Meera
“Explain to me again,” Meera says, “why Townsend doesn’t want to go to the police?”
It’s Friday, and she has a shit ton of work to finish up before the weekend, not to mention an employee seminar about corporate policy to attend this afternoon. But she’s finding it tough to concentrate, what with the news of Amanda’s threats fresh in her mind. What’s worse: Neither Talia nor Townsend seems to be doing anything about them.
Talia stands next to her in the Cuff office kitchenette, leaning against the counter as they wait for the coffee to finish brewing. “He doesn’t want any more attention from the police.” She shifts from one foot to the other, looking uncomfortable. “And he didn’t say this, but I think he’s a little afraid of them going through their messages and seeing that photo. The one with the gun on the dashboard.”
There’s no need for Talia to specify; Meera sees that photo every time she closes her eyes. It makes her queasy, thinking about her best friend sharing a bed with a man who not only owns a gun but isn’t afraid to use it. Or, at least,threatento use it.
Despite what Talia seems to believe, Meera isn’t a bra-burning man-hater. Her failed marriage hasn’t turned her against everyone with a Y chromosome or compelled her to write off half the population aschauvinist pigs. Even after being cheated on by Hari, Meera continues to date and enjoy the company of men (though admittedly, she’s been doing very little of that as of late). Being male is not cause for disdain in her eyes. No, her problem is with the men who use their privileged status and leaner muscle mass to intimidate, and dominate, and inflict pain.
Meera has come to terms with Talia’s boyfriend being an asshole. What she can’t accept is the idea that Townsend could potentially be driven to kill.
“Did you ask him about that gun?” she asks Talia now. “Was it real?”
“I didn’t. But even if the picture was real, I know his threat wasn’t. He would never actually hurt someone.”
“And did you show him all the messages you’ve gotten over the past few days?”
“Most of them, but not all. I don’t want to freak him out.”
“Are you freaked out?”
“Yes.”
“Then he should know that,” Meera insists. “It’s weird, frankly, that he isn’t more concerned. Between that and all the shady shit going on with his company—”
“Shady shit? What are you talking about? He just had a meeting with a major telehealth company for a potential partnership. He said it went really well.”
Meera looks at Talia, who blinks back at her, genuinely confused. Of course, Meera reminds herself. As far as Talia knows, AutoInTune is going swimmingly. That’s because Meera hasn’t told her anything about the message she’d received yesterday on Reddit from LivingstonTheDream.
It took a few days, but eventually, Meera got her response, explaining what the user found suspicious about Townsend’s company data.The numbers just seemed too good to be true,the message read.I’mpretty sure AutoInTune doesn’t even get as many site visitors as he claimed to have as members.
Too good to be true—that’s exactly what Talia said of Townsend when she first met him. If only she knew how right she was. But Meera knew she couldn’t just take a stranger on the internet for their word.Do you have proof?
No proof,the person wrote.Just a hunch and years of experience doing this shit.
A hunch wasn’t much, but it was something. And whoever LivingstonTheDream might be, Meera had to assume they didn’t have a personal reason for wanting to see Townsend fail. Not like she did.
Meera can’t get into AutoInTune with Talia, not now. She’s already lost too much of her lunch break to parsing Townsend’s idiotic behavior. “Point being, I don’t think Amanda’s threats should be taken lightly, by him or by you.”
In the three days that have passed since that first “Amy Stake” email hit Talia’s inbox, she’s gotten at least a dozen more messages from Amanda, each one more disturbing than the last. On Wednesday, Amanda told Talia she still knew the key code for Townsend’s condo. On Thursday, she threatened to use said key code when Talia least expected it. And just this morning, she told Talia to check behind the shower curtains and under the bed when she got to Townsend’s place, because she could never know where Amanda might be hiding.
It’s fucked up, these mind games, and looking at Amanda’s photos online, you’d never guess such a pretty girl was capable of such fuckery. But apparently she is—and apparently Townsend is too concerned about his own reputation to ensure his girlfriend’s safety.
Meera slaps her palm on the coffee machine, suddenly frustrated. “This piece of shit is taking forever. I’m just going to go out for lunch and get coffee there. Want to join?”
Talia shakes her head no. “I grabbed something earlier. Thanks, though.”
“You did?” It has been a busy day, but still, Meera doesn’t remember Talia stepping out. “When?”
“I don’t know.” Talia looks at her watch. “A little before noon? Does it matter?”
“No, I guess not.” It bothers her that Talia disappeared from the office and Meera didn’t even notice. Somehow, Meera feels responsible for Talia when they’re at work, especially with Amanda ramping up her threats. Outside of work, she considers it Townsend’s responsibility to protect Talia—though really, Meera isn’t confident he’s pulling his weight. Here, at least, it’s on her to keep Talia safe.
“I’m walking to Mañana and getting something to go,” says Meera. “You’ll let me know if you get any messages from you-know-who in the meantime?”
“Sure,” Talia says, but her thoughts seem to have already drifted elsewhere.
