Cold (5 page)

Although I was on vacation, I still made sure I was keeping up with work. I opened my lapto
p, and checked my email and when I was finished, I went upstairs. When I entered the room, Michael was on the phone. As soon as he saw me, his tone changed and he hurried up and got off the phone.

With a puzzled look on my face
I asked, “Who was that?”

He shook his head and said
, “It was just a client.”

He then got out of bed and went downstairs. I was too tired to ask him a million qu
estions so I just blew it off. After I got out of the shower, I laid down and before I could get comfortable in bed, I was already asleep.

Like every morni
ng, the rays from the sun shined throughout my room. The smell of bacon was taking over. I walked downstairs and saw Michael standing over the stove in an apron.

He turned to me and with a smile on his face said
, “Good morning.”

I was pretty impressed. I can’t remember the last time Michael cooked breakfast. He poured me a cup of coffee and sat it on the kitchen bar.
I could hear my phone ringing. A part of me wanted to leave my phone up there, but it could’ve been an important call so I went upstairs to get it. It was Carl. I answered with caution.

“Hello?”

He seemed to be in a good mood.

“Hey, I was wondering if you and
Mike wanted to double date later.”

I thought about it for a minute and replied
, “I don’t know about later but Michael is cooking breakfast. If you guys want to join us, we would love to have you.”

He paused
for a minute.

“Okay well let
us get dressed and we’ll be on our way.”

After we got off the phone, I went back downstairs and sat at the bar.

Keeping his eyes focused on the stove, Michael asked, “Who was that?”

I d
idn’t even realize that I didn’t consult with Michael first.

“That was Carl. He wanted to know if we wanted to join him and Tangy for a double date later but instead, I invited them over for breakfast.”

I expected him to complain but he didn’t.

He just smiled and joked
, “I guess I have to cook a whole pack of bacon now.”                                                                                                           

Minut
es later, I went to the door and greeted Tangy and Carl. We all sat at the table and began eating. Carl looked up and all around the dining room.

“I see you got your cameras installed
,” he said.

“
Yeah, after some psycho fucked up my car, I didn’t have a choice,” I sighed.

Carl nodded his head.

“I understand. Whoever’s been fucking with you will pay.”

He then changed the subject.

“Oh Tangy told me she saw you yesterday.”

I had no clue that she saw me. She didn’t speak and we didn’t make eye contact. I wondered what all did she tell him. I wondered if he even knew she was with another guy. To bring it up in the middle of breakfast would be awkward so I just nodded my head and said, “Yep sure did” with a smile on my face.

Tangy looked at me and didn’t say anything. After breakfast, I excused myself leaving everybody in the living room. I went up to my bedroom and decided to
lie down. I didn’t understand why Tangy claimed she seen me but didn’t bother to speak if she wasn’t doing anything wrong. There was a knock at my door.

“Come in!” I yelled.

Tangy walks in and surprised me.

“Are you busy?” she asked with a grin on her face.

Tangy and I were cool but we weren’t close. The only time we talked or even interacted with each other was when Carl was around. I gave her this stare and welcomed her in. She sat on the bed next to me and with her eyebrows raised she asked, “Tiffany is everything alright?” You seem a little off.”

I nodded my head and replied
, “I’m fine. Are you alright? You seem a little off yourself.”

I guess she could sense my attitude because she got up from the bed.

Before she walked away, she turned to me and with a smile on her face she said, “Before you assume shit, just ask me and if I was going to cheat on my husband, it wouldn’t be with the man you seen me there with. Trust me.”

She winked at me and then strutted out of my room.
‘What the fuck just happened?’
I wondered to myself. This bitch had a lot of nerve. She came into my room and called herself checking me. I immediately went downstairs and walked up to Tangy.

“You
need to leave.”

Carl looke
d at me as if he was confused and asked, “What’s going on?”

I turned to him and pointed my finger in
Tangy’s direction.

“Why don’
t you ask your wife?”

Carl then looked at Tangy.

“What is Tiffany talking about?” he asked with anger in his voice.

Tangy shook her head and said
, “I don’t know. Let’s just go.”

Carl didn’t even press her for more answers. He just lef
t without even saying bye.

“Wh
at the fuck was that about?” Michael asked in anger.

