Just to be Left Alone (12 page)

We
went over work details until lunchtime. I got a call from Conrad just as I was
driving to the deli and filled him in on my hectic day. Thankfully, his day was
better than mine. He hung up with me just as I saw Felicia’s car pull into the
parking spot beside mine.

“Sorry
I’m late, I got a call from my boss that a big investor needed a place before
next weekend and I had to go over his housing requirements.”

“Can
you meet his requirements?” I asked as we walked inside the deli.

“Yeah.
The problem will be either finding a place that’s already vacant or the owners
can vacate with a minutes notice. The interesting thing was he wanted an
exercise room and a separate office right next to each other.”

We
placed our orders.

“I
don’t remember you ever having missed out on a sale. I guess you’ll be armpit
deep in this by this evening.”

We
got our food and found a table close to the exit door.

“Just
don’t think I won’t be bugging you every day, because that won’t happen. I had
guessed that everything was fine since I didn’t hear from you by bedtime.”
 

In
between bites I gave her every detail. She just sat there and ate as I got to
the delivery problem I had.

“Wow!
I thought I was having a tough day. At least Jason hasn’t shown up any where
today.”

“I
agree."

We
finished our lunch and hugged before heading back to our jobs. When I got back
to the office I spotted a box upon my desk.

It
had a typed note on it stating, “Just thinking of you, don’t thank me because
the thought of your smile is enough for me.”

No
name was signed to it and it must’ve been delivered while I was gone. I yanked
open the top to see it was filled with expensive dark truffles. I popped one
into my mouth and melted. It was the best chocolate I had ever had. That was
saying something since I could eat dark chocolate every day. My first instinct
was to call Conrad to thank him, however, after this morning I realized he
didn’t like fuss over small gestures.

Parker
came in with a stack of paperwork and saw the open box on my desk.

“So
that’s what was inside of there. The delivery guy told me the box was from your
sweetheart. With the look on your face I’d say it was extremely appreciated. I’ll
probably get smacked for grabbing one,” he added.

“You
are right on both accounts!”

I
smiled as I closed the box and got to the work he brought in for us.

By
five o’clock I was worn out and had eaten two more chocolates. I said goodbye
to everyone after grabbing my chocolates and my briefcase, then headed out to
my vehicle. I felt like I was driving on auto-pilot since my head was heavy and
I wanted to nod off. I called Conrad and told him I was going to bed early. He
thought it was all the stress catching up to me. I ate half of a peanut butter
sandwich, fed Bella and stripped before sliding into bed. I was dead to the
world.

* * * *

I
dreamed that someone had come into my room and curled up against me. I
whispered Conrad’s name and nestled closer. In my dream he was holding me
tight. It was a little uncomfortable, and yet I was too tired to care.

I
woke up at six-thirty to my alarm blaring. I heard something slam and jumped. I
felt a little off. I grudgingly climbed out of bed feeling woozy, so I took my
time in the shower.

While
getting ready, I noticed all my clothes from yesterday were in a pile on the
chaise lounge. I was so tired last night that they didn’t even make it into the
hamper. My extra blanket was even on the floor, showing my rough sleep. I just
shook my head as I tidied up before heading out the door.

After
I got settled into my office, I saw Parker looking at me strangely from the
door frame. I must’ve looked as bad as I felt because he only shrugged and went
through the motions of the day. I was feeling better by one o’clock. By the
time we closed up at four I was feeling less tired, even though my stomach was
upset.

Parker
said I might be coming down with something, especially with all the garbage
flying around in the air at the warehouse. Plus, I had gotten drenched in the
downpour the other day. I left work, without any pressure from Parker and
called Conrad on my way home, who agreed with Parker on the sick prognosis. He
suggested I heat up some soup, take vitamin C and get into bed for the rest of
the night. He was going to call me in the morning to see if I felt any better.
I did as instructed and finished half the can of soup before heading to my bed.

I
had the same dream of Conrad climbing into bed. This time, when I reached for
him, he put his fingers to my lips. I just smiled as he pulled me closer to his
body.

