Unwanted Attention Read online

  Kellan thought they had solved the case, until he remembered one problem. She’s left on her trip already, right?

  Yeah, a couple days ago. I thought about that too.

  One of the things Chelsie’s therapist suggested to help her unwind was to take in new experiences with familiar people. As such, she was on a road trip with one of her best friends for nearly three weeks, first visiting the friend’s family in Massachusetts then driving down to see Chelsie’s aunt in South Carolina with plenty of stops along the way before they drove back. According to Matt, she had been gushing about it on social media for weeks, especially showing off event tickets and reservation confirmations as well as cute outfits she planned to wear during each leg of the journey. Unless she was elaborately faking the whole trip just to pull this one prank, it wasn’t her.

  We should take a vacation together sometime.

  Love to, honey bunch, but you know neither of us can afford to be away from work that long. Someday though, I promise.

  One-night staycation at my place? ;)

  Haha, of course! See you soon.

  Kellan sent Matt a quick heart emoji and left their conversation there. He had been up against the wall for nearly ten minutes. Fortunately, it wasn’t raining the way it was the night before, but the smell of rain was in the air. There weren’t any thunderstorms predicted for the rest of the week, though. With a sigh, Kellan went back to running his errands.

  * * * *

  Later that evening, Kellan and Matt were cuddling in bed after a quick round of sex. It had all started with Matt asking, “Why would I think you were cheating on me when I know exactly how to turn you on and get you off with a snap of my fingers?” Kellan had cheekily snorted in disbelief and asked him to prove it. Matt proceeded to nibble Kellan’s ear while running his hand through Kellan’s hair, fingertips finding the familiar places that sent tingles down Kellan’s spine. Right as Kellan started to get hard, Matt snapped his fingers with his free hand. Then, when Matt was balls deep in him stroking him off, Kellan moaned and whimpered that he was about to cum. Matt snapped his fingers again, but it took a few more seconds for Kellan to actually release.

  “Close enough,” Kellan murmured as they snuggled, both exhausted.

  “Still,” Matt panted, “I told you so.”

  “Mhm.” Kellan nuzzled his head into the curve of Matt’s neck. “Cheating on you would be like…like eating shitty convenience store snack cakes when I’ve got a never-ending multi-layer cake at home.”

  Matt chuckled. “Yeah, I haven’t had one of those in ages. They’d probably taste like processed sugar and sawdust to me by now. Spent too much time enjoying the good stuff to ever go back.”

  Kellan had been thinking about something all afternoon, but hadn’t found a good time to bring it up. Now seemed like an opportune moment. “Speaking of things you’d never go back to…Chelsie.”

  “What about her?”

  “Do you think she had one of her friends make that note?”

  Matt sighed and brushed his hair behind his ear. “I considered that. She’s been doing so much better these days, though. You remember how salty she was when she found out we were dating, but she hasn’t made any snarky remarks about either of our sexualities in a long time. Like, she made a joke a couple months ago about how ‘some guys are so bad at giving women orgasms that they switch over to men so they can finally know what they’re doing,’ but then I said by those standards she should find herself a girlfriend if she’s that upset with her sex life—”

  “Nice,” Kellan interjected.

  “Thank you. But yeah, nothing about how I ‘used her to cover up my sexuality’ or how you ‘broke us up on purpose because you were jealous of our relationship’ or anything like that. Therapy is really helping her. And I’ve been in touch with her therapist. She says Chelsie hasn’t missed a meeting for almost a year and she was really proud of her. I can’t see Chelsie being behind this.” Matt shook his head. “Maybe it was just a random prank and the person saw my name on another piece of mail and decided to write it on the envelope instead of leaving it blank.”

  “Could be. Let’s not worry about it anymore. Whoever it was wanted to get a rise out of you and it didn’t work. We won’t give them the satisfaction of letting it go to our heads.”

  Matt kissed Kellan on the top of his head. “You’re right. We trust each other and no one is ever going to change that.”

