The Secret She Knew A Quiet Pressure Short

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J.E. Nickerson

“People think their decisions can be hidden if they’re careful enough. But choices don’t announce themselves. They appear quietly, in the cracks we don’t realize are forming until it’s too late.”

Pike stepped across the threshold and closed the door behind him with a soft click. 

The faint scent of turmeric and vanilla, Lisa’s perfume choice for the last few weeks, clung to his nose and collar of his shirt. 

“Pike honey, is that you?” Rosa’s voice called out from deeper in the house. “Can you come here for a minute?”

Pike’s pulse jumped. He did not move. He had not expected Rosa to be home at this hour. He checked his watch 5:46 her women’s meeting would be starting in eighteen minutes. She was never late to it. Except for the one time he needed her to attend. 

He squared his shoulders, took a deep breath trying to steady his heart rate. It did not adjust. 

He moved with slow, measured steps down the hallway, trying to force his composure to appear natural. 

He paused before reaching the entrance to the living room. The scent of Lisa’s perfume still clung to him. He thought of calling out that he had to use the bathroom first, try washing it off. But he knew that would not remove the scent.  

He walked into the room, as soon as his eyes landed on Rosa, he knew something was wrong. 

Rosa turned from the window and  gave him a soft smile. Her blouse and skirt fell over her fuller hips and curves as they always did. An acknowledgment of the way she was built. She folded her arms. Her eyes held him in a steady gaze. 

“You came.” She said. The words were soft, but did not hold any warmth. 

Pike nodded and stepped further into the room, his footsteps hesitant. 

“You wanted to talk. You said you wanted to… work things out.”

Rosa moved across the room to where a cup was sitting on the table. 

“I wanted to hear it for myself. From you.” She said. Her fingers wrapped around the cup’s handle. 

“Hear what?” Pike asked. His eyes followed her movement. His pulse ticked up slowly. 

“Why you did it.” Rosa said. She raised the cup to her lips, but did not take a sip. Then she placed it on the table. 

“Did what? I didn’t do anything.” Pike said. He stepped forward then stopped. 

“You said you did. You said that Lisa was special. That she was someone,” Rose paused. “How did you say it. That she was someone you could trust.” 

Rosa moved forward, her hips swaying softly. “Unlike me,”

Pike swallowed. The tie around his neck suddenly felt too tight for his throat to move. 

“I didn’t say that… why would you, why would you say that?” His eyes met hers searching for a hint of pretense. “I’m not that person anymore. What do I have to say to make you believe me?”

“Sure you are.” Rosa said, moving toward him slowly. her hips continued to sway. She stepped into his space and slid her arms around his neck, her lips coming up to the base of his ear. 

“I know you Pike. I’ve known you for five years. The way you think. The way you look at women. The things you want from them. You thought Lisa would trust you. Be everything you wanted. Be everything your fantasy said she would be…. Everything I wasn’t. But it didn’t work.”

Rosa gently ran her manicured fingers through Pike’s hair. “Tell me honey, when you were with her. When you were making love to her, did you tell her you trusted her? Did you think of us? Did you tell her that she was… special?”

Pike’s body stiffened against her. His mouth opened but nothing came out. 

Rosa pressed herself more firmly against him. Her perfume filled his nose in a suffocating haze. 

“I drafted a letter to the board of deacons.” Rosa’s voice was calm, but it lacked the warmth it had that morning in bed. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to tell our friends at church, or the pastor.” 

Pike’s pulse spiked against. His vision blurred. “You… you…”

“I what?” Rosa said, pressing herself fully against him her hands came up to gently scratch the nape of his neck. “I don’t want to destroy everything.” She pressed her cheek against his. Nuzzling it the way she knew he liked. 

“I’m not going to do anything Pike.”

She felt him relax slightly. “You are.” The words slipped from her mouth with a gentle rhythm, barely loud enough to leave the space around them. 

She felt his arms tense under hers. 

“There’s no reason for anyone to know about what you do. Not the board of elders, not Pastor Steven. No one.”

She pulled back enough to look into his face. “I just wanted you to know.”

“Know what?” Pike said, his voice faltering. 

“That I knew.” Her voice carried a soothing tone. 

“Lisa’s what? Twenty-two, twenty-one?”

Pike’s throat went dry. He opened his mouth to speak, but it felt like gravel had replaced the air inside. “Twenty.” He whispered. 

Rosa’s eyes rose. “That young huh?” She did not let go of him. She gently traced the lines of muscle in his back. “That’s awfully young don’t you think? Almost as young as I was when we met. Younger, if I’m not mistaken.”

She let the words sit, watching the way his eyes drifted from hers to a point behind her.

Rosa reached out a hand and brushed it against Pike’s face, forcing his gaze to meet hers. 

She held it  for several minutes. “I’m late for my meeting. I’ll see you when I get home.” She leaned in and pressed a dry kiss to his lips. Holding it, her hand moving to the back of his head. 

When she finished, she brushed her mouth against his ear. “You’ll tell her I said hello when you talk to her, won’t you? She was always so, innocent and kind when she was around me. I wonder, I wonder if her friends in the young adults group know about her tastes.”

She pulled back a small smile crossed her face then vanished. She turned toward the table and moved quickly, picking up the cup and the purse resting on the table. She slipped the strap over her shoulder and moved through the room with a steady pace. 

Pike turned and watched her leave the room. The silence around him pressed in, filling the space she had occupied. 

Rosa did not turn to look at him. She stopped at the door at the end of the hallway and unlocked it. The latch clicked softly. Seconds later the door shut with a soft thud. 

Nothing in the house shifted, but Pike felt a cold chill run down his spine as he stared at the door. 

He reached into his pocket, his fingers brushed the smooth edges of his smart phone. His hand trembled as he removed it from his pocket. His eyes stared at the dark screen for several minutes until he tapped on it, waking it. An image of Rosa and him at a dinner party filled the screen. She was wearing a V-neck dress in dark purple. The kind she preferred to wear to formal events. He was wearing a suit with the collar open. 

Pike navigated to the contact list and swiped down the list. Lisa’s contact sat at the end of the list, nested inside a work contact for one of the men from the office. 

He tapped on her number and waited for the tone to ring. 

“Hi this is Lisa. I’m out with my friends. If you’re one of them, leave a message and I’ll hit you up when I can.” Her voice was lighthearted and bubbly. The kind of greeting a woman her age would leave. 

The tone beeped. Pike pinched the bridge of his nose, shutting his eyes against the pressure building inside his head. 

“Lisa,” he said. “This is Pike. We need to talk. It’s… we just need to talk please.” He hung up and looked around the room. The warmth of the mid summer afternoon radiated from the open windows. But nothing in the room held the same safety it had when he left for work hours ago.  

Quiet Pressure Thrillers

The pressure continues in the Quiet Pressure Thrillers Dive into the series on Amazon