Page 50 of Wrath

It gave me an uneasy feeling, so I quickly stepped back inside and closed the door. I gathered my things and rushed out to my car. I’d just started backing out of the driveway when I spotted the woman again—only this time, she was in Wrath’s front yard.

Again, she was glaring at me, which both confused and slightly angered me.

I was tempted to stop and ask her if there was a problem, but I decided against it and continued out of the drive. I drove straight to my apartment and took a quick shower. After I got dressed, I decided to go into work, so I could check on things. When I walked in, I was disappointed to find that there was no sign of Garrett. I went straight to my office and turned on my laptop, only to find that there was no response to my last three emails.

I was beyond frustrated.

Garrett was talented, and his work was very important him. I understood that. I supported it. I supported him—which was why I’d gone to that office every day to make sure everything was in order. It was the least I could do after all he’d done for me, but Garrett couldn’t seem to care less about the studio or what I’d done to keep it running.

It didn’t matter if he cared or not.

I was going to do it because it was the right thing to do. I gave the place a quick once over and checked for any new messages. Sadly, there were none, so I decided to close up shop and headed out to my car. I drove over to the pet store and started looking around at all the necessities for a cat. Before I knew it, I had an entire cart full of stuff.

After leaving the store, I ran some other errands, paid some bills, and even ran my car through the car wash. I was trying to kill a little time, thinking it might give Wrath some time to get back home.

When I finally ran out of things to do, I headed back to Wrath’s place.

When I pulled up, I was pleased to see that there was no sign of the neighbor. I thought it was a good sign until I realized that I didn’t have a way back into the house. I considered texting him and asking if he had a key, but then decided it would just be easier to leave what I’d bought on the back porch. So, I collected everything and carried it to the backyard.

I hadn’t gotten far when the little black kitten appeared at my feet. “Hey there, buddy. I brought you some goodies.”

I continued for the backyard as I coaxed him to follow. “Come on. I’ll show you what I got.”

As soon as we got to the back porch, I grabbed the bowls I’d bought him and filled one with food. Then, I used Wrath’s hose to fill the other with water. The kitten immediately dove in, eating every little morsel of food he could shove in his tiny belly. I ran my hand over his head as I said, “Poor thing. You were a hungry little guy, weren’t ya?”

I was busy loving on the kitty when something in the distance caught my eye. When I turned to look, I found the woman from next door standing in her driveway. She’d changed out of her t-shirt and was now wearing a cropped tank top and workout leggings, but she was still sporting that same angry scowl on her face. And like earlier, she was watching my every move.

I glared back at her for a moment but quickly became tired of the childish game. I bent down and picked up the kitty, then did my best to ignore the crazy lady as I carried him and his new bedding out to the barn.

I opened the door and gave a sigh of relief as I slipped inside, shielding myself from the woman’s view. I didn’t want to overthink things, but there was no doubt that something was up with her. I had to know what was going on, so I grabbed my phone from my pocket and texted Wrath.

Me:

Hey.

Wrath.

Hey.

You okay?

Me:

Yeah. I’m fine.

Just wondered what was up with your neighbor.

Wrath:

What did she do?

Me:

Oh, so you know she’s crazy?

Wrath:

What did she do?

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