Saturday
I woke up to a messy bed. I called Parker to see if the shipment ever got
delivered and thankfully it had been. He also told me the permits office would be
calling him Monday morning to give us an update. Apparently, Chastity had
gotten her friend to help us get back on schedule. Ramirez was to start the
crew on tearing out the dock door.

I
felt guilty for not helping him last night. Everything was set up in the dock
door that was beside the damaged one. He told me to concentrate on getting
better over the weekend and he’d see me at nine on Monday.

I
sighed and walked into the kitchen to nibble on something, still not feeling 100
percent. Eating half of a sandwich, I started cleaning my apartment as I
usually did on the weekends. I found trash in the bathroom even though I didn’t
remember throwing anything away. My mind must be slipping away with my
appetite.

I
did a quick run through of cleaning on the place and decided I’d lounge by the
pool for a little while. I still wasn’t hungry, so I only took my water bottle
with me. Finding a lounge chair by the shallow end, I relaxed. I was asleep in
no time and didn’t realize it until I was nudged awake by Conrad.

“Hey,
sleepyhead. You’re going to burn lying around like this. Did you put sunscreen
on?” he asked while bent over me.

“Yes,
I always put it on before I come out here. What time is it?”

I
stretched and noticed my skin was a little tight.

“It’s
one-thirty and I came by to see if you wanted to go out this afternoon. I
called but you didn’t answer. You look a tad bit pink. Let’s get you inside.”

He
grabbed my bag and reached his hand out to me. I took it and he ushered me up
to my apartment. When I was letting us in I noticed the blinds move in the
window of the apartment next door. I guess someone was moved in, although I
hadn’t seen any furniture come in. At least they were quiet about it. This
could be a good neighbor.

“Well,
here we are. What did you have in mind for this evening?”

I
batted my eyelashes at him.

“Keep
that up and we won’t be going anywhere, young lady.”

“Seriously,
tell me,” I said as I put my pool bag in the hall closet.

“I
had thought we could go to a nice little restaurant and then possibly to a
movie. What do you think about that?”

He
reached for me, running his hand up and down my back.

“It’s
fine. Since I haven’t been feeling too well the last few days maybe it’ll do me
some good,” I replied, loving the feel of the movements on my back.

“If
you still aren’t feeling well then why don’t I just pick up a movie and some
Chinese take-out?” He asked as I leaned into him.

I
breathed a sigh of relief and said, “That actually sounds wonderful. I can just
take a quick shower and go with you.”

I
went toward the bathroom. He caught me.

“You
take your shower and I’ll get everything while you freshen up. What kind of
Chinese do you want?”

All
I wanted was for him to keep rubbing my back. I stopped myself and concentrated
back on the task at hand. I gave a list of what I liked before he left. Of
course he didn’t leave without a good kiss to get him through his errands. I
could get used to this.

I
took a leisurely shower before pulling on my favorite gray yoga pants and
matching tank top. I grabbed a chocolate on the way back to the den then turned
on the iced tea maker. Curling up on the love seat with Bella I nodded off as I
waited for Conrad.

When
he finally returned, I let him in and helped him unload everything. It smelled
wonderful. I was suddenly very hungry as I started dividing everything up.
There was rice, wings and soup to serve with crisp noodles. I grabbed plates
while he got the movie out. It was the newest spy movie that I hadn’t seen yet.
He sure was getting to know me if he can pick out a good movie for us to
watch.
 

“I
took a gamble that you hadn’t seen this one yet. It just came out on DVD this
week. If you saw it in the theater, please indulge me.”

“No,
I haven’t seen it yet and was going to buy it next weekend when I went by the
superstore.”

I
brought loaded plates to the coffee table and went back for the iced tea.

We
got cozy on the loveseat while Bella sashayed to the bedroom to finish her
interrupted nap. Half way through the movie, I realized I was starting to feel
ill again. I went to the restroom long enough to take something for my upset
stomach. It didn’t work, so I ended up being miserable and couldn’t focus on
the plot of the movie playing. It was as if a fireball was burning my stomach
lining out. I began feeling dizzy.

