Accidental Housemate

16: deserving

On the floor by the bed, Dave and I sat.

My head was on his shoulder, and his arm was around me. In silence, we let our thoughts drown us in another type of noise only we could hear. My thoughts weighed on me, and fear swore not to leave me that night. Midnight was approaching as I sought comfort from the guy.

“Perrie,” Dave purred, his thumb still drawing circles on my skin. “You’re burning up.”

I pulled away from him, understanding my heat was annoying. “I’ll take a cold shower and sleep.”

He nodded. “You won’t go to work tomorrow then, right?” His question felt more like a statement.

“No,” I affirmed, and not just because I was sick. “I’ll call in sick.”

Dave rechecked the plaster he’d stuck on my scratch for the last time, then he kissed my forehead and got up, tucking his hands in his pockets. “If you need anything, don’t hesitate to let me know.”

In the morning, Dave left with Melissa, and I stayed home. I called the manager to report I was sick, and despite the obvious displeasure in his tone, he accepted my request.

“Sir, can I ask you about something?” I added before ending the call.

“Yes?”

“If an employee in the agency doesn’t follow the code of conduct, what happens to them?”

“Depends on what they did, Ms Adams. Have you encountered anything?”

“No… I’m just wondering. For future reference. So, you’d deal with it even if they’re one of the best employees?”

He took a moment to answer, unsure where I was going. “As I said, it depends. We deal with every case accordingly.”

I thanked the man and ended the call, pondering my options. According to what he said, I had a chance at getting justice. I went to the kitchen to grab something to eat and stop my stomach from rumbling. There, I found a note from Dave informing me he saved my breakfast portion of pancakes in the fridge, and I should reheat them before I took my medicine.

I sighed and crumpled the note between my fingers. Recently, Dave had been making me feel different towards him. I was unsure what type of feelings they were, but I knew fear and guilt were there. Fear of getting exposed unpleasantly and disappointing him, and guilt for hiding my truth from him this long. A former filthy porn actress with a scandalous family lived with him, and he was unaware.

I reheated half of the breakfast in the microwave and waited anxiously, trying to focus on the microwave’s buzz more than anything. Too much concentration on one thing caused me to flinch harder than expected when my phone rang and vibrated on the island.

On the screen, the name of my robbery case’s detective flashed. I sighed, uncertain of what to expect. “Hello?”

“Hello, Ms Adams. Calling to inform you someone else came to ask about your case. He claimed to be your father,” he said.

I froze at the mention. Only when the microwave beeped ‘done’ was I brought back to reality. “And?”

“He wanted to know the details.”

“You didn’t tell him, right?”

“No, of course not. We have a confidentiality clause. But if you wish us to let him know, we will.”

I sighed in relief. “No. Thank you. Keep it that way.”

The last thing I wanted was my family lurking around me to get more money, and worse, to know that I flushed much of it down the drain. That call felt like a reminder they’d never let me live in peace, and that Tiffany, or worse, my father himself, would come back any second for more money.