COLD (Ruthless Player)

ANDREA

I walked out of the subway with a pep in my step, the cold wind of early February stinging my cheeks. I didn't mind the cold or the wind as I usually do. I felt free, unburdened from the stress that had been weighing down on me for months.

As exhausted as I was, I didn't feel tired. There was something freeing about paying off your debt. My real estate agent finally came through for me last week. The sale of the house I inherited from my late parents went better than I expected.

I was able to pay off all of my student loans—and, most importantly, I have paid off my parents' debt. I don't even feel bad that I don't have much money left over after selling the house.

Only sadness, it was the house I grew up in, where I had lived until my college years. I had beautiful memories in that house. But I couldn't keep it. In the end, I put it up for sale.

Now I'm back in New York, ready for the weekdays ahead. The neon sign from the neighborhood grocery store reminded me that I needed to pick up a couple of things.

Five minutes later, I was done buying my groceries, just as my phone vibrated inside my bag. I pushed through the glass doors and stepped outside before I slipped my hands and grabbed the phone, still ringing.

My screen lights up with the caller's name, Juliet. It's a video call. A knot deep inside me loosened with relief when I realized it wasn't that dreadful number.

“Hello, Jules.” Her face flashed on my screen.

“Andrea.” Juliet's voice came through hurried and urgent. “Can you please resend the files with the details of the magazine shoot this week. I need to send it for an editorial, but I can't seem to find it.”

“Of course, but I don't have my laptop. I'm at the grocery store, give me five…ten minutes, and I'll send it to you,” I said as I glanced down the street. Feet scuffed somewhere behind me, and I tensed, my grip tightened on my phone.

“Alright, I'll wait. Please send them as soon as you get home.”

“I will, I'm on my way there,” I replied.

“Thank you, Andrea.” The screen went blank as she ended the call. I dropped the phone inside my bag and hastened my pace.

The street was mostly empty, and the sidewalk stretched ahead of me, slightly wet and slippery from the snow. I was almost halfway down the block when I felt it.

A prickling sensation at the back of my neck that made goosebumps spread over my arms and sent my heart skipping.

My stomach knotted in on itself. I let my bag slip from my hand and quickly dropped down to pick it up. Turning slightly, pretending to carry the bag, when in reality I was checking to see if I would see him.

An older man was walking his dog. Two women walk closely together, chatting, their voices low. A couple holding hands. There was nothing unusual. Just normal people going about their regular days.

And yet, the feeling didn’t go away. My pulse hammered harder as I resumed walking. Every sound sharpened: the distant sound of a dog barking, the scrape of shoes on concrete, the soft giggles of the women behind me.

I tightened my hold on the bag, nails digging into the paper. He's not here; he doesn't know my new address. Besides, he has no reason to look for me anymore.

Just then, I heard footsteps behind me. I tensed, my spine stiffened, my heart hammering, loud enough it was deafening.

Don’t run, don't run, Andrea, I repeated—a silent mantra.

The footsteps were getting louder. But I kept moving, resisting the urge to look over my shoulder again. I opened my bag and grabbed my phone.

Dialing 911, my thumb hovering over the call button. My building finally came into view.

A two-story apartment building with peeling paint and thin, cracked walls that stretched like a web, and yet I've never been happier to see it than at this moment.

Feeling a bit brave now that I'm within reach of my home. I leaped and glanced back. There was no one. Just a couple of people going about their night, none of them were heading my way.

Confused, my guard still up, I hurried towards my apartment, my keys already clutched between clammy fingers.

I unlocked the door, slipped inside, and locked it behind me. I added the bolt. Then leaned against the door, panting.

I stood there for several seconds, legs weak, heart beating steadily back to its normal rhythm. When I finally moved again, my body had stopped trembling, and my legs didn’t feel like jelly.

I dropped the grocery bag on the kitchen counter and headed straight to my room.

My place was a cozy two-bedroom apartment with an open-plan kitchen.

The place is perfect for me, also with my job at Mont's bridal's I can afford it right now, though it feels too small for the panic inside me.

“Get it together, Andrea,” I whispered to myself. I grabbed my laptop, fingers still a bit clammy as I typed in my password.

I quickly selected the files, attached them to an email to Jules, and hit send.

Done. I sighed and flopped back on my bed. I hated days like this. I hated how easily the past could reach out and grab me; I especially hated how any little sound could rattle me.

I went back to my kitchen, threw my hair up in a messy bun, and quickly unpacked my groceries, then I poured myself a full glass of wine before I grabbed the whole bottle, finally settling into the couch in the living area.

I gulped down my wine, feeling it warm my insides. I refilled my glass and sat back with a glass of wine in one hand and the remote control in the other. I turned on the TV. However, my mind wasn't on the show.

For some reason, I couldn't shake off what happened earlier. I could have sworn someone was directly behind me. How did they suddenly disappear? Unless I imagined the whole thing.

I threw my head back and gulped down the rest of my wine. Just for the sake of my sanity, I double-checked the locks on my door and windows before I settled back on the couch.

A loud crash and the voices of several people startled me awake. I must have drifted off while I was watching earlier.

My heart beat a staccato when I saw him and his men. I was shocked into momentary immobility; there's no way I'm seeing things right.

He's not here, he's not here.

But as my brain finally kicks into gear, everything from earlier finally makes perfect sense. I jerked up from my lying position and scrambled away from the crazy man who had robbed me of my peace of mind and dared to invade my home.

“Hello Baby!”