Chapter 40

“Who-who are you?” I asked. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m Tom,” the man said. “I’m here to see you.”

The man stepped out of the darkness. He was surprisingly well-kept with short dark hair and a well-trimmed beard. His eyes, though—his eyes bore into me with a fire straight from the depths of Hell.

I knew I should run, but I was frozen to the spot. I tried to scream, but no sound would come out of my throat. All I could do was stand with tears streaming down my cheeks.

“No, no, I won’t hurt you,” Tom said. He held his hands up, as if to placate me, and I flinched. “I would never hurt you.”

Tom stepped towards me. Whatever had frozen me in place finally broke, and I stepped backwards.

“Stay away from me,” I said as loudly as I could manage.

“Quiet down,” Tom warned, his voice dangerously low.

“Stay away from me.” I forced my voice to get louder. “I mean it, stay away from me.”

“I said, quiet down.”

Tom charged me. I dropped the vase and ran down the hall, hoping to beat him to the stairs. After the initial crashing of the vase, I heard two thuds, one softer and one louder.

Cautiously, I stopped running and turned to see what had happened. What I found made me cry out in relief.

Tom lay unconscious on the floor near the smashed vase. Above him towered Barnett, baseball bat in hand.

Barnett huffed and puffed in anger. His muscles flexed, as though he were barely resisting pounding the bat into Tom’s skull. Yet when his eyes landed on me, Barnett’s expression softened.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

I nodded, although I felt as though I could pass out any second.

“I think…I need to sit down.”

“Go stay in my apartment. I’ll call the cops.”

•* *

The police came and took Tom away. They left after taking my and Barnett’s statements and confirming my intent to press charges. It was after five in the morning by the time Barnett and I settled on his couch.

“I didn’t need sleep anyway,” I mumbled as I buried my face in my hands.

Barnett pried one of my hands away from my face and cradled it in both of his.

“It’s going to be okay,” he said.

His gentle touch, the soft sound of his voice, the kind look in his eyes…after everything that had happened that night, it was all too much for me.

I sobbed uncontrollably. Barnett wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into his chest. He rubbed my back soothingly, which only made me cry more.

“Wh-why? Why did this happen?” I choked out.

“Some people are just creeps,” Barnett replied.

“But why me?”

Barnett hesitated.

“I guess it’s the risk that comes with being famous.”

“I hate being famous. All it’s done is cause me trouble.”

He didn’t respond. I supposed that there really wasn’t a response when it was the truth. Between this, Julia’s threat, and Julia’s fan shooting my car, fame hadn’t done anything to help me.

Well, it had gotten me more work, but even that had backfired on me. The more work I got, the more stressed I got. The more stressed I got, the worse I felt.

What good had this fame really done for me?

“I wish that I could just make your problems go away,” Barnett said. The sincerity in his voice struck my heart, and I smiled through my tears.

I dared to snuggle further into his chest. I inhaled deeply. There was that toe-curling, private area-moistening smell that I loved.

“I know you do,” I whispered.

•* *

Despite my lack of sleep and Barnett’s insistence that I stay home, I went to work as normal. I triple-checked everything I could to ensure that I made no mistakes, and I explained what happened to all the clients I visited so that they would understand if something did go astray.

Of course, Arthur freaked out when he heard about it.

“You need to move out of that apartment immediately,” he said.

“What?” I asked as I applied his foundation.

“It’s not safe for you there anymore. If one person found it, I’m sure that people will, too.”

I hesitated, sponge applicator in hand.

“And didn’t you say that your apartment is right above your gym?”

“Yeah, so?”

“Well, people could easily figure out where your apartment is from there, or just follow you home from the gym.”

I felt the color leave my face. He was right. Why hadn’t I thought of that before?

“I know of someone who’s looking to rent out their house. It’s really nice, not too big—”

“What’s your definition of ‘not too big’?”

“Five bedroom, two bath, one half-bath. It sounds right up your alley.”

I chewed on my lower lip.

“How far out from the city is it?”

“That’s the beauty of it. It’s right here in the city. The owner wants to get out of the city, so they want to rent it out while they move out to the suburbs.”

“I don’t know…”

“You haven’t heard the best part. There’s 24/7 security, top notch, and they’re staying with the grounds.”

It did sound perfect.

“Could you give me their information?”

Arthur gave me one of his broad, disarming smiles.

“I’d love to.”

•* *

After work, Lily wanted me to meet her at Barnett’s apartment. I assumed that he had told her about the stalker. It was better to face her sooner rather than later.

As soon as I knocked on Barnett’s door, Lily threw it open and flung herself at me, pulling me into the tightest hug I’d ever felt.

“Oh my God! I am so glad you’re okay!” she said as she dragged me into the apartment.

“I am, too,” I said as I closed the door behind me. “Thank God Barnett heard me.”

“I know. It’s a good thing he’s been spending so much time here.”

Lily pulled me onto the couch, and I had no choice but to follow. I thought back to the night before, about how Barnett had seen me so vulnerable and had comforted me, and I blushed.

“Yeah. Well, he is a busy man. It’s amazing that he has any time to spend anywhere else.”

“Yeah, that’s why he—”

“He does have ears, you know.”

Barnett entered from the kitchen with three beers in hand. He handed one to each of us before taking a seat in the recliner directly across from me. He smiled kindly at me.

“How are you holding up, Anna?”

I sighed.

“All right, all things considered.”

“All right? I would be a downright mess after something like that!” Lily exclaimed.

“You do seem to be doing fairly well,” Barnett remarked. He seemed…impressed. “How was work?”

“It was good. Although, Arthur did bring up some good points about…something while I was doing his makeup.”

Barnett’s jaw clenched. His grip on his beer tightened. He seemed to take several deep breaths before he spoke.

“What points did he bring up about what, exactly?”

I glanced over at Lily. She was examining her beer as though it were the most fascinating brew in the world (which it could have been, for all I knew, considering I was more of a wine-drinker). I turned my attention back to Barnett.

“Well, he pointed out some…security issues that I might have with living here.”

“Security issues?” Barnett huffed. “Security’s air-tight here.”

“Then how did that stalker get into the building last night?”

He opened his mouth to object, but no sound came out.

“That was a fluke,” Lily said. “They’ll be tightening security now that the issue has been pointed out to them.”

“But what about the Julia threat before them? And the fact that Stand Up is right below here? Some crazed fan could track me down from there or just follow me home from a workout one day.”

“I’ll talk to security and make them up their rounds,” Barnett interjected. “We’ll get keycard entry for each floor of the building as well.”

“You don’t understand,” I snapped. Tears streamed down my cheeks. “You didn’t see the look in that man’s eyes last night.”

Lily put her hand on my shoulder.

“I thought…I thought I was going to die,” I whispered.

Barnett didn’t reply. When I looked up, though, his expression was a mixture of sadness and frustration.

“I just want to be safe,” I continued. “I’m moving out.”