Page 31 of Security and Submission
It came with a picture of Tiger, who was on his back with his paws up in the air, looking incredibly goofy.
Yasmine
I’ve had better, but thanks. I hope you had a better night than me!
As soon as she sent it, she wondered if she should have waited. Hopefully, it didn’t wake him up. She hadn’t woken up to his text coming in. Likely, he wouldn’t get hers until tomorrow.
Except that almost as soon as she’d sent it, the three little dots that indicated he was typing appeared. Then her phone buzzed with his reply.
Zeus
Uh oh, what happened?
Yasmine
I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you up. I wasn’t thinking.
Zeus
It’s fine, I was having trouble sleeping, anyway. What happened?
Yasmine
It’s kind of a lot to explain.
Zeus
Would it be easier to talk over the phone instead of texting it out?
Yasmine hesitated as she stared at his offer.
Keeping him awake when he was having trouble sleeping felt kind of selfish. On the other hand, he was offering, and she was feeling more awake than sleepy. Maybe telling him about it would help.
Yasmine
Are you sure?
Instead of getting a text response, after a moment her phone rang. Incoming call: Zeus.
“Hello?”
“I wouldn’t have offered if I wasn’t sure.” His deep voice rumbled with a chuckle. “Now what’s going on that messed up your night and has you up so late?”
Sighing, Yasmine made her way upstairs back to her bedroom. As she walked, she told him the whole story, from waking up from her dream—although she didn’t tell him what the dream had been about—to the cop’s recommendations. He listened through the whole thing, only making a few noises of approval or disapproval, never interrupting her.
It made her feel better when he snorted in disgust at the cop’s original callous statements. Validated in her own feelings.
“And now, I’m not sure I’m going to be able to fall back asleep,” she admitted. She’d made it back to her bed, but she was just lying here with the light on. “Even the idea of turning the light off makes me nervous.”
“Well, they’re definitely not going to let this guy out of the drunk tank this evening,” Zeus said reassuringly. “So, there’s no way he’ll return tonight.”
“Okay, well that makes me feel marginally better, although more nervous about tomorrow night.” She laughed with a lightness she didn’t feel; it was either laugh or cry right now, and she didn’t want to cry while on the phone with Zeus. He was already staying up to talk to her; he didn’t need to deal with her melting down on top of that.
“You said his last name was James, right? Did you get his first name?”
“No.” Maybe she should have, but she’d been running on pure fear and adrenaline. She was starting to crash now, especially after hearing Zeus’ confidence that the man wouldn’t be back tonight. She yawned. “Just that his wife’s name is Stacy.”
“I’ll try to track him down. And I can text you some good security systems to choose from. If you want, I can help you put one in.”
