Page 10 of Painfully Merry

He flips through the book, page by page. “Her office, it’s kinda big for a girl. I think she’s compensating.” Holding his hands to his chest to emphasize breasts.

“Sabrina isn’t compensating in that area.”

“That’s right, you had the pleasure of seeing them almost daily. Tell me, did you have to jack off in the employee bathroom? Or did you wait to do it at home?”

“What’s in the notebook?” There are some things you don’t need to tell Chaos.

“Poor sport,” he mumbles. “I’m not sure. It's a bunch of names and numbers. It hurts my brain.”

I take the book from him, flipping through it. It’s a list of names, dates and numbers. Some old colleagues I recognize, mainly all from the finance department, some scratched out, and others circled a few times. It’s like she’s on a trail and found a good lead. Then I see my name underlined and circled. Like I thought, she thinks I’m the one who stole from her. Fuck her. I’ll show her a thing or two about stealing.

“The staff is almost ready to depart. They were busy cleaning while I was up there. I’m surprised they didn’t sense me lingering around. I think she needs to fire them all.”

“We’ll tell her that after the fact.”

“Grab a nap. We have a few hours before blackness descends.” I lay down, covering up. It’s going to get chilly soon.

“If that cocksucker pulls through. I don’t like leaving things in other’s hands, Parky.”

I close my eyes, breathing deeply. “If he knows who you are, he’ll value his life.”

“Damn rights.”

I’m surprised Chaos’ buddy pulled through, killing the power to the block. The entire house is quiet as we make our way upstairs. My body vibrates with anticipation of what’s about to go down. Standing in the kitchen, we hear Sabrina walk down the stairs. Chaos rests his hand on my shoulder and grips the rope in his other hand. I clench the syringe. I have one shot at doing this, and if she makes a noise, we’re both fucked.

A pounding on the door sends a panic through my body. I snap my head toward Chaos, but he shakes his head slowly.

“Don’t move,” he breathed, “I’ll do it.”

I watch as he disappears into the darkness, silent like a mouse. How he can move like that, I’ll never know. I move like a bull in a china shop. Chaos comes, skipping back with yet another grin.

“Ready for the show?”

I pull the hood up, covering my face. Smiling at the thought. “Hell yeah.”

Chaos begins to whistle, and we head for the living room. There she stands, clutching the blanket tight to her chest. Her copper-ginger hair was wrapped in a messy bun, she has no makeup, and she is wearing Christmas pyjamas. But she still looks sexy.

She turns, blinking back tears. No, Sabrina is too strong to cry. “Get out of my house,” she demands.

Chaos steps forward, and Sabrina steps backward.

“Sugarplum, we ain’t going nowhere until my friend here gets what is owed to him.” Chaos moves closer, and I need her to come to me.

I cut her off, blocking her between the tree and the fireplace.

“Who are you?” She bumps into the tree, jiggling all the ornaments.

I want to say something, but I’ll give it away too soon. I hold up the syringe and watch her eyes widen.

Jerking her head, no. “You’ll have to kill me first, assholes.” Her arm moves fast, and an ornament smashes into my arm.

“You crazy bitch!” I jump for her when another ornament hits me in the face.

“Get her, poke her fast,” Chaos yells from the side. Sabrina twists around, throwing an ornament at him. With my teeth, I pull the cap off the syringe, crashing into her while she’s distracted. We hit the ground, and she goes to slap me, but thankfully, Chaos grabs her.

“You remember, you did this, Sabrina.” I jab the needle into her neck.

Our eyes meet, and it’s then she realizes who I am. I reach out, wiping the tear that begins to drop.

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