Cutting Loose (33 page)

“Umm, can I get a hint?”

He laughed. “Sure: The owner is
Canadian-American.”

“Let me guess; Gabriel’s Seafood,
right?”

“Right on!”

“Sounds like a plan to me.” Just then
her phone beeped. She told Brett to hold on as she clicked over to the other
line. “Hello?”

“Hey, Sabrina, it’s Sean.”

 “Hey. What’s up?”

He chuckled. “I just got a call from one
of the accountants and they left some papers for me to sign. Could you please
stop by my office and bring them to me, if it’s not too much out of your way.”

“No, it is fine, I’m close by there
anyway. My boyfriend and I are having a little six-month anniversary dinner
thing tonight so I may be a little late.”

“That’s fine. Oh, and congrats on the
six months. Time sure does fly by fast doesn’t it?”

“Yes, it does. Crap, I almost forget
Brett is waiting on the other line. I’ll see you later tonight. Bye, Dad.”

“Bye, Rina.”

She clicked back over and resumed her
conversation with Brett. “Sorry. That was my step dad.”

Brett laughed. “Cool. So you want me to
scoop you up when you’re done?”

“Sure. I can leave my car in the garage
overnight. It shouldn’t take me that long so actually, you can start heading
over now if you want.”

“Alright. See you in a bit.”

“See ya’.”

After she disconnected from Brett she
took the next few lights until she reached the garage, where she parked her car
and headed inside the main building. The place was deserted and seemed so
different from the usual constant traffic of people walking around, yapping about
work-related issues. The silence was almost peaceful, but weird nonetheless.

She stepped off the elevator and headed
to Sean’s office. There, she searched around his cluttered desk until she found
a heavy stack of papers with a bunch of highlighted sections. She tucked it
inside her laptop tote bag. She couldn’t help but stop and look at the framed
picture of Sean and her mother sitting on the desk. They looked happy, like
they belonged together. Then her eyes glided over to the picture of herself and
Sean next to it that they took a couple years ago on a fishing trip. She could
still remember how much she despised being out in the sun and in the middle of
a lake with no kind of electricity except her iPod. No matter how much she
complained throughout the day, it all came down to the fact that they were
enjoying each other’s company and were bonding. Looking back, she was glad that
he was the father figure in her life that she was supposed to have but was
never afforded the chance to. But it didn’t matter; he was the only father she
ever needed.

It made her realize that it didn’t
matter about the blood that ran through a person’s veins that made them a
family; it was also the love and the bond between them that really mattered. A
smile crept across her face as she walked out of the office and headed over to
her own office. She peeked in and saw that everything was just as she left it,
neat and organized. She flicked on the light in her office and thought about
moving to where Camille’s old office. Hell, the bitch was never stepping foot
in this building again, which brought a smile to Sabrina’s face.

Then something caught her eye. She
paused.

Something in the air wasn’t feeling
right.

Someone else was here.

The hairs on the back of her head began
to prickle as she closed her office door. Heart beat racing a million miles per
hour; she gave herself a mental shake. Girl, it is just your imagination. Calm
the fuck down. There’s nobody else here but you so stop on tripping.

Crack!

She whirled around so quick she almost
fell on her ass. Too damn bad she picked the wrong day to wear a brand-new pair
of leather sling-back stilettos, which were definitely not made to run in.
Shit
.

She pressed the call button for the
elevator.

“Come on fucker!” Sabrina barked aloud.

“Not so fast,” a cold, yet familiar
female voice boomed from the end of the hallway, where the overhead fluorescent
light was flickering. Sabrina saw a tall shadow leaning against the wall near
Sabrina’s office.

“Whose there?” said Sabrina, her voice
cracking.

The shadowy figure moved.

Closer.

“I swear to God if you come any closer I
will reach into my purse hurt you with my stun gun!” She turned and pressed the
call button. Where the fuck was the damn elevator?

