Chapter 15

The vibrations could be heard no matter how hard Tapiwa tried to ignore them. At times like these, she truly hated working in such a quiet place. She also realized that she should have put her phone on silent. Or better off, just turn the gadget off, but that hadn't worked yesterday.

She'd missed a call from her father asking her to buy bread on her way home from the bakery. Coming up with lies to explain why her phone had been off hadn't been fun. She didn't want a repeat. Unfortunately, she knew the person currently calling wasn't her father but instead her reason for wanting the damn thing off.

Lucky for her, though, her boss wasn't around. Only Neo, her co-worker, was around. And right on cue, Neo walked around the corner, holding her backpack. Which explained why the vibrations had gotten louder with every passing second.

"Tapi, your phone is ringing."

Tapiwa sighed inwardly. Damn, the guy even sounded so pleased with himself, as though he had done something great by bringing her bag to her. Left with no other choice, she took it with a forced smile and mumbled a 'Thank you'. What else could she do?

Agitated, but forced to hold it together, she reached inside and grabbed the phone. Sure enough, it was another unknown number. Without an ounce of hesitation, Tapiwa rejected the call and quickly went to her settings and blocked the number.

She'd been doing that since she ran out on Asher at the mall. And in such a short time, her list of blocked numbers had expanded to eighteen. The first number to be blocked had been Asher's personal number, of course. But that hadn't stopped the man, not one bit. Within two hours, Tapiwa had come to the dreaded conclusion that Asher had access to several other numbers. It had only taken her answering calls from unknown numbers three times to realize it was a bad idea.

Tapiwa still couldn't believe this was happening to her. She didn't have much experience dating before Asher, but she hadn't imagined the man would turn into a psychopath.

"Tapi, is everything okay?"

Tapiwa was startled and took a step back. She hadn't realized Neo hadn't left. Of course, her reaction made Neo frown. He pressed his lips into a thin line. Then his eyes dropped on the phone she still held in her hand.

"Do you need help with something?" he asked carefully. "Or someone?"

Yeah, that wouldn't go down well, Tapiwa thought. Not that she didn't think Neo could hold his own against Asher. On the contrary.

At thirty-five, her co-worker was almost as tall as Asher, with a similar soft body and a little more padding around the middle from too much takeout and not enough walks. Neo wasn't bad-looking, more on the average end of the spectrum, according to Nicole.

Nicole also thought Neo would look better if he got rid of the dreadlocks he kept. Tapiwa thought the style suited him. Especially when she took in the single loop he wore in his right ear, he, however, wasn't the kind of man she would take home to meet her parents. Hell, her father would probably chase him off with an axe. But he was alright. And a good friend.

Tapiwa thought she could really use a friend. "It's not a big deal," she started. Tapiwa shook her head and rubbed the back of her neck self-consciously, not meeting Neo's eyes. "I broke up with my boyfriend and he isn't taking it well." That was an understatement if ever there was one, but she didn't want to tell Neo how bad it was.

"Oh." Neo stepped closer and laid a hand on her shoulder, his brows drawn together in a deep frown. "I'm sorry for that. I thought you liked the guy?"

Something about the tone in Neo's voice made Tapiwa look up and study the man's face. Something flashed in his eyes, but it was gone too fast for her to be sure. Tapiwa shrugged. "I didn't know him for that long."

Neo smiled sympathetically. "Still, I'm sorry." His face grew serious, and he looked back down at the phone in her hand. "If he becomes too much of a bother, I don't mind taking care of it for you. The guy shouldn't become a pain in the ass just because you dumped him."

"I'm sure he will get bored and soon forget about me," Tapiwa hurriedly said. She didn't want Neo getting any ideas and trying to confront Asher on her behalf. "His ego was just bruised. That's all. You are a guy. I'm sure you can relate," she teased and bumped his arm with hers, trying to lighten the moment.

It worked. Neo chuckled and shook his head. "I actually can't relate. Sorry. I'm a man, not a boy. I believe in treating a woman I am interested in like a queen. And if, god forbid, things ended, I wouldn't want to make her miserable."

Tapiwa wasn't sure, but she had a feeling the conversation had taken on another, meaning she wasn't too keen to examine. She carefully took a step away from Neo toward the nearest table and busied her hands picking up the books some students had left open after their research an hour ago.

"That's really nice," she said, not looking at Neo. "Any girl you date would be lucky."

"I hope so."

A strange, awkward silence fell. Which was kind of funny since they were in a library where silence was the norm. Tapiwa sorted the books and even went the extra mile to align them side by side on the table, readying them to be reshelved.

Still, Neo didn't walk away. Oh god, please no, she cried inwardly. Tapiwa could almost catch the unspoken words so heavy in the air. They were screaming. She drew a deep breath, prepared to tell Neo she wasn't interested in another relationship. Not now and not in the near future. It was going to be one of those, 'it's me, it's not you' speeches. She mentally cringed.

Just as Tapiwa turned and faced Neo, however, the front door opened and heavy footsteps echoed in the quiet library. Desperate to get away, Tapiwa flashed Neo a smile and hurried past him, out of the aisle, to attend to the newcomer.

At that moment, she didn't care if the newcomer was someone lost asking for directions or the use of their bathrooms. Anything was better than having an awkward conversation with her co-worker. Well, not anything. Tapiwa hoped like hell it wasn't Asher. Still, she didn't slow her quick steps.

It took two turns around bookshelves before the front of the library came into view. When it did, Tapiwa stopped her forward momentum abruptly, as though some emergency brakes had been hit.

She grabbed the nearest bookshelf and gaped at the man standing at the checkout desk. Ice particles trickled into her vein, freezing her blood when she met his eyes. Instantly, Tapiwa knew that the cat was out of the bag. Damn it!