What They Don't Know (Won't Hurt Them Trilogy #1) (23 page)

“Bria, don't open the
door. Call the police,” he says in a low tone. The line goes dead.
I'm not calling the police on Bryant. I can't.

“Bria… please, I
need to talk to you. Only talk, that's all.”

I go to my front door.
I put my forehead against the door. “Bryant,” I whisper.

“Bree, I can't do
this without you. I need my best friend.”

My heart has officially
stopped. My eyes begin to tear up and they won’t stop. I want to
open the door. I want to comfort my best friend. I want to transfer
all of his pain into happiness. I want to open this door and just
hold him, let him know everything will be fine. I raise my hand to
unlock the newly installed locks.

“Hey, man, what's
going on?” I hear Cruz's voice.

“Cruz, man, this
doesn't concern you.”

“Oh, I think it
does,” Cruz informs Bryant. I can hear the both of them getting
annoyed by the second.

“Cruz, what the
fuck?”

“Bryant, I'm not here
to fight you or argue.”

“Then why are you
here, Cruz,” Bryant yells.

“Bryant?” Cruz says
calmly. “Have you taken anything today?”

“What?” Bryant
yells.

“Have you taken
anything?”

“No, I'm not
addicted.”

Cruz is still calmly
speaking to Bryant. Bryant on the other hand is
not
.

“Bryant, I didn't say
you are addicted to anything. I just asked have you taken anything
today.”

“No.” He’s
speaking calmly now. “Cruz, I can't function.”

“I know,” Cruz
says. “Did the hospital give you anything before you were
released?”

“No, I haven't had
anything since that night. It's like—”

“It's still in you,”
Cruz interrupts. I peek through my window blinds. Cruz is facing the
window while Bryant's back is to me. I can see concern in Cruz's
face.

“She won't let me in,
man. I fucked up.”

“No, she's not going
to let you in.” Bryant’s shoulders drop.

“I've never hurt her
this bad, man. Usually, I tell her I need her and we’re enjoying
movies by now.” Cruz sees me through the window but makes no
gestures to give me away.

“I think I scared
her, Cruz.”

“Bria?” he scoffs
and chuckles.

“Yeah, you're right;
she's probably in her room with her Louisville Slugger.” They both
laugh.

Um… I am not the butt
of their jokes.

“I'll probably need
to give her a day or two.”

“Yeah, I think that's
advisable,” Cruz agrees.

I can see the two of
them walking toward their vehicles. Bryant looks back at the house. I
can see Cruz saying something to him. They both get into their cars.
Cruz U-turns and Bryant drives off. Whew! My phone rings immediately.

“Hello.”

“What would you have
done if I didn't call you or show up?”

I'm silent.

“Bria?”

“I don't know,” I
softly say.

“Would you have let
him in?”

“No…”

“Yes, you would have,
if I hadn’t shown up when I did. You would have opened the door. He
said it himself.” He, being Bryant. Cruz is speaking to me in a
chastising tone. I would have; he needed me. That's what I would have
told myself to justify opening the door.

“I don't want to
imagine, Bria, what would have happened if you had let him in.” The
line goes silent. I can hear Cruz breathing. It sounds as if he's
nervous. “Bria?” He quietly calls my name.

“Yes, Cruz?”

“Would you have let
him in? Again.”

I don't think Cruz and
I are on the same page. Our definitions of letting Bryant in differ.
I'm silent.

“Bria, answer me.”

“I-I don't know.”
He lets out a harsh breath or maybe it was a growl. We say nothing
for minutes.

He finally breaks the
silence. “I have to meet with Mr. Wilke today; do you mind if I
work from your office again?”

“No, I don't mind.
I'll be out of the office for a bit today anyway,” I say quietly,
because the tension over the phone is obvious.

“Oh, okay, I'll be
there in a few.”

“Okay… Cruz?” I
call out to him before we end our call. “Thanks… you know, for
handling Bryant without you know... kicking his ass.” He chuckles.
I can almost picture him smiling.

“It’s cool, honey,
it was either that or unleash ‘the Bree’ on him.” He laughs a
little more. “He did not want to get what that Cass girl got.”
He's laughing fully now.

“Cruz, that's mean.”

“You're right, Bria,
it is; but when was it determined I was nice in anyway?”

