by Eve, Melody
“It was on the desk,” she says glancing at my disheveled desk. The stapler is teetering on the edge, and the photo has slipped onto the floor as a result of our mid-day tryst. I crouch down to grab it and slide it into her bag.
“Let’s go.”
Our drive home is quiet. Halfway there, she reaches over to take my hand. Hers is cold and clammy. “Are you feeling all right? How is your head?”
“I’m fine.”
She doesn’t sound fine. Her voice is quiet, and she looks uncomfortable.
“You sure?
“My phone is vibrating in my bag. I don’t want to look at it. What if it’s the stalker calling again?”
“Answer it, listen to the background noises, and see if you can identify anything.” She gives me a wary look, but she does as I ask answering her phone.
“Hello?” She’s trying to sound normal, but anyone who knows her would know her voice is several pitches too high. “Hello? I can hear you breathing, say something, dammit.”
Her arm drops into her lap holding the phone as she stares straight ahead.
“Did they say anything?” I ask.
“Kind of.”
“What?”
“They said ‘shhh,’ and it sounds like they were in a crowd.”
“Where would David be this time of day normally?”
“Monday afternoon he would be at practice.”
“Is there a crowd at practice?”
“Sometimes, most of their games are at home in August, and people like to go to their training center at Sloan Park.”
“It’s David, I know it is. He’s taunting you, messing with you, trying to disturb what’s going on between us, and he’s doing it from practice or games so you know it’s him.”
“Why would he tell me to be quiet?”
“I have no idea… to scare you, intimidate you, who knows? Do you think he could be dangerous? He doesn’t have a violent background, and he’s only been arrested once for public intoxication, but you lived with him, you know him better than a background check.”
“He was arrested for public intox? I never knew that.”
“It was three years ago. He had it taken care of. Athletes get away with a lot of things they shouldn’t.”
“I don’t think he’s dangerous, but then again, I didn’t know he had been arrested either so…”
“Would he know anyone who might break into my house? Were any of his friends shady or suspicious?”
She shakes her head vigorously, frustrated at not having the answers. “I don’t know, Roman. Honestly, we didn’t hang out with his friends together. We went to functions for the team as a couple, but when they went out drinking, he went without me. I didn’t want any part of that scene. I’d outgrown it long ago.”
I take a deep breath and blow it out through my mouth. “I’d like to know how he got that photo out of my house. The other things are explainable. He’s calling and hanging up like a damn teenager, and he probably got someone to let him back into the apartment while you were staying with me, so he could move the photo of Millie.”
“You really think it’s him?”
“I do.”
“I can call and talk to him about it, but I doubt he will admit it.”
“No, don’t contact him, he’ll believe he’s winning. Let me handle it.”
“Roman, no. I don’t think that’s a good idea at all.”
“I’m just going to talk to him.”
“You might want to talk, but he might not be so open to being civilized.”
“What, you don’t think I can handle myself against your athlete ex?”
“No, you’re in perfect shape, but that doesn’t mean I want it to get physical. You could both hurt each other.”
I don’t respond, there’s no need to. She’s going to see it her way, and I’m going to see it mine. When we arrive home, there are four black vans in the driveway—Anthony’s team. Without asking specifically, I know they are searching every inch of my home for bugs, points of entry, missing items, fingerprints, and they will be pulling the CCTV to go over with me.
Mom and Leeza are sitting in the kitchen at the table looking concerned. “What’s going on, Roman? Was someone in the house?” Leeza asks as soon as she sees me coming down the hall.
“I’m not sure, that’s why they’re here. Aria found a photograph from one of our old photo albums in her office at the bookstore.”
“Why on earth would someone do that?” my mom asks, her brow wrinkled with worry.
“That’s what we are trying to figure out. It’s not the first or the only thing going on either. She found a photo of Millie under her comforter last night after I left her at her apartment. Her ex brought it over to make sure she knew how much they looked alike, so it was in the apartment already. We don’t know how it got into her bed, though.”
“You said the pictures aren’t the only thing?” Leeza asks.
“Aria’s been getting a lot of hang-up calls recently, too.”
“You have an idea who it is, don’t you?” Mom asks narrowing her eyes as she tries to read my expression.
“Yes, I think it’s David, her ex. It’s the only thing that makes any sense.”
Mom stands up and crosses the kitchen to hug Aria. “I’m so sorry, dear. I hate that you’re having to go through this. Rest assured my son will get to the bottom of it for you, though. You’re safe with him, with us.”
“Thank you, I appreciate that.”
“Why don’t you come sit and have tea with us while Roman checks in with Anthony?” my mother, master of distraction, says. Aria looks at me as if for permission.
“That’s a good idea. Stay here. I’ll be back in a few minutes.” I kiss her gently and leave the women to their tea.
It’s time I check the video and see who has been in my house.
12
Aria
Leeza fidgets in her seat at the kitchen table overlooking the lush grounds of the Forrest home. She is also dunking her tea bag into her cup over and over even though I’m sure her tea is ice cold.
