Chapter 27- I'm Not Afraid of You

Nobody can turn you into a slave unless you allow them. Nobody can make you afraid of anything, unless you allow them. Nobody can tell you to do something wrong, unless you allow them. God never created you to be a slave, man did. God never created division or set up any borders between brothers, man did. God never told you hurt or kill another, man did. So why is man your god, and not the Creator? - Suzy Kassem

"What time is it?" I asked Nya as I stepped into her foyer.

"After six, I think."

"Why didn't you wake me?" I asked, now confused as to why she didn't wake me to her help her.

"You needed to rest, plus you would've been so paranoid if you realized that the van hadn't moved."

"The van is still there?" I rushed to the window in the livingroom. " I can't believe it's still there. What game is Matthew playing."

"He's trying to bait you, don't fall for his trap Melia."

"He can't come within one hundred feet of me and he hasn't broken it, but he sends his men to intimidate me every chance he gets."

I left the livingroom in search of my phone. I sent Matthew a quick text.

Me: I'm not afraid of you Matthew.

Matthew: You should be. How was your night at Nya's. Slept well?

Me: Move on with your life, I've found someone else.

Matthew: LOLOLOL, THAT CAN BE EASILY REARRANGED. SEE YOU SOON LOVE.

I didn't reply, I was determined not to let him get to me. I threw my phone on the couch and dropped in the chair near by. "I wish he would fall off the face of the earth."

I said as I blew out a breath.

"It seems Mrs. Perkins finally realized that someone was blocking her driveway." Nya said.

"What?" I asked, confused by her statement.

"Come look," Nya said as she called me over to where she was standing.

Looking through the window to where she pointed, the SUV that followed me was parked in front of the driveway.

"Well, will you look that, she's so mad. She frailing her arms all over the place." Nya said, as we both watch in ernest.

The words that left the mouth of the little petite old woman could not be repeated. We were both in shock, it took us by surprise. I looked over at Nya and asked. "Have you ever heard her say those words before?"

"Hell no, the most I've ever heard were- have a good day dear, good night and good morning. Now, can you imagine what she tells Mr Perkins when he pisses her off."

We both glanced over to Mrs Perkinss direction and laughed. A few minutes later, the cops arrived, ushering the driver of the SUV away from the area.

I was filled with instantaneous relief when I saw the vehicle leaving. "I'm going to head out Nya, gotta head over to my apartment to get ready for work. Thank you so much so much for letting me stay and for staying up and looking out." I leaned over and gave her a hug. "Love you Chica."

"It's no problem babe, I know you would do the same for me. I love you boo. Now go, I need to shower and get to work."

I went to the bedroom, got my belongings and left.

°°°°

Opening the door to my office, I walked in on dozens of bouquets of different flowers. I placed my bag on the desk and took photos of my office. Maybe these photos will be needed in the future, who knows.

I searched each of the bouquets for a card. I could not locate one and I almost gave up, until I spotted a card on the floor. I took up the card, read it and just as I thought. They were form Matthew.

I took a quick photo of the card and I read it again.

'Can't wait until I have you again. M'

I called one of the maintenance guys for the company, Andrew, to help me get rid of the flowers.

"Hey Andrew, can you help me dispose of these flowers, please?"

"Sure Miss Banks, that's no problem." He said, so eager to be doing something other than fixing the toilets.

Fifty eight bouquets in total, were removed from my office and disposed of.

"Thank you so much Andrew. I greatly appreciate it."

"It was a pleasure Miss Banks, much better than fixing the toilets in the basement. "

We both laughed and he left my office. I didn't bother to procrastinate any further, I got work. I buried myself into my work for the rest of the day, I didn't bother to leave the office to get lunch, so I ordered lunch from Marc's an hour before I left work.

Just before I left work, I sent a message to Dwight.

Me: Hey babe, I MISS YOU 🥰

Me: Counting down the days until your back. You probably won't see this until later.

I placed the phone on the desk and packed away my files. My phone dinged, I rushed to pick it up so fast, my fingers accidentally pushed it off the desk.

"Dammit!" I shouted, I got down on my knees to pick it up off the floor.

I looked at the screen in anticipation, wondering if it's a text message from Dwight. Much to my disappointment it was not Dwight, it was one of my best friends, Fiona.

Fi: Nya said you were followed last night, why didn't you say anything to me??!!!!!!

Oh no, she's mad. 

Me: Well you're pregnant and I didn't want you to stress. But now that Nya has told you, you're going to stress. Please don't stress, I'm ok, I stayed at her house.

Fi: I'm mad at you Melia but I'm glad you're safe. Call me later. MAKE SURE YOU CALL ME!!

I laughed at her message. She's such a mother.

Me: I will.

I decided to change up tonight, I changed the route I normally drove home and stopped at a few unexpected places. This route was longer by fifteen minutes, but I hoped that by changing it, I would not be followed.

I kept checking my rearview mirror for any drivers that looked suspicious or if any cars were following to every stop I made on the way home.

Thank God, no car stopped at any of the places I stopped and I didn't pass any parked on the side of the road when I left each stop. I breathed a sigh of relief when I got to the apartment.

I got two messages, but I decided not to check them until I was inside the apartment.

I quickly did my nightly routine and got into bed, I grabbed my phone from the night stand and read each message. I was overtaken with emotions when I saw that they were from Dwight.

Dwight: Hey sweetheart. I miss you too. I cant wait to hold u and kiss you. I know that havent been texting you as much as you like, just a tiny bit busy now. We finally got some of the samples we were searching for. Tomorrow we dive again and I'm sure that we will get the others.

Dwight: I hope that everything is ok. I wish you were here, the scenery is so beautiful at nights. S fee Faust yo ho until I get to see you. I'll try and send you some vn photos tomorrow. Stay safe and I LOVE YOU.

I started tearing up, I missed him so much. I sent him a short message. I knew it would take awhile before he got it, so I turned and placed my phone on the charger, turned off the lamp and drifted off to sleep, not knowing at in the dead of night, a figure would be perched on a chair in the bedroom watching me sleep. 

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