Page 63 of Reclaiming Love

Chapter 35

“This is insane. You’re not thinking straight.” Was Heather’s opinion when she’d first suggested her crazy idea. But her friend had followed her anyway.

The idea, piercing her consciousness like an almighty arrow, had slowly and stealthily taken form in her suspicious mind.

Now that she was here she’d have to carry it through. The notion that Matt had more incriminating evidence on her had been her turning point.

She couldn’t sit back and let the matter rest. The more she thought about that shithead, the more the anger slowly rose inside her until it turned into a scorching fireball that propelled her into action.

He had already ruined her chances with Noah, and she wasn’t about to let him think he had something else to hold over her. And she couldn’t rest until she had at least checked out her suspicions. If she found something, she would have to destroy it. But first she needed to gain access to his room. And to do it while he wasn’t around.

She marched on ahead, putting her hand into the front of her coat pocket to feel for the memory stick. This time she’d get all the evidence and trash it from his computers, assuming her theory—fuelled by his threat—proved itself right.

Half galloping to keep up with her, Heather muttered at her side. “You want to go back into his apartment and do what exactly?” She’d told Heather her plan along the way, knowing that Heather would come along because she was curious and because she was a good friend and that’s what friends did.

Even if Melissa was only willing to supply half the story.

Heather still knew nothing of what had gone on that last day between Melissa and Matt. Nor did she know that Noah lived at the same place as Matt.

“It doesn’t make sense why you’re going back to his place. Can’t you call him and meet somewhere neutral?” Heather demanded.

But Melissa concentrated her gaze on the apartment across the road and looked at her watch. It would be time soon.

She was taking a huge risk doing this. While she knew about Matt’s timing—that he’d be out jogging soon because he was so anally OCD about his routines—she couldn’t vouch for the others. It was the encounter with Noah that she dreaded and hoped her luck wasn’t so down that she’d run into him this time around. Breaking into Matt’s room seemed somehow easier than running into Noah.

What would she do if she saw him?

Now, as she hid in the bushes across the road from his apartment with Heather constantly asking questions, she started to doubt the wisdom of her plan. She hadn’t thought about it much when she’d left work and met Heather at her work place. She knew his half an hour run would give her enough time to go into his room and take what was hers and destroy it all. She’d be gone by the time—if and when—his friends told Matt that she’d been here sniffing around.

It was daring, it was insane, it was everything Heather had said it was, but Melissa had never been so hell-bent on her desire to ensure the little shit didn’t get away with it. She hadn’t allowed herself to be degraded just so that he could film her and then blackmail her further down the line.

If he didn’t come out tonight, she’d have to try tomorrow night. And the night after that. She peered from behind the bushes, completely ignoring Heather’s futile attempts at reason.

“Will you listen to me!” Her friend poked her in the arm to grab her attention. “This is stupid. I can’t believe I’m doing this with you. Why can’t you go knock on his door and sort it out?”

“Because he’s got something that belongs to me.”

“Why don’t you ask for it back?”

“He doesn’t know I know he’s got it.”

“What?” Heather shrieked. “That doesn’t even make sense. What are we talking about here? Military intelligence?”

“It’s…stuff,” was all that Melissa would say.

“You’re breaking and entering,” Heather hissed.

Melissa turned to her friend calmly. “I’m not going to break in,” she explained. “Someone will let me in and if nobody’s in today, we’ll have to come back tomorrow.”

“We’re staking out your weirdo-ex all week? Do you think I don’t have better things to do with my time?”

Melissa shrank back against the bushes and pushed Heather back too. Thankfully the fast falling darkness now also provided a double blanket of protection for them.

“Shhh.” Melissa peered over the road when she saw him come out. She glanced at her watch, just on time. Around seven thirty on a Thursday. And Mondays and Tuesdays. The guy was OCD to a fault.

The thrill of exhilaration buzzed as the adrenaline burst through her. Gung-ho madness took hold. The meek and ordinarily obedient Melissa suddenly had a new lease of life doing something so extraordinarily out of her usual realm of existence that it was like watching her alter ego on the big screen.

“Stay put,” she ordered Heather and got ready to make her way. Her insides felt as though they’d almost clambered up her throat. She tried to steady her rapid breathing. Heather opened her mouth to object but stopped, as if the sudden gravity of the situation had hit her.

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