Page 4 of Night and Day
Anton sat back in the armchair. “You’re good. I don’t know if I should be impressed or scared.”
With a self-satisfied smirk, Tamika said, “Be impressed. Anyway, Calvin left for his guy’s trip yesterday, so I decided I would move out while he was gone. But when I checked my bank account, it was empty. He wiped me out!”
She still couldn’t believe he’d done that. Cheating was one thing, but stealing her money? And he knew how hard she’d worked and saved for that cash, too. He’d encouraged her to move in with him to save money. The bastard!
Anton shook his head in disbelief. “So, what are you going to do next?”
Tamika shrugged. “Kill him.”
“No, seriously.”
She stared at him.
Anton let out a little laugh. “You can’t kill him. You know that, right?”
“He would deserve it, don’t you think?”
“That’s beside the point.”
“If you saw the screenshots I took, you might feel differently.”
He paused, considering her offer, then shook his head. “I don’t care.”
She didn’t blame him. She halfway wished she could unsee the damning evidence. “I’m sorry for all the trouble I caused coming here. Today is not going as planned.” She thought she could sneak away from her lying, cheating boyfriend. Instead, he’d thrown a monkey wrench in her plans.
“Today isn’t going as planned for me, either,” Anton muttered.
She looked up at him, and they both laughed, relieving the tension in the room.
“Did you know… about your girlfriend cheating on you?” Tamika asked tentatively. “I mean, you didn’t seem hurt when I told you about her and Calvin. You barely seemed surprised.”
Anton sighed and rubbed the back of his head. “Honestly, I wondered if there was something wrong. We’ve been… off for a while and were supposed to have a talk when she came back from her business trip.”
“How long is a while?”
“A couple months at least. She’s definitely been different. I guess in the same way you knew Calvin was different.”
“You’re not hurt?”
“My pride is hurt, and I’m pissed, but our relationship had run its course.”
“I had no clue, at first, what was going on with Calvin. We’ve had our issues, but I’ve been busy trying to grow my cosmetics business. It’s hard work, and when I’m stressed, I can be… a lot.”
“You don’t say.”
“Hey!”
They both laughed again.
“Where did your guy say he was off to?”
“Camping. He loves the outdoors, which is why it didn’t seem strange that he was going off into the woods with his friends. I’m not much for camping and all that, so it never bothered me that he went with his friends every now and again. He had his alone time with his boys, and I’d have my alone time with my girls.”
Silence, as they both sat with their own thoughts.
“Well, since you said I can’t kill him…” Tamika lifted one eyebrow as if to test his resolve on that point.
“No, you can’t kill him,” Anton confirmed. “And for the record, coming over here with a baseball bat was not wise. If he were here and you attacked him, you’d end up in jail, and then he not only wins, you’ll lose big time. You think you’re out of money now, wait until you add bail and lawyer fees. Trust me, I know. I’m an attorney.”
