Read Online 40 Something - Safety by Shannon Peel - Free Book Online

and going blank. I couldn't focus. I just couldn't
move.
    Two days later,
I woke up and went back to work. Sitting on my ass, at my computer,
never moving. I should be the size of Rose by now, but I'm not.
Thank you mom for a fabulous metabolism. I am completely out of
shape, you just can't tell that from looking at me.
    One day I'll
get it together. One day I'll be able to do everything. One day.
Just not today. I just don't care enough to.
     
     
     
     

 
Rose
     
    I am getting an
alarm installed in my house.
    I should have
done it years ago and I can’t believe I was so irresponsible as to
not have one. Gus says we don’t need one because there is always
someone home, but that’s why we need one. What if a crazy mad man
broke into the house and Gus wasn’t there to protect us?
    The Banners had
their place robbed a few years ago while they were away on
vacation. The guy broke a back window, gained access to the garage
and had a moving truck come and take everything. Don Maynard said
he saw a moving truck late in the evening when he was out walking
his dog. He just didn’t think it was something to call the cops
about. It didn’t look suspicious. He thought the people who lived
there were moving or something. No, he had no idea that they were
on vacation in Florida that week.
    He should have
called the police. The Banners weren’t home. Why would they have a
moving truck come if they weren’t home? I knew they weren’t home. I
just wasn’t outside when the truck was there.
    If they had a
working alarm system then they wouldn’t have lost everything. It
won’t happen to us. We’ll have an alarm system. If we ever go away
I’ll tell Don Maynard that we are gone and no we are not expecting
a moving van to be at our house.
    The newspaper
is filled with terrible stories of rapists breaking in and
assaulting a poor, vulnerable woman before stealing all her
valuables. If some weirdo broke in here and harmed the girls I’d
never forgive myself. We’ll figure out how to pay for it.
    Good he’s
here.
    I open the door
and a young man in a golf shirt and slacks with a clip board an id
tag is standing there, a big smile on his face.
    “Hello Mrs.
Fischer, I’m Adam.”
    “Come in Adam.
Come in. Please. Call me Rose. Can I get you anything? Coffee, tea,
iced tea, juice, water?”
    “I’m fine thank
you. How ‘bout you tell me what you would like and then I’ll take a
look around for vulnerable security areas in your home, afterwards
we can sit and have a chat.”
    “I want my home
to be secured. To make sure that my children are protected when
they are home alone.”
    “Sounds like
what most people want. Do you mind if I take a look around to
assess the potential spots someone can get in?”
    “Please,
please, go ahead. I’ll just be in the kitchen.”
    I pour myself a
cup of tea and the phone rings.
    “Hello.”
    “Hi. It’s
Sophie.”
    “Sophie, how
are you?”
    “Good. I guess.
It’s a bit overwhelming. Lindsay’s nice and her place is well, I
feel like I’m in a very expensive hotel.”
    “It’s
nice?”
    I’m curious
about where Lindsay lives.
    “Nice. Rose I
wake up to a view of the bay. An uninterrupted view. It’s huge and
gorgeous. She even has this interior designer who came over last
night to set up my room.”
    “An interior
designer?”
    “Yeah. She is a
snob. She transformed the office space into a luxurious bedroom.
I’ve never had anything this nice, ever.”
    “Well you
deserve it.”
    “No I don’t. I
mean. I was fine where I was and all. I think maybe I should just
go back and –“
    “NO.” Panic.
“No. You can’t. Stay there. You’re safe there. Sophie I had no
idea. I’m so sorry.”
    “For what?
What?”
    “Craig showed
up while we were finishing up.” Silence. “He’s not right. Sophie.
He’s a bully and abusive. You can’t go back there.”
    “No. No. No. I
knew this would happen. I should have just stayed home. I never
should have gone out. I never