A shiver raced down my spine. Those people?
I wrenched the bag from her fingers. “Thanks for telling me.”
The wretch waddled away after giving my bare feet a disapproving sneer.
I returned to my desk, dropping the bag on it.
“Oh, you ordered dinner?” Steven looked up from his phone.
Had he missed that whole exchange? It wasn’t like Nadine was quiet.
“I did,” I lied. “You didn’t say you were coming.”
“Well, I’ll catch you tomorrow then,” he said with a sad smile.
That was it? We’d been talking about something important, and now he was just done?
I felt like I kicked the puppy. But I couldn’t bring myself to tell him the food didn’t matter and that it would be easy to join him. The truth was, I wanted to go home, to digest the situation, and see if this engagement was something I needed to back out of.
Which would be hard since I’d all but agreed.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” I agreed.
Steven rose, hesitated, and then leaned over the desk. I turned at the last second, and he pecked my cheek.
What the hell was wrong with me? I had a perfectly nice man, with flaws that I could live with offering me a fairy tale most girls would jump at a chance to have! If I was smart, I would go to dinner with him, take him home, and seal the deal.
And yet, I let him walk out the door and watched as he smiled at Nadine, who passed him in the hall.
Glowering, I turned my attention to the food. I didn’t have close friends who would send me dinner. As I peeled open the stapled top of the paper bag, a sinking feeling weighed on my chest. What if that man wasn’t just the delivery service? What if he….
I was tempted to chuck the whole thing in the trash. But the scent of savory soup made my poor stomach growl loudly.
I clutched my belly, thankful for the closed door.
Peeking into the containers, I noticed a Caesar wrap, a cup of vegetable soup, and freshly cooked kettle chips. Since it had been a few days since my last proper meal, the calories wouldn’t hurt me.
I popped a kettle chip in my mouth and opened my text messages. One glance at the screen, and I nearly choked.
Unknown: You will eat every last bite.
“No!” I hissed.
The old messages were gone. Only this new one remained.
Fumbling, I pulled up my digital trash bin. Had I deleted them last night when my brain finally turned fuzzy, right before sleep?
They weren’t there.
“Great,” I wheezed. It was quite possible I was mixing fiction with reality. Maybe this was something from a book, and the old messages never existed in the first place. That didn’t explain this new one, though.
I dropped my head onto my hands. This was too much. I was losing it. Taking careful breaths, I fought back the rising panic.
At least I didn’t go to the police with an empty phone.
“I’m losing my mind,” I said after a long exhale.
I stared at the message as though it would bite me. The skin on my arms prickled with gooseflesh. It wasn’t the only body part. I discreetly adjusted my bra. The plush material grazed my tight nipples, mortifying me further as I reread the words.
