G-Force

Sean and I went to breakfast after our ice cream-filled make-up sex after we woke up and it was really nice. I feel like we haven’t been out together outside of our apartments since our anniversary. This stuff with Elise has really been affecting more of my life than I realized, I think. Anyway, he had to go interview another potential manager with the guys afterward so I went back to my apartment to get some errands done since Veronica gave me the day off from work.

I was brushing Murphy when someone knocked on my door. I figured Sean had left something but thought it was weird that he had knocked instead of using his key.

“Um, Hi Gerry.”

“Faith.” Gerry gave a slight nod to acknowledge my greeting.

“How did you find out where I live?”

“I followed Sean here last night.”

The sound of the alarm bells that had slowly started building in my head when I first saw Gerry were clanging at this point.

“Oh…uh…well Sean isn’t here so…” I started to close the door, but Gerry stopped it.

“I actually wanted to talk to you.”

“Oh. Okay.”

“Can I come in?”

I thought about all of the reasons I shouldn’t let Gerry in: I was completely alone, except for Murphy, my cell phone was dead and I don’t have a landline, and the majority of my neighbors were at work.

“Uh…sure but I’m kind of in a hurry right now.”

“This’ll only take a minute.”

I stepped aside to let him in and closed the door. I lead him into my kitchen and offered him a glass of water but he declined.

“I guess I should just cut to the chase,” He said as I leaned against a counter, “I don’t like you. I think you’re bad for the band and for Sean. He’s been completely unreliable since meeting you and I will not have that anymore.”

I felt bad for Gerry. He looked like he was struggling to maintain such a calm demeanor as he said this to me and rather than be rude, I chose a more polite approach. Murphy came in around the corner to see who was talking cautiously.

“Gerry, we got off on the wrong foot, if you just got to know me you’d-”

“Not interested.” He crossed his arms and snorted in disgust. I didn’t let this deter me and continued on.

“I’m not a threat to the band, Gerry. Sean and I barely talk about his music work; he’s very private about it and I don’t try to insert myself. We are simply a couple; I don’t have any ulterior motives with him at all.”

“Oh please. You do nothing but distract him! I’ve seen it all, making out in a hallway like a twenty-dollar whore, making eyes at him while he’s on stage, every sign is there, you even bring your sleazy friends with you like the drunk one I had to pull off of him and throw out the other night.”

“Really?” I asked, my insides starting to boil, “Because I was under the impression that you were always too glued to your phone to notice anything about other people and that’s why the only thing you have is the band. For crying out loud, you couldn’t even muster a smile when Jake and Eddy got engaged.”

“You’re talking about things you don’t understand,” he said taking a step towards me, “if you don’t talk to Sean about the band then you should stay out of it and stop telling me what I should do. I’m their manager and I know what’s good for them.”

“You’re not going to be their manager next year. Sean told me he told you they weren’t renewing your contract last night and I know everyone else is on board with the decision too.” I said calmly, “And if you really knew what was good for them then you would never have asked Sean to stop seeing his therapist.”

“He’s only seeing that shrink because you told him to.”

“No, Gerry, you’re wrong. Seeing a therapist was a suggestion I made because Sean was having some problems, he made the decision himself and I have seen him make progress because of it. He’s continued with his therapy because he wanted to. Besides you’re only his manager, you have no right to tell him what to do. He’s an adult and I don’t tell him to do anything. We discussed his issues as two people who were in a relationship, that’s clearly something you don’t understand.”

“You need to stop seeing him; you’re not good for him. You think you’re doing him a favor or something by being with him, I’ve been around since the kid started. I know the potential he has and you’ve done nothing but make him waste it. He cares more about you than he does about anything else and he’s got too much talent to waste it on you as his new manager.”

“I-WHAT? I am not a music manager! I work in the news business. I’m an HR rep…I’m not even a journalist!”

“Cut the crap, I see right through you-“

I was absolutely shocked and the more Gerry talked the more deranged he seemed to become. Murphy was meowing at my feet and the noise seemed to agitate Gerry.

“Gerry why did you even bother to come here if you’re not even going to listen to me?”

“Because, I’m here to tell you that you need to stop seeing Sean.”

I let his words hang in the air to let them sink in. I thought he’d see how absurd he was sounding but his face didn’t show a single hint of joking.

“Well, you may think you have the right to tell Sean how to live his life because you’re his manager but you do not have the right to tell me what to do and the relationship I have between Sean is between me and him…not the three of us. So I guess my answer to you is: no, I will not stop seeing Sean as long as he still wants to be with me and he does which means you’re out of luck.”

Gerry’s expression got angrier and angrier while I spoke and he lunged forward to grab me by the arm.

“What are you do- OW. Get off of me!” He had pushed me up against my pantry door and had tightened his grip on my arm so much that it was pinching off the circulation. He leaned close to my face so I could feel his breath on my cheek.

“You listen to me you little bitch, I will not let you take away my career. I’ve worked hard for it and I’ve lost everything to get where I am and-”

Gerry started screaming and let go of my arm just enough for me to reach a pan to defend myself with. Murphy had gotten on top of the fridge and jumped on Gerry when he pinned me against the pantry. He was scratching at his face and hissing while Gerry was screaming expletives and trying to throw him off him. I was afraid he might hurt Murphy so I reached up and was able to get him off him and held the terrified cat against my chest with one hand and the pan in the other.

“Get out before I call the police. You’re lucky Sean wasn’t here. GET OUT!”

I shook the pan at Gerry, who was bleeding profusely from all sorts of scratches on his face, scalp, and hands, as he backed out of my kitchen. I threatened him with the pan until he was out the door and then I locked and dead bolted it.

After he left I collapsed onto the floor and leaned against the door with Murphy still pressed against my chest. I started shaking and crying uncontrollably while Murphy shook in my arms. After a few minutes I attempted to calm down and realized Murphy’s paw pads were bleeding. He had scratched Gerry with such ferocity that he broke the skin on his own paws. I called my vet to see if I should bring him in but he said that Murphy would most likely be okay since the bleeding had stopped by the time I got a hold of him. He told me that if he starts bleeding again I should bring him in. He’s been reluctant to be more than a foot away from me since Gerry left and I’ve decided not to tell anyone about what happened. If I tell Sean, he’ll attack Gerry, I know he will, and if I tell any of my friends they’ll say I need to go to the police but that will just complicate things and make Gerry even madder than he already is and it will obviously tip off Sean if I press charges against his manager. Once January comes, Gerry will be gone and I’ll never have to see him again, I just won’t go see Sean play until after Gerry is definitely gone.