B and E

I was in shock when I looked through the slats of the door.  I looked at Duane is disbelief; he looked just as shocked as I did.  All the lights were on; I never leave all these lights on.  There was a trail of flowers leading into the loft.  We carefully opened the door and stepped inside and it became more and more real...someone had been in there.  We carefully walked a line through the apartment, leaving his bag by the door.  It was as though nothing had been touched; yet everything had been touched.  We walked carefully around the apartment to see if anything was missing.  Since Duane had helped set up, he knew where mostly everything was.  I hadn’t changed much since we got it set up.

When we walked to the table we saw a huge bouquet of flowers with an envelope.  I looked at him and he shook his head in disbelief.  I opened the envelope and there were several pictures of all of us out to dinner tonight and a note...

I always know where you are.

I wondered how the hell this got into my loft.  It was obviously another attempt of Craig or Candice to scare me.  And right now they had succeeded.  One or both of them had breached my loft.  I looked around and couldn’t see any sign of anything being open.  And I always check the emergency stairwell.  I sighed and a tear rolled down my cheek.  What the hell was wrong with these people?!  What did I do to deserve this?!  Duane came over and hugged me and it was like he knew exactly what I was thinking.  He whispered “You did nothing to deserve this.  They are crazy and trying to make you think you’re doing something wrong.”  I nodded against his shoulder and held him tight. He stepped away and called the police.  I was going to call Joel later.

The police came and took our statements.  Of course there are all the questions of who do you think could’ve done this?  Do you have a history with the individual?  Etc.

After they dusted various things for finger prints and took the photos, note and vase of flowers, the detective left me with his business card and told me to call if I remembered anything else. I nodded and sighed.  I had to get in touch with Monroe and tell him what happened, not to mention the property manager.  I leaned against the wall and wondered how the hell this all got this point.  Duane came around the corner and looked me in the eyes.  I stared back at him and sighed.  I hugged him tightly and was thankful he was there with me.

I went to my purse and got my phone and made a call to Monroe first.  He didn’t answer, so I left him a message.  Hey Monroe, I need you to call me back as soon as possible.  The loft got broken into, nothing was taken that we noticed, but I need to get in touch with the property manager and get new key accesses and locks changed on the stairwell.  Call me when you can...I hung up.

I went straight to the kitchen and grabbed the half bottle of wine chilling in the fridge and poured a glass.  Duane went to the liquor cabinet and poured himself some vodka and we sat on the couch.  We were surveying the loft and noticed all the dust over certain items.  We had a long night of cleaning ahead of us; I wasn’t going to leave this powder on the surfaces.  I got up and changed into some sweats and grabbed some cleaner from the closet.  I grabbed a sponge and bucket from the kitchen and started to fill it up.  Duane got up and grabbed another sponge and we both started to wipe away all the dusting powder. 

But I didn’t stop there, I cleaned the entire apartment.  I needed to try and make myself feel like I had not been violated.  Duane helped me as we swept through the apartment.  We cleaned it from top to bottom even stripping the sheets off the beds.  It was late when we had finished and we were sweaty and exhausted.  I told Duane to go ahead and shower and head to bed.  I had a few more phone calls to make before I went to bed. 

My first phone call was to Sam, my old boss, I left a message that explained I wasn’t going to finish out the week with him, and I apologized but explained I had an emergency come up and I needed to tend to it before I left.  I tried Monroe again but didn’t get any answer.  I figured he had to be working or out.  He would call me as soon as he got the message.  I sighed and knew I had to make the call to Joel...

 

Joel: “Hey baby you’re home late...”

Me: “Someone broke into the loft.”

Joel: “WHAT?  Where is Duane?”

Me: “He’s here, he called the police and they left and we spent the last few hours cleaning the loft....”

Joel: “I am going to get the next flight out.  I cannot believe this.  She has gone crazy...”

Me: “Don’t bother rushing, you and I need to talk before I go anywhere...”

Joel: “Are you having second thoughts? I can protect you from anything....once you’re here you will see.  It will be the best for both of us....my friend Ashlie is so excited to meet you!  You will love her.  And you will not be alone!”

Me: “We will talk when you get here.  Seriously don’t rush.”

We had some more idle chit chat before I yawned and told him I wanted to sleep.  We both said I love you at the same time, which always makes me smile...we did that a lot. 

After we hung up and I while I was showering I smiled at the fact that he was trying.  He was lining up friends for me so I wouldn’t be so alone out there, but in the back of  my mind I couldn’t help but think; if my loft could be breached...I wasn’t entirely safe here.  But could I be safe with Joel?