Kasen couldn’t help but to zone in on her goods. His eyes scanned all the way down to her pretty feet in a pair of sexy, peep-toe shoes. In an instant, Kasen’s face twisted, and any sexual feelings he’d been having were suppressed by his heartache. Voncile’s shoes looked exactly like a pair that Raine had. They used to sit in a box at the top of her closet in the bedroom, the closet that was now completely empty. The memory of Raine left him feeling deflated all over again.
“I’ll talk to you later, Voncile,” he said as he picked up his briefcase and headed to his office with his shoulders slumped.
Kasen sat back in his chair in his office, wishing he could erase all thoughts from his head. He felt a headache coming on, so he opened his desk drawer, pulled out a bottle of aspirin, and tossed back two pills.
“So, you got a problem with calling people back now?”
Kasen looked up to see Omar standing in his doorway. “Come on in, man,” he said.
Omar walked in and took a seat across the desk from Kasen. “I thought you were supposed to call me back and finish telling me what happened between you and Raine,” he said.
“I was, but things got a little hectic around here. I crashed as soon as I got home,” Kasen said, not wanting to admit that he just hadn’t been ready to address the truth with his friend. He hadn’t wanted to hear Omar say “I told you so.”
Omar shrugged like it really wasn’t that important to him anyway. “I understand. I’ve been feeling a little under the weather myself,” he said. “But yo, so give me the scoop on Raine, man. What’s going on with you two?”
Kasen was hoping the aspirin would start working soon, but he knew that if he started talking about how Raine had left him, then he would never get rid of his headache. “Actually, man, I have a patient coming in soon, so why don’t we talk about this later?”
“I hear you,” Omar said, standing up to leave. “Let me get out of your way then.” He walked toward the door, then stopped before leaving the office.
“Oh, before I go,” he said. “Do you think I could borrow a little money? My car is trippin’ again. Cost me over a thousand to fix it, and it still ain’t really running right.”
Kasen shook his head. “I told you a long time ago to get rid of that hooptie. I don’t understand why you just won’t buy something you can depend on.”
“Because money is tight and everybody can’t go buy a new car every time something goes wrong with it like you do, Doc,” Omar answered with a little hostility in his tone.
Kasen frowned at his friend, wondering where this funky attitude was coming from. Omar picked up on it and dialed back his sarcasm a little.
“Hey, sorry about that. I didn’t mean to insult you. I’m just frustrated with my own situation, you know?” he apologized.
“I get it,” Kasen said. “How much do you need?”
“You know what? Why don’t we talk about it this weekend? We can get together and play a little golf. Maybe before then I can come up with another way to get the money, and then you won’t need to loan me nothing.”
Kasen wasn’t sure he was going to have the energy to play golf with Omar, but he didn’t want to disappoint his friend, so he just said, “Yeah, man, I’ll call you tomorrow morning.”
“Sounds good. Talk to you then. And tell the beautiful one out there I said hello. She wasn’t at her desk when I came in.”
Kasen nodded, realizing that he would have to tell Omar to lay off of Voncile, sooner rather than later. He’d add that to the list of conversations they needed to have, because he damn sure didn’t have the energy to do it now.
Ten minutes after Omar left, when Kasen’s headache was just starting to feel better, Voncile was at his door.
“May I come in?”
“Please do.”
The second she entered, Kasen’s eyes shifted to her shoes. He couldn’t figure out why he was so damn consumed by her shoes today; if anything, he wished he had never noticed them.
“Is something wrong?” Voncile questioned when she noticed him staring at her feet.
Kasen’s eyes shifted to hers. “No . . . nothing is wrong. What did you need?”
“Well, I have good news for you.”
He leaned back in his chair, placing his hands behind his head. “I need some good news. Hit me with it.”
Voncile laughed. “Both of your appointments cancelled for today.”
“So that means I can get out of here, go home, and get some rest. That definitely is good news.”
“Yes, yay for you. You definitely look like you could use some rest. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you looking this worn out.”
“Wow. Now there’s some brutal honesty for you,” Kasen replied, hoping his humor would stop her from prying any further about why he looked so bad.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean to offend you. I’m just a little worried about you, that’s all.”