Touché.

* * *

Friday has been a blur.
I’ve analyzed, sent bids, and written proposals. I even went out
for lunch with my inconspicuous sunglasses on and set up a suite for
one of my new clients. It’s noticeable how big these damn
sunglasses are. None of that compares to twelve vases of a dozen
roses in my office when I return. After a search for a card, it's
just as I suspected. They’re all from Bryant. I shake my head.

“Whoa,” I hear from
behind me.

“Hey, Lisa, haven't
seen you all day.”

“It's been a busy
day, lady, with you in and out. Proposal after proposal, you made it
busy for me, Bria. Thank you.” We laugh because we both know the
busier we are the bigger our profits. We don't mind that at all.

“So who’s in the
dog house?”

I look at her
suspiciously.

“Oh c'mon, Bria,
Bryant or Mr. Debonair?”

“Excuse me?”

“Oh, I saw how Cruz
was with you yesterday. Despite Bryant's and my drunken kiss, he has
a thing for you too. So please spare me the ‘what are you talking
about’ act.”

I hang my head in
shame. “Bryant,” I say as I hand her the card.

“Shit, what did he
do?”

I shake my head. “I'll
tell you later. Speaking of later, where are we going tomorrow?” I
ask Lisa. She's getting excited.

She claps. “We are
V.I.P. at Aqua.”

“Very nice,” I say.
“How many on the list?”

“Well, four, but
Bryant's not coming, right?” she inquires.

“Right, but I invited
someone.”

“Ooh, a man?” Lisa
woos.

“No.” I frown at
her. “It's a nice lady I met. She’s new in town. She doesn't know
anyone so I invited her out.”

Lisa shrugs. “The
more the merrier.”

“Sweet.”

She has this look on
her face and I know what's coming. “Bria, when are you going to
find someone for you? Or when will you let someone find you?”

“Lisa… Listen…
Listen… Listen.” Hearing myself, I sound like that three-year-old
kid who has gone viral on social media trying to explain to his
mother why he had to eat the cookies. I chuckle. “Life’s biggest
disappointments are people. I can’t help but think that everything
that is done by people”—waving my hands in the air
psycho-babbling—“will eventually end in disappointment.” I
shrug. “I’m over it and accepted it and moooved on.”

Lisa shakes her head.
“Okay, Bria, but at some point in your life, you will want that
someone. Not just a hard one every once in a while.”

I scowl at her. “Oh,
like you, Lisa?” I ask her with a sour face.

“Okay, I may not have
anyone, but I'm not shutting people down.”

“I'm not shutting
people down, Lisa. I'm not ready to give that part to anyone yet.”

“Fine, Bria, but when
you're ready, I'll help.”

“I don't need help,
Lisa.”

“Yeah, you do. You
haven't been on a date in so long a refresher course wouldn't hurt,”
she says with a sad face. I laugh because it's true. Having
sex-sessions and dinner-movies with your bestie eliminates the true
dating mechanisms.

“Okay, Lisa, when I'm
ready, I'll let you help me.”

“Yay!” She claps.
“Now that's settled, I have to get out of here. I need a new outfit
for tomorrow,” she says, fluttering her eyelashes. “See you
tomorrow,” she sings.

I'm home in fifteen
minutes. It's Friday and all I want is a glass of Sweet Red, a nice
bath, and pasta scampi. I prepare my bath and call in my order for
delivery. I make sure the wine is in the chiller and I am ready for
my Friday night wind down. Lying back in the tub, I hear my phone
ring. I reach over to dry my hands to answer the call.

“Hello.” My voice
is relaxed and I hear Cruz on the other end.

“Honey?”

“Hi, Cruz, what's
up?”

“Just calling to
check on you.”

“I'm fine. I thought
you were working at my office today?”

“Yeah, sorry about
that, I had an issue I had to deal with.”

“Oh… anything I can
help with?”

“No, I took care of
it.” He almost sounds regretful about it. His mood seems desolate.

“What are you doing?”

“I'm bathing, why?”

“Hmmm,” he hums.

“Cruz, don't even,”
I warn.

He chuckles. “You
think you know me now?”

“I know how your mind
works.”

“And how is that?”

“Pervertedly!”

