Total pages in book: 29
Estimated words: 27969 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 140(@200wpm)___ 112(@250wpm)___ 93(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 27969 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 140(@200wpm)___ 112(@250wpm)___ 93(@300wpm)
"Miss Medlock?" Office Whit—according to his badge—asks.
"Yes?"
"You called about an incident involving your neighbor?"
My gaze flickers toward his house. He's no longer standing in the yard, but I feel his eyes on me. He's hiding in the shadows, watching. "Yes," I whisper, my heart thudding unevenly. "Is…is everything okay?"
"The screams you heard are his bird."
I stare at him blankly. "What?"
"The screaming is his bird, ma'am. An African Grey." Officer Whit's lips twitch. "Apparently, she likes Law & Order."
"Really likes it," his partner snorts.
"She's extra salty tonight because he didn't let her watch it before bed."
"Um…" I have no words. Absolutely none.
I just called the police on Mason over a parrot?
This cannot be reality. It cannot.
"We checked the house. Everything is fine over there," Officer Whit says. "He doesn't even have a basement. He asked us to send his apologies for the noise. The bird is struggling to settle in since the move. He said she should calm down in a day or two. But if you'd like to file a noise complaint…"
Apparently, this is reality.
"That…won't be necessary," I say weakly. "Thanks for letting me know."
"No problem. Have a good night."
Officer Whit and his partner step off the porch.
I close the door.
"Fuck my life," I whimper, sinking to my ass just inside. I called the police on Mason over a bird. He's probably so pissed right now.
I have to move to a different country and change my name. There's no other choice now. Absolutely none.
"You didn't!" Sarah groans bright and early the next morning, staring at me in horror as I brew coffee in the café built into the bookstore. "Please tell me that you're kidding."
"I wish I were," I croak, dumping grounds into the filter. "It was like a trainwreck, Sarah. I know he knows I'm the one who called. The police came to my house as soon as they left his. Like, as soon as."
"So much for discretion," she mutters.
"Right?" I cry, gaping at her. "It's a good thing he isn't a serial killer!"
"At least you're finally ready to admit it." She grins, arranging coffee mugs into orderly rows. "I thought you'd do something drastic first."
"I hate you," I groan, making her giggle. "I'm never living this down. I fucking ninja-rolled to my car just to get out of there without him seeing me this morning. If anyone saw me, they probably think I've lost it!"
"You have," she teases softly. "You called 9-1-1 on a bird."
"You aren't helping!" I cry. "If you'd heard what I did, you would have called too."
"How did you mistake a bird for a woman?" she asks before cracking up.
I glare at her.
"I'm sorry!" She wipes tears from her eyes. "It's just…this is so classically you. Remember that time you mistook Jasper for a burglar when he flew home from overseas to surprise you? You tried to jump on his back with a pillowcase to try to smother him to death, but you missed and landed on the coffee table."
Unfortunately, I do remember that. I have the scars from the nine stitches it took to sew me up to ensure I remember that shitshow. Jasper still has me listed in his phone as Anti-Theft Device. He thinks he's hilarious.
"It was screaming for help," I mutter defensively, refusing to dwell on all the shit I've done over the years that landed me in this exact position. Frankly, there's a lot of it, and I do not want to consider what that says about me or my life choices. "And it's not like I was in the same room with the bird. It was screaming from next door. The sound was muffled and distant. It sounded like a woman!"
Sarah's lips twitch again before she manages to compose herself. "What are you going to do now?"
"There are only two options," I say, sighing heavily. "Either I move to Europe and change my name, or I apologize."
"You are not moving to Europe, Olive."
"I could. I even picked out a new name."
"Oh, this will be good," Sarah mutters, propping a hip on the counter. "Let's hear it."
"Alyvia Sandoval."
"You know the most frightening part?" She stares at me for a long moment before grabbing a coffee mug to pour herself a cup. "You're actually serious."
"I called the cops on a bird. The entire police department now knows my name. My hot neighbor thinks I'm a lunatic. Half the town will know about this by the end of the week. Come next week, I'm going to be the girl who called bird!"
"It's not that serious."
"They could have shot him." My bottom lip quivers. I thought about that endlessly last night. A lot could have gone wrong because of me. I sent the police to his house, where there were obvious screams. Had anyone panicked, had he been too sleepy to process the situation, had he looked like a danger, or not heard a command…there are so many reasons things could have ended badly. All because I called 9-1-1 and told them he had someone tied up in his basement.