Prompt me not, for these are my prompts - 4. The Note

My life was a train wreck. There is no other way to look at it. In the last few weeks there wasn’t much that had gone right for me. Things had gone from wonderful to total disaster in no time at all.

It began with the passing of my brother, Tommy. He had gone to one of his beloved NASCAR races and sat in the sun while the temperatures reached into the hundreds. He passed out and suffered a heart attack. He was gone before the ambulance arrived to get him to the hospital. The idiot hadn’t even taken water to drink. The doctor told me that his autopsy showed he had suffered heat stroke which brought on the heart attack. Considering he had already suffered a heart attack this wasn’t a chance he should have been taking.

I hadn’t dealt with the pain of Tommy’s passing when my lover of three years decided he had had enough. I came home from work, expecting to go out and forget the pain for a while, only to find him packing a suitcase.

“What the hell is going on?”

“What does it look like?” Brian turned and faced me. In his hands were the shirts I had bought him for his birthday two days earlier. It had slipped my mind that it was his birthday until I was on the way home. Luckily I was able to stop at his favorite store and buy him a few of his favorite brand. Considering he was sliding them into the bag I guess he did like them.

“Like you are packing.” Brian worked for a publishing company and was often sent all over to complete deals, meet new clients, or check out possible new talent. For a moment I figured work must have called. “Where are you going?”

“Look, I know you don’t want to hear this now, but I’m leaving.”

I couldn’t seem to grasp it. He had a suitcase and was packing it. It had to be for work.

“I have a place already and I will be back tomorrow to get the rest of my stuff.”

I just sank into the chair and looked at him in disbelief. He was calm, but seemed to be on some sort of schedule I wasn’t aware of.

“Come on. You had to know this was coming, Jake.” He slid the entire contents of his underwear drawer into the top of the luggage. He kept his back to me as he just straightened out the contents in his bag. His head shook slightly before he turned to face me again. “I mean we haven’t had sex since your brother died.”

I could barely breathe. My chest hurt and I looked at him through a veil of unshed tears.

“That was barely two weeks ago, Brian.”

“Yeah, but you have been distant for weeks now. I’m tired of trying to figure out what you need. I have needs too. I mean how many times can you expect me to be up waiting for you to come home?”

“But I work hard Bri. You know I make sure to take time off so we can do what you like. Go where you want to go.”

“Well now you won’t have to worry.” There was a soft sigh as dropped his shaving kit into his carryon bag. “Besides, Ted’s place is bigger.”

“Ted? Who the hell is Ted?”

“You remember Ted. He came to our last barbeque. He used to date Anthony, till he found him in bed with the pool boy and the next door neighbor.”

“Sounds like a bad movie of the week.”

Brian shot me a dirty look and shoved the last of his stuff into the luggage I had bought him for our trip to California two years ago.

“Look I’m sure you will find someone soon enough. You always say life is an adventure.” He grabbed a small bag with a strap and slung it over his shoulder as he reached for the big bag that was on the bed. “Well now you get start a new one. I’m sure it will be worth it.”

He didn’t even pause to look at me as he stopped to open the front door. I felt like everything was falling apart but I didn’t realize things hadn’t hit bottom yet.

I was in such a state. Brian was as good as his word. A moving truck arrived the following day and every single thing that was his was packed up and out of our home within hours of my waking that morning. When he left this time he dropped the key in the bowl by the front door and didn’t even tell me where to send his mail. He was gone just like that. I wanted nothing more than to call Tommy and tell him what was going on but that was as impossible as pretending this wasn’t happening.

I worked like I was in a fog. In a month’s time I had lost my brother and my lover. Now fate took a swing at my job as well. The small bakery I had worked at for years was bought out. I hadn’t even heard that Maria was looking to sell. I arrived at work on Friday to find a closed sign on the window. I used my key and found Maria in the office packing up.

“Hey, where is everyone?”

“Oh Christ, you nearly gave me a heart attack, Jake.”

I looked at Maria as she shook her mane of dark hair.

“I forgot to tell you, didn’t I? Shit. I don’t know where my head has been.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Sorry, Jake. I sold the bakery. I had an offer I just couldn’t refuse. He bought the building, the recipes, and all the equipment.”

“When did this happen?”

“Monday. I made the announcement then.”

I stared blankly at her. Monday and Tuesday were my usual days off, granted hers were Wednesday and Thursday but I still thought she would call. I mean I worked Wednesday through Sunday for her and had since she had promoted me to pastry chef. I was her second in command and took as much pressure as I could off her. A lot of the recipes the store now used were mine. I’d been in to work every day since and she had never said a word to me about the store being sold or much of anything else.