I ignored him and po
ured myself a glass of wine. I was a little disappointed in Carl for not getting to the bottom of the situation. Ever since I showed up at their house the night of me and Michael’s argument, she’s been having an attitude with me. All I knew was she needed to get over it. Days went by and there was still no word of Carl. I tried calling him but Tangy would answer his phone and say he’s busy. I usually spoke to him on a regular basis, so I wasn’t sure if he was angry with me or if he was just trying to stand behind his wife. I had to return to work in the morning and I wasn’t sure if I was actually ready to go. Melanie’s funeral had passed and I chose not to attend it but Michael did. In a way I felt bad for not paying my respect but at the same time, I didn’t want to be involved with the situation.

They hadn’t caught the criminal and I’ve handled so many cases where the killer showed up at their victim’s funeral. I already felt like I was being stalked so the last place I wanted
be seen was at a damn funeral. Michael, on the other hand was taking Melanie’s death pretty hard. I wasn’t trying to be insensitive, but I felt like he shouldn’t have taken it so hard. He knew what I was going through but it’s almost like he didn’t care. I still wanted to know what was going on with this client of his who popped up on at the gas station. I just didn’t trust him. He looked strange and he looked very familiar to me. I just couldn’t put my finger on it.

I was seriously thinking about getting a gun.
I realized that I didn’t check the cameras today so I went downstairs and checked for suspicious behavior, but there was nothing that stood out to me. I thought it was funny how the minute that I get cameras installed, there was no strange activity going on except for the private calls. While checking the cameras, I could hear the door knob turning so I paused. The door knob then starts to jiggle hard. Michael usually had his keys so I didn’t know who the hell was at my door. I stood still. I then heard banging so I slowly walk to the door and looked through the peephole and saw Michael standing there like a lost kid. I opened the door and just stared at him.

“Why didn’t you just use your key? You scared the hell out of me.”

He laughed and replied, “You need to stop being so damn paranoid. I don’t know what I did with my keys. Thank God for a spare key to my car.”

I shook my head and walked off. He
follows behind me and pulled my arm.

“Tiff, let’s go to the movies tonight since this is your last day of vacation
,” he insisted.

“Yea okay, that’s sounds good
,” I responded with a smile on my face.

I rushed upstairs and threw on a pair of jeans and a shirt and we headed o
ut. Michael and I held hands as we walked into the movie theater. We decided to watch a horror film. While I was ordering popcorn and drinks, Michael excused himself to the bathroom. Minutes later, he returned and we went to see our movie. I thought this was going to be a romantic movie date, so I chose a horror film so that I can hold on to Michael while we watch it but when I looked over, his ass was asleep. I wanted to take my drink and splash it on him. After the movie was over, I shook Michael to wake him up.

“You missed it
,” I said with an attitude.

Blinking his eyes back into focus, he apologized which wasn’t nothing new
. As we were walking toward the car, I heard someone calling my name. I turned around and Carl and Tangy was standing a few feet behind Michael and I. I was very surprised.

“What a coincidence
,” I whispered to Michael.

They walked up to us and Carl looked a little surprised as well.

“Wow we weren’t expecting to see you guys here,” he said with a stunned look on his face.

Tangy stood there staring at me with this cold look on her face.
‘I know her ass still wasn’t upset about the other day,’
I thought to myself. I quickly dismissed them and Michael and I walked back to the car.
‘What were the odds of them showing up to the movies,’
I wondered.

While we were in the car, I turned to Michael and asked
, “How would Tangy and Carl know we were at the movies?”

He shrugged his shoulders and replied
, “I don’t know.”

I mean there
were just too many coincidences.

“Are you messing with T
angy?” I asked with a straight face.

Michael almost swerved the car when I asked him that.

“What?!” he yelled.

“Well how else would they know we were at the movies Michael?”

I could tell he was getting frustrated.

“Tiff you are too fucking paranoid. No, I’m not messing with her. I don’t have her number. Today is Sunday. We’re not the only ones that go to the movies on a Sunday so chill
,” he said angrily.

Maybe he was right. I could’ve been paranoid. Carl and Tangy didn’t live far from us and this wasn’t the first time we ran into them. Tangy made a comment in my room the other day that sent me over the edge and had me thinking.
At this point, I didn’t trust any bitch around my man.

