“Where is it??” Brody snapped in frustration, tossing items right and left in his car.

His phone had been ringing for what felt like ten minutes and he couldn’t find it. The driver in the car next to him in the parking lot gave him a curious look, but Brody was too flustered to notice.

Finally his hand grasped a smooth surface and he retrieved the device from the bottom of his McDonald’s bag.

“Hello?” He said, with a little more anger than was necessary.

“Brody?”

“Yeah…who is this?” Brody knitted his eyebrows together as he shoved a fry in his mouth.

“It’s Joanne.”

Brody’s face went pale. He’d thought his ex was still in prison.

“Oh….uh…hi! How are…things?” He faltered, trying to think what she could want.

“Just excellent, Brody,” Joanne gushed as if she had never left, “listen, I’m having a get together tonight at my house, can you come?”

Brody forgot about his lunch, leaning forward and resting an elbow on the steering wheel as he stared blankly at the space in front of him.

“Um…I actually have to work tonight, but thanks anyway Joanne.”

“It’s okay, maybe I’ll stop by later on and say hey.”

Please don’t. Brody took a deep breath.

“Joanne?”

“What?”

“Weren’t you…I mean didn’t you go….uh….hm.”

Joanne laughed lightly, and Brody hated that he still felt butterflies when she did that.

“You haven’t changed a bit,” she chuckled, “anyway, I’ve gotta go now. I’ll see you tonight.”

“But-”

“Love ya!” she interrupted and promptly hung up.

“Dang it!” Brody cried, smacking his hand against the steering wheel and feeling slightly nauseous.

He was in no mood to finish his meal, and he certainly didn’t feel like going to work. There was something off about Joanne, and he didn’t trust her whether she’d been released free of charge or not.

The day slipped by entirely too fast, and with the clock striking four came the time to head to work. Brody was assistant manager at a little convenience store in the downtown area, and he would be closing tonight alone.

He tried to focus on his work, but every time he looked at the clock he got nervous. Time was flying way too fast. Customers were beginning to notice his unease, and several of them asked if he was okay or snapped at him for dropping something.

One by one the customers disappeared and Brody began sweeping up. He fought the desire to lock the doors early, beads of sweat forming on his brow when he saw headlights illuminate the front window. He froze, broom in hand. The car door slammed and a girl ran to the door and slipped inside.

“Brody!!!” She cried, running to hug him.

He returned the embrace half heartedly and swallowed hard.

“Look, I have a lot to do and we’re almost closed,” he faltered, gritting his teeth when he saw the shift in her expression.

“But I’ve come all this way,” she said, sounding almost robotic with the emotionless tone, “I really thought you’d be at least a little happy to see me, babe.”

“Joanne,” he began hesitantly, glancing at the door, “we broke up. Don’t you remember?”

Joanne laughed. She laughed loud and long. In fact, she wasn’t stopping. Brody took a step back.

“Joanne-“

“SHUT UP!!!!” She screamed, slapping him across the face and grinning when her long acrylics left a red cut on his cheek.

Brody took a deep breath, willing himself to move, to step towards the counter. Joanna stepped too, shoving his phone out of reach onto the floor before he could grab it.

“You’re not going to call the police,” she hissed, eyes wide and hair disheveled after she ran her fingers through it. “You dumped me. You cheated on me!!!”

“What??” Brody cried; anger and fear boiling over, “I would never do that! Joanne, you went to PRISON! You KILLED YOUR BEST FRIEND!!!”

That was it. Joanne turned on him, seething with rage as she lashed out with her claw-like nails, trying to cut him again. Brody ducked wildly and made a mad dash towards the counter and his phone.

Joanne let out a ragged scream as she snatched up the tip jar and threw it at him. It made painful contact with the back of his head, shattering and spraying glass and coins all over the room. Brody cried out and stumbled, collapsing all the way when he received a sharp push from behind.

He rolled over to see his ex standing before him, wide grin spread over the maniacal face and head tilted at an odd angle. She clutched a taser in her left hand, a revolver in her right. Brody felt all hope die as he realized that there was no one around to help him. No one to hear him scream for help.