In the middle of my side was a vanity connection to the wall. Whoever designed the closet was looking out for all females and I appreciated it.
I grabbed a long-sleeved overlapping V-neck waist-knotted dress and slipped it on after shedding out of my plain white t-shirt. I braided two thick strands of my hair on each side of my head and pinned it back with a shiny hair pin.
I wore my favourite earrings—a thin golden dangle that hung elegantly on my ears. They were the last pieces of jewellery I made which made it special.
Swooping a darker eyeshadow over my eye and spending much time on covering up some blemishes, I was done.
I was proud of my look today. Elegant but simple and I was comfortable. A part of me jumped at finally letting go of overthinking when I was with Christian. There was this… truce between my anxiety and my happiness where he was involved. They liked to keep a boundary and silence their fight with each other.
Anxiety wasn’t my best friend, but it looked out for me—somehow it trusted Christian to swivel back in its spikey chair and leave me alone in his presence.
Finishing up, I turned around to pick Christian’s outfit. He’d be tired when he got back, and I’d rather set everything out for him.
He was unbelievably monotone. Greys and whites and blacks—not a hint of colour other than the grey-ish blue shirt sticking out near the end of the closet. I’d never seen him pick out clothes from that end.
My feet soundlessly moved over to the end, a heavy pound to each step. I shifted around with the clothes. They smelled just like him.
Rubbing my nose in one of his shirts, I stepped back because what the actual hell was I doing.
Just as I was about to take off the blue shirt from the hanger—I found a mountain of clothes. For someone who kept his house neat, this had to be his dirtiest secret.
What was I going to do with Christian?
That’s when I decided I’d lessen his chores and fold them for him. Had I ever taken the time to fold my own clothes? No, but it was Christian, and I loved him, and it wasdifferent. I’d planned to topple the mountainous clothes over to the floor to make it easier for me when they wretchedly fell to the ground in a lumpy pile.
An orange board peeked out from behind the swooshing clothes that remained on hangers.
Taking a deep breath, I started taking down each shirt to get a better view.
I’d have to have a talk with Christian about putting objects where they belonged. It was definitely a work board, but it didn’t belong in his closet. He wasn’t the perfect man I thought him to be?—
Hangers fell to the ground with a collectiveclatter—fabric rustled together but I was oblivious to sound—to the entirety around me. An incessant buzzing in my ear silenced the world.
Papers and papers pinned to the board, strung along with a connecting red threat. Pictures of people I knew.
Eda, Christian’s dad, Starlight’s board members…
Me.
Panicked eyes shot through each note pasted on the board while I covered my jaw-slackened mouth.
In big bold letters, written in the handwriting I knew too well wastherevenge plan.
Everything went still all at once.
What… What is this?
Multiple steps.
Marrying Adelaide.
Voice recordings.
Using her for the final stretch.
File with evidence.
A folder slung back against the board.
