Watch Me ✔️

Chapter 9

Waking up next to Kiara for the first time was perfect. She made a cute stretching noise as she sat up. She reached over to her phone and checked the time for us.

"It's still early, but I have to shower and stuff before class today, plus Wednesday is my turn to mop the kitchen," she said and laid back down next to me.

"Alright, we'll get up in a minute." I said as I turned into her and wrapped my arm over her waist. She snuggled back down and called for Biscuit who jumped up to say good morning.

We got ready together although she didn't have anything new to change into and joked about doing a walk of shame. I turned my phone back on and saw no new messages or phone calls to my relief.

We walked hand in hand to my car and made plans to see each other the next night and go out drinking together. I dropped her off at her house before heading out to work. I could feel a big smile on my face the entire drive. I was so lost in thought it wasn't until halfway through the drive I didn't even have any music playing.

"You're here early," Bridget said when I entered the back room. She was lounging on a bean bag on her phone.

"Yeah I guess I am," I laughed looking at the clock on the wall. It was 8:35am and we had to set up and be open by 9am. I sat myself down at the table and thought about my next video idea. I'd be thinking about doing a downtown LA video where I give my viewers a tour of the city I loved so much.

My phone vibrated on the table and I noticed a new text.

Unknown: I see you just got to work, how are you?

I froze and looked up startled. Bridget was typing on her phone and we had another coworker putting their lunch in the refrigerator. I considered texting Kiara and letting her know, but I didn't want to stress her out.

Bridget looked up at me and tilted her head in a question. "What's wrong?" She asked.

"Nothing, just a weird text." I answered quickly. I picked up my phone thinking of a response.

Leilani: I'm fine, how did you know I was at work?

Unknown: I have eyes everywhere.

I looked up and saw Bridget was still watching me. I got up and paced the room for a moment and pretended to ruffle through the cabinet for a snack. I went and sat down again and looked at my phone.

Leilani: Please leave me alone.

Unknown: Why? You and I are meant to be.

Leilani: I'm not interested. I'm seeing someone.

Unknown: Not for long.

I put my phone in my back pocket and tried to put the texts out of my mind. I didn't know who it was, they hadn't made any direct threats, and I didn't know how serious they actually were. It could easily just be some big fan from the youtube channel just messing with me because they thought it was funny.

"Want to go grab coffee from the cart before we open?" I asked Bridget. She nodded and followed me out. She was unusually quiet, but I wasn't up for much conversation anyways. We got our coffee and opened the store.

I only worked half days on Wednesdays, so around 11:30am I was getting ancy. I looked up after checking out a customer and saw Bridget typing furiously on her phone again.

"You okay?" I whispered to her as another customer came up to check out.

She looked up surprised at me and nodded slowly. She froze suddenly when Adrien waltzed in for his shift. She excused herself and headed into the back with him.

I continued to work the register until Stacy came to take over. I headed to the back to take off my apron and grab my bag when I noticed Bridget and Adrian talking furiously in the corner. They looked up at me and Bridget shut her mouth, grabbed her bag, and stormed out.

"Umm, is everything okay?" I asked Adrien. He looked like he was going to hurl.

"I think it's best if you head home and take a few days off." He told me.

"What? Why?" I asked moving over to him. He stepped away from me and bumped into the wall with the bulletin board making it shake.

"Bridget threatened to let corporate know you and I had a relationship if I didn't give her a raise that matched yours." He answered.

"What? That's ridiculous, I earned my raise because I've worked here longer and got that extra training." I said, suddenly furious.

"I know and I told her that, but she wouldn't listen." He stated.

"Well, she can't just blackmail you like this." I said.

"She can tell and I'd be in trouble for not revealing our relationship." He said.

"We didn't have a real relationship and whatever we did have has been over for awhile." I said louder and started to pace.

"I know, but the company may not see it that way, and please keep your voice down." He said.

"I guess I'll just head out, let me know if I need to do anything. I don't work tomorrow anyways so you won't need to worry about me." I grabbed my purse and headed out.

When I got to the parking garage and saw my car, there was a note placed under the windshield wipers. I picked it up and it read: I'll see you tonight babe.