Matters

“Keep your mind on your matters,” I read the email out loud.  “Do I really want to keep my mind of my own matters?” 

I stood up as I closed my laptop and started pacing in my closet office.  My life was based on knowing what everyone around me was doing on how they were doing.  What Jack didn’t understand – or at least he pretended to not understand – was the fact I wouldn’t tell any of his secrets either.  Secrets were the name of my game and how my salary got paid every two weeks. 

I couldn’t keep my mind on my own matters because I couldn’t afford to.  Being a trust fund baby himself, Jack didn’t understand what it was like to watch your bank account.  I knew he had secrets, but I also knew which ones not to tell.  Jack was a friend, but also a millionaire’s son.  He was using his position of wealth to try and manipulate me out of my job and home. 

I turned back to my computer to start on my next article for the paper.  I didn’t think Jack was the kind of friend to throw me under the bus, but the amount of emails in my inbox meant that’s exactly what he did.  As I started to type, I knew exactly what secrets to tell.  Jack had driven me to the edge of no return.  I just didn’t realize how much it would affect my life in the days to come.