Ten

KATHARINE

I couldn’t sleep. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t fall asleep. I was exhausted, both mentally and physically, yet I couldn’t relax. The strange

events of the past few days played on a constant loop in my mind. Richard’s unexpected offer, my even more unexpected response, and his reaction to where I’d been living. He’d been beyond disgusted and furious, with his usual demanding demeanor in full force. Before I could blink, my few possessions were in the trunk of his large, luxury car and I was back in his condo—on a permanent basis, or until he was done with his inane plan. The inane plan I was now entrenched in as deeply as my boss.

The condo was silent. There was literally no noise. I was used to the sounds that surrounded me at night: traffic, other tenants moving around, yelling, and the constant sound of sirens and violence outside my window. They were the noises that kept me awake, sometimes fearful, yet now they were absent, I couldn’t sleep. I knew I was safe.