As a special treat to my loyal followers both here and on Substack, I am releasing “Hide and Seek” to both platforms for free during the month of August. On September 1, the story will go behind a paywall. This story is currently a contest entry on the Chapters app. Thank you to everyone who follows, shares, and supports my work. It means a lot. I hope you enjoy “Hide and Seek” as much as I have writing it.
Today was not the day for the hard drive in her laptop to fry. Sure, the files were backed up on her external drive, but she had a meeting in less than thirty minutes and needed the first half of a manuscript.
Blythe took a deep breath as the back of her eyes began to burn. This week had not gone her way, and now the computer was dead. She was overwhelmed by her emotions and could feel her anxiety taking over.
She was the youngest senior editor at the small publishing house where many thought she was over her head. A technology failure wasn’t a good enough reason to not have that manuscript for the meeting.
A light knock on her door pulled her attention.
“I have your usu”— The familiar male voice entering her office belonged to her brother’s best friend, Dane Hawksley. His penetrating hazel-blue eyes met hers. “Bly. What’s wrong?”
He rushed into the office and set down her coffee order and breakfast he brought her every morning from his cafe. He took her hands into his as he knelt before her.
At his question, a traitorous tear slipped down her cheek. Blythe took several deep breaths to gain control of her emotions. Dane was here. If anyone could fix this, it was him.
She motioned to the machine in front of her. “The fan went out in my laptop, so the hard drive fried. I have a meeting in just over twenty minutes and the edited copy of the manuscript from our best-selling author is, was, on it. I have it backed up on my terabyte drive right here, but I don’t have another computer to use for the meeting.”
Dane rubbed his thumbs over the tops of her hands, which was both soothing and arousing. This man had always had this effect on her. He oozed raw masculinity, and never seemed to be affected by the sexual tension Blythe felt whenever he was around.
“Is the meeting here in the office? Or is it video?” Dane asked.
“It’s over Zoom. So it’s remote.”
Dane stood and grabbed the food and coffee he had brought. “Come on. Grab your drive and your purse. You can use my office for your meeting.”
Relief flooded Blythe. If she hadn’t been having the week from hell, she probably would have thought of it, but everything was too much. She grabbed her bag and the hard drive and followed Dane out of her building. She hopped into his delivery van and they took off for the cafe a few blocks away.
Once he parked, Dane ushered her in through the private entrance and made a beeline for his office. He unlocked his computer for her, plugged in her external drive, and pulled up the web browser.
“Sit. You’re not looking too good.”
Blythe sat down and began the process of copying the manuscript and sending it to everyone. She pulled up her email and the Zoom app, before turning to Dane.
He had her white chocolate mocha to her left and was setting up her scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast.
“Dane, you don’t have to set up my breakfast,” Blythe muttered. Her cheeks turned red.
“I know I don’t, but now you can eat before the meeting because someone took care of you.” Dane smiled and her heart stopped for a moment before it began pounding in her chest. He looked down at the watch on his wrist to check the time.
“You have about five minutes to eat before the meeting.” Dane stood and kissed her on top of her head. “I’m heading to the counter to pitch in for the morning rush, but yell if you need anything.”
Blythe just nodded as she started eating. She savored the moment for as long as she could. At twenty-six years old, she was six years younger than Dane. She was the baby of her four siblings, and he was her oldest brother’s best friend. She had had a crush on Dane since her 7th-grade year of middle school; meanwhile, she was the annoying kid sister.
She often wondered if Dane viewed her as an adult, or as a helpless child with anxiety-related depression who needed to be handled with kid gloves at times when the medication didn’t cut it and the stress was overwhelming.
Faces appearing on the screen pulled Blythe back to the present. She polished off the last of the toast and chased it with her coffee before making small talk with those on the remote call. Once the author and publisher were on the video call, they got down to business, and it was her time to shine.Chapter 2
Blythe was relieved to be home. The meeting had gone well thanks in large part to Dane letting her use his computer.
After the meeting, she called her boss and told him what had happened with her work laptop. He told her he would have someone look at it in the morning and either replace it or have it fixed. Blythe told him her files were backed up, per the protocol, so she could keep working.