“I wasn’t here. When do they want us to come back in then?”

“They don’t Jake. They plan to move the bakery to a new location and set up there. “

“Oh.”

“I gave everyone a week’s salary and made calls to find everyone a job. Didn’t anyone tell you?”

Numbly I shook my head.

“Damn. I even sent your resume to few places for you. I updated the original one you had given me when I hired you. Hasn’t anyone called you?”

“No. I’m sure something will come through soon though.”

Maria smiled and shook her head.

“Yeah I’m sure it will.”

“I’ll just grab my recipe book and my personal equipment.”

“Um.”

I turned to look at Maria who suddenly paled.

“What?”

“It isn’t there.”

“What isn’t there?”

“Your book. I told you, I sold all the recipes from the store.”

“Fine, but that is my book with recipes I had created. Some were used here but others weren’t. Besides they weren’t the store recipes. Those were my personal recipes.”

“They aren’t there, Jake!”

I couldn’t believe Maria could betray me like that. We had been friends for years. We had an agreement. She had her store recipes but I often rifted on them or tried out totally new recipes of my own. Some had become regular things the customers loved, but they could only be made because of me and Maria had always respected that. In fact, she often encouraged me to try out new recipes.

Maria looked down at the floor. She took a deep a breath and then looked up at me.

“Anything used in my store was mine. Those recipes became mine when they were used here. I was perfectly within my rights to sell them to the new owner. Check your original contract. It states any new recipes become the property of the store.”

I couldn’t believe it. Things I had slaved over and created from scratch were gone.

Maria walked over and picked up a box. Inside were all my personal things which she handed to me.

“I’m sorry, but it is all done. I wish you the best of luck in finding a new job.”

I stood there like a stone. I couldn’t believe this was happening.

“I put your last check in the box. I’ll take the key now.”

Just like that, the woman I had thought of as my friend and mentor became a stranger to me. She stood with her hand out and robotically I handed her the key. Just like that the past ten years of my life ended.

I drove home and parked in my driveway. I must have sat there for hours. I cried like a baby and it took a while before I could pull myself together enough to get inside. I remember walking in the door and collapsing on the floor. I know I sort of lost it for a while. When I finally got myself together, took a shower, and headed outside again it was week later.

I’d lost weight. Considering I had never been more than a few pounds from my goal weight, I looked like death. I needed to get something going or I was going to lose it completely. I began to put my resume in everywhere. Hell I even applied to Burger King. I needed a job. I still had bills to pay and rent to make. Without Brian to count on, the salary from Maria, or Tommy to call, things went from bad to worse. I knew how bad I looked, but I was lucky to get one meal a day to stay down. I no longer worried about how I looked; it was a struggle to just make it out of bed some days. I was sleeping too much and not getting out enough.

I had been out of work for two weeks when I finally got a call for a job. It wasn’t for anything to do with my pastry background. I had been called to take a minimum wage job at Sloppy Joes. It was a hero place that specialized in Sloppy Joe sandwiches. The hours were horrible, the food was gross, but it was a job. My new boss was Trent, an eighteen year old kid with a face full of pimples and an attitude that belonged to a top executive in a fortune five hundred company.

“Look Jack, I don’t care where you use to work or what you use to do. You work here and you work for me. The toilets in the men room are overflowing. Go clean up in there.”

“Jake. My name is Jake.”

“Jake, Jack, whatever. Go get my bathroom cleaned up.”

I’d gone to school to become a pastry chef. Now here I was cleaning a toilet in some dumpy restaurant just so I could make enough money to survive. Why had my life gone so wrong?

My life became one never-ending nightmare. It was a week later I came home to the note that changed everything. It had been a miserable day at work. It seemed Trent found every possible degrading job and had me do them all twice daily. There wasn’t a clog, mess, or disaster that occurred that I didn’t end up cleaning. Tonight I had come home after having to scrub the walls where someone had had explosive vomiting, and coated every possible surface in the bathroom and hallway of the restaurant.

I stumbled into the house smelling of vomit and cleaning products. I wanted a bath and my bed more than anything else. I shuffled my way into the bathroom and shed everything I was wearing. I climbed into the tub and turned on the water as hot as I could stand it. I luxuriated in just washing the stench off of me. I felt better just getting clean and forgetting about my job. I wrapped a towel around me and tossed the soiled work outfit into the hamper. I headed into my bedroom when I spotted it. Lying on the bed was a large white sheet of paper. What was written on there soon had my full attention.

