Free Dianthe Rising by J.B. Miller Page B

new number when you get it tomorrow. Enjoy your weekend, my dear, and I will see you first thing on Monday.”
    “I will, Mr. Davies. You have a good weekend as well.”
    “Goodbye, Dia,” he said kindly and hung up on his end.
    After I hung up the phone, I leaned back on the sofa. What a strange conversation , I mused. There was loads of work to do, that I wouldn’t need Mr. Davies around for. Ughhh, at least I can sleep in tomorrow . With that, I got up to go and make a cup of tea and continue my affair with my secret lover, the Custard Cream. I was almost mouth to biscuit when someone started banging on my door. Who in the hell can that be?
    A glance at the clock told me it was nearing nine so it was getting late for casual callers. I put my tea and biscuits down and looked mournfully at my snack before going to the door. I peeked through the peephole to see a tiny ball of fury pounding for all she was worth. Sighing, I opened the door before the neighbors decided to complain.
    Usually they kept to themselves but they would tolerate only so much. I didn’t want to deal with explaining Annie's rage to the police. Annie pushed through the unlocked door as soon as it was off the latch, arms waving and her mouth going so fast I could only grab a few words.
    “Oh my fucking God, where have you been?!” she screeched. “I’ve been calling you like all day. At first, I assumed you and Danny had hooked up and I was bouncing to get the dish. But I talked to Danny and he said he left you to finish his shift. Where did you go? Why didn’t you answer my phone calls? I’ve been by three times today, missy,” she raged. "You had me so worried. I imagined you were dead or worse.”
    Wondering how I might be worse than dead, I patiently waited for Hurricane Annie to lose some steam. There was no use trying to speak until she took a breath. Finally, she turned and got a good look at me.
    “Oh my God! Your face, are you okay?”
    Guilt ate at me when she broke into tears and threw herself into my arms. I should have taken the time to call her today. I was a horrible best friend. I had officially failed the BFF test.
    “It’s okay, Annie, I’m fine.” I hugged her as she sobbed. “I just got a little mugged last night heading home.” Unfortunately, this was the worst thing I could have said, as she started wailing—loudly.
    “It’s all my fault, I left you, oh my God. You could be raped and laying dead somewhere and it would be all my fault. I am so…so…sorry, Dia. I am the worst friend ever. I will understand if you never want to see me again, or Danny. He’s going to kill me when he finds out I split on you and you were attacked and nearly killed.” She crumpled against me with her arms wrapped around my waist. I barely kept us off the floor.
    She should have gone into acting instead of design. “Annie,” I had to raise my voice. “Calm down, okay? I was not nearly killed. Look, more than likely I would have been attacked even if you had been there with me. Remember that freak from the club?”
    Her head tilted to the side she pondered it. “Yeah, the hot weirdo with the piercings, why?”
    I could see the clogs turning as she processed what I was trying to tell her. “Oh my God, he went after you?”
    With a nod, I replied. “Yeah, he jumped me outside the club. I’m pretty sure he was on some really heavy stuff. He was going on about Goth role-play crap. I believe he was into vampire crap and with the drugs he thought he was one.”
    Her eyes widened, she took a step back to look me over critically. “Are you really all right? Did you go to the hospital? Did, he umm… Oh God, I don’t know how to ask this.” She wrung her hands helplessly. “Did he, ummm…were you…raped?" she whispered, eyes filling with tears again.
    “Oh no, Annie, no I wasn’t.” I took her hands in mine and pulled her over to the sofa. “He grabbed me, but before he had the chance do much another guy came out of the