  “Love you, sugar pie.”

  Matt laughed. “Love you too, honey bunch.”

  Chapter 3

  There were no more mysterious notes, but that did not mean things got better for Kellan. A couple days later he was heading out the door for work when he got a phone call. He was in a bit of a hurry, but it was his optometrist. Confused and concerned that it was about his upcoming appointment, he took the call.

  “Hello, Mr. Millar?”

  “Speaking.”

  “Hi, this is Talia from Dr. Jaiden’s office. I’m calling to confirm your cancellation for your appointment at nine A.M. on Friday.”

  It took Kellan a moment to process. “What? I never cancelled that appointment!”

  The receptionist on the other end sighed. “Okay, that was what I thought. Sorry about this. We got a call about an hour ago from a someone claiming to be your relative. They said there had been a family emergency and you wouldn’t be able to make it to your appointment. We asked them a few questions and they were very vague and, well…” The receptionist lowered her voice. “Frankly they kind of threw a fit when we asked for proof. It sent up a lot of red flags so we figured we would try to get in touch with you directly.”

  Kellan groaned. “Thank you. No, there is no family emergency and yes, I will be there at nine A.M. sharp on Friday. If anyone else tries to cancel that appointment, tell your supervisor I gave you permission to hang up on them, okay?”

  The receptionist laughed. “Okay. Sorry again about all this.”

  “No, you’re fine. Have a good day.”

  “Same to you, Mr. Millar. Bye!”

  Kellan tucked his phone back into his pocket and rubbed his temples with his palms. His first instinct was that Chelsie was, in fact, behind this. However, the only way she could have known about his appointment was if she had gotten hold of the planner that was stolen from his car. According to Matt, Chelsie and her friend had left Massachusetts the day before and were on their way to an Airbnb in New York City, confirmed by a short video she posted on Instagram of the two of them driving over the Hudson River around sunset. That didn’t mean she couldn’t be coordinating some shenanigans from a distance. Then Kellan realized he was being as paranoid as she used to be sometimes, and that it was just as likely that some druggie had broken into his car and had tried to cancel his appointment when they got bored.

  He was going to be late for work. These accusations could wait until later. Kellan rushed out the door, wondering what could possibly go wrong next.

  * * * *

  Kellan created a group chat to tell his friends about what had happened, though he didn’t include Matt.

  Looks like people are starting their Halloween pranks early. Be on the lookout for suspicious people and anyone who sounds like they want to fuck with your life.

  One of his friends replied, lol you mean like we do every day?

  The group agreed it sounded like the work of bored drug addicts. This was because Kellan made no mention of Chelsie or the note Matt had received. That theory he shared with Matt alone.

  There’s too many coincidences in too short of a time. I know she’s been updating her social media a lot, but what if that’s to give herself an alibi?

  Kellan had to wait until his next break to check Matt’s reply. That meant he had a couple hours to think. Between the minor distractions of receiving orders and focusing on measurements, he turned over the means and motives of the case. He tried to think like the detectives on all those prime time crime shows he used to watch when they were popular. There were
a few things he knew for sure and some other things that were currently speculation.

  First, someone had broken into his car. If they had been after his stereo they would have broken one of the front windows, but instead they went for the window next to where he had put his bag. He could not say for certain why the thief—or thieves—wanted his bag. Either they thought it was an easier target, or it was their target all along.

  Second, there was the note. The note was in an envelope with Matt’s name on it. The note was crafted by someone who didn’t want to use their own handwriting, possibly because it was recognizable. There was nothing in Kellan’s planner that would insinuate he was having an affair, but he did have the condoms in his bag. Through a series of Cirque du Soleil-esque mental gymnastics, someone could assume that meant Kellan was sleeping around. It was a stretch, but it was just the sort of thing a paranoid person would think, especially if it meant it could start some drama.