Dear Mr. Lastner,

I do hope this letter finds you cleaned up after the mess you had to deal with at Sloppy Joes. I do find this to be a step down from your former employment at Pastry Shoppe. At least Maria knew how to run her business. It was a bit of a surprise she sold her business, however I guess that happens now and then.

Brian leaving you wasn’t anything to worry about. The man didn’t know what he had, but I do wish him well with his new boyfriend. I understand he is engaged now. I’m sure none of that interests you at all.

In the meantime, I really would suggest you get your bills out in time. You are nearly late on your house payment. Granted you only have a few left to make but if you miss any it could destroy the dream of being a home owner.

While I’m thinking of it, don’t you think it is rather passé to hide your sex toys in your nightstand? I had expected more originality from you. I guess since you aren’t really using them it doesn’t matter much.

Anyway, you are expected to be at the Silver Fox Restaurant at eight pm tomorrow night. Wear your blue suit, the white dress shirt with the silver striping, your blue socks from the top drawer, and the blue and white tie that you keep in your closet.

DO NOT BE LATE.

I stood there shell shocked. The paper trembled in my hand as I stood there reading it over and over again just to make sure I wasn’t imagining it. Who the hell had written this? How had they gotten into my house?

I immediately ran over and slipped on a pair of sweats before I went to check all the doors and windows in the house. Nothing was out of place, everything was locked, and no windows had been broken. Now I was scared.

I walked over and slipped open the nightstand drawer. Sure enough, there were the sex toys Brian and I had purchased together. It wasn’t like we were super adventurous. It was a grand total of three items- a dildo, a butt plug, and nipple clamps. The note was also right, I hadn’t been using them. Then of course I had always been a top so I only used them when I played with Brian. The only thing still in the drawer that I used with any regularity was the large bottle of Gun Oil. I sure as hell made sure I always had lube around. Nothing looked out of place though.

I walked over and opened my closet. It seemed huge now that Brian had taken all of his stuff out. He was more of a clothes horse. Without his stuff there my blue suit was easy to find. I hadn’t worn the suit in a while. In fact the last time I’d had it on was for Brian’s sister’s wedding. Brian liked the way the suit’s color set off my own dark stormy-green eyes, or that is what he had said at the time. It hurt to know that he could leave me and get engaged that quickly. I remember the conversation we had had last New Year’s Eve.

“Come on babe, marry me.”

“I want to get married,” Brian leaned in and kissed me deeply. “I just want to wait till next year. Think about it. I want it to be December thirteenth of 2014. Then our date will read twelve, thirteen, and fourteen. I promise if you ask me later this year, I will say yes.”

“Whatever you want.”

Now instead of the wedding we wanted, I’m alone and he is already engaged. This was so fucked up. How did the person who wrote the note know all about me? What had I done to come to this bastard’s attention? What the hell did they want?

I was worked up. I didn’t know if I should call the cops or not. I just wanted to pick up the phone and talk to Tommy but that wasn’t an option.

I was stressed out and knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep now. I walked into the bathroom, grabbed the laundry basket and started a load. While that washed, I went into the kitchen and clean up in there. It wasn’t much. I only had a coffee cup in the sink.

As aggravating as it was, I quickly ran out of things to do except think about that damn letter. Who could have written it? Why did they know all about me?

I finally fell asleep sometime after midnight.

When I woke up, I’d come to a few conclusions. Whoever the bastard was that wrote the note knew me intimately. It would be a cold day in hell before I did everything they wanted me to do. I had breakfast and began to form my own to do list for the day.

First up was to double check on my resume. Go to some of the places I had applied and if at all possible see why I hadn’t been called back.

Second was to check my bank account. If I had the money I was going to get a jump on my house payments. Whoever the author of that note was, they were right. I only have seven payments left on the house, but if I miss even one, they can take the whole thing out from under me. No way was I going to let that happen. I’d sell everything I could lay my hands on before I would allow that to occur.

The third and final bit was to find out about the Silver Fox Restaurant. There had to be a reason the bastard wanted to meet there.

I immediately got on the phone and called out sick. Lucky for me, Trent, my darling of a boss, wasn’t there. Teresa, his second in command, took the call and was sorry to hear I must have caught something after cleaning up the bathroom last night. She let it slip, that usually the cleaning company was called in to do that, so she hoped I was alright. There was a cleaning company? Why the fuck was I made to do all that shit if they paid a cleaning company to do the same thing?

