Monster

by Holly C. Webb

“No,” he replied without looking at me. “His name is Mike. I don’t know any Martin.”

  “I’m sorry,” I sighed, knowing I was irritating him now. “I guess this stalker thing has me more unsettled than I thought. I feel like my head is all over the place lately. I think I’m going to jump in the shower before this babysitter guy arrives. I want to be ready for when he gets here.”

  Jacob smiled at me, but something wasn’t right. I just wasn’t sure what that something was.

  I walked to the shower and turned on the water, then I stepped back and removed my bathrobe before I climbed beneath the hot water, letting it wash away all my stress, at least for the time being.

  As I stood beneath the hot water, I wondered if I should call my folks and tell them what was going on. I knew it was the right thing to do; I didn’t want to have them worry about me more than they already did.

  Then I thought of Teddy. I knew there was no way to avoid telling her about everything that was going on. I was due to meet her for lunch this week, and when I turned up with some random man, following me everywhere, she was going to know something was very wrong, and she would be angry that I had waited to tell her.

  As I climbed out of the shower a short while later, I saw Jacob was gone and sighed, thinking that he hadn’t even said goodbye. Also, Teddy was still on my mind. I decided I would call her that morning and tell her everything that was going on.

  Thirty minutes later, I was making my way down the stairs when Lynn walked out into the hallway and opened the front door.

  I stopped on the stairs and sighed to myself as I realised who was at the door. My knight in shining armour had arrived.

  “Mr. Stone,” Lynn said, greeting him with a friendly tone of voice. “Please come in.”

  “Thank you,” Jaxson said as he stepped through the door. “Lynn, was it?”

  “Yes, Sir,” she replied, giving him a shy smile, and I smiled to myself too. Lynn liked the new guy. I had thought on more than one occasion that maybe Lynn was, in fact, gay, but clearly, I was wrong.

  “Awesome,” he replied, returning her smile, seemingly oblivious to me standing on the stairs. “And please, call me Jax.”

  “Certainly, Jax,” Lynn said as she closed the door behind me. “If you’ll just give me a few moments, I will show you to what will be your room while you’re staying here with us. Please, make yourself at home.”

  She turned and hurried back towards the kitchen, leaving him standing in the hallway. If I was honest, there was something about the way she spoke that bothered me. Like this was her house. But then it wasn’t uncommon for her to make me feel like I was just a guest here too.

  “Good morning, Mrs. Wallace,” Jaxson said as he turned and looked up at me without missing a beat, his eyes instantly meeting mine, and I realised he knew I was there the entire time. Instantly my face flushed with embarrassment. “How are you doing today?”

  “I’m good, thank you, Mr. Stone,” I said as I made my way down the rest of the stairs to welcome our guest properly. “Welcome to our home.”

  “Thank you, Ma’am,” he said, giving me a kind smile, but still watching me closely. “I know this is all very strange to you, but I promise I will try to keep out of your way as much as I can. You can pretend I’m not even here.”

  “Thank you,” I replied, not knowing what else to say.

  Before either of us could say another word, Jacob appeared from his study, surprising me as I’d thought he’d left for his meeting already.

  “Ah, Mr. Stone,” He exclaimed, as he greeted the man with a friendly smile and a handshake. “I’m sorry, I mean Jaxson. Welcome to our home. I would love to stay and chat, but I have an important meeting I need to get to. However, I’m sure my beautiful wife will take good care of you and show you where everything is.”

  “That would be great,” he replied as he turned to me and smiled once more, just as Jacob kissed my cheek, then hurried out the front door, leaving us alone once more.

  “He’s always rushing off somewhere,” I said with a nervous smile as I turned and headed back towards the stairs. “If you’ll follow me, Mr. Stone, I will show you to your room.”

  Just then, Lynn appeared back in the hallway, and instantly her expression changed when she saw me with our new house guest.

  “It’s okay, Lynn,” I said, sounding a little more forceful than I had meant to. “I will show Mr. Stone around; you can carry on with whatever it is you were doing.”

