If you were mine

Chapter two

After Gregory leaves, I strip off the three layers of clothes I’ve got on and walk into the bathroom.

The faucet’s still pumping hot water and the tub is almost full. Feeling adventurous, I head to the cabinets, opening them to see if I can find any soup. There’s none, just half empty containers of Aspirin and blood tonics. I walk back into the room and become a nude tornado, going through bags and boxes, searching desperately for my bath soaps. I might have been homeless, but I was always clean.

I find the containers at the bottom of a duffel bag, sitting next to an old picture of me, right after my graduation from college. I was in a blue suit, my first day of work at Denver's Cybersecurity INC.

I’d been one of the lucky ones who bagged a job right after I tossed my graduation hat into the air. I got recruited as an engineer because I was so damn good at it. Those were the happy days, but not anymore.

When was the last time I had smiled like that?

Butt naked, I sit on the prickly rug covering the entire floor of the room, staring at the picture, wishing I could bang a clock until it sent me back in time to change the events of that day.

I had walked into the office like every other day, my mind set on getting into my cubicle and working on the backend of some codes for a big client; nothing serious, just everyday regular work. Alan, my partner and ex boyfriend came in and took his seat, also working on his computer. It was perfect day, until the panic wave hit.

It became a chaotic ground in the blink of an eye. Someone had gotten past our firewall and was gathering information about a number of our clients. It was a straight attack, a planned and strategic one. The firewall was hit with brute force, a number of battering rams slamming away at the algorithm. It fell, and all our information was out to the general public but the attacker had eyes for only three files. Three files assigned to me.

"I want everybody to get back to their damn desks and punch away at their keyboards until something happens," David had screamed. David was the managing director of the company, a foul man with a stressful disposition. Three years I worked there, and never did I see him smile. We all got to work, trying our hardest to make sure the damage to the database was minimal, and to attempt catching the culprit too. It was to no avail. Everything leaked, and the company got sued.

"We are so sorry to throw you underneath the bus like this, Abby but I will be truthful. We need a scapegoat if we are going to get through this and sadly, the section of the firewall that got destroyed was yours…" the chairperson of the company's make shift control measure group said to me in a meeting.

"You and your partner are good employees. But I'm sorry, we have to let the both of you go. You will be compensated in due time."

The relationship with Alan got sore after that, more so as our names were dragged through the media, mud and dust settling over it. Alan got to drinking and gambling while I tried to get another job, scouting like hell. I found none, and we lost. He broke underneath the weight of it all. I could not sit back and watch that happen. Our rent was overdue. So I made a decision. I sent Alan to rehabilitation and reached out to James.

I feel a stab of pain in my heart as a single tear drops. I wipe it away quickly and bolt to the bathtub. The water surrounds me, pulling me into its depths.

I sigh.

It has been so long.

For the past few days I have been washing up in public showers and sleeping in Annabelle. She’s a good girl, but a little lacking in space.

I idle in the water, slipping underneath the surface every now and then. Suddenly, the sound of my phone ringing tears through the air, pulling me back to earth.

I grab the phone from the sink and check the called ID.

Super man.

It’s James.

A smile creeps to my face. He’s my favorite person at this moment in my life.

"Hello, stranger."

My smile gets wider.

"Hey, Superman. Save any stolen purse today?"

"There’s little crime in sin city these days," he laughs, the sound striking between maniacal and sad.

“How are you?” I ask him.

"Okay, I guess. I just stepped out of the plane, I'm on my way to the Louvre. Do you know the French serve you croissants and wine on the plane coming here? I took first class, of course but still…” I listen to him ramble, the sound of his voice like balm to me. He pauses.

"Are you there, Abby?"

Shit.

He lost me at croissant.

"Hi, hi. I'm here. I'm listening to you, I just slipped for a bit. What did you say?"

Silence.

He says nothing for a while, simply listening to the sound of my breathe.

"Are you alright, Abby?" The concern in his voice almost breaks me. I’m tired of everyone asking me that. I am not okay but I can’t tell them that. Not even James.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just having a bath. Some good dip and scrub. Don't worry about me."

"Uhmm." I imagine his face as he says this, the creases on his forehead and the funny way he pushes the hair out of his eyes. James has a deep distrust for everybody, and hardly takes words at face value.

"James, I promise you, I'm fine. Or I’ll be. Don’t worry about me.”

"Not like I have a choice now," he laughs. "I just wanna know if you settled in fine. You like the place?”

I take a look around the room again. If this is not to my liking, then I do not know what is.

"Everything is perfect, James.”

He expels a long sigh. I can picture him in the backseat of a Mercedes, slouched back and smoking a cigar. He claims it adds depths to his old money image and I can’t argue with that.

"If you say so, Abby. Oh, I sent you some money. Don’t say anything, do not. I sent it because I felt like it. Not because you need it. And…someone should call you concerning a job. I may have extended your resumè to a friend. Okay, bye."

The line goes dead.

I shake my head before taking a high breath and going completely underwater. James knows how much I tend to feel indebted when someone helps me out, especially if it’s a big deal. And all he is doing for me, is a very big deal.

As soon as I get out of the tub and drain out the water, my phone beeps. It is PayPal. James sent me a thousand dollars. Now I am going to worry about paying him back for all his kindness.

Oh God…

I’ll send him a long text later.

I have to organize my things. But first, I need to get dressed.

With a towel wrapped around my hair, I move to the wardrobe. I grab a pair of purple shorts and a black oversized shirt. As I dry my hair, I slip clothes into hangers, shoes into their compartments. It’s when I turn to leave the closet, that I notice a little box tucked away into the shadows of the shelves. Pulling it out, I notice it contains old t-shirts and pictures of James from when he used to be in a band after high school. And standing beside him with greasy hair, an electric guitar strapped to him and a messy t-shirt on is Gregory, smiling like a devil.

That face.

I can’t seem to get enough of it.

With a groan, I drop the photo back into the box.

My hair is finally dry. I take the towel off, pull the blonde strands into a messy bun and take out my glasses. I do not drive with them, but I like to wear them every now and then.

One deep breath and I’m heading to the stairs.

Time to go meet my new neighbors.