“Ha, try that on someone a little more gullible than I am.”
“Anyway, what can I do for you Greg?” I turn off the TV and toss the remote to the side in frustration.
“I told you yesterday that we would talk, and I meant it, Dee. I went by your apartment, but you weren’t there. Figured that you were either ignoring me, or you were out, so which is it?”
I could lie to him, but really, there isn’t any sense in it. He won’t think anything is up just because I’m out of town. “I had to come up to the North Carolina branch. Chelcie called me right when I got home last night and said I was needed up here. So, here I am.”
“Chelcie called you . . . on a Saturday night, to tell you to drive right up? What the hell, Dee? Did you just jump in the car first thing to avoid talking to me, or do you really have a need to be over there?”
I shouldn’t get pissed, but the flash of annoyance that washes over me is so overpowering that I can’t keep my mouth shut. How dare he act as if I’m doing something wrong here? I’ve been living my own life without one damn care from them for a while, and now that he wants to chat, he’s pissed that I’m gone.
“I’m not really sure why you feel like I need to check in with you? I’ve been doing just fine for a while now. Just in case you missed the memo, I’m a big girl now, Greg. I don’t even need my training pants anymore.”
“Whoa, snappy much. Someone must be on the rag.” He chuckles before sobering. I know he isn’t going to just drop it, so I wait, my breath held, for him to ask the questions I don’t want to answer. “I’m worried about you, Dee.”
“I’m fine,” I snap, a little too harshly.
“You’re not fine, and I’m insulted that you think I would believe that lie.” His voice, which had been friendly and calm, now has a hard tone to it.
“Excuse me, but you’ve been believing it for two fucking years!” I scream into the phone. It takes me about two seconds to realize my mistake. Shit! I slap my hand over my mouth to stop the overflowing verbal vomit before I say anything else.
“What did you just say?” Dammit. Damn. Shit. I know Greg doesn’t mean to ignore everyone around him. He has every right to be worried about Izzy and his recovery from his injuries sustained that God-awful day. It isn’t fair to hold anything against him, but in my mind, I just can’t seem to separate my pain and loneliness.
“It’s not important. I’m fine,” I stress, praying he’ll just leave it alone.
“Goddammit, Dee! I know you aren’t fine. I saw you breaking down like your world just crashed in around you yesterday. That isn’t how someone that is just fine acts. You can’t push that shit off on a bad day, your period, or someone stealing your newspaper. There’s something going on, and you aren’t just fucking fine!”
“Okay, Greg, I’m going to say this the nicest way I can. Don’t worry about me. You have enough to worry about, and honestly, you know I love you like a brother, but right now, I don’t need your protectiveness. Give Cohen a hug and tell Melissa I said hi. I’m going to bed now. I have to be in the office early tomorrow so I can get everything done and get home. Greg, I mean it . . . Stop. Goodnight, I love you, go hug your wife.” I disconnect the call without giving him a second to protest or pull his crap. He’ll be pissed, but he’ll also get over it. After turning off my phone and pulling the covers up, I settle in for another restless night of sleeplessness.
*
My wake-up call comes at 4:45 A.M., about an hour after I finally manage to stop freaking out about the dark, jumping from every sound that I heard coming in from the window, and my mind finally shut down. I never sleep well when I’m away from my house, so I’m not sure why I thought this time would be any different.
Groggy, annoyed, and a whole lot pissed off isn’t a good way to start the day, especially knowing that I’m about to have another pile of shit land in my lap when I get into the office.
My office back in Georgia is decent in size. I have three other agents and a few other staff members. It’s not the largest, but it works for us. Back home, I’ve just moved into the same strip of businesses where Corps Security is located. When the building came up, I jumped on it. It isn’t that I need a new office, but my old one was out of an old house that had been remodeled into an office. The downside, it was in the middle of nowhere, and I had become scared to even be there by myself. So, I didn’t waste time signing the paperwork for the new space.
Here, my office is slightly larger. I’ve got six agents, plus they each have their own assistants. I had the building built from the ground up, and when it was finally finished and open for business, the sense of pride had been overwhelming. I’ve always been so proud of this office and the staff, and how we’ve managed to thrive when other small businesses have crashed.