  “Very well, Mrs. Wallace,” she replied with a forced smile before she disappeared back towards the kitchen.

  I glanced at Jaxson for a moment, but his expression was completely unreadable. Releasing a short sigh, I turned and climbed the staircase, followed close by this man who was going to become my shadow for the foreseeable future.

  “This is your room,” I said as I pushed open the door to the room that Jacob told me to put our guest in and stepped inside, followed closely by Jaxson. “Your closet is the door on the left; your bathroom is the one to the right. The television has cable, anything else you need, just ask myself or Lynn.”

  “Perfect,” he said as he walked further into the room, taking in his surroundings. As he looked around the room, I took my chance to have my first proper look at the man who I was going to be spending a lot of time with for the next few weeks.

  I already knew he was attractive. I noticed that the first time he came to the house. But I hadn’t realised just how attractive he was. His hair was dark and wavy. It was cut tight at the sides and back, but just a heavy enough on the top to see how thick and wavy it actually was.

  His strong jawline had a light dusting of stubble, but it was groomed enough to tell it wasn’t just because he hadn’t shaved. Nothing about this man was as it was by chance.

  He was tall, maybe an inch or two taller than Jacob, and as he was five foot eleven inches, which meant that Jaxson was probably over six feet tall.

  His shoulders were broad, and even through his suit, you could see he had a good body but not too ripped, just the perfect amount.

  Then I spotted a scar the ran from behind his ear and disappeared down beneath the collar of his crisp white shirt, and for the first time, I wondered what Jaxson Stone’s story was.

  The last thing I noticed as he turned to look at me was his beautiful blue eyes. They were almost captivating, but the minute they met mine, I blushed, almost like I’d been caught doing something I really wasn’t supposed to be doing.

  “It’s a lovely room,” he said, giving me a warm smile. “You have a lovely home.”

  “Thank you,” I replied, then for some reason that completely escaped me, I added. “Well, it’s not really mine. It belongs to my husband. It was all decorated long before I moved in.”

  “I see,” he said, smiling once more, and I knew he didn’t know how to respond to what I had said. “Well, either way, thank you for making me feel so welcome.”

  “My pleasure,” I said, having no clue what I should say or do next.

  “Look,” he sighed and smiled once more. “I know you don’t really want me here. And if I were completely honest, I wouldn’t want me here either. Who wants some stranger living in their home, shadowing their every move? I don’t imagine anyone would be thrilled with this situation. But unfortunately, this is what you need to do right now to keep yourself safe.”

  “I know,” I replied, suddenly feeling a little embarrassed he could see right through me.

  “That being said,” he continued as he took a step closer to me, giving me another smile. “I’m here to protect you. I’m not here to judge you or spy on you for anyone. I am here for you and you alone.”

  I stared at him for a moment, completely stunned by what he said. I didn’t know why really, but for the first time in a long time, I didn’t feel quite so alone.

  “Thank you,” I replied, grateful for what he had said.

  “It’s my pleasure,” he replied, smiling once more before he added. “I just ask that do
n’t you keep any secrets from me. If something is bothering you, if you’re worried about something, if something feels off, I need to know. That’s the only way I can do my job properly. Okay?”

  “Okay,” I nodded and smiled once more.

  I showed him around the rest of the house, making sure he knew where everything was and that he had whatever he needed while he was staying here with us.

  “That’s everything, I think,” I said as we reached the living room once more. “Lynn will have lunch ready in a short while if you’d care to join me.”

  “Thank you, Mrs. Wallace,” he said, giving me an uncomfortable look. “But I think I will just take my belongings to my room, then I want to check around outside and make sure that all the changes that I’ll need to be done to the house security are noted down, so I can have them addressed.”

  “Oh, okay,” I replied, feeling a little embarrassed that I might have come across a little too informal with him. “That’s no problem.”

  “Maybe I could get a rain check?” He replied, smiling at me, but I knew deep down he was being nice.

