Maurice boarded the elevator, pressed twenty-seven, and fell against the elevator wall with a thud. It was half-past ten in the morning and he was spent. Nancy’s unrelenting warpath from Friday hadn’t lessened. He closed his eyes, grateful for a quiet moment.

The elevator’s ding brought him back into the world. The doors opened for Sean Boyd, who shot Maurice a knowing look as he leaned against the other wall.

After a few moments Maurice asked, “I’m not sure I want to know, but how’d it go at the D.A.’s office?”

“She didn’t tell you?”

Maurice shook his head. “Not a peep. And I know better than to ask.”

“Mmm.” Sean rubbed his hand over his face. “Well, I was talking Frank down when she rips his door open, nearly slams it off the hinges, and proceeds to dress him down. Loudly.”

“So how long are we going to be in court?”

“We aren’t.” Sean blinked and shook his head. “She bullied him into backing down. Said she knew this was an election year stunt and threatened to pull every ounce of donations and fundraising we do for him. Then told him she’d direct it to whoever ran against him.”

Maurice’s jaw fell to the floor. “Holy shit.”

Sean nodded. “Aye. I thought for certain he was going to throw in some bribery charges, so I tried to step in and soothe things but she shot me a look that was... terrifying.”

The doors opened and Maurice followed Sean out and through the beehive that was the legal department. Once in Sean’s office, Maurice closing the door behind them then dropped into a chair.

“You’ve known her almost as long as I have. Ever seen her this angry before?” Sean asked.

Maurice tapped his chin. “In small bursts, yes. But never sustained like this.”

Sean shook his head. “What happened?”

Maurice’s head lolled back as he looked at the ceiling. “I don’t know. She’s had laser focus all morning, so there hasn’t been an opening for me to ask.” He turned to look at Sean. “Though I’m not sure I should.”

Sean ran his hands over his face again, stood, and patted Maurice on the shoulder. “You best get back to it. If you find anything out, let me know if I can help.”

Stepping off the elevator, he noticed it was too silent. Maurice dropped the papers at his desk, walked into Nancy’s office, and froze as he crossed the threshold. Nancy sat at her desk, full fury burning down at her mobile phone as it vibrated in front of her.

Maurice took a slow, careful step backwards, not wanting to tip the delicate balance of the situation toward him. Her lip curled as she snatched the phone up and pressed a button, silencing it. She was about to toss it back onto her desk when she noticed him.

She pointed the phone at him. “How do I stop getting calls on this?”

“You want to stop all the calls?”

“No. Just from a particular number.”

“Oh! That’s easy. You should be able to block that specific number then.”

“Show me,” she said, waving him over. Maurice approached and looked over her shoulder. The phone was on the contacts screen with the A’s displayed.

He pointed to the one labeled ‘ASSHOLE’. “This one?” She nodded. “Okay, open that contact. Now go to... ‘Options’. There, the bottom right button. Now go down. There. ‘Block Contact’.”

“Thank you,” she said, tossing the phone onto her desk. Maurice didn’t move, so she looked up to him with a sigh. “Yes?”

“Is everything alright?”

Nancy chuckled and turned back to her work. “Yes, why wouldn’t it be?”

Maurice put his hand on her shoulder. “Really, are you okay?”

She looked back up and for a fraction of a second, there was something not angry in her eyes before the mask covered it.

“Yes. I’m still annoyed at Frank for jumping the gun,” she said, looking back at her paperwork. “But that’s resolved so we can move forward.”

Maurice squeezed her shoulder. “If you need anything, I’m here.”

She didn’t look at him but put a hand on his. “Thank you, Maurice. You’re one of the few people I know I can count on.”

“I’d hug you, but you’d punch me.”

She turned to him, the mask fading for a second as her eyebrow went up. “You’d be right,” she said, a small upturn at the corner of her mouth.

He took the minor victory but decided it was best not to push it.

“Let me know if you need anything.”

Ikher paced his bedroom, phone to his ear as he waited for Nancy’s voicemail message to finish.

“Hey Nance, it’s me. Just figured I’d try you again. I know you’re busy. Just uh, gimme a call when you get a second.” He pulled the phone from his ear to hang up when he put it back. “Love you.”

He busied himself with cleaning the house and organizing the pantry, but couldn’t keep his thoughts from wandering back to Nancy. Friday was incredible and Nancy seemed happy with him telling her he loved her, but her total silence since then was concerning.

