Page 113 of One Bad Idea
And I'd be smart to avoid him, at least outside the office.
It was such a sensible idea, and yet avoiding him turned out to be a whole lot harder than I anticipated, as an event later that night so awkwardly proved.
Chapter 42
I'd been home for a full hour, but I wasn't the least bit tired. It wasn't even midnight, and Cassidy was still at work, which meant that I was once again home alone.
I felt too unsettled to sleep and too distracted to do anything else. In the end, I decided to do something that I'd been putting off all day – returning Stuart's numerous phone calls.
If I was lucky, I decided, he wouldn't even answer, which meant that I could leave a voicemail and be done with it.
No such luck.
He answered on the very first ring, saying, "Allie? Is that you?"
"Uh, yeah," I said. "I'm returning your call."
"Don’t you meancalls?" he said. "I was starting to think you were avoiding me."
Talk about nerve."Hey, you avoided me first."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, after you took off from my apartment, I tried to get ahold of you for like a month. You never called me back."
"I did, too," he insisted.
"Oh yeah? When?"
"Today."
"Gee, thanks for being so prompt about it."
"What'd you expect?" Stuart said. "That guy's a psycho."
It was beyond easy to guess who he meant – Jaden, obviously. "Oh stop it," I said. "He is not."
"Wanna bet?" Stuart said. "He told me to stay the hell away from you. Or else." Stuart made a scoffing sound. "LikeI'mthe psycho."
Stuart wasn't a psycho, but hewasannoying, especially now, when I was in no mood for his theatrics.
When I said nothing in reply, he said, "So, is it true? Are you really working for that guy?"
I wasn't sure I liked his tone. And besides, he wasn't the only one with questions. I asked, "Where'd you hearthat?"
"Fromhim, when I picked up the truck. So,areyou?"
I saw no reason to lie about it. "Yeah, I'm his assistant, actually."
"Then you'd better quit," Stuart said. "The guy's nuts."
I rolled my eyes. "He isnot."
"Oh yeah?" His voice rose. "Do you know, he threatened me?"
Yes. I did.In fact, I'd overheard some of those threats myself. And even if I hadn't, the sight of Stuart practically peeing his pants at the sight of Jaden would've been a terrific clue.
On the phone, Stuart was still complaining. "He acted like I was gonna hassle you or something."