“How do you take your tea, Aria?” Julia asks.
“Oh, I don’t usually drink tea. However you like it, will be fine. I’m sure.”
I watch her pour me a cup from a small pitcher that was sitting on a trivet on the table. She adds a small splash of milk. “There you go, we always seem to drink hot tea during times of crisis.”
“You think this is a crisis?” I ask nervously.
“I’d call being stalked a crisis, yes,” Leeza says standing to pace around the island.
“Are you okay, Leeza? You seem anxious.”
She wraps one arm around her waist and bites her thumbnail on the opposite hand. “I don’t like the idea that someone has been in the house going through our things. This is the only place in the world that I’ve ever felt completely safe. Roman’s security is absurd. Have you seen command central? No way could anyone get in here unnoticed. No. Way.”
“Command central?”
Julia answers for Leeza. “It’s the room where a security officer sits and watches the property.”
“Someone does that full-time? What are you all afraid of?” It seems excessive to have a full-time security officer monitoring the grounds when Roman is a banker. What on earth is there to protect him from?
Leeza and Julia look at each other, and I get an uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach.
“When I was in college, I had a stalker, too, only I had no idea who he was. It started my senior year, and by Christmas, I was so scared, I quit and moved home. I had to finish the year online.” She comes to sit back down. “He was sick. He left a dead squirrel at the door of my apartment like a cat bringing its owner a surprise. He sent me creepy letters, called my phone at all times of the night no matter how many times I switched my phone number, and he text me nonstop. But, when I came home, it all stopped.”
“Oh my gosh, Leeza. I had no idea. This must be bringing back some terr
ible memories for you. I’m so sorry.”
She picks at her cuticles, and her mother reaches over to pat her hand. “It’s not your fault, dear. Leeza’s sensitive to things like this, that’s all.”
“I can understand why. It’s bad enough knowing, or thinking you know, who is stalking you. I can’t imagine if it were a stranger.”
“We never found him. He’s still out there probably torturing other helpless college students. It pisses me off that they never found him. So much for cooperating with the police.”
“We haven’t contacted the police,” I say.
“Probably because Roman knows it won’t do any good. He’s your best bet at finding whoever it is.”
“I hope so.”
The three of us sit in silence listening to people moving around in the house checking windows, doors, cameras, and whatever else security people check when looking for a breach in their system.
My phone buzzes in my purse, and I take it out. It’s a text message,
Unknown: Decide to ditch out on your first day back to work?
I stare down at the message confused until realization sets in, and I break out into a cold sweat. “What is it, Aria, you look upset,” Julia asks.
I hold out the phone to her, and she reads the message. Leeza leans forward to read it as well. “Is this?” she asks trailing off.
“I don’t know.”
“Is this the first strange text you’ve received?” Julia asks.
“Yes. I’ve had unknown callers but not a text.”
“I’m going to get Roman. Don’t respond, I don’t know how to handle things like this, but I wouldn’t think you should engage.”
I nod and immediately feel nauseous. Why won’t David just leave me alone?
David, if it’s him, maybe he will listen to reason. “I’ll be right back,” I say to Leeza.
“Where are you going?” she asks sensing I’m up to something.
“I have to use the bathroom.” I stand and walk to the bathroom near the foyer. Inside, I dial a number I should have deleted from my phone when I burned his clothes and our photographs.
He answers on the second ring out of breath. “Aria? Are you okay? I’m so glad you called, I’ve been thinking about you constantly. I stopped by your place last week, but you weren’t home.”
“I’ll bet you did. Is that when you tucked that photo of Roman’s ex under my comforter? Never mind, don’t bother answering, you’ll only lie anyway. Listen to me. I want you to stop this. Nothing is going to make me come back to you, not your stupid hang-up phone calls, hiding pictures, or sending me cryptic text messages. Leave me alone.”
“Wait, wait, wait, hold on now. I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Cut the act, David. Stop stalking me, or I’ll call the police and send that photo of you and Lynn to the Chicago Times and pay whatever it takes to have it on the front page.”
I hang up before he can try to feed me any more of his toxic lies, but a strange sense of unease washes over me at David’s adamant denial.
I check my reflection in the gilded mirror of the small half bathroom. I look tired and stressed with the dark circles under my eyes. Maybe now we will be able to start our life together in peace.
A knock at the door startles me, and I almost drop my phone. “Aria, are you in there?” Roman asks from the other side.
“Yes, just a second,” I say turning on the water to fake washing my hands. I stuff my phone into the top of my bra under the strap hoping to hide the fact that I brought it to the bathroom. When I step out, he is flanked by two men who look more like soldiers then security officers in their camouflaged gear and stern expressions.
When no one says anything, I fill the awkward silence with a nervous laugh. “So, are you going to introduce me to your friends, Roman?”
“This is Anthony and Mark.” He nods to each man as he says their name. “Mom said you got a strange text message?”
