dancing over the keys as a sadness filled the room. I finished the piece I had been mindlessly playing and returned to my bedroom, standing over Jurnee, watching her sleep. So far, I had successfully kept these fears deep down inside me. But they were beginning to push to the surface.
She’s not your ex.
22
Jurnee
“AHHHHHHH!”
An older woman entered holding folded sheets and suddenly screamed. The sight and sound caused me to scream. Three men busted into Anderson’s bedroom, making me scream again.
“AAAAAAAH!”
One of them towered over the other two in height and muscles. Both of his arms had solid black tattoos peeking out from under his short-sleeved shirt. The two guys with him were all-American types featured in magazines and movie posters, but no one ever remembered. All three joined the woman staring at me.
A not-so-small pig trotted into the room, setting me off with another scream.
The pig approached, making me leap onto the unmade bed. What was going on?
“Who are you?” the woman asked.
“Jurnee. Jurnee Messer.” For some odd reason, I held up the sheet I had been trying to remove mere moments ago, as if they’d asked me to show my hands.
“Awwww. The three AM emergency call woman?” It was just like in the movies. One of those moments when you watch a person try to reach into the air and capture the words he just spoke.
What did he just say? An emergency call.
“Three AM?” Of all the words, that was what came out.
“Hello.” The woman looked at the guys before they made a mad dash out of the room. “My name is Linda. I’m Anderson’s head housekeeper.” Linda was dressed in a grey uniform with a white apron tied at the waist. She instantly reminded me of the housekeeper from the Brady Bunch with her grey hair pulled back in a neat bun at the base of her neck. Her face was warm, and I calmed when she gave me a big smile. “That is Rover. Anderson’s pet–”
“Pig? Rover is a pig?” Was all I could say as I stared down at the farm animal standing on its back legs trying to reach the top of the bed.
“Yes.”
“Rover’s a dog’s name.” His snout popped up over the side of the bed.
“It used to be.” Linda’s flowery scent filled the room as she moved around the bed to remove the remaining corner of the sheet. “He is very friendly.”
“I’ll do the bed. I was the one that was sick.”
“Nonsense. I’ll finish. Job security for me. Any idea where Anderson is?”
I moved out of Linda’s way and smiled down at Rover. “I mentioned Chinese food a couple of hours ago and–”
“Say no more. That man loves his Chinese. Why don’t you go down to the third floor? The guys are playing poker.”
“Poker?” Linda stopped in her tracks at the lift in my tone.
“Are you a bit of a poker player?”
“I played a bit in college.” I twisted my hair to try and create a ponytail effect, but it just fell down my back.
Linda laughed and marched me to the elevator. She shooed Rover in the car with me. By the time we reached the third floor, Rover and I decided to be friends.
Having no idea which way to turn, I followed the pig to the left. The sound of laugher got louder as we approached an expansive room with a round table with the guys that stormed the room sitting around it.
“Hi.” The guys all leaped to their feet as they turned to see me standing in the doorway. “I thought we could do this over again. I’m Jurnee. Sorry about the screaming. I wasn’t expecting anyone but Anderson.”
“I think we were all expecting Anderson.” The Incredible Hulk-like guy with dark brown skin made his way over to me, “I’m Eric. Please join us.”
Gesturing to a seat, Eric reached down to give Rover some attention. How completely weird that his dog is a pig. And am I sitting with a group of ‘sexiest man alive’ runners up?
Eric continued. “This is Otis and Bryan. I see you’ve made friends with Rover.”
“Nice to meet you. Fair warning, and I’m sorry in advance, I suck at names, but I don’t forget a face. Eric, you look very familiar, and I’m going to figure out from where.”
“You’re working with Morgan Financial Holdings on coffee shops?” Eric asked, heading out of the room, “Wanna beer?”
“Please.” Otis shuffled cards as the other guy focused on his phone. Shit, what’s his name? “Though for the record, it