NOVEL WEB Prologue: Sweet but Lethal (Devin)
Devin pushed open the front door to his office building with a tired sigh. The late night air felt cool against his lungs as Devin glanced up at the clear sky. Working late nights isn’t ideal, but it was proving to be a busy quarter for his company and there was a lot that needed to get done.
Devin loosened his tie as he began his long walk to the bus stop. A car would make his trip home a lot faster, but Devin wasn’t in a place financially yet where he could afford such an investment. The bus ride wasn’t terrible and the stop was only a minute or so away from his office building. As he walked, Devin pulled out his phone and hit number one to speed dial his wife. He lifted up a gift box of chocolates that was in his hand and shook his head while the phone rang.
“H-hey sweetie.” A nervous female voice came onto the phone after a few rings. “A-are you on your way home from work?”
Devin grinned and patted a small lump on the collar of his light blue button up shirt.
“Of course Alison, but you knew that already didn’t you?”
His wife moved the location of the small tracking device that was currently under his collar often but Devin always figured out where it was almost immediately. While most husbands might freak out and reprimand their wife for overstepping boundaries and not trusting them Devin left the device in place each time without complaint. His relationship with Alison was… a bit outside of normal.
“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Alison let out a false laugh and Devin could almost hear her start sweating over the phone.
“On an unrelated note, something interesting happened at work today.” Devin said while shaking the box of chocolates in his hands.
“Oh yes, let's talk about that!” Alison leapt onto the new topic immediately. “What happened at work?”
“A coworker of mine received a box of chocolates.” Devin stated simply.
Alison fell silent over the line.
Devin grinned. “Are you still there honey?”
“C-chocolates you say?” Alison’s voice was a full octave higher than it was a moment ago.
“That’s right. The funny thing is that my coworker has a boyfriend and he just so happened to be visiting her when the chocolates arrived. Since neither of them knew who the chocolates were from I decided to take them with me instead. Should I eat a few of them on my way home?”
“No!” Alison shouted over the phone. “Don’t do that…”
“And why is that?” Devin’s voice grew a bit stern as he questioned his wife.
“They might… make you sick…” Alison whispered.
“And how would you know they would make me sick?” Devin made sure to look both ways before crossing a busy intersection. The bus stop was visible further down the sidewalk.
“I may have… sent the chocolates… to poison your coworker.”
Devin already knew this was the truth. He had learned a long time ago how to spot these kinds of actions from his wife.
“It was because she said hi to me at that New Year’s work party a few months ago isn’t it?” Devin asked her gently.
“That skank was practically undressing you with her eyes.” Alison growled angrily.
Devin arrived at the empty bus stop and checked his watch along with the faded schedule on the wall.
Two minutes to spare. He thought gratefully.
“No she wasn’t honey.” Devin shook his head. “She’s had a boyfriend for two years and they are very happy with one another.”
“But… She…” Alison stammered for a second before relenting. “I’m really sorry… I know I promised to stop poisoning people… I just kept thinking about her throwing herself at you while you were working and I wanted to put her in the hospital for a little while.”
Devin felt a bit disappointed in Alison’s relapse into old habits, but he was happy to hear that the poison wouldn’t be a lethal amount if ingested. When he first met her, Alison wouldn’t have held back at all in such a situation.
“Well I managed to catch it so no harm done.” Devin glanced down the road and spotted his bus rumbling down the road towards the stop. “But we’re going to have a talk when I get home.”
“Okay.” Alison sounded so small over the phone.
“And after our talk,” There was no one by Devin but he lowered his voice anyway to not be overheard, “I’m going to spend a long time in the bedroom reminding you how much I love you.”
Alison squeaked, embarrassed to hear him say such things. A grin spread across Devin’s face at the sound.
“Promise?” She breathed heavily into the phone.
Devin opened his mouth to respond just as the bus stopped on the curb, but a loud voice interrupted his words.
“Hero located.”
Devin peered at the front of the bus to see if the driver had been the one to speak but before he saw anything the bus in front of him tipped over on its side and flattened him against the curb.