Normally when he left a message, she would call him back when she was able, even if it was only to apologize and say she was busy. But there had been nothing from her since she left. He pulled his phone out and picked her number again.

This time it just rang and rang, never going to her recording. That wasn’t good. Had something happened to her? Maybe that’s why he hadn’t heard from her. He heard a door close and saw Janine walking toward her van. He opened his door and called out.

“Hey Janine! You going into Newcrest today?”

“Not till later to get Ainsley. What’s up?”

Ikher locked his door and ran over. “If I gave you some gas money could you drop me in Ranola?”

“Yeah, sure. Jump in,” she said, waving him to the passenger side. As they turned onto the main road, she looked over and asked. “I know I’ve asked you this before but, have you seen Robin?”

Ikher screwed his mouth to the side and looked at the dashboard as he thought. After a moment he said, “I think I saw his car pull into his house a couple nights about. But it wasn’t there in the morning.”

Janine exhaled and nodded. “Okay, thanks.”

“Everything okay?”

She laughed and waved at him. “Yeah, yeah. He owes me a couple bucks. I knew he was squirrely, but I didn’t think he’d stiff me. Anyway, what d’you have going on in Ranola?”

“I haven’t heard from Nancy, so I was gonna stop by her job to make sure she’s okay.”

Janine’s head swung to him. “Uh, no you aren’t. That’s creepy.”

“How is that creepy?”

“You don’t just show up somewhere unannounced! That’s some stalker shit.”

Ikher glared at her. “Oh, like how you always sneak up on me and give me a heart attack?”

She snorted. “That doesn’t count cause it’s outside,” she said, pointing at him. “You’re going into a private place where you aren’t expected. That ain’t cool.”

He deflated. “I guess you’re right. I’m just worried since I haven’t heard from Nancy.”

Janine checked traffic before she pulled out. “How long’s it been since you heard from her?”

“Friday.”

She laughed. “Boy, if you don’t calm your ass down! Let that woman have her space. Didn’t I tell you to let us come to you?”

“I know, I know,” he said, rubbing his hands over his face. “But I did something and I think I messed up.”

“What’s that?”

“I umm... I told her I loved her.”

She looked over at him with a smile then snorted. “Were y’all fucking when you said it?”

“Yeah.”

She laughed. “Boy, don’t sweat that. People say shit they don’t mean all the time during sex. There’s something about connecting with someone on a biblical level that fucks with your head.” She shrugged as she stopped at a red light. “Shit, if I had a dollar for every time someone told me they loved my pussy, I’d be retired in the Bahamas.”

Ikher sighed. “Yeah, I didn’t say it like that.”

“So you weren’t all, ‘Damn I love these big ass tiddies!” Janine said, squeezing an imaginary pair of breasts in front of her. She glanced over to see Ikher’s deadpan face face glaring back. “Come on man, I’m just trying to lighten you up,” she said, punching him in the arm.

Ikher just sighed and leaned against the window. He dialed Nancy again, but it just rang and rang.

“So, you dropped the L bomb for real huh?” Janine asked as they stopped at a light.

Ikher nodded, still looking out the window. “Yeah.”

“Did you mean it?”

“I think so.”

“How’d she take it?”

He shrugged. “Well enough, I thought. She smiled and kissed me.”

“Little smile or Big smile?”

He squinted thinking back. “Umm, pretty big.”

“Mkay, she say or do anything else?”

“Uh, before she left, she said it was all good.”

Janine nodded again. “Hmmm, how many times have you called?” Ikher shrugged. “What’s your phone say?”

Ikher flipped his phone open and pulled up his call history. “Ugh.”

Janine chuckled. “How many?”

“Twelve,” he said, hanging his head.

“Since Friday?!”

“No... today.”

“Got damn! Well, that’s not helping. How many messages have you left her?”

“I don’t know. I think I filled it up. It stopped going to voicemail and just rings now.”

Janine squinted at him. “Like, rings and rings and rings and never gives you the recorded message?”

“Yeah.”

“Mmm,” Janine mumbled. Her fingers tapped the steering wheel and she glanced at him a couple times before she said, “I might have some bad news for you.”

“What?”ed, turning to her.

“Well, either you filled up her voicemail or... she blocked you,” she said, looking at him with a frown.

“What?! How do you know?”

“Cause I’ve been blocked before.”

“Why were you blocked?”

She laughed. “Because I was being an asshole.”

“I don’t think I was an asshole,” he said, looking down at his legs before looking back to her in a panic. “Was I being an asshole?”