For the first time in weeks I felt like doing something. I took a shower, got into a shirt and tie, and went out to check on my resumes. My first stop answered a hell of a lot of questions for me. I had gone to the Joslyn Anderson Events Center, which was a big name for a hall that was used for business meetings, parties, and weddings. I lucked into getting to see Debra Westwood, who was one of the hiring managers.

“So, I understand you are here to check on your resume. Not often people come in to do that anymore.”

Ms. Westwood sat behind her desk and quickly reached into a drawer by her desk. She flipped through the files and pulled one out.

“Thanks. I was really trying to find out where I might have gone wrong so that I can improve my resume.”

“Wait a minute. Jake Lastner? You can’t be Jake. I met him and he was a total bastard.”

I stared at her in shock.

“I … I am Jake Lastner. I have my driver’s license and all. What do you mean you met me, I mean him?”

She took my license, compared it to the paper before her, and stared at me open mouthed for a moment.

“I’m … I’m not sure what to say. I personally called and left a message setting up an appointment for Jake to come in and do a sample cooking so we could see his level of craftsmanship. We handle a lot of different events and while you seemed to have a great background, nothing can compare to an honest taste test.”

I sat there feeling my stomach sink. Someone had called? Why hadn’t I gotten the message? Who had shown up? The silence was like a physical weight. I sat there feeling smaller and smaller as she glanced between me, my license, and my resume in her hand.

“I completely understand you wanting that,” I managed to finally spit out. She sat there staring at me. “Can you please tell me what happened?”

“I’m sorry. Jake, or well whoever that was, showed up on time. He was taller than you are, blonde, sort of, well attractive, but really arrogant. When I told him we would be bringing him into our test kitchen and would allow him to make any dessert he desired and then one of the ones we are known for, he refused. In fact his exact words to me were, ‘Look, I don’t have time to play games. I am in great demand. If you don’t want me, well it is your loss. Just don’t ever expect me to come back to you!’ As you can imagine I showed him the door and your file was put away with a no call back note.”

I sat there wondering how many other great opportunities had come my way only to be sabotaged. I had definitely been too lax in assuring things were going right. Tommy had always told me to double check things, just to make sure there were no nasty surprises waiting for me. Well I hadn’t listened and it looked like I was paying the price now.

“I see. Thank you for telling me the truth.”

“You really are Jake Lastner then?” I nodded my head as leaned back in her chair. “I can’t believe it. I wish I could say I could offer you another shot, but we filled the two positions were looking for.”

“I understand.” I really did. I wanted to rant and rave about it being unfair, but I could see she really did feel bad. She looked a bit pissed off, but why was beyond me.

“You know what; I can’t use you, but let me make a call. Have a seat in the waiting room. Hold on.” She reached over and picked up her phone. “Lisa, I’m sending out Mr. Lastner. I have a couple of calls to make. Can you make sure he gets something to eat while he is waiting? Thanks.”

I wasn’t sure I could handle food, but I stood and shook her hand. “Thanks. I really do appreciate.”

She handed me back my license and shook her head. “No, I really don’t like someone using me that way. Give me a little while. I just need to see something.”

Lisa was a small efficient lady who was waiting for me the second I opened Ms. Westwood’s door.

“So you are the real Jake huh?”

“Yeah.”

“Well the other Jake was a looker, but had the personality of an attack dog.”

She walked me to the small employee café, told the girl behind the counter to make sure I ate and it was to be billed to Ms. Westwood’s account.

I sat with a cup of coffee. I couldn’t eat; my stomach was tied in knots. Who was this blond who had pretended to be me? While I waited to see what would come of the phone calls Ms. Westwood was making, I pulled out my own and made a call to the bank.

“Thank you for calling Forever Savings Bank. We help you make banking decisions that will help you forever. This Maria, how may I be of assistance?”

“Hello Maria. This is Mr. Lastner. I want an appointment with one of the bank financial agents, for this afternoon please.”

“One moment please.”

I spotted Ms. Westwood heading into the cafeteria with a big smile on her face. I was about to panic when Maria came back on the line.

“Mr. Lastner, Mr. Andros will see you at two this afternoon. Thank you for choosing Forever Savings for your banking needs.”

I just set down the phone as Ms. Westwood stopped at the table.

“It seems your imposter made a number of appearances for you. I called eight different places and seven of them had already seen you. I explained what was going on to all of them. You have two appointments. I have them written down here. I can’t guarantee you will end up with a job, but at least you have a shot at them.”

