The idea was tantalizing.
Maybe I could let him in a little bit at a time. Give him pieces that I had been holding back.
With Mason I could see myself falling.
So, so easily.
I was building a false fairy tale on a bed of lies.
And it was beautiful.
It threatened to tear me apart.
My doorbell rang, startling me as I brushed my hair.
I looked at the time on my phone and saw that it was only four. It couldn’t be Mason. Not yet.
I went to the front door and peered through the peephole, surprised and more than a little annoyed by who I saw there.
Kyle.
What in the hell was he doing here?
I thought about pretending I wasn’t home.
Kyle had never been to my house before. How had he even gotten my address?
Curiosity had me opening the door.
“Wow, you don’t look sick at all,” was the first thing Kyle said.
“What are you talking about?” I asked him, blocking him as he tried to angle his way inside. He was being pushier than usual. He was always a little over the top but today, with my head on other things, I was not in the mood.
“You called in sick. I thought I’d come by and check on you. Make sure everything was all right.”
I frowned. “How do you know I called in sick?”
Kyle grinned. “I read the email Patty at reception sent to Chuck, letting him know you had called in.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “You read the email?” I snorted. “How in the world did you do that? Were you peering over her shoulder?”
“I’ve been a busy boy, Master. Let me tell you all about it.” Kyle gently pushed his way past me and into my home.
“I didn’t invite you in,” I insisted, still holding the door open, watching my coworker warily as he walked into the living room.
“You’re a lousy housekeeper, you know that?” he asked, ignoring my statement completely. He picked up a tech magazine from the end table and flipped through it. “When was the last time you dusted?”
Kyle’s presence felt like an intrusion. He had been acting strangely since coming back to work after his “absence.” He had all but stopped his lame IT tricks. He had stopped bugging me for my hacking help. He had become unusually quiet. More isolated.
We continued to have lunch together and he’d drop by my desk in the morning, but otherwise he kept to himself. I wasn’t sure if I had done something to upset him, but I didn’t really want to ask.
The fewer people I had to worry about the better.
And this didn’t feel like a friendly visit. It felt like something else.
“Kyle, I’m not feeling the greatest. That’s why I called in. I don’t want to get you sick.” I closed the door and followed him as he snooped through my things. His boundaries were always questionable, but this was beyond the pale. I took the magazine from his hand and put it back on the table.
Kyle crossed his arms over his chest almost defensively, his head cocked to the side. “You look really pretty, Hannah.” There was a note of accusation to his voice. “I expected to find you convalescing on the couch if you were so ill.”
