Page 48 of Shattered Saint
All of this was only increasing my concern about what could have happened to her. "Whenever is good."
"How about in forty-five minutes?"
That worked for me. "I'll see you then."
When Iris hung up the phone, I went back to washing my dishes. I had a few minutes to do a couple of things to make my home homier for Iris, and thankfully, I didn’t think any of the tasks would take long.
Once I was done with the dishes, I tidied up the living room, grabbed two of the blankets I kept in the closet, and tossed them on the couch in case she wanted to watch movies or something. We had some snacks that we could eat, and plenty to drink. If there was anything we didn’t have, I had no problem having it delivered.
I hopped into the shower to do a quick refresh ahead of Iris’s arrival, and by the time I was dressed in my usual attire and had thrown my hair up into a messy bun, I got a text message from her saying that she’d just arrived and to meet her at the front desk.
I grabbed the keys to my apartment and left, eager to get downstairs and see Iris. When I spotted her, I stared her down as she walked through the glass door that led to my apartment’s lobby. I swallowed hard as I took in the look on her face. It gave away just how serious whatever it was that happened to her.
I didn’t say a word as I opened my arms to let Iris step into them.
“Come on. Let’s get you upstairs,” I said.
All she did was nod, but she looked as if she might cry at any moment.
I gave a small wave to the person working at the front desk as she gave a small nod, and together, we took the elevator up to my apartment.
I threw my keys down on the counter and grabbed Iris’s duffel bag to give her a hand. She sunk down into the cushions and I pulled a soft quilt over her body. She looked downright exhausted, and I wished I could do more.
I left Iris on the couch and walked toward the kitchen. "Is there anything I can get you?"
"Some water would be nice."
"Coming up."
I moved around the kitchen when an idea popped in my head. Water wasn’t going to do the trick for this. I grabbed four glasses and filled them with ice. While I was moving around the kitchen, I debated telling her about Easton, but didn’t think now was the right time. I then grabbed a bottle of white wine out of my wine fridge and poured it over the ice. Was ice and wine controversial? Maybe, but at least we would have a cold, refreshing drink. I poured water into the other two and then grabbed the glasses of wine. As I walked back to the living room with the two wine glasses, Iris was putting the remote back down on the coffee table.
"This isn't water, Bianca," she said as I set a glass down in front of her.
"I know it's not. I'll be grabbing that next, but it sounded like this story required something a little stronger." I turned on my heel and strolled back to the kitchen to retrieve the other two glasses, setting them next to the glasses of wine.
I sat down next to Iris and grabbed my glass of wine. After I took a sip, I looked at her and said, "Now tell me what's going on. You have me worried."
Iris drank a big gulp of her wine and almost choked. I moved to pat her on the back, but she recovered before I could do anything. She put the glass down on the coffee table once again.
“Are you ready to talk now?” I asked before I took another sip.
She nodded and ran both of her hands across her face. "Someone is stalking me."
Iris refused to look me in the eye for some reason. I wondered if she was embarrassed by admitting this to me. I could see her vulnerability and my heart broke for her.
I cleared my throat and said, "Stalking, as in, someone is following you? Tracking your movements?"
"Yeah. He is also the one who sent me the laptop.”
She glanced at me as my eyes widened. It was a miracle my mouth hadn’t dropped open yet.
I shook my head in disbelief. “I have so many questions, but I don’t understand why anyone would do that. You keep to yourself and do your best not to attract attention. Have you gone to campus security about it?”
“I wish I knew why. It started at the beginning of the year, and he’s broken into my room twice now, and yes, I’ve gone to campus security.”
I did a double take. I put my wine on the coffee table next to Iris’s. I reached over and grabbed Iris by her forearms and slightly shook her.“What’s his name? Screw campus security, we need to go to the police.”
“No. He hasn't mentioned his name. I'm afraid to go to the cops because he threatened to harm Gran."