  “Sure,” I replied, giving him a broad smile, trying my hardest to hide just how mortified I was at that moment.

  “Mrs, Wallace,” Lynn said, suddenly from behind me. “Ms. Jones is just pulling up to the house.”

  “Thanks, Lynn,” I replied, knowing that things were about to get very complicated, very quickly.

  I turned to Jaxson to explain who Teddy was, but before I could, my front door burst open, and a very irate looking Teddy came thundering in through the front door.

  “Would you like to tell me what the hell is going on?” She demanded, giving me a worried look, completely ignoring the fact that I was standing there with a strange man.

  “What?” I replied, giving her a surprised look. I knew there was no way she could have heard about the stalker, so I had no clue what she was so upset about.

  “I’ve been calling you for the last two days,” she began, looking like she was almost ready to burst into tears. “But your phone has been switched off. So today, I call the house, and your housekeeper informs me that you can’t come to the phone because you’re showing your new protection detail around the house because you have a stalker!”

  “I’m sorry, Mrs. Wallace,” Lynn said from the doorway. “I didn’t know you hadn’t told Ms. Jones. I thought…well, you tell her everything, so I figured she would have known this.”

  “It’s okay, Lynn,” I replied, smiling at her, but deep down inside, I would have loved just to smack her. As much as I wanted to believe what she’d done was an accident, I knew her enough to know that she didn’t like Teddy, and she would have enjoyed sticking the knife in while she had the chance. I then turned to look at Teddy. “Okay, if you could just calm down for five seconds, I will tell you what’s been going on.”

  “Okay,” she said, looking almost relieved but worried in equal measures.

  “Lynn, can you get Teddy and I some coffee,” I asked, giving her a pleading look.

  “Certainly, Mrs. Wallace,” she replied before she turned and disappeared back towards the kitchen.

  “Mr. Stone,” I finally said, turning to Jaxson, having no clue what he must be thinking of this crazy house, right at that moment. “Can you give me a few minutes with my friend, please?”

  “Certainly, Mrs. Wallace,” he replied, giving me a nod. “I will be just outside in the grounds should you need me.”

  “Thank you,” I replied, giving him a grateful smile before I turned and led Teddy into the living room.

  “So, what the hell is going on, Al?” She demanded the moment we were both sitting down on the sofa. “And don’t give me that it’s nothing to worry about bullshit. A strange man is living in your house; I think that means there is definitely something to worry about.”

  “I swear I was going to call you today,” I began, knowing that my words were meaningless right at that moment. “If you believe anything, I need you to believe that. I know I should have called you before now, but the last two days have just been so crazy, I just wasn’t thinking straight.”

  “Okay,” she replied, and this time she was a lot calmer. “So, tell me now. And I want the truth.”

  So, I told her everything that had happened in the last forty-eight hours, leaving nothing out. As I spoke, she just sat there, in stunned silence, listening to everything that I was saying.

  “Holy Fuck!” She exclaimed when I was finished talking. “And your folks don’t know.”

  “I don’t want to worry them unless I have to,” I sighed, wondering now if maybe telling them was the right thing to do. “If I’m honest, I wish I didn’t have to tell you. I know how much you worry about me already. But I knew I couldn’t arrive for our lunch on Friday with some random guy without you noticing something was off.”

  “And a fucking hot guy at that,” she grinned as she wiggled her eyebrows. “I mean, if you have to be stuck with some random asshole living up your ass, he may as well be nice to look at. Did you see the body on him? Momma, may I?”

  Before I could reply, a cough from the doorway made both Teddy and I turn in unison. Sure enough, there was Jaxson Stone, standing there, looking completely mortified, so clearly, he’d heard exactly what Teddy had said.

  “I’m sorry, Mrs. Wallace,” he said, his eyes meeting mine as my face flushed with embarrassment too. “There is a package for you, Ma’am, and we haven’t discussed what you wanted me to do about any mail that arrives at the house. Should I check it first, or would you rather open your own mail?”

