I was still trying to wrap my head around everything I’d just read when someone knocked on my door. I wiped the tears from my face, grudgingly threw the covers back, and got up to answer the door. When I opened it, Clutch was standing there with a big smile on his face, holding a bag of groceries. He was wearing an old baseball cap and a pair of faded jeans with his favorite Braves t-shirt. As he stepped inside, I noticed he hadn’t shaved in several days, making me wonder if he’d decided to grow a beard, but before I could say anything about it, he asked, “Hey, beautiful. You okay?”
“I’m fine. It’s just my allergies acting up,” I lied as I tried to rub the remaining tears from my eyes. I could’ve told Clutch about the letters, but they were written for me, just me, and I didn’t want to share them with anyone.
He gave me an apprehensive look, but didn’t question me about it. As he walked into the kitchen, he asked, “You hungry?”
“Yeah, I could eat something. Whatcha got?”
He started unloading all the groceries on the counter and said, “Thought I’d make us a pot of chili.”
“With one of your grilled cheese sandwiches?” I asked excitedly. His grilled cheese sandwiches were legendary.
“Of course,” he smiled. “I know how you like them.”
I looked over to him and said, “You know, you don’t have to babysit me, Clutch. I’m fine. Besides, I’m sure all your little girlfriends are wondering where you’ve been lately.”
“Nah… they know I’m worth the wait, darlin’,” he snickered.
“Whatever,” I teased. “You are so full of it.”
“Maybe so, but I haven’t heard any complaints,” he laughed as he put the burger meat in the skillet. In no time, he had everything simmering on the stove. We made our plates and brought them into the living room to eat. Once I was settled on the sofa, I looked over to Clutch, seeing he’d already kicked back the recliner and made himself comfortable.
I tossed the remote over to him and said, “Find something.”
“You’re giving me free reign with the remote?” he teased. “I feel special.”
“Don’t get used to it,” I warned. “It’s just my way of thanking you for dinner.”
He smiled as he started going through all the different channels, and I wasn’t surprised when he stopped at the movie, Silver Linings Playbook. I knew he didn’t care for watching that movie, but he remembered it was one of my favorites. He was always thoughtful of things like that. It was one of the things I liked most about him, that and his goofy personality. He always knew how to make me smile. We ate our dinner, only talking between commercials as we watched Bradley Cooper do his best to keep up with Jennifer Lawrence. It was the perfect distraction. My stomach was full, the movie was just as awesome as I remembered, and having Clutch around was just what I needed to keep my mind off Cotton. He only made it halfway through the movie before he was sound asleep in the recliner. His muffled snore sounded like an old, dying hound dog, but I didn’t mind. Despite my earlier disposition, I actually enjoyed having his company.
When the movie was over, I was tempted to grab my phone and read through all of Cotton’s emails again, but figured it would just make me miss him even more. I decided to wait up for Henley, so I reached for the remote and started looking for something to watch until she got home. I’d been scrolling through the channels for several minutes when I got an eerie feeling something or someone else was in the room with me. Thinking it might be a mouse, I muted the TV and tried to see if I heard anything moving around in the apartment. I didn’t hear anything, but still felt a gnawing sensation I wasn’t alone. I sat up straight on the sofa and looked around the apartment, searching all the dark corners of the room, but I didn’t see anything. I was just about to give up my search and lie back down in my spot when something in the window caught my eye. I turned back to get a better look at the fire escape, and a rush of adrenaline surged through me when I realized there was a man standing there, looking at me through the glass. It was dark, but I could still see his eyes were glaring directly at me. There was something about the way he was looking at me that gave me the feeling I’d seen him somewhere before, but the pure terror I was feeling made it impossible to recall the memory. And crazy enough, he knew I’d spotted him, but he just stood there, rooted to his spot as he stared back at me. His eyes were hollow and cold, making me feel a fear I’d never felt before. I wanted to run, to shout out for him to leave, but I couldn’t do anything except stare right back at him.
After several seconds, I finally forced myself off the sofa and immediately started backing away from the window as I yelled, “Clutch! Wake the hell up!”