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THIRTY-ONE
Summer
I don’t wantto go to work. I want to stay in bed, wrapped around the man who loves me.
We shared that declaration last night, and there was no hesitance in saying it back to him. I’ve loved Shaw for years as my best friend. And now, we’ve added this new element to our relationship, being more than friends and everything fits in perfectly. We fit in perfectly.
I remove myself from the entanglement of Shaw’s legs and walk naked through his room to the bathroom down the hall that all my stuff is in.
I’m at the bookstore an hour later and right away see damage to my storefront. Red paint across the glass, and what looks like some glass on the ground.
I stop in my tracks and look around the area. I turn and look at the parking lot, not seeing anything out of order. There are the standard number of cars normally in the shopping center at opening time, and I don’t see anyone lingering or watching, waiting for my reaction.
I pull my phone out of my purse and call the non-emergency police line. Once I’m off the phone with them, I call Shaw, hoping that he would be awake by now.
Shaw arrives moments later, runs up to where I’m standing on the sidewalk.
“Are you okay?” he asks, looking me up and down.
“Yeah, yeah. This was like this when I got here.” I tell him.
He wraps me in his embrace, and I lean my cheek against his chest.
“Have you gone inside yet? Is everything okay there?” he questions.
“I haven’t moved from this spot. But it looks like there’s broken glass on the floor.” I push away from him and point to where the storefront looks off. Shaw grabs my hand and squeezes as a cop walks towards us.
“I’m here about a vandalism and a break-in, are you the one who called?” He looks to Shaw.
“No, I called. It’s my bookstore. I’m Summer and this is my boyfriend, Shaw.”
“Officer Jones. Ma’am, has there been any issues with your store in the past?” he asks.
“No, I’ve been in this location for six years, never had had any issues.” I reply.
“Have you been inside?” he asks.
“Not yet, I didn’t want to disrupt a crime scene.” I shake my head as another patrol car pulls up. The other police officer walks towards us.
“What do we have here, Jones?”
“Commercial Vandalism and looks like there might also a B & E.” Officer Jones replies, pulling out his notepad.
“Here are the keys,” I hand the other officer my keys with the door key out. He takes it and starts walking to the door while Shaw and I stand with Officer Jones.
“Is there anyone that you can think that would do this? Has someone been lingering around the store a lot longer than normal? Have you had any angry customers lately?”
Shaw and I look at one another with raised eyebrows.
“You don’t think she would, do you?” I ask.
Shaw shakes his head. “No, she would have too much to lose,” he says.
“Who?” Officer Jones asks.
“Well, he’s going through a custody thing with his ex. She came here the other day and began yelling all sorts of obscenities at me.”
“But she wouldn’t do something like this. She knows that she would be at risk of losing custody. She’s smarter than that, no matter how dumb she acts.” Shaw says, still shaking his head.
