Page 24 of Whispers in the Dark

“Daddy. Yes, I like my job. Yes, it’s hard work with long hours, but I think I have managed to change that. Yes, I like my boss, but he’s a bit of a puzzle.” My father shook his head, releasing a low chuckle.

“You always did just come out and say things,” he replied, leaning over to kiss my temple. “What makes this Benedict such a puzzle?”

He paused at a jewelry store window, glancing at bracelets. A small part of me was relieved he hadn’t reached the ring stage just yet. Not that I begrudged him anything, but the little girl deep down inside of me wanted to have her father to herself for just a bit longer. Realistically, I knew Nicole already had a piece of his heart, but I could live in my fantasy world for a bit longer. Did that make me a selfish bitch?

Lifting his head for the door, I followed him inside and felt slightly claustrophobic at the sheer number of people inside that store. My dad was an intentional shopper, though. So I knew we wouldn’t be in here long. While he chatted up the sales associate, I looked down at rings in the cabinet, trying not to show the least bit of interest for fear of unleashing the sales staff upon myself.

“Excellent choice.” The female voice said. Lifting my head, my gaze met an older woman in business attire. “You’re also in luck. We have forty percent off wedding bands and engagement rings this weekend.”

“Wedding… oh, no. I’m here with my father. He’s buying a bracelet for his… for someone special. I’m just trying to stay out of the way.”

With a nod, she urged me to let her know if I changed my mind and wanted to see anything in the case, before moving on to the next customer who was salivating over high-end watches. A flash caught my eye and I spied a beautiful diamond band that had been positioned perfectly under the case lighting. The ring seemed to take on a life of its own, the stones nearly ablaze from all of the sparkling. In my head, I could picture that band on my finger and I knew if I ever did get married one day, I would want just a band like that.

“All set, sweetheart?” My father had a small bag in his hand and a slight blush on his cheeks, making me grin from ear to ear.

“I’m happy that she makes you happy, Dad. You deserve it. She’ll love that bracelet.” I paused. “I’d like to pick up something for Nicole, too. You told me she reads a lot. I saw a bookstore just up the block. I should be able to find something in there.”

The door chime sounded when we entered, the cheery tinkles of the bells signaling our presence. The familiar smells of ink and paper filled the space and I inhaled, a sense of comfort enveloping me. I had a fondness for bookstores, as was evidenced by the never-shrinking pile of “to be read” material on my nightstand.

After finding out Nicole had similar tastes in authors that I did, and making sure she didn’t already have the hardback novel in my hand, I set her gift inside the hand basket and wandered around some more. My dad was off in the magazine section, no doubt thumbing through the current edition of “Outdoor Life” or “Fishing Life” or whatever those publications were called.

I perused shelf after shelf, wrestling with whether or not I should buy a gift for Adrian. My heart ached at the knowledgethat he didn’t observe holidays. That just wasn’t acceptable to me. I wanted him to see that holidays weren’t all bad.

I couldn’t find what I wanted, but then again, I didn’t exactly know what I wanted. I just kept looking and looking until I spied an end cap with the latest crime thrillers on it. And they were all signed by the authors.

“Well, this is more like it,” I muttered. In my short time at Adrian’s penthouse, I had spotted a few crime thrillers on his coffee table, so that gave me an idea of his taste. The end cap was alphabetized vertically and I was drawn toward the most recent David Baldacci novel. I knew for a fact that Baldacci was gritty and graphic, often throwing in a twist to keep the reader guessing.

Double checking to make sure it, too, was signed. I placed the book in my basket and went to find my father. Rounding a row, I was stopped in my tracks by a Peanuts holiday display. The square table was covered from corner to corner with stuffies and books, games and puzzles. The store had everything a child might need to enjoy Snoopy and the gang…and then I spotted a tall skinny box. “Oh my god. This is it.”

I had found a scaled replica of the Charlie Brown Christmas tree from the cartoon. I was going to buy it and put it on Adrian’s desk as a decoration for his office. It wasn’t very big and it wouldn’t take up a lot of space. I intended to find a spot for it that would allow him to see it while he was on a call or on his laptop. I couldn’t wait to take it to the office on Monday.

My dad left on Sunday afternoon with both his gift and mine wrapped for Nicole. After a few tears and promises to get together for the new year, I spent the next few hours practicing Japanese, playing with Lug Nut, getting in a longer neighborhood walk, and writing out my to do list for the next day. Once I had finished, I glanced over at the tree box sitting by my purse.

“I have to take it tonight. Adrian goes in too damn early.” Lug Nut padded out of the kitchen and happily trotted over to me. I was struck with an idea. It was nighttime, but no one would bother me with a pit bull by my side. It didn’t matter that he was normally a lover and not a fighter. If he viewed someone as threatening, he would defend me.

“Let’s just take this over to Adrian’s office, what do you say? Wanna go for a car ride?”

I thought the dog was going to wag himself across the room. I grabbed his leash and clipped him in, then got my purse and the tree box. This time of the evening, there was no traffic, so I made record time getting to BT. The security guard waved at me when I entered, smiling at the sight of the dog. “That’s not quite what I was expecting when I saw you buzz in, Ms. Davis. Can your boy have a T-R-E-A-T?”

Nodding, I went to the security desk. Like the good boy he was, Lug Nut sat, waiting patiently for his cookie without prompting. He took it gently, wagged his butt and we were off to the elevator bank. “Mr. Benedict isn’t in,” he called across the lobby.

“That’s okay. I’m just here to drop something off for tomorrow. See you later, Neil.”

The elevator ding sounded loud in the quiet office space. Lug Nut stayed by my side every step of the way as I walked toward Adrian’s professional lair. He kept his office locked when he wasn’t in it, but I had been given a master key. One twist and I was in.

The space smelled like him. I had never noticed that before, but it made sense since the man spent most of his time here. Dropping Lug Nut’s leash, I then went about setting up his gift. The dog assumed a down position in the middle of the floor, automatically placing himself between me and any potential danger.

I pulled the tree out of the box, a most unladylike snort leaving me at the sight of that damn tree. It really was perfect… complete with Linus’ blanket and the lone red ball. I set the tree between his phone and his laptop clapping my hands together with joy. I hoped it would make him smile, and at the very least, he would know I made a special effort to surprise him.

“Merry Christmas, Sir,” I whispered at the tree. The dog was watching me, his ears perking up when I made a kissy noise.

“Let’s go, handsome boy. Our work here is done.”

17.Adrian

I’d managed to sleep completely through another night. I’d been counting them down and so far, I was on seventeen nights and counting. It seemed like such a small accomplishment, but knowing the hell that greeted me most evenings, I would take this small blessing. Yes, there had been periods of time before when I would be wracked with bouts of insomnia, but not the god awful sleepwalking that still terrified me to this day.

This was different, though. Nothing felt the same. I wasn’t waking up to find myself in strange places or doing weird things, but instead I was actually getting some much needed rest. Running on empty seemed to be my mantra, but not feeling exhausted was something I could get used to. Only, I couldn’t. Knowing my life and how it’d gone so far, I was basically biding my time while waiting for the inevitable to happen. Would it be tonight? Tomorrow? Next week? I didn’t know.

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