Courtney answered the phone on the second ring, flipping her microphone up to her mouth as she turned toward the computer screen. "Good Morning, Rick Lawrence's office, can I help you?" she said cheerfully. It was nearing the end of a rather boring Saturday morning in the office, so Courtney was hoping that this would be one of the last calls she would have to handle.
"Courtney?" the voice on the other end of the line asked.
"This is Courtney." She confirmed. "How can I help you?" She asked again.
"It's Michael Stevens." His tone was short and very frustrated. "I need your help."
"Sure, Michael, no problem." Courtney replied, hoping that she was masking the anxiety in her voice as she felt the all too familiar pang of nervousness that talking to him brought. "What's going on?" she asked, cautiously.
"I need new cards for my car." He replied. "I have to renew my plates soon and I don't have them. I have no idea where they went."
"I can definitely take care of that for you." Courtney reassured him. "I can email them over to you, if that'll work?" She asked.
"Normally, yeah, that would. But my printer isn't working. And I need them ASAP. I don't want to drive if I don't have them." His voice was tense.
Courtney could tell that he was very stressed over the issue. "Well, I know you don't like to drive without them, but our office isn't that far, can you swing by this morning? I can print some for you, and I'll be here until noon." She offered. "Otherwise I can mail them and you should have them on Monday most likely."
"I don't know." Michael replied, nervously. "I'm really nervous about driving without them." He said. "I really don't want to have a problem and not have them."
Courtney paused for a moment, her mind racing. She ignored the feeling in her gut that was telling her that what she was about to say was a horrible idea. "Okay, Michael, tell you what." She started. "We are not allowed to do this, but I will do a favor for you. Just this once." She paused, taking a deep breath as her mind screamed at her to shut up. "Since you're not far from the office, I will bring the cards by your house when I close the office at Noon. Would that work?"
"Oh Courtney you are awesome!" Michael said excitedly. "Thank you so much! You're the best."
"Like I said, we're not supposed to do this, but I'll be there around 12:15 to drop them off, okay?" She asked.
"That will be fine. Thank you again, Courtney." Michael said, his voice full of gratitude.
Courtney disconnected the call and looked at the clock. It was 11:30. She exhaled nervously and shook her head. "I really hope I don't regret this." She mumbled to herself as she pulled up his information. She printed two copies of the cards for him, and put them in an envelope.
She forced herself to put the sudden anxiety she felt aside. "He's just lonely, he's not a threat." She told herself as she went about finishing up her work. But her mind wandered back to some of the conversations he had roped her into. He had made her feel very uncomfortable on several occasions.
But, she chalked it up to him being lonely and just looking for someone to talk to, and she just happened to be the one the answered the phone. She put it out of her mind as she cleared off her desk and docked her headset.
When Noon rolled around, she closed the office. As she got into her car, she thought about texting Rick to let him know what she was doing. But she knew that he would go ballistic. She knew that she would get a very angry phone call.
She giggled to herself nervously as she could hear Rick's voice yelling at her in her head. "What in the hell are you doing? You know he's not right in the head, Courtney. What if he tries something? Don't do it. Don't go over there."
"I shouldn't be going over there." She said as she backed out of her parking spot. "I could be walking into a world of trouble." She pulled out onto the road and headed west, toward Michael's house. She thought about texting her husband, Dylan or her best friend Hailey to let them know to check in with her, but at the same time, she knew that she would get a load of grief from them as well. "It'll just be a quick run. Thirty seconds and I'll be back in my car and on the way home." She told herself. "No problem."
At 12:13, she pulled into his driveway. She slipped her cell phone and keys into her coat pocket as she locked her car and walked up the sidewalk to his front door, and rang the doorbell. She fidgeted nervously in the cold February air as she waited for him to answer the door.
A moment later, she heard the sound of the lock turning and the door opened. Michael smiled instantly when he saw her. "Hi Courtney!" he said cheerfully.
It was the first time Courtney had seen him where she could actually get a good look at him. The only other time she had seen him, he met with Rick. He was slightly taller than she was, which didn't take much, being that she was only 5'4 on a good day, which was the reason she frequently wore boots with two inch heels. He had brown hair and brown eyes, which seemed to be already looking through her.
"Hi Michael," Courtney started, holding up the envelope. "Here are your cards. I printed two copies for you." She smiled nervously as she held the envelope out to him.
"Great. Thank you." He said, opening the screen door. He looked at her for a moment, reading her nervous expression before reaching out to take the envelope from her extended hand.
Before she could react, Michael grabbed her by the wrist, pulling her inside and pushing her up against the wall. He quickly closed the door behind him and locked it.
"Michael, what are you doing?" Courtney asked him, nervously. "I'm not allowed to come inside. I'm breaking tons of rules by even coming over here..."
Michael put his finger up to Courtney's lips, silencing her. "Shh..." he started. "Don't talk." He watched her eyes widen as a look of fear crept across her face.
"You're prettier than I remembered from the first time I saw you." He said quietly. "I didn't think you were a blonde." He reached out and touched her face, running his fingers over her cheekbone. She winced at the foreign touch. "A little older than I thought too..." his voice had started to turn sinister. "Different from the picture of you I had in my head after all the times we talked on the phone."
Courtney stared back at him nervously. She was speechless.
"How old are you, Courtney?" He asked, his voice dropping.
"Almost thirty one." She replied, her voice shaky. "Michael, I don't know what you're doing, but I really do need to leave." She said, trying to excuse herself from the situation as politely as possible.