Priscilla’s alarm wakes me up early the next morning. By the time I manage to sleepily locate her phone on the other side of the bed, she’s woken up.What I can say?I never was very efficient straight out of bed.“Gerrard,” Priscilla mumbles groggily from beside me, her face snuggled up in my side. “Did you set that thing on snooze?”Did I mention how fucking adorable her sleepy voice is? It’s slightly heavier than normal, and irregular around some words, but I swear to god I’ve never heard anything sexier.My morning wood was going to be in for such a treat—it never knew.”Hm?” she nudges me with her elbow when I still don’t respond.I curl a hand into her hair, working my fingers closer to her scalp gently. “I switched it off.”She abruptly lifts her head to look at me, but she’s so sleep-ridden right now that it

I can’t believe the picture was blurred.The fuck?The tension that’s beginning to consume my mind makes my teeth almost mince my lips.The hell am I going to do?-Keith.I’ll call Keith. He’ll have a better shot at getting a picture of the car’s registration number now that it’s already here, parked by the curb. I quickly dial my brother’s number.”Hello? Hey, Gerr. Did you get the number?””I tried, Keith,” I tell him quickly, talking hushedly so Cilla doesn’t hear. “But the picture I got is blurred. Can you come over? The car’s right by the curb. It won’t suspect you if you click the picture driving by it.”A muffled series of sounds come from the other side when-“Hey, Gerr,” Bru’s voice says then, instead of Keith’s. “We’re coming in an hour, okay? I’ll get

Priscilla's not picking up the phone.I've been ringing her up ever since I left the dealer store an hour ago, but instead of picking up, she just cancelled my latest call.Is she mad at me, still?Or is she sleeping and I'm just disturbing her?I sigh, attempting one more call, but like all the previous calls, this one goes unanswered, too.Gripping the steering wheel hard, I determinedly go on for my house. I'd been calling Priscilla to tell her who the stalker is. I wanted to tell her to come to the office. But I don't have enough time or patience to go to her house and shit. I need to go home and make a few calls for a board meeting, gather my documents and evidence, too. Guess I'll just tell Priscilla when this is all over and well behind us.* ^ * ^ * ^ *I've only just gotten out of the shower when I get a call from Bru. Wiping my long mane with a towel, I pick up. "Hello?""Hey, Gerr. Keith told me. Ab

I can't reach Priscilla.Call after call gets cancelled, text after text undelivered... I'm panicking.As I rush out of the conference room, Bru bumps into me. But one look at my face, and she holds me by the shoulders. "Woah, G. What happened?"I can hardly breathe as one more call to Cilla gets cancelled. I swallow hard. "It's Cilla… Bru, the- the termination letter. Smith, Bru. Smith- I need to go see her. I- I need to go."That's all I can manage to get out of my system before I pull away from her, running for the lift. But it couldn't have gone down slower than it did. I'm sweating by the time I clamber out of it, making a dash for my car when the valet brings it out, but I doubt my sweating more than normal in an air conditioned office has anything to do with heat.Priscilla... baby, don't do anything stupid... just wait for me. Please.It's all I can think of as I speed away for her apartment.* ^ * ^

To say that I feel absolutely hollow inside would be a serious, serious understatement.I feel as if the world's closing in on me, and the corridor on Cilla's floor seems like it's choking me for coming here, punishing me for intruding on her space.She left.She left me.It doesn't take long for the hollowness in my chest to source itself to anger. Burning, vengeful, disastrous anger.Bounding over to the elevator, I waste no time to dial Keith. When the lift dings open on the ground floor, he picks up. "Hey, Ger-""-I'll be at the office in 5, Keith. Is the meeting ready?""Yeah, b-"I don't wait to hear the rest, going straight for my car in the open parking.*****"Gentlemen, I've called for this extraordinary meeting today," I say to the meeting room at large, my file of evidences at the ready, "for an extremely pressing issue that I feel needs immediate attention. I deem