Just as she tuned back around she
couldn’t even scream her horror. It was as if her heart leapt into her throat
and stolen her voice box.

Camille was approaching her at a slow,
stalker-like prance, dressed in a regular t-shirt and black jeans and
Timberland boots with her hands held behind her back, a creepy smile on her
face. Her hair was untamed, no make-up at all, just barefaced. She utterly
looked like shit.

What the hell is going on?

She stopped five feet in front of
Sabrina. She cocked her head to the side. “You look like you just saw a ghost.”

“W-what are you doing here?” said
Sabrina, finally finding her shaky, but steady voice.

She took a step closer. “Do you really
want to know?”

Sabrina ignored her question. “How did
you get in here?”

She grinned evilly. “I used to work here
not too long ago and the security pass code is still the same. How clever.”

Another steps closer.

“Look, if you want money, just go to the
safe and leave me the hell alone. I won’t even tell the cops it was you—I’ll
just tell the police it was a robbery.”

“Shut up, Sabrina!” Camille stomped her
foot like a kid having a tantrum. “Just shut the fuck up and listen.”

Sabrina backed up against the elevator
door, and still the damn thing hadn’t come yet. Which was just fucking great.
Camille looked like she was already pissed off of some PMS shit so she held her
breath.

Camille was just inches away from
Camille. She said, “For a long time now, you’ve been stealing what was
rightfully mine—this magazine. Yeah, your bitch ass mother and my punk ass
father might have built this shit together, but when I stepped on the scene as
editor-in-chief, I was the Queen Bitch in Charge, not you or that idiot father
of mine. Yeah, I’m calling my own father an idiot. Hell, he never showed me any
affection because he was always too damn busy between coming here, dealing with
your mother or going to one of your stupid basketball games just to see your
skinny-ass cheer. Whatever. And because of you, I lost my fucking job and now
my damn magazine won’t premiere. Why not? Hmm. No money. And no money means
good-bye Camillionare. And there’s only one way to solve my many troubles—take
a wild guess.”

“I don’t know.”

“Of course you don’t.” Still keeping her
hands behind her back, she said, “Well, I’ll enlighten you; I have to eliminate
you if I ever plan on getting back on top. I hate to steal the old cliché, but
this town isn’t big enough for the both of us.”

“Camille, whatever it is that you’re
planning, we can talk about it. It doesn’t have to be like this.”

“Oh, I beg to differ.” Finally bringing
her hands in front of her, she revealed a sharp knife that looked like it could
rip anything to shreds. The shiny metal reflected in the dim light as Camille
played with it like it was some kind of toy.

Was this it for her? To die alone by the
hand of a psychotic bitch filled with an envious rage she couldn’t seem to let
go? No. This couldn’t be right. It just didn’t make sense. Tonight was her
six-month anniversary with the sexiest man God had ever placed before her; he
was her soul mate, her best friend (well, in a male form) and everything she
ever wanted in a man. She wasn’t ready to die yet. Hell, she didn’t even get a
chance to tell him she loved him and really meant it. Shit. This was all fucked-up.

Camille dragged her from her thoughts as
she said, “It’s time for Little Miss Perfect to go. Just like a bad fashion
trend, one minute you’re in and the next you’re out in the cold.”

This bitch had seriously lost her damn
mind, or lack thereof, Sabrina mused, trying not control her fear. “Something
is seriously wrong with you.”

“No, I think you’ve got it all
confused.”

“Yeah, says the psychotic bitch holding
a knife in her hand.”

In the next instant Camille’s whole
facial expression changed.

Then she lunged forward at Sabrina and
luckily she was able to dodge out of the way and make a run for it towards her
office. Sadly, Camille was able to catch up to her just as one of the heels on
her shoe snapped in two, causing Sabrina to crash to the floor as she fell to
the floor under Camille’s weight.