“I get it, and I appreciate your concern. I’ll be fine,” he said. “I just need some rest.”
And some answers about why my relationship fell apart,
he thought.
“Well, if you feel like it, you know you’re still welcome to come to the get-together at my house tonight,” Voncile offered.
“I’ll try,” Kasen said, not wanting to make any promises.
“Great. We’re supposed to meet up around seven o’clock. Hope you can make it. Who knows? It might do you some good. No offense, but I’ll be so glad when the old Kasen returns,” she said, sashaying out of his office.
* * *
Nearly an hour later, Kasen found himself parked outside of the elementary school where Raine worked. He had to see her, even though she had told him not to come after her. After several sleepless nights, he felt he deserved some answers. She had to look him in the eyes and tell him what was up. A stupid letter just wouldn’t do. He didn’t even care if she broke him down again. He just wanted it done in person.
Kasen sat in his car for a while, his eyes scanning the parking lot for Raine’s car. He didn’t see it, but sometimes she carpooled with another teacher, so she was probably still in the building.
Kasen turned off his car, but just as he put his hand on the door handle to step out, his cell phone rang. The name on the screen said
MR. JONES.
Kasen answered it without hesitation.
“Hello, Dr. Phillips.” It was Mr. Jones’s wife on the line.
“Hi, Mrs. Jones. How are you?” Kasen felt his stomach twist as he asked the question. It couldn’t be good that it was his wife on the line and not Mr. Jones himself.
“Oh, I’ve had much better days, trust me. I just called to tell you that my husband has made his transition to go be with the Lord. Right before he passed away, he reminded me to call you. I wanted to thank you, again, for all of your help.” Mrs. Jones paused for a moment to gather herself, and Kasen heard her sniffling away her tears. “I . . . I won’t be having a funeral or anything like that for him, per his request.”
Kasen took a hard swallow. This, along with the situation with Raine, was too much. “Thank you so much for calling me. Your husband was a very good man. He always told me I was a blessing to him, but the truth is, he was a blessing to me.”
“To many of us,” his wife added. “And I’m going to miss him dearly.”
Kasen passed on a few more encouraging words to Mrs. Jones before ending the call. He hated to get bad news about his patients, especially Mr. Jones, who had just made some courageous changes to improve his life. Kasen said a quick prayer for him, and then exited the car sadly.
Could this day get any worse?
He entered the elementary school, only to be stopped by a security guard who Kasen had seen several times before.
“What’s up, Doc?” the security guard said, shaking Kasen’s hand. “What brings you by today? Are you here to see Miss Raine?”
“Yes. Is she in her office?”
“I’m not sure. I haven’t seen her in a few days, but you can go upstairs and see if she’s in there.”
Kasen thanked the security guard then headed up the steps to Raine’s office. He didn’t know what to expect. As angry as he was with her, he could only hope that he wouldn’t have to raise his voice and go off on her. He kept telling himself to stay cool, doubting that he would be able to.
Kasen reached Raine’s door and knocked. He waited a minute before knocking again, and still he got no answer.
“Oh, hello, Dr. Phillips.”
Kasen turned around to see Mrs. Culbreath, the principal, standing behind him. “Hello,” he said, greeting her.
“I was just coming to put these files on Raine’s desk for when she returns from vaca—” She stopped abruptly. “Wait. I thought the two of you were on vacation together.”
“She may be on vacation, and I would love to be, but I’m not,” Kasen said, feeling his anger rising. She must have gone on vacation with the other man.
Mrs. Culbreath looked perplexed. “Oh, I see. I could’ve sworn that the message she left said she was with you. Maybe I should double check.”
“When did she leave a message, if you don’t mind me asking? I’m asking because I haven’t seen her.”
Mrs. Culbreath touched her chest. “Haven’t seen her? Is she missing or something?”
He didn’t want to alarm her. There was no need for the elementary school to be in an uproar over Raine’s nonsense, so he quickly cleared thing up. “No, I don’t think she’s missing. According to a letter she left me, she kind of broke things off. I thought she might be here so we could talk.”