No Privacy, No Mercy

Synopsis

I have just sunk into the steaming water of the tub when a low buzz vibrates through the air. My head snaps toward the window. A drone is hovering brazenly just outside my bathroom window, its little red light blinking in the twilight. A hot surge of fury and humiliation shoots through me. My first instinct is to leap up and yank the curtains closed, but a chilling thought stops me cold: what if it is recording? I shrink into the farthest corner of the tub, my heart hammering against my ribs. I snatch up the long-handled scrubber leaning against the wall and, with a frantic swipe, hook the edge of the curtain and drag it shut. I scramble out of the water, throw on a robe, and storm over to the window. That thing is still there. I rip the curtain open again, shove my phone against the glass, and hit record. Only then, as if it had been caught red-handed, does the drone seem to get spooked. It zips away sideways and vanishes into the night. My hands are shaking, but I grip my phone, my thumb flying as I drop the video straight into our building's resident group chat. [Whose damn drone is this? Hovering outside my bathroom window in the middle of the night. Seriously, have you no shame?] My message landed like a bomb. [Wait, is that the same one that was outside my window a few days ago?] [OMG, that's it! I was just about to get undressed when I saw it. I freaked out and threw my clothes right back on!] [This has to be harassment, right? God, who knows if it filmed us!] I immediately tag the property management account, typing: [Shouldn't you guys be looking into this? It's harassing multiple residents now!] The building manager replies almost instantly: [Rest assured. We are launching a full investigation.] I let out a deep breath, thinking that will be the end of it. But I never could have imagined what would happen next. I should have known it wouldn't be that simple. Because after that night, the drone doesn't just come back. It comes back for me.