Page 27 of The Wrong Guy

“What is going on?” I ask no one in particular.

That’s when I hear the voice I know very well.

“You just had to dig. You couldn’t have taken the money I gave you and left everything alone, right?”

“Derek? What are you doing here? What did you do?”

My eyes adjust to a garbage can in the middle of the room with a fire. Derek is burning things in the fire, and I can’t see what they are besides paper. He looks pissed, but much more than that, he looks scared. He knows he fucked everything up.

“What am I doing here? What are you doing with that attorney? I saw you, Audrina. I saw you doing that with him. I thought you were better than that.”

“Derek, what I do is none of your business anymore. You wanted a divorce. You are getting it.”

He throws a couple more things into the fire. “I’m not getting what I want. I wanted the money and you to remain ignorant. I should have known your brother would have hooked you up with a good lawyer.”

I’m shaking on my bed. “Please. Just stop. Please leave.”

“You fucked everything up. Now you know what took place.”

“What are you talking about?” I’m sitting in bed with the blanket wrapped around me to keep me safe. I know the blanket won’t do much to protect me, but it is comforting right now.

He begins pacing in the room. He’s looking outside and then looking back at me. “I can’t even look at you.”

My face gets warm, and I begin to sweat from the heat of the fire. “Then please just go.”

“Don’t you see I can’t go? Don’t you see I can’t leave? You fucked everything up.”

“Where did the money come from?” I ask the biggest question of them all.

I watch as Derek lifts something behind him. I almost can’t see it in the darkness, but I can see it with the light from the fire. The big bottle is clear as day for me, and I’m instantly on high alert.

“No, Derek. Please!” I beg.

He’s bringing the bottle closer to the bed and rips the blankets away from me. Even though the room is hot from the fire, I instantly miss the protection from the blankets.

“You left me no choice. You lethimtouch you. You will never be clean again,” he mutters like a madman.

I’m shaking as the pungent smell of bleach tries to fight its way into the smokey haze.

“Please! Please. Derek, please don’t do this.”

Derek’s frame begins to pace along the side of the bed, and I can tell he’s debating what to do. I watch as he walks and try to figure out any way to get him to see it doesn’t have to be this way.

“We can put the fire out, and then you can go. I won’t say anything. I promise!”

The loud, blaring fire alarms begin chiming throughout my apartment. I know it is only a matter of time before the fire trucks come since I’m relatively downtown. I once thought this apartment was safe due to the location, but now I understand I might never be safe again.

“Derek! Please! We have to get out of here!”

I’m trying to get out of bed, but he’s blocking me whichever way I try to get off it. I finally see a hole and dive off the bed. I’m running toward the door to get out of the apartment, and I make the mistake of turning to look at Derek.

His eyes are bloodshot as they bore into mine.

“We need to get out of here!” I cry and turn back to grab his arm to pull him out. He shakes me off, and then I see the bottle being sloshed around.

It happens so quickly. Derek shakes the bottle of bleach, and then I’m coated in something wet. The smell and then the heat from the fire begin to take me under.

I’m trying to fight the urge to fall to the ground to seek solace under the bed, any place to keep me safe from Derek. Keep me safe from feeling as if my skin is burning off.

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