Chapter 2

"No, no, fuck this, no!" I stood up immediately. How on earth could I have messed this up? How did I go to Chad's thread instead of Tom's?

I looked through my phone to see what could have caused this mistake. I slapped my forehead when I realized that Chad had texted me to remind me to check my e-mail so I could edit the attachment he had sent.

This was the end. I knew I had to find my apron so I could get it dry cleaned for Pizza City. I was about to toss my phone when suddenly, something caught my eye. The message had been delivered, but Chad had not yet seen it. He must have put his phone away right after texting me, which meant there was still a chance to stop him from viewing the picture, which would cost me my job.

It was twenty minutes after midnight, but I dialed Tom. I had about a billion messages from him asking whether I had changed my mind. This wasn't the time to think about that.

As expected, he didn't answer the phone. I panicked and dropped the phone, deciding that pacing around the room would offer me a solution.

I had no way to get myself out of this until I concluded that I would go to Chad Bush's house and access his phone to get rid of the photo before he woke up.

*

I hopped on my old bike; who knew it would ever come in handy? I had on my pajamas, but I didn't care. After securing that my house was locked and my key was safe in my pajama pocket, I got ready to leave.

If anyone had expected anything, it was that I had no car. I barely made enough to keep up with paying my bills, and getting a car was not on the list of fun things to do.

Chad's house was quite a distance from mine, and if I pedaled fast enough, I would get there in an hour. That meant that by two in the morning, I would be at my boss's house, with barely any hope that he had not seen my stupidity.

The tell the world of my devastation would be an understatement of how I truly felt.

I knew there was only one way out of this. After all, what would be would be, but I would rather lose my job trying to save it than sit back and give up.

*

When I said house, I was wrong. Chad Bush was clearly royalty beyond expectations. He lived in a fucking mansion. I gaped at the immense home standing tall in its foundation and staring back at me.

I gulped and got off my bike, exhausted and out of breath. I had never been at Chad's. I only knew where he lived because I had a direction map on my phone installed for emergencies. If this wasn't an emergency, I honestly could not tell what was.

It was at that point that I knew I was in hot soup. I had not thought things through. Chad was an influential man, and he, more than any soul I had met, prized security over many items. Top security would flood the entire place at the first sign of any trouble.

Although, from my view, the mansion was dimly lit with night lights, and it seemed empty. That made me think of something else. Chad cherished his privacy. And if he applied that sense to his personal life, then he had no security.

That was just my fucking way to console myself. I wondered how I was going to manage to get through the house without being noticed. I wasn't entirely unprepared; I had my business identification card with me, and there was nothing a little white lie wouldn't fix.

Without wasting any more time to think, I pulled my bike to a corner and rested it against a wall.

I stared at the massive gate. I was neither tall nor short, and I didn't have a great sense for heights, but this was one tall gate. I placed my hands akimbo and wondered how I would get over the giant obstacle and into the building.

"Eureka!" I whisper yelled to myself. The gate was fancy enough, but it was made of horizontal metal bars connected to vertical bars. I placed my feet on the first bars and my hands on the closest bars I could read. I began the climb.

I don't know how long it took, but I got to the top eventually. I turned around and placed my feet on the other side of the gate. My heart was trembling along with my limbs. "Don't look down, Nikki, don't look down." I was pleased with myself, but it was almost as if my subconscious had responded, 'yeah, I'm definitely going to look down.'

With that, my eyes followed the gate to the ground, and I shrieked. On their own accord, my hands let go of the gate, and I was crashing to the ground. It was a fall I doubted I would survive, but I hit the ground with my butt. I don't know the human body, but whatever bones were in that region had been flattened further, worsening my flat ass situation.

I stood up, ignoring the pain in my glutes, letting my mission override any hurt.

Barking dogs from a distance began to announce the sound of the stranger, me. Following their barking alert were the flashlights that filled the property. I was wrong about the 'no security' aspect.

Quickly, I dashed out of what I assumed was eyesight and hid behind the trees that lined what seemed to be a road that led to the main house. I gulped and rendered a silent prayer.

I raced behind the trees that served a decorative purpose and headed for the side of the house.

A few men walked towards the gate, but I managed to escape their scrutiny, thank God.

*

After thirty minutes of tiptoeing around the property, I got inside the main house. I can only attribute this to luck, but the first door I tried was unlocked. The only reasonable explanation was that Chad kept it open in case security had to get him out in emergency situations. I had to assume no one else was welcome, which proved my theory right about his appreciation for privacy and security.

But that was also crazy because I had literally just gotten in here without being armed.

I shook my head and ran up the stairs as silently as I could. There were two floors after the first floor, and from the staircase, I could see that the last floor had numerous doors. What caught me about how large the second floor was, was the fact that it possessed only one door.

I hurried and made my way to the door. I turned the doorknob, and not surprisingly, it budged and opened without a creak, the perks of expensive doors.

I gasped when I saw the size of the room. It was almost three times the size of my apartment, possibly more. Fear gripped me at the consequences I might bear if I was caught in the act.

I hastily looked around. As dark as the room seemed, two tiny red lights magically illuminated the room. I spotted Chad lying in bed shirtless with a huge blanket hugging his waist and lower limbs.

An unidentifiable woman was lying next to him, and she was sprawled naked. Eww.

I was distracted when I noticed Chad's phone sitting by the bedside drawer. I smiled and crept up to it. Without pause, I grabbed it and made the longest run for my life. Fate was honestly working with me on this mission because the gate was left open. Maybe security was extending their search for the noise I caused earlier.

I jumped on my bike and pedaled away. I laughed sinisterly and yelled as loud as I could, "so long, suckers!" Of course, that was after I had ridden twenty minutes away.

*

I unlocked my apartment and walked straight into my room, feeling worn out. I barely had a few hours until it was time to leave for work. I hopped on my bed and pulled out Chad's phone. I furrowed my eyebrows; it was not the black one he always had. He only used one phone, at least, that I was familiar with.

I gulped, knowing there was trouble. I unlocked it, and alas, the image in front of me was a woman I knew reasonably well.

I had taken Rebecca Black's phone.