Bailey felt less confident about her survival each day. Her work routine stayed the same, but no menial tasks succeeded in occupying her attention for more than a few minutes. She was back to her paranoid ways - jumping at every little sound, constantly looking over her shoulder, and harboring stress like a magnetic ball for negativity. Naomi also had to remind her to eat, because she often forgot about taking her meals now. She sighed. This wasn't living.
It has only been the second day since Joe demanded a clockwork texting schedule, and it was already driving her crazy. He chose different hours to text her but kept the minutes the same. He told her to respond with a list of keywords, otherwise, he would assume she was in immediate danger.
Bailey felt the familiar buzz in her pocket, she fished it out, staring blankly at the screen. She saw that it was another routine text. However, it was way too early. She realized that he had sent a message merely ten minutes ago. Wasn't this getting a bit excessive? She texted him the planned response and asked why he needed another confirmation, but he didn't answer her. She looked up, as her colleague placed a vase full of blue-bell flowers on her desk. "Seems like you have a secret admirer." Bailey stood up and reached for the note, wedged between the stems. Her hands shook as she read the writing. "The fun starts now! XOXO"
Bailey lifted the vase and tossed it in the bin. She grabbed her phone and called Joe's number. She had not been wrong about seeing him earlier at the coffee shop, but she had stupidly kept it to herself. The note in the flowers was proof enough that he was a free man.
Joe's line was busy, which was incredibly worrisome because he always made sure to answer her call. Bailey ran towards the elevator and jabbed the button a couple of times until the lift opened. She made her way down to ground floor, and ran up to Nelly the receptionist. She was busy sorting through paperwork that was long overdue. "Nelly, did someone drop of purple flowers here?" Nelly looked up and nodded. "Yes, it was for you, isn't that right? And they say I don't remember our employees," she muttered. "The man who dropped them off, what did he look like?" "Like a delivery man. A cranky young man dressed in blue. He reeked of smoke. Now go away, I've got work to do," Nelly shooed her.
Bailey felt like she needed to turn around and clear the area. Knowing Clay, he would want to be here to see her reaction. She scanned the street outside. It was overcast, she could see the posters at the bus stop, the normal amount of traffic and a few pedestrians crossing both ways of the street. She almost lowered her guard when her eyes caught sight of a man in blue. He was facing their building with his hands in his pockets and a baseball cap covering his eyes. He smiled, and disappeared as a bus passed.
Cady's phone buzzed in her hand and she saw Joe's caller ID. Before she could answer, a car screeched to a halt in front of her building, and Joe sprang out with his phone against his ear, heading towards the entrance. She didn't need to be told that something had gone seriously wrong, it was evident.
She could imagine Clay's patronizing laugh, right about now. He had come just to see her face when she realized he was right about getting free. He was making a show of getting the point across -that he was always right, and that he would always be right. She was part of a madman's game, and her opponent could predict the future.