“I don’t know,” she said, shaking her head as she put the van in park. “I don’t think you were. A little needy maybe, but that’s not being an asshole."

“No, Janine, this is too much. I can’t take this,” Miss Norma said, waving the brown paper bag at her.

“I’ve never seen that bag before. You sure you didn’t have it stashed somewhere?” Janine said with a grin as she stood.

“Don’t you sass me, girl.”

Janine chuckled and knelt next to the older woman.

“It’s enough. It’ll cover your mortgage and bills. So you’ll have enough for food and your medicine.”

Miss Norma grimaced. Her pronounced wrinkles standing out even more. “You don’t have to do this.”

Janine sighed and put her hand on Miss Norma’s.

“I do. They got Mr. Edwards’ house last month. I’m not gonna let them get yours or anyone else’s.”

Miss Norma sighed and shook her head. “I appreciate it. Even if I don’t like what you do.”

Janine nodded. The older generations frowned upon her line of work.

“It’s a means to an end. And if the end is you keeping your house, then I’m okay with it.”

“Thank you, dear,” Miss Norma said and hugged Janine.

“You know,” Janine said. “Mr Edwards could use a place to stay.”

“What would I want with that old fool in my house?”

Janine roared with laughter. “I dunno, he could fix things. Help you around.” She leaned in. “Help you into the bedroom.”

Miss Norma cackled and smacked Janine’s shoulder. “He’s too old. He probably can’t get it up no more.”

Janine stood and winked. “Didn’t you hear? They got pills for that now.”

Leaving Miss Norma’s, Janine got back into her van to find Ikher looking like a sick puppy. He toyed with his phone and started vacantly out the window. As they wound her way through the streets to her next stop, Ikher tried to call again, only to close his phone and shake his head.

The more Janine thought about his situation, the more irate she became. This was different from the little harpy that he had been messing with. Ikher was genuinely upset this time. That rich bitch probably had him on the side, led him on, and threw him away when he became too attached. If she wanted a boy toy, that’s fine, but she should have been honest about it.

“Hey, can I try your phone to call?” Ikher asked.

“Hell no,” Janine spat. “If she’s petty enough to cut off communication with you and block your number, then fuck her. She doesn’t deserve your time or attention.”

Ikher blinked and opened his mouth to say something, but closed it. Silence descended on the van as they continued on.

Janine’s shoulders and neck got tighter the more she dwelt on that big skinny bitch. They were throbbing when she got out at her next stop. In no mood for small talk, she handed the family a similar bag as Miss Norma, told them she would swing by next week.

Her anger faded when she saw Ikher wiping his face when he saw her coming back. Maybe she had been too harsh with him. They drove for a bit before Janine looked over to him.

“Hey, I’m sorry for snapping at you. I wasn’t mad at you. If you want, we can still go into Ranola?”

Ikher thought for a moment before shaking his head. “Nah, I guess not.”

“You wanna get something to eat? We’ve been out for a bit?”

He shook his head. “No, thanks. I’m not really hungry. Do you have time to bring me back before you get Ainsley?”

“Yeah,” Janine said, looking at her watch. “You sure you don’t want to come with? You know she loves you,” Janine said and immediately cringed at her choice of words.

Ikher, shoulders sagging and eyes glassy, shook his head and looked out the window. “I just kinda want to go home if that’s okay.”

“Yeah, sure thing.” Janine nodded and started the van.

Ikher sniffed or wiped his nose a couple times during the ride back but managed to keep himself together. When she pulled up in front of his house, he pulled his wallet out and tried to hand her some money. Janine looked at him like he had two heads.

“I told you I’d give you gas money,” he said, still holding it out.

“Yeah, if I took you into Ranola. Which I didn’t do. Besides, you kept me company.”

Ikher nodded and putting his wallet away. As he unbuckled himself, Janine reached over and grabbed his arm, making him look back at her.

“Hey, if you need anything, you call me. Okay?” She squeezed his arm. His face wrinkled up for a second, and he took a deep breath before nodding.

“Thanks,” he said, his mouth screwed to the side and jaw clenched.

“For real, I don’t care how small or dumb you think it is. You call me or come over, okay?”

Ikher sniffed and nodded again. Janine watched him plod up the steps and go into his house before she pulled off to pick Ainsley up.

Her mind snapped right back to that rich blond bitch. Having fun with someone was one thing, but playing with their emotions was something else entirely, especially when that someone was young and impressionable. That bitch would regret more than playing with his heart should their paths ever cross again.