I looked back at her dumbfound. I had never expected anyone to do something like this for me.

“Thank you. I don’t know what to say.”

She got a predatory look in her eyes. “I don’t like being made a fool of, or seeing someone slandered and their career destroyed for no reason. Trust me, everyone I talked to is now very upset that they were taken in and used to keep you from getting a shot at a job.”

She walked me to the door, shaking my hand and wishing me luck. It seemed my world had been turned upside down and it was no accident.

“I can’t thank you enough for this Ms. Westwood.”

“Don’t thank me yet. You still have to earn your position. I just got you the interview.”

I headed right over to the bank. While I had been worried something might have happened to my money, at least there I had nothing to worry about. I had made it so that my accounts weren’t available online. Any banking had to be done in person and my id was needed. I had inherited some money from Tommy’s estate and I had my savings. I managed to cover the next four months of payments at one time. If I managed to land either of the jobs I had appointments for tomorrow, I knew I would be able to finish my house payments off in time.

With the rest of my day clear I began doing a search on the restaurant. I went through every newspaper article, online fact, and whatever public records I could find. The Silver Fox Restaurant was fairly well known. It had won every major critic over. It was pricey, well designed, with excellent food and was known for its incredible food, decor, and privacy. The owner was Antonio Versace, whose nick name was the Silver Fox. He had created the restaurant when he turned fifty. Ten years later the place was elevated to a place people went to be seen, hold major deals, and yet they could still have total privacy if they desired. Antonio had three sons – Marco, Antonio Jr., and Christofis. The first two were from his wife Marianna, a raven haired woman who had been looker in her own right. She was the original hostess until she passed away from cancer at far too young an age. From that marriage was Marco was in his late thirties, married, and lived down in Florida managing a number of night clubs. The pictures of him showed him to be a giant of man with dark hair and a mustache so he wasn’t my imposter. Antonio Jr. was in his mid thirties, engaged to a model, and lived in California. He had followed his father’s example and opened a few restaurants out there and he was doing very well. Not as broad as his brother or father he also was a dark haired man, so he couldn’t be my imposter. That left the youngest son. All I could find on him was that Christofis was from his second marriage to a woman named Christina. I could only find one picture of her, and that was of an extremely tall leggy blonde. There were no photos and no further notes on him, which sort of ended my investigation as it was.

The day was quickly turning to night when I arrived home. I went in, grabbed a shower, and then stood with a towel around my waist while I tried to decide what I wanted to wear. I’d be damned if I would be caught in the clothes the note told me to wear.

I found an old pair of jeans that fit comfortably, a blue denim shirt that helped to hide some of my dramatic weight loss, a pair of white socks, and my loafers. At least I didn’t look like I had something to hide and this was an outfit I would normally wear when going out. I knew from the research that there was a dress code at the Silver Fox, but somehow I figured if I showed up in nothing but a jockstrap I would still be shown in and to my table.

The drive there seemed to take no time at all. I pulled up, parked my ten year old Mazda amongst the BMW’s and Mercedes Benz cars and strode across the parking lot. The parking attendant shot me a look as I passed him. I couldn’t help but smirk as I imagined him trying to figure out why I was even heading into this exclusive place.

“Excuse me … sir. May I help you?”

The maître stood behind a sleek black podium. He couldn’t have sounded more disdainful if he tried. I smiled widely and walked right up beside him.

“Yes. My name is Jake Lastner. I believe you have a table waiting for me. Take me to it.”

He started to scan down his list and then stopped. I knew he had found my name by the way his whole attitude changed. I wasn’t sure who I was meeting here, but they sure as hell put the fear of God in this guy.

“I do apologize, Sir. I didn’t realize you would be joining us this evening. Come, please follow me. Your table is the exclusive room in the back.”

I followed behind as the maitre quickly lead me to the back of the restaurant and then off to an exclusive room to the side. The room was softly light and the table was set for two. I entered the room while he bowed out.

The one seat had been pulled out from the table. It was implied that I should take it. If I did I would have my back to the door and would be unable to see anyone entering. Whoever had set this up didn’t know me as well as they thought they did. I walked around the table, pulled the chair there out and moved it against the wall. Now nothing could happen in the room without me seeing it. I sat down and let the waiting game begin.

The room was simple but beautiful. The one wall was a sheet of glass that looked out over the water. The other three walls were done in soft cream colors and the overall effect with the candles and soft lighting was a sight; I normally would have found this setting romantic, but instead found it bothering me because of the blackmail and attempt to sabotage my life.