  “Does it say where the package if from?” I asked, wishing the ground would open up and swallow me whole.

  “New Jersey, Ma’am,” he replied, holding up the package for me to see.

  “It’s okay, Mr. Stone,” I replied, giving me a relieved smile. “It’s from my parents. My mom likes to send me things from time to time.”

  “Then I should leave it here for you,” he said as he set it down on the table next to the door. “Sorry for disturbing you, Ladies.”

  Before I could reply, he turned and disappeared back out through the front door.

  “Oh, my God!” I exclaimed as I flopped back down on the sofa, feeling completely mortified. “Thanks for that, Teddy. Like this nightmare wasn’t hard enough as it was.”

  “Oh, come on,” Teddy laughed as she flopped back down on the sofa next to me. “At least it made you smile. You need to lighten up a little.”

  I looked at her for a moment; then, I couldn’t help but laugh too.

  “Everything is going to be okay, isn’t it?” I asked when the laughter stopped.

  “Of course, it is,” Teddy replied with a smile as she reached over and took hold of my hand. “I might think your husband is a complete dick, but for once, he’s done the right thing. Having Hottie McHotness here looking after you is the right call.”

  “I know,” I sighed, knowing she was right.

  “And if I catch the asshole who is doing this,” she added with a broad smile. “I will kick his fucking ass.”

  I smiled once more, grateful to have such an amazing best friend.

  Chapter 7

  Ally

  I stood in my wardrobe and checked my outfit one more time. I was going to meet Teddy for a girl’s day out, and I wanted to be sure I looked my best.

  I’d decided on a black pencil skirt, a cream, satin blouse and a killer pair of Christian Louboutin’s. I caught my hair up in a ponytail at the back and swept-back my fringe in the front.

  I smiled to myself, happy with how I was looking.

  As I stared at my reflection, the thought crossed my mind that I was glad Jacob wasn’t here, watching me getting ready. He wasn’t really happy about the fact I was going out with Teddy as it was, and no doubt, he would have had something to say my outfit.

  When he came home the day she dropped by the house and found us sitting together talking in the living room, I thought he was going to explode. But I qui
ckly pointed out that I was safer seeing her in the house than I was going somewhere in public with the stalker still out there.

  I knew Jacob wasn’t happy, but reluctantly he agreed that it was okay for her to visit the house once more.

  But that had been over two weeks before, and since the photos were delivered to his office, nothing else had happened. I wondered if whoever the stalker was, realised that I now had a protection detail, and had somehow lost interest.

  Still, I hadn’t really left the house over the last couple of weeks, other than to go to dinner with Jacob a couple of times, so I was starting to develop cabin fever.

  So, Teddy and I decided that we were going to have one of our famous girl’s day out. Jacob, of course, freaked out, but when I assured him that I would bring Jaxson along, he had to finally back down. Still, I knew he wasn’t happy about me going out without him, but that wasn’t really anything new, and if I was honest, I really didn’t care anymore.

  I picked up my lip gloss, and with one last application, I grabbed my clutch and headed for the door.

  As I walked down the stairs, Jaxson walked through the front door, while checking his phone. When he heard me coming down the stairs, he looked up from his phone, and stopped dead in his tracks, staring at me far longer than he really should have. Finally, his face flushed with embarrassment as he tried to act as normal as he could. He quickly slipped his phone into his pocket before he spoke.

  “Mrs. Wallace,” he said, coughing to clear his throat. “Are you ready to go?”

  “I am,” I replied, smiling at him. “If that’s okay with you?”

  “Of course,” he nodded, smiling back at me. “I’m ready when you are.”

  He turned to open the door, then stepped back to let me go first.

  “Mrs. Wallace!” Lynn called out before she appeared from the direction of the kitchen. “Mr. Wallace asked me to ask if you’d be home for dinner this evening?”

  “I don’t know,” I replied, a little pissed off Jacob had Lynn checking up on me once more instead of just asking me himself. “If he calls, tell him I will see him when I get home, whatever time that may be.”