CAUGHT IN A MENACE'S RAPTURE

09.

Tatum had two classes, Biochemistry 1 and Histology, scheduled on Mondays. To her surprise, her professors for both courses canceled lectures for the day. It did unsettle her a little, since the semester had just begun. But nonetheless, she was eager to take advantage of the free time she had before work.

After getting herself together, Tatum decided to fix herself breakfast since she was the only person home. Chloé sent her a text last night, letting her know she'd spent the night with a friend and wouldn't be returning home until the next day. In Chloè terms, that meant she was with one of her sneaky links—out being sneaky.

After having breakfast, she tidied the apartment. She and Chloé kept their place clean. But the weekend had gone by, and the apartment needed to be tidied. She started  in the kitchen, washing the dishes and sink, then wiping the appliances and counters thoroughly before moving on to the living room, where she swept and vacuumed. She replaced the wall plug-ins with fresh scents and also connected the wax melt burner, hoping to fill the apartment with a delightful fragrance.

Tatum moved on to her bedroom. She kept her bedroom and bathroom clean, so there wasn't much she had to do besides make the bed and fluff her pillows. Once those takes had been handled, she sat on her bed with her phone in her manicured hand.

She unlocked her S21, then scrolled through her contacts. When she spotted the contact that she needed, she clicked on it and hovered her thumb over the CALL icon. She bit her bottom lip, then darted her eyes around the room as her heart raced in her chest.

I need to take my medication. Tatum said in her mind. She knew her nerves were easily rattled because she hadn't taken  her medication when she got up, like usually. 

As the time passed, she began to feel the familiar symptoms creeping in. Her nerves were on edge, anxiety was building, and her thoughts were racing.

Tatum took a moment to inhale deeply, briefly shut her eyes, then pressed the call button. Swiftly, she switched her phone to speaker then tapped her fingers on her thigh.  The call went through, which made her eyes ballon. She swallowed the spit in her mouth when she heard a smooth, male voice croon through the speaker.

"Hello?"

"Hi..." Tatum spoke lowly. Suddenly, she cleared her throat then said, "Is this, um, Lamont?"

"Yeah, this is him.Who is this?"

"Hey, oh...I'm-um, Tatum. I brought my car to your auto shop back in September."

Her increasing nervousness was amplified by the pregnant pause, prompting her to separate her lips and gather the courage to speak once more.

"I-"

"Oh yeah..." Lamont interrupted her with coolness in his tone. "The 1998 Toyota Corolla."

"Yes." She took a breath of relief. "Right."

"I remember you. What's up?"

She sighed as a cloud of embarrassment hovered over her. She was sure Lamont was tired of seeing her face; he'd just fixed her car four months ago.

"I was wondering if you'd be at your shop today. My car is having problems again."

"What's wrong with it?" He asked in concern.