When we got home, Michael rushed upstairs and came back down with his pillow and blanket.
‘Here we go again,’
I thought to myself.

“Where the hell are you going
?” I asked with an attitude.

“Where the hell do you think I’m going?” he asked sarcastically.

I wasn’t about to let him leave upstairs alone tonight. Either he was coming to bed or we both were going to sleep on the couch tonight.  I went upstairs and took off all of my clothes and walked into the living room. I stood in front of Michael butt naked. If I couldn’t beat him, I was going to join him. My plan was to fuck him tonight anyway. He looked at me with his eyes wide open. He reached for my hand and pulled me on top of me. As soon as he stuck his dick in me, my body almost exploded. It was like a breath of fresh air. He put his hands on my hips and I began slow grinding him. I could tell he was enjoying it because his eyes were closed and he was licking his lips to keep the drool from seeping out of the corners of his mouth. It started to get good to me so I started going faster. I was moving my hips in a circular motion like I was hula hooping. He started smacking my ass and gripping my hips harder.

My moans became uncontrollable. Michael rammed his dick in me hard
er and my eyes started to roll in the back of my head. My body started shaking and this warm sensation started to creep into my body. It was Michael’s nut. My body started shaking harder and I exploded all over his dick. Having sex on the couch wasn’t so bad. I didn’t move afterwards. I laid my head on his chest. He put the cover on us and I fell asleep on top of him. While I was asleep, I felt this throbbing. The feeling was so intense that I started moaning; I slightly opened my eyes and realized that I was being penetrated. Michael was fucking me in my sleep. I was still on top of him and before I could open my eyes completely, Michael had an orgasm. I got up from the couch and headed for the shower.

I was running late for work so I just threw on anything
and headed out the door. I pulled into the parking garage and noticed that someone’s car was in my parking spot. I walked past Melanie’s office and stopped. I could feel my skin starting to get cold. I lightly ran my fingers over her office door. Work didn’t feel the same just knowing that one of my coworkers had passed away. In a weird way, I felt somewhat responsible for Melanie’s death. I should’ve kept my cool and allowed Michael to speak to her without interrupting the conversation. Every time I thought about what I did, my heart started to burn. My other colleagues were affected by her death as well. I was the only one that chose not to attend her funeral and I had my reasons.

Moments later,
Draya walks up to me and puts her hand on my shoulder. I turn to look at her. I could tell she was relieved to see me.

“I’m glad to see you back at work
,” she said with a smile on her face as we walked into my office.

“So after we saw Tangy that day at the restaurant, the next day
she and Carl came to my house for breakfast and the next thing you know me and Tangy got into it.”

Draya’s
eyes got big and with her eyebrows raised, she asked, “Why? What happened?”

I sighed.

“The bitch came into my room and tried to check me. I guess the guy she was with wasn’t her side man because she said that if she was going to cheat on Carl, it wouldn’t be with that guy then the bitch winked at me.”

Draya’s
eyebrows were still raised.

“Wow what do you think she was trying to say?” she asked.

“Girl I don’t know. The crazy thing is me and Michael ran into her and Carl at the movies last night,” I replied.

Draya
just looked at me and shook her head. I honestly didn’t know if Tangy was trying to hint something to me or if she was just being a bitch. Carl wasn’t answering my phone calls because my little altercation with her. I understood that was his wife and he needed to stand by her, but I was his best friend. After we were done talking, Draya left my office and later returned with a file and handed it to me.

“These are the contracts you wanted me to type up.”

I grabbed them and read over them. The rest of the day was easy. I didn’t have any new clients at the moment, so I didn’t have a lot of work to do. I grabbed all of my things so I could get ready to head home. Draya and I left the office together. While we were walking to the parking garage, I was silent most of the time. I wasn’t sure if I was depressed or what but I was feeling sick.

“So have you caught anything on your camera?”
Draya asked.

“No, everything has been normal so far. The minute that I get the shit installed, there’s no sight of the psycho who fucked with my car
,” I sighed.

The closer
we got to my car, something seemed a little weird. As we got closer, I noticed that my car window had red shit all over it. My heart stopped and I stood there like a statue. I dropped my suitcase and all of my papers scattered all over the parking lot. Draya looked at me with her mouth wide open. I couldn’t believe this shit. In big bold red letters someone wrote “BITCH” on the driver’s side of my window.