The knife flew some feet away from
Camille and they tussled for what seemed like forever until Sabrina punched the
daylights out of Camille and crawled towards the glimmering knife that was just
in an arm’s reach away from her. Just as she reached—

 Camille grabbed Sabrina’s leg and
started yanking her keg back while simultaneously using all of her weight to
pull Sabrina in the opposite direction she wanted to go.

 Sabrina kicked and kicked some more—but
to no avail; the bitch was still on her.

“You bitch!” screamed Camille, getting
to her feet and kicking Sabrina in the ribs, making her drop to her knees and
wheeze. She kicked her one last time with her heavy boots before she ran off
and retrieved the knife. She straddled Sabrina, where she sat on top of her.
“You stupid, bitch! Did you really think that you could take me on?” She tossed
her head back and laughed hysterically.

“You’re fucking pathetic, Camille!
You’ve always been your whole life! That’s why you’re going to die alone and
you aren’t ever going to have shit—”

Camille slapped Sabrina hard against the
face, catching her nose. Instantly, warm blood began to trickle from her
nostrils.

Camille stood up, gave another forceful
kick to Sabrina’s ribs and said, “That’s all you have is words, huh, bitch?”
She bent down and with both hands, she yanked Sabrina up and pinned her to the
wall. “You think you’re so much better than me, don’t you? Well let’s see how
tough you are now.” She pulled back her right hand and jabbed the knife into
Sabrina’s stomach.

She screamed as an explosion of pain and
anger erupted in her abdomen, blood began to seep through her blouse. She tried
to slide down but Camille pulled her up and jabbed her again, this time more
forceful, the feeling more excruciating than the last. Her head began to spin
and she couldn’t focus…she thought she heard her cell phone ring…maybe she was
just losing her damn mind…or…

Camille stabbed her again and again,
like she was gutting a fucking fish. She had this bizarre look on her face like
she was enjoying every minute of seeing Sabrina wince and cry out in pain, on
the verge of life and death.

Camille let Sabrina’s weak body slide to
the floor. She knelt down. “I think you’re slipping, Rina. And there’s nobody
around to save you. So, who’s going to die alone, you or me?” She wrapped her
freehand around Sabrina’s throat. “Looks like you will.” She looked her square
in the eyes and as bad as Sabrina wanted to fight back; she was too weak. She
couldn’t move a limb, let alone use her voice; her defenses were shot down and
all of her energy was nearly gone.

When Camille stuck the knife in so deep,
she thought she felt her guts jerk and explode. The pain...it was just so
horrible she wanted to past out and be put out of her misery.

Through half-closed eyes, Sabrina said,
“You…you…won’t get away with this.”

“Just watch me,” sneered Camille as she
stood up and took a step back from Sabrina. “Who’s the pathetic bitch now?” she
turned and jetted out of sight.

Blood was pouring out of her so fast it
scared the hell out of her. Never had she seen so much of her own blood before.
She couldn’t move without her body erupting even more. She was fucked. And
clearly, Camille had won. Now she was going to die…alone. Or so it seemed.

 As her vision began to blur, she
thought she saw movement from out of the corner of her eye and just knew
Camille came back to finish the job. She heard the footsteps as they grew
louder and louder. Then she smelled it—his cologne.

“Oh, Brett,” she whispered, as tears
began to run down her cheeks. Please, God, she silently prayed to herself, let
that be Brett. If this is how I’m going out, at least I won’t be by myself.

Then she heard his voice. “Sabrina?
Where are you?”

She turned her head in the direction of
his voice, just as she tipped over on her side and lay against the cold tiled
floor. She so badly wished she could scream but she was slipping.

His footsteps found her and she could
feel his presence as he knelt next to her and let out a cry that hurt her more
than pain form her stab wounds and cut deep down to her soul.

“Oh, shit, Sabrina. Baby, who did this
to you?” Brett cried as he pulled her to him. “Please, stay with me, baby. I
need you.”