Page 16 of Chance Happenings
“Hello to you too,” he chuckles, but stops when I pin him with a glare.
“You think joking with me right now is a good idea?” I ask. Hoping Dane will tell me what I want to know.
“Well, first let me ask you about the list. Is this everything that you have, man?”
“What do you mean, is that everything? Why would I lie about something like that? Especially when one of those fuckers is worse than a stage five clinger?”
“I ask that because we’ve gone down the list. It's looking like whoever was here tonight, or last night rather, is not on the list.”
“And you know this how?”
“We’ve gone through the security footage of all the townhouses and Cacey has…”
“Don't bring up my sister right now, man I’m still processing.”
“Well, let me rephrase we’ve gone through the security footage and have eliminated all but two people on your list. Those two people have solid alibis at the moment.”
“I don’t know what your elimination process is, but you're missing something. I know this chick who was here tonight. She tried hard to obscure everything about her features, except her signature scent. I’ve definitely smelled it before. I just can’t for the life of me place it. And Alexa said that the female said, ‘I won’t let you have him’ or some shit like that. So it has to be someone on the list.”
“Ok, ok we’ll run back through the list. We have some prints that have led to nothing since they aren’t catalogued in any databases. And I have James on the way, he can shadow Alexa till we get this situation resolved.”
“That won’t be necessary because she’ll be with me for the foreseeable future and since we’re both working together, there should be very little times that I’m not able to look out for her.”
“That’s fine, but I’ll still set up the extra surveillance. James and his relief will stay in my old unit so they’ll be close by.”
“Alright make sure James and whoever else knows fucking up is not an option on this one man.”
Dane’s laughing and shaking his head. “If I didn’t know your history and obsession with Alex, I’d be insulted. You know my guys are thorough. We’ll get this handled.” I know he’s baiting me and not responding would be the best course of action, but I respond anyway.
“Obsession? You’ve been watching too many lifetime movies with my sister I see. What makes you think I’m obsessed with Alexa?”
“You really want to do this now bro? I used the word obsessed because you can’t deny ever since we were kids Alex has brought out the most extreme emotions in you for seemingly no reason at all. AND I pay more attention than you, I’ve always noticed… things?” he says. Trailing off and forming the last word like it’s a question. He’s probably deciding whether he should continue on with his train of thought. I’m curious, so I prompt him to continue.
“Things?” When I take the bait Dane’s face goes to a full-blown smile, excited that I’m letting him continue with the topic. Normally I would’ve already segued to something else but like I said I’m curious.
He sits up a little straighter in his chair. “Remember when we were kids, and you were always upset because you thought she was stealing your father’s attention away from you? That was all you, man. I was your friend, so I never spoke on it. But you never failed to pit yourself against her in any situation. You say to prove something to your dad, but I know it was really to prove something to Alex and yourself. Like prove you were worthy or something.”
“That’s bullshit, and it proves nothing.”
“And you watch her all the time, bro, like really watch her. Usually, you try to play it off as joking, but I know all that joking was more for the benefit of your competition. Any time anyone came sniffing around Alex, you either tried to intimidate them or publicly humiliate her, hoping they’d lose interest. Now I say obsessed because I know you’re not comfortable with the L word. But going beyond the kid shit. I remember our senior year, you were pretty decent to her, until that Josh guy started hanging around. Then when she up and left after graduation. You fell off, man. You tried to make it seem like it didn’t affect you, but you partied hard and put a lot of established college drinkers to shame as you dealt with the aftermath of her leaving.” I’m shaking my head, but he continues. “Remember Allyssa?”
“What about Allyssa?”
“Well, I’m not saying that you didn’t try with her, but any sane chick knows when they’re just a fill in. That’s why she loved the hell out of you but still dropped your ass.”
“She said-”
“She lied to you, bro. I know for a fact she told Megan she had the best sex of her life one night you were drunk off your ass, so drunk that you were slurring her name as you came to where she thought you said Alexa. She even convinced herself that you were saying her name until you took her home to meet your dad, who I know mentioned Alexa at least once during dinner. That’s just the way he rolls.” Shit just got heavy, so instead of confirming or denying anything I divert.
“Are you addingtherapistto your repertoire?”
“No, but I went to Cacey’s book club thing a few times, and every book was some mind-numbing romantic angst shit. You’d be surprised at all the little things females pick up and dissect about their relationships.”
“Book club? That was years ago. Are you telling me you went, and you actually read the books?” I look at him incredulously, trying to keep the smile off my face since he has brought up my sister again. I’d rather him sweat our impending conversation a little longer rather than let him know I’m over it already.
“Hell yeah, I read the books! You know your sister. I went to their meetups a couple of times because of that dude Kaleb. He would not stay out of her face. And you weren't doing anything about it, so I had to go handle business. You know as soon as I showed up, Cacey challenged me. She was sharp, tripping me up with all these questions. I took an L that first night, but I came back ready. You would not believe how much the women in that group were eating up thealpha male perspective. Even let me host and pick discussion topics for some of the books.” Now I’m dying laughing at how animated and serious Dane is right now.
“I did nothing about Kaleb because he was a good dude and he’s gay. He wasn’t into Cacey.”