  Then today someone had called his optometrist to cancel his appointment. Kellan had circled that appointment in his planner because he was going to renew his contact lens prescription and he was down to his last spare pack, so it was important. If someone wanted to derail his life, cancelling that appointment was a good way to do it, especially since Kellan had had to schedule it over a month in advance.

  The one thing that didn’t sit right with this whole conspiracy theory of his was that he had met a few of Chelsie’s friends, and they weren’t crazy like she was, at least not the ones she had stayed in contact with after she understood how they were hindering her progress. Furthermore, Chelsie wasn’t as crazy as she had been either. She was still kind of a bitch, yes, but not a psycho bitch. Her therapist was highly reputable as well, and if she said Chelsie was making progress, Kellan was inclined to believe her.

  Matt was of the same mindset. Even at her craziest, she wouldn’t destroy someone else’s property unless they had ignored all her other warnings to not mess with her. She’s like a skunk. You think she’d spray you any chance she got, but she’s gotta be really riled up to go that far. I really think it’s all a coincidence. Or ghosts.

  Ghosts?

  I don’t know. Weren’t jack-o-lanterns originally supposed to scare away mischievous spirits that came out this time of year? The kind that either tried to drive you crazy or kill you?

  Okay well now I’m scared that I’m haunted. Thanks for that. :P

  I’ll call a priest and bring some pumpkins to carve on Monday, okay?

  Ooo, holy threesome? ;)

  Hahahaha, I’m sure there’s some kind of sacrilegious porno out there about a trinity threesome, but if your ghost is involved it’d be more of a foursome. ;P

  Ugh, sounds like too much work. We’ll hook the ghost up with the priest, carve some pumpkins, then have regular blasphemous non-reproductive sex.

  I like this plan. This plan is a good plan. You have good plans.

  I also have work to get back to, but I love you.

  Love you too. Don’t get possessed. <3

  Now Kellan had ideas for a couple’s costume he and Matt could wear on Halloween, but he did have to get back into the kitchen. He hadn’t written off his theory about Chelsie entirely. He would have to keep an eye out for any other mischief, supernatural or otherwise. He wasn’t superstitious, normally. His grandmother on his mother’s side was Irish and believed in spirits and all that, which meant Halloween growing up was as much about respecting the dead as it was about dressing up to get candy. Kellan’s apartment building was acting as an entire neighborhood, as it had since he moved in a few years ago. It had external entraces for each apartment and walkways connecting the apartments on the second and third floors. Parents would take their kids along those walkways and around the ground floor for candy rather than leading them out into the streets. He and Matt were spending their next Monday together decorating. Kellan had planned to carve pumpkins the Monday after, so they wouldn’t be sitting out for two weeks before the actual holiday, but if it kept the ghosts away he was willing to try anything.

  One of Kellan’s friends in the group chat had another, more terrifying possibility. Maybe you’ve got a stalker? I read this story online about a guy who basically made this girl’s life shit so he could swoop in at the right time as a ‘sympathetic stranger’ so she’d date him. Straight people can be fucking weird, man.

  Kellan originally brushed that idea off, but it kept coming back to him. A stalker would have definitely broken into his car for the bag if they were trying to learn more about him or take “souvenirs” for some kind of fucked up shrine. He tried to think of what else a stalker—or prankster, as he hoped it was—might be able to do with the contents of his bag. There were a few odd notes and business cards crumpled at the bottom, but nothing that could be used against him. If whoever it was had sent Matt the note because of the condoms, that was the worst they could’ve been used for as far as he knew. The more disturbing implication, if the break-in and the note were connected, was that they knew both where Matt lived and that he was dating Kellan. A prankster having that kind of information was more annoying than anything else, but if it was a stalker…

  Kellan just hoped whoever it was had had their fun and would leave him alone.

