Redeem Me by Eliza Freed Read Free Book Online Page B

Bruce raises his hand to halt my nonsense. “I still can’t believe I approved you working from Oklahoma. I’m glad you’re going to be closer. We’ve submitted a proposal to Sure Auto Insurance and if they accept, we’re going to be spending a lot of time in Saratoga Springs together.”
    “New York?” I ask.
    “That’s the one,” Bruce answers with an excited grin. “We’ll work it out as we go.” His smile makes me uncomfortable. I glance back weakly.
    *  *  *
    The clock hits 5:30 and I’m running toward reception. Renee’s ready to escape as well. She’s providing directions to a man leaving our office and has traded her explicit language for her sweetest receptionist tongue. “That’s right. You’ll just need to go down three blocks and you’ll see it on your right.”
    We walk to the apartment, catching up on her life the entire way, her X-rated vocabulary fully restored and illustrating every story.
    “Thanks for giving me the awful-ass scoop. It made today fly by. I didn’t realize you knew so many fucking people. They were stopping by all day,” she says happily. “Oh, and Brody in accounting’s going to ask you out. He asked me how long he should wait. I think he’s been spanking off to your Facebook page for months.”
    My face twists in disgust. “Tell him at least a year or two.”
    “You know Bruce is going to try and fuck you.”
    I freeze in horror. “What?”
    “Don’t worry. He tries to fuck everyone eventually. You’d be insulted if he didn’t.”
    “No. I would not be insulted.” I keep walking, but I’m still completely disturbed. Even more so at the thought that Jason was right all along about Bruce wanting to do more than statistics with me.
    *  *  *
    By the time we get home, Julia and Jenn are already drinking a beer and rolling a joint. I drop my bags by the door and take off my shoes. Renee barrels in behind me and introduces herself to Jenn.
    The apartment looks different. The refrigerator is blank except for a Chinese takeout magnet. The bulletin board hangs like new on the wall. I carry my shoes to my room. The shelves and the top of the dresser are empty and unfamiliar, and the only thing left is a picture of Julia, Noble, and me at the shore last summer. We’re huddled together in a bar with enormous smiles covering our sun-kissed faces. I barely recognize myself.
    “Are you sure you’re okay?” Julia asks with concern gripping her face.
    “I’m not sure I’m even alive,” I blankly admit. I continue to survey my empty room.
    “I hope you don’t mind. I redecorated a little,” Julia says.
    I stare at the sterilized frame around my mirror. It used to hold a picture of Jason riding a bull on the left and a picture of us from my cousin’s wedding on the right. All of it gone, with one swipe of Julia’s little hand. I remember her complete intolerance for infidelity. It was the cause of her parents’ ugly divorce, and even eight years later she still cannot forgive the indiscretion.
    “No,” I say, still eyeing the room. “It was thoughtful of you.”
    “I didn’t throw anything away. I wanted to but didn’t think it was my place. I boxed it all up and put it on the top shelf of the linen closet.”
    I glance numbly at Julia and take a long drag of the joint.

~ 7 ~
My Return to Hell
    J enn and I invite Clint over for dinner on Saturday night. I figure he already knows I’m home and I want to make sure he keeps it quiet. I also want him to do some work on my house. It’s only a small part of me that’s in desperate need of repairs. It is the only part I can subcontract out, though, so remodeling it is. We make homemade pizzas and a big salad. Clint shows up all smiles. He’s either really high or thinks he’s been invited to a threesome. Hopefully he won’t be too disappointed. I give Clint a tour of the house and tell him some of the things I’d like to do, including turning Sean’s old bedroom into a library, redoing the