He hung up, and I dropped the phone on the desk, catching one last glimpse of Freya before she disappeared into her apartment.
I just hoped we’d both survive what was to come.
Chapter2
Freya
The eency-weency spidercrawled up my kitchen wall.
Down came the broom and squashed it, hairy body and all.
Out came the vacuum and sucked up all the mess.
So the eency-weency spider was gone in three seconds or less.
No judgment, please. I was terrified of spiders and living by myself. I had nightmares of a spider making its way into my mouth while I was enjoying the sleep of the misguided and reckless.
And I wouldn’t be able to stay in my apartment if I knew there was an eight-legged creature in the room. My spider-killing song helped to overcome my irrational fear of the tiny, hairy creatures. While I still had to close my eyes before I swung the broom, I was at least able to take care of the problem myself.
Once I’d done the deed, I put the broom back in its easily accessible spot next to the fridge and picked my grocery bags back up. I’d been on one of my rare outings to the supermarket. I hated shopping, and unless I ran out of coffee or milk, I wouldn’t voluntarily make a trip.
Normally, I just ordered groceries online, but as usual, I’d been too caught up in work to remember. Hence my trip to hell, aka the supermarket.
When my phone rang, I debated not answering. I’d been getting weird hang-up calls lately, and considering who my family was, I had reasons to be worried.
I left my old life behind two years ago, but you never knew who would come crawling out of the bowels of Chicago’s underground. It would take them a while to find me in the small town of Ferguson, but it wasn’t an impossible feat.
And since my family’s style was more like “blow it up and see what pieces come flying out,” I knew it wasn’t them. They wouldn’t do creepy hang-up calls.
I should really stop acting like I was scared of my own shadow. I was the one who decided to strike out on her own. And that included not being scared of a phone call. Which meant I picked up my phone like the brave and independent woman I thought myself to be, sighing in relief when I saw it was my friend, Quinn.
“Hey, Freya,” she greeted, her bubbly personality shining through her voice.
“Hey, what’s up?”
I set my bags on the kitchen table and started putting everything in my cupboards and fridge.
“Can we meet an hour later tonight?” she asked, the question not a surprise at all. She was either always late or made last-minute changes. But I didn’t mind, since she was the most loyal and honest friend I’d ever had.
She was also theonlyfriend I’d ever had.
“Want me to come to Deliziosa?”
We’d had a standing dinner date ever since we first met at a knitting group two years ago. I thought knitting would make a great hobby, but the one and only class I took still gave me nightmares. There was so much wool and so many ways to get wrapped up and never find your way out.
Quinn was in the same group and about as interested in knitting as I was. We’d skipped every class after that but still met every Thursday to hang out. I’d never gotten along with anyone as instantly as I did with her. Our friendship was effortless, and I couldn’t imagine not having her in my life.
“That would be great. I’m still knee-deep in tomato sauce and cheese,” Quinn said, sounding distracted as usual.
Quinn’s family owned an Italian restaurant called Deliziosa that was famous for its pizza. She had worked there since she was old enough to carry a plate and would one day take over from her parents.
The restaurant wasn’t only popular in our little town. People came from as far as San Francisco to eat there. They were usually booked out months in advance. Lucky for me, I knew the owner and could just walk in whenever I felt like having pizza. Which happened quite often.
“I’ll hang out with Paola until you’re done.”
I adored her mom, who had taken me under her wing ever since Quinn first introduced us. She filled a void I didn’t realize was there until I met her. I had a great mom, but she didn’t understand my need for independence. If she knew where I was, she’d come here and drag me back home. And I wasn’t ready to give up my freedom yet.
“She’ll love that.”