He asked where she had been for the meeting because he hadn’t recognized the background. She told him she was at Caffeinated, sitting in the owner’s office. He had laughed and praised her quick thinking. Alex, her boss, knew Dane was the owner and a close family friend. He told her she could work from his office until her meetings that afternoon back at the office.
Dane had given her lunch and offered to drive or walk with her back to the office, but she declined. She needed the fresh air and time alone to pull her thoughts together before those meetings, which ran late. By the time she left the office, it was almost 6:30 p.m. She had debated with herself on whether to walk or call a cab or ride-share. In the end, she walked the few miles from work to her apartment.
She used her key to get into the building and then stopped to get her mail from the box before climbing the stairs. She couldn’t wait to get her heels off, have a glass of wine, possibly soak in the tub, and relax. She put the key in the lock and opened the door.
Hundreds of roses greeted her. Icy tendrils of fear gripped her heart. Blythe dropped everything in her hands as she backed up into the wall behind her. Her breath came in rapid bursts, as her knees buckled. She could feel her body sliding down the wall. She didn’t need a card, Blythe knew they were from him. He had found her.
Tears stung her eyes, threatening to overtake her if she let them. Slowly she pushed herself up to her feet. She needed to keep breathing, keep calm, and call for help.
“Oh! I missed your reaction!”
Blythe’s head snapped to her neighbor and building manager. Mrs. Edith Jones looked disappointed for a moment, before mistaking Blythe’s distress for joy.
“Isn’t it wonderful? He said you’d be surprised when you came home,” Edith explained. “I told him it was so romantic.”
Blythe opened her mouth but nothing came out. She shoved the fear aside. She needed to know if Leopoldo was the man she was talking about.
“How did he get in?” Blythe managed to croak out. Her mouth and throat were like sandpaper. She was going to have to move again. Change her pen name again. Find another job. Tears threatened again. No! No. She would not get worked up. She needed facts and a plan, not emotions and tears.
“Well, I saw this young man outside buzzing your apartment this morning. I asked him if I could be of assistance, and he told me he was looking for a Juliette Andrews,” Edith explained. Bile rose into her mouth, but Blythe pushed it down.
“I didn’t know that was your first name, so I was confused. I told him he had the wrong address, but then he had a picture of you two together, and I said he must be talking about Blythe.” Edith kept up her story, unaware of what she had done. “He said you two have been dating a long time, and he was looking to surprise you and sweep you off your feet. I asked what he had in mind, and voila! I let the delivery people in because I knew you wouldn’t want to miss such a romantic display of affection.”
Blythe stared at Edith like she had lost her ever-loving mind. “I think Leo is going to propose to you soon.”
“Leo? Like Leo Kingsley?” Blythe’s voice was nothing more than a whisper. He was back.
For the first time, Edith looked at Blythe and saw the young woman was sheet white. She was braced against the door jam, trying to stay upright, while also trying to reach her phone on the ground.
“Are you alright? You don’t look well at all, honey. Are you getting sick?”
Blythe shook her head. “No. I’m not sick. I just need my phone and to know if the man you spoke with was Leo Kingsley.”
Edith walked back into her apartment and handed Blythe a card. “He left this for you.”
Blythe’s hands shook as she took the card. She bent down and retrieved her cell phone, mail, and keys off the floor. She thanked Edith and then walked into the apartment. She didn’t close the door, the scent of roses suffocating the air within the space.
Blythe set everything down on the entry table and slide the note from the envelope. She let out a panicked cry when she read the note.
“Found you. L”
Edith rushed to the door, as Blythe fumbled with her phone.
“What’s wrong, honey? Is everything ok?”
When Blythe found Dane’s number she hit send. “No, it isn’t.”
Dane answered on the third ring. “Hello.”
“He’s back.” Blythe croaked out before sobs overtook her body.
Edith realizing she had done something wrong, bolted back to her apartment. Dane cursed and told Blythe he was on the way, promising to not hang up until he was by her side.
