Page 110 of Hidden Fears
“Alright, my friend.” I spread my arms on the table in my office, gripping the edge in anticipation. “What can you tell me today?”
“Ken big. Huge! Big! Good!” the parrot says, constantly nodding his head. “Ken does good.”
I lean back in my chair with a satisfied smile on my face. “That’s true. Ken can do some good.”
“Ken’s dick. KEN’S DICK!” he yells at the top of his lungs, causing a few loud snickers. Seems like my employees like eavesdropping.
“I can attest to that.” That sounded awfully like Jennica’s voice.
“I see you have too much free time on your hands. Maybe I should fire Brad,” I yell so they can hear me.
“Why me? I’ve been quieter than a mouse. Fire Lily,” Brad says, throwing our new receptionist under the bus. “She likes to talk a lot.”
That’s true. Since Brad got here, he seems like a changed man. Maybe he needed someone with good morals around him so he could follow their lead. Regardless, he was a good hire. Reliable. After a few days of being late, I swear he’s become the employee of the year.
And the quiet girl turned out to be very mouthy. I like it. She didn’t let Brad down gently when he threw a suggestive remark on their first day and left him speechless before I could even intervene. Jennica’s always watching her like a proud mama, pressing her hand to her chest. I’m happy with our new people—they definitely make our life easier.
Jennica finally got laid by her husband as she reported the morning after. And to be honest, I couldn’t even blame her for announcing it. I’ve got plenty of that waiting for me at home, and if I could, I’d shout about it from the rooftops too.
At the thought of Josie in my home and bed, something warm spreads inside my chest. I like driving to the Ghost House to pick her up. She’s usually wearing her jean overalls with a bunch of tape, nails, and even a hammer or two sticking out from the multiple pockets, her curls tied to the top of her head with a red ribbon, and it’s sexy as fuck.
I like how her eyes shine when she sees me. I like how she jumps into my arms every single evening.
She’s funny if she thinks she’s going back to New York. At least, not alone. I’ve browsed a few possibilities for myself and called a few friends. The people of Little Hope need me, but if she thinks she absolutely cannot be happy here, I’ll move to the big city with her.
“Ken is dick!” the parrot reminds me in case I’ve forgotten in the past ten seconds that my team has been snickering at me.
“When did she say it?”
“Ken’s dick!” he repeats, well, like a parrot.
“You,” I point my index finger at him, “need to tell me when she said that.”
“Giant dick! Ken’s giant dick!”
I groan in frustration and wave him away. “Begone, hateful creature.”
“Dick!” he yells one last time before he flies away.
Jennica’s smug face shows up in my line of vision. “When will you tell her that the damn parrot is spying on her?”
“He’s not spying,” I reply, rearing back. “Why would you say that? He just likes to talk.”
“To you.” She laughs, shaking her head. “He likes to talk to you.”
“Well, it’s not my fault he refuses to speak to her.” I can’t believe I’m advocating for a bird.
“You’re in so deep, Boss, it’s hilarious.” She leaves my office, laughing like an evil witch.
She’s right, though, I am in deep. In fact, so deep that I don’t think I can climb out of it. Mom invited us all to a barbeque in their backyard that she’s throwing for Alex’s baby. She’s been trying to meet Josie for such a long time, and I had to keep putting it off. My mother can be very intense when it comes to her children getting married, and I don’t want to scare Josie off when she thinks she’s leaving Little Hope without me. After the horror stories she told me about her hometown that sounds more like a cult than a regular place, I’m sure she has an aversion to the idea of marriage.
I had one too. Or I thought I did. Now I’m not opposed to the idea at all, but I’m afraid she is. Especially with the way I tricked her into moving in with me. I just couldn’t wait anymore, and a bunch of horny, lonely guys moving their shit next to her trailer seemed like a good moment to push my agenda. I might have pushed a bit too far because she wasn’t talking to me for two days, cooped up in her room.
It’s then I discovered that she talks to the parrot. He comes to find me when she’s not around and snitches on her. At first, it was funny, but then it became one of the highlights of my day until I went to pick up Josie. And then it just became a habit. He usually tells me good things that stroke my ego, but today the information was, well, not that.
While I wallow in my sorrows, I shoot Josie a few messages, but they go unread. By the time two o’clock rolls around, she still hasn’t replied, and I begin getting nervous.
At two fifteen, the parrot comes back, knocking his beak against the window. The moment I open it, it flies in, yelling from the top of his lungs, “MARK GOOD. SO GOOD MARK. HARD MARK!”
