At her door, she handed him the key and waited. Once the door was opened, she shoved him inside and kicked it closed behind her. She was on him before he knew it. Her hand found its way down the front of his jeans so quickly he wondered if she practiced the move.
Three minutes later, he pulled his zipper up again. He thought she'd fallen asleep, but she stirred. Chocking back a sob, she said, "You can't leave me now, I love you."
He didn't know how to respond. No witty comeback came to mind. He was too frightened to move.
The crying increased, the pleading grew stronger.
"Please, Phillip? Stay with me."
Still at a loss for words, Phillip turned and grasped the door knob. He actually thought he was going to make it until she said, "I'll kill myself if you leave. I swear I will."
Phillip released the knob and just stood there. His back to her, waiting. He didn't know how seriously to take her. He barely knew her. Before tonight, it was just a flirting game, a game he never expected to win.
"Please Phillip," she implored. "Turn around and look at me."
He bolted and didn't look back.
The incessant pounding woke him.
Are you kidding me right now? First the nightmare date from hell, and then this. It had to be his neighbor.
"Alright already," Phillip yelled.
He shuffled across the polished wood floor, grabbed his neighbor's spare key off the hook, and snatched the front door open, "You're not Tom,” Phillip said.
"No, I'm not."
The cheap, rumpled suit and the scuffed black shoes should have been clue enough, but Phillip wasn’t feeling compliant.
"Who are you? And what could you possible want at 3:00 am?"
The suit moved his wrinkled jacket aside and showed him the badge clipped to his belt. "My name is Detective Lentz, and yours is?"
"You knocked on my door," Phillip said. "I would think that would be obvious." "You always this funny when a cop knocks on your door at 3:00 am?"
"Look, Detective..."
"Lentz."
Barely disguising his mounting frustration, Phillip said,
"Detective Lentz, I had a long night, and I need to get up for work in a couple hours. What can I do for you?"
The detective rummaged through his beat-up notebook and said,
"Do you know a woman named Melissa Barrett?"
"Um...not really."
"Not really? You sure you wanna stick with that answer?"
Phillip's mind was reeling. What had this crazy woman gotten him into?
"Mr. Tripp. Can I come in?"
"I'd rather you didn't"
The detective chuckled and not in a nice way. "Then, we can continue this conversation down at the station."
Phillip moved aside and allowed the cop to enter. Detective Lentz walked around the apartment, inspecting his things.
"I let you in. I didn't say you could riffle through my stuff."
"Do you have something to hide Mr. Tripp?"
Ignoring the question, "What do you want detective?"
"What happened at Miss Barrett's apartment?"
"Nothing happened," he stammered. Knowing it was a mistake as soon as the words left his mouth.
"Phillip, Phillip, Phillip," the detective said.
"This isn't going very well for you."
"I went out with the...lunatic, okay? When we got to her place, she wouldn't take no for an answer. She practically raped me."
Detective Lentz laughed again. He waved his hand in front of Phillip and said, "Are you trying to tell me that Miss Barrett couldn't control herself around you?"
"It's the truth," Phillip sputtered.
"You saw what she looked like. What was I supposed to do? I was in and out in five minutes. She got what she wanted, and then she freaked out. Said if I didn't stay with her she was going to kill herself. She said she loved me. It was a first date for god's sake."
"Do you always get so lucky on first dates Phillip? Because, I just don't see it."
"No. This never happens to me."
"
You see," Detective Lentz said, "That, I can believe."
"So, what did she do?"