“Oh, yes I did.” I remove my phone, and he raises one eyebrow.
“You always take your phone into the bathroom with you?” he asks.
“Yes, some of my best ideas come to me when I’m in the bathroom.” I try to smile, but he sees it for what it is, a cover-up.
“Give Anthony your phone, he’s going to check it for apps David may have installed to keep track of you.” I hand the stone-faced yet still handsome man on his right my phone with hesitation. They will see I’ve just called David, and I’m sure Roman will not be happy I called him.
“Did you find anything? On the video, I mean?”
“No, nothing out of the ordinary. We don’t have a camera focused on that particular corner of the living room, so it’s impossible to see anyone removing the photo album.”
“What about strangers in the house?”
“No, we didn’t see anyone who wasn’t supposed to be here.”
“What now?”
“Nothing, the house is secure, the grounds are, too. We are restricting entrance to the property for the next few weeks, and I have a few errands to run. I’ll be home in time for dinner.”
“You’re leaving? What am I supposed to do, sit around and guzzle tea until you get back?” My voice rises with each word until I’m on the verge of screeching. I do not want to be left alone in a house with Fort Knox security that was recently breached!
Roman looks taken aback and nods to the men dismissing them. He takes a step forward, and I take one back. “Aria, what’s going on with you?”
“I don’t want to be left alone.” Truthfully, Leeza’s story of her stalker, and the honesty in David’s voice when I accused him of stalking me, has me shaken up. Being alone in his house is the last thing I want right now even if his mother and sister are here.
“You’re perfectly safe. I won’t be gone long.”
“Take me with you, please.”
“I can’t, it’s business.”
In the short length of our relationship, Roman has never denied me anything. He is usually obsessive about my safety, and now he wants to run off when I’m being stalked. Suspicion spreads through my mind until I know what kind of business he is about to do. David.
“What kind of business?” I try to keep the suspicion from my voice, but I can’t.
“Bank business.”
“Since when is bank business more important than your family and me?”
“There are some things only I can handle, and this is one of them.”
“You’re going to see David, aren’t you?” I blurt out not wanting to play this game anymore.
He sighs deeply. “Aria, he needs to stop this, and I am going to make sure he does, in person.”
“I called him.”
“You what?”
“I just called him. I accused him of stalking me, and he denied it.”
“Well, of course, he did. He’s stupid but not that stupid.”
“So, you don’t need to go see him anymore. You can stay here with us.”
He takes my hand and leads me into the living room where we sit perched on the edge of the couch angled toward each other. “Aria, I’m not going to hurt David, but I am going to speak to him. He needs to understand that, without a doubt, the two of you are over, and you are part of my life now. Either he figures that out and leaves you alone, or I’ll have to involve the police, and he won’t like that very well. It’s bad publicity not to mention jail isn’t the best place for a baseball player to make money. And David needs to be making money. He is in trouble. He borrowed a considerable amount of money from some very nasty people who aren’t patient about being paid back. He needs to be concentrating on that and not you.”
“He’s in trouble? How do you know that?”
“I used to watch his every move as well as yours. I stopped when you left him, but today I had Anthony look into what he’s been up to.”
“And?”
“And, he’s been going to Vegas and gambling, spending money like it grows on trees, and messing
up his baseball career.”
David was never much of a gambler. He did love Vegas, but I thought it was about the nightlife.
“How is he messing up his career?”
“He’s been late to a lot of practices, and he’s not playing well in games.”
That’s definitely not like him. Even when things were difficult, he was always on point when he played ball. I’m suddenly finding myself feeling compassionate for a man who whored around on me for six years. Maybe he’s having a breakdown? Maybe the gambling is to pay for our wedding that never happened? Roman did say he was nearly broke when I left him. Could this all be as a result of our breaking up?
“I don’t like the look on your face.”
My eyes snap to Roman. “What do you mean by that?”
“You’re feeling sorry for him. The man who had an affair with your best friend and countless others. The man who led you to believe he was wealthy when he spent every dime he had partying without you. The man who is stalking you when you’ve finally found happiness.”
He’s right. How can I feel anything but contempt for a man like that? “You’re right. Okay, go and talk to him but please don’t let it become physical.”
He leans forward placing his hands over mine in my lap and kisses my mouth slow and soft once in the center, once on the corner, and then again on the opposite corner. “I love you. It’s just you and me, beautiful. We’re going to get through this together, I promise. You just need to trust me.”
“I do.”
“Good girl. Go in the kitchen and get those two to drink something harder than tea. It shouldn’t be too hard. I’m pretty sure they’re both borderline alcoholics.”
I’m not sure if he’s kidding or not, but I chuckle because it’s true. “All right. Be safe and come home soon.”
I watch him walk away and say a little prayer that he doesn’t hurt David. My ex is a professional athlete, but when it comes to defending someone he loves, I think Roman could be very intimidating.
I just hope he’s intimidating with his words and not his fists.
13
Roman