A moment later there was knock on the door and a dark haired waiter entered.

“I was asked to find out what drink you would like with dinner sir. The full wine menu is here.”

He began to cross the room to me with the wine menu in hand but I waved him off.

“A pitcher of water with lemon. That is all.”

Truthfully I didn’t plan to eat or drink anything. I was just waiting now for my “host” to make his presence known. The waiter bowed and exited leaving me once again alone in the room.

The waiter arrived again with the water, a small tray filled with fresh salad and a plate with a small loaf of fresh steaming bread.

I watched as the waiter set it all up and left then left without a word.

I looked down at my watch. I had been told to arrive eight and not be late. It was now eight fifteen and it was past time to end this charade. I stood up and left the room, leaving the door open and the room setup as it was. I hadn’t gotten halfway across the main dining room before two waiters began rushing towards me.

“Sir, your food isn’t ready yet?” I noticed the waiter who had been in the room nearly running from the kitchen toward me.

“Excuse me, is there something else you need sir?” This came from another dark haired waiter rushing toward me from the side. I could see a line of wait staff that seemed to be unsure whether they should continue to service their tables or rush to see what was happening. People were stopping their meals to notice me, and I stood out in my jeans and denim shirt amongst a sea of suits and expensive dresses.

“No, I’m done waiting. Thank you.”

The wait staff was totally confused. They didn’t know whether to try to stop me or let me go. Evidently whoever had been behind this whole thing hadn’t expected me to try to leave. Yet, I could see my waiter with another dish in his hands looking between me, the kitchen, and the room I’d left. I almost felt sorry for him, but I was done with this whole mess and wanted out.

I had just reached the maitre when my “host” decided to put in his appearance.

“Jake, so nice to finally meet you.”

I turned to find the man who had decided to turn my life upside down. He was taller than I was, I’d guess around six foot three, with platinum blonde hair. I figured he had whitened his teeth, or else paid to have them shined like they were. All I could think to myself was this bastard was use to getting his way.

“I do wish you had dressed for the occasion. Come let’s go sit down and get to know one another.”

I felt my hands clenching into fists. If I hit this son of bitch, I had no doubt I would be inside a jail cell within the hour. Luckily, I was saved by a slip of the tongue by one of the staff at that moment.

“Mr. Christofis, I mean Sir.”

So the man before me was Christofis Versace. Here was the missing heir, the blond arrogant bastard who had stood in for me at job interviews, destroyed my peaceful life, and had left that note on my bed. I saw red and every nerve in my body twitched with the desire to reach out and make him pay.

“Well Mr. Versace, I really don’t think we need to sit down, do you? I believe you have done enough damage to my life and my career as it is!”

The comment seemed to surprise him for a moment, but he quickly regained control of his facial expressions.

“Really, Mr. Lastner I have no idea what you could mean.”

“Very well. Do you really need me to comment on it all here?”

The restaurant had become totally silent. All eyes were on us and the staff seemed ready to hang on every word. This place was known for its total privacy, but here we were about to throw down in the doorway before every single guest in his father’s restaurant. I watched as he adjusted his tie and tried to smile.

“I really …”

Before he could get any further I said two words to him.

“Ms. Westwood.”

His eyes grew wide as he looked at me.

“Thank you for confirming my suspicions.”

“Now Jake …”

“No, shut up and listen. I am leaving here. I am not sure how you got into my house, I had a locksmith there earlier and had all the locks changed. You don’t have to worry about my house either, thanks to you I have paid it off in advance just to protect my assets.”

He blushed but stayed silent.

“You seem to have gotten yourself deeply involved in my life and I don’t know why. To be honest, I really don’t give a fuck anymore. You screwed with my relationship with Brian. God help you if I find out you were behind what happened to Maria and I.”

“Brian wasn’t...”

“I said shut up! With just what I do know and can prove, I have you on impersonation and character assassination. Add breaking and entering and I don’t know what else yet! You even look at me again and I promise I will make your life worse than you ever made mine. Forget I ever existed. Do you understand me?”

I watched as he swallowed and shook his head.

I turned and headed out of the restaurant only to nearly run into the Silver Fox himself standing at the doorway.

“Don’t think too poorly of my son. He seems to have fallen for you and just went about it all wrong.”

“If that is your son’s idea of love, I’d hate to see what he did to someone he didn’t like.”

The man reached out toward me, but this was just too much.

I pushed through the doors and out into the cooler night air.

My life was my own again and I’d be damned if I didn’t make the most of it.