Page 86 of Hating the Boss

Brittany waved me off. “This is the most excitement we’ve had, like…ever.”

Of course, she would try to make light of the situation, though I could see the tiny sliver of fear behind her green eyes. I wished she wasn’t wrapped up in all of this, but I was thankful she was here. Even more thankful, that it was her and not my sister. Jessica would go into over-protective mode, and she didn’t need that worry eating away at her.

“Since we can’t go to brunch because cuckoo bird might be around…I’ll whip us up some breakfast,” said Brittany, standing from the couch and draping a blanket over me.

I laughed softly and nodded.

“Baby like eggs and toast?” called Brittany from the kitchen as she opened the fridge, probably realizing we were running low on food.

“As long as they’re not runny,” I called back. The thought of dripping egg yolk made me want to hurl. Maybe that was a food aversion, something I had read up on briefly when going over pregnancy symptoms.

“Got it!” Brittany called back as pans clattered against the metal grates of the stove top.

Just then, among the sounds coming from the kitchen, I heard another one.

A crash of broken glass.

“What was that?” asked Brittany, running out of the kitchen.

“I-I don’t know,” I said, quickly standing from the couch. “I think it came from my bedroom.”

Brittany grabbed my hand and we walked slowly toward my room where the door was open, and the sounds of the city were drifting through, louder than usual. Cautiously, I stepped inside with Brittany right behind me, so close that her shallow breath tickled the nape of my neck.

I spotted shards of glass glittering on the small shag rug by the window that now had a large, jagged hole in it.

“Careful,” I said, stopping short. Brittany collided into my back.

“Oh, my God!” she gasped, seeing the broken window.

I scanned the room for any sign of what might have caused the glass to break, when I spotted it. A red brick lying next to my dresser. I carefully tip-toed around the glass that seemed to glow under the morning sun. Tied around the brick was a rubber band and a white piece of paper. My hands shook as I reached for it. Turning it over, I sucked in a breath.

There, scrawled in the same black ink and handwriting as the note from my door, was another message.

Leave Brad alone! He’s mine.

“This woman is insane!” said Brittany, reading the note over my shoulder. “This is getting scary, Sarah.”

I felt her same fear, but I also felt anger.

I felt violated.

I was being terrorized by this woman and for what? A relationship with a man that would never work out? A relationship with a man who had seemingly chosen her anyway?

This was insane.

With the surge of anger running through me, I rushed toward the window. Brittany yelled a warning about the glass as I haphazardly stepped around it. I leaned out the window, careful not to grasp the shards of broken glass and looked down at the street below. I frantically looked around for any sign of Angela, but only saw a man on a bike and a couple walking their dog. Still, I had that same sense of someone watching me.

“Leave me alone!” I shouted down, startling the couple with the dog who looked up at me curiously.

In the distance, I could hear a woman cackling. She was close by.

She was enjoying this.

It only further pissed me off.

I turned and grabbed Brittany’s hand, leading her toward the door of my bedroom.

“Sarah…” she said warily.