"I told Meghan about the calls."
"Oh. And what did she think?" John said
"She made me promise that I would see a psychologist- she thought...she thought I needed help! He had warned me not to tell anybody, he had warned me! He told me no one would believe me and that they'd think I was mad."
Patrick leaned forward and placed his cup on the coffee table.
"We were asleep that night, when the phone rang. Right on time- 3am."
"So Meghan heard it too? It wasn't your imagination?" exclaimed John.
"Oh yes. She heard it- and she was terrified. She had the same idea as you, Mr.Holmes. She thought it was a prank, maybe someone who was jealous of my fast rise in the ranks at work...She was scared for me, she was afraid of me going off my rocker because of these calls. She told me not to pick up the call that night, saying that maybe then the calls would stop. The phone rang all night. I wanted to pick it up, I wanted to talk to my caller, tell him I was sorry for making him wait, but I couldn't- not with Meghan around..."
Patrick paused, fiddling with his shirt cuff.
"Go on," John said
"It was making her uncomfortable now, the continuous shrill ringing. At last she picked up the receiver, just for a second, then slammed it back down. The call was cut, and the ringing stopped. She was very upset. She left for her place immediately after."
"I picked up the call on the first ring, the next day. I tried to apologize, I pleaded for him to at least hear me out, but he wouldn't let me say a word. He was mad, yes, he was livid. Said he didn't care about me and my wretched apologies. 'Didn't I do so much for you?' he asked me. 'Didn't I support you when no one else cared whether you lived or died? Then how DARE you tell Meghan when I explicitly told you not to. And how DARE you not pick up my call! I made you who you are today, Patrick. I changed your life for the better, and I can change it for the worst. Believe me when I say, I will ruin your life.'"
"He threatened you?" asked Sherlock
Patrick nodded, sounding crushed. "He was true to his word. The next morning I was called into my boss's office. 'You think you can threaten me like this , Mr.Fletcher?' he asked me. Of course I had no idea what he was talking about. 'You called me last night, telling me that you would call the cops on my illegal deals. Well, I won't be pushed around like this. You're fired.'"
"The thing was, Mr.Holmes, that I didn't even know anything about those deals! I had no clue that my boss was involved in anything illegal!"
"So...you're saying the Caller threatened your boss that night?" asked John
"He did. Over the next few days, he unraveled everything I had built- my relationships with my family, my love life, my home...I currently live in a tiny room I could barely afford. I guess nothing else could be ruined, because for a week I got no calls."
"Well that's good, innit? He left you alone!" said John
"Yes, but I couldn't live like that now could I? I was devastated. Suicidal, even! I was jobless, broke again. I didn't know what to do! I was in constant fear that he would call again. I wasn't able to sleep well. I would stay up until 3am, waiting for the phone to ring again, and hoping against hope that it wouldn't. And it didn't."
He paused.
"Until yesterday."
Yet another abrupt ending...;) Stay tuned for more, and COMMENT AND VOTE!
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Patrick Calling Patrick
Mystery / ThrillerA Sherlock Holmes fan-fiction. °Psychological thriller° This story is about this guy Patrick Fletcher, who gets telephone calls from.... Wait for it..... HIMSELF •Patrick, an introvert, is always ridiculed by his boss and has faced many setbacks thr...