Conrad
asked, “You okay?”

“No.
I’m miserable. I don’t know if it was the heat from sleeping at the pool or the
fact that I ate something afterward.”

He
felt my forehead before asking me exactly where it hurt.

“Your
skin is clammy. If it was the food then I think I would be sick too. Maybe
being out in the sun for so long made it worse. You look flushed but that may
be the slight sunburn you got.”

“My
burn would have been worse if you hadn’t woken me up when you did. I have been
dizzy, nauseous and had a tight stomach since Friday afternoon. I must have
caught a virus. It could be contagious. Maybe you should go.”

I
felt bad about possibly making him sick.

“I’ll
go if you agree to get some rest. I’m not afraid of catching anything from you.
I bet it’d be the best way for me to have caught anything.”

He
brushed the hair from my hot face.

“Just
call me if you need anything.”

There
wasn’t any food to dispose of so he grabbed the movie before opening the front
door. I blew him a kiss and locked up.

Sighing,
I sank into the love seat. I smelled his cologne in the air. I was drifting
into a deep sleep before I could even summon the strength to stumble to bed.

In
my sleeping state, I felt a weight against me. I didn’t open my eyes as I
figured it was Bella trying to comfort me. I heard noise coming from her and
wasn’t sure if she was meowing or purring.

A
stinging pain hit my arm. I swatted at Bella, except I hit something cold and
hard. The fog in my head got thicker. I felt like I was floating. I had never
liked being sick and always chose to sleep through any illness I had. I decided
to just shut my mind off to the crazy way I was feeling and surrendered to the
blackness.

Chapter Eight

I
heard something shutting. I tried to open my heavy lids. They wouldn’t
cooperate. I moaned as I tried to wake myself up. Hearing a voice, I tried to
focus on it.

“Don’t
worry. I have you and everything will be just fine.”

I
felt a pat on my arm and another stinging sensation. The voice sounded
familiar. My foggy brain was yelling at me. Why couldn’t I get up? Then, I felt
nothing.

Later,
I woke to a dark room and a cottony feeling in my mouth. I focused on the
shapes surrounding me. Nothing seemed familiar. It was similar to my bedroom, only
none of my furniture was in sight. I tried again to focus my eyes and had
trouble with that too. Either I was dreaming again or I was in another
apartment somewhere in the complex.

I
tried to get up, except my wrists were tied down to the sides of the bed I was
laying on. I started to panic. I tried calling out, however, my sandpaper
throat only released a loud whisper. Not sure of what had happened, I tried to
recall where I had been last. I remembered being on the loveseat after Conrad
left and knew nothing certain after that. Something about Bella and my arm came
to mind, just no other details. The smell of paint and new carpet wafted to me
and compounded the headache I was suffering with.

I
sat there in a panic. Then I realized that I wasn’t going to get myself back to
safety if I was hysterical. I had to take a moment to center myself, no matter
how difficult it was. I felt around with my feet. The bed I was on was small,
metal and squeaked when I moved around. I wasn’t able to touch the wall, but
could reach the floor with the tips of my toes. I pushed against the floor and
the bed moved. It must be a rollaway. I nudged it toward the door to only bump
into something on the way.

Slipping
my hand over the edge of the bed, I felt what could be a chair next to me.
Putting pressure on it made me move a little. I kept trying until I couldn’t
reach it any further. I stretched both feet onto the floor, with each as low on
the bed as I could get them. It took several minutes to clear the chair and get
to the door.

I
was sweating from the effort. My joints ached with tension. Scooting myself
over to the side of the bed, I reached my right hand as far as the bindings
would let me. I could feel the cold door knob. Wiping my hand on the wood
surface, I concentrated on wrapping my fingers around the knob, just enough to
turn it. The bed started to squeak as I put all my weight on that one side. I
had to be still for a moment.