What They Deserve

THIRTY-SEVEN

Bailey had her feet propped on her coffee table as she swirled the last of her wine in her oversized wine glass. She watched the pale pink liquid slosh around before she lifted the glass to her lips and downed it in one gulp.

"Slow down. You save me any?" Sasha smirked and flopped onto the couch. She tossed her purse onto the floor and kicked off her heels. She had come over straight from work.

"I've had a quarter of a glass. There's plenty left." Bailey returned the smirk, motioning to the wine bottle sitting next to an empty glass.

Sasha reached out and poured herself much more than a quarter glass, then poured Bailey the same amount. "You got another bottle?"

"Of course." Bailey didn't hesitate to take a sip.

"Good. Cuz we're gonna need it. This is my favorite." Sasha leaned back, admiring the wine in her glass before she put her feet on the coffee table, next to Bailey's. "Mmm."

Bailey chuckled and shook her head. "I have news."

"Go on."

"I signed the paperwork for that building over on Shaulting Parkway." Bailey couldn't contain her elation; her voice raised a few octaves and her smile reached her eyes.

"That's awesome!" Sasha sat up and placed her glass on the table. She turned to face Bailey, beaming at her.

"Thanks. I'm super excited, but kinda overwhelmed."

"Why?"

"Well, I have a lot of stuff to do. I mean, at my current location plus at the new one. And I have to get my new location fixed up."

Sasha held a hand up to stop Bailey. "Girl, chill. Let's just focus on celebrating tonight."

Bailey let out a shaky laugh; happy but still a little nervous. She nodded her head and took a long sip from her glass.

"In fact, why don't we all go out? Tomorrow night?" Sasha raised her eyebrows as she made the suggestion.

"Who's all?"

"You, me, and Sam. Duh." Sasha rolled her eyes and leaned back again after grabbing her alcohol.

"You'd want to go out with me and Sam?" Bailey gave her best friend an inquisitive look, not sure she'd heard Sasha right.

"I mean, he isn't my first choice. But I know he's special to you."

"He's taking me somewhere this weekend. It's his celebration present."

"Ooh." Sasha cooed. "Any special plans?"

Bailey knew what Sahsa was implying. She shook her head but couldn't hide her blush. "No plans."

"You never know what could happen though." Sasha was giving Bailey a teasing look. "The two of you all alone, probably with a bottle of wine, most likely somewhere romantic. He's going to take your innocence."

"Oh my gosh. Are we in the tenth grade?" Bailey was embarrassed.

Sasha was laughing as she drained her glass, reaching for the bottle. "Ugh. The fridge?"

"Yeah."

Sasha left to get the other bottle of wine and returned with her glass already full. She passed the bottle to Bailey before she sat down. "So?"

"So what?"

"We gonna go part-ay?" Sasha did a weird shimmy that made Bailey chuckle.

"Like dinner?"

"Like, yeah." Sasha imitated a valley girl.

"Shut up." Bailey gave Sasha a playful shove. "Dinner sounds great. I'll tell Sam."

"Did you talk to him?" Sasha's tone turned serious.

"Uh...no. We went out and then made out."

"Wow. You must not have been all that creeped out then." Sasha made a face, raised her glass, and took a gulp.

Bailey gave her a derisive glare. "I was just caught up in the moment. The news I mean." But the truth was that all of the worry had disappeared once she was with him. He had looked so happy to see her and they had had a great time together. She began to blush again as she remembered his hands on her and the intensity of their kisses. There was a part of her that was sure they would have taken their relationship to the next step if he hadn't said that he had a project.

All thought of the broadcast was a distant memory as she considered that Sasha might be right. This weekend might change a few things.

□●□●□●□●□●□●□●□●□●□●□●□●□●□●□

Bailey called Sam to tell him about Sasha's dinner plans. He said that sounded good even though she knew he was playing nice for her benefit. She was grateful her boyfriend and best friend could be civil around one another. And she would never dream of pushing them to be friends. But she did wish they would be. It would make things a little less awkward.

She stayed on the phone with him for a little while, listening to him explain more about his research. When he was finished, she told him about her ideas for the new location and who she planned on promoting.

Things felt normal and she had forgotten all about how he'd looked when they watched that awful story on the news. She'd almost forgotten about the story.

They chatted for several more minutes before they said goodnight and Bailey went to bed.

But her sleep was riddled with an unwanted nightmare.

A man stood in front of her, his back and a gleaming knife in his hands all she could see. He wasn't paying her any attention though. His focus was on the unknown woman in front of her.

She hung from bound wrists, tears streaking her pallid face. Her chest heaved as she gasped for air in between sobs.

Bailey tried to cry out to the woman, to stop the man. But she couldn't even hear herself. When she tried to move forward, her feet remained rooted in place.

She watched in horror as the man took his time making his way to the dangling woman. He tossed the knife from one hand to the other as if it were just a toy.

The woman's eyes widened the closer he got. She began to shake her head and kick out. At some point, he must have sliced the knife through the air and cut her. A large gash appeared along her calf and blood dripped onto the concrete floor. Her struggles lessened as her focus shifted to her injury.

He took this as his moment to strike.

Bailey saw the flash of steel before it was plunged into the woman's side over and over until she no longer cried or struggled.

When he turned around, all Bailey could see of his face was the evil smirk that was in place. He took several steps toward her before she woke up, panting and sweating.