He laughs. “Is that
even a word?”

“It is now,” I say
jokingly.

“Has Bryant contacted
you?”

“Um... you could say
that.”

“Oh...”

“He sent a dozen
roses times twelve to my office,” I sigh.

“That's a bad thing?”

“Cruz,
twelve
...”

“Okay, twelve, what
about it?”

“Twelve vases,” I
confirm.

“Ohhh… Shit! He
sent you 144 roses?” he laughs.

“You find me funny
tonight?”

“Yeah, no other woman
has made me laugh or smile for that matter as much as you have.”

My heart does a little
dance.

“I'm not a smiler,”
Cruz blurts out.

“Really,” I joke.
“Seriously though, you have an attractive smile, Cruz.”

“I'm not a blusher
either, Bria; please don't compliment me.”

“You can't be all
serious business all the time.”

“No, why not?”

Shit, I just shot
myself in the foot. I'm silent.

“Why not, Bria? Ahhh,
cat's got your tongue.”

I sigh and begin to
have the conversation that I don’t want to have with Cruz.

“All my life, well,
my adult life, I've had family, friends, and bosses criticize me on
how unhealthy it is to be serious all the time. How allowing myself
not to feel anything is unhealthy to the mind emotionally.”

It is unhealthy to the
people I don't let in. I give them the hard-ass,
low-tolerance-for-ignorance Bria. I'm the good-friend-advisor Bria.
I’m the Bria who’ll have meaningless relationships as long as
love is not involved. If you can't handle it, it's your problem to
solve, not mine. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is where it becomes
unhealthy... to the other person. They can't handle how I am. But I
don’t tell Cruz all of that.

“There’s no need
to, because I have it under control,” he admits to me.

“No one likes a dull
Cruz.”

“Oh, is that what I
am, Bria, a dull Cruz?”

“Yep,” I say to him
with some spunk.

“Okay, if that's your
story, Ms. Watts.”

“And I'm stickin' to
it, Mr. King.” He laughs. We're silent for a few seconds before
Cruz says anything.

“Bria.” He's
changed his tone again.

“Yes, Cruz?”

“Slide your hand
slowly down the center of your breast to your stomach. Rub your clit
for me, then squeeze your breast with your other hand, and then tell
me how that feels.”

I wonder what that perv
heard on the other end besides me ending the call.

I sleep a little late
on Saturday; but unfortunately, I’m awakened by the ringing of my
cell. I focus on the number before I answer. My eyes are still
sensitive to morning light. It’s a number I don’t know so I allow
it to go to voicemail. Who would be calling me at 9:30 in the
morning? Just as I lie back down, I hear my voicemail notification go
off. I continue to ignore it. Sleep is the only thing I want to do.
My phone rings again; Bryant’s name is on the display. I ignore it
too. I’m not dealing with his nonsense today at all. He’s ruined our friendship, possibly forever.

Trying to get back to
sleep is a fail. I’m awake now; I might as well shower, cook
breakfast, and start my day. “Ugh.” I throw my spread off me and
begin my Saturday morning. After my much-needed hot shower, I heat my
skillet to make an omelet. I love this skillet; it’s the Lexus of
all skillets. It’s a non-stick warp-resistant Mauviel M. It's a
shame that things like cookware performance gets me excited. Maybe I
do need to find male companionship to take me away from all things
“dork.”

I have to accomplish
two things tonight: a questionnaire for my new clients and a new
outfit. I reply to a post or two on the classified advertisement
site. I want to get familiar with the possibilities of building my
own clientele. I'm excited about this. I hope I can handle this extra
side dish on my plate. With Bryant recovering, it won't be long
before he and Cruz close the deal ending with Bryant handing the
company back over to Cruz's family.

Speaking of Cruz, I
wonder if he's coming out tonight. That's going to be quite awkward,
Lisa coming on to Cruz, and Cruz coming on to me. Well, maybe not,
Shanna will be there. Poor thing, she'll probably be traumatized with
Lisa's up-close personality. “Ha-ha, this is going to be fun.” I
send Cruz a text then remember I ignored a call earlier. I check the
message; it’s from Shanna wanting to know the details for tonight.
I send her a quick text, the where and when. She replies.

Someone's
excited.
.

I get another text from
Cruz.