Despite my panic attack at seeing the greasy old man again for the first time in 4 years, I managed to go the day without smoking a single cigarette. Izaak was proud and boasted at how good I was doing while we ate a healthy salmon and salad for dinner. My mind wandered to dark places, focused on evil Mr. Winters and all the others that I'd committed crimes against.
Part of me wanted to confess to Izaak already, but we'd gotten too close over the last few weeks. Our friendship was better than it'd ever been and sometimes things got hot and heavy — maybe he'd want something more with me. Not that we could have anything with all these secrets.
"Have you started your art school applications?"
I shrugged. There was no use going to school if I ended up in jail, but I couldn't tell him that. "Haven't had much time."
His lips pressed into a fine line of skepticism.
"I have to make portfolios and work has been busy." I shoved a fork full of salad into my mouth to avoid having to say more on the topic.
"We're going to look over applications tonight and set a goal. No procrastinating on your dreams, kiddo."
My heart felt warm and a smile spread across my cheeks. It was nice to have someone who cared so much about me. "I'll get it done, promise." I didn't want him to see me writing in my alias instead of my real last name. I also had to figure out how to tell Izaak that none of my credits would transfer. But how could I think about all of that with the work stuff?
I tried anyway, laying out the application requirements for my top choice schools. Emailing old contacts for recommendation letters kept my brain busy for a little while, and then I worked on an art project, only becoming distracted when Izaak tapped on the wall, then pushed the room divider out of the way.
"How's it going?"
I gathered all of the papers into a pile so he wouldn't get too curious and look at them, then smiled. "Great, I've even been working on my portfolio." I shoved the screen (or picture) into his direction so he could see **whatever. something relevant to Chloe**.
"That looks incredible, Chloe."
Blushing, I thanked him and glanced at the time. "No bedtime spanking tonight, right? I've been so well-behaved."
"So much that I wanted to offer a reward."
My eyes brightened in excitement and I stood to see what he held behind his back. **Idk yet what it'll be but something amazing**
I squealed and tackled him in a hug, gripping him tightly. "I can't believe you did this, it's so great!"
**I kind of want a cute scene here but not sure what yet**
That night I was plagued by a string of nightmares about Mr. Winters. In each one he accused me of fraud, pointing his long crooked finger at me and cackling as Izaak took me away in handcuffs. Even though I begged for him to listen to my side of the story, he refused, keeping a straight face and telling me that I deserved to rot in prison. At some point Violet was there, shocked that I was the solution to her case the whole time. And Gabe was after her with a folded over belt, shouting at her for not seeing it sooner.
Then my grandma swirled into the dream. I was at court in handcuffs, Gabe and Izaak at my side as they put her on the stand. The DA was accusing her of knowing and causing a scene, so much that my granny started crying and continuing to say that I wouldn't do something like this, not after my childhood, I'd seen too much to follow in my father's footsteps.
The courtroom door burst open and in came my dad, followed by all of the other men I'd committed crimes against. They were walking towards me like zombies and Izaak stood from my side, ordering them to stop, then he withdrew his gun and started shooting one by one. When he hit my father in the middle of the head I screamed and woke up in a cold sweat, panting.
Rolling out of bed, I stumbled to the bathroom where I washed my face and took a few deep breaths to compose myself. It's just a dream.
But I couldn't go back to sleep and instead went ahead to change into my workout clothes and work a little more on my portfolio. Now I drew out some of my dream, waiting on Izaak to get up and ready for our run. He was pleasantly surprised to see me out of bed, figuring that his reward for my good behavior was doing some good.
If only he knew.
x-x-x-x
"You look tired," Toby commented as we jogged next to each other on the track.
"Nightmares." I wasn't much for talking while running, but Toby and I bonded over our lack of athletic ability compared to the others among other things, just never had much time to hang out outside of our jogs.
"Dreams are a reflection of our unconscious mind... stressed lately?"
"So much work."
We jogged together silently for a few minutes and I wondered what Toby would do or say if I told him the truth. Keeping it inside was starting to kill me... I had no one to talk to... Violet and Gabe were totally off limits, and Izaak could probably help me but I didn't want to put him in that position. Toby wasn't too close to the situation and as a psychologist could be bound by confidentiality. If I were to tell anyone, why not him?
"Do less work and more art," Toby said, interrupting my thoughts as we rounded near the water. "If that doesn't work let me know, I can help."
"With drugs?"
He chuckled and shook his head, speeding up a bit and beckoning me to do the same. Ugh, did I mention that I hated running?
x-x-x-x
Freshly showered and clothed, I arrived at the office feeling a little more optimistic and calm. The talk with Toby had really helped, and okay, the exercise did, too.
Violet was already there and arguing with Gabe near my desk.
"How else do you expect me to figure it out? Tell him, Clo."
"Tell him what?" I asked, pulling out my chair and booting up my computer. It would feel uncomfortable to sit with the two of them standing there so I Just turned to look at them both.
"That I need to go to Seattle to interview this potential witness. It's the only way to figure out what really happened to Mr. Winters."
Gabe shook his head. "Why don't you make a phone call like a normal person?"
"That won't work, her calls are monitored, she won't give up any intel. C'mon Gabe." She stuck out her hand. "Let's get that company card, I'll extract the info, then case closed."
No comments:
Post a Comment