Competition

Chapter 11- Tammy

I woke up early, careful to not wake up Lou. I got dressed for the day and left a note before leaving.

Lou,

Help yourself to the kitchen if you are hungry. I have a lot of things to do today, so I won't be back until evening. You are welcome to stay as long as you would like.

With love, Y/N

I knew Lou wouldn't wait all day for me to come back. If I said I would be back soon, she might have stayed and waited for me, but that's not what I wanted to happen. I was doing the right thing even though it hurt me to think about what I would be doing to me and to Lou.

I stopped at a coffee shop and took out my phone. I decided to text Debbie.

Y/N: Please take care of Lou for me.

I didn't wait for a reply and put my phone away. I grabbed my coffee and headed to my club. The streets were extra cold and the wind hit me like thousands of knives, piercing into my heart and soul. Tears filled my eyes as I walked into my club. I went straight to my office making sure that no one saw me in this state.

I saw the papers, still laid out on my desk. Maybe I should just rip up the papers and leave it like that. I didn't have the heart to. I looked through them. The future that could have been. This is the right thing to do. I was trying to convince myself that this is what is best for the both of us. Right?

I have to keep myself busy. The longer I think about this, the more I will doubt myself. I called up Tammy to have lunch with her. Thank god she was free. Before leaving my office, I took one last long look at the papers. I didn't have the strength to throw them away, I would do it later.

I met Tammy around noon at a little family owned diner. It was cute and warm, I should come here more often. The smells were southern, even though we were in the middle of New York. This place was very Tammy and I liked that.

She was sitting at a booth when I walked in near the corner of the restaurant. I sat across from her. She already had a drink in hand, ready for another one.

"Thanks for meeting me" I was out of breath from walking and a little tired too.

"Is everything alright?" She asked sincerely with worry in her eyes.

"Yes, I've just been so busy lately. I have a lot on my mind right now." I smiled shyly at her. I didn't want her to worry about me.

"Okay. Just making sure." She winked at me just before taking another sip of drink. I could tell that she knew something was going on, but it wasn't like her to pry me open to tell her something. I would tell her when I was ready. Respecting my boundaries was one of the qualities I loved most about her. It's what also makes her such a great mother.

My phone kept ringing, I didn't want to answer it. I looked down to see that it was Lou. She was asking something, but I didn't look long enough to read it fully. I turned my ringer off and put my phone away.

"Someone wants to talk to you" Tammy was interested now. "Do I know who it is?"

She smiled mischievously, of course she knew who it was. "Umm. No actually. It was just someone from work" I hated lying to her, but I didn't want to get her involved in my problems. Especially since she was friends with Debbie. "How are things going with you?" I just wanted to talk about anything but myself right now.

She replied generously talking about her family and kids. I would love to meet them one day. Tammy likes to keep her family private a lot. She doesn't want them to know about her passion for stealing and breaking the law. It's understandable since she does a lot of underground things, more than I'm capable of. I guess she also doesn't want her kids to grow up to be thieves although they would be learning from the best.

She opened up about the project she had finished with all of the girls I had met at dinner. It was an elaborate plan and contained all the things necessary to pull it off successfully. It was a grand scheme. Really impressive. Debbie was the one in charge apparently. If she could pull off something that big, maybe she did know best.

I let Tammy talk as long as she wished. It was nice having her as a friend again. She caught me up on everything that had been going on in her life. Even future plans like extending her prizes from just being in her garage to something bigger and better.

She could see that I was not in a talkative mood even though I was the one that had asked to meet with her, so she filled up the silence with anything and everything. I admired that part of her, the part where she could understand your emotions and know what to do. She had this sixth sense where she could always fill the gap when I wasn't at my best. Something that made her an amazing friend and person in general.

I lost track of time and before I knew it, it had gotten late, into the evening. Should I go home? Would Lou be there? Probably not.

"Hey, I know something is up and I don't want to push you, but you know you can tell me anything." I had spaced out for a second, and Tammy noticed.

"I'm fine. Really. Thank you for being concerned, but I got everything under control. And of course, I know I can tell you anything." I smiled at her and looked down at my hands. "It's getting late and I don't want to take up anymore of your time. I should let you go. I wasn't aware of the time. Sorry."

"Don't be" She took my hand and smiled at me, she was sorry for me. She just didn't know why. All I could do was smile back and squeeze her hand lovingly. "It was nice talking to you, we should do this more often"

"Ya, we should. I'll be sure to keep in touch" And with that, we were both heading out.

I walked to my club because I didn't want to go home just yet. I should be working tonight, but I wouldn't do a good job and my mind is still a mess. I wasn't in a good headspace to be working. I walked up to my office and sat down at my desk. What if I just slept here tonight? Would anyone even notice?

I looked down to see that my desk was empty and the papers were gone. I panicked as I rummaged through my desk and around my floor in case I had misplaced them, but they were nowhere to be found. Did one of my workers take them? No one comes up here. Where could they be?