  Chapter 4

  For the next week, Kellan was hyper alert. He counted down the days until Chelsie was supposed to come home from her vacation so he could ask her some questions. Of course, there was no way to guarantee that she would tell him the truth, but if she were lying about anything, perhaps he could notice some small tic and exploit it. Matt insisted it couldn’t be her, but then again, Chelsie had manipulated him into staying in a relationship for over two years after Matt first told Kellan he was thinking of breaking up with her. As intuitive as Matt was with Kellan, it was like his gut feeling had a blind spot where she was concerned.

  The only thing that happened during that week was a bunch of drunk guys stomped on the pumpkins Kellan and Matt had carved. Kellan came home and nearly had a panic attack when he saw the pulpy remains scattered around his doorway. He was certain that the prankster had found out where he lived and was prepared to take these tricks too far. It was difficult to fall asleep that night. However, the next morning he ran into his neighbor who lived directly above him, Mrs. Tinley, and she said that she had heard their other neighbor who also lived on the ground floor come home plastered with some friend. When she leaned over the walkway railing to tell them off for being loud enough to wake her daughter, she had seen them kicking one of the pumpkins around and the other one was already smashed. She apologized for not scaring them off earlier, but Kellan told her it was okay.

  “At least they didn’t chuck them through my window,” he joked.

  “Oh, I don’t think they would have done something like that,” Mrs. Tinley said. “But I hope they behave themselves on Halloween night, or better yet, I hope they find somewhere else to crash after they party. You’re going to be here though, right?”

  “Yep, and Matt’s coming over, too.”

  Mrs. Tinley smiled. “That’s nice. He’s a good respectable guy. I look forward to stopping by with Holly. She hasn’t forgotten that you had allergy-free candy for anyone who asked and she’s looking forward to seeing you keep up the good work.”

  “And as always, I’m looking forward to when she grows up to be president. She already has my vote!”

  “Well, give her twenty-five years or so to be old enough, then I’m sure she’ll appreciate it. Maybe she can write a law against desecrating your neighbors’ decorations!” Mrs. Tinley chuckled. “In the meantime, I’ll be on watch.”

  “Thank you, Mrs. Tinley,” Kellan said. “Have a good day.”

  “Same to you.”

  That made Kellan feel a little better. If anyone did try to mess with him at his own house, there were plenty of witnesses and people Kellan could go to for help. He also imagined a Home Alone type situation where he set up traps that would stop people from breaking in or at least leav
e some kind of mark to prove they were the culprit. It turned into a fun discussion in the kitchen that day about what sort of traps everyone could come up with.

  “What if you had a thing like where they’d open the door and it would cut a string and the string would release a catapult that flings cayenne pepper in their face?” Kellan said.

  “But you don’t know how tall the person is,” remarked Byron, the sous chef. “It could go right over their head. I’d put something slippery on the floor, but mix it with some kind of dye so if they fell in it it’d get all over their clothes.”

  Gretchen, their rotisseur, clicked her tongue. “They might have really good balance, and then when you clean it all up you’d just have a greasy stained floor. I’d make it look like someone committed suicide and have audio playing with really quiet demonic voices.”

  “Geez, Gretch. We’re talking about setting up booby traps, not a haunted house.”

  “Well, Halloween is right around the corner, and if you were a thief and walked in on that, would you stick around? I wouldn’t.”

  From there everyone talked about their plans for Halloween. Omar was a generous boss when it came to holidays. He very much believed that there were certain days, like Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and even Halloween, where people needed to be at home with friends and family instead of out at restaurants. In Halloween’s case, they needed to be either with their kids to go trick-or-treating or at home ready to hand out candy. Half the people who worked at Besha had children, and only two of the ones who didn’t were planning to spend the night alone. Everyone else was going to parties or, like Kellan, would be eagerly awaiting the chance to make the neighborhood kids happy. He and some of the other staff members even had a bet going for which costumes were going to be most popular this year. Kellan had his money on anything Star Wars related, but he knew it would be tough to beat Marvel superheroes or Steven Universe characters.