Page 5 of The Incubus Curse

I took a deep breath- trying to erase his eerie warning from my mind- and reached for the phone again, watching the blinking light dance on hold before I pressed line 1 and picked it up. “Hello, This is Freya Wilk, I’m sorry for the delay.” My voice cracked as the nerves within me stirred in my stomach.

“About damn time!” I recognized the voice, none other than Tina- my best friend- although one would not deduce such a thought if they saw us together. We were only friends because we had known each other for so long, and neither of our personalities exactly mingled well with others.

I’m not typically a going-out person, and being as driven as I have been, it’s been hard to find friends who understand that. Friends that don’t need constant attention and time. I didn’t have the same luxury as others. I had no family. I had no support group to rely on if I failed in life. I only had myself, so I would not let myself down. I worked weekends and days. I was so busy that holding any form of friendship was hard. As for Tina, she’s tried to make friends, but she always sleeps with their husband or boyfriend, whichever they may be.

Luckily for our friendship, I have neither of those and haven’t for as long as we’ve been friends.

“What are you doing calling me at work?” I looked paranoid, scoping the office even though no one was in sight. One of the most significant rules here at Thomas Marketing was never having personal calls unless it was an emergency. Tina’s definition of emergency usually entailed boys or drama, sometimes both.

“Oh, calm down. I was checking to see how you were doing.” I could practically hear her eyes rolling over the phone. “So, I hear the Ellisario’s are coming to your work tomorrow.”

“Is that the only reason why you’re calling me?” I snapped. Did everyone know who these people were? I reveled in listening to her despite the looming fear of Mr. Thomas wandering back to my cubicle and seeing me, especially afterthatinteraction with him.

She choked on her laughter, the first clue that led me to believe she was drunk- at noon- on a Thursday. She worked at a 24-hour strip club, so I guess time has no meaning in a place like that. “Well, Lacy called me to tell me how your office is going out tonight. She has been very persistent about wanting to hang out lately. But I figured I couldn’t miss out on a night like tonight. After all, you rarely go out.”

Tina always had some power over people, drawing them instantly to her. Even my assistant, who met her briefly as she helped unpack my things in my cubicle, had gotten trapped in her net, it would seem.

“I just don’t find it fun. You go out late, you drink, you do something stupid, you hate yourself for it, and then you’re hungover. Nothing is appetizing about that.” My fingers danced around my desk for my papers as I held the phone tightly to my ear with my shoulder so it wouldn’t crash on the table.

“So then don’t go. No one’s making you.” She was rather pushy, and while pushy was in her nature, pushing me to specificallynotgo out was not.

I nearly dropped the phone to the desk as my mouth opened in shock. “Did I hear that right? Are youactuallyadvising me not to go out? Who are you, and what have you done withTina?”

There was a moment of silence before she spoke. “Yeah, I don’t know what I was thinking.” She laughed it off awkwardly. “Why don’twego out, just the two of us tonight? We can ditch your co-workers.”

“I don’t know which is worse, being forced to go out with them oryou.” It was meant as a joke, and I’m sure if anyone was listening in, they might have taken me seriously, but this was how Tina and I were with each other. I don’t think there was much either of us could say to get under the other’s skin—or at least enough to do any severe damage to our relationship.

“Come on. Have some fun once in a while. It won’t kill you. In case you forgot, you need to act your age, Freya, which is twenty-three! These are the best years of your life, and you’re wasting them on people who don’t value you as they should.” Tina all but yelled into the phone, slurring like a tipsy snake.

Even in her sometimes delusional mind, she was right. I hated admitting that and would never verbally announce that, but I could use a good night out. Away from work and the constant stress that came with it lately. Not that I would be escaping work exactly. I doubt that I would be able to get out of meeting up with my co-workers. Plus, my job may or may not have been on the line.

I growled in defeat and momentarily agreed with Tina, explaining that I would have to meet up with my boss at some point. Afterward, I hung up on her before she could drone on about something else pointless and keep me on the phone for hours like usual.

After filling out the rest of the paperwork that needed to be done for the day, I quickly escaped, running out once the clock struck five before anyone could see me leave. Stayinglater to appear harder working was a pointless habit I refused to fall into.

After leaving, I flagged down a taxi and headed to my apartment.

Now, outside, my apartment building looked very old and run down. It was lined with old, stained bricks, and the front doors were rusted, but I didn’t care. It was the first place I could truly call my own.

Growing up, I bounced around in the foster care system a lot, so there never was a stable home for me. And once I turned eighteen, I aged out of the system, which practically kicked me out onto the streets.

It’s how I met Tina, strangely enough.

We were waitresses for a while to make ends meet, and we lived with each other for a moment when I was in college. However, that girl was more sexually active than a bunny. I was surprised she never contracted anything, if I’m being honest. So, I was out of there the minute I got my own place, which led me to this place. Even though it wasn’t perfect, it was my own.

I stumbled through the rusty doors and saw Stan, the doorman at my apartment building, standing behind his little desk. The elevators, “Out of service” sign still in use. Stan’s face slumped in his hands, holding his head up as he hazily looked up at me through his chestnut hair that shagged over his eyes like a dog.

“Oh, come on. When are they getting this fixed?” My eyes raced to him, who merely shook his head no. “What does that even mean?” He nodded again without using his words to answer me.

I growled and began my journey to the seventh floor via thestairs.

‘No’? How does that even answer when they’ll be fixed? No, as in never? The thought angered me.

I finally got to my door, out of breath, throwing my shoes and purse to the ground as I fell inside. Looking up, I could see Tina resting against my counter, guzzling down a bowl of cereal. To my surprise, she wasn’t wearing her work clothes, though her shoes, on the other hand, could have been debatable depending on who you asked.

She wore five-inch hot pink stilettos with silvered spikes on the heel. At least her ebony tank dress, which matched her hair almost perfectly, was form-fitting and didn’t show her crotch. That was always an improvement of sorts for her. It rested about two inches below her butt, which was quite conservative- for her anyways.

“Oh, I hope you don’t mind. You’re out of coco puffs now, by the way.” She grinned at me, totally avoiding the elephant in the room.

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